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Guten Tag from Wolfsburg, Germany! I hope you all had a happy Easter weekend with smooth, safe travels and an endless supply of solid chocolate ears. I had a special treat when the New York Daily News ran a two-page spread about my travels and travel tips. Woo hoo! I also was recently named a judge for Travel Weekly's Magellan Awards-I'm included with some of the top travel industry professionals: Peter Greenberg (CBS ), Rudy Maxa (PBS), Patricia Schultz (author of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die) and Tim Zagat (Zagat Guides). Too cool! Other press included being quoted in a FoxNews.com story, AOL and a Reuters piece on Spirit’s crazy new $45 carry-on fee. I'm also going to be on Martha Stewart Radio show today at 2pm EST.

As you may recall, last week my brother wrote about Papua New Guinea and I left off from Berlin. From there I traveled two hours to Wolfsburg, the home of Volkswagen. If you are a car fiend, a foodie it's home to a restaurant with three Michelin stars), and/or a contemporary hotel fan, then this city needs to be on your list of places to see before you die. As you will see, I was more than pleasantly surprised by the Autostadt. For something closer to home, my sister, Georgie Jet, takes us on a trip through the winter wonderland of Yellowstone, Jackson Hole and then to Hawk's Cay in Ducks Key, Florida, to thaw out. Lent is over and spring is here-can I get an amen?



WOLFSBURG
I was supposed to travel to Amsterdam to be on Celebrity's new Eclipse ship for a preview, but the tide changed and they left a day earlier, so I found myself in a wonderful predicament: in Europe with three days off before my next gig and no plans. I wasn't sure where I was going to go and pondered just hanging out in Berlin. But my PR friend Marion Schumacher from the Ritz-Carlton suggested I go check out their sister property in Wolfsburg. Wolfsburg?! I had never heard of it and to be honest, the name doesn't really give me that warm fuzzy feeling inside as does, let's say, Paris, Rome, or London.

WOLFSBURG OR BUST
After Marion told me how it's the headquarters of Volkswagen and they have an über-design park dedicated to the automobile called Autostadt Park (auto = car, stadt = city), I thought it sounded pretty good. It helped that I didn't have to make any plans and everything would be taken care of. In fact, I received this email from her: “You are set for Wolfsburg. We will drive you tomorrow so please be in the lobby at 1.00 p.m. The Concierge has arranged everything. In Wolfsburg, my colleague will be happy to welcome you and she is currently liaising with the Autostadt team to organize a tour for you. Don't forget your swimming pants, there is a very unusual hotel pool.”

BERLIN TO WOLFSBURG
Berlin to Wolfsburg is 205 kilometers (127 miles). It takes at least two hours by car and only one hour by high-speed train. I prefer the train since it's quicker and safer and I can work, but Marion said they'd arranged special transport. I thought I was being punk'd when I walked outside to find a brand spanking new four-door Porsche Panamera S and a driver. Yeah, I was thinking the same thing-life is good!

CRUISING THE AUTOBAHN
The next thing you know we are cruising down the no-speed-limit (in most places) Autobahn at 215 kph (133 mph). It's thrilling to reach the speeds of a small rocket and I felt relatively safe since in Germany they know how to drive (the left lane is for passing only). But I had to tell ol' happy lead foot to take it down a tad just in case some Clark Griswold had rented a car to tool around Germany. In broken German I managed to say, “Your goal today is to get us there alive and with no dents.” McDonald's. It looked like your average Mickey D's pulling in, but inside the place was pimped out with flat screens, modern design, clean bathrooms, and good-looking workers.

PUNCH BUGGIES EVERYWHERE
As we got closer to Wolfsburg I couldn't help but notice that about nine out of every ten cars we passed was a Volkswagen. How tiring it must be for German kids to play punch buggy (no wonder the Germans are so good with numbers).

RITZ-CARLTON WOLFSBURG
It was a dreary, soggy day, and the industrial city built around the VW plant wasn't looking too pleasing. I thought to myself, This is going to be a long few days-but that all passed once we pulled up to the Ritz-Carlton Wolfsburg. This Ritz was built in 2000 in a low four-story crescent-shaped contemporary building with 174 guest rooms. door open for me. Inside, the lobby filled with modern art had a cozy feel and the fireplaces were lit. The resident piano player filled the air with soft music and panoramic views of the Aller River just made me want to crawl into bed and read.

POOL
It was 0 freaking degrees Celsius out and there was a trail of brave swimmers in bathrobes making their way back and forth to the steamy outdoor pool. Except for the walk out it looked inviting, but I had more important things to do-like check out my room.

MY ROOM
As at any good hotel, I was escorted to my room. When I stuck the keycard in the slot in the elevator and my floor number automatically illuminated on the panel, I shouted with excitement. That is brilliant! Why can't all hotels do that? Walking down the curvy natural honey-blonde wood hallways gave me the feeling of being in an upscale Ikea: Everything was so clean and simple. My room's interior had the same feeling, along with modern amenities. I was in an Executive Suite, which was almost twice the size of the 385-square-foot standard rooms. Mine was actually too big, since it had a separate living area and a bedroom with a king-size bed. The work desk was crescent shaped, just like the hotel. To give you a better feel for the whole place and my stay, I created a couple of slide shows. One of the Ritz-Carlton Wolfsburg and the other of the amazing Autostadt Park.

SLIDE SHOW
Click here to view my 46-photo slideshow of the Ritz-Carlton, Wolfsburg and my 37-photo slideshow of the Autostadt.

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Note: This trip was sponsored in part by Ritz-Carlton, Wolfsburg







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