May 27 We’re on Day 1 of a 15-day adventure with six-time repeat clients Art and Carol, who just arrived today from New Jersey into Lisbon International Airport. We’re spending our first day and night in the lovely old town of Obidos, where it’s proper to taste the cherry liquer served in a small, and […]
Author Archives: jim
The Road from Stuttgart to Lisbon – Part 3
May 27 – the end of the road, the start of another We’ve dusted ourselves off after two restful nights at a B&B tucked away in a peaceful garden below the clifftop town of Ronda, Spain. Those two nights were like medicine to our worn out souls. Once again we proved that we are […]
The Road from Stuttgart to Lisbon – Part 2
(James and Jenean Derheim are scouting new locations for future tours in southern Spain, on their way to pick up returning clients in Lisbon on May 27) May 24 Resting and recuperating with the sound of birds coming from the garden after a series of very long drives of 600, 700 and 850 kilometers on […]
The Road from Stuttgart to Lisbon – Part 1
May 21 We’re on our way to Lisbon where we’ll greet return guests Art and Carol for their sixth trip with European Focus since 2007. Along the way, we’re scouting locations for future tours and yes, even pausing to do nothing for a bit. After nine nights spent in Otlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany (a record […]
Symbology in Religion – the Protestant Church of Heiningen, Germany
May 18 Out of the 27 different villages we have visited in the past eight days, one stands out as being particularly interesting. The tour we enjoyed the other day of the very old church of St. Michael in the village of Heiningen, located in a shallow valley in the rolling hills of the […]
A New Englander’s View Of German Food
May 18 By Margaret Weiler Currently on tour with European Focus founder James Derheim in the Schwaebische Alb region of Germany One of the pleasures of revisiting Germany is reconnecting with German food. In the United States good German food is hard to find, at least where we live in New England, and it is […]
Lorch Monastery, Germany
May 17 Entrance to the ancient cemetery, storm clouds building to the west.
The Origin of the Crucifix
May 17 On tour with genealogist Margaret Weiler in the Schwaebische Alb of Germany, we learned yesterday something very interesting from the former pastor of a very old church in the town of Heiningen. “Crucifixes were developed in Spain at the end of the 14th century to remind people of the hideous treatment of Jesus […]