Coming Up - Our Longest European Trip Yet

Departure time is near...August 17 to be precise. Hard to believe Jeannie and I will soon be on our way; eight wonderful weeks traveling through five northern Europe countries. This will be our sixth and longest European trip since 2005.

 

A travel toast in Mainz, Germany - 2005

Serious planning for this trip began about eight months ago. It was to be an ancestry trip,  to explore my paternal ancestral towns in Germany's Schleswig-Holstein region near the Denmark border. This would be our last ancestral trip; we've visited her paternal grandparent's Italian birth towns in the mountains near Torino, her maternal grandparent's birth towns in northern Croatia and my maternal grandparent's birth towns in southern Italy. In both Croatia and southern Italy we were surprised to discover relatives we had no idea existed. What a heart-warming experience it is to uncover family ties in such faraway places!

So, we'll soon be heading to northern Germany, to the tiny charming towns of Tonning and Lunden. My Great-Grandfather Gustav George Abraham (1850 - 18__) was born in Lunden and lived there with his wife, Cristine Marie (Carstens) Abraham (1854 - 18__). My Great-Great Grandfather, Peter Abraham (1804-1851) was born in Tonning and lived with his wife, Anna (Stien) Abraham (1808-1896) in Lunden. Gustav and Cristine immigrated to America with Gustav's two brothers in 1873 and lived first in Saint Claire, Iowa, then in Scandinavia, Nebraska before finally settling in nearby Ragan.

How can a trip to a few small German towns become an eight-week adventure? Well, Jeannie and I never let a long and pricey airline flight go to waste. We like to say "well, as long as we're going lets see as much as possible". And, being frugal retirees, we usually expand our trips to six weeks minimum. So, our upcoming trip will take us to southern Denmark, northern and central Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

You're invited to join us, vicariously of course, as we travel by air, rail, automobile, bicycle and on foot. Our experiences, in words and photos, will be shared here periodically for anyone to enjoy. While the realities of schedule, internet availability and occasional exhaustion may hamper us, we will nevertheless do our best.

Typically, our day starts early, includes much walking, poking into the non-touristy parts of the places we visit and returning "home" after sunset. During these late evening times we will be downloading my average 200 photos/day (only a few to this blog) and, using Jeannie's succinct daily notes, document our experiences on this blog.

If, perhaps, you're considering such a trip yourself, we will be including some of own travel tips, many learned from other seasoned travelers and proven or refined through our experiences.

We look forward to sharing the trip with you and we look forward to your comments. STAY TUNED AS AUGUST 17 GETS CLOSER!