I’ve been thinking about this trip since the moment I found out Dwight lived in Germany for a few years growing up. We finally made it happen and took advantage of the time over there to squeeze in a lot.
Frankfurt
The JW Marriott was a great homebase. We threw our bags in the room and took off walking toward the old town square. Our first bites came from some food stands: bratwurst, currywurst, and raclette paired with pilsner and apfelwein. We also had good meals at our hotel, Paulaner Biergarten, and the super cute Liebieghaus cafe. I added Frankfurt to the list of places I’ve run (love a good river/bridge route!), we did a hop on/off bus tour, and we also visited the Stadel Museum.
Heidelberg
We could have mostly navigated by train from there, but decided to drive to give us flexibility and since you can only get to his small town by car or bus. I was a little nervous since I’ve never driven in another country. But the studying I did before leaving helped a lot (shout out to this site and this YouTuber), along with the fact that Germans are way better drivers than Americans.
In Heidelberg, we took the funicular up to the top of the mountain for some stunning views, then walked around the castle grounds on the way down. We didn’t do a formal tour, but there was enough to see on our own, including the Germany Apothecary Museum.
Kaiserslautern and Erzenhausen
For the nostalgic leg of the trip, we stayed at the cozy Barbarossahof Hotel. We ended up eating dinner at the hotel both nights since it was convenient but also super tasty. They had some of the best schnitzel I’ve ever had and randomly a really good turkey caesar salad.
We stopped by the church they went to and walked around Kaiserslautern a bit before driving over to Erzenhausen, the 700-person town where they lived. It looked like a scene out of a movie—totally picturesque, situated among rolling hills and farmland—and was definitely a highlight of the trip.
Moselle River wine region and Luxembourg
The other highlight for me was visiting the wine region along the border of Germany and Luxembourg. We did a tour and tasting at Caves St. Martin, learning a few new things about the process of making cremant (their version of champagne), and did a tasting at Domaine Vinselle. In hindsight, I would have loved to stay one night here since it was such a beautiful area and I loved the cremant, but we ventured on to the capital city.
Luxembourg delivered the quintessential European city experience. We stayed at Hotel Parc Beaux-Arts and had a good dinner there the first night. Le Chemin de La Corniche lived up to its nickname as the most beautiful balcony in Europe. Nathalie Bonn’s Chocolate House put a unique spin on hot chocolate. The Museum of History and Art was interesting but we could only visit half the floors since the elevator wasn’t working. We had drinks at one of the oldest bars in town, dinner at the more modern Urban, and a great final lunch at Oberweis. And I ran through a few parks and across a bridge, naturally.
Our last night of the trip was uneventful at the Frankfurt airport Marriott but they had a nice dinner spot and it was convenient for our early flight home the next morning.
It was an amazing trip, so good to be back in Europe for the first time since the pandemic, and especially wonderful seeing where Dwight lived as a kid.
Melanie Woods 
One of your best trip recaps Mel. Add in the pictures and I could really get a feel of where you were and things you guys did. Beautiful places.