By
Dolan and Lena Brown
Italy February 14 - 24, 1998
I had to go to Naples and Sigonella Italy to do a site survey of three commissaries in preparation for the installation of the new computer systems they would be getting. Lena went with me on this trip. This was the first trip that she has been on with me in Europe when I go TDY. We departed Kaiserslautern Germany Saturday 10:30 PM on the train. Taking a trip on a train with sleeping cars would be a new adventure for both of us. We were not sure what to expect but that is where the adventure comes in.
After about an hour we had to change trains in Mannheim, Germany. This put us on the Italian train that we would ride through out the night. As we boarded, the Italian conductor asked for our passports. I thought he only wanted to look at them as they do in an airport but he wanted to keep them. I don’t like giving up my passport so I asked him why he wanted to keep it. He informed me that either he had to keep them until we changed trains the next morning or he would have to wake us up when we got to the border of Italy for the border people to check us. I let him keep them. We found our sleeping compartment. It had six bunks in it, three on each side and ours was on top. The other four people were in their bunks and it was dark in the compartment so I had to feel around to find a place to store our luggage. I found a place to put one of the bags but had to set the other one on the floor. We climbed up to our bunks and lay down for a few hours of sleep. The next morning the conductor brought our passports back as promised. When we were coming into the train station where we were to change trains we discovered why we had problems finding a place to store our luggage. Two of the women in the compartment with us had nine pieces of luggage. I guess they were moving. Our next train was a very modern Italian train. We went to the breakfast car to get something to eat but couldn’t understand anything on the menu so we settled for a cup of coffee. The cups were about the size of the little cup you get in a hospital with your pills. It was Italian Expresso and it was STRONG. We didn’t know it then but we were not to get a good cup of coffee until we got back to Germany.
We arrived in Naples about 1:30 PM on Sunday. Phil Ruiz, the Commissary Office at Naples, and his wife Sandy met us at the train station and took us to our hotel and then later picked us up and we went to a small restaurant for some good Italian pizza that was cooked in a stone oven. The next day Phil and Sandy picked us up and took us to the military base where I got a rental car for the trip down to Sicily. Driving in Naples is almost beyond description. If the road is a divided three-lane road they make it at least five lanes. A traffic light is just something on a pole. They don’t pay any attention to the light and if you stop at a red light, expect to get rammed from behind because they aren’t expecting you to stop either. There is a lot of trash on the roadside. It looks like people just throw their household garbage out by the bag full. The prostitutes in Naples work from the side of the road. On the main road near our hotel there were about a half dozen just standing beside the road waiting for a customer to come by.
After we picked up the rental car we followed Phil to the edge of the city so we could get on the correct road for our trip down to Sicily. We had a nice drive. After we departed Naples and the smog we were able to see some nice areas. We had to board a ferry to cross over to Sicily. We finally arrived at the Sigonella Commissary about dark. I called my contact and we followed her to the hotel where we were to stay for the next four nights. It wasn’t a hotel but a three-bedroom apartment that the Government rents for the military when they are moving in and out of the area. Nothing fancy, just the bare essentials but it did have a kitchen so we were able to prepare our own breakfast. We had to get the maintenance man to light the hot water heater every day after I took a shower in the morning because it would go out after I used the hot water. After I went to work Lena would have to wait until the maintenance man could come and light it before she could shower. The village that we were staying close to only had two restaurants that we would eat in, so we alternated each night for dinner. Both had good food. We could see Mount Etna from the apartment. It is an active volcano that and you could see the orange glow from the hot lava coming out of it at night. During the day you can see the smoke coming from it. In 1669 it virtually destroyed the coastline at Catania, a town several miles from where we were staying. The last major activity from Mount Etna was in 1992.
The last night we were in Sicily someone at the commissary told me about a village named Tecerra that we should visit. Lena and I drove down there after I got off work. It was located on a cliff overlooking the ocean below. It was really a nice old village. It was what I had envisioned the Italian towns to look like, with narrow cobblestone streets lined with cafes, restaurants, and shops. We took a walking tour of the village and then had a good pizza before going back to the apartment. The next day we headed back to Naples. On the drive to Sicily we had noticed that we went through several tunnels so we decided to count them on the way back. There were 107 tunnels between Naples and Sigonella. This gives you an idea of how rugged and hilly this part of Italy is.
We made it back to Naples okay and found the hotel without any problem, even with the traffic in Naples. Phil and Sandy met us at the hotel and we all went to dinner at the Fontanna Blue. It is a little restaurant near where they were staying in temporary housing until the house they had rented was ready. It was just a small plain restaurant but the food and service were great. It was a small family owned place. We ate there several times before we departed on Monday the 23rd.
On Saturday the 14th Phil, Sandy, Lena and I took a tour bus from the military base to Rome, Italy for a walking tour of part of the city. Along the way we stopped at a roadside café for a snack. They had a strange system of purchasing items. First you get in line to see what is available, get the price and then get in another line to pay for the item. Then you get back in line again to get the item after showing the clerk you have a receipt for the amount of the purchase.
We didn’t see the Vatican or the Pope but the tour was nice. They have a lot of plazas with fountains. The apartment rent is very expensive in the area where we were touring. The guide told us the average rent was about $3400 a month for the apartments overlooking some of the famous plazas. We saw the Trevi Fountain that was made famous by the movie Three Coins in a Fountain. The fountain had recently been cleaned and it was very white. It was also very crowded. The water that runs through the fountain comes from the city of Trevi, 260 kilometers (156 miles) away. We also saw Piazza del Popolo (Plaza of the People). It had monuments from Egypt on it. We took the recommendation of the guide and followed her to one of her favorite restaurants for a great meal.
The next day, Sunday the 22nd Phil and Sandy picked us up at the hotel for a day trip to the Amalfe Coast. This trip was worth the entire trip to Italy. If you aren’t scared riding down a road, without guard rails in some areas, that is several hundred feet up the side of a sheer cliff overlooking a mountain then you would enjoy this drive. The road was extremely crooked but the view was outstanding. We were amazed that some of the houses seemed to be just glued to the rocks on the side of the cliffs. I used the video camera to capture the ride and it almost gives us the feeling of being there when we reviewed the tape after getting home.
Our last day in Italy was spent on the military base at the Commissary where I was working. After completing my work Phil and Sandy took us back to the train station for the long journey home. We had a great time in Italy, had great hosts (Phil and Sandy) but were glad to be going back to Germany. The train we boarded in Naples was the sleeper car that we would ride all the way to Munich, Germany. There were three other people in the compartment with us, a woman and her daughter and a young man. But about 10 PM two more men came to the compartment. That made 7 people in a 6-person compartment. When I booked this part of the trip I reserved the two lower bunks. The conductor and the lady were discussing something (in Italian) which I figured was about the sleeping arrangements. They kept pointing at the upper bunk and the lady kept shaking her head no. She was wearing a tight skirt. I thought the conductor is probably going to ask me to switch bunks with the lady, and sure enough he did. I refused. We had slept in the upper bunks on the trip to Italy and I had reserved the lower bunks, plus the lady should have known better that to travel in a tight skirt when she had to climb to the upper bunk. We are still not sure why they booked 7 people in the 6-person compartment unless the women had told them she had a child that could share the bunk with her. Well the bunks are narrow and the child weighted about 100 pounds and the woman probably weighted about 170 pounds. So that bunk was FULL.
When we arrived at the train station in Munich we had about 10 minutes to get to our next train. Usually that is enough time because you can go down below the tracks and cross over to the gleis (track) to your next train. But in Munich, which is a very large train station where the trains pull into the stations and then “back out”, you must walk to the end of the track, walk down to your next track and then walk up the track to your assigned car. I can walk fairly fast but Lena has a much shorter stride than I do, so I walked on ahead of her to find our car. I found it, put my luggage in our compartment and turned to take her luggage from her just as the door to the car closed, with Lena on the OUTSIDE looking in with a very desperate expression on her face. I pushed all the buttons for the door to open but the train was pulling away. I looked around for a conductor but none were available. I was a little desperate also, because I had both our tickets in my pocket. There were two young German men in my compartment and they suggested I get off at the next station that was only 9 minutes away and take another train back to get up with Lena. I did that and when I got back to the Munich station and finally found Lena, she didn’t seem upset at all now, which kind of stunned me. A German lady that spoke English saw what happen as the train pulled away and left Lena on the ramp. She took Lena to the ticket office and explained to them what had happened. They said not to worry they would call the conductor on the train and he would tell me to stay on the train to our next stop in Heidelberg. They would give Lena a ticket for the next train to Heidelberg and we could meet there. Well I didn’t know this was happening. Luckily I got back to the Munich station before she boarded the train or I would not have known where she was. We went back to the ticket office and they gave us two tickets for the next train. The lesson we learned from this is when you are short on connection time, get on the train anywhere then walk down the train to your assigned seat. We laugh about this now but it wasn’t so funny when it was happening. Oh well part of the adventure!!
We went to the dining car and had a GREAT cup of “hot” German coffee and a real German breakfast. We were glad to be back in Germany and almost home.
Riyadh Saudi Arabia, Izmir and Incirlik Turkey March 28 to April 9, 1998
I had to go on another trip to do a site survey of three commissaries in preparation for the installation of the new computer systems they would be getting. I met Barry Wurth, an electrical contractor working on the same project, in the Frankfurt Airport. When we arrived at the airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia we almost had a “melt-down”. When we departed Germany it was 40 degrees. When we arrived in Riyadh at 9 PM it was 87 degrees. Mr. Clavin, the Commissary Officer, met us at the airport and helped us get to our hotel. It was a nice modern Holiday Inn. There were several Saudi (I guess) men in the lobby of the hotel. They were all wearing the white flowing gowns and headpieces like you see on TV. The women were all covered up from head to toe, except maybe a very small slit in the front of the face covering so she could see where she was going. Some of the women didn’t even have the slit so they looked through the cloth as they moved about. We noticed that when a family came into the restaurant to eat they were placed behind a screen so the woman could uncover her face to eat without being seen by the public. I tried to take all this in without being obvious. The Saudi women are not treated as equals with the men. They aren’t allowed to drive, hold public jobs, or be in public without an escort. When guest come to their home they must eat in the kitchen not in the dining room with the men. The Saudi businesses close about 5 times a day during prayer time. I noticed in the airport, as I was leaving that there are areas set aside with screens for the people to kneel behind for prayer.
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| View along road |
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| View along road |
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| Look at all the trees |
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| View from hotel room |
The next morning Mr. Clavin picked us up for the trip to the commissary. He told us a story about a pilot of an airline that flew into Saudi Arabia, or at least did in the past. Normally when you fly into a country where the time zone is different from where you came, someone on the flight crew will come on the loud speaker and tell you to set your watches back or forward to match the local time zone. Well it seems that this particular pilot announced as he was coming into the Riyadh airport that you could set your watches back 100 years not knowing that one of the Crown Princes of Saudi Arabia was on the airplane. It seems the King and his family took exception to the comment and the airline was banned from flying into Saudi Arabia. I guess it is good to be the King. On the way to the base I could see goat herder camps set up in the edge of the desert.
It took about an hour to get through all the security to get on the military base. The base is a Saudi military base with Americans on it. We had four security stations to go through before we even got to the point of picking up the base passes. Then Mr. Clavin drove the car about 100 feet. Barry and I had to get out of the car and walk around the building while the German Shepherd dogs did their bomb sniffing duties on the car and the American security police crawled under the car to do a visual check. Finally we were able to get on our way by driving a serpentine route through several concrete barricades. Mr. Clavin told us that he must sign every person in at the gate that does not work on the base and if the person is not a Government employee with a US Government ID card, he must be with the person at all times while on the base. Some days he spends hours at the gate trying to get workers on base. Our work was uneventful and on the 31st I departed Saudi Arabia for Izmir, Turkey.
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| Mr Clavin Government house on base compound |
Saudi Arabia is very flat; at least the part I saw, and about all you see is yellowish brown sand. About the only tree is an occasional palm tree or maybe a little short thing about 4 feet high that has been planted beside the road on the way to the airport. I asked the taxi driver what kind of trees those were but he didn’t know. I guess he had no reason to study the names of trees in school, since they don’t have but just a few trees in the country. I noticed as I was flying out that there were several large round areas that looked like green pokka dots from the air. These appeared to be areas in the dessert that were irrigated. The check in process was rather slow and chaotic at the airport. I noticed that many people had big cardboard boxes all taped up for luggage. There were several men in the check in line that would assist people by pushing the boxes and luggage through the line. When they finally got them checked in the owner of the boxes/luggage would pay the person helping them. I guess this is a version of the skycaps we see at the American airports that meet you at the curb to assist you with your luggage if you need it.
Their restrooms were also a little unique. Rather than commodes to sit on, they had holes in the floor that you squat down over. Rather than toilet paper they had rough paper towels. And I though the German toilet paper was rough. I decided that the airplanes would have better accommodations.
Izmir, Turkey
April 1, 1998 to April 3, 1998
I had to change airplanes in Jordan on my way to Turkey. This was the time of year about 3.5 million Moslems were flocking to Mecca for an annual pilgrimage call Hajj, which is the fifth pillar of Islam. The pilgrimage is required at least once in every Moslem’s life. I saw many men in the airport going into the restroom and coming out with only a white cloth or towel wrapped around them. They and their wives (I guess) were boarding an airplane to fly to Mecca for the pilgrimage.
One of my co-workers, Gary Parker, and the driver from the commissary was to meet me at the airport in Izmir. There was some confusion when I arrived, about where my luggage was. After standing around until all luggage was claimed, I realized that mine was not there. Three or four other men were also missing their luggage. We asked an airline representative about our luggage and were told it was in the international terminal. We were taken by bus to the terminal to get our luggage. We were considered to be international passengers since we had come from a different country. Therefore our luggage, but not us, was taken to the international terminal. Now, why didn’t they take us there when we got off the airplane because we had to get on a bus on the tarmac and ride to the domestic terminal? They didn’t use any of the jetways that were available either. Oh, it gets better!! After we got to the international terminal and claimed our luggage, we had to go through a customs check. I was traveling on an Official US Government passport and was not supposed to pay any customs entry fees. Three or four customs officials kept asking me the same questions about my passport and the purpose for my visit. Finally they told me I had to pay about $40 in customs fees to get the stamps in my passport to get through customs. I knew I was not supposed to pay the fees but I also knew if I argued with them, they could lock me up. I had been told that if a Turkish person thinks you have insulted him, he can have you put in jail. I had no desire to see the inside of a Turkish jail.
After finally getting through customs, Gary Parker and the driver met me. They had been going between terminals trying to find me. Gary had arrived a few hours ahead of me and didn’t have to pay the customs fees, even though he had the same type passport I had. The driver took us to the hotel, which was right beside the Bay of Izmir. The next day Gary and I worked at the Commissary, then that afternoon we went down to Gold Alley. This is a shopping district that is lined with small shops selling gold, silver, leather, etc. Of course Gary and I stood out in the crowd like a “sore thumb” and it wasn’t long before the “spotters” began to come up to us trying to get us into their shops. Spotter is the term I apply to the people that work these shopping districts that walk up and down the street looking for a customer to direct into their shop or a shop they are working for. The “spotter” that was “working” us was persistent. He asked us what we were looking for and tried to direct us to his son’s shop that had the best “deals” in gold and silver. We tried to discourage him from sticking with us by stopping at almost every shop and checking out what they had, but like I said he was persistent and stuck with us for almost a hour before we finally arrived at his son’s shop. I bought one piece of silver from the shop and then we tried to leave without the man but he followed us out the door and asked was there anything else we were looking for. I was looking for some onyx chess pieces for Robby and Gary was looking for a leather shop. Of course the man knew the best places to get both items. I looked at the chess pieces but didn’t like them, but when we went to the leather shop I was the one that bought a leather jacket, not Gary. Gary though it was quite funny that he was the one looking for a leather jacket and I was the one that spent $300 in the shop. The lady started out at $700 but after several rounds of telling her I didn’t want the jacket and walked toward the door she agreed to my offer. I told Gary he was expensive to travel with.
Our hotel was only a few blocks from the commissary so we walked to work. We noticed that there were shoeshine people of all ages about every 50 feet on the street. When you walked by they would try to get you to let them shine your shoes. Gary and I finally stopped at on older man’s spot. He said his name was “Charlie”. He was wearing an old California Hi-way Patrol cap that was frayed. He tried to get Gary to give him the Harley Davidson cap that he was wearing but Gary wouldn’t part with it. We did let him shine our shoes. He didn’t have a set price. Before he started he said we could pay him what we thought it was worth. But when he finished he would ask for a certain amount, then you could barter with him. We paid him a dollar per shoe. Gary and I discussed buying him a new cap at the BX, but the caps cost about $16 for a simple mess ball cap. When we got to the commissary that morning one of the Turkish employees told us that the Turkish people only pay about 25 cent per shoe. Another thing we noticed on the street were men with two rabbits sitting on a wooden box with a lot of little pieces of paper stuck in rows of slits in the wood. As we walked by they would try to get us to come over but we never did. We thought they were selling chances on the rabbits. We sure didn’t need a rabbit to carry around with us. We found out later that they were rabbits that tell your fortune. You give them money and then the rabbit is trained to pick up one of the pieces of paper and it has your fortune on it. What a way to make a living, but at least they weren’t begging.
The sidewalks in Izmir sure wouldn’t meet handicap requirements. Some were more that a foot higher that the street with no wheelchair ramps. We would be walking down the sidewalk and have to step up or down 6-12 inches to the next piece of sidewalk. It was like each place of business built the sidewalk in front of their shop without coordinating with the next shop.
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| Outside Izmir Commissary |
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| Inside Izmir Commissary |
Incirlik, Turkey
April 4, 1998 to April 8, 1998
Gary and I completed our work at Izmir and departed for the Incirlik Commissary. When we arrived at the Istanbul airport, we got off the plane and walked down the jetway into the terminal. Then we were told that we had to go back down the jetway and climb down the stairs to the tarmac and board a bus that would take us to the terminal. Now you would think that there would be a person in the jetway to tell you this before you get all the way into the terminal. We rode the crowded bus over to another terminal. When we got there we asked for directions to our boarding gate only to be told we had to board another crowded bus and ride back to the terminal that we just came from. Talk about lack of organization.
The remainder of the trip to Incirlik was uneventful. Mr. Jacobs, Deputy Commissary Officer, met us and took us to our hotel. After we checked in Gary wanted to go down to the street near the military base that has all the gold, silver, and leather shops, similar to the one in Izmir. We got in a cab in front of the hotel. When we asked the price he wanted about $10, which we though was too much, so we started to get out. Then he agreed to take us there for what we though was a fair price, about $6. After we checked out some of the shops we tried to get a cab back to the hotel but again they all wanted about $10 to take us back. A young boy about 10 years old came up to us and offered to take us back. When we asked him what he was going to take us back in, he said he had a car and to follow him. Where he wanted us to go was down a dark alley, so we told him to bring his car to us, but he never did. Then an older man told us to tell the cab driver to turn on his meter when we get in and we would get a fair price. We didn’t even know the cabs had meters they were so old and run down looking. When we finally got a cab, we told him to turn on the meter and when we got back to the hotel the fare was $6.
The next day was Sunday and we didn’t have to go to work so we took a walk to downtown Incirlik. We were enjoying the walk and the sunshine when a man came by us and started talking to us. He said he had been to America. We though he wanted to talk, but we soon realized he was another “spotter”. We tried to shake him by going into every building that we came to but he was as persistent as the man in Izmir. The streets were extremely crowded with people and occasionally little kids about 8-10 years old would come up and try to sell us trinkets. The “spotter” would yell at them in Turkish and they would run off. Gary and I finally headed back to the hotel to get rid of this guy.
At noon on Monday the 6th the festival of sacrifice called the Kurban Bayrami in Turkish began. On Tuesday the first full day of the festival, the Turkish people, in celebration of Kurban Bayrami slaughtered thousands of sheep, goats and calves. On the first day, men go to the mosque for a special Bayram Namazi (sacrifice festival prayer). Then the men return and the sacrifice begins. The men give the animal water and salt, wraps its eyes with a clean rag, and turns its face toward Mecca. The family reads verses from the Koran, the Islamic holy book, and then the animal’s throat is cut.
They divide the meat into three portions, one for the poor, one for the neighbors and relatives and one to keep for themselves. Friends, neighbors, and relatives visit during the festival. The skin is donated to the Turkish Aviation Association and the profits are shared with the Turkish Red Crescent (Cross) and other social foundations.
We didn’t see any of the sacrifices taking place but we did see hundreds of cars parked beside the road where part of the festival was taking place. Gary was in Izmir in 1997 during the same period and he saw a sheep being sacrificed across the street from the commissary.
We visited the gold, silver, and leather shops in the evenings after work. The prices are very good on these items in Turkey. I bought Lena some gold and silver jewelry for a very good price. Gary had a gold ring special made with a Harley Davidson symbol on it.
We departed Incirlik on Wednesday the 8th for the trip back to Germany. Getting through the Turkish airports on the return trip was about as unorganized as the trip to Turkey, but we landed safe, so that is what counts.
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| View of Incirlik |
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| Street in Incirlik |
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| Peddler selling somekind of Tea |
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| Incirlik |
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| Incirlik Commissary |
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| Gary and commissary staff |
Kaiserslautern USO City Tour April 11, 1998
We have been to Kaiserslautern several times but decided to go with the USO on this trip to learn more about the city. Kaiserslautern is the largest city near us. It is about 20 minutes from our house and about 10 minutes from our office. Its American sister city is Davenport, Iowa. The Rathaus (city hall) is the same design as Davenport’s. We rode the city bus from Vogelweh to the Schillerplatz in Kaiserslautern. From here Julie, our USO guide, took us by the two remaining half-timber houses in Kaiserslautern. One was named the Spinnradl house. It must have been used for spinning because there was a small spinning wheel mounted on the outside of the second floor for advertisement. The first floor is now used as a restaurant. Then we went to a church near the 1000-year-old marketplace. From the street you must step down a couple of steps to go into the church. This is because the street is built on the rubble from the damage done during World War II. There was so much rubble from the destroyed buildings after the war that it was easier just to build the sidewalks and streets on top of the rubble than to haul it away. Kaiserslautern suffered much damage during the war.
On Samtag (Saturday) morning there is a farmers market in the marketplace. This is very common in the cities here. You can buy anything from fresh eggs to flowers. The place was absolutely packed with people.
We all ate dinner in a nice German restaurant and then we were supposed to visit the Theodor Zink Museum but it was closed. Just past the museum was one of the most unusual water fountains we have seen. It was made up of all kinds of animals, mice, fish, etc. The guide explained some of the story behind the fountain. Each item in the fountain had a meaning and told part of the story of the Kaiserslautern area. There is a similar fountain in Bad Dürkheim. The guide told us the same person designed both of them.
From the fountain we walked over to the remains of the Barbarossa castle and then we took the city bus back to Vogelweh.
We enjoyed the trip and learned a little more about the city. Cost $20.
Wachtenburg Castle, Freinsheim and Deidesheim Medieval Towns April 18, 1998
We boarded the USO bus at Vogelweh at 0840. Our guide was Elizabeth and the driver was Dieter. Our route to our first stop in Bad Dürkheim took us through a thickly forested area that Lena and I had driven through about 5 times. It is a beautiful drive. On the way we stopped for a photo opportunity at the village below the castle of Frankenstein. Lena and I plan to go back to the area in the summer and climb up to the castle.
At Bad Dürkheim Robert, a local guide from the German Castle Association, met us. He told us a little about the largest monument of the German viniculture that was created in 1934 by the cooper Fritz Keller. It is a huge wine barrel that is used as a restaurant. It took 200 pines about 40 meters (132 feet) long to build the barrel. It is 13.5 meters (44.5 feet) in diameter and has a volume of 1,700,000 liters (449,089 gallons). Imagine if you could drink 10 liters (2.64 gallons) of wine every day it would take 466 years to drink it all. The barrel never was used as a wine barrel just as a monument to the German Wine industry.
Then Robert showed us a Saltern that was constructed in 1847 and reconstructed in 1995-97 after a fire destroyed part of it. A Saltern is a tall structure, 16 meters (53 feet) by 330 meters (1089 feet) long. It has a roof but no sides. It has brushwood stacked from the bottom to the top. Salt water is pumped to the top and then it runs down through the brushwood. The salt clings to the brush wood as some of the water evaporates. The fresh water is collected at the bottom. After about six weeks the brushwood is removed and the salt collected. More modern technics have made the slatern obsolete for the collection of salt. During the 19th century there were 5 salterns, but today this is the only one in existence and is used as an “open-air” inhalatory.
We boarded the bus for the short trip to Freinsheim. As you may remember from last years travel notes Lena and I have taken all our visitors to this village. It is an interesting place. A local guide met us there. The oldest part is completely surrounded by a medieval wall with two gates. One of the gates was built in 1534. There are 850 people that live within the walled part of the village. The village has a total of 5,000 residents. All the homes within the walls were destroyed by invaders during wars over two hundred years ago but have been rebuilt. The wall is original. The construction of some of the houses incorporates part of the wall. The owners of the houses are not allowed to alter the exterior of the houses or the walls because of the historical significance. One of the houses was used recently as a pub. The owner tried to get into the Geniuses Book of Records as the smallest pub in Europe. He could only serve four customers at one time because the house was so little. The guide showed us the measuring devices that the coppers (barrel makers) used to determine how much liquid their barrels would hold. They would make a barrel then use these containers to measure water that would be poured into the barrels until the barrel was full. Then they would stamp the capacity on the barrel. He took us up into one of the towers. We were the first tour that he had taken into the tower in 20 years of showing groups around the village.
Our next stop was for lunch in the nearby village of Wachenheim at the Luginsland Restaurant. They served us lunch family style. They set large patters of food on the table and we took out what we wanted. The choice was wurst (German sausage), salmagen (ham and potato patty), liver dumplings, sauerkraut, and pomme frites (French fries).
After everyone stuffed himself or herself, we boarded the bus for a visit to Villa Rustica. These are the ruins of a Roman village that was discovered 10 years ago. A farmer was in his vineyard working one day and found some strange looking rocks formations. He notified the local historical society and they uncovered the foundations of a Roman village. They have uncovered the foundations of several buildings including a barn, a well and bathroom with a self-flushing toilet. The used water from the bathroom flows underneath the toilet and flushes the waste outside. Not quite as efficient as an American Standard commode but for its time rather effective. Two weeks before we arrived they had discovered two stone coffins with skeletons nearby where a road crew was working on a new road. The skeletons were taken to Speyer for analysis. The area has not been completely excavated so they have not been advertising it. They want to get more work done on the area then do something to protect the ruins before a lot of tourist come out and climb all over it and damage it. We found it rather interesting.
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| Self flushing toilet |
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| Casket |
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| Some of the ruins |
Our next stop was the village of Deidesheim. Robert took us to the village water fountain where he told us of the annual Historic Billy Goat auction. The story is that the farmers of the towns of Deidesheim and Lambrecht had an agreement about sharing the meadows between the towns to graze their goats. The farmers of Deidesheim clamed those from Lambrecht were using the meadows more than had been agreed. The Deidesheim farmers went to the law-court and asked for satisfaction. The French Caesar Napoleon (yes the same one) was in the area on a visit. This was a French occupied area at the time. He decided to judge in the small courts on the day this problem was to be heard. His resolution to the problem was that the farmers of Lambrecht had to send a billy goat to the town of Deidesheim every year on Whittuesday (don’t know what day this is). The tradition still survives to this day. The youngest married couple from Lambrecht brings the billy goat to Deidesheim every year and between 5:45 and 6:00 PM the auction is held and the money used for welfare. Robert told us it is considered an honor to buy the goat and the last one was auctioned off for $16,000. Not a bad price for one goat.
We departed here and went back to the village of Wachtenburg and walked up to the ruins of the Wachtenburg Castle. Most of us were about “pooped” by the time we got there. The climb is rather strenuous. Robert lives in this village and he runs up to the castle each morning before going to work. The castle was built in the late 13th century. It suffered during several battles and mostly is a ruin now. The view from the castle is great. On a clear day you can see about 13 villages that are scattered about this beautiful wine growing area. There is a small restaurant in the castle ruins that is open on weekends.
After Robert told us about the history of the castle we walked back down the hill to the village for a wine tasting at the Karl-Heinz Manz Weingut. We went down into the wine cellar where one of the younger Manz men explained the wine making process. He showed us the bottling machines that will bottle 2000 bottles per hour. Herr (Mr.) Manz did not speak English so Robert was our interpreter. We tasted 8 wines while Robert answered questions about the wine process.
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| Elizabeth and Robert |
After the wine tasting we said good-bye to Robert and boarded the bus for the trip back to Vogelweh. Robert was a very knowledgeable guide. He is a member of the German Castle Association and the local historical association. We had a great day. This was the first time the USO had done this tour. It probably will not be the last because everyone seemed to really enjoy it. The USO passes out comment forms on each trip so they can get feed back on the tours. I expect they got all good comments on this trip.
Cost $98.
Luxembourg City Tour and Vianden Castle Tour April 25, 1998
We boarded the USO tour bus at Landsthul at 0730. Our guide was Dave Wagner and the driver was Lotar. We have been on three other tours with Dave. Luxembourg is a small country that borders Germany. Lena, Robby and I went there in 1997 when Robby came to visit but we didn’t have much information about the area so Lena and I decide to go with the USO so we could learn more about the area. Our first stop was at the Luxembourg American Military Cemetery just outside Luxembourg City. The U.S. Army’s 5th Armored Division on 10 September 1944 liberated Luxembourg City. This site was chosen as a temporary battlefield cemetery on 29 December 1944 and re-designed as a permanent shrine after World War II. It is the only American Military Cemetery in Luxembourg but there are 13 others on foreign soil. There are 5076 Americans military including a woman Army Nurse buried here. Twenty-two pairs are brothers and 101 are Unknowns. General George S. Patton, Jr., the famous World War II General, is also buried here. The 50.5 acres are kept in immaculate condition.
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| General Patton's grave |
We departed the cemetery for Luxembourg City where we met René, our local guide. He took us around the city on the bus to point out some of the interesting parts of the city. Luxembourg City is one massive fortress. It sits on top of a large hill with steep rocky sides. This made it rather easy to defend back in the Middle Ages. Now bridges to the newer parts of the city connect it. The guide told us it was sometimes referred to as the “City of Bridges” since it has 101 bridges inside the city limits. He showed us the three largest bridges, two of which were made of stone and blended in with the city very nicely. The third was made of huge steel beams and painted a dull red color. René said they were still trying to find out who made the decision to paint the bridge red, but no one would admit to it. I don’t blame them because it sure didn’t match anything. After the riding tour he took us on a walking tour of some of the city. Someone asked him about the language. He said they have their own language called Luxembourgese which is a blend of French, German and English but is it not a written language. In school students are required to take French and German for seven years and English for six. Almost all people can speak three languages, most can speak four and about 40% can speak five. Multiple languages are required because their country is small and they have a large financial district with banks from all over the world, so knowing the different languages allows them to conduct business easily.
We saw several other musicians as we walked around the old part of the city. This is very common in Europe on Saturday. They come out in the streets to play and will have a box, hat or something for you to drop money in if you wish. Pretty cheap entertainment. Some will even have CDs of their music. We stopped at a café to get some dessert and coffee before leaving the city.
We boarded the bus again at 2 PM for the ride to the small village of Vianden. Here we toured the fairytale castle of Vianden. It was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries on the foundations of a Roman fort. In 1820 the castle was sold piece by piece and fell into a state of ruin. It transferred into State ownership in 1977 and has been restored to its former medieval splendor. Most of the main castle building has been restored and we were able to go into many of the rooms. This was very interesting. The view from the castle was tremendous. The most powerful hydroelectric pumping station in Europe could also be seen below the castle. We didn’t have a local guide from the castle so Dave told us about the history of the castle. He told us a story about one time he had taken an USO group to the castle and a local guide took them through the castle. The Guide spoke English but his primary language was German and he was having trouble with some of his English. He was showing them one of the towers of the castle and told the group that was where the bitches were put in former times. Well this had the group a little confused so Dave asked him to repeat it. Again he said this was where they put the bitches. Dave was still confused so he asked the guide to tell him in German what he was saying. He told him that is where they put the hexins, which is the German word for witches.
As we were walking back to the bus we passed by the house where the French writer Victor Hugo lived in exile for a while beginning in 1871. This is a quote from his writings; “Before long the whole of Europe will visit Vianden, this jewel set in its splendid scenery, characterized by two, both comforting and magnificent elements: the sinister ruins of its fortress and its cheerful breed of men”.
We departed the castle and drove through some of the prettiest countryside you ever want to see. The area is very hilly and the fields were all green with the new pasture grass that the cows and sheep were enjoying and the trees were blooming with white blossoms. You could look out across the countryside and see villages with the red tile roof houses on some of the hills and some down in the valleys.
We arrived at Landsthul at 8 PM. Cost $88.
Rhine River Cruise and Luncheon
Mother’s Day Special
May 10, 1998
I took Lena on a Mother’s Day trip down the Rhine River with the USO. Our guide was Beth and the bus driver was LoTar. There were 84 people to sign up for this trip so the USO had chartered two buses. We boarded the boat at St. Goar for the ride down the river to the town of Assmannshausen. The weather was beautiful for a boat ride. Our first trip down the Rhine River had been at night during the Rhine Aflame last year. The Rhine River is lined with castles. If you want to see a lot of castles in short period of time, then the Rhine River is the place to go. Some are in some degree of ruin but others are open to the public.
After the cruise down the river we boarded the buses on the opposite side of the river for the ride to the village of Winkel where we would have the Mother's Day Luncheon. At Winkel we were met by Eric “The Red”, a local guide and wine expert. He told us an interesting story including how he got his name Eric “The Red”. His beard is now mostly white but in his younger days it was red. He was living and working in Berlin when President Kennedy was there in the 60’s. When he was introduced to President Kennedy, the President referred to him as Eric “The Red” because of the red beard and the name just stuck. He said he has many American friends and had been to American several times and had never seen the inside of an American Hotel because his friends always invited him to stay at their homes.
The restaurant, Weinhaus Merscheid, is rather large for such a small village and it was full of Mother’s Day diners. The restaurant had prepared a bountiful buffet for us. I think we all ate until we hurt. It was great. I can’t recall all the different foods, but one was a meat dish that was cooked inside a bread covering. Mummm good! After we ate, the owner of the restaurant entertained us at the piano.
After we left the restaurant we boarded the buses for the ferry ride across the river. There aren’t many bridges over the river so you take a ferryboat across. Our next stop was the Sooneck Castle. This is a small well-preserved castle. When we went into the first room we all had to put on these large wool slippers over our shoes. The castle had beautiful hardwood floors and they didn’t want all the traffic through the castle to damage the wood. We all joked that this was a good way to polish the floors because you had to kind of slid your feet along, since the slippers didn’t exactly fit and were kind of floppy. The chandelier in one room weighed over 300 pounds.
Our next stop was in Bacharach for a brief shopping excursion. This was a very picturesque village. Lena and I decided we would come back one day when we had more time to look around. We really enjoyed this day. The scenery was beautiful, the food great as usual, and the weather was very warm and sunny.
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| Nice old car |
Cost $55 each.
Terceria, Azores
May 13-16, 1998
I had to go to Terceria, Azores to do a site survey of the commissary in preparation for the installation of the new computer systems the commissary would be getting.
Terceria is one of nine islands that make up the Azores archipelago. They are located 932 sea miles to the west of the Iberian Peninsula off the coast of Portugal. Terceria surface area is only 155 square miles. The distance between the most distant islands is 372 sea miles.
The United States has a military base located on Terceria called Lajes Field. It is used as a refueling stop for military planes. The military and commercial airplanes use the same runway. Sometimes the winds are so strong that the airplanes, even the big military planes can’t land. The commissary officers told me that the winds get so strong that if you don't hold your car door when you open it, the wind will rip it off. The three days I was there the winds were not very strong so I was able to get in and out on schedule. There are usually only two flights a day to and from the island. I was able to get there in one day from Germany but when I departed I had to stay overnight in Lisbon, Portugal before departing for Virginia for a week and then on to North Carolina for a two week vacation.
While I was waiting for my flight in Lisbon, Portugal I bought a bottle of water at McDonalds. This was my third visit to a McDonalds in two years. There are McDonalds all over Europe but I usually avoid them. The brand of water was Vitalis. I thought this was kind of funny, since I used Vitalis on my hair in my teens.
I had a little time to ride around the island one day. It was green and lush everywhere you looked. Most of the land was sectioned off in fields of about 1 to 3 acres with 3-4 feet high fences made from lava rock. They had a lot of cows, hogs and some donkeys. I noticed that some of the hogs had what looked like a finger hanging underneath each side of their jaws. The farmers would milk their cows in the fields, then pour the milk in metal milk cans. Then they would load the cans on a horse drawn cart and take the milk to a local facility to sell it. Some had a small truck, but most used a horse and cart.
The island was beautiful. Anyone that loves the ocean would probably like the area. Most of the coastline was rocky and rugged. The island had only one sandy beach and part of it was being converted into a marina. One morning I had to go to the airport to meet someone and I noticed a rainbow. I had a few minutes before the airplane was due so I tried to get to a good place to photograph the rainbow. I finally found a road down to the coast and was able to get a photograph of the rainbow with one end of it stopping in the Atlantic Ocean. The coast was very rocky at this point and the water was splashing off the rocks with the rainbow in the background. The rainbow lasted over 30 minutes. What a view!!
I departed the Azores on Saturday evening and arrived in Lisbon, Portugal about midnight. I took a taxi to my hotel for about 5 hours sleep (Oh, the joys of traveling!) before departing for Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg, Virginia
May 17-25, 1998
I arrived in Virginia on Sunday afternoon after my overnight stay in Lisbon, Portugal. I was scheduled to work here for a week before departing for North Carolina for a two-week vacation with the family.
Lena flew in from Germany Sunday evening the 24th. This was Lena’s first time back in the States since we departed for Germany on May 16, 1996. I picked her up at Richmond Airport. The next morning we meet some of our friends from the local area for breakfast. After breakfast and good byes we headed for North Carolina.
Duplin County
May 25-June 9, 1998
The main reason for our trip to North Carolina, other than to visit family and take some time off from work, was to attend the 60th Anniversary of my parent’s wedding. My brother Conrad and sister in law Jeanette drove from Texas. So the entire family was there, except for four grandchildren, to celebrate their anniversary. We had a cook out in the yard at my youngest brother’s, Roy, house. Everyone really enjoyed the day.
The two weeks sure did go by in a rush. We did a lot of visiting family and friends. Lena had not seen our vacation home on Topsail Island since Hurricanes Bertha and Fran had totaled it in 1996. We went to the island to see it and all the other changes that have taken place on the island since the hurricanes. We decided that there was too much damage to try and repair, so we plan to build a cottage when we return from Germany.
I had to fly back to Germany on June 6 and Lena flew back on June 9.
Reipoltskirchen Medieval Festival
June 21, 1998
The town of Reipoltskirchen was celebrating its 800th anniversary with a Medieval festival around the only water castle in the Pfalz region of Germany that is still maintained. The castle was built in the last third of the 13th century. It was not a very large castle and was not built high up on a hill as most are. Instead it was built on a small hill and had a wall around it. A stream of water protected one side of the castle. Probably in its glory days the water was much deeper that it is currently. It is used now for a small wine stube.
The festival had a historical crafts market, knights tournaments, mercenary camp, dancing, juggling, rope makers, silver smiths, candle makers, potters, broom makers, weavers, makers of coats of mail, glass blowers, and music groups.
Lena and I walked around the large area where the festival was set up so we could check out all the different crafts that were on display and being made. Also to check out the different types of food that was available. Each area usually has something a little different. I can’t remember the name of it, but one booth was selling a large slice of German bread with a something like sour cream spread on it along with onions, ham, and cheese. It was very good. As we were walking around checking out the different booths, Lena punched me and asked, “do you see that”. I turned to look and in one of the booths was a large wooden tub. It was probably 6-7 feet across and about 4-5 feet tall. A man, with a rather large belly, had just stepped out of the tub and was drying off. He was not the least bit ashamed of his “birthday suit” if you know what I mean. He didn’t even try to shield himself from the view of the public. Well I guess Lena had gotten her “thrill” for the day.
Some of the people that were dressed in the medieval costumes must have been very uncomfortable, because the temperature was in the 90’s and the sun was bearing down. It was one of the few really warm days this year. One of the craftsmen was making the coats of mail, which are the wire mess armor that the soldiers wore in medieval days. I watched him for a few minutes. It must take a really long time to make just one person’s armor. He was taking little wire rings that he had already made and was hooking them together to make the mail armor.
At 2 PM they had a historical parade through town. The parade had a lot of horses, bands, people dressed in the Medieval costumes, people pushing old farm equipment, farm animals, etc. The parades in Europe are usually very interesting.
After the parade we departed the town and rode around through some of the farmland nearby. Then we made our way back home after a very interesting day.
Wallhalb Valley
“Bicycle Fun for the Whole Family”
June 28, 1998
I loaded up our bicycles on the top of the car and Lena and I headed off for our third car-free bicycle ride. There was 33 kilometers (20 miles) of road from Landstuhl to Schwarzbachtal closed to cars from 9 am to 6 PM.
All along the route there were places you could get refreshments such as mill roast, salads, goulash, fish, garlic breads, wursts, desserts, coffee, beer, wine, cokes, etc. Some of the villages had playgrounds set up with pony rides. Bikes service stations were set up for repairs if needed. The German police and a driving school were setup to give advice on bicycle safety. Outside church service was setup at a Gothic church.
Along the route there was 13 mills. Some were for cutting lumber, but most were for grinding grain. The Thaleischweiler Mule (mill) is a working mill and also a museum. We stopped there for a rest. I think the mill was built in the 1700’s based on what I could read on the plaque beside the stream. It had a water wheel that powered the equipment inside. The miller could control the flow of the water, either to the water wheel or he could divert the water around the wheel. We went inside the three-story mill. It was interesting to see all the old equipment in the mill and to get to plunder around inside the old building. I have always enjoyed looking inside old farm buildings, I guess it is the farmer blood in me.
The weather was perfect for a bike ride and the route was almost flat so it was not too strenuous and the food along the way was great as usual. We only stopped four times to eat. Hey, this bike riding is hard work!!
This was the first time we had seen someone we knew while riding. Our landlady’s aunt (the one we call the garden specialist) was also riding with some of her friends. When we got back to the car we had ridden 38 kilometers (22.8 miles). This was our longest ride to date. Lena was so tired when we got back to the car she fell while trying to get off the bicycle and scraped her knee on the gravel. I had discovered on the return trip that her seat had slipped down so she had to exert extra energy to ride so she had tired out quicker than usual.
Other than the minor mishap when she fell we had really enjoyed the ride. I don’t know how many people were riding but I would guess over two thousand. We saw bicycles built for two, one built for four, bicycles pulling baby buggies for bicycles, bicycles for handicap people so they could pedal with their hands and bicycles with baskets built for dogs. The age ranged from probably 8 to 80 years. This is a great way to get outdoors and get exercise and at the same time get to see things along the road that you miss riding by in a car. I would like to see this type of event started in the States.
RAF Mildenhall, England
July 7-9, 1998
I had to do a site survey of the commissary, in preparation for the installation of the new computer system they would be getting. I had to fly on a cargo transport airplane that departed from the Ramstein Air Force Base about 15 minutes from where we work. There is normally daily flights going out of Ramstein to different military bases in Europe and this was the first time that one was going to the same place that I needed to go. Rather than flying on a commercial airline I was able to fly on the transport plane. This saves the government money. This was not a military airplane but a contracted airplane that transported military equipment. It had three rows of standard aircraft seats, but that was all that was standard about the way the airplane looked inside. It was rather noisy so the earplugs they gave us were helpful. The flight was only about 1.5 hours.
The store manager picked me up at the air terminal at RAF Mildenhall and took me to the military hotel on base. The next day we had our meeting and did the survey work for the new computer system. The store manager told me the building was once used for a morgue. I asked if they had any ghosts and he said that sometime they come in and find bread on the floor and other things out of location but he was only joking. I think!!
We have commissaries in some strange buildings here in Europe. The one at Bamberg is in a former horse stable. The metal rings where the horses were tied up are still on the walls inside the building and the watering trough is still in the building
My scheduled return flight to Germany was not until Friday morning, even though I would be completed with my work on Thursday morning. I checked with the air terminal and they had a flight that was going to Ramstein on Thursday afternoon that I might be able to get on. I came back on Thursday to check on the flight and was able to get a seat. The plane was a C130 cargo plane. It had web seats. Somewhat like setting in a sling. There was nothing about the plane that looked like a commercial airplane. It really wasn’t as bad as I had heard. Of course I was only on the plane about 1.5 hours. I have a co-worker that fly in one for 23 hours. It was completely open inside with metal hooks and bars, etc. that were used to tie down cargo. You could see the cargo that was tied down in the back. The seats could be folded up or down depending on the amount of cargo that needed to be hauled. People on TDY like me or military people and their families can get a free ride on these flights if enough seats are available. The toilettes, if you were so unlucky as to need one, were not exactly private. I was surprised when one of the aircrew passed around a big paper shopping bag with juice and snacks.
This will probably be my last TDY trip for several months. I have flown many times for the government since 1977 and this was the first trip in a military airplane. I guess it was an anniversary present since the next day, July 10th, would mark my 31st year with the government.
Horbach Dorffest 1998
July 11-12, 1998
Horbach, the village we live in, had their 1998 Dorffest (village festival) the weekend of July 11-12, 1998. This was the first time that I was not on a trip when our village was having any kind of an event. Most villages have at least two fest a year plus other kinds of events. The fest ran from 6 PM to midnight on Saturday and from 10 AM to 8 PM on Sunday.
Our landlord is the village Burgermeister (mayor). He and the head Burgermeister for this area officially opened the fest by “tapping” the first keg of beer. They used a wooden mallet to drive the tap into the keg.
Our village is kind of small but they have nine different clubs and each one had a food and drink booth. Saturday a brass band with about 25 members played for three hours followed by what some Germans call “new music” which is a band that plays more modern music, including American Country and Western in English and popular German music. A two piece band played and sang on Sunday.
We tried three German foods that we had not had. First we tried Flammkuchen, which has a very thin crust with something like soft cream cheese spread on it covered lightly with bits of ham, onions, cheese, and parsley flakes. They heat it in an oven so the crust is crispy, then they cut it in two-inch squares and serve it on a thin piece of wood. Next we tried Hooriche mit Speck Sohe. It was three balls about the size of a tennis ball covered with light gravy that had chucks of ham in it. The balls were made of a combination of karttoflens (potatoes) and noodles. The next was Dampfnudel mit Sohe. This was similar to a large dinner roll that was placed in an open pan that had a small amount of oil and then heated until it was hot. Then you pull off a piece of the roll and dip it in the vanilla cream. Of course I also had to have a Wurst mit Brochen. This is a German sausage that is grilled and placed between a hard crust roll. On Sunday we also had Kaffee and Kasekuchen (coffee and cheesecake).
I probably have mentioned before that the Germans don’t use many disposable items at their fest. There were probably 4-6 hundred people at the fest eating and drinking and on Sunday morning there probably wasn’t more that two trash bags of trash. Normally they use regular plates, glasses, and silverware to serve your meals on. They have portable dishwashers and sinks set up, even with hot water heaters, to wash the dishes and reuse them rather that using paper plates, plastic forks/spoons, and glasses. Normally you pay a deposit on the dishes with your meal. When you return your dishes you get the deposit back.
Rothenburg Medieval City
July 25, 1998
Rothenburg is called the “Gem from the Middle Ages”. It is one of the most preserved medieval cities in Germany. The city has a population of only 12,500 people but is one of the most visited towns in Germany. We have wanted to visit the town ever since coming to Germany. We purchased an oil painting last September of the most picturesque part of the city. It is called “Plönline Day View” (Little Square Day View). The painter was Pfitzer-Rommel a relative of the famous German General Rommel (The Desert Fox). The painter died two years before we purchased the painting. Our USO tour guide was Lisa and the German bus driver was Henrick. We departed Vogelweh at 7:40 AM.
Rothenburg was founded in the 10th century on the Tauber River. An earthquake in 1356 destroyed the castle and the fortifications. The castle was never rebuilt. During World War II the city was partially destroyed by bombs. An American general put a stop to the bombing to save the remaining buildings. After 1945 the town was rebuilt in the old style and the destroyed fortifications were restored with the support of people from all parts of the world. Lena and I walked around the city walls on the walkway. There were stone plaques imbedded in the walls with the names and countries of the people that donated money to rebuild the fortifications. We saw names from Germany, USA, Japan, England, etc.
There are many interesting places to see in the town. One day does not provide enough time to see everything, so we plan to return later in the year. We visited the Kriminalmuseum (Criminal Museum). It is the only museum of law in the European area. They have items from over one thousand years. Many of the items were instruments of torture. You probably have heard or seen the stocks that were used for punishment of crimes but some of these went way beyond the stocks. One was a rack, where the person to be punished was tied by the arms and feet. Then they turned a crank to stretch the person, which was bad enough except there was also a roller in the middle with metal spikes on it about two inches long that must have been rather painful as your body was being extended by the stretching process. Other items included: Wooden ruffles for women who violated clothing regulations; mask of shame for women (a metal helmet with a long tongue and big ears) that were charged with gossiping and nosiness; drunk barrel for a person that drank to much alcoholic beverage had to wear; double-neck-violin for two quarrelsome women (this was like a mobile stock where they put the head and both arms of two women in so they had to walk around together); donkey of shame for lazy pupils; shame-flute for bad musicians; dunking cage for bakers that sold too small a loaf of bread; chain for cheaters. These sound rather cruel but maybe if we began using some of them again maybe we would not have so much crime.
Lisa took us to the St. Jakob’s Church, Rothenburg’s principal church. It was built in the 14th and 15th centuries. The church had an organ that was “new”. It was consecrated in 1968. A thirty-year-old organ may not sound new to most of us from a country that is only two hundred and twenty something years old. But to a town that was founded almost one thousand years ago and has a church that is over 500 years old, a 30-year old organ is “new”. The organ has two consoles and 5000 pipes. In the back of the choir area was the Alter of the Twelve Apostles. It is one of the most important historic treasures in Germany. It was made in 1466. In the rear of the church was The Holy Blood Altar, which is a huge woodcarving of the Last Supper. It was carved and setup between 1499 and 1505. According to legend, it is said that 3 drops of Christ’s blood is contained within a capsule of rock crystal in a gold-plated cross. My words can’t describe the detail of this work and photos were not allowed in the church but the book we purchased on the town has good photos of both Alters.
All this walking sure works up an appetite so shortly before it was time to depart for home Lena and I went into a restaurant for some apple strudel and ice cream. We enjoyed the trip and hope to visit the town again.
We arrived at Vogelweh at 8 PM Cost $78.
The Student Prince Heidelberg
August 1, 1998
Lena and I went with the USO to Heidelberg to see the performance of The Student Prince. Our guide was Ann and the driver was Montford. The play is a musical romance written by Hungarian-American composer Sigmund Romberg in 1924. It is about Prince Karl Franz who becomes a student at Heidelberg University and falls in love with a maid at the Inn. He is forbidden to marry because family status is more important than love. Heidelberg began producing the play in 1974 after American tourists kept asking, “Where did the student prince live?”
Ann took us on a short city walking tour after arriving. Mark Twain visited and spoke twice in the city of Heidelberg. On the grounds of Heidelberg University, the oldest in Germany (over 600 years old), is a Witch’s Tower dating from 1380. It was used to determine if a person accused of being a witch was truly a witch. The person was taken to the top and made to jump. It she lived then she was a witch and was later put to death. If she died then she was not a witch and her name was cleared. Either way the person died. Strange thinking!
After we had dinner we rode the tram up to the castle. The play was held in the open courtyard of the castle. Several of the USO group, including Lena and I, got front row seats only a few feet from the stage. At one point the Prince came into the courtyard on a horse drawn buggy. The horses were so close we could almost touch them. Having it outside in the courtyard made the performance more enjoyable because they didn’t have to have props for some of the scenes. Everything was more realistic.
It started raining about 2/3rd through the performance so the director stopped the play until the rain stopped. It didn’t rain hard but if the leading lady’s hair had got wet all her curls probably would have dropped terribly. We really enjoyed the performance.
Cost $54 each.
Brussels Belgium Renaissance Floral Carpet
August 15, 1998
Once every two years the city of Brussels, Belgium has a floral carpet that covers the entire La Grand’Place (Main Square) with brilliant colored flowers laid out in a Renaissance theme. Lena and I went with the USO guide Paula and drivers Stephane and Rhinehart to tour the city and see the floral carpet.
We stopped at a Belgian lace shop for a video demonstration of how lace is made by hand. Then we went to La Grand’Place where the floral carpet is laid out. We continued on the tour with Paula and planned to come back later to take photos of the floral carpet. Brussels is famous for a small statue name Manneken-Pis. It is a status of a small boy, probably about 10 years old, that is standing at a street corner doing what little boys do when they need to relieve themselves of excess water. There are several stories about why a statue was made to remember him. One was that he stood at the second story window and relieved himself on some invading enemy soldiers. Another is that he relieved himself on a small fire that would have been devastating to the town had he not put it out. The one that is generally accepted, according to Paula, is he got separated from his father, who was a wealthy business man, during a town celebration and was missing for a few days. When his father found him, he was standing on the spot where the statue is now located doing what is depicted in the statue. Take your pick of the stories. The statue has over 400 different costumes that are put on the statue for different occasions.
In another part of the city not too far away there is a statue of Jeanneke-Pis. This is a little girl that is squatting down doing what little girls do. Paula didn’t know the story behind this statue. Maybe equal rights? It was erected in 1985 at the end of a dead-end alley so many people have not heard of it.
After the walking tour was over, Paula showed us a street that was lined on both sides with seafood restaurants. Since we both like seafood and had not had any in a long time we selected La Vieille Porte Restaurant since it was not so crowded. We looked at the menu but were having a little trouble reading it, even with the “cheat sheet” Paula had passed out on food words. The waiter offered to help us and we decided to follow his advice. Lena got Filet of Sole Normandy and I ordered a seafood combination of mussels and shrimp with mushroom sauce and a salmon filet. It was excellent.
After eating we walked back to the La Grand’Place to see the floral carpet. The carpet was about the size of a football field and contained every color you can imagine. It was made entirely of flower petals. The design was amazing. We paid and got in line to go up on the balcony of city hall so we could get a view from above. It is difficult to describe the carpet. We took photos but could not get all of in the picture. It took 200 gardeners 2 days to assemble the carpet.
Brussels has a lot more to see that we could see on this trip so we might go back some time.
Cost $55 each.
Burg Satzvey Horse Lovers’ Dream August 23, 1998
We went on an USO trip with guide Elizabeth and German driver Horst to the Burg Satzvey to see a horse show. They were holding their premiere production of “Dream Horses Between Fantasy and Reality”. The Count and Countess of Satzvey have the event on the grounds of their castle. The Countess is an American. When she married the Count she came up with the idea of producing horse shows and medieval festivals to generate money to maintain the castle and its grounds.
The castle and the inner courtyard are not open to the public but the surrounding grounds are when the shows are being performed. They have a moat about half way around the castle where the ducks and swans live. In the rear there were people building a Keltic Village to represent how life was in the ancient times.
The show included more than 60 horses including Andalusien, Lipizzaner, Friesian, drafthorses, and western stunt horses. The show featured western stunt riding, dancing horses, Roman chariot races, historical farm wagons, and horse drawn fire fighting engines. Guitar playing flamingo singers accompanied the Spanish stallions as they danced to the music. They had the horses stand on a wooden area and when they stamped their feet it sounded like a Spanish Flamingo dancer. Some of the horses performed stunts in movies with Tom Cruise and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Lena and I liked the horse they called Black Beauty. This horse was totally black with a mane that flowed almost to the ground. I’m sure it took a lot of work to keep it clean and tangle free.
When we were leaving the area the bus got behind some old farm tractors that were pulling camping trailers. We thought this was kind of odd to see a farm tractor pulling a camping trailer. Then we passed a area that had several parked campers and we decided that this must have been a group of people that restored old farm tractors and they were having a convention and they used the campers to sleep in during the weekend event. We probably saw 30 or more.
The bus we were riding had a Global Positioning System on it similar to what we have seen on airplanes. The driver had a small screen, about 4 by 6 inches on the dash of the bus and there was another screen the passengers could see. The driver would input his destination and the system would display a map of the area where the bus was located and any scale he wanted. It would indicate the distance to the next turn and then a voice would come on when the bus was a few hundred meters from the turn to tell the driver to turn. It would calculate the time of arrival and the time remaining to the destination. Some of the luxury cars have a similar system now.
We really enjoyed the show and the trip there was nice. It took us through some beautiful countryside. Cost $59.
Naples Italy
August 24 – 26, 1998
I had to return to Naples to perform a Site Survey at a new commissary that was being constructed in the new housing area for the American military. I was informed in late July that a new commissary was going to be built and opened in October. The construction was fast paced so we had to react quickly to get everything planned and equipment ordered to be ready for the opening date. Phil Ruiz and the Electrical Contractor that would be working with me on the Site Survey met me at the airport. We had a quick lunch and drove out to the new facility. The shell of the building had been erected and the concrete floor was poured. After a couple of hours of planning the computer equipment locations we stepped outside. I usually take a small camera with me to take photographs to help me remember how the buildings are laid out. When I stepped outside I took a photograph of the exterior of the building. In about 30 seconds the Military Police pulled up and confronted me about taking unauthorized photographs. We explained who we were and what we were doing, showed out Government IDs and Phil explained he was the Commissary Officer in charge of the building. The MP still insisted that he might have to take my film unless we could get authorization from a higher authority. Phil had a cellular telephone so he called someone and got authorization and I was able to keep my film.
After we finished our work we met Phil and Sandy for dinner at the Fontanna Blue Restaurant. This was the same restaurant that Lena and I ate at in February when we were here. They had spruced the place up since then. We ate at the outside tables since the weather was very nice. While we were eating I discovered that this was Phil and Sandy’s wedding anniversary so I treated them to dinner.
The next day after work I walked out to the beach behind the hotel. It was disgusting. Everywhere you looked were trash. Also I have been told that it is unsafe to go into the water it is so polluted. I finished my work and the next day Phil took me back to the Naples airport for the return trip to Germany.
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| Rear view of my hotel |
German Wine Street 13th. Annual Car-Free Day for Bikers
August 30, 1998
Thirty vine-growing towns and villages along the German Wine Street ware celebrating their 13th car-free adventure day with the motto “All about the Palatinate”. This road is Germany’s oldest tourist route. It runs through one of the main wine producing areas in Germany.
On this day 80 kilometers (48 miles) was closed to car traffic from 10AM to 6PM. Bicyclist, walkers, hikers, and in-line skaters had total access to the road and could stop along the way to enjoy local food specialties, beverages, and music.
We had ridden in the car on the Northern end of the road several times so we decided to go to the Southern end (near France) to ride our bicycles.
The villages along the way are very old and the streets so narrow that in some places there is not enough room for cars to pass. Each village had food booths and tables set up in the streets so there was plenty of congestion on the streets with all the people on bicycles trying to get through.
Almost each of the thirty villages had a member of the Palatinate Barrel Organ Stammtisch playing the Barrel Organ. You probably have seen or heard about the organ grinder with a monkey that holds a tin cup for people to drop coins in. Well this is what is called a Barrel Organ. This group was trying to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. The organ grinder were dressed in some type of costume but none of the ones we saw had a live monkey with them. Some had a toy stuffed monkey sitting on their organs. We did see one the first year we were here that had a monkey with him.
They were expecting about 400,000 people to turn out for this event. We think they all showed up. We have never seen so many people out riding bicycles and walking. The last village that we rode to, Edenkoben, was a total traffic jam near the town center with people and bicycles trying to get through the village.
The road had some small hills so we walked part of the way pushing our bicycles. We stopped at two places to enjoy the food. We have ridden on several other car-free rides and have seen bicycles built for two, four and six but on this day we saw one built for twelve. I got photos to prove it! It had the front and back end of a Volkswagen Bug and in between setting side by side were two rows of six seats, handlebars, and pedals for the riders. In front of each set of riders was a tray to hold their drinking glasses. A local politician was using it in his campaign for election.
As usual we saw people of all age groups. Some with their dogs in a basket, babies in baby seats, babies in little two wheel wagons attached to the bicycle, and even saw one man that had mounted a board about six inches wide in front of his seat where his dog sat. We rode (and walked) for 26.5 kilometers (16 miles) which is about our average on a ride like this. The weather was great for such an event.
Black Forest Week-End
September 4-6, 1998
Lena and I had a four-day weekend so we decided to celebrate both our 50th Birthdays by staying the weekend in the Black Forest area of Germany. We have been there several times and really enjoy the natural beauty of the area. We carried our bicycles with us so we could ride through the area at a slower pace and enjoy the scenery. We arrived at our destination, Gutach, in about two hours. We stopped for a light lunch and then started looking for a place to stay. The area has several hotels in Triberg but we wanted to stay in one of the German homes that rent rooms, somewhat like the Bed and Breakfast places in the States, England and Scotland. We found a place that looked nice and was right on the bicycle trail that we wanted to ride. We pulled in the drive and the hostess came out to greet us. She seemed nice as I tried my limited German to ask “Haben sie doppelzimmer frei” (Have you a double room available). She replied, in German, that she did and proceeded to show us the dining room where she would serve our breakfast, then she got some keys and took us to a building next to the main house. The room was nice, even had a large balcony with patio furniture with a view of the area. I told her we would take the room for two nights and as we were getting our luggage I asked her how much would the room be. She said 140 Deutsche Marks (app. $80 for two nights for two people and a full German breakfast). I offered to pay and she indicated for us to sleep before we pay. It is normal in Germany to check into a hotel or room like this and not pay or even sign in on a register until you check out. She didn’t speak any English but with our limited ability to speak German we were able to communicate quit well.
The main house was the old Black Forest style house that we have described before. It is built up against a hill so that they can drive the wagons right into the loft of the house. They live in the front of the building and the back section is used as the animal barn and for storage of hay and farm tools. The building we were in was not build in this style but more of the typical German house. Every room had it’s own balcony except one.
After we got settled in we unloaded our bicycles and took a ride. We rode for awhile and returned to the house. When we returned Frau Wöhrle (our hostess) told us we could park our bicycles in one of the storage rooms in the house. We thought this was nice of her, especially later in the day when it rained and the bicycles were out of the weather. The room had been used to house the kuhs (cows) but they were not keeping kuhs anymore but the cows had left some of their oders to prove they had been there.
We decide to explore some of the area near Gutach that we had not been to before so we drove over to Wolfach. This was a beautiful small town. The center of the town was lined with beautiful buildings. The entire street and extremely wide sidewalks were all paved with stones. We parked the car so we could explore the shops and take some photographs. The Kinzig River ran through the town, which made a very picturesque scene. There was a very large shade tree that sat at the end of the street right at the end of the bridge. There were benches under it and several older men setting around talking. Our guess was that this was probably a very popular location for the retired people to gather and talk. After visiting a few of the little shops we just happen to find a café that served Schwarzwaldkirche Kuchen (Black Forest Cherry Cake). Folks if you have never smacked you lips on a good piece of this cake, well all I can say is you have missed one of life pleasures. It just don’t get any better than to be sitting at an outdoor café in a beautiful old German village, surrounded by quaint buildings that are several hundred years old, eating a piece of this cake and drinking Germany coffee.
After we finished our cake (we almost licked the plate) and coffee, we took a walk down a side street by the river. The town had several old very large photographs that showed how the town looked many years ago and also showed some kind of strange looking narrow wooden rafts they used on the river. As we looked over the edge of the bridge we saw lots of fish. I’m not sure if they were mountain trout but that’s what they looked like. I made a comment that Robby would like to be here with his fly rod. Later on we did see a man out in the river with his fly rod trying to catch some fish.
We departed Wolfach for Schiltach but got on the wrong road but were glad we did. We drove through Oberwolfach and on past Übelbach to one of the prettiest valleys we have seen in the Black Forest. We stopped and took some photos and decided we wanted to come back to this area next year and spend a couple of nights and bring our bicycles again as there was a flat bike trail here that seemed to run for miles along the valley. After soaking in the scenery we turned around and drove to Schiltach as planned.
Schiltach had a large array of beautiful half-timbered buildings and also had a river running through it. Rain began to drizzle so we got our umbrellas and walked through the old part of town. The town hall was the centerpiece of the town and was undergoing some renovation. Schiltach has been destroyed by fire several times and the devil of Schiltach was held responsible for the disasters and is depicted on the town hall in a painting as a martial figure. The front of the building had other scenes painted on it of the tanning and rafting industries that took place in the area for centuries.
It was getting late and we were getting hungry so we drove back to Gutach parked the car and walked down the road a short distance to a restaurant. Our waitress spoke good English. We found out that she was from Izmir, Turkey and had visited a friend in the United States for a few weeks. I told her that I was in Izmir, Turkey in April. Lena asked her how many languages she spoke and she said three or four. I guess Turkish, German, and English made up three of them. We had a fantastic meal.
At 8 AM the next morning we went to the main house for a large German breakfast. There were several kinds of meat, bread and homemade preserves and of course coffee. After stuffing ourselves we decided to go for a sight seeing drive. We drove through Triberg and on to Furtwangen. This area was very hilly and the fog was extremely heavy so we had to drive slowly and didn’t see too much. One of Lena’s co-workers had told her about Titisee, a tourist resort. We drove on to that town and walked around for awhile before heading on to Villingen and back to Gutach. After getting back to the room, Lena wanted to rest so I got my camera and bicycle and went for a ride on the bike trail.
The next morning we again had a large German breakfast. Then we loaded up the bicycles and luggage and headed for Ribeaville, France. A co-worker had told Lena about this village having so many colorful half-timbered houses that we though it would be a good place to visit. When we arrived we realized they were having a festival. We parked and paid our entrance fee to get to the street where the festival was to take place. It was in the center of the old part of the village. There were many colorful half-timbered buildings just as Lena’s co-worker had told her. The French use more colors in their old buildings than the Germans do. We walked through the old part of town and went in the shops that were open for business and then found something to eat. There were several musical groups that were going through the village playing and singing. We saw several people dressed in clothes for times long ago. The parade was about to begin so we found a good place to stand and waited for the parade to start. We have been to some other medieval festivals but this was the most authentic and the most elaborate. The people were dressed to match the part they were playing, some in very elaborate costumes. About 10 young men, wearing kilts, were pulling/pushing an old farm cart and signing a song. As they got in front of where we were standing they stopped and as they completed their song they all bent over and flipped up their kilts. I have often heard people ask what men wore under their kilts. Well according to Lena, these men were wearing nothing, because she got “sunned” and “mooned”. I was standing behind her and didn’t have as good a view as she had.
One of the units in the parade was a working bakery that was built on a trailer, complete with the wood fired brick oven that worked. Another unit represented a mine. It even had a working water wheel. Another thing that is different about the European parades is that they have the horses in front of the parade. This causes a problem for the people playing in the bands that follow. The parade lasted for almost two hours. The people in the parade really were putting on a good show.
After the parade was over we headed for home. We had a nice weekend.
Day trip North of Frankfurt
9-26-98
My sister Janet and her husband Chuck had come from the States earlier in the week for a visit. Chuck has a German ancestor that was a caretaker at Schloss Neuenstein, a castle north of Frankfurt, so we drove there to look around. We arrived about 11 AM at a place named Antikhof Schloss Neuenstein which housed the Café Inspiration. Chuck went to the door to see if he could get some information about the castle. The man said they were not open yet but he invited us to come in and he would prepare some coffee and get his son Alexander that spoke English.
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| Alexander |
They were in the antique auction and café business. They had recently purchased the property and owned the castle that we were looking for. The son, Alexander Hess, showed us around the barn that they now use to display the antiques they have for auction. They had some very expensive antiques. After the short tour we went back into the main building, which included the café, a small museum on the second floor and their living quarters. The building was furnished completely with antiques. We ordered coffee and kunchen. After we ate, Alexander offered to take us to the castle. We tried to pay for the coffee and kunchen but Mr. Hess said that we were his guests. He had known us about 1 hour but he sure was making us feel welcome. We followed Alexander to the castle, which was located on the next hilltop. It was not a massive fortress type castle. It was a rather large four-story structure with a tall round watchtower on one corner. It had been recently used by what we would call the Forest Service, as a headquarters. Alexander and his father had some major plans for the building and grounds. There were planning on a renovation, followed by the opening of a restaurant and beer garden on the grounds. They were also going to move the antique auction to one of the upper floors of the castle. He showed us every room in the castle. We even got to climb an old wooded spiral staircase up to the top of the tower. On the grounds near the base of the tower was a building used to bake bread in an old stone oven. This is also going to be cleaned up and used to bake bread for the restaurant. On one of the lower terrace areas on the grounds is were the beer garden will be located and behind the castle they plan to have a place that children could ride ponies and play with animals. There is also going to be walking trails around the grounds. There was a building behind the castle that was still occupied by one of the forestry people. They will be moving out soon and that building will be converted to a six-room guesthouse. Alexander sure was excited about their plans. He and his father had applied for a 1 million-mark loan to do the work planned for the castle and grounds. They were expecting to get the final approval the following week. They expect to have all the work done in a year so we told him he would come back in a year or so. We thanked him for showing us around. Chuck promised to send them information on the former caretaker’s son that had migrated to America. One of his descendants was the person that discovered the first gold in America. The Reed Gold Mine near Charlotte, NC is the location where the find took place.
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| Their antique business |
After saying farewell to Alexander we drove toward the village of Raboldhausen where we saw a cow giving birth out in a pasture beside the road. I stopped the car so we could witness the event and take some pictures. As we were sitting there I though it kind of ironic that here were three people raised on a farm, Chuck is a city boy, stopping to take pictures of such an event like it was some unique experience. Well I guess it was kind of unique. It’s not something you see everyday. The event was taking longer than we wanted to stay, plus I was parked in the road, so we drove on. She was grazing on the grass and didn’t seem to be in any distress, even though she had a calf with two legs and a nose exposed out her rear.
We stopped in Raboldhausen, Salzberg, and Knüllwald-Appenfeld and took pictures and went into several of the churches. Most of the churches in Germany are not locked as they are in the States. These villages all had connections to some of Chuck’s ancestors. On the way back home we stopped in Wiesbaden-Kloppenhiem at a restaurant named Landgasthof Zum Schwanen. The owner was the next door neighbor and a friend to Janet and Chuck when they were living in the area about 35 years ago while station in Germany with the Air Force.
Colmar, France
City and Castle Tour
9-27-98
Janet, Chuck, Lena and I went with on a USO trip with Elizabeth, the guide, and Klaus, the bus driver, to the Alsatian city of Colmar, France and to the Chateau Haut Königsbourg. After we arrived at the castle, Lena and I realized we had been to it on a prior USO trip. The castle is quite impressive and worthy of a second visit. Our castle guide was Denis, the same guide we had on the first visit. After the castle tour we boarded the bus for the short trip into Colmar. The guide showed us where to meet after lunch and let us go on our own for lunch. Jan, Chuck, Lena and I went to Café Leffe and ordered Sweinhaxe mit Sauerkraut (Pork ham hocks and sour kraut). After lunch we met Elizabeth and the local city guide. The city guide began showing us around but she was moving so slow we realized that we would not have any time to check out any of the shops before we had to meet the bus. She was telling some interesting stuff about the ironwork signs over some of the business entrances but was she ever long winded. After about 45 minutes we had only walked about a city block length. Our little group told Elizabeth we were going to break away from the walking tour and go on our own. We visited the shops that we wanted to and then had time to do some sightseeing before making one last stop at Salon de Tie, a coffee shop, before getting on the bus. All four of us have a weakness for the good coffee and desserts in the European Cafes. Hey, you only live once, right?
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| Our local guide Denis |
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| Jan making notes |
We boarded the bus for home and arrived about 8:30 PM. Cost $45 each.
Northern Italy
10-2-98 to 10-8-98
Jan, Chuck, Lena and I left about 7:30 AM for Northern Italy to visit the town of Bassano del Grappa. It is near Venice. The family history research that Chuck is doing has determined that Jan and I have ancestors on our mother’s side of the family that came from this town in Northern Italy. They were reported to be musicians for the royalty of the time. I guess most of the musical genes must have died out over the years because I can only think of three people in our family that have any musical ability at all and I am definitely not one of them.
On the way we stopped in the village of Wolfach that Lena and I visited during the early part of September. We had been driving for about 2 ½ hours so it made a good place to stop and have some coffee and dessert. As we were walking around the village taking photos, an older German lady began talking to Jan. She said she wanted to show her something and asked Jan to follow her. We hadn’t planned to spend much time in the village but the lady seemed to really want to show us something about a building, so we all followed her. We all thought she wanted to show us a beautiful building to photograph since that was what Jan was doing when the lady started talking to her. The lady said she had a heart condition so we couldn’t walk very fast. What she wanted to show us was an engraved scene on the side of a building that was being torn down to make way for a new building. The building was attached to the building that she lived in and she was so disappointed that the scene was going to be destroyed because she thought it was important to the village’s history. The scene was of a man that appeared to be selling some cloth to women with the word Armbruster on the top of the scene. She asked us to take a picture of it so we could remember it. Both Jan and I took a picture. Then I asked her for her address so I could send her a copy. She said she didn’t have any money with her to pay for it. I told her that the picture would not cost her anything. She wrote down her address and I mailed the photograph to her in early December. Her name was Margarte Lehmann. The scene appeared to be made all in one piece and mounted in the exterior wall of the building, so we are hoping that the town was planning to move it somewhere if the building was going to be torn down. I noticed that there were a couple of other small scenes that had been preserved in some other buildings that had been restored so maybe this one will also be saved. If Lena and I go back to the village next year we are going to check on this and maybe we find Frau Lehmann again.
Our next stop was in Switzerland for a lunch snack. We found a small Imbiss (snack bar). While we were eating some of the local people came in and ordered a hot dog. I almost ordered one but was not sure what a Swiss hot dog would be. We watched the cook prepare it so we would know. They take a round piece of bread and cut out a hole in the end and then place a long slim wurst (sausage/weenie) into the hole. About half of the wurst hangs out of the hole. We had to hold back the laughter as we watched the cook prepare it.
Our next stop was Flums, Switzerland. Chuck also has ancestors from this town. We took some photographs around the village and then went into a small clothing shop. This stop cost me about $250. Lena saw this Bavarian style pullover sweater/jacket that she just had to have. And I found a nice Bavarian style shirt like I had been looking for.
From here we drove on to the Principality of Liechtenstein where we stayed the night in Triesen at the Gasthof Schäfle. Liechtenstein is only 15.6 miles long and 3.75 miles wide with a total landmass of only 61 square miles. It has a population of 30,000 people. After packing the next morning we went down to have breakfast, only to find out we were the only people in the building. We were told that breakfast was at 7:30 and there was no one except us in the building. We hadn’t paid for our rooms either. We were getting ready to drive away when the owner came up. The person that told us the night before about the breakfast time was mistaken about the time for the Saturday morning breakfast. The owner apologized for the confusion so we calmed down while she prepared breakfast, which didn’t take long. They served a breakfast like the Germans with several types of meat, breads, cheese, and preserves, with coffee and juice.
The scenery driving through Liechtenstein and Switzerland was beyond description. When we left Liechtenstein the temperature was about 70 degrees and at one point in the mountains of Switzerland the temperature was down to almost 32 degrees and there was snow on the side of the road.
We crossed the border into Italy at 11:40 AM. We arrived at the military base in Vicenza, Italy at 3:15 PM. We went there to get coupons to purchase gas on the economy at a reduced price. I am able to purchase gas in Italy while on vacation at the same price as the Americans stationed there, about $1.30 a gallon opposed to about $4.50 a gallon without the coupons. We could not get the coupons last year while in the United Kingdom and it cut into our vacation money quite a bit.
After getting the coupons and filling the tank with gasoline we drove on to Bassano del Grappa. There was a festival going on in town so the hotel we had planned to stay at was full. We soon found the Belvedere Hotel near the area that we were planning on spending the most of our time. It was more expensive than we planned but the room came with a full buffet breakfast and we were in walking distance of the places we wanted to see, plus it had a parking garage where we could park the car.
After settling in for a few minutes we walked down to the center of the town where all the festivities were going on. The street was lined with vendors selling their items from booths and there were hundreds of people milling around. After getting a good meal and checking out most of the booths we turned in for the night. The next day we walked all over the town and visited two of the museums. The area is famous for ceramics and one of the museums was dedicated to ceramics, the other museum had mostly paintings and other types of art. It rained most of the day so we were a little disappointed but we still managed to see most of what we came to see in Bassano del Grappa. We bought some small pieces of local made ceramics and I bought a hand made brooch that had flowers on it for my mother. We enjoyed the food so much at the restaurant we ate at on Saturday night we went back on Sunday night. Our waitress both nights was a young lady from Great Britain, so she assisted us with the menu selections.
Monday morning it was raining even harder and the weather forecast was rain through Thursday. We were planning to go to Venice for a day but none of us wanted to spend a day in Venice in the pouring rain. Lena was especially disappointed. When I first told her about the possibility of moving to Europe, her first comment was I want to go to Venice. I promised her we would return to the area and go to Venice before our tour is over. So as any flexible travelers do, we set down with the map and a cup of coffee and quickly made alternate plans.
I needed to call my office in Germany so I went to the commissary office on the military base in Vicenza and took care of some business. Then we departed Vicenza at 12:30 PM for Austria. We saw occasional breaks in the clouds, so our hopes picked up that the weather would clear or we would drive away from the rain at least. We crossed the border into Austria at Brenner’s Pass. The temperature had dropped from 62 degrees in Italy to 37 degrees and it was snowing. It was not snowing when we came out the tunnel on the other side. We were in the Austrian Alps and again the view was breathtaking. We drove past Innsbruck and began looking for a place to spend the night. It was getting late and I was getting tired of driving. I saw a sign for a town called Wattens so we pulled off the autobahn and stopped at an information office that had already closed for the day. But they had some information sheets in an outside box on the local hotels. We stopped at a couple before deciding on Pension CLARA. As is common in this part of Europe this was a large home that had several fully equipped private rooms for rent. We unloaded our luggage and decided to explore the town before dinner. As we were riding around we discovered that this was the location of the Swarovski Crystal Factory and headquarters. Swarovski crystal is known world wide for high quality and as with all crystal it is fairly expensive. Near the factory parking lot they had this huge mound of grass covered dirt that had a large head and face on it. The eyes lit up at night and there were several colored lights around a pool of water. There was a large stream of water coming out of the mouth and water was shooting from each side of the pool. This was the Swarovski Kristallwelten (Crystal World). The next morning after checking out we came back to take a tour through the Crystal World. Inside this huge mound was, the best I can describe it, a crystal art gallery. Displayed inside the main hall were the world’s largest and smallest crystals. A crystal wall, 36 feet high and 139 feet long, was packed with 12 tons of glittering crystal stones. As with all “well designed” tourist attractions your tour ends at the gift shop. Needless to say this cost us all several dollars to get through. We were glad we came early, because the parking lot was full of tour buses when we came out and the place was getting very crowded.
We departed at 10:50 AM and headed to Berchtesgaden, Germany, the headquarters and home of Adolf Hitler. We checked into a hotel and drove up the hill to take the tour of the Eagle’s Nest. The American’s named it the Eagle’s Nest but the original name was the Tea House. One of Hitler’s men, Bormann, had it built for Hitler. Hitler only visited it 5 times. It sits on the peak of a mountain. The one lane narrow winding road leading up to the parking lot is 4.2 miles long. Several construction workers lost their lives building the road. The Eagle’s Nest cost 30 million marks and it took only two years to build. This was the cost in the 40’s. 30 million marks today, is worth about 18.5 million US dollars and the building only has about 6 rooms and they are all small except the main tea room which has a Italian marble fire place. I guess when you are using money that is not yours it doesn’t matter about the cost. We all had coffee and dessert in the tea room before taking the bus back down the mountain. If you get nervous about mountain roads this is not a trip you should take. The road is carved out of the side of the mountain and there is one hairpin curve where the front of the bus appears to go over the edge.
We took the recommendation of the hotel and had dinner at the Bier-Adam Restaurant. It was a great choice. After dinner we walked all over the village doing a little window-shopping and trying to walk off the meal in the crisp night air.
October 7th we departed Berchtesgaden and headed for Rothenburg od der Tauber. Lena and I had visited the town earlier in the year and were looking forwarded to going back. Again the rains started. When we arrived in Rothenburg it was still raining. We checked into a hotel and did a little sightseeing but we were tired and the rain was getting us a little depressed. After a meal and a night’s sleep things looked better the next day. It wasn’t raining. We walked all over the old town area and visited several of the gift shops. This town is a shopper’s paradise plus is full of history and has several museums. Lena and I went in one that was dedicated to farm equipment. There is a wall around the city and we all walked part of the way around it. You get a nice view from the wall. We departed the city about 2 PM for the last leg of our journey. We arrived in Horbach a few hours later, a little weary but thankful for a fun and safe trip, even with the rain.
During the Christmas season we have visited several villages and towns. Most of them will have a Christkindl Markt (Christmas Market) during the weeks before Christmas. They will have booths set up in the town square or shopping districts of the larger towns. The booths will have all kinds of German seasonal treat to eat and hand made crafts. Several different styles of candles made from bee’s wax are really popular. There must be something significant about this but we don’t know what it is. Another thing that is big part of the seasonal tradition in Germany is Glühwein (Hot Wine). This is the most popular beverage at the Christmas Markets. Here is a recipe.
1 bottle red wine (24 oz)
2 cup water
3 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
½ lemon (sliced)
1/3 cup sugar
Mix all ingredients into a large pan and heat until almost the boiling point (do not boil). Serve hot. Makes 4 cups.
Try it, is it good, especially on a cold night when you have been out walking in the crisp night air. You can also use white wine. We tried our first with white wine this year and we like it better.
We hope you haven’t been totally bored reading about our continuing adventures in Europe.
May your life be as blessed as ours has been and continues to be.
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