Almost Over

Day 11, the last stretch of our wonderful trip. We spent the last couple of days in the gorgeous town of Oberabergau at the foothills of the Alps. The town is quite quaint with cobbled streets, a church that chimed every 15 minutes -the church was built in the 1700s and had the most unique cemetery that Ive seen. We walked to Greggs namesake chapel and met some wonderful Frauleins who guided us to the chapel from their bicycles.

Today we went to the historic town of Lindau which is on an island in the Bodensee. I was surprised and elated to find the lighthouse. Its much more embellished than our DC ones but equally beautiful. We stopped at the most beautiful baroque romanesque church in Bavaria. By now all the churches are running together but this one had some unique frescos to view and look for hidden things in them like a honeybee nest and an angel holding a mirror on the ceiling.

Tomorrow will be a bittersweet day as itll be our last excursion -- a woodcarving exhibition and then off to Frankfurt to rest up for our trip home.

Ive gone through 9 rolls of film and multiple digital photos so there will be plenty of memories to share with you all.

See you soon.

-- Gregg and Mary

The Romantic Road

To end my PERFECT birthday we went to a wonderful restaurant in Berlin where everyone sang happy birthday and the musicians played the Beer Barrel Polka in my honor. Gregg picked out a gorgeous ring in Cologne to complete this memorable birthday.

Yesterday we walked through the wonderful medieval town of Nuremburg and took some great pictures. Our tour guide is awesome and quite the history buff. Weve learned alot more about WW2 and Hitler, took some pictures of the places where he held the nazi rallies and understood more about how he came to power.

Today we went to two medieval towns, Rotenburg and another one that I cant remember the name of but both were charming . . . cobblestone streets, half timber houses, great food, great shopping (birkenstocks for half the price in the us!). Were spending the night in Munich and will see the sights of Munchen with a local guide and then head south through Bavaria to Oberabergau where well spend two relaxful nights with views of the Alps. Then the Black Forest and back to Frankfurt on Wednesday night.

Weve learned that the Germans are very neat people, friendly, orderly, and pleasant. I loved the small towns and could easily see myself in one of those townhouses overlooking the 13th century history. Berlin and Munich are much like Chicago. The food is wonderful but I cant get used to the mineral water, yuk.

More later!

= Gregg and Mary

Guten Tag!

Hallo Alles!

We made it . . . its absolutely gorgeous. Much like Wisconsin. The city homes (or villas) are close together and those that live in the city also have a garden home where they spend weekends and holidays. We had a slight change in our schedule and due to scheduling conflicts we spent Wednesday night in an artist town in an old converted warehouse with a Paccaso motif . . . yes, Kent I took lots of pictures for you! Last night and tonight were staying the summer PALACE of Queen Luise. Yes, an actual palace with gardens and fountains!! Were near where my family came from so I got a feel for what their villages might have looked like. What a wonderful way to celebrate my 50th . . . a birthday fit for a queen (aka ME). We stopped in Cologne and lite candles for all our loved ones in the cathedral and have spent the last couple of days touring the palaces of the Prussian royalty. Ive already used up all my film and weve got another week to go. Sorry about the lack of punctuation, this a european keyboard and at 5 euros a half hour I dont want to waste time figuring it out.

Take care. More later.

Gregg and Mary

The Beginning

Christie convinced me that this is the route that technology is taking so here I go!

We have alot of exciting things that we're looking forward to - the biggest being our trip to Germany! We're leaving on Saturday and Gregg's already fretting over what he'll do during the plane trip from NY to Frankfurt. He was trying to remember when the last time was he sat next to me for 9 straight hours . . . ahh, never? I'm packing some munchie food, magazines, books, etc. so hopefully he'll relax and enjoy the escape. We'll be taking in Frankfurt, Remagen, Cologne, Berlin, Leipzig, Nurenberg, Rothenberg, Munich, Oberammergau, Lindau, The Black Forest, Heidelberg, and returning to Frankfurt. Stay tuned.

My Door County sunset picture has now come back from the printer, embossed with an inspirational scripture. We're waiting for the elders to figure out how to hang it in the church's celebration hall. Believe me, I was surprised (and estatic) when they chose my picture!!