Knorr Family Adventures

We can all “thank” Germany for Daylight Savings Time – it was first implemented here in 1916 (April 30 to be exact) during World War I. Germany ranks 3 rd amongst countries with the highest recycling rate (1 st is Switzerland, 2 nd is Austria), and while ridiculous in the beginning it all makes sense now! The Gutenberg Bible was first published in Mainz, which is only 30 minutes away from us, in 1450s. Ulmer Munster is the world’s tallest cathedral at 161.53 meters or 530 feet; it is also about 3.5 hours away from us and is on our “to visit list.” The longest German word ever published has 79 letters.   And yes, German words are kind of crazy   - they just put words together deleting the space between them to make up a new word.   Or at least it feels that way! Germans invented gummy bears.   They are super popular here! German Autobahn has no speed limit only on 65% of it; all together it’s 11,000 kilometers. There are over 1,500 kids of wurst; w...

I thought I would separate out 2 special topics from our Italian vacation – food and beaches.   They are not related; yet, they stand out from the rest of the trip.   I can’t really explain it … Italian food … I guess I had little expectations but obviously we all know about the pasta, pizza, lasagna, tiramisu, etc.   We ate out a lot during this trip because we mostly stayed at hotels and because we moved around so much.   Many hotels we stayed at had breakfast included or at least offered for a very reasonable price.   90% of the time it was croissants, breads with fruit spreads, some cheeses including mozzarella, and maybe some meats.   Not bad but a little too much of the same after 14 days on the road, and don’t get me wrong – it’s not like we have 25 different breakfasts at home but having the choice of cereal and eggs was very welcome when we got home.    Lunch and dinner both seem to be fairly large meals in Italy; but here ...