Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine district was once known as the most dangerous neighbourhood in the United States, far worse than the legendary City of Compton. Far, far worse. Much of this reputation was earned after the 2001 riots which were the climax of decades of growing civil unrest, but there is more to it. Like most of…
My southern Ohio birthplace is surrounded by historic German communities, schools, and other institutions. One of the coolest neighbourhoods I am personally familiar with is the Mainstrasse Village in Covington, Kentucky, just a few minutes south of Cincinnati and right across the Ohio-Kentucky state border. Covington is a rad city in its own right, but…
If you find yourself in Munich/München for a day or two layover and want an efficient route to see some highlights, or are visiting for the first time and do not know where to start, I’ve got you. If you are into medieval history, gothic and classical architecture, war/dark tourism, touring opulent churches and royal…
Between a surgery, work, then a year and a half so far of Covid-19 forcing us to cancel our trip, I have not been able to go back to my beloved Vaterland for over three years. That ache in my heart for lederhosen and medieval architecture is sometimes unbearable. We set out instead for Helen,…
Bad Kötzting is a town in Chem of Upper Bavaria, Germany near the border of the Czech Republic. After an extremely short visit, this place remains elusive in my memory. It was dark already as we left München, but there was just enough light from the moon, stars, and snow on the mountains to illuminate…
Mark Twain wrote about Heidelberg, “I have never enjoyed a view which had such a serene and satisfying charm about it as this one gives” in his book A Tramp Abroad and it still rings true. In the heart of Germany, Heidelberg rests over the Odenwald mountains divided in two by the Neckar River. Germany’s…
The Asamkirche is Munich’s most unique church. Known formally as the church of St. Johann Nepomuk, this tiny late Baroque gem was built by the brothers Cosmas and Egid Asam over the period of thirteen years. For this entry I chose Hozier’s “Take Me To Church” for obvious reasons. Before the brothers began building in…
I don’t believe there is anything in the whole earth that you can’t learn in Berlin except the German language.” – Mark Twain’s Notebook.
Berlin is the city that makes my heart skip a beat. The buildings and streets define and narrate my lifelong obsession with my ancestral home (Germany) and its history like an interactive storybook. First, Berlin was the cultural center of the Weimar Republic era (between WWI and WWII) when the painters, filmmakers, musicians, architects, scientists,…
Superstition holds that women who pay a visit, and a few Euros, to Saint Munditia will soon find their true love.
One particularly foggy night in München required Adolf Hitler to take the train home instead of a car. It was November 1939, and an anti-Nazi activist named George Elser had planted a bomb. Hitler was giving a speech that night but it was abruptly cut short in order for him to catch the train. He left just minutes before the bomb went off.
After a whirlwind week of road tripping from München to Bad Kötzting near the Czech Border, then along the Alps to Schloß Neuschwanstein, I was ready for a solo retreat to Heidelberg. Heidelberg’s official song “Ich Hab’ mein Herz in Heidelberg Verloren” translates to “I Lost my Heart in Heidelberg” and was first recorded in 1925 by Fred Raymond.…
Fernweh 