We arrived at Bad Berleburg shortly before 1 this afternoon and after a stop at the local bookstore to pick up items of historical interest related to Marie’s ancestral villages near here, we drove the few minutes out of town to the hamlet of Raumland and to the Hotel Raumland, or homebase for the next […]

The massive ruin of Heidelberg’s castle seems to hover over the old town, an effect that is enhanced by nightfall when the castle is illuminated.

Current guest Marie photographs her ancestral town of Eschelbronn, in the area of Sinsheim, Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Today was quite a day. Productive, fun, informative and expensive. We had a meeting with an historian and family history expert in Karlsruhe, about an hour south of Heidelberg. We arrived in the leafy neighborhood and I parked the van in a well-marked zone near his house. About 90 minutes later, we emerged from a […]

A big number just occurred to me while brushing my teeth here in the Hotel Hackteufel in the center of Heidelberg, Germany. Down below, it’s an active night. People out wandering the streets, enjoying the mild evening. I should be out there with them, drinking wine, listening to live music. But, tomorrow is a work […]

Third time guest Marie arrived at Frankfurt’s Airport this morning, raring to go for her adventure in the Heidelberg and Wittgenstein areas of Germany. We cruised south on Autobahn 5, chatting and catching up all the way. The last time I’d hosted Marie was in the spring of 2006. There was much new territory and […]

View from the Hotel Helvetia, Bay of Silence, Sestri Levanti, Liguria, Italy.