First, the conference has been fantastic. There has been a good mix of speakers, all of which shared great messages.

Second, we’ve always wanted to travel further west and have now had the opportunity. Until this point we had travelled only as far as Alberta.

Between conference meetings we toured the area and snapped a few pictures off the coastline.

Click the link below to see our photos.

Nothing invites someone to learn the English language more than a sign written in English.

• Trip to Germany
• ynamreG
• Update aus Deutschland
• Tour de Paris
• Lohr a.Main
• Munich, Salzburg, and so much more

Click the following link to see all the pictures we posted from our trip.  Be aware that there are a lot of photos and the page may take a bit longer than normal to load.

Sue behaved incredibly well for nearly our entire time on the road.  She did falter, however, on our drive back to the apartment at the end of the week.  Opting to take the back-roads instead of the more direct route.  This gave us an opportunity to drive across a dirt road, past a small cemetery (see the photos at the end of this post), and through someone’s farm.

Our trip started by travelling to Munich, the capital of the German state Bavaria (in which we resided for the month).  Munich is a fairly large city and there are a lot of sites to see; however, we didn’t have the time to really go in-depth.  We programmed Sue to take us to a few points of interest and snapped some photos as we moved throughout the city.

Next we travelled to Salzburg, in the country of Austria.  This trip was made at the advice of Sophia’s co-workers.  We booked a hotel for one night and upon arriving at the city, we weren’t really sure why.  However, after checking in and walking to a local restaurant we realized that Salzburg has a beautiful tourist area.  This city is the birthplace of some small-time musician and composer.

As with Munich, there was more than we could enjoy in the day we stayed.  On top of a mountain on the edge of the city is a fairly large castle.  We didn’t visit it, but I took some pictures from the city.  There were several large churches whose architecture is amazing.  The city also has a public garden in one of its parks.

We left Salzburg on route to return to Germany.  We plotted a different course to take us through Innsbruck.  This let us capture several magnificent, snow-capped mountain shots.  The pictures really do not do justice to how magnificent the view really was.  We travelled through these mountains–and literally too.  The path we took put us in the valley between several mountain ranges.  We also journeyed up one side, down another; and even through a 4 km tunnel inside of one.  We reach an elevation of 1210 m at the highest point–obviously the mountains themselves reach significantly higher.

The last castle we explored was left in ruins (by France, not us; honest).  We wanted to tour one that was still in one piece.  This led us to Neuschwanstein Castle in southwest Bavaria.  Sadly, photographs were not permitted inside the structure; however, we did get quite a few pictures from the outside and courtyard.  The castle is fairly young (built in the 19th century).  It was never really used, nor completed for that matter.  King Ludwig II had the castle built and moved into it before its completion; however, he died shortly after taking residence there and construction stopped.

In the area we visited, there were actually three castles (only two are shown in the photos below).  We only walked through the one for the sake of time and money.

Of particular interest to me during our tour of the castle was the king’s throne room.  Inside was a tiled mosaic floor comprised of millions (literally) of small tiles.  The rest of the castle was equally lavished.  It’s amazing how much time, effort and detail went into the construction of these buildings.  Such effort is certainly lacking in most modern construction.

It was also interesting that Ludwig’s bedroom had two secret rooms adjoining it.  One had a toilet in it (with running water), and the second was a “dressing room” (read: walk-in closet).  The dressing room was actually larger than the bedroom.  I must say, if I were to ever put a secret, hidden door in my own castle, it would certainly lead to a room of greater extravagance.

Neuschwanstein Castle took us into the early evening and we programmed our next destination into Sue: a hotel in the city of Ulm.

The next day we ventured to our final destination, Rothenburg ob der Tauber.  Another old city, with buildings similar to those in Lohr.  What makes it unique, however, is that the entire city is surrounded by a large stone wall.  The wall is fairly large and housing was built right into it.  On the inside, the roads are incredibly narrow and the buildings very close together.  The entranceways are just like one would read in a medieval times book.  The wall has watchtowers throughout it and was built for old-era war with large fortified sections for heavy combat and defence.

The town was bustling with people and we had difficulty finding any parking (or even driving through it).  We stopped at various places to snap some pictures.

The month has flown by; it’s difficult to believe it’s already over.  This was really an excellent opportunity for both of us to experience another culture (or two), and it was quite an eye-opener.  It’s unfortunate that it’s over so soon, but it will also be great to finally be back home.  I’ll miss the great chocolate they sell here, but I’m looking forward to a good cup of coffee.

Take a look at our last photo gallery.  If you’re wondering about the first picture, it’s what we observed to be the primary mode of transportation in Europe.  Don’t forget to sound off in the comments.

Before I go into details though, it’s important to explain the moments leading to this old town expedition.  See, in Lohr there are no laundry-mats.  Dry cleaners, yes; laundry-mats, no.  In fact, the closest one we found was in a neighbouring city some 35-minutes away.  Like most neighbouring places, there are several ways to reach said laundry-mat–all of which are confusing to the foreigner.  Modern technology–and €5.31/day–graced us with a very reliable navigation system; thus easing the burden of navigating seemingly identical roads.  This was our regular, uneventful, weekend excursion.  Until this weekend.

For some reason the navigation system (herein, Sue) was having an off moment.  By “off” I mean Sue frequently informed us she was, “Updating route due to a change in current traffic conditions.”  At first we ignored Sue, despite her persistence; however, there came a point where we became prisoners of our own ignorance and needed her to reach our destination.  Sue’s inspiration and wisdom led us down the autobahn, up country roads and finally to a three-way stop with the instruction, “Now turn left.”

“Sue, there’s a roadblock to the left.”

Sue has always been quick on her feet; so we turned right and allowed her to once again re-calculate our route.  This lasted only minutes before we found ourselves at the roadblock again.  We decided to drive around the blockade to see how far we could traverse.  Apparently not very far, as we beheld the rubble of a torn apart road spanning as far as the eye could see.

This time we reprogrammed Sue (if only humans were this easy) to detour us from the current route by two kilometres.  This added another lengthy stretch onto our journey as we travelled back the roads from whence we came to take a different highway ausfahrt–err, exit.

Our 35-minute drive lasted just under two hours.  It was long and exhaustive but we were triumphant!  As triumphant as one can be when they reach a laundry-mat that closed early for the day.  Just kidding.

We returned to our apartment just in time to make a business supper at a local restaurant.  We had eight minutes to spare.  Plenty of time as the meeting place was a short drive across one of two bridges.  Yet to end such a day with such ease would certainly be criminal.  We were vindicated from just such an offence at the sight of sheep spanning the width of the road and overflowing into the sidewalks.  If I had not see it with my own eyes, I certainly would not believe the story.  But being shepherded along the road by two country folks and their dog was a flock of sheep.  It was uncanny.

Friday finally concluded as we arrived at a local Italian restaurant.  This establishment makes the second-best pizza I’ve ever had.  The first being Mother’s Pizza (if anyone remembers them; they made the best pizza before closing their doors in the 80′s).

On Saturday we ventured into Lohr (sans sheep).  The old town is quaint.  I took some pictures to admire the old architecture, including the cobblestone roads.  There were several little cafés and ice cream parlors.  Two churches also have buildings in the old town–and a third in another borough of Lohr.  German churches love their steeples and these three churches battle it out every hour on the hour as church bells resound to see which church gets the most attention for miles.

I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking as it’s the best way to get a true appreciation for the feel of the town.  Starting the gallery this week are a few more pictures of the office Sophia worked at.

Enjoy and share your thoughts in the comments!

My personal favourite element is the individual in the centre (in the white shirt):  I love how he has to really duck each time the press comes down.

This weekend we made the moderately-lengthy drive to and from Paris, France.  It was a whirlwind tour:  getting up early Saturday and arriving back at our apartment late Sunday (early Monday, really).  While we didn’t have the time to look at all of the city’s highlights, we saw quite a bit with the time we had.

We arrived in the early afternoon.  Parking on the second level of a five-level underground parking lot, we opted to take the stairs to the ground floor since the elevators did not seem to be functioning at that moment (although they did work later).  If odour could somehow be encapsulated in words you would certainly stop reading at this point.  Regrettably the walk up the stairwell lasted longer than the oxygen supply in our lungs.  Still, we survived the walk and headed down the street to check-in to our hotel.

After settling into our hotel room we ventured to our first stop:  the Paris Metro.  This was the first subway experience for both of us.  I will say that even though it took a little bit of time to comprehend the subway map, the transit system is incredibly efficient and affordable (particularly for tourists–who pay one rate for all of Paris for an entire day).  One could traverse the entire city in a manner of minutes; making the subway the best mode of transportation.  This initially became evident as we were driving into the city.  Their traffic is crazy.  Not only from sheer volume, but also the drivers, traffic signs and lanes.

Apparently individuals on bikes (bicycles, motorcycles, mopeds, you name it) are liberated from the rules of the road.  While most vehicles travel between lane markers–where they exist, more on that shortly–bikes seem free to weave in and out of traffic as the driver sees fit.  Often opting to simply drive between stalled traffic on the lane-marker itself.  The intersections are a hybrid of crosswalks, medians, and lane-ways; frequently 3 – 6 separate directions of traffic will converge into a single point of chaos.  Pedestrians are routinely instructed–through signage–to cross streets in multiple trips, with islands in the middle of the roads for them to patiently wait.  At times the roads would be three lanes wide.  Then the lane markers would disappear for some 500m – 1000m and the road would become a free for all; allowing less patient drivers to simply drive in an almost diagonal line across the road to achieve a superior position.

Praise God for the subway.

While our subway experience was mixed, it was certainly the ideal manner in which to travel.  Some stations were clean and inviting.  Others carried the stereotypical odour and lighting–grim and eerie.  Nevertheless, all stations were always in use by a fair number of people so there was never any insurmountable fear.   Our next stop was the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower was quite the sight.  We decided to not go up the tower despite the reasonable cost.  The line was simply too long (as shown in one of the photos below) and really, we came to see the tower, not its view.  The most astonishing surprise while at the tower was the military presence (also shown in the photos below).  Paris was full of first experiences and this was another.  Neither of us have personally seen on-duty military carrying fully-automatic machine guns patrolling an area.  I suppose this is a sign of the times we live in.  The most uncomfortable part of visiting this attraction was the French bombers–they were everywhere doing their thing.  The tower may not be the world’s tallest free-standing structure on land, still, we had to walk a few blocks away to actually capture the entire tower in one picture frame.

After the Eiffel Tower we walked along the Champs-Élysée.  There were a lot of very expensive stores which we could not afford to decided not to shop at.  One store definitely caught our attention, from quite a ways away.  We decide to “shop” there.

Next on the agenda was the Arc de Triomph.  I’ll be honest, I don’t really “get it.”  It was a nice landmark and I took a lot of pictures.  It’s situated in the middle of what I will call the world’s most-crazy roundabout.  I took a couple of photos of the roundabout, but to truly understand just how nuts it is, I recommend reading the first six paragraphs (only a couple sentences each) of Rick Steves’ write-up of the Champs-Élysées.

After a few hours of sleep we tackled the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur (more easily understood as Basilica of the Sacred Heart).  A Roman Catholic church.  Regrettably our final day didn’t afford us much opportunity for photos and this was the first of several places where cameras were not permitted.  I took some exterior shots.  The interior was stunning.  Not particularly my style of church (what is?), but that’s certainly no reason to not appreciate the craftsmanship that went in to constructing this.  The acoustics inside the place were amazing and its architecture and stain-glass were fantastic.  On some of the exterior shots you’ll notice a black residue.  Apparently that is the effect of pollution forming on the building material.  As it rains the black soot-like substance washes off.

The last stop on our adventure was the Musée du Louvre.  It was here that we saw the Mona Lisa as well as took a tour of the featured Babylon exhibit.  Most of the exhibits we saw did not allow us to take pictures.  We captured a few below.  Some are of Roman sculptures, others some nice paintings, others the actual museum.  The building is a small village in and of itself.  We simply didn’t have the time–nor energy–to walk around its entirety.

The Babylon exhibit was the most intriguing.  Inside were artifacts from Nebuchanezzar’s days as well as some ancient texts recounting other Biblical figures. It’s amazing that we’ve read the stories of these people in the Bible, and there right before us were actual items from that era.

The trip was exhausting but worth it.  Have a look in the gallery for this week’s top photos and share your comments.

Most of our “adventures” this week revolve around the weekend.  We travelled to Horb which allowed us to open up the Mercedes on the autobahn.  The speedometer on the poor thing is only clocked to 240 km/h–what a shame.  So far I can’t say we like Mercedes.  I’ve never liked the look of them but always assumed they were nice cars.  My hopes have been dashed as the one we have needs a bit of work.  At 140 km/h it shakes so much you would think the panels are about to fly off.  We pushed past that to 180 km/h–it’s quite nice not having speed limits on most of the highways–and the car rides bit smoother, but not much.

The longer we stay here the more I begin to question just how–or, rather, why–Germans do things certain ways.  For example, there’s weather stripping on every door inside our apartment.  German fire regulations must also be a bit more lax as the only way to lock and unlock building doors while on the inside is with a key.  I’m not exactly sure how one gets out of a burning building quickly, and hopefully I never have to find out.  These oddities are not limited to our residence alone.  As we’re in Horb, we see the very same design in the hotel.

And speaking of odd, as you’ll see in the photos below, there are miles upon miles of vineyards.  For all the grapes they grow here, I cannot for the life of me find one jar of grape jam.  No doubt the vine fruit is being used for other purposes.  Of course, we too have disappointed many German colleagues who seem perplexed by our choice of non-alcoholic drinks.

The language barrier has so far proven to not be a huge issue.  By comparison, there are fewer English-speaking people here than Quebec, but we have managed to get by most of the time.  In some of the smaller cities and towns it can become a bit more difficult, as it also can in restaurants.  Thankfully during the most difficult times we’ve had some work associates with us to translate.

This weekend we were taken on a tour of the area and had an awesome opportunity to visit Singen, which just north of the German-Swiss border.  In this city is a large volcanic mountain upon which rests Hohentwiel fortress.  This old castle was built nearly a millennia ago.  It never saw defeat but was handed over to France–they eventually destroyed it from the inside out with dynamite.  The site is incredibly impressive; I took nearly 300 pictures while there.  Some of the best shots are below.

There were several incredible observations I made while touring.  The most notable is simply how high up the mountain this castle is situated (I believe it’s 150m above the lower ground).  The rock face is nearly sheer and the path that winds up is at more than a 30% incline.  The view from the tower (the highest point of the castle) is astounding.  This, combined with the steep incline to reach the castle, really illustrates what was important from a combat perspective in that era.  You can literally see other countries from the highest point.  As well as the entire landscape leading up to the mountain.  A surprise attack would be nearly impossible.

The other aspect that was remarkable is how the fortress was constructed.  Walking through the ruins one was easily able to identify the fortifying walls and entranceways.  It’s clear that the design idea was that if an invading force penetrated one “layer” of defence, there were at least 2-3 more fortifying walls that the defending party could regroup behind.  I’ll let the pictures speak the rest of the story.

After Hohentwiel fortress we were taken to Lake Constance.  While it may be dwarfed by the Great Lakes, it is still one of the largest freshwater lakes in the European area.  There is an impressive garden area the parallels it.  We took a handful of interesting photos including some of a rather impressively-large house.  One of the best shots is across the lake.  As the day was clear (the first in weeks), we could make out the Swiss Alps in the distance.  (It’s moments like these which make me want a slightly better camera.)  These photos are located near the end of the gallery.

To start the gallery I’ve included a rather impressive view from Sophia’s office, as well as some nearby town shots.  Let us know what you think in the comments!

After one week we’re starting to become somewhat accustom to our surroundings.  We had the opportunity on the weekend to travel to some neighbouring cities.  Our journey confirmed earlier suspicions we had: our apartment is an Ikea apartment.  Everything from the bedding, to the furniture, to the glasses we drink from, and the little lamp that’s situated behind me.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s all very nice, but at the same time, it’s somewhat humourous to walk through a single store knowing you can replace everything in about 15-minutes.

We’ve started to get into a routine for some day-to-day chores.  Grocery shopping is an almost daily event because, in Germany, space is a premium.  Fridges are smaller, cupboards are scarce, and owning a freezer is something special.  Having to grocery shop every other day isn’t all bad, but it took us a week to find the stores we could frequent.  All the grocery stores we’ve found so far could be defined as glorified 7-Eleven’s.  I’m not exaggerating when I say that most of these have chocolate and candy sections that rival Wal-Mart on Halloween.  (Again, not complaining about that.)

Before coming here I always thought Germans were better drivers.  While I can’t say my opinion has changed, I will say this: while they may not be crazy drivers, they are “excessively assertive with a slightly heavy foot.”  The issue is further compounded by lax speed limits.  Many of the roads in and around the town we’re staying in have sharp twists and turns–usually up or down steep hills (see the pictures at the end of this post).  The speed limit down these roads is 80 km/h.  We were a little apprehensive of travelling that fast down such narrow roads so we took things a bit slower.  Not surprisingly, everyone passed us.  At first I thought they were crazy, then I thought they were actually really good drivers, lastly I saw all the memorials in the ditches–crosses and flowers–and I think a little less assertiveness would be prudent.

Weather-wise it’s been raining nearly every single day; so we haven’t had an opportunity to really go outside and take some nice pictures.  We took a few of our rental car and the outside of where we’re staying.  One of the most backwards things I’ve noticed (as visible in the picture below) is that people often park their cars on the sidewalks.  We’ve seen it in a few different places and I’m beginning to think it’s a common thing.

We did manage to make out it to a McDonald’s.  It was there we first observed what I have coined “speed bubbles.”  Not to be confused with a speed bump you find in a parking lot.  These little wonders share the same purpose but have a much different form (also much less effective as you can see from the picture below).

Following are some photos.  They’re not very glamourous but we’ll take more when the weather is better.

As is customary when we travel anywhere outside of our city, we experienced the usual challenges (I say usual because it happens all too often): our credit card was cancelled, and the airplane was overbooked and my wife barely got a seat (she was the last person to check in and we arrived quite early).  Nevertheless, the flight was trouble-free and we arrived in Germany ahead of schedule.

Up until this point I had always held the point of view that getting through Canadian customs could not be easier.  I was wrong.  Entering Germany consisted of presenting my passport and having it stamped.  The customs officer said not one word; he simply smiled and waived me on.

It took awhile to find our rental car through the five levels of parking.  Imagine our surprise when the automatic transmission car we reserved was actually not so automatic after all.  It worked out in the end as we were “upgraded” to a Mercedes.  I’ve never liked the look of Mercedes but I can’t complain as it drives well and its integrated GPS navigation system is incredibly accurate and reliable.

Our apartment is small but very nice (it must have been recently redone).  The city we’re staying in is a bit older and situated across a valley.  The view is quite spectacular.  We’re located on the edge and overlook much of the city and its surrounding hills.

The bizarre thing with Germany is their traffic signs (I suppose the same could be said from a German resident visiting Canada).  Often the traffic lights are located at the beginning of the intersection (where you stop your car) instead of across the intersection.  Their signage is also a little odd with, more often than not, signs indicating the driver has the right of way–as opposed to signs stating one needs to yield.  The backwardsness of this means that you have to yield when you see no signs, but drive when you do see signs–regardless of how the intersection looks.

The journey is just beginning but so far it’s not too bad (considering most of the expenses are covered for us).

We haven’t had a chance to tour the area a lot, but I’ve posted some pictures below that we’ve taken so far.  These are of our apartment and the view we have from it.  Note the two single beds pushed together: Germany doesn’t have queen or king-sized beds.  Also note the minute fridge that we still found time to stock with the essentials.