Blogs from Hanau, Hesse, Germany, Europe

It has arrived -- our last day. What an absolutely amazing time we have had. We tried to make a list of our top 10 favorites but neither of us could limit it to 10. So the last list will be of our top 10ish trip highlights. Bullfight (both) Boating through Amsterdam on the canals (both) Standing at the Leaning Tower of Pisa (Jan) Crossing the Atlantic by boat (Jerry) Statue of David (both) Bicycling around Holland on the dikes (both) Venice (Jan) Deutches Museum in Munich (Jerry) Rhine River cruise (both) Gondola ride and view in Austria (both) Rock of Gibraltar (both) ZZ Top Concert (both) The most unusual city of Amsterdam (both) Bike paths throughout Europe (Jan) Being inside a windmill (Jerry) Public transportation systems, ease of riding around on trains and buses (Jan) ... read more

One more road trip this time to the village of Seligenstadt only about 30 kilometers away. It was a pretty drive through the country and by a lake. We wished we would have known about the lake earlier in our stay, we could have ridden our bikes there. Oh well, you always should leave something for the next time. As we neared the town suddenly the road came to a stop right at the river's edge. Ohhhh there is a small ferry to take you the rest of the way. Funny we didn't see any signs about a ferry. So we wandered through the town which had many more half timber houses and a very large Abbey. Apparently the monks make bread on Thursday to sell to visitors--today was Wednesday, darn! The abbey has a beautiful ... read more

We woke up to rain again, so much for the long bike ride today. We decided to take a drive to a couple of villages that are supposed to be good for sightseeing. Jerry has decided that Germany is a great place to drive. First of all there is the autobahn -- a freeway with no speed limit. And second, the stoplights turn yellow before the red light like ours do. But the great thing is that they also turn yellow before the light turns green. Since most of the cars here are manual transmission, the yellow light gives you the opportunity to put your car in gear just before the green light. So if you are paying attention, you can be the first off the line every time -- just like being at the dragstrip! ... read more

You never know what you are going to find when you set out to explore a new place. Today's discovery was pretty cool. The rain had finally stopped so we got out the bikes and headed out. One of the great things about Europe are the bike paths. Most of the time when a road is built the bike path is built at the same time. We will miss them when we get back home. We rode to a park in the little community of Wilhelmsbad. Not exactly sure what this used to be but now the buildings are used for cultural events. There is a toy museum in one of the buildings and an enormous carousel in another. But the best part was the ancient remains of a castle complete with a moat. It looked ... read more

When I was stationed in Hanau Germany in the late 1970’s I had to live in a local hotel for about six months for various reasons. The hotel, which was family owned and operated, was located halfway between the main part of Hanua and many of the U.S. Military facilities. The owner Hans spoke fluent English and had the hotel filled with American soldiers and their families. The Hotel had about 35 hotel rooms of various sizes, a good size bar that seated about 25, and a dining room that seated about 30. All in all this hotel was very nice and had just the right atmosphere you would expect on a vacation to Germany. I ate the evening meal in the hotel just about every night or the nights I was not out working. ... read more