Blogs from Germany, Europe - page 766

Before heading to Munich we stopped at Mauthausen, a tiny wee town that housed the concentration camp run by the Nazis from 1938-1945. I can't describe the eerie feeling that surrounded the area. We watched a video inside, it's hard to believe that such things went on and the locals didn't even know about it. The Nazi's took in 190,000 Jews, Convicts and anyone they thought to be anti-nazi and 100,000 of those people died inside the concentration camp. It was mortifying to see what went on but i'm glad we got the chance to go there. In the afternoon we stopped in a little town called Mondsee and saw the Chapel where the Captain and Maria got married in The Sound of Music. It was one of the most gorgeous little towns i've ever seen. ... read more

We arrived in Hannover on the 18th after four days of cycling on the Fulda and Weser Rivers from Kassel to Hamlyn and over the Oldenberg to Hannover. We are staying with Andreas S in Hannover whom Ray met during his time here during Expo 2000. We meet up with Andreas in Hamlyn who cycles with us to Hannover. En route to Hannover we lunch at a Waldhotel named Holzmuehle - a hotel in the forest named woodmill, visit a museum in Coppenbruegge, and two cloisters, one with a broad view of the area south of Hannover. ... read more

This is my first trip to Germany alone. I had been a couple of times before, but now it is on me to find my way around. I was a little familiar with Stuttgart, so I decided to fly in here. Upon arrival, I was a little nervous, but I knew I had noone to count on but myself, so off I went to get my rental car and currency. I rented a small car, for I really did not think I would be travelling that much, and the gas would not be a large expense. I finally found the car in the lot, and when I got in and cranked it, I was really relieved. Now, off to my hotel. I found my hotel pretty easily, and once I checked in, I thought it was ... read more

The day II in Hamburg & Lübeck. Today's target: Hamburg! We took an U-bahn (Metro train) from Ahrensburg to Hamburg because it was the most convenient way of travelling to downtown Hamburg. It took about 40 minutes to get to downtown Hamburg. The city of Hamburg lies at the junction of the River Elbe with the Rivers Alster and Bille. The city center lies around two lakes, the Binnenalster ("Inner Alster") and the Aussenalster ("Outer Alster"). We started out by visiting....Lego store! Surprise! It was a nice big store with all sorts of Lego toys and things. Daniela-the-Lego-fan bought a blue Lego man T-shirt. We others just shopped with our eyes. Our official first visiting place was Hamburg Rathaus. What a building! We heard later that it holds one room more than the Buckingham Palace...and not ... read more

So last night was a great celebration in honor of our 5 year anniversary. We were able to spend a wonderful day visiting the Louvre and Musee Rodin. I can't believe we got to see Mona Lisa, The Thinker, and The Kiss, all on our special day! I definitely won't forget it! We left in the evening to celebrate our anniversary in Paris, and got to eat dinner at that lovely cafe that we had spent the day prior. We had a great dinner, and I had view of two of my favorites in the world: my husband and the Eiffel Tower. It was a great setting, we had great food and great conversation. We left to go see the Tower at around 7:30, even though I was worried we would miss the sunset. We made ... read more