This is the category that defines normal everyday blog entries that appear on the front page of the site.
On the way to Rothenburg we stopped in a little village called Harburg. It’s a classic medieval village with a castle on the hill and narrow streets, barely wide enough to drive through. Probably those medieval city planners weren’t up to speed on the size of our 21st century cars when they layed out the city. Continue reading →
We stayed in Baden-Baden for only a couple of nights while we were visiting the Schloss Lichtenstein and the Black Forest. There really isn’t much we can report about this town, other than we were within walking distance to their old town, which is where we went each night to find some dinner. Continue reading →
Hohen schwan gau – in german means high (hohen) schwan (swan) gau (country, district). The community of Schwangau was originally nothing more than a couple of farm houses until King Maximilian II of Bavaria discovered the ruins of an old castle in the early 19th century. The castle, called fortress Schwangau was thought to have been originally built in the 12th century, and was the fortress of a group of knights. Continue reading →
Heidelberg goes down as one of those places that warrants a return trip at some point. While we weren’t totally blown away with the adventure, it was nevertheless a decent town to visit. We spent a couple of nights at a downtown Holiday Inn Express that was within easy walking distance to Old Town and the Heidelberg Castle. We spent one even strolling Old Town, and one day at the Castle and again at Old Town. Continue reading →
When we arrived in Cochem, there were probably 1,000 bikers in town, plus a compliment of other tourists from tour companies, boat excursions, and folks like us, who just drove in for the day or weekend. It apparently was a German holiday, and the Germans were out in full force, in full party mode. And did we mention, the Germans know how to party.
There were bikes, boats, old cars, new cars, just about every kind of recreational vehicle you would expect to see in the US, but in German style. Bikes, for example, are overwhelmingly Harley Davidson at a typical US motorcycle rally. In Cochem, there were a few Harleys, but the bikes were a mixture of other brands. Many European brands including BMW and Triumph, but many Japanese bikes too. Continue reading →
We’re in the Caribbean aboard the Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas. This is the biggest ship we’ve sailed, and probably the largest cruise ship afloat. This week, we’re traveling from the Fort Lauderdale Port Everglades, to Haiti, jamaica, Cozumel, and back. We’ll have three “sea days”.
It’s been a couple of years since we’ve been aboard a Royal Caribbean ship, and we’ve almost forgotten how different it is compared to some of the other cruise lines we’ve tried. The service is great and the ship is full of Wow factor.
Join us again in the next few days and we’ll have a complete description of this great ship with as many pictures as we think you can stand.
Last week we made a quick five day Caribbean cruise on the Princess’s “Caribbean Princess”. We left Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, November 29th and sailed to Nassau in the Bahamas. From there we made a stop at Princess Cays located about fifty miles east of Nassau, then back to Fort Lauderdale. There were two “at sea” days on this cruise. Continue reading →
Over the years, we’ve made eleven cruises on various ships and cruise lines. From that experience we’ve always maintained that “we never met a cruise ship we didn’t like”. We’ve been on Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Disney, and lately our last three cruises were on various Norwegian Cruise Line ships, the latest being the Norwegian Epic. The Epic is the largest ship we’ve sailed on, but it’s a far cry from the best, at least in our estimation. Continue reading →
