Finally. Done.

The last few slideshows from our summer tour are finally posted. Here's a short summary.

Day 8-9 - Munich, Germany
Munich (Munchen) was probably our favorite city to visit on our summer holiday. We were fortunate to be there for Munich’s 850th birthday celebration. I imagine it was similar or a lower-key Oktoberfest. Munich sure knows how to throw a party!

The slideshow is pretty self explanatory. Many of the pictures are from the ‘free tour’ of Munich, which is really a college student giving an organized tour and working for tips. Munich is a city rich in history and we would definitely go back in a heartbeat. You could easily spend a week in Munich and visit some of the nearby sites that are within an hour or so drive.

Day 15 - Black Forest and Baden-Baden, Germany
I don’t think we really ever found the Black Forest because we just saw regular old forests, but you can be the judge with the pictures in the slideshow.

Baden-Baden is gorgeous. It was a rainy and overcast day, so the pictures just don’t do it justice. As we drove out of Baden-Baden, Chuck said, “This is a city that you’d want to live in, not just visit.”

Day 16-17- Trier, Mosel River Valley and Mainz, Germany
Trier was a cute little town with a nice pedestrian walkway through the old town. It doesn't appear to be a big tourist location, but nontheless, we had a nice time. And, Chuck was able to visit Karl Marx's home.

There are vineyards for miles and miles along the Mosel River Valley. The route along the Mosel River takes you through quaint towns all with summer wine festivals.

The Rhine river runs through Mainz, Germany and is a great tourist spot for cruising the river. We spent a quick 24 hours in Mainz walking through the pedestrian area and staying at the Hyatt. Our stay was toward the end of our trip and I must say, the bed at the Hyatt was the most comfortable bed of the whole trip!

Day 17-18 - Cologne, Germany
The last days of our European Summer tour in 2008 were spent in Cologne. It's a huge, huge, huge city and it's probably the dirtiest of all the cities we visited. However, the Cologne Cathedral makes up for it. That is one impressive structure. Look at the scale in the slideshow. We couldn't even get a picture that included the whole building. It's HUGE!