These pages contain a collection of our vacation pictures throughout the years. As I delve into my archive of digital pictures I will be adding more history.
Germany 1996 - Nick was 3 and a half years old and for a digital camera, 1 megapixal was cutting edge. I put together a little story called Niki's Big Adventure.
Germany 2000 - This was the year I bought my Audi TT. This trip included a pilgrimage to Ingolstad where they were just constructing the Audi Forum. We also took a ride on a vintage steam train from Augsburg to Garmish.
Germany 2001 - This trip included an afternoon in Heidelberg, a visit to the Auto and Technik Museum, a couple of days at Starnberger See, four days in Mitenwald where Nick's interest in the Violin was ignitied as well as Ron's introduction to the Contrabass guitar. It included a visit to Munich and the BMW museum as well as a visit with our good friends in Kassel.
White Mountains, New Hampshire - 2003 - We visited the White Mountains and camped at three different camp grounds...White Lake in Tamrac which is a great place for camping with a crystal clear lake, Dry River Campground and one of the National campgrounds along the Kangamangus Highway. The state campgrounds are far superior. We also took the Cog Railroad up to Mt. Washington and did some hiking as well. Looking forward to getting back there again.
Germany 2004 - We planned our arrival to coincide with Johannisfest. We spent 5 days in a hunting lodge loaned to us by Erich in the former East. We visit Oschlies in the Wippertal and Jakob in Kassel. Another visit to Mittenwald for a day as we made our way to Innsbruck to see Ron's uncle who took us up for a hike and we met a couple from Connecticut! A week in Lignano made us quite relaxed. On the way back North we stopped again in Mittenwald where Ron found the Contrabass guitar he would soon own. A trip to Legoland for Nick and then a few days at Chiemsee rounded out this great vacation.
South Dakota - 2005 - Well its been a long time coming but the pictures are finally online. I'm going to leave the dissertation assignment to Ron. Stay tuned.....
Germany 2006 - a bit of a while in coming...but hey....good things take time. We started with Wolfgang, Geli and family in Kassel for a week. We visited the salt mine in Merkers where the Germans hid all the treasures. We then drove south and stayed a few days in Salzburg and were treated to a tour by a native. We took side trip to Berchtesgarten and the area. We then headed further south to Lignano where we always enjoy ourselves and stayed for a week. It was a bit rainy but we met a real nice couple, Alessandro and Cristina. We then headed up through the mountains by way of Cortina d'Amprezzo to end up in the Stubaital, south of Innsbruck for a few days of hiking the Alps and visiting with Ron's uncle Dieter and Margaret. Heading up north, Nick said he wanted to play a Mittenwald violin so we decided to visit the makers at the Sprenger cousins. Who would have thought that a little town in Southern Germany could be a hotbed of Bluegrass music!!! On the way back north to catch the plane we stopped in Munich for a visit to the German Museum. Enjoy the tour. Here is the short course by Ron.
Germany 2008 with a detailed write-up by the resident wordsmith in English and German.
Austria 2010 with I Giovani Solist. This was a concert tour featuring the best orchestral players from both West Hartford High Schools, Hall and Conard. Nick is featured on violin in two of the selections. I participated as a chaperone. Ron held down the fort at home.