GERMANY
Summer, 2009

What a delightful vacation! It had a little bit of everything - vineyards and rivers, hikes and cruises, unscripted drives, even bicycling. We explored five rivers and their associated wine regions, and we spent some wonderful time around the town where Andy lives.

ReislingAndy and Carmen met us on a Saturday morning at the Frankfurt Airport, and we spent that night with them. Then on Sunday, we took off in Andy's car for Part 1 of our vacation, spending a week on the road in Germany and France (with a lunch in Luxembourg, so we can say we were there) while Andy and Carmen spent the week at their respective jobs. We reconnected with them six days later.Pinot Noir

Part 2 of our vacation was spent touring several of the river valleys and wine regions in this part of Germany with Andy and Carmen. But first we enjoyed the local area, spending a day with Carmen's parents at a regional festival and then taking a day-long bicycling trip along unused rail tracks with stops at small villages. Then we took off for three days of spectacular scenery, meeting friends in the wine business, climbing steep vineyard trails and relaxing on boat trips. Wunderbar!

Pictures follow below. By clicking on the thumbnails or captions, you will see larger versions in this window. Or, if you'd like a one-stop preview, you can follow Mike.

Part 1.
On the Road in Andy's Car
The Black Forest, Freiburg and the Alsace
On the plane

Taking off

Stockerhof

Stockerhof Hotel

Max William

Meet Max William

Black Forest

A Walk in the Black Forest

Black Forest

A forest lake

Roots

Along the trail

Black Forest

A Black Forest view

Titisee

At Titisee Lake

Freiburg

Freiburg

Freiburg Munster

The Münsterplatz

Freiburg

Our Freiburg hotel

Freiburg

A Freiburg market

Alsace

Into the Alsace

Alsace

Riquewihr

Vosges

The Vosges Mountains

Munster

Munster

Munster

A Walk in Munster

Munster

Dinner in Munster

storks

Rooftop storks

Alsace

Our Alsace Hotel

Part 2.
The "Five Rivers" Tour
Travels with Andy and Carmen
Rhein trip

At the Rhein

Rhein village

Assmannhausen

Rhein chair lift

Rising above

Monument

Niederwald Monument

Ann and Andy

At the Monument

Rhein Trip

Back to Bingen

Andy and Carmen

In Eltville

Jahrmarkt

The Jahrmarkt

Jahrmarkt

Jahrmarkt

Burckhardt Family

On the Draisine

Peddling

More Peddling

Peddling Lunch

A lunchtime break

Burg Eltz

Burg Eltz

Krov

A Moselle BBQ

Krov

Kröv

Moselle

Above the Moselle

Moselle

Moselle vineyards

Bernkastel-Kues

Bernkastel-Kues

Moselle

A view of the river

Moselle

A view from the river

Moselle

Moselle vineyards

Trier

Trier

Trier

Trier

Trier Cathedral

Trier Cathedral

Trier Palace

Trier Palace

Ahrweiler

Ahrweiler

Ahrweiler

Peter's winery

Ahr Valley

The Red Wine Trail

Ahr vineyards

Ahr vineyards

Ahrweiler

At Ahrweiler

Waldlaubersheim

Back at home

Lunch

Lunch in Waldlaubersheim

For a brief review of some of the many places we visited,
all you have to do is  FOLLOW  MIKE.


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