Europe Germany	Spain Mar 2 - Mar 25 Germany Mar 26 - Apr 4 Netherlands Apr 5 - Apr 8 Germany Apr 9 - Apr 14 Czech Republic Apr 15 - Apr 21

Our trip seems to be full of pleasant surprises. The weather in Germany was beautiful ...mostly clear, sunny skies (cold, but no rain!). We rented a car for a month (it's a lot cheaper than taking trains all over and gives us more freedom). We drove from Frankfurt to Kiel - which is in northern Germany. We stayed in Kiel with our friends Chrissy, Kai, and their boys - Ansgar, Jasper, and Aiker.

It was Easter holidays, so we were able to spend a lot of time with Chrissy and Kai. It was my first time to Kiel (Lon had been there before) and I thought it was a beautiful area. We didn't spend much time in the city. Instead, we enjoyed the rural suburbs where Chrissy and Kai built their new house. It's a beautiful neighborhood ...spacious yards, lots of nature, and the houses are all different (no cookie-cutter houses here).

Our visit to Kiel coincided with the Gloddek's return to Germany. Bertrand, Jutta, and their daughter Laurance had spent the past year in La Jolla, California (exactly during the time that Lon and I were traveling). We were able to catch up with them in Kiel before Bertrand started work in Bochum.

We visited an outdoor museum (Schleswig-Holsteinisches Freilicht-musuem ...try to say that 3 times!) of various farm houses from all around Kiel. These homes were actually taken apart from where they stood and rebuilt at the museum. It was an impressive collection of farm homes from different periods . The outdoor setting was beautiful ...it was a lovely day!

Chrissy and Kai took us to the island of Sylt for 2 days. Sylt is one of Germany's playgrounds for the rich and famous. Although we were neither, we got to enjoy the area all the same (another case of backpackers trying to blend in among the Ferrari, Porsche, and champagne crowd... ha-ha!). We stayed with Thorsen and Gabbi who are long time locals. It was a beautiful area and it's easy to see why it's so popular. We had a wonderful time! Chrissy and Kai - Thanks again for your hospitality! Lon and I really enjoyed those long, leisurely breakfasts!!

"On the road" again ...we stopped in Hamburg for one night as we made our way to Bremen. Lon's grandfather was from Bremen, so we wanted to check out the area. Bremen was destroyed during WWII, but it was rebuilt to it's former charm ...lots of cobblestone streets, narrow alley ways, a scenic central plaza, and even a windmill. We found Lon's grandfather's sister's house ...and about 8 Ficke's in the telephone book. That's as far as we got in finding relatives.

We continued to make our way towards Holland. Before we left Germany, we made a stop in Emden. We knew Jutta and Laurence were visiting family (the Hennings) there, so we caught up with them for another visit. We met Jutta's mother, father, brother, sister in law, niece, and nephew. It was an unexpected stop for us, but it turned out to be a really nice time. We ended up staying with the Hennings in their beautiful lakeside vacation home for the night. Once again, we were dazzled by German hospitality. Thank you!!