In a message dated 10/20/2003 9:29:33 AM Central Daylight Time, elsavorwerk@mindspring.com writes: > We are planning a trip to Germany in May First off, go to Google and enter into SEARCH the name of the town (do each one individually). You should get many hits on most of them and if they have a web site, that will show. We went to Germany back in '94 and had a grand trip. I planned it and booked it all on my own and we were completely satisfied. If you stay with the larger Hotels, Restaurants, on the main streets, etc. you will find many that have their menus in German and English, as well as having employees who speak English. The German people are well educated. We flew into Frankfurt, took the train to Munich, picked up a rental car and drove to Austria where we had a timeshare booked for a week. At the end of our week we drove back to Munich, turned in our car, took the train to Mannheim and got another rental which we drove through Germany for a week, ending up in Frankfurt, for our flight home. The hotels were thoroughly modern as far as their amenities, etc. We had all the necessary comforts of home. We made use of a laundromat, grocery stores, local bakeries and deli. Great Food! Contact the Country's Visitor's/Tourist Bureau for Maps & Info. Lea in KCMO Researching - Ripper, VonderHaar, Cirtautas, Gerst, Blumfelder, Mueller, Hoelzer