Mirabell Castle Garden

Today’s postcard is from the beautiful city of Salzburg, Austria and the gardens at the country estate of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, laid out in 1730. From here, the prince-archibishop could survey his land and his city from what used to be a country estate. Nowadays of course the entire area is surrounded by buildings […]

Shhh! Don't tell anyone about Germany's Smallest Brewery

Claudia (Harsh) Auerbach, Clara Harsh, Becky Thornton, Jenean Derheim and Dave Harsh check out some leftover hops We discovered this hidden gem in the Thuringen Forest late in July. The hamlet of Singen, near Ilmenau (south of Erfurt) is home to the Schmitt Brauerei, the last of its kind in Germany. The little brewery pumps […]

How A Farmer Tracked His Daughter in Waldgirmes

A funny story from our visit today to the Heimatmuseum in Waldgirmes, near Wetzlar, Germany. The museum’s director showed us a shoe made in the late 1800s by a local farmer/shoemaker. He placed the studs in a certain way so that he could track his daughter’s movements around the village. (Which back then had dirt […]

Roman Footprints in Trier

Roman column in Igel, Germany We’re traveling with the Harsh family in Germany this week. We started our adventure in the oldest city in Germany, former Augustus Treverus, founded in 16 BC under the Roman emperor Augustus. The city is a fascinating blend of ancient, not so ancient, medieval and modern. One of the landmarks […]

Memories of a Great Adventure

The village of Oberwesel, Rhein Valley, Germany We recently hosted the Bassford-Nelson-Albrecht family on a tour which started in Paris and ended in southern Bavaria. What memories! There are too many to recount here, but here are a few. Cruising the River Seine Jenean met the family in Paris on June 18. Three nights is […]

Good Help is Great To Find in Diepholz

Thanks to Falk Liebezeit, a book salesman turned professional archivist and part-time genealogist, European Focus guest Margie Weiler was able to uncover a couple more generations of her husband’s family in the Diepholz area. We also learned of two more ancestral villages, which we visited during the time we were in this lovely part of […]

Rinderroulade worth diverting for

Margie Weiler’s 3rd trip with European Focus was made a little extra special one day when Trip Captain Jim asked if she’d like to have rinderroulade for lunch on the way from the southern wine road area (Near Landau) up to Niedersachsen near Osnabrueck. She said “Of course!” Fine memories from the last time we […]