The Last Post....No More Rain (outro)

Koln = Cologne

This was the last day of our trip, sad to think that our trip was coming to an end. We spent the day touring Cologne's massive Gothic cathedral and then shopping the main shopping drag of the city. We ended our day having dinner and beer at a local gay pub, before catching a train to Dusseldorf...

"Germany's 4th largest city Koln has a compact, lively center. The Rhine was the Northern Boundary of the Roman Empire and, 1,700 years ago, Constantine - the 1st Christine emperor - Made Colonia the seat of a bishopric. 500 years later under Charlemagne, Koln became the seat of the archbishopric. With 40,000 people with in its walls it was the largest German city and an important cultural and religious center throughout the Middle Ages. Today the city is most famous for it's toilet water: Eau de Cologne was first made here by an Italian chemist in 1709." - Rick Steves' Germany and Austria 2008.



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Cruising the Rhine...

Our trip is closing in on it's last few days...

We took a train 90 minute from Frankfurt to Bacharach, Germany where we boarded our Rhine River Cruise.

"The Rhine Valley is storybook Germany, a fairy-tale world of legends and robber-baron castles. Ever since Roman times, when this was the empire's northern boundary, the Rhine has been one of the world's busiest shipping rivers. Many of the castles were "robber-baron" castles, put there by petty rulers (there were 300 independent little countries in Medieval Germany, a region about the size of Montana) to levy tolls on passing river traffic" - Rick Steves' Germany and Austria 2008



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The Manhattan of Germany

We woke up bright and early in the morning to do a quick tour of the "Manhattan" of Germany better known as Frankfurt. The city itself is an interesting mix of old and new, with ancient Roman ruins, a rebuilt quaint town square, and a very modern downtown.

"Frankfurt, while a bit low on Old World charm, offers a look at today's modern Germany. Cosmopolitan Frankfurt is a business hub of the united Europe, giving it a special sophistication. For years, Frankfurt was a city to avoid...but today it has a unique energy worth a look." - Rick Steve's Germany and Austria 2008

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The bells of Frankfurt

Germany's Most Well Preserved Medieval City

After leaving Adam's relatives and Bietigheim-Bissingen, we headed off to Rothenburg. We spent about 4-5 hours touring the city, eating a lunch packed by Adam's Aunt Ani and cousin Lily on the steps of a church, purchased a bunch of ornaments at the most amazing Christmas store I have ever seen, and walked around the wall that used to protect the city.

Now a little history....

"In the middle ages, when Frankfurt and Munich were just wide spots on the the road, Rothenburg was a free imperial city. With a whopping population of 6,000, it was one of Germany's largest. Today it's her best-preserved medieval walled town. During Rothenburg's heyday (1150-1400), it was a stretegic stoop on the trade route between northern and southern europe." - Rick Steve's Germany and Austria 2008



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Darren playing with a bunch of crazy springy toys

Animated bear village

Adam's Amazing German Family

Adam's Aunt Ani, she was really cute and energetic!

Us with Adam's German Family

Adam's cousins Christian, Mark and Patty

We had a great time visiting Adam's relatives, who live outside the city of Stuttgart in a town called Bietigheim-Bissingen. We had dinner at a very authentic German restaurant and then that night we visited a local bar in the quaint downtown area of their city.

Sorry no videos will be posted of that night, way to incriminating.....

put away the umbrella, ella, ella .... No More Rain (Intro)

N U D I T Y !

Dachau, Concentration Camp

About an hour outside Munich is Dachau Concentration Camp. We toured the camp for about 4 hours before heading on to Stuttgart.

"Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp (1933). While a relatively few 32,000 inmates died in Dachau between 1933 and 1945 (in comparison, more than 1,000,000 were killed in Auschwitz in Poland), the camp is notorious because the people who ran the entire concentration-camp system were trained here. It's safe to say that Hitler's mass killing originated at Dachau.

Few realize that that the camp actually housed people longer after the war then during the war. After liberation, numerous survivors who had nowhere else to go stayed. Until the 1960s, it was like a small town , with a cinema, shops and so on." - Rick Steve's Germany & Austria 2008

Something that stayed on my mind after leaving the camp, was the following words by Pastor Martin Neimoller. He supported the Nazis until he realized, too late, what they were really about and was sent to Dachau concentration camp. He was one of the fortunate to be freed and live until 1984.

First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist.

Then they came for the Social Democrats, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Social Democrat.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Jew,

Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.

For more information on Dachau Concentration Camp click here for the Wikipedia page and here for the official camp web site .

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This video is of two of the many memorials spread through out the camp.


Where the barracks used to be...