We are fortunate to have such good friends around the world. When we first started to plan our summer trip, our friends Fraser and Diane, who live in Calgary and rented from us last winter, offered up their apartment for a month while they traveled to Europe. Then they suggested that we travel with Europe with them and then, when we come back to Calgary (where our car remained), we could still live in their apartment until the end of July. We took them up on both offers.

We’re back now, having left Europe a last week. Since then, Linda and I have had many opportunities to wander around southern Alberta, visit friends around Edmonton, visit more friends in Lethbridge, and wander around more in Calgary before heading into British Columbia.

Here are a few stories and photographs from our Canadian wanderings.

Downtown Calgary

Kananaskis

We wanted to drive into Banff National Park for the day. We’d been there before and will drive through it on our way to Sorrento, in BC. We diverted to Kananaskis , a beautiful valley sandwiched in between towering mountains. We drove for most of the day, got out of the car several times to hike, and eventually found 1) a brewery, and 2) friends Robbie and Geri, who live in Okatoks.

Off to Edmonton

We spent five days up north, visiting Mike and Stacy in Pigeon Lake, and Gord and Marcie in Edmonton.

Lethbridge

One more trip away before leaving Alberta. South to Lethbridge to visit with Daniel and Lise. THey live a couple of hours south of Calgary. We know them from Venture Out and know that we will mis them, as they won’t be traveling to Mesa this coming winter.

We took a nice walk besides a lake in Lethbridge, and then went back for a great Lebanese meal that Lise cooked. The following morning we woke, went on another hike into the Coulees by their house before breakfast.

THe small town of Valcun is on the way between Lethbridge and Calgary. Besides a replica of the Starship Enterprise, the town boasts everything Star Trekish, and a nice brewery (the Nine in a Line Brewery) which Linda and I needed to sample. Along the way, I found some pretty cool old barns to capture.

Drumheller

It rained on our last day in Calgary, so Linda and I decided to drive to Drumheller, which has the Royal Tyrrell Museum, a great collection of dinosaur fossils and a very thorough history of life on Earth. The museum is worth the time to visit.

Two things happened on the way to Rothenberg ob der Tauber (Rothenburg on the Tauber River). First, we stopped in Memmingen, and very old, medieval city in Southern Germany. Second, we made it to Rothenburg.

I have been to Memmingen once before. An old friend of mine from when I visited and lived in Germany (the 1970s), Susi, lived in Memmingen back in 2005 when I spent time in Europe. I visited Susi for a day and fell in love with the town. When I saw that it was between Zurich and Rothenberg, I knew we had to stop.

It was about 11:30 AM when we pulled into Memmingen, some time between coffee drinking time and beer drinking time.

After our beverage, we walked the old medieval streets, shopped a bit, and then found our car before the Polizei did. Using our trusty GPS, we got back on the road, driving on the Autobahn for a while, and taking back roads when possible. We arrived in Rothenburg in the early afternoon, in time to check into a lovely hotel near an entrance to the old walled city. We wandered around for a while, listened to a classical concert rehearsal in the main city square while enjoying a great glass of local wine, shopped some more, and then ate too much.

Rothenburg is one of the most beautiful small towns in Europe. It’s been said Walt Disney used the town as a backdrop for Pinocchio. The following morning, Linda and I again wandered the streets looking for a good sweet roll and coffee. In Germany, on Sundays, most places are closed, and it took a while to find a small bakery.

After breakfast, we wandered more. We shopped more. We had one more beer. And then we had to leave for our next destination, the small town of Sindelfingen, near Stuttgart.

Here are some photographs from and around Rothenburg.

Our last stop in Switzerland was Zurich. Neal and Randa had flown into Zurich from Phoenix two weeks prior, and they had a flight back to Phoenix on the 10th. Linda and I had a room reserved and our plans were to drop Neal and Randa off at the airport early on the morning of the 10th, and then spend the day exploring Zurich before driving back into Germany.

Plans do not always go as planned. This was the case with Zurich. This was probably my fault, but I had only made reservations for a room for Linda and me. When we realized the error, Neal went online and found a room near the airport for the evening of the 9th. Our plans new meant the four of us would explore Zurich for a couple of hours, we would drop Neal and Randa off at their hotel, and then Linda and I would drive to our hotel.

Zurich is a big city. Zurich has a lot of construction going on. About ninety-seven percent of that construction took place on the roads we needed to traverse to get to our two hotels. We drove during rush hour (Hauptverkehszeit is German for “Don’t plan on getting anywhere soon”). In short, we didn’t really get to experience the wonderfulness of Zurich.

We did find a place to eat in town. After our meal, it was time to take Neal and Randa to their hotel. Neal read me the address and I entered it into the car’s GPS. The screen told me we were 24 minutes away from their hotel. I jumped into the rush hour traffic, made it onto an autobahn, drove through a couple of long tunnels, and 24 or so minutes later, stopped in front of their hotel.

Only, it wasn’t a hotel. We were in an industrial area, not that close to the airport. I pulled over while Neal again looked up the address.

“Here’s another address that sounds the same. I think this is it.” Neal said.

I entered the new address into the GPS. The screen recalculated the route. An new destination appeared. It was 24 minutes away, in another direction. I bit of frustration came to me as I again jumped onto the autobahn, drove back through a couple of long tunnels, and headed toward the airport.

The new location took us to what looked to be a residential area. We didn’t see any hotels. We circled the block three times. Finally, Neal got out of the car, walked behind a house, came back a minute later, and declared that the hotel was actually a room in someone’s house and that we were in the right place.

We unloaded their bags and said our goodbyes, not knowing when we’d see them again. They headed off to their room while I looked up the address for our hotel. I found it and entered it into the GPS. The screen said the hotel was 26 minutes away.

Back onto the autobahn and back through tunnels. Thirty minutes later, Linda and I were in an industrial area near downtown Zurich. This was not where I wanted or thought we would be. One more time, I looked up the address. It seems that there are many similar sounding address in Zurich. I missed entering a zone the first time.

“Why don’t we just enter the name of the hotel?” Linda asked.

Linda is very smart when it comes to helping me figure out what I’m doing. I pressed the microphone button in the screen and said “Prize by Raddison, Zurich.”

A new location appeared in the screen. It was quite a ways south of downtown Zurich, in a small and beautiful town named Affolturn Am Albus. The hotel was only 24 minutes away.

Linda and I quite enjoyed the hotel and the town of Affolturn Am Albus. The room was nice and quiet. The small town was also nice and quiet. It was far enough away from downtown Zurich to give us opportunities the next day to hike in the woods before driving to Rothenburg, Germany the following day.

The Swedes

When we arrived at the hotel, there were three men, wearing yellow jerseys, kicking a soccer ball in the hotel parking lot. After we checked in and parked our car, we found out that there was a Swedish Soccer Convention taking place in the hotel. They were there for the Woman’s Eurocup tournament, hoping to cheer the Swedish team to victory. We met a woman in the foyer who spoke good English and told us about the week they would spend in the hotel and at soccer matches.

I have a connection with Sweden. A few years ago, my oldest son Jason emigrated to Sweden. Last year, Linda and I visited him in Stockholm and in Upsalla, where he lives. We spent four days in Sweden.

I have had a ritual for many years which includes collecting coins from every country I’ve visited. I have a big bag of coins at home. I didn’t have any coins (Krona) from Sweden and asked Jason if he would give me one. Jason, though, like a lot of the younger generation, never has money, instead using apps on his mobile phone. I left Sweden last year with no Kronas.

The following day, Linda and stayed away from the big city. I again found a couple of places in Google Maps to visit. One was a river and waterfall in the middle of nowhere. The other was a tall mountain nearby that had nice vistas of the surrounding area.

Our last evening in the hotel in Affolturn Am Albus, I wandered into a room off of the main lobby. There were thirty or more Swedes watching soccer on the TV. I found the woman I met the day before, told her how I collected coins from around the world, told her about Jason, and asked if I could trade a Canadian quarter for a Krona. She had no change, but in Swedish, asked the group if anyone had a Krona coin. One man pulled a coin purse out of his pocket and produced several coins. He gave me two (even though I insisted I only needed one). He didn’t want the Canadian quarter. Now I officially have a coin from every country in the world that I have visited.

Here are more photographs from our last two days in Switzerland.

Two years ago, two good friends, Nancy and Julie, walked the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain. They walked 500 miles to reach their final destination. I have envied them since for their stamina and dedication.

Two weeks ago, myself, along with Linda. Neal, and Randa, took the opportunity to go on the El Camino. Not the long, grueling walk that Nancy and Julie made. Our El Camino is a Ferris wheel in the city of Thun, in Switzerland.

I’m sure Nancy and Julie got much more from their adventure then did us. Our adventure amounted to paying too much money (tourist trap francs) to board the ride, and then go around and around and around until we realized that we were missing out on the what Thun really has to offer, including chocolate, cheese, and good beer. As we searched over the landscape from atop the ride, we saw below us many colorful umbrellas, which usually indicates places to sit and eat (chocolate and cheese) and drink (beer).

After 20 or so revolutions, we signaled to the ride operator (by pretending to puke) that we were ready to disembark. The ride was great, and the views from the car were spectacular. The ride did make us all quite hungry and thirsty. We embarked for one of the colorful umbrellas.

Interlaken, Switzerland is located in between two lakes in Canton of Bern. The first lake in Der Thunersee. We stayed in Sigriswill, a small town on the north shore of this lake. The other lake is Der Brienzeesee. Both lakes are beautiful. Both have unique areas. And both needed exploring.

On our second day in the area, we decided to check out somewhere close by. I looked at Google Maps and found the town of Brienz, situated on northeast shore of the lake. While looking for cool places to see near Brienz, I found two. One is called Axapl. The other is Geissbachfälle. The second I knew to be a waterfall. The first I didn’t know was a ski resort high up a very narrow and treacherous road. We soon found out.

When reading about Axapl, the description said it’s elevation is 1,535 meters. The map just showed that Axalp was inland a bit from the shores of Brienzersee. A topo map would have clued me in as to how steep the climb actually was. What a topo map wouldn’t have shown me was that for the most part, the road was one lane with turnouts scattered about so two cars can safely pass without one falling off the side of the mountain into the lake.

Another thing that I read in Google Maps is that there is a forest near Axalp that contains over 70 wood carvings. This comment was wrong, We found the forest and hiked for a while. It actually contains over 100 wood carvings. We saw most of them.

Along the way, about half way up the mountain, at a hairpin turn that had a pullout, I saw a woman standing there, looking somewhat lost, holding her thumb out. I stopped and opened my window.

“Guten tag. Wie geht es Ihnen?” I said. (Hello. How are you?)
“German word, German word, German word, German word, German word, German word, German word . . . .”, she replied (I caught about half of her words).
“Geht es dir gut?”, I asked. (Are you okay?)
“German word, German word, German word, German word, German word, German word, German word . . . .”

She looked like she was half way to tears. I couldn’t leave a damsel in distress on the side of a treacherous road so I asked her if she needed a ride.

“German word, German word, German word, German word, German word, German word, German word . . . .”, she said as she reached for the back door handle.

Linda looked at me cross-eyed. Neal and Randa, who took up most of the back seat, wondered if she would in fact get into the car. She did. Barely. With her small rucksack and warm coat.

“Danke Schoen. German word, German word, German word, German word, German word, German word, German word . . . .” (Thank you. Blah blah blah . . . )

Randa tried to speak to her in English. The woman finally started to talk with Randa. In English. It turns out, she was just on a mini-holiday and was hitchhiking around the area. She has a son who lives in San Francisco and a daughter who lives somewhere else in the States.

I drove to the top of the mountain and stopped in the parking lot for the ski resort. The woman slowly climbed out of the car. We weren’t sure if she wanted us to drive her somewhere else. she eventually thanked us again and said goodbye (Auf Wiedersehen). She donned her warm coat wand walked off into the distance. We never did learn her name, We named her Hope II.

I safely drove us down the mountain after our hike. Near the road at the bottom of the mountain, we found the Gleissbachfälle park. The waterfalls that plunge into the lake from high atop the mountain are a spectacular thing to see. There are 14 sections to the waterfall as it cascades over 500 meters. The four of us hiked around the falls for about an hour, and then, in the mist of the falls, enjoyed a beer at the nearby resort hotel.

Here are some photographs from the drive up the mountain, the wood carving forest, and the waterfall.

Our time in Sigriswil came to an end on Wednesday, the ninth of July. Neal and Randa had a flight out of Zurich the following day and my job was to drive them to Zurich where they had a room by the airport. Linda and I also had a room near Zurich, where we planned on staying a couple of days to explore a bit more of Switzerland. On the way to Zurich, we stopped for a few hours in Lucerne.

I’d heard from several friends that Lucerne was a place we needed to see. Many of the comments I heard were about the beauty of the city and Lake Lucerne. We had to go.

Lucerne is beautiful. At least, the part we saw. My first impression though was that it is just another big city in Europe. One with hordes of tourists who also heard about the city’s beauty.

After finding a parking spot (not always an easy thing to do in big European cities), the four of us wandered down a walking path that followed the Flus Reuss (Reuss River) toward the old part of town. We walked along the path with throngs of tourists from all over the world. I tried to make a few photographs of the river, but it was hard to see through all the people thronging about.

The general flow of people took us to the Spreuerbrucke (Spreuer Bridge), on of the most famous landmarks in the city.

The Spreuerbrucke dates back to the 15th century. It’s one of the most beautiful wooden bridges in the world and is named after mill debris. It also has 67 paintings from the 17th century that depict death – the Grim Reaper sure got around in those days.

We thronged across the bridge and I made a few photographs. Once on the other side of the river, we searched for what we always searched for when traveling in Europe – beer. We found a great place along the river. The Rathaus Brauerie served great cold beer and even good pretzels.

We didn’t get to explore much of Lucerne. Neal was in search of a particular chocolate store. Randa, Linda, and I followed along, walked up a very touristy street filled with shops, bars, and chocolate stores. Here are three stories from our walk up Hertensteinstrasse.

The Happy Cow

As we strolled up Hertensteinstrasse, looking for Max Chocolatier, we stopped in a few shops to browse for nothing in particular. Randa was always in search of small souvenirs from places we visited. Linda was always in search of cute shirts. I tagged along, checking out the gifts and wares available.

We walked into a three-story gift shop. This place had everything that said “Welcome to Switzerland”. The first floor had refrigerator magnets, stuffed animals, decorated cow bells, 1,400 types of Swiss cheese, and just about anything else tourists might want to take home to prove they visited Switzerland. The second floor had more touristy stuff along with a plethora of watches and clocks. The third floor was all chocolate (Neal went there, but didn’t buy any chocolate, as he was determined to shop at Max Chocolatier).

I was on the second floor, browsing around when I heard a cow moo. Not a real cow, of course. It was a cow in a can.

As I looked toward the mooing sound, I saw a most beautiful young woman walk toward the sound. The young woman was dressed in a floor-length white dress and had a matching very large white bow in her hair. Perhaps she was going to a wedding (hers?) or coming from one. At any rate, when she reached the table with the cans of cows, she grabbed one and started shaking it wildly. As she waved the cow can wildly up and down, the cow blurted out sounds of death (or perhaps an orgasm).
MAA . . . MAA . . MAAAAAA . . . M . . . MAAAaaaaaaaa . . . .

A store clerk quickly approached her, took the can of cow from here hand, tipped it upside-down once, and then tipped it back upright.

Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

I don’t know who enjoyed the scene the most. Maybe the other tourists watching the pretty young woman jerk off a cow in a can. Maybe the young woman did. I certainly did. The store clerk probably didn’t. My money says the cow enjoyed it the most.

Sunami

The four of gathered on the first floor and exited back onto the street, heading northeast toward Max Chocolatier. I stopped to make a photograph of the street. That proved to be a big mistake. Neal, Randa, and Linda continued walking. I was about to catch up with them when I was swallowed up by a wave of Japanese tourists. A big wave. A SUNAMI. I tried to escape, but I was trapped. Neal, Randa, and Linda kept going, getting farther and farther away. For every step I took trying to catch them, I took two steps backward. I panicked as I tried to breathe while searching for an escape route. I was scared, and I’ve found in life that, when I’m scared, I suddenly need to pee. I eventually made my way to one side and popped out into the open, searching for my lost companions. Fortunately, Neal is quite tall and I was able to spot them several blocks ahead. I survived. I still needed to pee.

The PlayPlace

It turns out, I wasn’t the only one in need of a bathroom. Randa also felt the urge. We searched up and down the street looking for a big WC sign (Water Closet). We couldn’t find one. Randa spotted a McDonalds Restaurant nearby.
“McDonalds always has clean bathrooms.” I said.
“Let’s go there.” Randa replied.

Off we went into the house that Ronald built. This place was huge. Two stories of tourists eating Big Macs, fries, colas, and chocolate shakes (probably made with Swiss chocolate). We didn’t find any bathrooms on the first floor. We ascended the stairs to the second floor. The bathrooms were situated in the back. I approached to door to the men’s bathroom first. The door was locked. No sounds came from inside. Randa found the door to the woman’s bathroom also locked. There were, however, sounds coming from inside.
“The doors are locked. It looks like you need a code to pee.” I told Randa.
“Maybe you need to buy something.” she replied.
“If I were you, I’d hang out by the door. As soon as it opens, you can go inside.”
“What will you do?” Randa asked.
“When you’re done, you can let me in, and then guard the door till I’m done.”

The woman’s door opened and two women came out. Randa went in. I waited by the door for her to finish and let me in. Before she did, though, three more women approached the door, waiting their turns. Randa exited. The three woman entered. I did not.
“Did you go?” Randa asked me.
“Not yet.” I said.
“What are you gong to do?”
“If some guy with a code doesn’t come soon, I’ll climb into the PlayPlace, lower myself into the plastic balls, and relieve myself there.”, I joked.

Randa left. Two men finally approached the bathroom. They both spoke English. One had actually bought McDonalds food and had a receipt. He unlocked the door and the thee of us piled in.

I met Randa, Linda, and Neal outside. Randa looked at me and asked if I ever got into the men’s room. I smiled and told a little lie.
“The PlayPlace will never smell the same.”

Here are a few photographs from Lucerne.

Our European vacation began with a six day bike ride down the Rhine River, from Strasbourg, France to Mainz, Germany. We rode bikes during the day and slept on a barge at night. All of our forward motion was either in the seat of our bikes or on in our berths on the boat. That changed when we finished the trip on Saturday, the fifth of July.

I reserved a car in Mainz. I found a great deal through Europcar. Picking up the car was a bit of a challenge. Driving it through Germany and Switzerland was also a challenge – the kind of challenge I love.

Linda and I hopped on a bus in oldtown Mainz and made our way to the car rental office. When we arrived, we heard that the computers were down and had to wait with the other 20 people in line. It really didn’t take that long to get our car. We got a new Renault Symbioz, a cool compact SUV. It and plenty of room for the four of us, plus all of our bags.

Language is always an issue when driving in a foreign country. My German is pretty good. Linda’s is not so much. This was evident when Linda wondered why the rental company wished us a safe journey by saying “Have a good fart.” (Fahren is the German word for Drive).

The new Renault had all the bells and whistles that one would expect in 2025. The problem was, it had too many bells and whistles, and I didn’t know how to, or didn’t want to turn them off. The most annoying was the sound that the car made whenever I drove over the speed limit (a frequent occurrence). The car made a high-pitched pinging noise as soon as I drove more then one kilometer above the posted speed limit. It didn’t stop until I slowed down enough to satisfy the car’s computerized detection system. The pings sounded like we were in a submarine and an enemy above was lobbing depth charges our way. Our sonar picked up every charge and let me know they were heading our way.

ping . . . ping . . . ping . . . ping . . .ping . . . .

The other sound that annoyed me to no end occurred whenever I strayed over a line in the road for over three seconds. Between the narrowness of many of the roads I drove, other cars, busses, and trucks coming my way, and road construction, I quite often strayed over lines.

First, I’d see a message on the dashboard that read “Passen Sie auf und farhen Sie vorsichtig!”, which in English means something like “Hey dumbass. Pay attention before you kill someone!”. The sound the car made after displaying the message was worse. It squelched in a reverberating sound that resembled a Droid fart (if Droids fart – I’ll have to ask R2D2 next time I see him).

braffff . . . brafff . . . brafff . . . brafff . . . .

Overall though, I loved driving in Germany and Switzerland. Germany has Autobahns, high-speed interstates that, in some places, have no speed limit. At one point on our way to Freiburg, I found out the car does 176 kph (about 110 mph) with no problem, excluding the looks on the faces of my three passengers.

Switzerland has some crazy roads and lots and lots of tunnels. I was glad the car came with a top-of-the-line GPS system. The map on the screen told me which roads and tunnels to take, often showing my route in very interesting views.

After a week of driving in Europe, it’s nice to back in Canada (where we are staying for a few weeks) driving our own car. Roads here are a little more sane, a little wider, and a lot slower. Plus, I’ve had a chance in our new Ford Escape to turn off all the sonar pings and Droid farts.

WOW! Switzerland is wonderful. So much to write about our four days here.

First, Neal sure did find a great place to stay. He found a two bedroom apartment in Sigriswil, a small town in the northern shore of Thun Lake (Thunersee). The drive and walk up to Sigriswil and the apartment was a bit daunting (more on that later), but the place was perfect and the views from the balcony were incredible.

When I think of Switzerland, this place is exactly what comes to mind. We were surrounded by toweIring alpine mountains and everywhere we looked, we found lakes and rivers and small streams. This area of Switzerland, in Bern Canton, is worth exploring.

We had great weather, despite what Neal and Linda, both weather geeks, predicted. They said we would see rain every day. We didn’t. Instead, for the most part, we had sunny skies and nice, cool temperatures, unlike the scorching heat we rode our bikes in while in Germany. We only had rain for one afternoon. We experienced a short but intense rain storm on our second day. The rain actually wasn’t so bad. Getting back into our apartment was.

Neal and the Key

(I have permission from Neal to tell this story). After breakfast on Monday, the seventh of July, the four of us traveled to the Interlaken area, at the east end of Thunersee. As we were preparing to leave the apartment, Neal wondered if he should take the key with him or put it back in the lockbox by the door. I was about to tell him to keep it, but he decided he didn’t want to take a chance of losing it. Plus, he had the code for the lockbox on his phone if he needed it to get back into the apartment.

After a short drive along a great road (narrow and winding with treacherous drop-offs into the lake – my favorite type of road), we parked and hiked for the better part of the day. The trails that wandered up a mountain valley gave us great views of the surrounding Alps. We saw wildlife, domesticated animals (cows with bells), BASE jumpers leaping off of a cliff and landing near us, all while following a small stream. After hiking, we stopped for lunch and a beer, hopped back into the car, and arrived back at our apartment as the aforementioned storm was in full swing.

I parked the car in our designated spot and we had a good climb up to the metal stairs that led to our third floor apartment. With arms full of gear, groceries, and other assorted stuff, we ascended the stairs. The four of us were soaked by the time we reached the front door. At least two of us had to pee badly (Neal was one of them, I won’t name the other, but he really had to pee too). Randa had this conversation with Neal.

“Open the door, Neal.”
“The key is in the lockbox.”
“Then unlock it.”
“I don’t know the code, but it’s on my phone.”
“Get it. We’re getting soaked.”

Neal fumbled with his phone for what seemed to be several minutes (it was probably only one, but when you’re wet and cold and uncomfortable, have arms full of gear, groceries, and other assorted stuff, and have to pee badly, it seemed longer). Randa continued her conversation with Neal.

“Hurry up and find the number, Neal.”
“I’m trying. It’s here somewhere.”
“We’re all getting soaked.”
“I CAN’T THINK CAUSE I GOTTA PEE! I’M GONNA PEE AND THEN I’LL OPEN THE DOOR!”

Randa, Linda, and I looked away as Neal peed off the side of the metal staircase onto the stone wall. Neal peed for several minutes (it was probably only one, but when you’re wet and cold and uncomfortable, have arms full of gear, groceries, and other assorted stuff, and have to pee badly, it seemed longer). He finished his business, found the code on his phone, opened the lockbox, retrieved the key, and promptly opened the door. We all quickly scurried into the apartment and removed our wet shoes and rain jackets. I put down all of the gear, groceries, and other assorted stuff I was holding, and peed for what seemed like a couple of minutes (in our bathroom as opposed to off the metal stairway).

The following day, as we prepared for a drive and hike to the Brienzersee (another beautiful lake nearby), Randa Linda, and I convinced Neal to take the key with him.

Here are a few images from Sigriswil, Der Thunersee, and Interlaken.

Our bike and barge trip is done, and now it’s off to other places. We departed the Mainz boat mooring early and four of us (Linda, Randa, Neal, and me) wandered around old Mainz (the Altstadt) for a couple of hours before I had to pick up our rental car. Picking up rental cars is not as fast and efficient as it is in the States. It took well over an hour to get our car and find Randa and Neal by the boat. We did make it safely out of Mainz and headed to Klein-Gerau, a very small town near Frankfurt where I lived with friends in the late 1970s. Randa found a cool lace to stop for lunch and a beer – Der Ponyhof. I drove some old familiar roads and a few unfamiliar ones, and eventually found the restaurant. It was closed.

We eventually found a great place in the nearby town of Buttelborn. We had schnitzels big enough to last us the day. We arrived in Freiburg a little past three in the afternoon, checked into our hotel, and headed out to explore the old city.

My Clark Griswold Moment

Just so you know, I am a very good driver. I have driven all over the world, on both sides of the road, and in cars with steering wheels to the left and to the right. I’ve never had trouble navigating foreign roads.

But sometimes, I do miss a sign. This happened to me in Freiburg.

I was driving toward the Altstadt, looking for a parking spot. Perhaps it was because I was looking at the GPS screen on the dashboard. Or perhaps it was because there were hundreds and hundreds of people on the streets. Whatever the reason, I somehow missed a sign that indicated no cars were allowed on the street.

I ended up in the oldest section of town, the section where only pedestrians, bikes, and streetcars were allowed. I was the center of attention as I literally dodge walkers, bikes, and streetcars coming form both directions, No one said anything. Mostly I saw looks of amusement and ridicule – people thinking, “Stupid tourist”.

I eventually got back on a legal street, parked out of sight as quickly as possible, and the four of us joined the throng of people in the Altstadt. The police (POLITZAI) never found me.

Here are a few images from Freiburg.

So much to say about the week we spent biking the Rhine. Linda and I, along with four old friends (Randa, Neal, Fraser, and Diane), and two new friends (Al and Jenny), boarded a barge in Strasbourg, France and spent the next seven days riding along the river and sleeping on the barge. Our final destination was Mainz, Germany. Along the way, we made six day trips to different cities and towns, including:

• Strasbourg to Gambsheim
• Gambsheim to Speyer
• Speyer to Mannheim
• Mannheim to Heidelberg and back
• Mannheim to Worms
• Worms to Mainz

I will eventually write a story about each leg of the ride. For now, here are several photographs I made while riding along the river and strolling around towns.