Last Day - Return to Franfurt

Our last day in Germany! We bid our hosts, Frau Bridget and Herr Karl good bye, and said a sad farewell to our favorite kitten on the farm. We stopped at Kriebstein Castle, supposedly Saxony's most beautiful knight's castle built high aboe the River Zschopau. We also stopped at Gleichen Castle near Erfurt, which built in 1088, but is now in ruins. We had our final dinner near the city, and then found the Holiday Inn near the airport, and got ready for the flight home early in the morning!

Day 13 - Kaditzsch

This day was one of the highlights of our trip for me because we visited the home of my great-great grandparents, the Wenzels in the samll village of Kaditzsch, which is near Grimma in Saxony. After spending some time in Wermsdorf and Kollmichen, previous homes to the Wenzel ancestors, we arrived at our destination. Our host for the day was the current owner of the house, Herr Weide, who had been the mayor of Grimma. He had located the original records of the family in the church, and then he escorted us on a fantastic tour of Grimma and Kaditzsch giving us a lot of history of the area, as well of the Wenzel family. We were able to see places that most tourist would not have been able to view, such as the attic and bell tower in old village hall, and the ancient mill in town. What a fantastic day, and we both wished we had more time to spend. Another return to this area of Saxony is on order!

Day 12 - Return to Frankfurt

We awoke to a rather overcast day in Schiltach, I think our first in Germany! Perhaps a sign that it is time to start thinking about returning to the US? We decided to take the side roads back to Frankfurt, which can be a bit stressful for the driver because of the twists, turns, and narrow lanes. We stopped briefly in Baden-Baden, which is an old Roman town famous for its baths. We took a peek at the "Neues Schloss", which only dates to the 15th century and then continued on to Frankfurt. Wes and I bid "Auf Wiedersehen" to Don and Leigh, and continued our journey to Saxony.

Day 5 - Muchen

On the morning after our second night at Punzelweg, we ventured off to Muchen (Munich) for Oktoberfest! What a festival of bier!! Twelve tents holding 10,000 people each, full of folks drinking beer from LARGE steins! There were a lot of very happy, happy people from all over the world enjoying Lowenbrau, Paulander, Hofbrau, Pschorr, etc. We didn't try them all, but did sample a few! Think I liked the horse drawn wagons the best, the horses were all decked out in elaborate harnesses. Very cool.

Day 4 - Berchestgaden & Salzburg

In the morning we decided to visit the Kehlsteinhaus,also known as the Eagle's Nest, built by the Nazis in the mountains as an official 50th birthday present for Adolf Hitler. Eva Braun spent a lot of time here, though Hitler did not, which is why it was saved from destruction at the end of WW II! The views were spectacular!
The afternoon brought us to Salzburg, Austria, where we visited the Hohensalzburg Castle, Motzart's Home and enjoyed Ocktoberfest, Austrian style.

Day 3 - Schloß Mespelbrunn & Schloß Neunhof

On our third day in Germany, we picked Don and Leigh up at the airport in Frankfort and drove to Berchtesgaden, in the German Bavarian Alps. We stopped at several "schlosses", castles, on the way. Some were small, some not so small! The first, Mespelbrunn, was a wasserschloss, and was built between 1412 and 1569. The second stop was at Schloß Neunhof, a much smaller schloss close to Nuremberg. It had a very delightful garden!

Day 2 - Eberbach - Rothenburg

After a good night's sleep in a guesthouse in Eberbach, we continued driving next to the Neckar River, which is one of the towns on "Castle Road" in Germany. We spent most of the morning in Bad Wimpfen, which is an ancient Roman market town that can be traced back to the first century. The Schloss, or castle goes back to the 10th century. In the afternoon we traveled on to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, an idyllic medieval town that overlooks the Tauber River.

Day 1 - Heidelberg

We landed in Frankfurt in the rain, but by the time we reached Heidelberg on the river Neckar, the sun was shining! We spent most of the day investigating one of the oldest university towns in Europe and Heidelberger Schloss. Then we found a quiet "gasthaus" nearby in Eberbach, and retired VERY early. We were asleep by seven.