I've gotten to visit Germany a number of times in my life. My family originated somewhere close to Frankfurt, and there are genealogy buffs who can trace my roots back to the 1600's and the Thirty Years war.

Berlin should be a must see for any first time visitor to Germany, although it is a 4 hour train ride away from any other interesting German city.

All of these photos are from a trip that I did over the New Years holiday, 2002-2003.

The architecture in the newly built up area of Potsdamer Platz is amazing. I wonder how dated it will look in 50 years, but it sure looks ultra modern today.

If you can drive along the Rhein river starting off near Frankfurt, you'll see a castle (much like the one in the photo above) around just about every turn.

And yes, there are actually a number of Dautermann wineries in Germany. I hope to discover and sample wine from them all.