October 2, 2025 - Dusseldorf, Germany

We were up in time to see Amelia before she was off to Kindergarten this morning. She is a precocious four year old and it was sure fun to see her. After she left, we got ready to leave and said our goodbyes to Stephan and Ashley before beginning our last day in Germany.

Just a side note if you are not familiar with the German school system. In Germany, Kindergarten is an educational facility for children aged three to seven that is similar to American preschool. It focuses on socialization, independence, and play-based learning to prepare them for primary school.

Our first stop was to see Die Kaiserpfalz in Kaiserwerth, the remains of a 12th century castle along the Rhine River. The first challenge was driving through Dussedorf-Kaiserwerth trying to find a place to park. We lucked into a spot a few blocks from this street. We didn't know if you had to pay for parking, but we had seen a police woman checking all the cars as we went by. There was a kind fisherman coming back to his car and we asked him. He didn't speak English and we don't speak German, but he was very helpful. He showed us a timer sticker and said you could park free for two hours. We looked in the glovebox of the rental, and sure enough, we had one also. We set the time and showed him and he gave us a thumbs up.

From our parking it was a short walk to the castle.
All of the signs were in English and German which was great for us. The picture is what they think the castle looked like originally.

It was fun wandering through and seeing everything.


There were wonderful views overlooking the Rhine River.



Afterwards, we walked along the Rhine for quite a while. We even spotted a large "caravan" RV park across the river. Many of the streets in the smaller areas are so small, there is NO WAY I would want to drive a motorhome here!

We decided to grab a doner sandwich since it was getting close to lunchtime. It was pretty tasty. Tobey wanted to explore a little more, so we drove around and through the countryside a bit. I decided I had enough of the tiny roads so we fueled up the rental car and went to check in to the Hotel Villa Casa. We unloaded the suitcases and headed to the airport to turn in the car. It only took a couple spins around the airport before we found the rental car garage, but we made it! Then came the next challenge ... taking the bus back to the hotel. With the help of the woman at the information booth, we headed outside the terminal and found the correct station. We thought we had the right bus, but it wasn't going where our map showed it should go, so we hopped off and walked to the next station. Well ... long story short - after a 20 minute walk we ended up getting on the same bus we had gotten off!!! I'm sure the driver was thinking we were absolutely nuts, but that's okay, we probably won't ever see him again!

We rearranged the suitcases and had some down time this afternoon to catch up on some emails before heading out to find some dinner. Our shuttle to the airport leaves at 4:15AM so we will be going to bed soon. Tomorrow will be a LONG travel day - Dusseldorf to Istantbul, a short layover, then Istanbul to Denver. It's been a great trip, but we are both looking forward to being home.

October 1, 2025 - Dusseldorf, Germany

Tobey was up early and visited with Stephan, Ashley, and Amelia before they left for work and Kindergarten. I, on the other hand, slept in and had a lazy start to the day. Around 11, we took the train from a stop near their house to the old part of town to do some exploring.

Tobey had downloaded a walking tour and we tried to hit most of the stops - even if we did backtrack and miss some!

The Haus der Universitat at Schadowplatz

Steigenberger Parkhotel below was built and opened in 1902. It sustained significant damage during WWII, and post-war was used by American and British occupying forces.

Kriegerdenkmal im Hofgarten is a war memorial stands on a remodeled remnant of the former city fortifications in the Hofgarten. The monument was inaugurated in 1892 and is dedicated to the fallen Dusseldorf soldiers of the German Wars of Unification and Franco-German War.
The Church of St. Andreas is a Roman Catholic church located in the center of Dusseldorf.

We also visited the Dusseldorf Memorial and Education Center. It is dedicated to all the victims of Nazi persecution in Dusseldorf. Unfortunately, all of the signage was in German and they were out of headsets, so we did our best. From 1933 to 1945 the Gestapo offices were located in the west wing of the building complex. There were hundreds of pictures of victims and even a bomb shelter in the lower part of the building. It was very well done, even if we couldn't read the signs.

The Neanderkirche in the center of Dusseldorf was built in 1684.

Altes Rathaus, the old town hall in Dusseldorf, is the wing on the northern side of the market square. It was built between 1570 and 1573 as the office and meeting place for mayors and the city council.

We walked on the boardwalk along the Rhine River enjoying the views. There were lots of restaurants and places to stop and relax. Barges were going up and down the Rhine all day.

The round white building behind us is the Schifffahrtsmuseum (maritime museum). We walked by but there was some construction going on, so we just enjoyed the view.

We enjoyed the architecture and views all around the city.

This sculpture in Dusseldorf's Old town is really bizarre, but it is to remind people of the struggles of war. It is located behind St. Lambertus, the tallest and most famous church in the city.


This is the front of the church.

After a long day exploring, we made the decision to walk back to Stephan and Ashley's since it was only about 3-1/2 miles. Maybe we're crazy, but it was fun seeing different neighborhoods along the way. We also went by the Goethe Museum which is dedicated to the German poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The building was beautiful!

We arrived back at the house about 5pm after a full day. We all went to a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. After Amelia went to bed, we had a little time to visit before before calling it a day. Stephan leaves tomorrow for Oktoberfest in Munich and Ashley has a workday. We will do some sight seeing before heading to our hotel before our early morning flight heading home (via Istanbul!).

September 30, 2025 - Erbach to Dusseldorf, Germany

Tobey still wasn't feeling the best this morning so Bernhard took us to a local pharmacy. After talking to them, they gave Tobey a couple different medicines to help calm his stomach and hopefully, he will be on the mend. 

We took off from Erbach for our 6 hour drive to Dusseldorf. I have driven on the autobahn before, but there was much more traffic today, as well as road construction (lots of it), and rain - lots of it! The fortunate thing about driving in Germany is that people understand that the left lane is for passing, not dawdling along. You put your turn signal on, you pass the slower cars, and put your signal back on and move back into the right lane. It works very well, thank goodness! 

We had a small stop along the way for lunch and arrived at Stephan and Ashley's about 6pm. They fixed a lovely dinner and we had a nice time visiting with them this evening. Their daughter, Amelia, is four and was off to bed around 7:45. We followed around 9pm and we plan to do a walking tour of Dusseldorf while they are at work tomorrow. 

September 29, 2025 - Elchingen, Germany to Erbach, Germany

Tobey slept and slept yesterday - probably 15 hours - and seemed to have helped. He managed to eat a small breakfast and we decided to go ahead to Erbach to see Stephan's parents. It was about a 30 minute drive and we had a wonderful visit with Marlies and Bernhard. 

We love how easy it is to be with them. It's been two years since we have seen them, but we are able to pick up our friendship like we saw them last week. Lots of talking, sharing memories, new ideas, and great discussions. 

Tobey still isn't 100% but I think he is on the mend. Tomorrow we are planning to leave here and head to Dusseldorf to see Stephan and his family.

September 28, 2025 - Munich to Elchingen, Germany

Well, we aren't sure what happened, but Tobey ended up getting sick again overnight. We had plans to meet up with Tom and his family today, but decided we should cancel. We were going on to Erbach to see Stephan's parents (another one of our German boys) and stay with them tonight. We cancelled that, too.

Paul wanted us to stay at his place, but Tobey and I both felt it was better to get a hotel so he wouldn't feel worse, knowing we were putting Paul out. He is really an awesome young man, but we decided to move. Tobey was originally the driver on the car, but I thought it better if I drove knowing he wasn't feeling well. We have a VW T-Roc convertible (6 speed), but the weather is too chilly to drive with the top down!

We arrived in Elchingen around 1pm and were checked in. We are staying at the Austuble Hotel Restaurant. It's a bit unique. There is a restaurant on the main level and you enter the hotel part from the side and go upstairs to the rooms. On the way, you pass by the kitchen! It comes with breakfast, so we will see how it goes tomorrow.

Tobey climbed into bed and slept. I took a LONG walk - over an hour - to check out this village. It's Sunday and the only other place I saw that is open was another restaurant. All of the shops and markets are closed! I saw this unusual sculpture in front of an apartment building not far from our hotel.

I also saw several cigarette vending machines all over the town which surprised me.

After I got back to our room, I watched part of a football game - the first time we have turned on a TV since we left Colorado. Tobey was feeling a little better so we walked to the other restaurant for a light dinner - noodle soup and French fries. So far, he seems to be doing okay, but we will call it an early night.

September 27, 2025 - Munich, Germany

We had an easy morning and were ready when Paul came to pick us up around 11:30 this morning. We had a special treat - Paul is the marketing director for Ferrari and he came in a Ferrari and took each of us for a ride before going to Oktoberfest. Ladies first - and fastest! On the Autobahn our speed got up to 275kph - that's 170mph!!! Crazy. Tobey and Paul only got up to about 270kph (167mph). Thank goodness it was only for a short time!


Speed when Tobey was in the car ...



After Tobey's ride, we took the train to the Oktoberfest grounds, arriving about 1pm. It was crowded even early in the day. It's not just beer tents, there is a huge carnival and booths selling food and souvenirs.

We stopped to watch this Toboggan ride and laughed and laughed. To get to the slide, everyone has to slide uphill before climbing the ladder to get to the top. It is a moving walkway of sorts, but goes fast and uphill. There was always one of the workers helping, but more than 50 percent of the people fell down and slid uphill on their bottoms! Paul said it gets funnier after there is more alcohol involved!

Mara was in the "wine" tent with girlfriends, so we headed there to say hello. This is the inside. It was huge and filled with people.

Paul lucked into finding a table of people that were leaving and there were no new reservations for the table, so we were able to get it - one row back from the stage! An added bonus for us that we didn't expect was seeing Paul's mom and cousin. Eva, Paul's mom, brought his cousin from Italy and two of her friends who came to Munich for "Italian Week" at Oktoberfest. We hadn't seen Francesca, his cousin, since 2008. Needless to say, she has grown up and is now a doctor.

Mara, Eva (Paul's mother) and Paul

Eva, Paul, and Paul's cousin, Francesca.

Paul and Tobey singing along with the band

This was the first band that was performing.

This was the second band.

The tables have only benches in a U-shape. Everyone gets up and stands on the benches and dances and sings along - or just visits with the people around you. It is VERY loud and a bit crazy! Here is a brief view of the fun. https://youtube.com/shorts/X2LqCM64h94

Why do these people have umbrellas? Good question.

When the table orders a LARGE bottle of champagne, the server starts to loosen the cork, then they pound it on the floor, moving it a little more. It takes several taps, then the cork comes out and they spray everyone! This is a video of the opening! https://youtu.be/EP8Bdn7sQfo
We were a table away from one of the openings and got a bit wet with champagne! It was crazy.

After a shared lunch and a few hours of entertainment, we went outside to check out the carnival activities. Paul and I went on the roller coaster - the front seat - six loops. It was awesome! Paul, Tobey, and Mara tried their luck at the shooting game. Paul did well and won two small stuffed animals for Mara.

Tobey and Mara shared a turn but they didn't get enough points for a prize. It was still fun for them.

Paul was successful in the hammer slam and won a keychain for Mara.

We finished out the evening with a ride on the Wild Mouse before heading out to Trader Vic's for dinner. We shared an assortment of appetizers and we were all stuffed.


We took the train back to Paul's house and said goodnight to them as they headed back to Mara's. Tomorrow we are hoping to catch up with another one of our German boys, Tom, and his family so we are off to sleep. Good night!