Dachau

Back in Munich we all decided it was something we needed to see. It was something you will never forget. We all learned from this tragic event.

3 great days in Salzburg- despite the rain!

Finding the laundry mat in the rain was a great adventure. It took great minds put together with a map in the rain to find the Bubble mat! Sight seeing included the fortress up on the hill, Mozarts Birth place and later residence. A fascinating cemetery where the Mozart family buried. To top it off was a delightfult dinner - 3 courses with an opera and orchestra ensemble playing Mozart all in period dress. All of this surrounded by the Austria Alps which peeked out at us by the end of day 3!

We have spent the last two days wandering the best of Prague. All available to us by riding the number 18 Tram! We have enjoyed St Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, and the multiple tower tours. Brian, Bruce, Annie and Maddie made it to to the top of 5 towers ( some twice). Today Papa Bruce and Nana split up from us so they could see the Jewish quarter, while we went to the museum of torture and the opera house where Mozart opened up Don Giovanni. The good part was we were always close to gelato! After a long day of sight seeing we would arrive back home at the Vretnik Pension ( Bed and Breakfast) A 900 year old windmill that had been converted. Milosh was our host, along with his wonderful family. Each night he made culinary delights. 3 to 4 course meals from veal, venision, roast duck and schnitzel accompanied with dumplings, cabbage, potatoes. Good thing we are doing a lot of walking!!

Family and more Cars!

All together stayed first night in an ivy covered hotel in Munich. Then took factory tour to see how our car was made. Then headed to Prague. We are staying in an old windmill from 980 that has been renovated to a bed and breakfast. There we feasted on a gourmet dinner from veal to venision! Our host is an award winning chef who has toured around the world. Fun experience- off to see the world!!!

Phase 2 Invasion

Today starts the invasion of the second half of the family. Bruce, Annie and Maddie begin their trek! Germany here we come!!!

Mercedes to Ulm

Today we left Baden Baden after a little concert of organ music in the local protestant church as the organist was warming up for the morning's service. We then headed to Stuttgart and avoided all temptation to turn at the Porsche signs as we were headed to the Mercedes Museum. The museum was intersting with history and cars along the years. I even found a few I wanted to take home. In the lobby we were entertained by the daimler chior that was singing songs in english. It was a net tour. Out side when were having lunch the Mecedes stadium was warming up for the concert tonight of ACDC. Lunch was started with a round of Hells bells, an interesting note to start the afternoon on. Next we headed to Ulm. It is a med-small town with the world's tallest Cathedral. I climbed to the top, and by that I mean I climbed within 20 feet of the over 500ft tower in Ulm Munster. The cathedral is in its orginal condition as completed in the 1300's. While I was climbing (it took an hour round trip) Mom was hanging out in the main sanctuary watching a concet put on by the EuroBrass (over 30 players). It was quite a concert and really filled the church even with the cellings about 10 stories tall. We can sure tell that Germany is going after the soccer world cup tonight. The streets are full of cars with German flages and people with German colors and noise makers. Needless to say we are tired travelers and looking forward to seeing family!!

2 extra countries in a day

Today we took a leisurely drive through Luxembourg and France on our way down to BadenBaden. Both countries were nice and had a simular apperance to the Black forest we are in now. When we were driving throgh Luxembourg we found a WW2 Memorial for US soldiers, over 5000 were burried there including General Patton JR. It was quite sobering. One nice find in Luxembourg is the lack of taxes so we filled the car up saving enough to pad the beer fund. Once we settled into BadenBaden we spent the afternoon in the newly updated Roman Bathes. The water was nice and hot (and all the people had thier suits on). When we were in the parking garage Mom found out the outside door handles on the new car are lighted, way cool.

Just 3 days till the family shows up and we can't wait!!!!

The oldest town in Germany

Yesterday we stopped off at Trier. It is an old Roman town and the oldest town in Germany. The 2 main attractions, at least so we thought, were the main cathedral the Dom and the Throne room of Constantine the Great which is now the only protestent curch in town. We even managed to have dinner in a Roman wine celler. It was a fun day with lots of hiking. I even found a mime to say talk to, but he didn't have much to say.

The RING

We got here 2 nights ago and had dinner at the Nurburg brewery. It was good for dinne and good beer. Yesterday we went to the welcome center for the Nurburg ring. We got a tour of the race buildings for the F1 circut. After a quick stop for luech at Subway (our comfort food for the day) we went to the Museum. In the Museum was a BMW 3d movie on the 24 hour race on the ring. In the story the BMW lost it's radiator on the last lap... More on that later. When it rained in the race they had water sprinklers raining on us as well. It was a cool museum. It was a Disnyland approch for race cars. We did a simulated Formula 1 race and I was quite a bit faster than Mom and didn't go into the gravel.
Today we wandered over to a small town waiting for the ring to open to the public at 5pm I rented a 99 325i Bmw that was a race car from our bed and breakfast for the ring. On the first lap the recent repairs that had been done on the cooling system failed and the car lost all coolant. I got it off the ring, but the irony of my mechanical background and the movie the other day was not lost on us. The bed and breakfast brought over a Renalt clio cup car for me to run. It was a fast car on the ring.
Well the ring is beyond discription. All kinds of driving ablilities, including motorcycles on the 13.5 mile cours at once. As a fast driver you had your hands full with cars also passing like new 911 gt3's and Audi r8's... But I digress the ring.... WOW, what a rolercoaster ride. 13.5 miles of turns though the foreset and over other small towns over 1000 ft vertical gain and fall. My ears popped twice a lap. fast straight, slow corners were banked, WOW what fun. If I only had my own Porshe....
The car was returned with out a scratch so the $5000 dollar waiver was not needed. The day was a success as Mom enjoyed the constant show in the paddock. It was a good day to end with a beer.

Romans and the Rhine

Yesterday we spent with Heidi, Dennis and family exploring the Roman castle of Saalburg. It was a castle at the northern most boarder of the Roman empire and was started around 32 ad or so. It was complete with bathhouses and over 90 wells. The border wall and moat were impressive as they went for miles.

Today we left our new friends in Frankfurt. They were a fun family and we enjoyed sharing experiences and comparing values and stories about raising children. Eric (the older boy) now says "Bingo" every time he sees a yellow vehicle - courtesy of Brian. As soon as we left town Dennis recived word my camera was found. He had already taken me shopping for a new camera so I am now the proud owner on 2 sony cameras.
Next we headed up the Rhine river. It was lots of fun with a castle around every coner. We had lunch in Bacharach which was a small walled town with 1/2 timbered (1/2 stone) houses. It was fun to wander around. Next we headed to the castle at Rheinfels. It had a wonderfull self guided tour that gave lots of opportunity to look down at the river and towns. The secound half of the tour spent a fair amount of time wandering around in the fortification tunnels. It was great fun, but dark and short. I don't think they were worried about height considerations when they built these castles. We are now at the Nurburgring and had dinner at the Nurburgring brewery. We may be her for a couple of days as this appears to quite simply be race car heaven