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Once
again conference Founder Dietmar
Stefitz (at left with me in the photo
above, right after the final session) put on an outstanding event
that attracted people from around
the world. If you ever have the
opportunity I can highly recommend
the value of attending Domaining
Europe so keep an eye out for
details on the 10th anniversary
event that will be held in the
spring of 2018 with dates and
location to be announced (based upon
feedback he solicited at the show,
Dietmar may be leaning toward Rome,
Italy as the site for that
landmark show).
After
the conference, on Wednesday morning
(May 17), my wife Diana and I
took Germany's sleek ICE
(Inter-City Express) train
from Berlin to Munich as we
have long wanted to visit the
Bavarian capital and some domain
industry friends that live there.
With the train hitting speeds of up
to 186 mph it made short work
of the beautiful German countryside,
delivering us to Munich right on
time Wednesday afternoon.
The
ICE train pulling into Berlin
Station May 17 to pick up
passengers for the trip to Munich.
My wife Diana is standing at
lower left, waiting to board.
Our
hotel was just 3 blocks from the
train station so after checking in
and freshening up we had plenty of
time to head out for a visit to Team
Internet/ParkingCrew
Founder & CEO Nico Zeifang
at his company's rooftop office
suite on the edge of Munich's
historic Old Town district.
Above
(left to right): Ron & Diana
Jackson (DNJournal.com) and Team
Internet/ParkingCrew Founder &
CEO Nico Ziefang on the
company's sunny rooftop terrace on a
beautiful Wednesday afternoon in Munich
(May 17).
Below:
ParkingCrew team members on
the job at the company's offices May
17.
Above:
Nico gave us the grand tour
of the spacious Team Internet/ParkingCrew
offices that include a kitchen
(above), game room and other
amenities that have made it easy for
the popular domain monetization
company to attract and retain
employees. Within the next week or
so, I'll be doing a separate post
updating you on the latest
happenings at Team Internet/ParkingCrew.
The
next day, Friday May 18, another
well-known domain industry friend, Jochen
Kieler, was kind enough
to pick Diana and I up and give us a
guided tour of his beautiful
hometown. Once again the weather was
beautiful and the sites around Munich
were stunning to see.
Above:
Ron with Jochen Kieler (left)
at The
Odeonsplatz
during a tour of Munich Thursday
(May 18).
Below:
We were delighted to have Jochen's
lovely wife Viktoria meet up
with us at the English Gardens,
from where we went on to their
favorite biergarten - Hofbräukeller
- for dinner (and some very large
beers).
I
expect to have some exciting news
from Jochen to share with you in the
near future. He has already made his
mark in the domain industry but with
Viktoria this brilliant couple is
going to be making ever bigger
waves for decades to come.
After
our visit to Munich, Diana and I got
on another train Friday morning (May
19) and headed south to Füssen,
Germany (just north of the
Austrian border) to see the famous Neuschwanstein
Castle which, as all Disney
fans know, is the real castle that Walt
Disney based his Cinderella's
Castle on.
Above:
A shot of Neuschwanstein Castle
that I took May 19. I had to
overcome - I won't say a fear, but
certainly a discomfort with
heights - to get this picture that
was taken from the small bridge
(below) that is wedged in a gorge
high above a beautiful waterfall.
You first hike to the bridge, then
edge out onto it to get a clear
photo of the castle below. The shot
of the bridge was taken later from
the castle's courtyard after we
hiked down to it. With dozens of
people on the bridge and the wooden
floor boards bouncing up and down
under their weight I was convinced
it would be a good idea to get
the photo and get off as quickly
as possible!
We
decided to spend the weekend - our
last two days on this European trip
- in a city we've long wanted to
see, beautiful Salzburg, Austria.
So it was back on one of Germany's
great trains (they put airplanes to
shame!) Saturday morning for the
ride to Mozart's home town.
Above:
Diana and I at our Salzburg
hotel Saturday (May 20) - the
incredibly scenic Schloss
Leopoldskron ("schloss"
means castle or manor house in
German). There are two buildings on
the property including the stunning
manor house that was built in 1736.
Some scenes from the classic 1965
film - The Sound of Music
- were filmed here.
Below:
Sunday morning breakfast (May 21) in
the Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg.
This wasn't the first visit there by
domain people. Several years ago,
during a Domainfest Munich
conference, attendees were brought
here for a show party.
Unfortunately, we missed that but
were thrilled to have this
opportunity to be there.
Above:
At the Mozart statue in Salzburg,
Austria while walking through
the beautiful Old Town Sunday, May
21.
Visitng
Salzburg was a great way to cap our
visit to Germany and Austria. We
took the train back to Munich and
flew home Monday and I got back in
the office yesterday morning with
10 days worth of work piled up but
the trip was well worth dealing with
the backlog. Now it is back to
business and what I hope will be
a very fruitful summer for us
all!
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