A bit of history from Germany

Today I went to visit a dealer in Southern Germany.....It was quite amazing how similar the dealership was to the US....We were able to discuss the Ag Economy as well as customer's purchasing habits....again scary how similar they are to us.....

We stopped by a museum, just off the Autobahn, south of Mannheim......this is only one of many AMAZING displays.......

The world's first Automobile, from the maker of what is today known as Mercedes-Benz

A castle from the medievil times, in the forefront is a field of wheat that will be harvested in the next day or two. Harvest is in full swing in southern Germany. I didn't see any JD combines running, Claus has a majority of the marketshare in that part of the country...along with Fendt tractors.....oh just for the one's that are curious.....not a single piece of red equipment.......

A castle just above the Neckar river, built in the times of the Roman Empire. The gentleman I was riding with, guessed somewhere around the year 1400!....As I look at these pictures, they really don't do it justice.......it is amazing to see, it is a MASSIVE structure that "pops" out of the hill side. There are many many castles along the bluffs of this river. Some have been restored and are gov't musemum's. Some were bombed in WWII and are "overgrown" with tree's.....while some are still privately owned, by the poor!!! go figure, but the rich realize that they are too costly to maintain.

a close-up of the same castle as above......

Mannheim city center....a few blocks from the Holiday Inn I am staying at....

I had lunch at a German road side cafe....Pork cordon blue....it was amazing....along with fries....(not called french fries in Germany)...but very similar and very good!.....the prices were probably 1/2 of that of food in Mannheim. Oddly enough it is less than 1 hour away, but here a 1 hour car drive is like an eternity. They could not belive that I drove 6 hours to visit family, that was just astonishing to them.....Needless to say they don't complain about the price of gas, they just think we are wastefull!!!.....

anyways....it is about 9pm here and I am ready to hit the pillow.....The trip has been a lot of fun (yes both work and pleasure)....and however in less than 48 hours and I am looking forward to kissing US soil, let alone my girls!!....Miss You!!....and see ya'll soon Jason