http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Der Reisende/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Der Reisende en-us Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:34:15 BST Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:34:15 BST We just returned from a week in Medjugorje. That is one very special place. Kate found a tour group from the U.S. who said that we could join them in Frankfurt. For a very reasonable price we got a round trip flight to Split Croatia a three hour bus ride to Medjugorje in Bosnia Herzegovina a nice room and breakfast and dinner each day. The group was led by Steve Shawl of www.medjugorje.org http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bosnia-and-Herzegovina/blog-279686.html VERDUNldquoThey had conquered a notorious hill. They had lived in trenches that had been alternately French and German. These trenches sometimes lay filled with bodies in different stages of decomposition. They were once men in the prime of their lives but had fallen for the possession of this hill. This hill that was partly built on dead bodies already. A battle after which they lay rotting http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Lorraine/Verdun/blog-266820.html There is no way that either Kate or I would have ever imagined that we would be spending our 39th wedding anniversary in Warsaw Poland but due to an airfare special from a German airlines that is exactly where we landed on our anniversary. Warsaw being the capital of Poland is a large city. According to Wikipedia the city area is 516.9 square kilometers 199.6 sq mi. It is the eighth largest http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Masovia/Warsaw/blog-205238.html 268esky Krumlov is definitely one of the most picturesque sites we have ever visited. 268esky Krumlov is a charming medieval town located in southern Czech Republic near the Austrian border. Sitting amidst the Vltava River this quaint town boasts an abundance of culture history and adventure and good food and beer. You can wander aimlessly through the cobblestone traffic free streets an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/South/Cesky-Krumlov/blog-164030.html For a place that really is really only open for about 8 weeks a year and especially if you love spring flowers and more especially tulips there's no place better than De Keukenhof not far from the village of Lisse The Netherlands southwest of Amsterdam. This remarkable park is transformed every spring into a dazzling everchanging display of tulips daffodils hyacinths crocuses lilies am http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/South-Holland/Keukenhof/blog-160136.html This past weekend we had the opportunity to visit the Weihnachtsmarkt Christmas Market in Hexxenagger a village about 80 miles SE of where we live and just north of Munich. This has to be the best Christmas Market we have ever been to even in the rain. The various craftsmen working on their wares and just the ambiance of having the market on the castle grounds just made everything perfect. W http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Schloss-Hexenagger/blog-109842.html According to medieval legend lsquoBefore Rome Trier stood one thousand and three hundred yearsrsquo. However according to recorded history Trierrsquos history begins around the middle of the first century B.C. when a guy by the name of Julius Caesar conquered Gaul France Belgium Luxemburg and some portions of the Netherlands and Germany in 51 B.C. and integrated the Moselle Region i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Rhineland-Palatinate/Trier/blog-105672.html Kate and I had the opportunity to visit Strasbourg a few weeks ago. For a town that is over 2000 years old the first mention of this city dates back to 12 B.C. Strasbourg looked extremely well preserved. The old town is located on an island which is surrounded by beautiful rivers and canals. Strasbourg sits at the confluence of the Bruche and Ill rivers and it sits across the Rhine River from http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Alsace/Strasbourg/blog-104181.html It was a warm and sunny day when we arrived. There were a lot of people who arrived about the same time we did all talking quietly to each other wondering what this place was really like trying to imaginehellip. The only difference was that we were arriving by car not jammed into a rail car like so many who arrived here over 60 years ago to the infamous concentration camps of Auschwitz and B http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Auschwitz/blog-95568.html The last weekend of August Kate and I spent the weekend in Aachen Germany attending some of the World Equestrian Games. The twoweeklong games are held every four years in a different country. In 2010 the games will be held in Kentucky. I would advise anyone thinking of attending that they start seeing about tickets. We bought our tickets in late January seven months before the games and all th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/North-Rhine-Westphalia/Aachen/blog-87539.html This past Fourth of July weekend Kate and I decided to see another area of Germany that we had not seen before and at the same time check out another spa. Germany has lots of spas We decided to head south toward the area of Stuttgart. I found a great hotel Schlosshotel Monrepos just north of Stuttgart in the town of Ludwigsburg. According to the website it gave us the impression that the SeeSc http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/blog-72520.html Memorial Day weekend we decided to go to southern Germany to visit the Bodensee or Lake Constance as it is also known. The Bodensee is a large lake the 3rd largest in Europe which borders Germany Switzerland and a tiny portion of Austria. The lake is 40 miles long and 8 miles wide. Bodensee loosely translates to ldquobottom lakerdquo as it lies at the bottom of Germany.We stayed at a ver http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Baden-W-rttemberg/Lake-Constance/blog-63263.html This is a short blog as these are pictures I took today. It has been very cold here in Ansbach and sometime during the night there must have been some sleet and snow that had fallen. This morning everywhere you looked it was like something out of a Currier Ives print. You may not enjoy them all but maybe one will maybe make you say wow. I've only number these pictures as they are just presente http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Ansbach/blog-35176.html With the snow and cold of Germany in winter and no chance of going back to San Diego for Christmas Kate and I decided to find a warm place to go during Christmas. Our local travel agent suggested either Egypt or the Canary Islands. Since we prefer islands to sand we choose to go to the island of Tenerife a Spanish possession for over 500 years. We were going to arrange our trip to be gone over http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Canary-Islands/Tenerife/blog-34565.html The Christmas season is a very special time in Germany. During the four weeks preceding Christmas known as Advent in almost every city town or village in Germany the main market square where all the fruits and vegetables are sold the fruit and vegetable stalls are dismantled and removed from the market square at the beginning of November and replaced by picturesque wooden huts adorned with http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/blog-31191.html Weekend before last we decided to see a little more of Germany and took a ride to Bamberg about an1 12 hour drive north of Ansbach. Bamberg was founded about 900 A.D. and was fortunate not to suffer any bombing damage during World War II. A thousandyear cultural and architectural site UNESCO declared Bamberg a world heritage city in 1976. It is a beautiful town with unforgettable small and wi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Bamberg/blog-26572.html Salzburg the name comes from Salz salt and burg castle of which the Hohensalzburg Fortress over looks the city and has provided for its protection since 1077. The Salz or salt comes from the salt mines located not far from Salzburg and was the source of its wealth. Although famous for the birthplace of Mozart and the film ldquoThe Sound of Musicrdquo Salzburg has been around a long time. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Salzburg-State/Salzburg/blog-23737.html One of the greatest and longest parties in the world has to be the Munich Octoberfest. This year it was 17 days visited by over six million people from all over the world who when not jammed into 14 giant brewerysponsored tents a good number of which can hold up to 9000 people each rode huge amusement park rides that rival those in the U.S. Besides the beer consumed during this Octberfest en http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-23424.html A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to visit the cities of Heidelberg and Mannheim Germany. Although very much a tourist town Heidelberg is still worth a visit. Founded in the mid 1200s there were people living in the area even as far back as 766 A.D. Heidelberg is located on the Burgenstrasse Castle Road a 1000 Km 621 mile road that stretches from nearby Mannheim to Prague Czech Republ http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Baden-W-rttemberg/Heidelberg/blog-21332.html Germany has to be the land of fests or festivals as almost every weekend there is some type of celebration going on in one of its numerous villages. This past weekend July 30 31 the village of Aub held a different type of fest a medieval faire. Rather than have a typical festival with carnival rides and a beer fest hall Aub holds its annual medieval faire. They try to make it as real as possi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Aub/blog-15713.html