We've been tromping about in southern Germany, and today dipped a toe into Switzerland to see Europe's biggest waterfall, the Rhine Falls or Rheinfall.

You know what, not only are there few tourists about, but we haven't heard a single word of English spoken. Sites seem eerily unpopulated. On a Saturday, the falls were easy to visit, parking spaces easy to procure, and we had no problem going anywhere.

And just think, it "only" costs 1.43 for a Euro, the best bargain in years.

Today we're taking the big, aluminum bird from San Francisco to Frankfurt. Clothes have been rolled, our jet lag remedy purchased (hey, it works for us!), bags packed, and the technology has been pampered and recharged. Gads, a guy has to carry a big load of chargers these days...

This trip we're previewing the Tom Bihn Aeronaut and the Briggs and Reilly 20" Carry-On Superlight Upright. If you'd like a first look at these bags along with a little lesson in what we've packed where, have a look at our luggage video on YouTube.

Speaking of luggage, you can get $20 off When you Spend Over $100 on Luggage at eBags.com this month, September 2008 (buy direct).

One of the things I like about Dublin is the ability to easily head out into the lush, green countryside and visit castles, monuments, and abbey ruins as well as 5000 year old passage tombs like Newgrange over there on the left. The contrast between the bustling city and the serine countryside is startling.

See our Newgrange Pictures for a virtual tour of the 5000 year old passage grave in the Boyne valley in County Meath, Ireland.

Ah, Barcelona. What a great place to do a story about healthy and beautiful American tourists. But wait, perhaps this movie is a European travel swan song, as the dollar falls and fuel cost soars and airlines are hitting us with fees for just about everything short of breathing.

No matter, the latest Woody Allen flick has hit the big screens. Vicky Cristina Barcelona "is both a romantic adventure and a rhapsodic tribute to the city itself," according to Lonely Planet, who will give away a $3000 Barcelona travel package to one lucky traveler who fills out a form on the site.

But who could be luckier than Allen himself, who had the movie drop into his lap, "Someone called from Barcelona and said, 'Would you like to make a picture here? We’ll finance it.'" (Filmmaker Woody Allen Discusses 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona')

I've been contacted about doing a short movie with my little HDR-TG1 about eating local in northern Tuscany this September. I hope I get lucky, too.