Germany

Neuschwanstein, Germany. The castle that inspired Disney. It's magical alright, but I think it looks prettier on the outside than the inside. Still ... I wouldn't mind living there.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. Not to use two Disney references on the same webpage, but this place just looks too perfect and too quaint to be part of the real world.

Saint Bartholoma, Germany. This small but oh-so-scenic church/farm complex is just a short boat ride from Berchtesgaden. The scenery along the way is stunning and so are the hiking trails once you get here. And they have a beergarden!

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Konigssee, Germany. Another gorgeous alpine lake on a beautiful summer day. The lake and most of it's surroundings are within Berchtesgaden National Park. You could hike for days or weeks here and still not cover all of the trails.

Munich, Germany. The view from the bell tower of St. Peters Church. That's the central plaza of Marienplatz, with the ornate Rathaus (City Hall) on the other side of the plaza.

Other amusements in Munich include drinking vast amounts of beer in the many great biergartens and ... surfing ???

Above: Inland surfing, about 400 miles from the nearest ocean. Fast-moving water produces this 3-foot standing wave, much to the delight of landlocked local surfers. It's COLD though!!

Right: Wendy raising hell at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. This pretty little town is set well up into the Alps and is a great ski town, or so I hear. I hope to come back and check that out some day! But it's pretty nice in the summer too...

Kehlsteinhaus. This is Hitler's Eagle's Nest, a kind of James Bond bad-guy lair of the day, nestled high up on a mountain ridge in Berchtesgaden. Most of this sprawling complex was bombed flat by the Allies in WWII but this part survived. This facility was the planning center for some of the worst atrocities of the war but now it's used mainly to serve up cake and cappuccino. I gotta say, it was weird walking the same hallways and footpaths that Hitler had once walked.

Insel, Germany. Most of us don't normally think of Germany as a nautical kind of place but the tiny 'seaside' village of Insel is just that. The town completely covers a small island in Lake Constance and just oozes with German-style charm. So does the harbor, though they might have overdone it a bit on the lighthouse. Off in the distance on the other side of the lake are (L to R) Austria, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland.

Stuttgart, Germany. One of my favorite places in Germany: Stuttgart and the Porsche plant. Behind me is the factory where my little Boxster was born.