Do you Torque (or Tribes) in Germany?

Hello.

This is not particularly Torque-related (thus posted in this forum) but...

My wife and I are going to be vacationing in Germany for a week or so in late July. A friend from school who lives there has offered to let us stay with him, so all we need is plane tickets (paid for now), a rental car (driving in Europe = scary), and places to go. We will have to stay in the southern areas (the friend lives somewhere in the Frankfurt/Nuremberg/Stuttgart area).

So I was wondering, do any of you Torque folks live near there?

Not only would it be cool to meet someone who does the Torque thing there in Germany, but I would be interested in suggestions of cool places to go.

Currently our plans pretty much revolve around the blatant tourist things - Neuschwanstein, Romantic Road, Munich, and possibly a side jaunt to Salzberg, etc. And I'll admit that, being from the US, castles and such are a huge draw (pathetic, eh). Not to mention that history and architecture are fascinating topics.

At the same time, however, I would like to get a feel for how people live now (as opposed to how they lived over the past 2000 years or so), and so I am interested in what Germans think are cool places. Any suggestions in that part of the country? What do you Germans think is cool in your country? Where would you go for a quick getaway in the area?

Lastly, if anyone wants to go the extra kilometer, it would be cool if someone were to volunteer to shepherd us around for a day. I know that would be a lot to ask, but I'll ask anyway on the off-chance someone takes me up on it.

I must admit (despite reassurances from my friend) to a bit of trepidation concerning driving in a country where the rules are a bit different and signs are in a language I only understand in the most basic sense (a small bit of German in school and some books - and it is hard to learn a language when there isn't anyone around that speaks it). Yes, I'll be that idiot on the Autobahn that should have a bumber sticker reading 'moron driver', or whatever the German equivalent is.

So having someone ride around for a day telling me stuff like 'Dude, you can't park here - see the sign?' or 'Turn right here - there's the neatest little thing down there.' would be the coolest introduction to your country I can think of. My friend will unfortunately be working most of the time and won't be able to provide such help.

Also, any tips that might help us to blend in and not look so much like idiot American tourists would be greatly appreciated. Just because we are ignorant, doesn't mean everyone we come in contact needs to know, eh? I want to be a good visitor, not the annoying kind with hawaiian shirt, camera and white legs. :D

Any takers?

[edit] One more thing. My deepest apologies if I have misspelled or misused any place names, etc. From what I understand, pathetic use of German is tolerated ok, but getting place names wrong is a good way to tick people off. Where is that map I just had? ... crap, I'm a tourist already.