Germany

Earlier this summer we went to Germany for 15 days with the Meadville German Travel Club. It was an amazing trip, one I hope to do again in about 6 years. We flew out of JFK in NYC and flew into Frankfurt in Germany. From there it was a whirlwind of travel-- we visited Rothenburg, a virtually unchanged medieval town that is still walled in- Neuschwanstein Castle, the inspiration for the Magic Kingdom's castle- Salzburg, Austria (where we saw more sights than I have space/time to mention)- the Kehlsteinhaus (Eagles Nest), Hitler's 50th birthday present set high up in the Alps, the view was amazing- Munich (again more sights than I can mention here)- 3 Youth hostels (Jugendherberge Augustusburg, Lutherstadt Wittenberg, and Wasserburg) that were interesting and different in their own right- Dresden, a city that was about 80% destroyed during WWII and still is not completely rebuilt and recovered- Wittenberg, the location where Martin Luther launched the Reformation and nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church- Berlin, where we saw so many sights including parts of the wall that remain as well as the world-famous Philharmonic- Buchenwald, one of the many concentration camps that were occupied and run by Nazis in WWII that now sit as a memorial to remind us of those horrific times- Cologne, saw the awesome Gothic Cathedral and a few other random sights- Boppard, a Rheine boat cruise (complete with a glass of Rheine Valley wine!), two more castle visits, a visit to Trier the oldest town in Germany, and a few other fun excursions. The food was phenomonal, the history was interesting and most of the sights were astounding. It was a wonderful trip and I'd recommend it to anyone-- however if you're looking for a vacation, I wouldn't recommend this trip because it is not restful or really relaxing. You may walk a lot (we averaged 10 miles a day) and ride on a tour bus a lot (though the company is fun) and travelling from city to city on a schedule is not extraordinarily restful in itself. That is why we are taking a quick trip to the beach next week--R&R 101.
in front of Neuschwanstein castle the Coloner Dom in the Alps!