The Little German Band and Dancers arrive in Frankfurt, Germany. We met the band at the airport and our Kiedrich/Gladbach hosts transferred the new arrivals to the hotel. Later our hosts took us on a walking tour of Frankfurt and to dinner at a local restaurant.

Little German Band and Dancers in Kiedrich/Gladbach, Germany. We started the day in Frankfurt and moved to Kiedrich early. After a short presentation in the Mayor's office (with wine, of course!) we settled in with our host families and spent some time at Rieslingfest.

Little German Band and Dancers in Kiedrich/Gladbach, Germany. We took a tour of Wiesbaden, including a very informative presentation by the protocol minister for the state of Hessen; visited a museum about the Berlin Airlift; toured a monastery near Kiedrich and then the Hessen state winery nearby. Then we spent some time at Rieslingfest in Kiedrich.

Little German Band and Dancers in Kiedrich/Gladbach, Germany. The highlight of the day was our first performance in Germany, in the resort town of Schlangenbad. While this was not our finest hour musically, we did OK. We had a nice lunch in Schlangenbad and spent more time at the Rieslingfest later on as well. (My 11-year-old son, Alex, took a lot of these photos.)

Little German Band and Dancers in Kiedrich/Gladbach, Germany. We performed at the Kiedrich Rieslingfest to a receptive crowd. Our performance was MUCH better than the previous day in Schlangenbad, which was a big relief to me. Later the KCV-Musikanten, one of our host bands, played at the fest as well. Our hostess, Moni Richter, played Mandolin with the Mandolin Orchestra and Saxophone with the band.

Little German Band and Dancers in Kiedrich/Gladbach, Germany. We took a boat trip on the Rhine, including a walking tour and a gondola/chair lift ride. The day ended with a wonderful cookout in Obergladbach, with music by the Musikkapelle Gladbach, one of our host bands.

Little German Band and Dancers in Germany. We said a sad goodbye to our Kiedrich/Gladbach hosts and headed towards Baierbrunn, near Munich. A horrible day to travel the Autobahn, as it turned out - it took hours longer to get there than we had hoped and we were late for our evening plans.

Little German Band and Dancers in Germany. Party with the Gebirgstrachtenverein Georgenstoana at their beautiful clubhouse in Baierbrunn, Germany.

Little German Band and Dancers in Germany. Day trip to Munich.

Little German Band and Dancers in Germany. Party with our old friends from the Unterbrunn band in Unterbrunn, Gauting. We exchanged with them back in 1989 and 1991.

Little German Band and Dancers in Germany. We arrived in Gleich am Berg for a visit with our friends, the Gleichberg Musikanten. We were a bit later than expected, unfortunately, but they were ready with food and bier anyway. We took a tour of a brewery in Dingsleben, had dinner nearby, and then performed until full dark (10:15 or 10:30 pm) for an open-air biergarten at the brewery.

Little German Band and Dancers in Germany. Toured Veste Coburg and performed at the Gleichamberg Brauhausfest.

Little German Band and Dancers in Germany. Spent the morning with our hosts, Andrea Schuler and Norbert and Katrin Florschutz. Katrin had some newspaper clippings about us that I photographed. Later on we performed in the village of Gethles for their "Dorffest", and then came back to Gleich am Berg for a great goodbye cookout and party.

The Walker family travels from Raleigh to Frankfurt. Once we got there, we bummed around town a bit before napping and early bedtime.

The Walker family transfers from Frankfurt to Denkendorf, near Stuttgart. On the way we stopped in downtown Stuttgart for a bit.

Walker family in Germany. Our friends Gerd and Ulrike Schmid and their children, Bjorn, Mareike, and Svenja hosted us at their house for a cookout.

Walker family in Germany. We visited Tripsdrill Erlebnispark (Amusement Park) with our friends Gerd and Ulrike Schmid and their children, Bjorn, Mareike, and Svenja.

Walker family in Germany. The Gasthaus we stayed at did not do breakfast on Sundays, so our friends Gerd and Ulrike Schmid invited us over for breakfast. We took the chance for the kids to play together again, and they had a great time. We cancelled plans to go to a street festival so they could have more time together. Afterwards we said goodbye to their kids and took our kids and Gerd and Uli to our friend Norbert Frost's house for a cookout.

Walker family in Germany. It was Teri Gutierrez's birthday, and Norbert and Gabi Frost invited us and our friends Gerd and Uli over for a cookout.

Walker family in Germany. We travelled from Denkendorf to Füssen, stopping at Linderhof castle en route.

Walker family in Germany. We stayed at the House L.A. Hostel in Füssen for a couple of days. We had a nice layout with two rooms plus a bathroom, table and chairs, tv and sofa.

Walker family in Germany. We visited Neuschwanstein like good little tourists, then went to nearby Tegelberg to ride the gondola to the top. We watched paragliders jump off the mountain, then the kids rode the stainless steel bobsled while mom and dad drank Weissbier.

Walker family in Germany. We took a 2-hour boat ride on the Forgensee in Füssen.

Walker family in Germany. En route back to Frankfurt to meet the Little German Band and Dancers, we stopped at a salt mine in Bad Wimpfen for a tour 175 meters below-ground.