(FYI, I arrived home late on Sunday, May 15, but you deserve a couple of remaining blog entries for a complete narrative of the trip. So here goes!) Hello, again, Blogonauts! Hhow sshould wwe iintroduce Aachen? In case you were not yet aware, Aachen fell next on this stumble-footed steeplechase around the western edge of Germany. And here, let's begin by addressing the most obvious oddity: "Aachen" is a weird word. It's not as if German vocabulary abounds wi...

Hello, again, Blogonauts! Rhetorically, you may ask where I am: Am I in the Celtic region of Europe? Am I exploring Rome's ancient civilization & culture? Or am I in modern day Germany? The only accurate answer to all three questions is, "Yes!" On Sunday I scooted back across the border into Germany to visit Trier, arguably one of the most broadly historic cities in the country. Back in the Bronze Age, Trier began as a Celtic city, which means they had a ...

Hello, again, Blogonauts! Let's play catch-up here for a day or two, shall we? I have given the Freiburger Münster its own special entry here, if for no other reason of its age and centrality for the town. But unlike churches in most of the US, the church is endowed with maintaining fair play in the local trades. First off...what is a Münster? It is not related to Herman Munster...at least I don't believe so. Essentially, a Münster is a church t...

Hello, again, Blogonauts! This will be short and sweet...and savory... For reasons known only to their kinky selves, several people ask me to post Food Photos. To satiate those visual appetites, I've posted a cupboard full of comestibles in the album labeled "Food, Photos So Far." There’s more to say about Freiburg, too, so consider this your lunch break before the next bit of wandering. Blog to you later!

Hello, again, Blogonauts! Or should I say, Wilkommen! You're joining me in Germany! The next couple of weeks will be a winding wander through parts of Europe that are new to me. Stay alert for possible discoveries. (I'm leaving my linguistic comfort zone to get by as much as I can speaking only German. Plus, we will explore a bit of history, primarily that of the Holy Roman Empire, that was somehow absent in my schooling.) So... on Monday Lufthansa was late lu...