D-Day Memories Kept Alive by Grateful French

July 16 Three nights spent touring the battlefields and landing beaches of Normandy, which suddenly came to the world’s attention in the early hours of June 6, 1944, have taught us that the French have enduring gratitude for what our young men accomplished on that day and during the weeks and months that followed. It’s […]

Castles, Country Inns and Historic Guesthouses Tour for July, 2013 a Wrap

  We sent our guests back to Calgary today after the conclusion of their first trip to Germany. Sisters Jennifer and Christina enjoyed a relaxed tour throughout southern and southwestern Germany including a stay in a castle at Hirschhorn, a stay in Germany’s oldest hotel in Miltenberg, three nights in Germany’s oldest fortified town of […]

Rovinj, Istria, Croatia Captures Your Heart (and stomach)

(September, 2012) A few days and nights in Rovinj, Istria will teach you to pack a belt with a few extra holes. We certainly gave the chef at our favorite hole in the wall restaurant a workout, eating there twice for dinner and again for lunch when we fled the less than charming inner town […]

Melk Abbey, Austria

(September 22) Melk Abbey or Stift Melk is an Austrian Benedictine abbey, and one of the world’s most famous monastic sites. It is located above the town of Melk on a rocky outcrop overlooking the river Danube in Lower Austria, adjoining the Wachau valley. The abbey was founded in 1089 when Leopold II, Margrave of […]

Taking a Nap at 6,017 feet

A tourist naps on a bench above the Eagle’s Nest, known locally as the Kehlstein Haus. The site is popular with those wishing to have a splendid view over the Berchtesgaden Alps. One can see far into Austria from this vantage point. Or, one can examine the insides of one’s eyelids, as in this man’s […]

Celebrating a Birthday at Hirschhorn Castle

September 10, 2012 Sometimes while on a trip around Germany one just has to say “why not?” and go to a castle for a dish of ice cream to celebrate a birthday. That’s what we did the other day to celebrate our guest Beth Renney’s birthday. Up, up, up we drove into the hills above […]