Geo: 52.52, 13.4049 We arrived in Berlin, traversed the buses and Berlin's Underground, found our Hotel, placed our bags in storage and stepped out to see the city. First stop was the City Bus Tour. After a whirlwind stop of all the major tourist attractions, and a history lesson along the way, we came back to the Hotel and checked in. We then caught the bus to the Brandenburg Gate, which is the last surviving original gate (one of eighteen) to the city. The gate was in No-Man's Land between West and East during the Cold War. We then walked to the Reichstag, Germany's Parliament House. We sought out a Thai Restaurant nearby and had a great meal for dinner. Big day tomorrow.... read more

Geo: 48.7912, 2.65432Our final blog entry of our European holiday. We drove today from Strasbourg to our Hotel in Roissy (near Charles De Gaulle Airport) hoping to get there early enough to take the metro into Paris for the evening. Unfortunately, there was a bad accident on the freeway, which entailed a three hour delay on top of a four and a half car journey. Instead, we went for a walk around Roissy, and then headed back to our Hotel for dinner and to sort out our luggage for the trip home in the morning. It has been an amazing six week adventure, travelling through five countries and countless cities and towns. Some assistance we need to acknowledge:- - our friends Darrol, Liz, Chloe and Ciara, who were our travel companions and guides for the first ... read more

Geo: 47.6519, 9.47837We enjoyed the best breakfast of our holiday thus far at Hotel Lisl in Hohenschwangau. We then headed off to Friedrichshafen. Friedrichshafen is a holiday town located on the northern side of Lake Konstanz (the Bodensee) in Southern German. Lake Konstanz has three countries bordering its shores, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Friedrichshafen was established in 1811 as part of the new Kingdom of Wurttemberg, an ally of France during the Napoleonic Wars. Friedrichshafen is best known for being the site of the Zeppelin factory. It also housed the Dornier factory, with the well known Dornier planes playing a significant role for Germany in WWII. Between 1942 and 1945, these factories employed hundreds of concentration camp prisoners from Dachau and Dora-Mittelbau, as well as building the V2 rockets which shelled London during WWII. On the ... read more

Geo: 48.1391, 11.5802We started the day off by taking an electric tram into Munich to meet up with a guide for a tour of Dachau Concentration Camp. Dachau is around ten minutes from Munich by train and was set up in 1933, originally to house and "re-educate" enemies of the state ie: anyone who opposed the Nazi Party. It became the model camp for all Concentration Camps, and was the training ground for troops of the SS. The camp was only closed when the allies liberated the camp in April 1945. Dachau Camp, as were all of the camps, was a hell on earth. The prisoners first lost their identity after coming through the gate. They then had to sign over all their worldly goods to the Nazis. Their families were often held in other parts ... read more

Geo: 47.7994, 13.044With rain being predicted for the day, we decided to catch a Boat Cruise up the river to Helbronn Palace, which the Archbishop and Head of State of the day Archbishop Sittick) built for his amusement and for the amusement of his guests. There was a red double decker bus to meet us at the boat, and take us up to the Palace. The Palace has extensive gardens which contain trick fountains everywhere, that can be turned on at will, and were by the Tour guide. The fountains are a marvel, as there are no pumps, they are all gravity fed using water pressure. The jets of water literally spring from everywhere as you walk through the gardens, and not one person in our group didn't get the trick fountain treatment from the guide.We ... read more