Jim on the train to Florence. A little light reading passes the time. The scenery in Austria and northern Italy was amazing. Mountains, villages, grape fields, castles.  No pictures of it to speak of. We tried, but shooting from the inside of a train makes for blurry photos. It was best just to marvel at the view.

We arrived in Florence after a scenic train ride through Austria and Northern Italy. This is a picture from the Ponte Vecchio at dusk.

Erna, Michael, Tim and Marco on the rooftop of the Deutsche Eiche, a restaurant on Gaertner Platz where we had our last meal in Germany.  Marco and Michael are Erna's good friends.  Notice Marco's leather wristband which he designs for a living.  Michael is a sound technician and musician in Munich.

Erna and Jim after our lunch near the Viktualian Markt on our last day in Munich. It's hard to say good-bye.

The Glockenspiel in Marian Platz, Munich.  That's Tim on the left and Jim in the right; it's amazing they found costumes to fit us!

This was part of the air conditioning system the visionary King Ludwig II used to cool his bedroom at Linderhof Castle.

Here we are with our friends Eva, Rudi, and Jeri from Munich after a traditional Bavarian meal in Gruenwald, south of Munich.

A View From The Bridge - a bridge called Marienbrucke - which hovers over a 1000 ft. gorge and waterfall.  It offers an amazing view of Neuschwanstein, the dream castle of King Ludwig II.

This one's for you, Caroline.  This horse took us on a carriage ride through Munich's English Garden-one of the largest urban parks in the world.

My friend Erna and me in front of the house where I lived in Munich in 1983 and 1984.

This is Tim and Erna at the Hofbrauhaus.  She was my best friend when I lived in Munich in the early 1980s.  She basically taught me how to speak German and never spoke English with me when I lived here.  In fact, I didn't even know that she spoke English until she visited me in the US.  It's been 15 years since we've seen each other  and it's great to catch up.   You know how it is with true friends; time means nothing with you're together and it all seems like yesterday.

The Hofbrauhaus.  It is 500 years old and hasn't changed a bit.  We have.

We stumbled upon a dancing class in the gardens of the Kings Residence in Munich.  Those Germans really know how to swing!

The "Raum der Stille" was the meditation room which was set up with comfortable chairs, candles, light meditation music and mats on the floor.  The Germans love the 11th Step and it was a big part of this conference.  On Saturday evening there was an Hour of Meditation with about 3000 people in the big hall.  It was a combination of beautiful readings, acoustic guitar, and a contemplative slide show. This picture is of the footprints on the sidewalk that lead from the main conference center to the meditation room in another building.  Every piece of mediation literature that I brought with me was  taken. They were very grateful to get the information about Centering Prayer.

It was so interesting to be a part of the opening meeting last night at the conference.  The mayor of Oldenburg spoke as well as another government official, not as recovering people but as supporters of AA in the community.  It was very inspiring.  They said that 1 in 9 people in Germany have an addiction and almost everyone has been affected by an addicted person.  Also, the Oldenburg Choir was the entertainment and they were so good!  I don't think you'd see that in the US.  They sang: Get Your Kicks on Route 66, Are you going to Scarborough Fair, a Freddy Mercury medley--it was unbelievable.  There were 6 short talks and then a main speaker.  All very touching and thoughtful.  Most everyone had their talks written out which you wouldn't see in the US.

This conference has about 4,000 attendees and has been going on since the 1960s!  People from all the German speaking countries and some Americans are here too, who I will meet tomorrow at an English speaking meeting. There's such a feeling of unity, fellowship and gratitude. You would feel it even it you didn't speak German. Everyone I have met has been lovely. I was able to put out the 12 Step Centering Prayer brochures on the information tables and a lot of them have been taken.  I have more to put out tomorrow.  AA is truly the universal language of the heart that reaches beyond language and culture.  It's almost like I've known these people for years.  It's amazing--they even look like the people that I go to meetings with!

It was a 45 minute commuter flight from Amsterdam to Bremen, then I took a streetcar from the airport to the main train station where I bought a train ticket and literally jumped on the train to Oldenburg. What a pleasant 30 minute experience seeing the countryside in Northern Germany and people watching.  The Germans love their trains and it was filled with bicycles and people of all ages who were practically hanging out the windows it was so crowded.  It was a gorgeous day as you can tell from the t-shirts and there was not a cloud in the sky.  My hotel was a 10 minute walk from the Oldenburg Train Station.

Arrived 3 hours late at the Amsterdam Airport, but got here safely and the flight was great.  I sat next to a lovely young woman who was meeting her husband in Hungary for a choir tour.  I'm now headed to Bremen and then on to Oldenburg for the AA Conference.  Luckily I got some sleep on the plane last night.  I can't wait to get the Oldenburg and have to remind myself constantly to take it one step at a time and to stay in the moment.

The trip began this beautiful day for Jim;  Tim leaves Saturday for meet-up in Munich on Sunday morning.  Notice Tim's smile even though he had to drop Jim off at the airport at 7:00 am.  We're very excited to be sharing this trip with our friends and family.  Planning has been in the works for about six months and we learned a lot in the process.  We look forward to seeing old and making new friends in Germany, Tim experiencing Europe for the first time, and exploring Lombardo family roots in Sicily.