Today Liz and I fly Lufthansa from Seattle to Frankfurt. For the remainder of the month, by rail and rental car, we will visit Germany, Austria & Switzerland, including Heidelberg, Lucerne, Kandersteg (Switzerland), Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Berlin, Vienna and various hamlets along the way. We will regularly post photos and comments on the Gemut.com Facebook page as well as on our blog on this site.

A few days into the trip we will meet our son Andy (you know him as our car rental manager), his wife Margaret and grandchildren Amanda (10), and Riley (7), for a few days in Switzerland and Germany. Part of the reason for the Swiss rendezvous is to enable train-crazed Riley to ride the world's best rail system. I can assure you grandpa is looking forward to that almost as much as Riley.

This means for the remainder of November we will be short-staffed. However, if your business can't conveniently wait until December, email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 800-521-6722 and we'll see to your needs. Daughter Laura Riedel, our air tickets and cruise manager, is holding the fort. (By the way, this is the very best time of year to book a river or ocean cruise and she can do both).

Stay tuned and Happy Thanksgiving,

Bob & Liz Bestor