If My Grandfather's Model Railroad...

...which he spent countless hours configuring in his basement, had come to life, it would look like these luscious photos from the Rhine Valley:

A storybook path, the Rhine valley is. Situated on a roughly 250 kilometre north-south stretch between the cities of Koblenz (whose mammoth Deutsche Ecke is pictured below) and Mainz, one can "village hop" via car, train, or boat and find a cornucopia of wine tasting, speciality shops, and food. I just hate to think how clogged the area is in July and August, though.