In Germany

My friends Elke and Ed, who moved back to Germany after living in Colorado, hosted an appetizing dinner for us in their lovely new home. The highlight of their unique home is a cozy wine cellar. With it's intricate brick design, arched ceiling and rock floor, well, I felt just like we were in a quaint Italian Cafe in Rome. As you can see, it's well stocked as Elke & Ed love to entertain.

On Saturday night we had dinner with 20 friends at my favorite Italian Restaurant, Ville Verde in Sandhausen. Rocco and his wife Tina make all their dishes from scratch so the food is absolutely delicious. The atmosphere was just like New Year's Eve -- loud and joyful! With so many of the same people there, it was deja vu because I had celebrated my 50th Birthday at Ville Verde.

How could 10 years have passed by so quickly?

We had a hectic schedule so we left that night after dinner and rode to Stuttgart with Brian and Elena. Stuttgart is located in southern Germany and is famous for it's many tourist attractions as well as for being the home of major car factories like Mercedes and Porsche. We spent a few days there with Brian and Elena, taking in the many historic sights as we walked through the olde city. My favorite area was the The Schlossplatz (Palace Square) which is surrounded by many buildings dating from royal times. I also enjoyed strolling through the colorful Japanese Gardens which had been left from the 1986 International Garden Exhibition.

We ended our delightful stay in Stuttgart by having dinner with Brian and Elena at a local German pub. The time we spent in Germany was a fun-filled start for the rest of our trip. NEXT: Italy