Once Andre's brother learned that we were about to leave Langenau, and were looking for one last stopover before arriving in the Netherlands, he did not hesitate and recommended us to stay in Boppard, a small town in the Rhine Valley (the entire valley is often called "The Romantic Rhine"), just south of Koblenz. In a good year, the aforementioned brother clocks up tens of thousands of kilometers on the German motorways, so that we did not take his word...

Because Andre had to work, we decided to stay in a small and quite place without any distractions. Langenau did not disappoint. We noticed that the water in the ponds, drains and rivers of the town is unusually clean and clear, and beautiful to see. Apart from that, the village is so ordinary, so devoid of anything memorable, that I am sure I will have forgotten all about it shortly after posting this blog. In fact, it is only with great difficulty that I remembe...

Many years ago, a man made a fortune in the Prussian army. He sent his son on a grand tour through Europe, as was a custom in those days. When the son returned, his dad said something along the lines of, "Welcome home, lad. Now off with you to the military academy in Vienna." The son had other plans, however. He said, "Dad, I'd like to spend the entire family fortune on making a park full of little Greek statues, waterways, labyrinths, and cul-de-s...

After having said goodbye to our children - who are now both 17, and ready to take on the world and attend Coldplay concerts in Hannover without the help of their parents - we stepped into our car and left Frankfurt. I am tempted to say: "we put our feet on the accelerator and drove into the great unknown", but that would be stretching the truth. In reality, we entered the word "Dessau" into the navigation-system of our rental car and selected...

Mildly jet-lagged, we both woke up early. Uncharacteristically, Andre got up at once and decided to start exploring the city. He walked around the center of Frankfurt for a few hours, and discovered that he was virtually on his own - let it henceforth be known that on Sunday morning nobody wanders around in the center in Frankfurt am Main (with the exception of the occasional jet-lagged lunatic). After getting lost twice, he returned to Hotel Victoria for a harty...