h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Oh, don't give up on the idea, Hyp. One of the first I attended was about water. We have various sources here, so we had a nice walk along them, guided by somebody from the bird watch station who told us which birds live in our area, and which ones we could hear at any given time, etc. At our destination (a large barn with benches and tables), we had a 'brotzeit', and an author (whose name I've forgotten) read us her (and others') lyrics (ie poems) which were related to water.

We've had an Erich Kästner themed picnic (it was Erich Kästner year then), we've had a picnic which was related to robbers (everybody has such romantic ideas about how robbers lived, and we had somebody tell us how it really was: next to the Berger Gallow, where they used to be hung), etc.

You've given me a lot to think about. I'll see if I can be creative and come up with something. It does sound like a wonderful event.

I'll email you.

Great.

Email sent.

There are increasingly more tours and activities based on detective stories these days.

The first I heard of was a tour of Paris following the Dan Brown novel "Da Vinci Code" and one of Rome following the route of "Angels and Demons".

But nowadays you can visit all sorts of places made famous by authors. Apparently, the council of Ystad aren't too happy about it, though!

Howdy, B'el!
To answer your question, "No, I have not been to Schloss Freudenberg."
I have been to Burg Cochem and Burg Eltz, plus one other whose name escapes me just now. I seem to recall the town was famous for its Sprudel factory, as a naturally carbonated spring has its source there.

Wait... A web search and some remembering garnered the name: Gerolsteiner Castle. The place, though small, had multiple apiaries for hawks, kites, and other birds of prey. The also boasted a growing family of wild boars.

So, that's the extent of my castle-hopping in the 4 years I lived in Schoenecken. I did a lot of biking in my spare time, riding a ten-speed along all the lesser traveled back roads in the area. It was always a treat to roll into a village, stop in at the local Gasthaus, have a meal and a drink, and talk to the folks who lived there.

B4isaveupenough$$$2travelback2meineHeimart4anothermemorablevisit

I just googled for Schönecken. It's located in a lovely area.

I've been to Cochem (but we went for a wine tasting , not to the castle). If I look at the title of this journal, I couldn't balme anybody who'd think I spent the whole year drinking wine.

Every time I glance down my postings list I always read "Zuckerberg" instead of Zwingenberg! It confuses me for half a second until I read it properly.

Well, a Zwinger is an inner bailey - not really sweet.

B'el,
Schönecken is definitely an endearing little town. Even the name ("pretty corners") stays dear to my heart. On that topic, I witnessed--more than once--two trucks (lorries, for you Brits) coming nose-to-nose around one of the bends of the main thoroughfare, and one driver would have to back down and yield the right of way, it was just so narrow sharply curved.

When I first lived started living in the town, while married and with our new-born daughter, we had an apartment just off the main street. It had stained glass windows at the back, and a great view of the main road, bus platz, and the town park across the way. [Google Earth shows it quite plainly. It's the "L" shaped building right beside the large open parking area right in the middle of town.] The best feature, though, was the tiny balcony of the third floor that had a phenomenal view of the Burgruine (castle ruins on the hill), up and to the right. I remember sitting out there one summer and sketching it, and it came out pretty darn good, if I have to say so myself.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/21540092
(This is the view of the ruins, and below, the town from the Burg)
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2515125

I used to work at the Schönfeld AUTOVON telephone switch, a few miles NW of Prüm, just West of the little town of Knaufspesch. Google Earth [again!] has about a dozen photos of the remnants of the communications site where three military units were housed. They were 601 TCS, 612 TCS, and 1945th Comm Group (Det 23). I worked for the latter of the them. If you look where the large microwave tower remains, there was a huge cement wall around our comm equipment building. Like I said previously, it's sad to see it deteriorated, but it's still heartening to know the local communities still thrive.

B4ireminisce2much

*flinches at the lederhosen reference*

I was supposed to re-work the entry on Lederhosen and somehow never got round to it.
Will make another effort soon.

Well, Trillian, you better get to it soon, before it turns around and bites you in the shorts.

B4itbitesyouintheshortsgetitshortslikeleatherpantshaha