The Odenwald’s Silent Sentinal

September 10, 2012 Like a stone sentinal guarding the rolling hills of the Odenwald Forest, Auerbach Castle high above Bensheim-Auerbach has stood tall for more than 800 years. We visited this ruin on a warm September day while exploring ancestral Bensheim and Mannheim nearby. Auerbach Castle was built by Charlamagne and then rebuilt and enlarged […]

Mannheim, Germany

September 9, 2012 What do the world’s first automobile, the first bicycle and the first tractor have in common? Mannheim! All three were invented in this industrial town on the banks of the rivers Rhein and Neckar in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. Known as “Grid City” the bustling large town was built on the […]

Solar Energy in Germany

August 7 It’s difficult to drive through Germany and not see solar panels on the rooftops of barns, houses and even churches. Huge patches of fields have been covered in hectares of panels. There are panels covering nearly every surface of the Munich Airport Terminal 2, which, as a pilot project when it was built […]

Sleeping in a medieval castle above the Rhein River in Germany

July 30 There’s no experience quite like spending the night in a castle high on a bluff above one of Europe’s prettiest river valleys. Recent guests of ours had this experience and for some, it was a repeat experience. Susan brought son Nick back for a second European Focus Private Tour and this time, four […]

Micro Group Tour Offer for Germany and Prague

Using inspiration from a recent tour plus some reliable favorites of our clients over the years, we are happy to present this amazing opportunity to experience some of Europe’s many delights in an intimate group of no more than six persons. Micro-Group Tour in Germany, Czech Republic and Austria 11-day trip Small Group Tour Offered […]

Dresden’s Amazing Rebirth

April 29 The city of Dresden is located in what many used to call “The Valley of the Ignorant.” That nickname came from the fact that this was one of the only cities in the former East Germany that could not receive Western satellite signals. Therefore, the people of Dresden had no idea of the […]

The Dome of the Reichstag in Berlin

April 23 A visit to the glass and steel dome of the Reichstag in Berlin used to be something I would never contemplate. The lines were always huge, no matter what time of the day. However now, due to tightened security and the requirement that all visitors register in advance for security clearance, a visit […]

Berlin and the Pope’s Revenge

April 22 The Berliners have a great sense of humor. You’d have to, to live in a city which has been pummeled to smithereens by war (more than 60% of the city center was left in ruins after 1945) divided and torn apart by the Cold War and then reunited and for the next nearly […]