100 best things about Germany
 

why not? haven't seen this yet... let's hear it folks! <BR><BR>(or the 100 best things to DO in Germany - yes we know all about the beer! ;-)

1. Driving through small towns in the former East Germany and counting the many, many stork nests perched up high on nest poles.<BR><BR>2. Starting in Zittau, Germany, and walking through Poland and the Czech Republic and back to Germany in about an hour.<BR><BR>3. Sharing tables at off-the-beaten path restaurants with locals and talking. <BR><BR>4. Photographing every Berlin Bear you can find.<BR><BR>5. Pausing at Checkpoint Charlie to appreciate freedom.<BR><BR>6. Celebrating a small town's 1000th anniversary.

7.Meersburg - the unbeleivable restuarants<BR>and the old fortress<BR>8.The Mosel river area, Cochem is a a small town w/ big spirit, castle and great views.<BR>9The White church off the Romantic Rd.<BR>10.Schwarzwald, just driving through the hamlets and the breathtaking scenery<BR>

11. Shopping at the KaDeWe<BR><BR>12. The Grunes Gewolbe in Dresden<BR><BR>13. The Hotel Tuchmacher restaurant<BR><BR>14. The view of the castle in Meissen when you arrive at the train station.<BR><BR>

These are probably obvious: <BR>15. Walking from Moselkern to Burg Eltz, which leads us to ...<BR>16. Burg Eltz<BR>17. A Rhine cruise, if only between St. Goar and Bacharach

18. Early morning in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Eerily quiet except for a few locals getting their morning bread, etc.<BR>19. Auf Schoenburg Castle Hotel in Oberwesel on the Rhine River (near the Lorelei). Beautiful rooms and views.

<BR>20. The herbal tea at Cafe Arche in Ilmenau, Thuringen<BR><BR>21. The view of the three castles from the Autobahn between Eisenach and Gotha

<BR>22. The Hoelderlin house on the Neckar in Tuebingen.<BR><BR>23. Koestritzer Schwartzbier.<BR><BR>24. Stopping for a rum while cross-country skiing through the Thuringian Forest.<BR><BR>25. Christmas markets!<BR><BR>26. The dialects.

<BR>27. I know it's Turkish, but getting a Doner Kebab is great.<BR><BR>28. Watching a movie with Franka Potente.<BR><BR>29. Nude bathing on the Nordsee.

30. The fried potatoes!!

31. Butter pretzels in Stuttgart<BR>32. Bavarian Alps in summer<BR>33. Street cafes everywhere<BR>34. Black forest cherry cream cake<BR>

35) Hamburger Dom<BR>36) the leg sticking out of the wall at Bamberg<BR>37) Alt bier and the Dusseldorf old town in general (europe's longest bar)<BR>38) the rhine in flames<BR>good to hear a sometimes overlooked country bigged up!

38. Seconded! Someone just beat me to the Rhine en Flammen!<BR>39. Wandering the Christmas shop in Rothenberg<BR>40. A "wine tasting" (the real McCoy!) a small family-run winery. Bring your own bread and cheese!<BR>41. A Sunday volksmarch (stroll) through a path in the woods - preferably near the Schwarzwald.<BR>

42. The Deutsches Museum in Munich<BR>43. Bertchesgaden<BR>44. Apfelstrudel w vanilla sauce at Elisabeth and<BR>Wilhelm's house <BR>45. Schnitzel, says my son<BR>46. White asparagus (spargel), says I<BR>47. The little rococo church at Wies<BR>48. Freiburg, especially Freiburg

49 Erdbear bowle (wine, champagne with fruit soaked in brandy for 48 hours)<BR>50 Oberammergau with Grimm’s fairy tails painted on the houses.<BR>51 Hummel figurines.<BR>52 christmas beer.<BR><BR>

53. No road rage<BR>54. No violent crimes committed with guns-they have very strict gun laws<BR>55. No losers bbq kittens<BR>56. No little children being abducted from their homes or in front of them.<BR>57. Crime does happen but not to the extent and nature that it does in the states.<BR>58. Do you can drive fast on the autobahn<BR>59. Beer, beer, and more beer!!!!<BR>60. Berlin love fest parade<BR>61. October fest!!!!<BR>62. My local guesthouse which after four years living here is still my favorite restaurant "Zum Storkenest" in Bann.<BR>63. German attitude of mind your own business.

64. Hiking in the Bavarian Alps!!<BR>65. Kaiserschmarrn (I know it's Austrian but you can get it in Bavaria)<BR>66. A Radler on a warm day at a mountain Huette<BR>67. Kurbiskernbrezen - big pretzels covered with pumpkin seeds<BR>68. Oktoberfest!<BR>69. Mittenwald, Obertsdorf and all the other cute mountain villages

70. booze, booze and more booze.<BR>71. I am a big fan of anyplace where I can have a beer and a smoke at 8am with out judgement or scorn.

72. Auto-free Sundays, whereby given stretches of scenic highway are given over to bicyclists, rollerbladers, etc. for the entire day<BR><BR>73. Pedestrians-only zones in the city centers<BR><BR>74. The "Gastst&auml;tte-in-the-woods" phenomenon, whereby your hike through a dark and seemingly uncivilized forest, where you wouldn't expect to find refreshment for miles around, inevitable brings you to a place that sells a half-dozen varieties of brew and a yummy schnitzel.<BR><BR>75. The view over the Rhine River from atop the chairlift ride in Boppard<BR><BR>76. The waft of sausages and chestnuts on a cold winter evening<BR><BR>77. The eternal tidiness, friendliness, and hospitality of most small-town B&B proprietors<BR><BR>78. 6,000 train stations and thousands of miles of track<BR><BR>79. More "undiscovered" towns (the ones you won't find written up anywhere) than anywhere else I know<BR><BR>80. Outdoor cafes nearly everywhere (a more recent and very positive development)<BR><BR>81. The fact that most tourists prefer France and England<BR><BR>82. It's nothing like Paris.

83. Bread stores on every corner with a huge variety of fresh bread everyday!

84. Entire menus devoted to spargel (a little different from Betsy's listing)<BR><BR>85. That you can bring your canine companion on the U-Bahn.<BR><BR>86. Enjoying a three hour dinner.<BR><BR>87. Touring the former Stassi headquarters in Leipzig.<BR><BR>88. Warm curd pancakes with applesauce.<BR>

89. Kloster Eberbach <BR>90. Pergamon Museum<BR>

91. Lots of monasteries that brew their own beer!<BR>92. This may be a repeat...a zillion kinds of beer, all excellent! Beers for each season.

The little rococo Amalienburg on the grounds of the Nymphenburg in Munich.<BR><BR>That first glimpse of the Alps as you're driving south.

Potato Dumplings (my mouth starts watering just thinking about them.)<BR><BR>Spaetzle (YUM, especially with sauted mushrooms!!!!)<BR><BR>Can't wait to return!<BR><BR>Dick

98. Seeing decorated maypoles.<BR><BR>99. The autobahn.<BR><BR>100. Walking the grounds of Sans Souci.

well, made it to 100. anyone for 150?

101. The freedom to sunbathe completely naked in public parks.

I love strolling in the public parks looking at the nude sunbathers!<BR><BR>Metoo

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OOOPS! Be careful before you start taking your socks off! You might get arrested for indecent exposure!<BR>They sunbathe nude in some areas of a public park in Munich (Englische Garten) but I've never seen it elsewhere.<BR>You can also sunbathe in your birthday-suit in designated areas of some public swimming pools. But again - not everywhere.

Stella, I saw lots of nude sunbathers at a public park in Freiburg a few years ago. One was actually lying in the backyard of a nearby apartment complex.

102. apfel strudel warm out of the oven.<BR>103. smoked trout in Meersburg.<BR>104. having a glass of beer on my balcony watching the boats go by in Cochem.<BR>OK its dinner time here and food is on the mind...<BR>105. Burg Eltz<BR>106. the tidiness of the country...<BR>********ps... To the poster who had great black <BR>Forest cake...where did you find it ? Looked everywhere, including the Balck Forest.

In Munich at least, you can go nude in any park. Most nudies tend to hang out in the sanctioned part of the English Garden but they're also in other parks and on the banks of the Isar. I don't think they'd arrest anyone for walking around town nude, much less sitting in a park.

To the poster looking for the the Black Forest Cherry cake (Schwarzwaelderkirschtorte) in the Black Forest - you could't have looked very far. But be comforted - I am attaching the recipe.<BR><BR>Black Forest Gateau <BR>Ingredients: <BR><BR>3 large eggs <BR>4 1/2 oz caster sugar <BR>3 oz plain flour <BR>1/2 oz cocoa powder <BR>1 425g/15oz can black cherries <BR>2 tsp arrowroot <BR>1 pint double cream <BR>2-3 tbsps kirsch or brandy <BR>3 Cadbury's Flakes <BR><BR><BR>Method: <BR><BR>Beat the eggs and sugar together until very pale and very thick and the beater leaves a trail when lifted. Sift the flour and cocoa together twice and fold into the egg mixture. Pour into a greased and lined 23cm/9" round deep cake tin. <BR><BR>Bake in a preheated moderately hot oven (190C/375F/GM5) for about 30 mins or until firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack. <BR><BR>When the cake is cold cut it into three layers. Drain the cherries, reserving the can syrup. Mix 1/2 pint of the syrup (adding water if necessary) with the arrowroot in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring. Simmer until thickened and clear. <BR><BR>Halve the cherries, remove the stones (pits) and add them to the pan, reserving a few for decoration. Cool. Whip the cream until thick. <BR><BR>Place the bottom cake layer on a serving plate and spread with half the cherry mixture and another layer of cream. Cover with the second cake layer. Sprinkly with the kirsch or brandy, then spread over the remaining cherry mixture and another layer of cream. Put the top layer of the cake carefully on the cream. <BR><BR>Reserving a little cream for decoration, spread the remainder over the top and sides of the cake. Make a decorative pattern on the top. Flake or grate the chocolate and press most of it onto the sides of the cake. Pipe the reserved cream in whirls on top of the cake and decorate with the remaining chocolate and reserved cherries. <BR><BR>Leave the cake for 2-3 hours before serving. <BR><BR>(Serves 8-10) <BR><BR>

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Church bells that are so gorgeous they vibrate right through your body.<BR><BR>Ludwig Beck department store in Munich<BR><BR>The brief, intense euphoria which follows the first crunchy bite of a schweinbraten sandwich<BR><BR>Beer and schmaltz brod under the chestnut trees of the Hofbrau gardern in Munich<BR><BR>The fresh-squeezed blood orange juice in the Viktualienmarkt in Munich<BR><BR>Real gummi bears

Germany is the best part of the E.U.!

# ? Heidelberg castle from the Neckar.<BR> -People obeying the rules of the road. <BR> - Women over 50 dying their hair every imaginable color of red, magenta, eggplant, fuschia.... <BR> - gluhvein<BR> - apfelscnapps<BR><BR>(my spelling is horrible today) <BR> - spaetzle mit kase<BR>

Bowie could not have written "Heroes" anywhere but Berlin...