Tour the Saffron Kingdom: Burg Rheinfels

Burg Rheinfels is the next stop in our Tour of the Seven Kingdoms! The Saffron Kingdom! The Seven Kingdoms fairy tale world is inspired by real castles in the Rhine and Mosel River valleys in Germany. Clip the map below to find all the tours:
Tour Magenta Kingdom: Festung Ehrenbreitstein in Koblenz

Koblenz is the next stop in our Tour of the Seven Kingdoms! This fairy tale world is inspired by real castles in the Rhine and Mosel River valleys in Germany. When you take the train, you can look up and see the fortress as the train pulls into the station. The big, hulking rock towers […]
Tour Cochem Kingdom: the real home of TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS

Click here to see the original book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKKnBqRCGOA
Tour a Fairy Kingdom???

Yesterday, we walked for five or six hours and I got buckets of new ideas about the Fairy Kingdom. I love the “Traumpfad” hiking trails that we’ve already been on. This one is special for its caves and variety! Here’s a virtual dream hike for you:
Tour the Blackfly Kingdom: Pfalzgrafenstein Castle

When we travel these days, we often drive or fly. In earlier times, the rivers were the highways. Big and long rivers, like the Rhine River in Germany were important for delivering people and things. [Is that why Amazon is named after a river in Brazil? I don’t know, do you?] If you visit, you […]
Tour a German publisher: Kiepenheuer and Witsch in Cologne

Last week, our local library visited the German publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch in Cologne. Their offices look right out on the Cologne Cathedral. Their location next to the main Cologne rail station make it easy for their internationally renowned authors to drop by for coffee. They have a fascinating history. I never thought about German […]
Visual Story Structure with Cows
The Naafbachtal is a long valley full of meadows, originally slated to be a reservoir, and now a nature reserve. The lovely little Naaf brook babbles alongside the trail, wildflowers bloom in all colors, the leaves rustle in the breeze, and the birds are singing like crazy. The resident zoologist says it’s perfect habitat for […]
A Behind-the-Scenes Tour of Public Libraries in Germany

The city library of Cologne is a magical place! I got to go on a behind-the-scenes tour with volunteer librarians from my local library. Six floors of books, music, DVD’s to make any library fan happy. There’s even a special support office that supplies books and support for blind readers. Author Heinrich Böll’s archive […]