Slipstream - July 2015

Six Countries in Six Days: A Trip to Europe to Remember
By Wendy Shoffit
Photos by the Author
Back in
2012, when
Maverick
Region was celebrating
its 50th
anniversary, the
board decided to
have a huge year,
finishing off in December with a
Grand Raffle. It was a trip for 2 to
Germany (airfare, 7 night hotel stay,
rental car allowance, Porsche factory
tour, and Porsche museum). It
was to be the trip of a lifetime! We
sold these tickets all year long, and
James and I each bought one ticket
to help support the club. Founders’
Day finally arrived and it was a
glorious night. When it came down
to the drawing, Lisa Huffaker (from
the Hope House) pulled out the
winning ticket. It was MY NAME!
I didn’t even hear her at first, but
when I did… the celebration ensued!
It was a dream come true!
Linda Bambina and the assistance
of Mean Green Travel.
The day finally came and we were
off. James used frequent flyer miles
for first class tickets, and let me
tell you, THAT is the life! It made
the overnight flight to Frankfurt as
pleasant as it could ever be. We arrived
and hit the ground running.
We opted to rent a Porsche Macan S
Diesel for our trek. Oh what a trek it
was. We had 6 countries we wanted
to visit and only 6 days to do it in. We
*really* wanted to get our passports
stamped in the little tiny countries
to give us some travel street cred.
of years. We drove to the tiny little
country of Liechtenstein (Country
#4) and admired the Vaduz Castle.
It was a phenomenal place that the
current royals STILL live in!
From there, we drove on to the next
hotel in Füssen, Germany through a
little spot of Switzerland (Country
#5). Near Füssen was an absolute
MUST SEE - the Neuschwanstein
Castle created by Bavarian King
Ludwig II. Starting in 1868, despite
running out of money, he spent
years building this fantastic castle.
Long story short, he never finished
it, was declared insane, and died the
next day. Look him up for the full
story! It’s fascinating. This castle was
the inspiration for Disney’s Cinderella’s
castle. When we arrived in the
morning for our tour, it had snowed
all night and it was a magical site,
including the horse carriage ride up
to the castle.
A dream trip come true
At the time, our daughter, Jasmine
was only 15. The trip was for two,
not three, and besides she wanted
US to have this for ourselves. Well,
we couldn’t exactly leave her alone
for a week, so we waited for the right
time to go. We tried during the summer,
but the factory is closed all of
August. Winter? Nope… the Factory
was closed for Christmas. Finally
this April everything came together!
Jasmine is now 18 and very independent,
so we booked and planned our
trip with the help of the fabulous
16 July
Macan S rental with snow option
So, we drove from Frankfurt, Germany
(Country #1) on to Luxembourg
City (Country #2). It’s a cool
city with lots of elevation, which
confused our Navigation system.
We might have at one point been
driving on the sidewalk; I’m still not
sure. We drove around the city for
a short while, but then moved on.
France (Country #3) was in between
us and our first hotel. We found no
crepes to eat there, but did see a few
Porsches on a drive while we were
on the Autobahn. Baden-Baden,
Germany is a beautiful little town
that is worth a stay. The next day was
a big driving day. We drove through
lots of little German towns through
the Black Forest that were just what
I wanted them to be. Some were
Medieval looking and you knew
they had been there for thousands
The Neuschwanstein Castle
We then drove on to Munich to see
what we could see. The Deutches
Museum is amazing. We could have
spent many hours (or days) there.
They had fascinating exhibits where
they cut things in half so you could
see what it looked like inside… like a
submarine and a slice of a jumbo jet.
We left the museum and wandered
downtown and arrived at the Marienplatz
exactly as the Glockenspiel was
starting. From there we went to our
hotel in Salzburg, Austria (Country
#6)! Why, do you ask, when it’s out