I haven´t posted anything in a long time, but a LOT has happened. It just gets hard to find computers in some places. Since my last posting, Kathy arrived in Frankfurt and we have been to the following places:
Rhein River cruise
Heidelberg
Rothenberg ob der Tauber
Munich
Neuschwanstein castle
Freiburg
Madrid, where we me the three girls
Alcala, where Sonya has been for two months
Almeria, on the Mediterranean, where Kristina has been for eight months
Basel, Switzterland
Zurich
Innsbruck, Austria
Brannenberg, Germany, where we were 35 years ago
Dresden, Germany
Görlitz, Germany, where Kathy got her maiden name.
Tomorrow we go to Prague to meet Elise, Kristina, and Sonya.
Tschuß for now!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Garmish-Partenkirchen and Regensburg
Thursday - 6-5-2008I am now in Regensburg, which means "Rain Town" in German. Very appropriate name, since the rain has kept me in my room most of the day today. At least it has given me time to catch up on my little blog. I had German TV to keep me company. Not the best company, since I only understand about half of it! There is the European version of CNN in English, but it is mostly a repeat of very shallow stories or else what seems to me to be almost anti-American stories about how unjust the US has been in detaining terrorists or how great Barack Obama will be for the country since he will change things! Oh well ... It is pretty funny to see Jimmy Stewart and Spongebob Squarepants speak German! There are a lot of American movies on, but otherwise there is not much more to German TV than American TV.
Before I came here I did change my itinerary a bit. I went to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, twin cities that are mainly a ski resort. The 1936 winter Olympics were held there and I went skiing there with some friends back when we were staying in Berlin. It looks a little different now and in the summer.
One of the cool things there is the nearness of Germany's highest peak, the Zugspitze. It is not especially high (about 10,000 feet - shorter than Mt. Graham), but rises so dramatically from the valley floor that it s very spectacular. I found out that there is both a cable car and a cogwheel train that leads to the top (the cable car goes through a tunnel most of the way. The border with Austria is at the top and they say you can see Italy and Switcherland from the top. Did I want to go to the top? Holy cow, yes! The day I arrived, I could see it, just waiting for me! But there was a big thunder storm. The next day it was enshrouded in clouds, so it was hardly worth 45 Euros to pay to see fog! So, I gambled on the next day being better. It was worse! So, I never got to experience the Zugspitze! 45€ is way too much anyway. Oh well.
But, I did walk/hike about 15 miles or so across town and to the top of a small peak in the foothills on Tuesday, where there was a good view of the cloud-covered peaks. I hiked through a place called the Parthachklamm, or Partnach Narrows, where a river roars through a very narrow canyon. They have cut a trail through part of it and a tunnel through parts to let you walk right along he side of the roaring river. Pretty cool!
Also, wherever you hike in the hills, someone lives here and operates a little gaststatte, or guest place! At the top of my hike there was a little place and a bunch of people were on the deck eating and drinking their German beer. There are also small cable cars and ski lifts all over the lower parts of the mountain. I chose to go by foot, though. At least it didn't rain while I was hiking - it is very beautiful and green. There were cows and goats in the meadows, all wearing bells that you could hear from quite a ways away. People in southern Germany greet with not with "Auf Wiedersehen," but "Gruss Gott," which means "God's greetings."
I also visited a tiny little church that I remembered from years ago. It was built in the 1600s and is decorated in the Rococo style which, if you know anything about that, it means it is elaborately painted and decorated with pastel colors, gold, wavy lines and lots of Cherubim (or, what I call naked baby angels). You have to hike to get to it, but it is a real treasure. On the outside it also has a gallery of hundreds of homemade plaques affixed to the wall that memorialize the dead from World War I and WWII. Families have put them there and they have photographs, birth and death dates and where they died. Most of them were on the Russian Front during WWII, but a few died on naval ships or in France. Very, very sad to see how many young men from such a small area had to die for no good reason during wartime. So many unneeded sacrifices, in this case for the "Fatherland." For the US, many died, too. It reminded me of the memorials to soldiers at the cemetery in Ephraim. So sad and so needless.
I stayed a a cute little gaststatte, run by an older lady who served everyone breakfast individually. I think the owners of a lot of these little, inexpensive places just like having people to get to know. The man who owned the one in Weimar was so proud that he took an old farmhouse and rebuilt the whole thing, decorating all the walls and ceilings with hand-finished wood. It was really something.
Here in Regensburg, the little town has very narrow, old streets and another impressive, huge cathedral. I remember coming through here years ago. The Danube River runs through it. Remember the famous "Blue Danube" waltz by Strauss? I'd hum it to you if I could. It has some interesting street names like "Zur shonen Gelegenheit," which means "To a beautiful opportunity." I guess in the 1000s or 1100s it was the right way! The river with its bridge from the 1200s and some boats on it is beautiful, too.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Eisenach and south
Now, today, I stopped and hiked to the Wartburg, an old medieval castle at the top of a hill. Pretty interesting to see the way they lived hundreds of years ago. It is amazing to imagine a battle from that castle/fort with other soldiers assaulting it. There was a special "bath" - more like a fancily decorated small swimming pool for the knights. And a nice view all around. This is also the place - Eisenach - where they used to make one of the little underpowered cars they used in old East Germany. It has been long closed won. I think most people drive Japanese cars here in Europe now.
Well, it is now Monday. I decided to change my plans just a little bit. There wasn't really enough to see to spend a whole night and day in Eisenach, so I went on to Wurzburg and spent the rest of the day. The biggest thiing there was a huge castle/fortress overlooking the Main River. It gave me a second good workout for the day climbing the stairs to it and walking around. Wurzburg is in the former West Germany and you can really tell coming back that it is more up to date and there are fewer rundown places. I am almost thinking that Dad came through here during the war. I tried to find out just where the Rainbow Division went before I left but couldn’t find anything on the internet. I know that it is all in the books you have, Mom. Anyway, it is an interesting place. The old bridge over the river has about a dozen statues on it - of biblical figures, knights, catholic bishops, etc. You could see where it looked like there used to be a moat around the old castle.
When I left there, it was on a high-speed train, which got going up to 130 mph, according to the little sign at the front of the car. It really zoomed – and banked a lot on the turns. We passed fields full of hops, safflower and corn, of all things! That is pretty much an American thing, but they must be growing it for the ethanol.
I am going further south today, back to a place where some of us went skiing years ago, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria. I decided I needed a little break from all the towns and needed to get out in the wilds - it is at the foothills of the Alps, so we shall see.
Well, it is now Monday. I decided to change my plans just a little bit. There wasn't really enough to see to spend a whole night and day in Eisenach, so I went on to Wurzburg and spent the rest of the day. The biggest thiing there was a huge castle/fortress overlooking the Main River. It gave me a second good workout for the day climbing the stairs to it and walking around. Wurzburg is in the former West Germany and you can really tell coming back that it is more up to date and there are fewer rundown places. I am almost thinking that Dad came through here during the war. I tried to find out just where the Rainbow Division went before I left but couldn’t find anything on the internet. I know that it is all in the books you have, Mom. Anyway, it is an interesting place. The old bridge over the river has about a dozen statues on it - of biblical figures, knights, catholic bishops, etc. You could see where it looked like there used to be a moat around the old castle.
When I left there, it was on a high-speed train, which got going up to 130 mph, according to the little sign at the front of the car. It really zoomed – and banked a lot on the turns. We passed fields full of hops, safflower and corn, of all things! That is pretty much an American thing, but they must be growing it for the ethanol.
I am going further south today, back to a place where some of us went skiing years ago, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria. I decided I needed a little break from all the towns and needed to get out in the wilds - it is at the foothills of the Alps, so we shall see.
Gizmos and dogs
It is interesting that you see dogs all over the place - in trains and in fancy restaurants - everywhere. People seem to integrate them into their lives more here. I know most people also live in apartments and need to find ways to get their pets out.
I've seen some interesting gizmos, too. At one grocery store there was a cigarette machine where all you had to do was press a button for your choice of brand and it came out on a little conveyor belt. Then you paid for it with the rest of your groceries. At the Laundromats I've been to, you load your clothes into the machine and then go put your money into a control panel and pres the number for your machine. It even deposits a cup of detergent into a cup for you to take back to the machine. The same control panel controls the dryers, too. At one of the places I stayed, they gave be a key to my room and a little flat thing that looked a lot like a watch battery. To get into the building, to operate the electric door, all you had to do was press the little gizmo onto a spot outside the door that looked like a doorbell that you couldn't push and it opened the door! One other fancy device was a baggage rack by the stairs at one of the train stations. Instead of having to carry your bags up and down the stairs, you put it on this conveyor belt and press the button and it carried it up or down for you. Some pretty cool gizmos! Where I stayed last night there was an electric shoe polisher, too. Just press the button and put your shoes under the whirring brush!
I've seen some interesting gizmos, too. At one grocery store there was a cigarette machine where all you had to do was press a button for your choice of brand and it came out on a little conveyor belt. Then you paid for it with the rest of your groceries. At the Laundromats I've been to, you load your clothes into the machine and then go put your money into a control panel and pres the number for your machine. It even deposits a cup of detergent into a cup for you to take back to the machine. The same control panel controls the dryers, too. At one of the places I stayed, they gave be a key to my room and a little flat thing that looked a lot like a watch battery. To get into the building, to operate the electric door, all you had to do was press the little gizmo onto a spot outside the door that looked like a doorbell that you couldn't push and it opened the door! One other fancy device was a baggage rack by the stairs at one of the train stations. Instead of having to carry your bags up and down the stairs, you put it on this conveyor belt and press the button and it carried it up or down for you. Some pretty cool gizmos! Where I stayed last night there was an electric shoe polisher, too. Just press the button and put your shoes under the whirring brush!
Naumburg, Weimar, Erfurt
Saturday 5-31-08
Well, I guess it is about time I got some thing written down and posted. I haven't had much access to the internet until I finally found a place later last night.
Before I left Leipzig I visited the "people's battle memorial," a 30-story-high memorial built in 1913 to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon by the kingdoms that now make up Germany in 1813. It is all made of stone and has huge statues inside that signify sort of the spirit or dignity or origins of Germany - in a massive way. There was this strong but calm warrior-type music with men's voices playing in the background that made it kind of eerie. I got to walk the 30 stories to the top through narrow little passageways that were pretty eerie, too. This place was used by Hitler to promote the spirit of the fatherland and by the communists to promote the unity of worldwide communism. Very interesting place.
The next day I went to the smallest and cutest little town yet, Naumburg. It is lots like Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which Kathy and Elise both know of, with its narrow little cobblestone streets, part of the town wall remaining, and most of the old moat that was just outside the wall, to discourage invaders. Much of it is just grassy area now.
Later that same day I went to Weimar, another one of the little towns that is big in German history for two reasons. First, it is where Germany's two most famous writers/poets are from Goethe and Shiller. Goethe is the one who wrote the story of the guy who sells his soul to the devil so that he can have all that he wants in this life. A lot of other stories in many languages have taken from that theme since then.
Weimar is also where Germany's first attempt at democracy started after WW1 in 1918, called the Weimar Republic. I found when I got there that where I was staying was about 3 miles out of town by foot in the countryside. A little bit of a hike, but a nice place. I had a good talk with the guy who runs it - about Nazism, Communist, etc. It seems like most people in "East" Germany are ready to denounce Nazism, but don't really want to talk much about life under communism. Maybe it is still too close or maybe they feel like the world is destined to some sort of socialism. I know there are a lot of people in the US who feel like that - like Obama and Hillary, for example.
I arrived in Erfurt the next day. It has a lot of the narrow little streets from medieval times, so I spent a long time just wandering around town exploring. In 90-degree heat! And high humidity! Aye aye aye! I found the monastery where Martin Luther spent a lot of his years.
The second day there, I was taking the streetcar back into the town center, since where I stayed was out a ways. There were police all over the place on the streets on my way in. There were hundreds of police cars, vans, water cannons and police. When I got to the train station, there were two rows of police, shoulder to shoulder, dressed in riot gear. The whole train station and street were blocked off. Mine was the last streetcar they let into town before they stopped them. And there were two helicopters flying around town all day long. Of course, I was wondering what was going on. Was there a bomb threat at the train station or the threat of a terrorist attack? Well, it turns out that they were all there for a soccer game! The pro team from Dusseldorf was in town to play the Erfurt team. The police were all there to prevent violence from happening! They really take their soccer seriously here in Europe! While I was there, a train of fans from the other team came and they started chanting a slogan for their team and shaking their fists. Some fans from Erfurt responded the same way. Anyway, it was a pretty interesting start to the day. I wandered around more and visited the cathedral before it started to rain. And, snice it was my birthday, I celebrated it with a doner kebab (kind of like a gyro) and good piece of German cake with chocolate frosting!
Well, I guess it is about time I got some thing written down and posted. I haven't had much access to the internet until I finally found a place later last night.
Before I left Leipzig I visited the "people's battle memorial," a 30-story-high memorial built in 1913 to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon by the kingdoms that now make up Germany in 1813. It is all made of stone and has huge statues inside that signify sort of the spirit or dignity or origins of Germany - in a massive way. There was this strong but calm warrior-type music with men's voices playing in the background that made it kind of eerie. I got to walk the 30 stories to the top through narrow little passageways that were pretty eerie, too. This place was used by Hitler to promote the spirit of the fatherland and by the communists to promote the unity of worldwide communism. Very interesting place.
The next day I went to the smallest and cutest little town yet, Naumburg. It is lots like Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which Kathy and Elise both know of, with its narrow little cobblestone streets, part of the town wall remaining, and most of the old moat that was just outside the wall, to discourage invaders. Much of it is just grassy area now.
Later that same day I went to Weimar, another one of the little towns that is big in German history for two reasons. First, it is where Germany's two most famous writers/poets are from Goethe and Shiller. Goethe is the one who wrote the story of the guy who sells his soul to the devil so that he can have all that he wants in this life. A lot of other stories in many languages have taken from that theme since then.
Weimar is also where Germany's first attempt at democracy started after WW1 in 1918, called the Weimar Republic. I found when I got there that where I was staying was about 3 miles out of town by foot in the countryside. A little bit of a hike, but a nice place. I had a good talk with the guy who runs it - about Nazism, Communist, etc. It seems like most people in "East" Germany are ready to denounce Nazism, but don't really want to talk much about life under communism. Maybe it is still too close or maybe they feel like the world is destined to some sort of socialism. I know there are a lot of people in the US who feel like that - like Obama and Hillary, for example.
I arrived in Erfurt the next day. It has a lot of the narrow little streets from medieval times, so I spent a long time just wandering around town exploring. In 90-degree heat! And high humidity! Aye aye aye! I found the monastery where Martin Luther spent a lot of his years.
The second day there, I was taking the streetcar back into the town center, since where I stayed was out a ways. There were police all over the place on the streets on my way in. There were hundreds of police cars, vans, water cannons and police. When I got to the train station, there were two rows of police, shoulder to shoulder, dressed in riot gear. The whole train station and street were blocked off. Mine was the last streetcar they let into town before they stopped them. And there were two helicopters flying around town all day long. Of course, I was wondering what was going on. Was there a bomb threat at the train station or the threat of a terrorist attack? Well, it turns out that they were all there for a soccer game! The pro team from Dusseldorf was in town to play the Erfurt team. The police were all there to prevent violence from happening! They really take their soccer seriously here in Europe! While I was there, a train of fans from the other team came and they started chanting a slogan for their team and shaking their fists. Some fans from Erfurt responded the same way. Anyway, it was a pretty interesting start to the day. I wandered around more and visited the cathedral before it started to rain. And, snice it was my birthday, I celebrated it with a doner kebab (kind of like a gyro) and good piece of German cake with chocolate frosting!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)