Blogs from Hesse, Germany, Europe

Touchdown in Frankfurt March 5, 2024 Kirsten and I scanned all the European flights leaving JFK and the best option was Frankfurt. So, as I’m finishing my second glass of Rioja, I’ll type out a few lines. I watched a great romcom, “She Came to Me” while eating dinner. I read a few chapters in my new book “The 3 Body Problem”. Now I’m going to put this seat into sleep mode and try to get some sleep. Kirsten is already out and I’m going to be asleep soon. Wake up Mr. Vaughan, woah... that was a rough flight and I only got about 2 hrs of sleep. I felt like we were riding on brick roads in downtown Orlando. Kirsten slept like a baby. We had breakfast and as they were taking away my tray, ... read more

The rest days provide an opportunity to spend a bit of time in one spot rather than roll into town attend to what needs to be done, eat, sleep, breakfast, ride, rinse-and-repeat. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't enjoy it, but the rest days are GOLD. Frankfurt is a beautiful city. It has blended the old with the new in a more integrated way than we normally see where the old part of town is totally separate to the new part. There are lots and lots of high end shops to cater to any needs although it did take me numerous attempts to find somewhere that sold Garmin Heart Rate Monitors. Mine died after the first week of the ride and I've been trying to replace it ever since. Jeff ... read more

July 21, 2023 – Going to Berchtesgaden We’re up.... well, that could be debated. Our breakfast bread is waiting for us beside the door. Another perfect German breakfast is on the table and I’m thinking the elves were here, you know I could get used to these elf’s taking care of me. After breakfast and everyone is showered and dressed. We load the car and were off to Berchtesgaden. You know... where Adolf partied with Eva Brun at the Eagles Nest. Today is going to be a long drive day. But first, we stop at Nuernberg and walk around and check out all the sights and have lunch. After leaving Nurnberg, we drive thru fields upon fields of HOPS! We thought of our hometown brewery Grove Roots. Finally, after multiple bathroom stops, we arrive in Berchtesgaden, ... read more

July 19, 2023 – Vondering through Fulda We wake up our breakfast bread is waiting for us beside the door. Oh, I forgot to mention the landlady takes our breakfast bread order each evening and by 7am, it is outside our door. That’s what I call service. Kirsten and Bea prepare us the perfect German breakfast. Bread, meats, soft boiled eggs and cheese. After breakfast and everyone is showered and dressed were off to see Omi’s hometown where Opa met Omi while stationed in the military. Just a quick note, Bea was born in Fulda. Another great story to ask her about. We toured thru the Fulda Dom, the village of Fulda was setting up for a concert in front of the cathedral which took away from the beauty of the outside of the cathedral. But ... read more

We arrived bright and early Monday morning in Frankfurt, Germany. After a short taxi ride to the hotel we checked into our room and started out on a little adventure to find a geocache. We found our way to the tram after a little walk and figured out the correct stop to reach our goal. After another walk to the final location Fred had the geocache in hand and signed the log. We then made our way back to the hotel via the tram. We had several other caches to look for, but after an all night flight and a longer than expected excursion to the first one, we decided resting in the hotel until our welcome dinner this evening. Our welcome dinner was held at a restaurant, Zum Storch am Dom. We boarded our bus ... read more