Our third European Trip was spent in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and Budapest! Once again, we used Rick Steves' tour books. We have been very pleased with how our previous European trips went when using his books that we decided to continue using him. We took 595 pictures with my new digital camera (courtesy of my brother Ron and his wife Helena - gift from Christmas). We learned the hard way that digital cameras use up a lot of batteries! Next time - bring a converter and a charger!

We arrived in Frankfurt, Germany after a long flight through Paris, France. Everything went smoothly as planned, until we got on the train towards Rothenburg - we were supposed to take three trains to get there. However, our first train was delayed 50 minutes, pushing our second leg past the departure time of our final leg. Luckily, the people at Wurzburg station helped us find another man in the same predicament - they put us in the same cabin and scheduled a taxi to pick us up at the train station.

Rothenburg is a medieval town that has preserved its medieval qualities. 40% of the town was destroyed in WWII (it would have suffered more damage had it not been for an empathatic American General (whose mother once visited the town and wrote about its remarkable medieval beauty) and a German Captain (who was willing to go against his boss's command of "No Surrender - defend the town to the last man.".

I had my first German beer at the Spiefehaus - dark and sweet! Most American beers are too bitter for my taste. More care is taken when producing European beers that the flavor is more intense, yet subtle.

We stayed at the Pension Poschel Pension means small hotel for two nights.

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See more pics of our Eastern Europe Vacation:

Day 1 - Rothenburg, Germany
Day 2 - Rothenburg and Fussen, Germany
Day 3 - Schwangau (Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein Castles, and Fussen, Germany
Day 4 - Fussen and Munchen (Munich), Germany
Day 5 - Dachau, Deutches Meuseum, Germany
Day 6 - Nymphenburg, Munchen, Germany
Day 7 - Munchen, Germany and Salzburg, Austria
Day 8 - Salzburg, Austria
Day 9 - Salzburg and Hallstatt, Austria
Day 10 - Salzbergwerk (Salt Mine) Hallstatt, Dachstein Caves, Austria
Day 11 - Hallstatt and Wien (Viena), Austria
Day 12 - Schonbrunn Palace, Naturhistorisches Musem, Austria
Day 13 - Kunsthistoriches Museum, Wien, Austria
Day 14 - Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
Day 15 - Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
Day 16 - Cesky Krumlov and Praha (Prague), Czech Republic
Day 17 - Praha, Czech Republic
Day 18 - Praha, Czech Republic
Day 19 - Praha, Czech Republic
Day 20 - Budapest, Hungary
Day 21 - Pest, Hungary
Day 22 - Buda, Hungary
Day 23 - Our last day :( in Budapest, Hungary

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