Breakfast at the Antik Hotel in Aalen was as good as dinner. We discovered last night that Aalen had a concentration camp. No ovens, just a forced labor camp in which 62 people died. Several hundred souls were liberated from there in 1945 by American troops. USA! USA!

I had coffee in the courtyard watching the clouds turn black. It's supposed to rain the rest of the week throughout Germany. We're heading for Baden-Baden today, which, according to Marlena Dietrich, has the most beautiful casino in all of Germany. I don't know what route we will take!

We drove southwest, stopping first at Horb. A beautiful little town that I secretly voted the town I would want to live in till I die. It had a huge church named Stiftskirche Heilig Kreuz, built in 1387. We lit candles for everyone, including Eddie Statdom, who I am told recently lost his 16 year old daughter in a car accident.

Leaving Horb we heard for Titasee, the southern terminus of the Black Forest Road. Titasee should be named "tit in a ringer", cause that's how you feel when you arrive. It's like Disneyland! Millions of tourists with the mall stare...

The weather cooperated. Despite forecasts of rain, it was hot and sunny all day.

Sick of the place in a half an hour, we left for Baden-Baden after lunch. We drove up Highway 500 towards Baden-Baden through the black forest. Beautiful country. I was expecting Heidi to pop out the woods at ant time. There were no turn outs along the road, leaving us little chance to enjoy the vistas. Motorcycles and cars chased us up and down the mountains. We finally exited Highway 500 by mistake and ended up in a town named Offenberg.

We stopped at a church there named Heilig Kreuz Offenberg, built again in the 1200's and lit candles for everyone.

We left Offenberg around 5:00 pm, arriving at Baden-Baden around 6:00 pm. On the way I called AMEX and had them make a reservation for one of their fancy hotels in Baden-Baden. If you don't know anything about Baden-Baden, it has long been the playground of the world's rich and famous, including Kings and Queens.

AMEX confirmed the reservation on the phone from my car about two hours out from Baden-Baden. When we arrived Mary gasped at the opulence of the place. So did I. I left her in the car to go check in, only to find out there was no reservation in my name. There was wholesale confusion when I produced the confirmation number. At that point, the young lady at the desk told me she had to talk to her supervisor who was on break and asked me to have a seat in the lobby until he returned from his break. I sighed! Suddenly, the supervisor appeared. He apologized about the confusion between his hotel and AMEX. He told me that he would take care of the situation. He then asked what kind of room I wanted. I told him I was with my wife. He went ballistic! "Where is your wife?", he asked. "In the car!" I replied. "YOUR WIFE IS IN YOUR CAR?" he asked incredulously. "Yes," was my reply not grasping the enormity of the situation in his eyes as Mary always stayed in the car when I checked into hotels.

"Mr. Ball," he started. "I want to meet your wife out in the parking lot, bring her into the hotel, and invite both of you to have a drink in the bar at my expense while I straighten this whole thing out!" I tried to act outraged but I don't know if it worked. Two Martinis later, we were in a deluxe suite.

We went for a walk into town and in particular to visit the casino that Marlena Dietrich described as the best casino in Europe. We lost 100 euros as fast as butter melts in Savannah in July. The Tulalip Casino had a better slot parlor than this casino.

I can't explain to you how nice this 5 star is. It's called "Brener Park Hotel and Spa." You can go on the Internet and look at pictures.

In the morning, Mary went downstairs to get me a cup of coffee before she went on her walk. The staff saw her taking the coffee to the elevator and was appalled! "But Madam, certainly room service could bring your husband breakfast." Finally they let her bring the coffee up but not before they put it on a tray for her.

We both had baths that might in a bathroom that was almost as big as the whole room we stayed in the night before.