How to Avoid Getting Lost Driving in Europe

Driving from southeastern Germany to the alps in Austria.  The motorcyclist is the only other traffic. 

I have driven in Ireland, England, France, Italy, Spain and Germany and gotten lost in every single country.  Except Germany.

There's only one thing that saved David and me from wandering back roads aimlessly this summer, and you will want to make sure you have it too.

Medieval Punishments

Shame was a potent punishment hundreds of years ago.  The man forced to wear this mask had stuck his nose into too many peoples' business; or the horns might indicate he'd been cuckolded by an unfaithful wife; or maybe the person simply had very bad thoughts as symbolized by the snake and the devil.

In tiny villages where people lived their entire lives within a few blocks of each other, one's reputation was important. Being mocked or shamed by all your neighbors was painful, so magistrates found imaginative ways to punish people by placing them in embarrassing contraptions.

How a Tourist Saved a Beautiful Medieval City

View of the valley from the old city walls that still encircle Rothenburg.

In the 1930s, John J. McCloy's mother visited one of the most beautiful medieval cities in the world, Rothenburg ob der Tauber* in Germany, where she walked the cobbled streets, strolled through the gardens, and sketched as many scenes as possible.  When she returned to the United States, she couldn't stop talking about this beautiful place where every turn revealed another setting that should be captured in an oil painting.  Her impressionable son hung on his mother's every word, studied the picture of the city that hung in the McCloy living room, and vowed to some day explore this magical place that conjured so many dreams.

City walls and guard towers.

Before he could visit it, though, he'd have to find a way to save it from being demolished during World War II. Hitler had told all his forces to let cities burn rather than surrender, but USA Assistant Secretary of War McCloy, was determined to try to save the city his mother had taught him to love.

Never Again

"Work Will Set You Free"  The Ironic Words on the Dachau Concentration Camp Gate

Dachau, Bergen-Belsen, and Auschwitz are words that send chills of horror for anyone of David's and my generation, but evidently that's not true for everyone.

Gourmet Dining on a McDonald's Budget

If you become a Tightwad Traveler, renting apartments wherever you vacation,  I guarantee you will enjoy food fit for a gourmet!

Come Visit Our Rothenburg Studio

Go to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, the best preserved medieval walled town in Germany just 410 kilometers north of Fussen, Bavaria, and find the main square.  Just half a block away, on the street you see above, is our studio.  Look for the climbing roses by our windows...

I'm sitting at the table by the single window.

...and look for our red front door. 

Luging in Bavaria!

Call Germany fickle, if you like, but it's been doing its best to woo me with soaring mountains tickling a blue sky, emerald green valleys with millions of Christmas trees suitable for the White House, and charming castles that were created by a madman or a poet, depending on whom you ask.

Bavaria has succeeded.  I am smitten.

Castles of an Insane King?

Hohenschwangau Castle It's fairly easy to walk to this castle.

This romantic king loved the legend of the star-crossed lovers, "Tristan and Isolde," adored the opera and supported the composer Wagner, and tucked fairy tale castles that were more whimsy than substance into clefts in the Alps.  But the people of Bavaria accused King Ludwig II of insanity, and, according to our guide, "He went for a walk with the psychiatrist sent to evaluate him and both men were found dead in the lake of mysterious circumstances later that day.  The next week, his castles were opened to the public as museums."

Germany and I Are Getting Along!

I thought Germany had taken an instant dislike to me, but I'm beginning to realize first impressions are often misleading.  With the delicious food David and I have discovered (I'll tell you later about these crescent pastries covered in slivered almonds.), the kind people we've met, and the striking scenery we've enjoyed, Germany is getting friendlier on an hourly basis!

Sleeping in the Palace at Versailles--Really!

We talked to our host this morning who told us the wall panels truly are from a palace in Versailles.  Not The Palace, but another one--in Versailles. He paid a small fortune for these beautiful walls, and he still has a door panel that he's willing to sell.  Let him know if you're interested!