My Next European vacation....

[_Schadenfreude_]

Originally posted by muckmaw
Well, I've finally decided...

My next Europeam vacation will be to Germany.

Good lord, that is a beautiful country!!!

I want to visit Normandy, but I'm still avoiding all things French.

Still, can anyone recommend a resource that will give me a historic tour of WWII Germany?

I'd especially like to see the Eagle's Nest, so I'll spend some time in Austria as well.

I could not believe how beautiful that country looked!

Yes, Band of Brother's episode last night convinced me this is a country I simply must see.

Was there on biz about a month ago, drove to a meeting along the Rhine and went through Remagen - the eastern side of the bridge is still standing - felt kind of weird to walk around, looks exactly as it did in the film.

Food and the beer was awesome, enjoy yourself.

[Holden McGroin]

[StabbyTheIcePic]

Get a eurorail pass. Great value. Dont have to drive, and the trains over there are first class. (spring for first class btw, it isnt that much more).

[gatso]

Originally posted by muckmaw
Yes, Band of Brother's episode last night convinced me this is a country I simply must see.

Then you need to visit the delights of historic Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK because thats where most of it was filmed.  Ditto Saving Private Ryan.

Actually, on second thoughts, stick with the real thing. Have fun.

Gatso

[Samiam]

http://www.andechs.de

Gorgeous country and beer to write home about.

[Duedel]

I would suggest to visit Bremen and Hamburg also. Both towns are only 100km away from eachother and offer many many beautifull and interesting things p.e. the Space Center in Bremen or the Hamburg harbor!!!

Bremen:

Take a look at these pages:
http://www.bremen-tourism.de


Hamburg:

http://www.hamburg-tourism.de

I would suggest 2 extremly important places:

Bremen: the biggest U-Boot Bunker of the world. Its name is Valentin
482m length, 98m width, 30m height; built by 35.000 KZ detainees where many lost their lives. To stay in front of this huge sarcophagus gives u a deap impression of the oppressive sickness of WWII.



Hamburg: KZ Neuengamme. Do u and ur family a favour and visit a KZ. Its the best way to prevent ur kids from facism. its really really hard but i recommend it over Neuschwanstein or other tourist centers.
http://fhh1.hamburg.de/Neuengamme/welcome.en.html

[deSelys]

Muckmaw when I read your first posts I was going to say something pretty rude. Then reason seemd to come from all sides and it was a surprising but most welcome change.

If you want to spend a day or two in Belgium (we share borders with Germany and France), contact me. Best places to visit are Bruges, the old Brussels, maybe the Waterloo lion and of course Bastogne for WWII nerds.

[_Schadenfreude_]

Originally posted by gatso
Then you need to visit the delights of historic Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK because thats where most of it was filmed.  Ditto Saving Private Ryan.

Actually, on second thoughts, stick with the real thing. Have fun.

Gatso

lol I work near Hatfield, never knew that - St Alban's is pretty nice though.

[beet1e]

Originally posted by straffo
Theres is much places were you can distend your belly with fine food like Périgord (ask Beetle I think he got his belly in Bergerac )

ROFL Frédéric! Actually, I was beginning to lose weight there. I'm like Stabby and love the Provence diet. The Périgord diet was not to my taste - duck paté, gizzards/geziers, force fed fowl and foie gras de l'oie <-- very difficult for English person to pronounce. And in a market in a town called Sarlat I saw tins of duck. The duck was canned in a disgusting mass of white fat.

Hehe, I DID make my escape to Bergérac one day - about 100km west of Castelnaud where I was staying. There, I found an Italian restaurant and had pasta.

Give me filet de loup and harricots verts (spelling?) preceded by a mixed salad, accompanied with a St. Emilion and followed by a tarte au poire, assiette de fromage, espresso, and Armagnac!

[storch]

Ya i would never return to Paris. I would like to visit the North of France.  I have nothing but good things to say about the cote d'azur.  Had a blast there people were geniunely friendly and the food was phenomenal.  But I won't return to France until there is a fundamental change in the government and it's policies towards the United States.

Do you like to ski? there is great skiing in Argentina in August most years.  There are two places which we have been.  Bariloche and Las lenas.  either will do nicely.

[Momus--]

SPR/BoB was largley filmed on the site of the old British Aerospace facility at Hatfield as pointed out above. The site also was the location for De Havilland factory that produced the Mosquito during WW2. Until last November, I worked in an office building overlooking the site and saw quite a lot of the filming activity for both features, albeit from a distance.

Hatfield itself has little to recommend to vistitors. You're much better off going to Germany, the beers is cheaper and generally better for a start. You're depriving yourself of a great experience by avoiding France however.

[muckmaw]

Straffo-

I may take you up on that tour of Normandy, and then dinner is on me...whatever restaurant you recommend.

Thanks for all the input and the invitations.

I'm convinced I'll have to visit both France and Germany,

[straffo]

ok so

Wine on me (sorry can't trust an American for that important thing )

[Ripsnort]

oops.

[Ripsnort]

Muck, when are you planning to go?  We're considering a 2005 trip to Germany.

However, I've had opportunities to go to France, and turned them down because of family obligations.  I would consider a trip for a day down to France (if its relatively close enough) to visit with Straffo.