We were tempted by Berlin’s growing roster of Michelin-starred restaurants (13 and counting)–and even made reservations at one. In the end, however, we decided to save our primarily culinary experiences to the French and Italian legs of our trip. Even so, we found a few good and atmospheric venues to sample all types of primarily […]
Germany
Berlin Museum Highlights
Berlin has two large concentrations of world-class museums, plus a number of smaller ones scattered throughout the city. Given our limited time, we had to be selective. While we briefly explored both of the big museum clusters—Museumsinsel (Museum Island) and Kulturforum–we selected three museums from these two clusters. plus one Nazi regime historical site on […]
Berlin Awakening: Recovering from an 80-Year Bad Dream
Joyce and I first (and last) visited Berlin in 1991, while the Berlin Wall was still in the process of being torn down. While the Western section was relatively modern and lively, the recently opened Eastern section of the city was seemed to be in something of a haze; like it had just woken from […]
Mosel and Rhine River Cruise
As active travelers, we do not normally take cruises. We prefer to be out and about to explore areas. But sometimes a cruise is the only way to see something that we really want to see. Examples are the Galapagos, the Three Rivers Gorge (before the dam), Antarctica, and the temples and tombs of the […]
Savoring the Foods, Wine and Liqueurs of the Mosel Valley
Our time in the Mosel Valley was relatively short, three nights and two days of exploration, before departing on a cruise which spend another half-day on the river, before entering the Rhine. The short time, however, was devoted primarily to our mission of exploring as many of the local restaurants, wines, and as …
Cruising the Mosel River Valley: Day trips from Cochem
Cochem was our base for exploring the Mosel Valley—and a great base it was. As explained in our blog on Cochem, it is a fairy tale town with pastel-painted and half-timber homes, winding streets and alleyways next to a meandering river with vineyards planted at unimaginable angles. And, of course, it is all overlooked by […]