We left on Sunday August 7 with a short trip to Detroit. From there we flew to Frankfurt Germany. The first two days of the trip were spent on work and our first destination upon leaving Frankfurt (at 7:30 am) was Erlangen Germany which is located next to the much more famous Nuremburg. To get there we boarded a very fast ICE train which stands for Inter Country Express. Hitting a high speed of about 160 Miles per hour we arrived in Erlangen in two short hours.
I won’t bore you with the work details. The highlight was the outstanding dinner we had at a very nice restaurant in Nuremburg. The scene was an old country farmhouse and the food and presentation was outstanding.
From that point on the themes were – the Rhine in all its glory, fast cars, food and drink, and history.
Leaving Erlangen our next stop was the historic city of Mainz. That is after we picked up our rent a car at the airport … the white Mercedes Benz Diesel Station wagon you will see in some of the pictures. Mainz is the home of Johannes Guttenberg – the inventor of the movable type printing press. We toured the museum and saw some of the original Bibles printed in the 1400. Only 50 are known to exist.
Our Hotel in Mainz was right on the Rhine River. We enjoyed walking and running along side of it and crossing the Rhine on the railroad bridge
We also enjoyed the food and drink
From Mainz we drove to a town called Bacharach which is located on the Rhine in the heart of the Wine Country.
We had more Food and Drink including a really neat picnic high above the Rhine amidst the grape vines.
Castles are everywhere and we explored the one that sits high above the town of Bacharach.
Bacharach is a walled city with almost impossibly narrow roads for driving but that was part of the ambiance.
The majesty of the Rhine is a site to behold – boat traffic of every type on the river and the river flanked by trains of all types in every direction.
From Bacharach we journeyed to the south to the home of Mercedes Benz in the town of Stuttgart. Here we took in seven floors of some of Mercedes Benz’ finest automobiles and other vehicles the MB historical museum. It was a fabulous display.
Again the food and drink was outstanding (theme)
To and from Stuttgart we traveled on the famous Autobahn – cruising at 120 mph in the MB station wagon.
After Stuttgart we traveled to Langen Germany which is the location of our Panasonic office in Germany. We spent some great time in downtown Frankfurt - Sunday along the Rhine (there was really neat Jazz concert) and shopping.
Again – theme – more great food and drink
Monday (my birthday) I had to start working again but that evening and the next I spent downtown Frankfurt eating Japanese cuisine with one of my Japanese colleagues
Bright and early Tuesday August 16 Emily returned to the US. She was accompanied by one additional large suitcase filled with the fruits of our shopping success. After several more days of work I returned the following Friday.
Today we are celebrating our 41st wedding anniversary!! I have such a great wife
ALL THE PICTURES ARE REVERSE ORDER CHRONOLOGICALLY oh well you get the drift!
