You must have been there!
One of my favorites was in Amsterdam, Bob's Youth Hostel, hand to God, I'm not making that up, Bob's Youth Hostel! We used to trek up to Amsterdam from Munich, whenever someone had a birthday, and take the Heineken brewery tour. If it was your birthday, you got a Delft pottery Heineken mug. And on one of the trips, we stayed at Bob's.
Seriously, I've always been interested in 18th century warfare, ever since my 2nd grade girlfriend's dad, who was a re-enactor, came to our class in full gear and gave a talk on the Continental Army. And there's something about Frederick's Prussia, the underdog taking on the three biggest powers in Europe, plus their hangers-on, and something compelling about the king himself. He was a reluctant soldier, who would rather have been a poet, but took to soldiering like a fish to water. A fascinating character, in a lively period of history.
Thank you all very much, Mike, Jeff, Randy, everyone else, for your kind comments and your interest in this thread!
Prost!
Brad