A scene taken near the Wieskirche, near Steingaden, Germany.
All that Glitters Must be Swarovski
We visited the Swarovski Crystal World on this day, driving down from Schwangau where we’re currently homebased. The factory “outlet” has grown by half since I was there in July of 2007, with a brand new showroom adding to the space we saw last year. Bob and Marlene had a fun hour or so of […]
Schwaebisch Hall on Day 2
We stopped in this lovely riverside town on our way from Miltenberg am Main to Ulm. This town has “medieval” written all over it. The town derived its fortune from trade and from the mining of salt. It has been a place of residence for human beings since around 4000 BC but the modern-day history […]
Welcome Back Marlene and Bob
European Focus Private Tours owner James Derheim welcomed back Bob and Marlene Rokicki for their 2nd Grand Adventure since 2006 when we last traveled in Germany and Austria. This trip started with the couple’s arrival at Frankfurt’s International Airport. From there it was an easy hour to riverside Miltenberg am Main, where we stayed the […]
Fill up and feel the pain
Don’t even try and complain to me right now about gasoline approaching $4 per gallon in the USA. We Americans have been spoiled by artificially low energy prices for so long that we’re absolutely for the most part totally ignorant to what the rest of the civilized world pays, and has paid, for a long […]
Saying 'Yes' at 39,000 feet
It was a pretty noneventful flight up until the captain of U.S. Airways flight 700 from Philadelphia to Frankfurt came onto the PA. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain speaking. I have a good friend up here in the cockpit who has hitched a ride with us over to Germany. He has something to […]
Ready for a New Season of Adventure
Czesky Krumlov, Czech Republic will be one of the stops on Jim’s first tour of the season. It’s going to be another exciting year, full of new adventures. Jim departs for Europe on May 10. Here’s whats in store for Jim, Jenean and their guests this year (so far) May 23 to June 8: Bob […]
They weren't worried about PC in 1600
The prince archbishop who ruled over Salzburg, Austria in 1600 had 16 statues erected in his pleasure garden outside the rural Mirabell Castle. The statues are slightly larger than life representations of the dwarves who served him. The one pictured even has a large boil protruding from his forehead! This sort of thing would not […]