Jahreshauptversammlung 2010

Bad Nauheim

10. / 11. / 12. September 2010

Finally I found time to take part on the annual meeting of the German Women Pilots club / Vereinigung Deutscher Pilotinnen e.V.! This year it took place in Bad Nauheim, a resort city located 72 km north of where I lived.

On Friday the ladies started arriving, by car, train, airplane, at the Reichelsheim airfield. Here they were greeted by the clubs president, Hedwig Sensen, and the organisers of this year's event, Andrea Schapöhler. A barbeque was provided as well as flights in a helicopter or a Gyrocopter. The flights with the ME108 Taifun had to be canceled because of technical problems.

Also, an air tour to see various Celtic sites from above was arranged..... here the ladies are doing their briefing for the flight.....

The mayor of the city of Reichelsheim, Herr Bischofsberger, arrived at "his" airfield to greet the ladies ..... and take part in the presentation of special awards.....

The Me 108 Taifun, Elly Beinhorn's legendary plane

Ingrid Hopmann is presented this year's award... a watch from the company "Askana" named "Taifun"

Then it was time to leave for Bad Nauheim for the rest of the program......

Bad Nauheim

Friday evening we all got together for a great dinner at a local, very cosy and old restaurant, Zur Krone (crown).... built in 1661! We had a very good, 4 course meal, then the Night Watchman arrived to take us on a tour of the Bad Nauheim old town. He was a very funny guy, dressed in the traditional watchman cloke. Since it was already dark (midnight), I didn't get any pictures of him or the tour.

As mentioned, I don't live far from Bad Nauheim, in fact I have been there often, on business, yet I never knew what this city had to offer! It is really worth a trip if you should be visiting Germany (more to come below).

On Saturday morning we had our annual meeting, then met for a sightseeing tour of the city. I was amazed at the architecture, which  is related to the style found in Darmstadt, where I work and, up until July 2010, lived.

And this year, 2010, Bad Nauheim was the site of the annual state garden show. Our tour guide made both tour of the city's spa history as well as the garden show a fun experience.

Bad Nauheim spa / bath tour

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naughty fountain....

State Garden Show

And for those of you who didn't know.... Elvis Presley lived in Bad Nauheim during his famous military duty time in Germany.... and of course the city is "proud" of this fact! They have a monument next to the house he had lived in.....