Hildrizhausen, here we come. This small town is located near Stuttgart - it is a rural village. Helmut's cousin Achim Hasselhoff and family live in this place. As per usual it took us a while to locate the place but we were there before the agreed ed time - Achim was just a little late getting home from school for lunch time. On the day we arrived he only teaches half a day.

After lunch Achim purposed a trip to a nearby castle called Hohenzollern. Helmut asked Achim to drive but we went with our car. Achim is a speedy driver and I was not happy riding with him - but what can one do? In one of the pictures you see Achim and me standing in front of on of the buildings of the castle. The guide in this place talked a lot about the various paintings on the walls.

Next, Achim drove us to Tuebingen a university town. This is the university where he and his wife studied 20 or more years ago. The town also has the usual Altstadt - you can see me in front of some of the buildings.

Achim wanted us to see a Roman ruin/museum but when we arrived we found it closed on Mondays.

Back at Hasselhoff's we met Suzanne, A.'s wife, Eva their 17 year old daughter, Matthias their 12 year old son. Their oldest son lives in Winnipeg temporarily so we already know Johannes.

We had a late supper and then visited for a while before bed time. Our bedroom was on the third floor - the staircase is a spiral with open risers and difficult for me to navigate. there was a bathroom on the third floor - i was really glad about that.

Tues. the family were all occupied most of the day so Helmut and I decided to go to Stuttgart by train and visit the Mercedes-Benz Museum. We were supposed to drive to the train station in the next town to Hildrizhausen and get on the train and in Sttutgart change to another type of transport to MB. It took us most of the morning to find the train station - well we finally got to the museum. It took us 4 or 5 hours to get all through the place. See Helmut standing in front of this ultramodern building.

Wed. was a regular day off for Suzanne (she is a teacher also) . She went with us on the train to Ludwigsburg Castle and going with someone who knows how to use the train is much less frustrating than going alone.

Wed. evening Suzanne's mother came to their place for over night as Thurs. was a holiday. The picture of three gals is left to right, me, Suzanne's Mother and Suzanne.

Prior to Sunday morning we had located the assembly building so that we would be able to find it easily. None the less we got a little screwed up getting to it on Sun. morning. We managed to find it well before the meeting time.

A few folks were there when we went into the building. They welcomed us and an older man stopped to talk with me for a while. He only knew a little English and I only know a little German so it wasn't a very in-depth conversation. He told me that he learned English in a prisoner of war camp or prison during WWII. In this type of conversation you fill in the blanks with your own imagination for what the other person is trying to tell you. (I wonder if he came up with the right ideas of what I tried to tell him?) Helmut was not on hand at the moment.

This assembly has a ministry meeting first - I think some or perhaps all small children went to the basement for S.S. After the ministry meeting we had a 10 minute break - just enough time to find and line up to use the WC. Then there was the breaking of bread meeting. In both meetings the leading brethren sat on the front rows on both sides. Many of the men and boys sat on the right side of the room as you face the pulpit and the women and girls on the left side. Some families sat together. We sat together but there were women sitting all around us.

One of the brethren translated aloud our letter of commendation - as far as I could make out and according to Helmut the trans. was very fluent. This is the only assembly where our letter was actually read out to the congregation.

Friedbert & Dorothea Rudisile invited us home for dinner. They have a nice family of four children; Tim is the oldest at 21yrs., a university student; Lena is 18 and studying to be a nurse; Jonas at 15 is a highschool student and Rouven 12 is also a student. (Rouven is the same as Rubin in English). All were very friendly, Dorothea does not speak English but Friedbert and the young people speak quite a bit of English. Tim let me use his lap-top after the meal and got things set up so that I could read and answer the emails.

We visited them all afternoon and then were served supper as well. Since it got so late in the day we called the hotel to see if we could get a room for the night - they gladly gave us the same room that we had checked out of in the morning. Rudisile's would have liked us to stay with them but they didn't have any extra room. They like to sing so we all sang a few hymns in the afternoon.

They offered to provide a guide through the city of Pfortsheim the next morning so that we could find the proper road to our next destination.

The fellowship with other like minded believers was so sweet.

Side Bits

AS you can see in the previous post the pictures are not quite with a text that belongs with them. I haven't quite mastered the set-up yet. Technically speaking I've made one more stride in the right direction in the last two days. Andrew showed me how to put all the pictures on their bottoms so that nothing is sideways even when it was taken in a sideways position. Some things you won't notice because I just didn't use any of those sideways shots before now.

Started this post about 5:30 pm. Now it is 7:35 pm we had a call that our good friends who live near Little Current, ON are on their way to Wpg. expecting to arrive about 8:30 or so. They have a big camper on a pick-up truck and another van so they plan to get a camp sight near us. We directed them to the Big Bend sight where you camped, Pat, back in 2001. I just made a couple of things to nibble on and they are in the oven right now. I don't know if they want to come to our house to visit or we go to the camp grounds. They have their daughter and four grandchildren with them - perhaps the kids will want or need to get to bed.

More posts another day.

Moments of Nostalgia

On Sat. May 12th we drove more into the Swartzwald area. WE had a nice short hike around the fish ponds for exercise. Helmut wanted to buy some smoked Forellen ( a local fish) so that gave me the opportunity to go inside and use the WC. Always on the lookout for those places.

We stopped in another village to buy buns, drinking water and two apples to complete out supplies for lunch.

The scenery is beautiful in this area and we enjoyed the drive. Frequently we got mixed up or completely off the right course. We were so glad that the Opel was so maneuverable as there were frequent occasions when we needed to turn around. ( I often had this feeling that we would slide back into some one or some thing when we had to back up or down hill. - this is partly due to the use of the standard transmission.) As per course we stopped in Spielberg to get ourselves oriented again with the maps because we were off course to Wuernersberg.

Finally after driving around some very steep winding roads we arrived at the village Wuernersberg. You can see Helmut looking at one of the farmhouses/barns of the old style in the village. Also the church has a fairly central location in the village. This village is where the Beckers were evacuated to during the war and they remained there until 1949. Helmut and his siblings spent about six weeks with them in 1947. So this was one of the places that he had a wish to see. He couldn't remember where the family had lived but he did remember attending the church.

We ate lunch in the car again beside the road at the end of the village.

In the afternoon we drove to Freuenstadt a good sized town. We went to the Marktplatz (main market area with a large square) The whole square was parked up with cars in areas that were not for parking = we discovered that they were using it for a Used Car Sale that day. Helmut enjoyed himself looking around at all the cars and taking numerous pictures especially for Andrew. I went looking for postcards and window shopping. This was one place that was crowded with people. I couldn't find any of the usual racks of pcs. so when H. was finished browsing the car sale we took a walk a few street away from the main platz. At the area of the main bus station there were dozens of police vehicles parked and more arriving - we wondered what on earth was going on. Helmut enquired of a passer-by and was told that the neo-natzi were going to rally there. In this part of the town we found a Baekerei or Konditerei (a bakery that specializes in fancy cakes and sweet pastry. So we purchased 2 Schillerlocks - a pastry that is shaped like a big horn and is covered with powdered sugar, it is hollow and can be filled with whipping cream but Helmut thought that might be too messy for eating out of hand so we had ours as is.

Still we hadn't found any postcards so we went back to the main platz and looked around a little more. At a photo shop we were finally able to get a few cards. When we paid for them I asked the man if he knew of a place where one could use the internet? First he told me about two places where there were hot point connections but when I explained that I needed an internet cafe he said there wasn't such a place. Then he offered us the use of his computer that was set up in the display room. In the end he had to help a little because I had trouble getting going on a German set up. He was very kind and did some of the steps for us. Then I rushed to write a couple of messages before store closing time.

We took these two pictures at the other side of the main platz. I've forgotten what this big building with the two towers is but the real point of interest is the fountain that you can barely see - the water spouts straight up and the kids run between to see how close they can get without getting totally soaked. I guess on a really hot day they might be trying to get totally soaked. This other picture is to show off the beautiful flower beds. It was near this area that we found a public WC and I was very glad to pay E.50 to use it.

We returned to Birkenfeld to our hotel and had another very tasty supper. Since I gave about one third of my main course to Helmut to eat I was able to go for a walk after supper.

Garden of Disappointment

On Friday May 11th. The first excursion of the morning was to Schwetzingen Castle & Garden the latter has a name for being very beautiful. It was a very damp morning but not raining hard. Since our main purpose in visiting this place was to see the famous garden we declined to pay the fee to tour the inside of the buildings. We walked around in the gardens for some time - we could imagine that they would be lovely in full bloom earlier with all the spring bulbs or later when the summer blooms would be showing off. This day the flashiest colors were in my clothing - that red skirt and blue jacket in one of the pictures. the white sculpture is also one of the attractions of the place. I was somewhat disappointed to say the least.

We drove back to Heidelberg so that we could follow the highway that goes along the Neckar River to Heilbronn. The drive was enjoyable and the scenery beautiful.

At a place called Neckarzimmer we noticed a glass factory that was inviting people to stop - so we spent some time looking at their goods, and watching some blowers produce garden ornaments. We purchased two candle holders - many of the beautiful bowls and vases looked very fragile for packing in a suitcase. (We neglected to take any pictures-sorry.)

Had a picnic lunch in the backseat of the car. While Helmut had a few winks of sleep I took a walk on a side road that was parallel to the highway.

Our stopping place for the weekend was Birkenfeld because there is an assembly in this town. We arrived there about 4:30 and located a very nice hotel on the outskirts of town. The room was in the lower level down one flight of steps from the front door and the restaurant. The room was a very nice size and so was the bathroom. There was a patio door to the outside with a little yard beyond and a view & whiffs of the farms beyond the yard. the chicken coop and yard were out of sight down on a lower yet level we think this was the source of the breakfast eggs and the offer of fresh eggs for sale sign on the counter. We booked the place for Fri. & Sat.

We had a walk around the neighborhood before a very tasty and filling supper. Good thing we went out walking first - we were too full afterwards.

the other two pictures got on the wrong day. They belong to Sat. and are taken at a fish hatchery in the Swartzwald (Black Forest)

May 10th. Heidelberg

I hope that these pictures will align themselves the opposite way that I uploaded them.

The one of several cars from the rear is when we were on a little ferry crossing the Neckar River at Ladenburg on our way to Edingen/Neckarhausen. E/N is the town where Dorla Smith a missionary commended from an assembly in Florida lives. We stopped to see her for a short visit - although Helmut had contacted her before we left Canada and she had said she would like us to visit we could not reach her by phone once we got to Germany so just ended up on her doorstep. she didn't have much time that morning.

We drove on to Heidelberg and after much searching found an underground parkade in the Altstad area. We walked to the Bergbahn (terminal for the cable tram that goes up the mountain) We took the first stage of the tram - a quite new cable car - up to the Schloss (another word for castle).

You can see a view of this castle from below in one of the photos. The other photo of an old building is part of the castle up closer. The view of lots of roofs is looking from the castle down on the city.

We spent some time looking around all of the outside of the castle and part of the grounds. We also toured the part of the inside that was open to those who didn't want to pay more for a guided tour. We saw the Apothecary Museum. Also saw some very old and huge beer kegs. Can't show the photos as I don't know how to turn them the right way up.

The brown cable car goes up the top part of the mountain you have to change at the middle station. This part of the tram has been in operation for over 100 years. We went up and looked around - it was very cool and I didn't bring my jacket. I was also quite tired by this point so didn't feel like hiking on the trails at the top.

We met an older gentleman on the ride down to the city who told us all kinds of things about the history and appointed himself as our guide down in the Altstadt later on in the afternoon.

The "tour " of the Altstadt included looking at lots of old buildings from the outside and going into a old church that is used by both Lutherans & Catholics. Then we went to see an old bridge that crosses the Neckar River. It has been closed to vehicle traffic ( I think he said because it needs too much repair) it is used for pedestrians. Yes, we walked across it.

We had to search a while for a place to stay but finally found a hotel with a second story room and a little balcony - too many smokers down below so couldn't keep the window open until late at night or use the balcony. We were pretty tired so after supper we got ready for bed.

Now it is time for me to get to bed tonight also.

Ho Ho Ho On We Go

May 9th. we started out on our own to travel Germany and see the sights. Our first place of interest to find was the Wiedenest Bible School. At nearly noon we located it. Helmut had been to this location for a youth retreat when he was a teenager. It was raining when we arrived and it didn't look like there was much sight seeing at this location so I stayed in the car while he went in the office and talked with a couple of people - I didn't miss such because it was in German ( I would have missed it anyway). He returned with several pieces of literature all in G. of course.

The rest of the afternoon we spent driving towards Heidelberg area. I have less than a page of notes entered for this date so I guess it was not very interesting.

We finally found a hotel in Viernheim several kilometers away from Heidelberg. This nice place did not have a restaraunt so we decided to get our exercise for the day by walking to the nearest one and it was about 20 minutes away. We had a very big supper but were able to waddle back to the hotel before dark.

Day Two in the Eifel - Burg Eltz

The computer is in a bad mood the last few days but we will see if I can post something this afternoon. Now I have four pictures - they don't always line themselves up as I expect.

On our second day with Bruni and Hans the big planned activity was an excursion to Burg Eltz which is not so very far from their place - a little more distant than for walking. Hans decided not to accompany us in favor of staying home to prepare another yummy dinner. He's probably seen the burg more than once and those antique castles don't change much from one year to the next. Bruni, Ursula, Helmut & I made up our touring party for the morning. so we set off in "our" car on a rainy morning.

Upon arrival at the parking lot we discovered that we had to walk downhill 700m - a fairly steep road. We could've used a shuttle bus but we opted not to. (Bruni and I think Ursula also knew ahead of time that this long walk was involved.) We took our leisurely way down the road - me being the main reason for the slow decent. However it gave us opportunity to enjoy the views all around us.

You will notice two pictures of the castle way down in the valley (one photo I'm in the corner). There is also a photo of a ruin - this was the fortification of one of the enemies. It was just a little higher up the mountain from where I'm standing above the Eltz castle. The fourth picture is the lower end of the road from the castle up to the parking lot. by the way Ursula and I took the shuttle bus up at the end of our tour.

The tour of the inside of the castle went through two of the three different houses of the burg. It was conducted in German of course - I think they would have done it in English for a group of 20 or more. the guide talked about the furnishings, the paintings and the original and later occupants of the place. We went up and down several different spiral stairways and saw rooms that were for various uses furnished as they would have been in the days of occupation. The wealth of the original owners is seen by the elaborate style and decor. We don't seem to have any pictures of the interior. It is sad to think of all the poor servants and workmen who had to labour over these fancy places for the rich rulers.

We returned to Hans & Bruni's for our midday meal and then took our leave for Duesseldorf in the mid-afternoon.

Day Two in the Eifel - Burg Eltz

Two Days in the Eifel

These pictures show the first place of "interest" that we visited in the Eifel area on May 7.

Ursula travelled with us to the Eifel as the intent of this trip was to visit cousin Brunhilde and her husband Hans - B. known to all as Bruni is a sister of U. & R. and was born in the same year as Helmut about one month later. ( The Becker family is: Dietrich, Ursula, Brunhilde and Renate ) {Zimmermann's & Beckers fit together like this - D. B., Wally Z., U. B. , Helmut Z. , B. B, Ingrid Z., R.B. & Klaus Z. were both born in '41 and I don't know which month R. was born in.} Confusion? Probably. Hanna Z. was much later and of the second Mother.

There are two rather dark pictures tthat llok like a church and this is the Maria Laach Catholic Monistary which is on the way to Hans & Bruni's. We stopped to look around they had some very nice flowers of which you see a couple of shots. I haven't located in the browser the shot of the wisteria covered walkway that was at the monistary.

The road is where we were driving between the monistery and Bruni's, the houses are either in one of the villages that we passed or in Arbach which is where they live. This last scene from the car window is of Bruni's barn side and house door and windows.

Their house is an old farm house with the barn attached. They have refurbished the inside in the old style with modern plumbing. They have both a wood stove and an electric stove in their kitchen. Hans likes to cook ceratin things on the wood stove. We were told that he is the main course cook and Bruni does salads and desserts.

They have a wood heater in the sitting room and had it all fired up the day we arrived. It was a rather damp day but not very chilly.

We took our things to the guest room on the thrid floor - lots of exercise for the "old woman's knees". You learn to plan ahead when you have too climb so many steps. the room had a slopped ceiling so we decided to sleep wih our heads at the foot of the bed and our feet under the low part of the ceiling so that we wouldn't bang our heads when getting up.

Bruni and Hans like antiques and have lots of them. She has a hobby of painting eggshells and does them beautifully - they are displayed all over the main floor area and in the open stairway also.

After a very nice midday meal Bruni, Ursula, Helmut, and I took a walk in the countryside and the dog went along. We all got a little wet as it rained while we were out - but we didn't melt. It is hilly in the area but we kept to the flatest roads as possible. Both the gals could easily keep up with Helmut but I am the big drag on the excursion. Bruni showed us where Hans cuts wood for their stoves. He buys it from the farmer and then cuts it himself.

The remainder of the day was spent in visiting and eating.

Two Days in the Eifel

Well folks this is my solo attempt to add pictures to my blog. This amaryllis you've seen much earlier as it was one of the first pictures I took with the digital camera. The tulips were the only flowers that bloomed in our yard before we left for Germany - our season was so late this year.

The beautiful pink flowers are in Duesseldorf at the begining of our visit and I think they are azailyas.

The picture with Helmut and the other woman is taken on the Rhein River promenade in Duesseldorf and the woman is cousin Renate. The sideways picture of H. & J. is also in Duesseldorf. I don't know how to turn them around yet.

The veggie on the stand is white aspargas a very popular item on all menus in May in Germany. This picture was taken in Schwertzingen a little ways away from Heidelberg.

As you can see I have to get more organized with the pictures so that I can easily find the ones that go with the post that I wish to write.

This post has nothing to do with the title that I gave at the start but I'll leave that as a teaser for the next time.

A Dog's Life

The Old Dog's Life is a day of ease. The most difficult time of her day is having to get up in the morning when her people want her to get outside. Some days she may choose her own time if someone is staying home all day. If all the people have to leave during the morning such as on Sun. she must be awakened with loud bangs and calls or perhaps shaking of her bed - she is nearly deaf or on purpose not paying attention.

When the day is well begun and now that the weather is so fine she really enjoys spending time outside - a little of it alone but much more if some of her people are also outdoors. Today she decided to lie in the hot sunshine on the concrete at the back door instead of in the nice shade under the tree - maybe the heat feels nice on the old tired joints - she never tells us. As soon as someoone opens the back door she is all prepared to go back indoors and find a nice resting place on the bare floor in front of a fan - probably to cool down after such a hot sun bath.

Yesterday we saw a frisky beagle looking much more energetic than our Abby also loooking younger (you can tell by the color). I said to Helmut that I really have a soft spot for beagles (I think it is in my heart, others probably think it is between my ears and really mushy)

Abby was extremely happy to see us at our return from Germany.

Thirty Days?

Several posts back I titled an entry "Around Germany in Thirty Days" we certainly made this trip in thirty days but it doesn't look much like I am going to get the whole story written in that number of days.

Fellowshiping with the Lord's People

Sundays are always special to us as we enjoy meeting with the Lord's people to worship and remember our Lord Jesus Christ's death and resurrection and what he has done for us.

Our first Sunday in Germany was spent in Duesseldorf so we attended the assembly where Helmut's family had attended before they immigrated to Canada. It was 51.5 years since he had been there. It is called Evangelisch-Freikuechliche Gemeinde - Ackeerstrasse 79 is the street address. Helmut always calls it " The Ackerstrasse". His cousin, Ursula, regularly goes to a different church but graciously went along with us. We travelled by S bahn that day because of traffic problems in the city due to a marathon being run and also the expected parking problems. This was our first experience on the S bahn and it was good to have a guide with us.

We arrived nearly half an hour before meeting time so this gave us an opportunity of meeting some of the folks and visiting a little while. There were a few folks there from as long ago as when Helmut had been attending and they remembered some of the family or some other family connections (like Horst & Magdalena's family). Magdalena's sister-in-law actually is a member of this assembly but wasn't in attendance that day. One older lady remembered having visited in Winnipeg back in the early 70's and I recall when she & other family members visited at H's parent's home - we met them then.

I have lots of trouble understanding German but in ordinary conversation H. is usually there to give the translation or the gist of the idea. Many German people know a little more English than I know German and they enjoy trying it out. However, getting the idea in a meeting of what is being said is much more difficult. H. doesn't like to be interrupting by talking to me - nor can he translate as fast as the other person speaks. He would tell me the Bible references and I would follow along with the readings. Singing is another story - I can pronounce many German words (with practice I even get the 'ei' & 'ie' straight). So I was all prepared to sing along - then they hardly sang one song that I knew the tune and even most tunes were unfamiliar to Helmut. The pianist played very plainly and it was fairly easy to learn the new tunes by the second or third stanza.

On this particular day the speaker at the FBH or Ministry meeting (what ever it is called) was a missionary from the New Tribes Mission association. He told about the training of missionaries and the work in Papua New Guinea. A DVD that he showed after the lunch time was partly in English and partly in German - interesting. I think it had been made in English and only parts of it were translated.

Because of the missionary the assembly had a luncheon with plenty to eat and it was nice for us to get to visit several more people that we wouldn't have had time to talk much with on an ordinary Sun.

Later at Renate's, Ursula said she spent five hours at the Ackerstrasse as if this was a very long time for her. She also reported to Renate that the people were more friendly than at her church and that the singing was very good.

The remainder of the day was spent relaxing and writing.

A Fast Tour of Cologne

Sat. morning we had a nice walk at the Neanderwald which is not far from the Millrath area. There are some Visent in the area so we could observe them from a distance.

Ursula started up the washing machine and I washed one batch of clothing. She doesn't have a dryer so we put the items on the drying rack on the balcony. Helmut washed the dishes while we took care of the laundry - she isn't very keen on letting us help with the dishes because her kitchen is so very tiny and she doesn't like to have anyone in it with her.

At 1pm. we went to Renate & Wilfrid's for a meal Salad-tossed lettuce; appetizers - sliced tomatoes, uncured mozzarella cheese with a herb and oil & vinegar dressing; bread (always); vegetable soup with wieners for the main course; followed by a dessert - I don't remember which kind.

We drove to Cologne with Renate as navigator and Ursula as a passenger. We met up with the rest of the group at Katja's home. Katja is Renate's oldest daughter. K. planned a nice outing for a large group.

Meet the group: Katja, her 2 yr. old Artur, her sister Juilia (who also lives in Cologne); Rosa the Ope er (I'm not sure how to spell that) she is Italian and cares for Artur part time and goes to school part time to learn how to care for children, etc. and the four of us from Duesseldorf.

We went by two taxies from her home to the Rheinseilbahn - a gondola car that travels on a cable high up across the Rhein river. this was an interesting way to see the out lay of the center of the city, the traffic on the river and a general view of things. We got off at the far side of the river and walked down to a riverside park where we enjoyed a snack of cookies and water courtesy of K. & U. Artur found a playground to try out for a few minutes.

Our walk continued to the entrance of the zoo where we picked up a ride on a street train - it looks like a train on rubber tires and drives along the street - it has an engine and several passenger cars. This train brought us to the platz by the famous two spired church. More walking around the platz, looking for postcards & trying to keep together as a group in a crowded area. We decided that it was time for an eis treat - ice cream. so we sat at an outdoor table as soon as we could find an empty one. Helmut ordered something nice and big and I had a little of it. Everything on the menu was huge and I figured that I wouldn't do well with the insulin if I ate a whole of anything.

After this refreshing interlude we walked on to see the church - I had to put a jacket on even though it was hot because I had on a sleeveless top - requirement in a catholic church. We could stand around in the entry way at the back of the seating area but could not tour the building to see all the fancy windows - a service was in progress.

Went to the train station and taxi stand to get a taxi back to K.'s home - she was able to get a big van this time and all of us could get into it.

Julia went on her own way as she had something else to do in the evening. Katja served us some supper. By this time Burkart was at home so we had the opportunity of a little visit with him.

Both of them are journalists and work in the broadcasting business. They have a studio set up in their lower level. They live on the second level and some other family lives on the first level.

Back to Duesseldorf for a good nights sleep.

A Fast Tour of Cologne

a fast Tour of Cologne

Relaxing and relatives

Fri. May 4th. was a day to relax and to visit relatives in the area.

Ursula was still away at the reunion so we did our own breakfast.

In the mid morning we drove to Dietrich's home (we could have easily walked but we thought we might need the car later). Dietrich is Helmut's cousin and a brother of Ursula & Renate whom you have already read about. His wife is Holle she popped into the room and was introduced to us and then went on about her own business so we didn't get to visit her. Dietrich visited with us about his parents -both are now deceased. He also told us about his children who are grown and married and live in parts of Germany where we will not be visiting. Dietrich has been retired for a few years now. He is older than Helmut.

At about 11:15 we went along to Aunt Hilde & Uncle Helmut's home - it is only two doors from Dietrich's. aunt Hilde had arranged to take us out for dinner at a restaurant in the area. She had ordered a cab to transport us - I guess she didn't relaize that we had a car. The meal was lovely but the opportunity to visit was very much interrupted by Uncle Helmut's need of care and feeding.

We took it kind of easy in the afternoon back at Ursula's. we had a light supper aabout 6pm. then Ursula directed us to a place where we could have a nice walk in the country - not too hilly.

Relaxing and relatives

This is a beautiful day and my garden is calling me. Long posts will have to wait for another time. I need to plant one more row of beans and one of carrots and also a little spinach to finish the vegetable patch. Then there are dozens of flowers yet to go.

I have a comment from "All blog Spots" does anyone want to own up to this?

Duesseldorf Tour

On our first whole day in Duesseldorf - May 3rd. , we had a tour of the city with our own personal guide.

Helmut wished to drive into the city with the car rather than to take the S bahn a fast train. His idea was to get a better idea of the city by driving in it and that it would be easier for me not to hae to walk so long or far. Renate, our cousin and guide, would have prefered the train and Ursula thought we should take the train. However, the car was the mode of transportation. Helmut did the driving & Renate sat up front as the navagator. (She speaks German in these situations) thus began my education in the German language by the emersoin method.

Geradeaus - go straight ahead - I love the sound of this one and quickly learned to pronounce it.
Links - is left for the left turn - I think that some other word is added to it but I only caught the links part.
Recht - is for the right turn
Ausfahrt - exit ( our neighbours had toured Germany by bus a few years ago - they told us that as they travelled along they saw "Ausfahrt" on many signs along the autobahn and thought that this was an awfully large city that they never seemd to get completely around.)
Eingang - entrance

The Zimmermann home was near the downtown area so we first drove around to see it. Helmut says it looks much the same as when they left in 1955 - he was impressed with how well it looks kept up on the outside. We did not take a picture or talk to anyone living there. The street is very narrow by our standards; the cars were parked on the sidewalks as is normal and in some places double parked.

We drove around some more looking for parking on the streets but were unsuccessful. Renate finally decided that we should park in an underground parkade which turned out to be a good idea. This place also had WC's (toilets - usually hard to find ).

Next point of interest was a walking tour of the Koenigsalley the main retail business street in the present "downtown" area. this stree has a wide waterbody - I'm not sure if it is the Duessel river or a canal flowing through the center with a street on each side and several bridges crossing the water. there is a side walk and parking on the waterside and buildings on the other side of both streets and it is all called by one name. First we noticed familiar friends from home, the Canada geese and Mallard ducks living along the waterbody. the stores along this street appeared to be of the higher class so I asked Renate if they were and if this is where she would shop. Yes, they have expensive merchandize and no, she shops in a smaller center close to the area (suburb) where they live.

Near this area of the Koenigsalley there is an old Lutheran Church - the Johanneskirche. We went to see it as it is special in the family history. Uncle Erich, Renate's Father, lived near this in his youth and used to oil the bells in the tower as he was a very nimble climber. (the details of this activity was one of H's Father's favorite stories).

It was decided that a view from the Rheinturm (modern tower of 240 meters) would be the best way to see Duesseldorf at large. We walked quite a ways to the tower - having to skirt the nearby government building because of a protest that was just getting started. the tower has an elevator that takes you up to the glassed in observation floor at 170M. We were told that on a clear day one can see the twin church steeples of the famous church in Cologne. Too much pollution in the atomsphere on this day. However, we did have a fine view of most of Duesseldorf.

Following the tower experience we took a taxi to the very old part of the city known as the Altstadt - all old cities have these areas. Mostly the buildings are old, super close together, very narrow streets and a central platz. the plats is the main business area and is usually a wide square area at one time a road but now used for walking and eating places. Only delivery vehicles are allowed to drive in the area and bikes. We walked through the area and then stopped of lunch at an outside cafe. Some women came along begging - Renate figured that they were likely dope addicts. In this area we also met some folks selling a certain paper and R. said these folks publish this paper and sell it to earn income because they are recovered addicts.

After lunch we saw the old Rathaus (city hall) and the Rhein River Promenade. Incedintally the road gose in a tunnel right under the Promenade. We walked back to the parkade for the car.

We spent some time driving around the enter city looking for the location of the assembly that Helmut attended as a teenager and that is still in the same building. After much searching we found it. Renate also noticed when we passed the high school that she had attended that they were having a reunion in June that she hadn't heard of yet. Helmut also pointed out the house where the Rauhuts lived in the days before they immigrated to N. America.

Overall impression was that it is a nice city, very crowded, quite clean and beautiful in the spring blooms. Many trees were in bloom - particularly the Kastane 9chestnut).

All that Food?

We found that the portions in the restaurants are large unless in some cases you may ask for a smaller portion. Usually a plate of food would have two pieces of meat, chicken or fish, a starch such as potatoes and noodles, vegetables, garnishes and gravy or sauce. The meal would have been preceded by an appetizer, a salad and bread.

Yes, you would think that the population all wore large or extra large or xxxlg. I noticed that there were lots of thin folks and medium sizes. Likely they don't eat quite like the meals that are served up in the nice restaurants. Most people walk a lot of the time and climbing all those steps to get to your suite takes a lot of energy.

We were impressed with the general use of linens, porcelain and glass rather than the north American style of bear tables and paper and plastic.

Playgrounds & Schools

Someone asked about schools - we observed several that were either pointed out to us or we recognized. They are usually two or more stories high and in between other buildings. They do have some play area and the ones we saw were paved. Most appear to be 30 or more years old and some of the ones that Helmut attended over 50 years ago are still in operation.

There are some major parks in the cities. We visited one in Cologne that had a large playground with lots of nice structures for the children.

Near Ursula's apartment there must have been a playground because you could hear lots of children at play. We couldn't see it because of all the trees.

Some homes have enough yard to have a little play area for the small kids. the apt. block that we were in had a grass area away from the street both in front and in back. My guess is that only those who live on the back of the building can access the back yard but I don't know that for sure.

There seems to be a lot of space around most villages - we didn't observe many kids in these area but it was school time.

Playgrounds & Schools

Gastronomical Delights of Germany

Sometimes the titles come easy and sometimes I can't think of one.

Breakfast: Usually there were two or more types of bread or buns. You could have butter, margarine, a sour cream type spread, or in one place I saw lard available to spread on the bread. Many cold cuts of meat and cheese were the ordinary fare. Then for the ones with sweet tooth desires there was a selection of jam, jelly and honey. Should cold cereal be offered frequently a bowl of mixed fruit would be offered to go along with it. Sometimes there would be tomatoes and cucumbers as well. We never saw or were offered any cooked cereal, pancakes or waffles. Many times boiled eggs were on the table but only in one hotel were eggs prepared any other way available. Sometimes there were cooked sausages or bacon.

Midday meal - in many homes this is the dinner of the day. It is probably a hot meal and very substantial. There would be a salad, a meat, a starch or two, a vegetable or combination of veggies and a light dessert or fruit. Bread is served with the salad and left on the table and used at the end of the meal to clean up the gravy.
We had traditional German stews, of various meats and veggies mixed together. There is a real liking for Italian cooking so some of the family served Italian dishes with plenty of pasta, spicy sauces and salads with oil and vinegar dressings usually flavoured with one or more herbs.

Late afternoon is time for the cake and coffee or tea. A relaxing time to sit and chat. There are some very tasty cakes.

Evening meal - If it is the dinner of the day would be similar to the midday meal. If you have a hot meal in the midday you are likely to be served something similar to the breakfast menu.

Spatzel - I think this is how it is spelled - is a German noodle similar to our homemade noodles only much thinner and very narrow. It could be served with any variety of meat and veggies. I don't think it has a particular sauce of its own but you use what ever gravy comes with your meat. I really like them.

Beers and wines are offered at every eating place except McDonalds and Burgerking. Also offered in all the relatives' homes. Being tea totlers we opted for other choices. No milk was ever offered for drinking only a little to put on your cereal at breakfast. Cream was available for coffee and tea drinkers who use it. A variety of fruit juices are readily available but they come in very small bottles. Also pops are available in some places. Water is never offered free of charge. You may have water with or without gas (carbonation) at room temp. or cold. If you ask for ice water you get the funniest stare from the waitress or waiter. Ice is never placed in a drink except at the fast food places. Ice (not spelled this way but sounding the same) is ice cream.

White asparagus and strawberries were on the open market all over the country. Every restaurant advertised fresh asparagus in one or more dishes.

Just lick your lips and let your mouth water. AH AH AH!

Housing in Germany

I was thinking of posting a different aspect of Germany but decided to go for this housing to answer one of my readers questions.

In Duesseldorf and most of the large cities that we visited there are old districts (varying from several hundred years to pre WWll. Then there is what I call modern - or post WWll.

Aldstadt - the old city is usually some where in today's enter city district. Typically it is made up of old buildings two to four stories high, mostly quite narrow - perhaps 10 to 20 feet wide and it is hard to estimate how deep these buildings extend from the street. They share walls with the next building or if they aren't shared they are so close together that nothing goes between them. There may be a shop or other type of business in the ground level. Frequently there is a wide gateway in the front wall most likely having doors on it. This is the passageway to the backyard - it will accommodate a car or more depending on its width and length. The levels above the ground level are homes and likely occupied by one family per level unless they have been made into tiny apartments. I did not have the opportunity of being inside one of these homes. Helmut lived in one which still stands in Duesseldorf and he says it looks much the same.

Many houses were partly or fully destroyed during WWll but have been built back up more or less as they were before the war.

The streets are very narrow in the Aldstadt and many times no cars allowed except for delivery vehicles and taxies with handy capped individuals. Most of these business streets have numerous restaurants with tables outside - very pleasant places to eat the noon meal or the tea time cake, etc. Would have been a little cool for the late evening supper hour.

Modern housing - many apartment buildings have three or more stories above ground and likely having suites in the basement also. I have no way of estimating how many are like this nor who big they are. We also saw some skyscrapers but not so many. There are places of business on the ground level of many of these buildings and perhaps on the first level but suites for living in on the res of the levels.

Ursula lives in a suite that is in a three storey building but it has only a few suites in it. Renate & Wilfrid live in a row house. I think there are about seven or eight houses in a row - all one building. They have a basement and three levels above ground. they have a Patio door and large window about as wide as the whole house looking out onto their backyard which is very small. The front yard has room for a tiny flower garden and the rest is paving stones.

A few streets over from Ursula and Renate the houses are freestanding. Their brother lives in a large house on a nice sized lot in one of these streets. He has mostly garden space - his father had developed the garden and kept it up but since his death Dietrich hasn't done much with the garden. Grass lawns are not popular. D.'s house is fairly large - at one time Uncle Erich, Aunt Greta, and the Oma lived on the main floor and D. and his family lived on the second floor.

Helmut's uncle and aunt from his second Mother's side live two houses from Dietrich. They have a free standing house and a nice yard. I don't know exactly how big their house is but they lived there with their three children.

In the small towns many more of the houses are standing alone but will have the barn attached to the house. the whole set up will look like a U or an L depending how much barn space they have. Typically farmers live in villages and travel out to their fields.

A city lot as wide as 50' is only for the wealthy with large houses. In the villages the lots may be larger.

Hope this gives you some idea.

May 2 -- Helmut's cousin Ursula - met us at the Duesseldorf airport. Extended a very warm welcome to us and provided lodging in her suite for us during the time that we spent in D. She was one of the few relatives that has been to Canada & I had met previously.

We settled our things in her bedroom which she had fixed up to accommedate us. It is only a room for one person but she had placed a single roll-a-way type bed in it so that each of us had a bed. (she planned to sleep in the living room.)

Then she gave us a walking tour of her neighborhood. It is an area that has been built up since the early 1950's so there are very few old old buildings. The terrain is hilly but not real steep - plenty of a challenge for a flat prairie walker. One really has to pay attention to where you are going in order to get back home because the street system is not on a square grid. Helmut had printed from the computer very detailed maps of the areas where the cousins live - so he kept this always handy so that he wouldn't get too much lost.

Supper is tradionally eaten between 7:30 pm. and 9 pm. Lots of people have tea time about 4:30 pm when they will serve cake or other sweets and tea & coffee.

Cousin Renate & her husband Wilfrid live on the same street as Ursula, just about a 3 minute walk. She had invited us and U. for supper. Her welcome was so warm and made me feel right at home immediately. she struggles more with English than Ursula does. Despite communications problems for me we had a lovely visit. Helmut speaks very good German still and it was commented on by many people that we met. Plans were laid for the next few days.

Ursula is going for a reunion of the retirees of the company that she worked for and it will be an overnight affair from Thurs. to Fri. Renate is available to be our tour guide into the city of Duesseldorf on Thurs. At first she wanted us to take the S-bahn (fast train) but Helmut wants to drive. We will pick her up in the morning at about 10. She volunteers at the local school and has to do something there before wwe can leave.

We returned to Ursula's so that all of us could get a good nights sleep in prepration for a busy day ahead.

Both Renate & Wilfrid are retired teachers so have many things in common with Helmut. R. does volunteer work now and W. is tutoring students in his home.

Roads

Autobahns - the most famous roads in the country. They are very similar to north American Interstate Highways. Two or more lanes each direction only a very narrow shoulder but most places they have shoulders. In many places trees have been planted along the sides and the view of the countryside is blocked. If you can stand the strain of driving on them you can get places more directly and faster if it is not rush hour ( which is incidently a terrible misnormer). We used them sometimes but not always. After all we went to do some sightseeing. Limited access is even more limited than interstates.

The next step down the road system is the multilane (each direction) road with much access. These can be pretty busy and they pass through more towns and villages.

Then there are the roads with one lane each direction that twist and turn and/ or go up and down every hill and valley. they may vary from two nice lanes to about a lane and a half where you may have to stop to let larger vehicles pass.

Last but no least - the alley or lane only wide enough for one vehicle and you wonder if you can make it through without clipping a mirror off the car.

Almost all roads were paved and well kept up. No pot holes like Manitoba.

We highly recommed the last three class of roads if you really want to see and experience the country.

Road signs caused their on particular headaches - more about that later.

First Immpressions

All cars are black - at first it almost seemed so. However, eventually we saw some cars of other colors.

All cars are small - not quite all of them but for sure there are many more small ones than large ones. Mini vans like our Montana are very rare. I saw two for sure Ford Galaxies. Volks Wagon makes a van that is a little bigger than our Montana and there are quite a few of them on the roads. This style is frequently seen as a business vehicle of one sort or another.

All drivers are "crazy" - not true - some of their habits look odd to us. With their little cars they dash in and out of tight places, cut in real sharp in front of you and drive very fast at times.

All stop lights are in the "wrong" place on the corner - instead of being overhead or on the far side of the intersection they are in the same place as you find stop signs in north America - on the corner immediately to your right- very difficult for the driver of the first car in line to see. they are about level with the roof line of the vehicle.

All city streets are twisting and narrow - some have more than one lane going in the same direction but the lanes are usually for small cars

In many places you drive on the tracks of the streetcars - you better kee an eye out for the street cars coming towards you or from behind - they have the right of way.

Parking is another story all together- perhaps we could write a small book on parking alone. In cities parking is extremely difficult to find unless you are a very "Early Bird". Individual parking meters do not exist. A section of street will be marked of for parking and there is one meter somewhere in the section and the driver must put his money in the meter receive the ticket and place the ticket in the window of the car. Other places are free parking for x number of minutes or hours - every car has a parking card and you set the cardboard clock at the hour and minute when you parked and leave it in the window. There are some parking lots for this free parking, there are some metered lots and there are some parkades where you pay-these are usually underground several stories. With a business building above ground. In residential areas parking is on the sidewalks or half on the sidewalk. Double parking is allowed and you wonder how the vehicle on the inside gets out if the one on the street side is in the way. In most lots the spaces are narrow and if anyone parks too close to the line the next car 's occupants may not be able to open the doors. ( Once we parked in such a narrow space I had to get out before Helmut parked the car and he had to squeese out on the passanger side - just as he was free from the car the driver of the next one on the left side returned and squeesed into his car and drove away.)

Although driving has some differences & headaches it was definatly better than public transportation for us. Contray to the opinion of some folks who tried to advise us before we left.

We arranged to rent a car from Avis. When we arrived at the Duesseldorf airport and Helmut was all signed up for a gas fueled Opal a deisel fueled Opal was offered to him so he took that.

Yes, deisel is about 30 cents cheaper than gasoline per liter.

A little hint-E(for Euro) 1 is about $1.59 Canadain. 1/100 of a E is called a cent (I'm not sure of the spelling in German).

Around Germany in Thirty Days

A long time ago there was something entitled AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS - I can't remember if it was a song, a book or a movie. This is the first episode of my travel journal.

International travelers are expected to be at the air port three hours in advance of departure time - so the ticket information says. Therefore, on May 1st. , our chauffeur, Andrew, delivered us to the Winnipeg air port in the early afternoon about 3 hours prior to departure. The Northwest Airline personel were not attending the counter so we stood around wondering what to do. an agent on his way to lunch came along and said we could check in on the self serve computer - not as easy as it looks. First you need to swipe your passport through the machine and then follow the steps on the screen. With some help from the agent Helmut was able to finally get the confirmation of his ticket and his boarding passes. For reasons unknown to us my passport would not register when swiped. Finally an agent was able to confirm and provide boarding passes for me from another computer. Next it was weigh and check in our checked luggage - each of us had one large suitcase and they were under the weight and size limit. then our carry on bags were weighed and measured and found under the limit. So then it was off to the security check. Please, place all your loose items, shoes, purses, cameras, jackets, etc. and carry-on baggage on the conveyer to be x-rayed and walk through the detector yourself. My stuff and myself passed the inspection without any hitches. Helmut seemed to have lots of trouble passing the inspection so he was searched and it was finally decided that the pouch that he had under his clothing for the extra cash was creating all the trouble. After all inspections were complete we were able to enter the secured area and then just wait until boarding time. We both used thie long waiting time to get some exercise.

Our first flight was a short one to Minneapolis. Arriving there on time we had a short time to walk what seemed to be miles from one gate to the next but we made it with time to get a bite to eat at McDonalds because it was supper time for us. Then check in for boarding the flight to Amesterdam.

Our seats were located near the window and just infront of one of the lavatories. This did not enhance our ability to sleep on this overnight flight. We were served snacks, drinks and a nice meal. I spent about one hour standing in the isle becasue I was sooo tired from sitting.

We arrived in Amesterdam about midmorning their time and took another very long walk from the gate of arrival to the gate of departure for Duesseldorf. The flight to Duesseldorf was on a prop plane that held about 48 passengers and it wasn't full. It was a very rough flight and by the time we arrived my ears were in pain and I had a head ache.

Cousin Ursula met us at the Duesseldorf, Germany airport. She had visited us a few years ago so we recongnized her easily. It is nice to be greeted by someone you know.

Helmut arranged for a rented car before we left home so we went to the Avis counter to make the final arrangements. He had just signed all the papers for a certain car that ran on gasoline when another agent came to the clerk and said that there was a deisel fueled vehice available. Helmut decided to take the deisel. He was offered a GPS but refused thinking that we would be able to follow the map. What a mistake - more about that later.

Ursula kindly guided us from the airport to her home - letting Helmut do the driving and telling him each turn to make.

First immpressions next time.

Home Sweet Home

There is nothing like "Home" even when it is plain and mundane. We arrived on time last evening after a very great visit to Germany. Everyone was happy to see us - the two at home had made signs of welcome and the doggie was her happy welcoming self.

Winnipeg is a great deal greener, wetter and warmer than when we left. There is a veggie garden full of weeds, some volunteer lettuce and parsley and some onions which I think I planted before we left. All needs tending, tilling and planting as well as the flower beds.

Thanks to all who have tried to communicate with us while we were away. I really missed the blogging and reading hotmail was not even very possible in the various places where we were. German computers are not friendly to novices like me who cannot read the German language and am only a little computer savy (as certain folks like to call it).

We had a very interesting time with lots of new and exciting experiences.

Keep your eyes open for more details .