Friday, March 18, 2011

Trip To Europe

On April 13 Nonette and I are leaving for Europe.  Hopefully we will have internet service and we will make regular posts of our travels with a few photos.

Where we are going:

We are going to France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany.  We will be in Europe 5 weeks.

We will visit the Alsace wine country and the D-Day beaches in France.  Nonette's uncle was killed during the invasion and is buried in the American Cemetery in Normandy.

We travel from Paris to Venice in a sleeper on an overnight train.  In Italy we will visit Venice, Drive through Tuscany, Relax in the Cinque Terra, and cruise on Lake Como.

We will ride the  Bernina Express through the Alps in Switzerland.

We will do the Sound of Music stuff in Salzburg, and visit one of the oldest towns in Europe, Hallstatt, on a lake in Austria.

In Germany we will visit the beer gardens in Munich and tour the BMW Museum.  We will rent a car and drive through Bavaria, The Black Forest, and the area around Stuttgart.  In Stuttgart we will visit the Mercedes Benz Museum and The Porsche Museum, and will also go on the Porsche Factory Tour.  For you folks from our home town Crosbyton,  we will visit the birthplace of my great grandfather Hank Smith, who was the first settler in Crosby County.  He was born in Rossbrunn, Germany in 1836 and I believe the family still lives in the same house, (House Number 9) and has since 1640.  The town of Rossbrunn is smaller than Crosbyton, so I think we will be able to find House Number 9.  We will stay a few days in Sinsheim, Germany.  The Auto Technik Museum, in Sinsheim, has everything from early plows to a Supersonic Concords, and examples of most makes of European and American automobiles and tractors.  We will finish our time in Germany in Bacharach, on the Rhine, where we will take a Rhine Cruise and visit the castles.

We travel from Germany back to Paris on the TGV, a train that cruises at 180 miles per hour.  It's only 3 hours to Paris.  We will spend a couple of days in Paris before we fly home.