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Found a great small restaurant. Love the pretzel ceiling. Locals have a “locker” to store their glass.

Road trip to Blaubeuren. Quaint town with beautiful natural blue pool. Monastery built around 1100. An aristocrat was hoping for a direct route to heaven. The monks were required to become Protestant during reformation time. They refused and left. The abbey became a Protestant boys’ boarding school still in existence today. The carved altar piece in this style and from this period is 1 of 4 remaining in the world. Details are stunning.

The local museum contains artifacts found in nearby caves dating back 43,000 years ago. The piece on the right, known as Venus, is carved from a mammoth’s tusk. Is that cool or what? There are networks of limestone caves throughout this area. This treasure was found close to where our ancestors lived. Holy cow! The model for Venus could have been one of them!

The remainder of the day was a walk and a visit to the bread museum, only one in the world. Interesting info and very modern aka goofy art. Although this sofa piece was very relatable

We squeezed our shopping treasures into our bags, and held our breath while we zipped them. Today we are at the Munich airport on our way to Croatia. Our heads and hearts are filled with such terrific memories. And our stomach’s are equally filled.

Thanks for sharing this journey with us.

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Another fine day in Lindau, actually sits on an island. Lake Constance is natural border to Austria. Hazy view of the Alps.

Switzerland border as well.

Gorgeous fabric shop complete with Mary.

Weckman, sort of a pretzel man, a designer coffin shop and a zeppelin overhead.

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Truck stop by Heidelberg. A bit like a MT stop.

Wouldn’t it be nice if these were everywhere?

King Fredrick’s castle. No glitz or glamor, but fascinating history.

If I knew anyone with a Jeep I’d be tempted to buy a few.

Sausages! Can you smell them?

Now that’s what you call a wine cask. 220,000 liters capacity.

“I should have skipped that last slice of strudel. Does this armor make my butt look big?”

Cross-dressing in the 1300’s.

“I’ve been standing here for centuries. Bobby, can I sit down? My cankles are killing me.”

Tourists as far as the eye can see.

Heidelberg! What a beautiful city. Here’s a fun fact: the university here was founded around 1100 by a gentleman who could not read or write.

Auf weirdersen.

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Another splendid day in Deutschland. Wurzburg palace the chapel looked like Trump decorated it. Largest vineyards in Germany. Also you can walk up to a “to go” wine bar. A lovely day to stand in the sun and imbibe. Then we were on to Rothenburg. A medieval fortressed city that looks a page from a fairy tale. Connie found a new friend, although he was not very talkative. Wonderful shops and food market. The best door handle ever, and we scored a slice of Black Forest cake. Our cankles have a lot of steps on them today.

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Munich! Requested a stop at the BMW plant to pick up a few souvenirs. Mini-cooper for Jen, blue one for Lindsay, a Rolls for Sala and something more practical for me.

Of course the obligatory Glockenspiel clock, incredible food market, and Augustine, oldest brewed beer in Germany. Gotta love those monks.

Quick tour through the Nymphenburg palace. Crazy frescos where the paint was applied to wet plaster. The usual gold and glitz everywhere. Ludwig I admired attractive females and had them painted, framed and displayed on every wall in one room. Including a 15 year old delivery girl from the village. He called it the “walls of beauties”. We referred to it as Epstein’s wall.

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Now in Ulm. Right on the Danube. Great walking city. We’ve consumed our weight in pretzels and beer. And beautiful fruit from the local market. Sushi bar looked a bit too rustic so we passed.

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Arrived a day early (unintentionally) for the Gate1 tour. But a happy ending. We knew we were very near to Justingen where a branch of our family tree is rooted. It’s a village under the town name Schelklingen. So here we go!

Fascinating UNESCO site here with a limestone cave where 8,000 year artifacts were found. But, not today.

Found a small cafe enjoying pumpkin soup and pretzels. Asked Otto and Susann the owners about Justingen, 6km away. No taxis, but Susann drove us! So very kind.

Beautiful countryside. We hoped to find headstones of the 8 children our G-G grandparents left behind. We only found the new cemetery and 1 headstone with the family name. No public places or people around to ask questions, but we were satisfied to have seen this much. They immigrated to Iowa mid-1800’s. Any remaining twigs on the tree remain a mystery.

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First stop Fussen. Technically our third stop as we fumbled our way through the DB train system.

Chilly day on the walk path to Neuschwanstein castle. We only wanted photos, not the 10 minute tour you must book months in advance. Built by The Mad King Ludwig but never finished. He was booted off the throne early. Composer Richard Wagner, Ludwig’s close friend, had his own room next to Ludwig’s at the Hohsenscheimsupercalifra (sp) royal summer home nearby. Special view, too.

So, connect the dots here. Could have been part of the reason they deemed him “mad”.

How lucky are we to have seen this iconic place! And enjoy the best potato soup at an inn filled with Chinese tourists eating pig knuckle.

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Farewell to Poland. What an incredible place to see. Lovely countryside that includes stork nests on roofs, history that continuously tested the resilience of the Polish pride, fabulous food. And the best part, sharing it with my sisters and daughter.

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Krakow! Largest market in Europe. Shopping, eating, drinking and more shopping. Most of the ladies reactions:

Followed by their husbands:

But overall a vibrant, busy place.

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Sadly we over indulged at the pierogi cafe. And we didn’t have enough zlotys to pay the bill. Our faces were posted on the wall and we needed to find employment to pay our debt. Thankfully we had some talents to see us through.

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The Orange Alternative movement was part of Soviet resistance in the early ‘80’s during Marshall law. They defaced propaganda with street art that included dwarves. To honor their efforts, there are dwarves scattered throughout the city. No one quite knows the exact number, but it’s estimated around 700. Great fun finding them around the market square. The last, and cutest one, has yet to be cast in bronze.

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Wroclaw—I still can’t pronounce it correctly. 140,000 university students.

Oldest restaurant in Europe, since 1273. Some odd statuary and a mash-up of Hitler and Putin. It translates to “murderer”. And we were lucky to be here for the al fresco chair roundup. Looks like they were successful.

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Next stop Toruń. A Medieval town. Known for the leaning tower built when a not so innocent monk was told to lay each brick 1 cm off for each sin he committed. Also gingerbread. And even a donkey who represents the Spanish inquisition. Go figure.

Do you suppose these are used for the pay toilets??!!

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Not leaving Poland hungry. And not photo’ing it all. Here’s a sampler. What kind of ice cream flavor do you think Donald is? Certainly something I wouldn’t like. And definitely not served here.

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A big WOW. In Gdańsk, the Solidarity memorial. Powerful stuff. Polish pride all over again.

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Need I say more….