GERMANY 2010 -- 5

+ Updated at 4:52pm EST, Thursday, January 14, 2010.

+ Soon I will need to book our tours of The Neuschwanstein Castle and The Hohenschwangau Castle which are near Füssen.

+ The Alpine portion of our trip is now getting set in stone as I'm booking four nights at Villa Mein lieber Schwan in Füssen.

+ Rick Steves' Germany 2010 is now available and I'm pouring over it.  A very preliminary plan has us staying 3 nights in Berlin, 3 nights in Nurnberg, 4 nights in Füssen, 1 night in Munich and 1 night in Frankfurt.  I repeat: very preliminary.

+ Our flights are booked: JFK-Heathrow; Heathrow-Frankfurt; Frankfurt-Heathrow; Heathrow-JFK.  We will be leaving JFK on Tuesday, June 8 and returning to JFK on June 22.  We are using up all of our British Airways miles. 

+ Previous Germany -- 2010 posts: 1 2 3 4

GERMANY 2010 -- 4

+ Here are some useful tools for planning train or automobile trips:

Bahn (German Railroads) is a very useful website for train travel in Germany and all of Europe.

European Rail Guide offers informative maps featuring all of the the main routes.

Drive-Alive offers detailed and informative maps and travel directions for driving in Europe. Many hotels and attractions are included on the maps.

Previous Germany -- 2010 posts: 1 2 3

EXPLORING UPSTATE NEW YORK -- 2

+ updated at 5:26pm EST, November 11, 2009

+ This is the second post on places near my home in upstate New York.

+ Once again I call your attention to a website devoted to upstate NY: Round The Bend's Upstate New York.


+ In EXPLORING UPSTATE NEW YORK -- 1, I said I will focus on my former hometown, Richfield Springs, also called Richfield Spa or just Richfield where I was the Pastor of The Church of Christ Uniting (Presbyterian & Mehodist) from 1988 to 1999. I will do that now simply by offering some links and related thoughts:

Richfield Springs Online

The Richfield Springs Mercury - When I lived in Richfield Springs, this newspaper was published as part of the weekly Cooperstown newspaper. It came back to life on its own some time after I left in1999. It began sometime in the nineteenth century.

US Route 20 - Route 20 crosses the USA from Boston, Massachusetts to Newport, Oregon on the Pacific.

The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad - Richfield Springs was at the end of a branch line of this historic railroad. The Spa was a popular destination from the 1880s until the 1920s. Hotels with access to the mineral springs lined Main Street (Route 20).

Canadarago Lake - Beautiful and nearby. I had a sailboat docked each summer at the home of a member of my church. Lots of fun! A storm snapped my mast one night. The weather forecast did not include high winds but I knew I was in trouble when I heard the whistling of the winds that night. It was the remnants of Hurricane Hugo which had hit Charleston SC with a vengeance. I really enjoyed sailing on the lake when the leaves were changing in early October.

Map by Mapquest

Wikipedia Article

+++

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GERMANY 2010 -- 3

+ For the Alpine portion of our trip, Reutte is another town Rick Steves suggests. It is actually in Austria but not far from Füssen and the famous castles of Bavaria.

+ It's much too early to decide but I think we may stay half the time in or near Berlin and half the time in or near Munich.

WANDERING AROUND THE PLANET -- 3

+ updated at 11:41pm ESDT

+ In WANDERING AROUND THE PLANET -- 2, I listed a few of the national parks I have visited in the USA & Canada inspired by Ken Burns' delightful and informative film: THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA'S BEST IDEA which has been offered on PBS this past week for the first time. Here are four more parks I have visited:

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK (Montana)
In 1994, Mary & I and another couple took Amtrak's Empire Builder from Chicago to Whitefish, just beyond the park. Just as the view of the Rockies in this wonderful park got more and more spectacular we were enjoying a delicious dinner in the dining car. At the end of our trip we got back to Glacier and drove the incredible Going to the Sun Highway. But that was later. We got off the train in Whitefish and stayed there 1 night. Then we rented a minivan and drove West through Montana, Idaho and Washington to Seattle, then North to Vancouver Island and Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. Then we took the Trans-Canada Highway East across BC going through beautiful mountains and perhaps as many as 4 different national parks before reaching ...

BANFF NATIONAL PARK and JASPER NATIONAL PARK (both in Alberta, Canada) Here we were treated to some of the world's greatest scenery including Lake Louise and a huge glacier. Banff is also famous for its hot springs. We then drove on to ...

WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK (Alberta, Canada) where we took a boat tour on one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, half in Canada and half in the USA. We enjoyed amazing views of the Rockies. I couldn't stop clicking my camera. Waterton Lakes NP and Glacier NP share a common boundary. Together, the park is known as the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. It is now designated as a world heritage site by the United Nations.

+ When I get around to WANDERING AROUND THE PLANET -- 4, I will continue our imaginary journey to all kinds of places on the planet, mostly places I have never visited but would love to visit some day. Where do you want to go?

+ Go to WANDERING AROUND THE PLANET -- 1

+ Go to WANDERING AROUND THE PLANET -- 2

+ Go to the top of The Abundancetrek Travel Blog.

GERMANY 2010 -- 2

+ updated at 11:57am ESDT, October 3, 2009

+ Of course I will buy the Germany 2010 tourbook by Rick Steves when it appears. In the mean time, the Rick Steves website offers Rick's Favorite 3-week itinerary. I like the map. We don't plan to stay quite that long but ideas for our travel are always welcome and nobody does it better than Rick Steves and his team of travel experts.

+ In Rick's Favorite 3-week itinerary, there is a list of sightseeing priorities:
3 days: Munich, Bavarian castles

5 days, add: Rhine Valley, Rothenburg

7 days, add: More of Bavaria and Tirol, side-trip to Salzburg

10 days, add: Berlin

14 days, add: Baden-Baden, Black Forest, Dresden

17 days, add: Nürnberg, Mosel Valley, Trier

21 days, add: Würzburg, and slow down

More time: Choose among Frankfurt, Köln, and Görlitz

+ Last night I enjoyed looking at some photos of Bavaria offered by Trip Advisor.

+ A Bavarian town Rick Steves recommends is Füssen which is described by Germany: The Travel Destination as "a truly romantic town."

+ Mary & I and the kids were in Germany very briefly in 1990. We took the train from Oslo, Norway to the Baltic ferry and then through Germany to Heidelberg with a short stop in Cologne which has a famous cathedral. Heidelberg has a lot of history and was not bombed in WW2. The castle overlooking the city was mostly destroyed in the 30 years war (1618-1648).

+ Your experiences and suggestions are welcome as our planning continues.

GERMANY 2010 -- 1

+ updated at 10:42am ESDT on October 3, 2009

+ Our friend John and Mary & I are planning to visit Germany next summer. So, let the planning begin. Here are some websites:

+ Germany Tourism
+ Wikipedia article on Germany
+ Rick Steves' Germany Pages
+ Wickipedia article on Berlin
+ Wickipedia article on Dresden
+ Wickipedia article on Munich
+ Wickipedia article on Nuremberg
+ Wickipedia article on The Nuremberg castle
+ Nuremberg Public Transportation
+ Castle Road Info
+ Castles Info
+ Wikipedia article on Neuschwanstein Castle
+ Wikipedia article on Hohenschwangau Castle
+ Hohenschwangau Castle Info
+ Hohenschwangau Ticket Center

+ Here's a blurb about Berlin found at Germany Tourism: As exciting, sexy and multi-cultural as New York, Germany's capital is one of the hottest cities in the world right now. Its architecture, culture and fashion encapsulate a buzzing atmosphere that is unique to Berlin. The nightlife is especially great and there are restaurants to suit all tastes. Berlin is a city which keeps you coming back for more, a city of glamour and distinction, a city full of experiences.
+ Suggestions are welcome. Go to Germany 2010 - 2.