Every year Tubingen is host to the world's most prestigious Chocolate Festival. ChocolArt, which will see master chocolatiers from five continents, competing for the title of the best cocoa-based products. More than 200 thousand visitors of ChocolArt judge the artworks prepared during the festival. About a hundred chocolatiers from Africa, South and North America, Europe, Asia meet here to put on live performances and showcase of their talents. [More]

Every October, Hurricane's stir up the Atlantic Ocean in about the same location, about 100 miles off the coast of France. The water transfer's that energy all of the way to Hossegor beach where it meets land and creates the best beach break in the world. It is so consistent, that every year the world surfing league stages a pro surfing competition there. Hossegor is a residential area and Capbreton is a small village very close by. [More]

The Durkheimer Wurstmarkt (Sausage Market) started in 1417 and has been held every year since. It is now, Europe’s largest wine festival, accommodating about about 600,000 people each year.
This is where wine meets relaxation and great times. The standard size glass at most wine festivals is 250 ml (1/3 of a bottle), here it is 500 ml (2/3 of a bottle). This isn’t cheap low grade box wine, it is of the highest quality, and is poured straight from the bottle that was vinted in.
It is held in the spa town of Bad Durkheim, which is in the Rhineland-Palatinate region in Western Germany, near the Rhine River which is known for producing some of the world’s greatest wines. All of the area around the town, is vineyard. It looks like a town sprouted in the middle of a massive vineyard. [More]

Tattoo was the name of the military bugle call, used to signal the bartender's, to stop serving to Military members and to send them back to the base. Kind of a Military curfew. Today it's an elaborate show, involving theatrics and musical performances. The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo was started in 1950 and has been an annual event ever since, featuring about 10 military bands from different parts of the world, dancers, light shows, narration, military in action, fireworks, and lots of smiles. [More]

I was in Stockholm during Fashion Week. Their shows are considered the leading shows for Northern European fashion, showcasing clothes and trends that look great in cooler climates.

Stockholm is the natural capital of Scandinavia, since it’s the largest city, in the largest country, and it lies in the heart of Scandinavia. Stockholm has zero heavy industry and is consistently ranked at or near the top of the cleanest cities in the world list.

Around 1950, the Swedish visionaries predicted that the Service Industry was going to be the most prosperous industry in the next century. They guessed right. [More]

Kotor is a small but very nice. It was a very important ancient port town in the fjord's of Montenegro. Located in the Bay of Kotor, which connects to the Adriatic Sea. Carved out by a Glacier, it now has 240 days of sunlight each year with a mild Mediterranean climate, in addition to all of that Fjord beauty. It has a long history of being fought over. Since it was often fought over, the fortress walls were extended and preserved for over 1000 years. Now it sports 4.5 km (3 mi) of very well preserved original fortress walls. Great for climbing and studying. [More]

Apenzell is a region and small village in North Eastern Switzerland, that is often made fun of by European's, because it known for its rural customs and traditions. Lets just say that there probably aren't many college educated people living there. I am sure there are many very smart people living here, they just desire living a very simple life. [More]

Jacob is the German name for James. One of the states in Western Germany, marked and maintain a few 140 km (75 mi) tails that christian pilgrims have been using to make the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela (The shrine of St James), in North Western Spain, since around 900 A.D. [More]

Colmar is known as La Petite Venice (Little Venice). In the Alsace wine region, near the border of Germany and running parallel to the Rhine river. From the Middle Ages - Founded around the year 1000. Home of the artist who created the Statue of Liberty. Beautiful and often fought over, it has been under Roman, Swedish, French and German rule, leaving a vast array of different architectural styles. [More]

Key West is a great place to go in the Early Spring.

Great weather, great music, great people and great sunsets sums it up fairly well.

This is from about 5 years ago, when Sam and I visited Key West. [More]