Friday Fun Facts

Fun Facts - Germany

Here are some cool tidbits from my travel guide about the actual area near where we're going to be living.  I'm so close to being done with the guide... and then my goal is for us to learn a few important German words and phrases before we get there!

1.  Rhineland-Palatinate is the state that Kaiserslautern is in.  The Rhine River is it's most notable feature.  You can see beautiful medieval castles, Roman ruins, world-famous wineries, and amazing cathedrals along it's banks.

2.  The state capital, Mainz, is about an hour away from us.  I really want to see the Gutenberg Museum :o)  Can you say Day Trip #1?

3.  This website is sweet.  It lists all the radio stations that the AFN (American Forces Networks) runs in Germany.  It seems like it has a ton of valuable info (that I'm sure will make more sense once I'm over there!) and even has a separate section for Kaiserslautern!

4.  Trier is the home of some of Germany's best preserved Roman ruins and architecture... including original thermal baths and still-intact roads!  It's about an hour and a half away.  Day Trip #2.

5.  The third largest (and busiest) European airport is in the city of Frankfurt (about an hour and 20 away).  It sees about 53 million passengers a year!  If you want some fun trivia info, London's Heathrow and Paris' Charles de Gaulle are the first and second busiest airports. 

6.  Also about an hour and a half away is Hanau, the birthplace of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.  There is a whole fairy tale route dedicated to them that actually looks really interesting.  I just ordered the book to start familiarizing myself with the 200 fairy tales I'll be reading to my girls over the years :o)