Germany with Scott 2008; 29 Apr 2008

Today was our day in Nuernberg.

We drove into the city after breakfast at the hotel, usually about 35 minutes to the parking garage, today a little more because of road works (a constant theme on this holiday) and also because we stopped at a supermarket to pick up a few of the essentials that one always forgets to pack (eg. my deoderant was about to run out), but also some laundry detergent and bottled water for drinking on the road.

We soon parked in one of the many parking garages within the old town part of Nuernberg, which are usually well-hidden underground, or in out of the way corners. One of the (many) nice features of German cities and their traffic control systems is that not only are directions to off-street parking well-posted, but the signs directing you to the various garages tell you how many free parking spots are available. This allows you to choose which one to go to - if the sign indicates only a few places left at the one you initially thought you'd park at, and another has several hundred, the decision is obvious. This avoids arriving at a parking garage, only to find it full, and then having to find another. It requires some infrastructure; the data from all the the "in" and "out" gates at all garages has to be fed to a central computer, which then adjusts the numbers indicated on the dozens of direction signs to each garage, but the result is saving on driving times, and many fewer frustrated drivers; and probably significant energy savings and less pollution. The question for our cities; this technology obviously exists, why isn't it being used here?

Having parked, we began our walk. The inner core of Nuernberg, like most German cities, has many automobile-free streets. It's not that automobiles are never admitted, but they are restricted in time. Thus, delivery trucks are permitted, but only before 7:00 a.m. or after 10:00 p.m; just one example. All this makes walking safe, a pleasure, and makes the city a friendlier place. Shopping areas especially are often long and wide pedestrian areas, with street art, and street performers, and street vendors selling pretzels and sausages and other food, and the restaurants set up outdoor tables and chairs where one can stop for a snack, a meal, a beer, whatever. It's just so civilized!

Our first order of business was to walk to the opposite end of town, to an artisans' market at the Koenigstor (King's gate) near the Hauptbahnhof (main railway station) but still within the old city walls. If interested, a map of the old city of Nuernberg can be found here http://www.planetware.com/map/nurnberg-map-d-nurn.htm. For many, many years I have been saving my pockets by putting paper money into my wallet, and coins into small leather purses for my left-front pocket, rather than just carrying them loose. Since such purses are not commonly available in Canada, or if they are they are too large, or ugly, I always buy one or two (they do wear out) at a leather crafts shop, here in Nuernberg. Having again stocked up for the next few years, we walked up Koenigsstrasse (KIng street) towards the Lorenzkirche (Church of St. Lawrence). It was a bit of a drizzly day, not enough rain to keep you off the street, but just enough to be unpleasant, and so there wasn't much life, although the Nuernberger Bratwurst (Nuernberg roast sausage) vendors were trying to drum up Brotzeit business - Brotzeit, literally bread time, is the equivalent of what we would call a coffee break; a time in mid-morning, or mid-afternoon when workers of all kinds can replenish their energy, except Germans replenish with much more than just a cup of coffee. And more on Bratwurst, Nuernberg variety, later.

Next place to visit was the Lorenzkirche (Church of St. Lawrence). Old Nuernberg has two chuches which dominate the skyline, although there are a few others within the old walls that are notable. South of the river Pegnitz, which roughly divides the city in half, the main church is the Lorenzkirche. North of the river, it is the Sebalduskirche (Church of St. Sebald). Dominating the entire skyline to the north is the Kaiserburg (Imperial castle) built about 900 A.D. by the Holy Roman Emperor (cynical historians have noted that the Holy Roman Empire - the 2nd Reich in Hitler's scheme of things, his being the 3rd - was not holy, nor was it Roman, nor was it an empire, it was simply a loose federation of Germanic states). However, being an imperial seat, and probably more importantly, being on a crossroads of north-south and east-west trade routes, caused Nuernberg to become a very wealthy centre, with the consequent spill-over of support for the arts, development of industry, and considerable invention and entrepreneurship. Several Nuernberg artists of the middle ages are world-renowned not only for their art, but for moving art techiques forward; Albrecht Duerer is only one. A local toy industry began trading their wares all over Europe. And the pocket watch and the world-map globe were invented here.

The Lorenzkirche illustrates some of this artistic development. Not only is the building itself (started about 1250) a gothic monument, with high soaring nave supported by impossibly thin pillars, magnificent stained glass including an outstanding rose window on the west wall, it contains at least two significant (and many others, several of the many altars and most of the windows are masterworks) pieces of art. One is the Engelsgruss - the angel's greeting - Angelus, a carving depicting the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary. It hangs high in the nave; within a circle of 55 roses (the normal number of beads in a rosary) are the virgin and the angel, seeminly fully formed as 3-dimensional figures - except when viewed from the sides, it is impossibly thin, and two dimensional. The artist, Veit Stoss, was one of the pioneers who worked out how to depict three dimensions in two, along with his fellow Nuernberger, Albrecht Duerer. The other major piece of art is what in English might be called an aumbry, a small box in a church in which the blessed sacrament is kept for the needs of those not able to be in church for Mass (Eucharist). In the Lorenzkirche, the small, ornate "box" the Sakramentshaus (sacrament house) is contained within a towering structure, floor to high ceiling, carved from stone with impossibly thin vines and branches, all highly decorated. The "aumbry" itself, and the whole structure are supported on the backs of a few figures, one of which is the self-portrait of the sculptor, Adam Kraft. St. Lorenz, like many churches, ask that you not take photographs, so there are none on our photo website, however, much of the art in this church can be seen here http://www.lorenzkirche.de/kunstwerke/index.html; however, the descriptions are in German. A full 360 degree panorama view (needs Quicktime) is available here http://www.lorenzkirche.de/rundgang/panorama-gross.htm

From there we went northward, towards the Marktplatz, the market. Late in the year, this is the place of the Christkindlesmarkt, literallythe Christchild's market, the premier Christmas market and prototype for all others http://www.christkindlesmarkt.de/english/index.php?navi=1&rid=2 . On an ordinary day, like the one we were there, it is a farmers' market, with produce on sale from the surrounding countryside. However, unlike our farmers' markets in Ontario, which have become tourist destinations, this one is still a city market, where the locals shop for their produce (and it needs to be remembered, that there are many people living within this old city, many of them in apartments above businesses, often working within a few meters of where they live), so such a market is a vital part of the city's life.

Two notable sites on this market. One is the Schoene Brunnen - the Beautiful Fountain - a stone carved fountain that has been painted and gilded, standing very high, with wedding-cake like layers of figures from history and from the biblical stories - popes, kings, emperors, prophets, evangelists ... It is surrounded by a tall wrought iron fence, with spouts that can be manipulated to bring water outside, to be drunk, or carried in buckets, although little of that happens today. Embedded within the wrought iron is a brass ring, perhaps 12 to 15 cm across. Its story is that an apprentice in ironworking wanted to marry his master's daughter, and was set the task of producing a work in metal that the master could not reproduce. The ring is it, and event oday metallurgists have not been able to discern how it was incorporated in the iron structure of the fence, as neither the brass ring, nor the three circular openings in which it is fastened into the fence show any evidence of joints. The apprentice got the girl, and today turning the ring three times in its fastenings is considered to bring good luck, and it keeps it well-polished.

The other notable site is the Frauenkirche - the Church of our Lady - on the eastern side. Somewhat plain iside, although with a number of art treasues, it has a remarkable clock. Every day at noon, as the clock strickes, as little theatrical performance happens on the front faced of the church. Trumpeters raise their horns, little men with hammers strike bells, and the electors of the Holy Roman Empire move around a circle, stopping in front of the figure of Emperor Charles the Great, who waves at them with orb and sceptre, then the elector bows. All this from a clock perhaps 500 years or more old. Known as the Maennleinlaufen - the running of the little men(?) - it is one example of the ingenuity of Nuenberg rafts from its golden age, during which, among other things, the first pocket watch was invented, as well as mechanical clocks of this type.

(To be continued)

Germany with Scott; 28 Apr 2008

Today was the Fraenkische Schweitz (Franconian Switzerland) day. This is a region not far north and east of Nuernberg characterized by wide river valleys, overlooked by craggy mountains (hills really) with very weathered exposed limestone crests. It has a lot of beautiful small villages, many of which are characterized as Luftkurorte, literally "air healing spa towns" - the air in this area is very free of pollution, and is supposed to have healing properties.

[A little side note on the German heath care system. Most of the system is what we would call a public-private partnership. Everyone is covered by some form of insurance, but only those never employed and not covered by a spouse's or partner's insurance are insured by the government. All others, including pensioners, are covered by private insurance, with the employers negotiating the best deal with an insurance company. The government sets minimum standards, which are quite high, with coverage well beyond what we get in Canada, even with the best of plans. Benefits are a part of labour negotiations, and thus tend to get better with time.]

All of that leads up to an explanation of why a designation as a Luftkurort, or for that matter, as one of several other Kurort designations, is important. Most Germans have heatlh insurance that covers a stay in such a place, for anything for a week to a month, as long as your physician certifies it as necessary. Thus, the physician might think that a couple of weeks relaxing, breathing clean air, while hiking around and eating healthily, will take care of your high blood pressure caused by stress. Off you go, to one of the beautiful little Fraenkische Schweitz villages (or a place where you can take a mineral water treatment, or any place that is reputed to be healing for what ails you), get checked into a pension - small hotel or B & B, and your Kur - cure ie. program of treatment, will be monitored by a local physican or other health care professional. Some of these Kurorte have cultural activities, such as concerts or theatre, which are most often included in the small (a few Euro per day) Kurtaxe (cure tax) that one (or the insurance if that is why you are there) pays when staying at a hotel or guesthouse. Even if you are not there for a Kur, the ID card that goes with having paid the tax gets you reductions at local attractions, etc. And this is on top of holidays; the time taken for this Kur is considered medically necessary and you maintain your holidays. Not bad!

Anyways, we got up on time this day, and after a very nice breakfast at the "Gruener Baum" headed east along the B470, the Bundesstrasse that runs all along the Aisch river valley in which Hoechstadt an der Aisch is located (Hoechstadt on the River Aisch - there are probably a dozen Hoechstadts - all it means is high town - all over a Germany, which can create a GPS navigation problem mentioned earlier in another post).

[Note on Geman highways. Fastest are the Autobahn, usually intercity highways, at least four lanes, most often six, except in city areas, where they can go up to eight and even ten. Notorious for no speed limits, they are in fact very controlled. Yes, in areas where it is considered safe, there are no speed limits. Elsewhere, such as through a built-up area, the speed limit migh be 120 or 140 (all are km/hr). In some areas there are no limits in daytime, and specified limits during night hours, or when the road is wet, or in Winter vs. Summer. Most importantly, the Autobahn has electonic signs every few km, which allow a monitoring centre to change or impose speed limits based on local conditions, even on a lane by lane basis, and warn drivers of conditions ahead. Add to that the very rigid German lane discipline; keep right except to pass, and if you are not in the right-most lane, and another cars comes up on you from the rear at a higher speed than yours, get to the right as soon as you can safely do so, the principle being that if you are not in the right lane, and you look right and there is no one there, then you should be; and these road, despite the extremely high speeds by North American standards, are very safe; the serious accident rate per 100,000 km driven is considerably lower than Canada or the U.S. (On maps and in GPSs, these have an A+number designation. Most Autobahn roads also have and E+number designation - and alas, the A and E numbers are not the same; E being the designation for an Europastrasse, a European highway, generally designating a route through Germany between two other European countries.)

Next are the Bundessstrassen - Federal roads - B+number designations - which are often 4-lane, speed limited to at most 120. Somewhere in there are Schnellstrassen - rapid roads - S+number designation, with the same limits, but limited access.

And then, there are the Landesstrassen, roads designated and controlled by one of the Laender, member states of the German Federation. Generally, they are designated by signed numbers with no prefix, and mostly have 100 km/hr speed limits. They can vary from any number of lanes down to roads where two cars can barely pass, although at that low end, you are probably on a municipal road.

Generally, speed limits in Germany are well-posted. One local rule you need to know; as soon as you pass a town entrance sign on the right of the road (oblong, yellow, with the town name, and possibly a district description, the speed limit is 50, unless otherwise posted. Leaving a town, you will see a sign on the left side of the road (the back of the entrance sign at that end) with a red line through the town name. That cancels the restriction, and the speed limit goes back up to whatever class road you are on, and is not necessarily posted.

That impositon of a limit, of any kind, and then its cancellation, is used elsewhere. Thus, on a road you may see a "No Passing" sign, which is a red circle, within which are two cars side by side, with the leftmost red; the cancellation sign is similar, but only black and white, with a diagonal line across it; similarly with speed limits; the imposition sign is red circle, white background, numbers in black; the cancellation is black and white, with the number having a diagonal line across it. All very logical, but you have to get used to it.]

Back to our day, we drove through the town of Ebermannstadt, another town familiar from my childhood. There was a cheese plant there, making Emmenthaler and Tilsit cheeses, which I occasionally visited with my father, as it was a part of his district. From there, down the Wiesenttal, the river Wiesent valley, the main way into the Fraenkische Schweitz. It's a broad river valley, and green with Spring, the trees just beginning to leaf out (this area is a little colder than the surrounding flat land) and flowers everywhere. The first stop is the town of Streitberg (literally means quarrel or battle mountain), with its castle ruin high above the village in the valley, and another castle ruin perhaps a kilometre across the valley, also on a high crag of rock. In the Middle Ages, these castles, and many more like them up and down the valleys of this area, were the seats of so-called Raubritter (literally robber knights, we might call the robber barons, except they were at the very bottom of the nobility scale) who made their living by taxing their tenant farmers, charging tolls from the merchants transporting goods through these valleys which were a major trading route, robbing the merchants if the toll was not paid, and sometimes even when it was, and fighting with each other for possession of land and toll rights. Apparently the families of the two castles visible from this town were particularly quarrelsome, over many generations, and hence the name of the town.

The major attraction at Streitberg is the Binghoehle (Bing cave), a limestone cave that goes right through the hill from one side to the other. It is full of fascinating stalagmite and stalagtite (and I can never remember which goes up and which goes down) formations all carefully lit with halogen lamps to bring out their colours. These living rocks are still growing, as water still slowly drips from the ceiling, and as a drop falls off the tip of a stala-whatever, it leaves a few molecules of solids behind, and the tip extends at the rate of perhaps 1 mm per century - small, but measurable. June and I visited here six years ago, and since then the cave has undergone a complete facelift, lowering the path in places to increase clearances, improving the lighting, and making previously unaccessible areas easier to get into. During that renovation a small underground pool was found, and in it lived a colony of very small prehistoric water creatures, almost totally transparent because they lived in total darkness and hence colour had no function in their world. These creatures had been found in the fossil record, but were thought to have become extinct milllions of years ago; here is a continuing colony of perhaps 50,000 individuals, living on minute algea that also grow underground.

The way to the Binghoehle is a steep climb, with a possible detour to a gazebo high up on a limestone crag, which gives a view of the Wiesent valley for several kilometes in both directions, well worth the climb. We actually went directly to the cave, and the woman guide there told us we were a bit early for the first viewing, suggested we climb up to the gazebo, enjoy the view, and then come back. We were glad we followed her advice. When we returned, we were still the only ones wanting to see the cave, so we had a private tour. As we were the only ones, we were able to take as many pictures as we wanted, something they ordinarily discourage. A very small sampling of the pictures can be seen at our photo web site, URL already given in previous posts.

[A historical note. The Bing cave was originally discovered by a Herr Ignaz Bing, supposedly while out walking with his dachshund, in 1905, when the dachshund disappeared down a hole. Subsequently, the first few meters of the cave were found and excavated by Herr Bing, supposedly looking for pre-historic treasure. Some of this history is at
http://www.showcaves.com/english/de/showcaves/Bing.html.
Apparently the cave was originally a dead end,it could be toured, but one had to return by the same path back to the entrance, a nuisance as it limited the number of people that could enter. In 1936 it was decided to dig through to an artificial exit on the other side of the hill from the entrance. A fairly unsophisticated but effective orientation device was improvised to orient the diggers in the right direction; the local Hitlerjugend - Hitler Youth troop was mobilized to stand at the spot where the exit was to be, and to sing patriotic songs at the top of their lungs and stomp on the ground as hard as they could. The diggers dug towards the sound, and the exit was established right where it was planned - given subsequent events, probably the most useful thing those Hitler Youth did.

After exiting the cave, we took the well marked path to the ruin of Burg Streitberg (castle Streitberg), and were rewarded with yet another fine view of the valley. Then down by a steep path into the village itself, and being by this time (just after 11) somewhat thirsty but not yet ready for lunch, found an open (this was a Monday, definitely not in tourist season yet) souvenir shop with the owner present and bored, who sold us two bottles of very cold, very tasty local beer, which we drank while chatting with him and fending off his best efforts to sell us local "kitch".

Then on, for a drive down the valley, and a steep climb up to Goessweinstein, a little town with a very large pilgrimage church, and a relatively intact castle. The church is again in the Franconian baroque style, very ornate, but since they ask that one not take interior pictures, we didn't. Then a walk up to the castle, stopping on the way for some mineral water and icecream at a sidewalk cafe. The castle is still one of the residences of Freiherren von Sohlern family (Lords/Ladies of the Manor of Sohlern, roughly), and is the family burial place. There is a chapel that is open, and some exhibits of very old liturgical books and articles, and a view well worth the steep climb.

After returning to our car, we drove down to the Wiesent valley again and follwed the river through several beautiful little villages, with lots of photo ops, to Pottenstein, where we had a very fine lunch (by now it was about 2:30) at a restaurant with an outdoor patio with a great view. June and I had eaten here six years ago, and enjoyed the food; why go into the unkown? For all I know, I might have had the same meal; sauerbraten with potato dumpling and red cabbage sauerkraut.

After lunch we drove a few kilometres further up the valley, to where there is a summer bobsled run. Basically, you get into a sled on rails, equipped with a pull handle that applies a brake. The sled gets pulled up the fairly steep hill, and then comes down a very curvy back and forth track by gravity. There is some control over speed by using the brake, but it is more of a full off-full on kind of brake, hard to modulate. (There are actually two tracks up, and two tracks down, with different coloured sleds, and I think, different speeds and gradients. We picked the one on which you get your picture taken, which is also the faster.) We increased the difficulty by trying to not only control speed, but take pictures at the same time - not always successfully; I deleted an awful lot of views of blue sky, or brown dirt, but that's one of the bonuses of digital photography, there is no cost to wasted shots. Scott, who was in the lead sled, complained afterwards that I hadn't told him that the little signs at the side of the track with "Bremsen!" on them meant "Brake!" - I'd forgotten about that! Lots of fun was had by all, and we did buy the pictures.

From Pottenstein we then went out of the Wiessent valley and followed a route cross country through lots of pretty little villages, and because we were following the GPS, which thinks a road is a road and you did say shortest distance, down what were essentially very narrow but paved paths through fields. Only once did I choose to ignore directions, when it wanted me to take a road which had the red circle with plain white background at its entrance, the European "No Entry" sign, and a small note "Except Forestry Vehicles" - however, we eventually came to our intended next stop, the city of Bamberg.

Most of the old part of Bamberg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Amongst other things, a river runs through it, and on a small island in the middle of the river, connected to the mainland on each side by bridges, is the very picturesque city hall. Some of the old district has become very chi-chi shopping areas and trendy restaurants and bars, but with that German genius that does not destroy the old ambiance in favour of the new. We arrived quite late in the day, so we only had quick walk-around the old city, then up to the cathedral on a hill (Bamberg has been compared to Rome, as both are built on seven hills, and in Bamberg the important buildings are on top of hills). We did not go to the Schlenkerla, a local brewery pub famous (some would say notorious) for its Rauchbeer (smoke beer - beer brewed from barley roasted over hickory wood, with a very distinct smoky - think something like consomme but not quiete, taste.) Traditionally, one drinks this beer, and eats Leberkaese (a very dense cooked hot liver terrine) picked up from the butcher's next door, on buns picked up from the baker on the other side. It's an acquired taste; I've accquired it, Scott hasn't - I guess the Franconian heritage does dilute - so instead we found a very nice restaurant with food both of us would eat, and beer both of us would drink.

[Just an aside note; Bamberg has 10 breweries, and there are maps and guides available to guide you in walking from one to the next, with samplings at each one - and if that is not enough, there are at least 90 more breweries in the surrounding area - however, for these you would need to drive. Thus a word of caution - the German police are very vigilant about drunk driving, the limits are lower than in Canada and if you get caught, kiss your licence and perhaps your freedom goodbye. About 1/2 litre per hour, with food is probably safe (most German beer is somewhat lower in alcohol than ours, about 4.5% - but there are some special beers like Maerzen or Bock brewed in the Spring or for festivals that can be at 7.5% or more - buyer beware, and be aware). Also note, that German police are not restricted by our Canadian notions of human rights and due process; you can be stopped at any time, for no reason whatsoever, and checked for intoxication. Incidentally, a police officer can ask you to identify yourself anytime, anywhere, so it is best to carry some id at all times, at least a copy of your passport details page, if not the original. Police can also close down an area, by setting up control posts at all exits, and asking everyone on the street to identify themselves.]

We stopped for dinner at the Hofbrau. We started out outside, under umbrellas, started with the Hofbrau beer, but before our meal came, dark clouds rolled in, and the heavens opened. We were moved inside very competently without even a drop on us, and the evening continued. The food was very good, and we could look out an open door onto the street and across a bridge to the Rathaus (city hall) and watch the streets literally flooding to knee deep in minutes. A cyclist went by, with the water up to the hubs of the wheels. And then the rain stopped as suddenly as it had started, and the water ran off, probably right into the river, and by the time we had finished our meal we were able to walk back to our car dry, and drive back to Pommersfelden (only impeded by the GPS wanting to take us down roads closed by contruction, and having to find alternates).

And then, to bed; tomorrow, Nuernberg (or Nuremburg, as the English insist on calling it!).

[A final note, on "Hofbrau." Above, I noted that we ate at the Hofbrau in Bamberg. Most Canadians associate that term with Munich (as the English inist on calling a city that its inhabitants call Muenchen, but then the English call Aachen Aix-la-Chapelle, Koeln Cologne, and so forth - why not call a town what the people who live there call it - but enough of that rant!) Most in Canada, when they hear Hofbrau or Hofbrauhaus think of Muenchen: In Muenchen steht ein Hofbrauhaus, einz, zwei, gsuffa ... goes the song that, at least in Kitchener-Waterloo is sung at the local Oktoberfest (and more on that!) - Translation "In Munich stands a Hofbrauhaus, one two, chug it down ..."

Hofbrau or Hofbrauhaus translates as "court brewery" or "court brewery house/building" although in German the "haus" addition is of much less importance than in English - the two terms are effectively identical, and which one gets used depends on local usage.

brau is easy; it means brewery! Hof is more slippery; it can mean anything from a farmyard, a farm itself, a schoolyard, a jurisdictional district, a domain, a royal court, the court of anyone of degree or nobility, etc. and much more! In a beer context, to label a brewery as Hofbrau is almost equivalent with the English label on goods, "By appointment to ..... " Basically, it designates a brewery that was either set up by the local high muckety-muck, or supplied beer to them in the past, since officially since 1918 there are no high muckety-mucks in Germany - except they still exist (but that is another rant!). So, most places in Germany have a Hofbrau/haus, all it means is that some local important person either set them up originally, or they supplied beer to them.

Muenchen/Munich might be an exception - the Hofbrauhaus was started by King Ludwig I of Bavaria, with the commisison that they must always supply beer to the workingmen of Muenchen at a price lower than the other Munich breweries, of which there are many. That was to ensure that Muenchen workers would always be able to afford this nutricious beverage at a reasonable price - an early experiment in social welfare.

And that leads me to note that in German culture and practice, beer, and wine, are not considered alcoholic, intoxicating drinks are not considered something evil and to be suppressed (no Puritan Presbyterians here!), no, beer and wine are Naehrungsmittel, literally means of nutrition!

We did eat and drink at the Munich Hofbrauhaus (later description); we did not check out to see if their beer price was less than elsewhere.]

Germany with Scott 2008; 27 Apr 2008

We should have done something!

Flying overnight, then driving and sightseeing, then staying up till midnight, we should have;

1)gone to bed earlier,

2) set an alarm clock,

3) both of the above.

And so, we woke up at about 10:30 in the morning, not unreasonable, since that was 4:30 in the morning back home - but it serously interfered with the plans we had for that day. But, some of those daily plans were interchangeable, so after a period of getting organized, washed, shaved, and awake, we set off.

First on the order of battle was lunch.

We went off to the family restaurant of the Voland's in the nearby village of Limbach, again one of the places my father used to frequent. We lunched at an outside table, only slightly interupted by a rider and horse, who parked just beside us, while the rider got a beer through a window into the dining room area. (Germany is much less uptight than we are about animals and food; dogs are almost always welcomed with their owners in restaurants, unless they are a nuisance and won't just lie under the table), but I must confess that this was a new experience for me. See pictures for this day (and others) at http://longworth_mueller.fototime.com/

Then, we drove off in the general direction of the town of Ebrach (except that I got confused, the last time I visited there was 6 years earlier, and we actually headed for Burg Ebrach). As we were using Scott's Tom-Tom GPS, the difference was not immediately apparent; one gets authoritative directions, which one follows without question (except when, as frequently happened over the whole trip, one runs into roads closed by construction, but the detour instructions, available at the push of botton, are equally authoritative). The GIGO (garbage in-garbage out) principle applies; if you give the GPS the wrong destination, you are not going to get to where you want to go. We ran into this problem several more times, not always caused by my dozziness. The major problem is the German reality; many towns, some quite close together, have the same name. The locals have no problem; they know where they are going. But if you are not a local, and you put the name of a destination into a GPS, you may be offered a menu of destinations, all with the same name, each one qualified with some descriptor (such as; near , or, in the valley of , or, in the district of ) That again is all very well for the locals, but usually not much help for those of us who are not intimitely familiar with the fine points of German geography.

But, eventually, we did arrive in Ebrach, and the detour through Burg Ebrach was not a waste of time, as the entire countryside was worth seeing.

The attraction in Ebrach is Kloster (Convent) Ebrach, a former Cistercian monastery, which has long been secularized, and is now a a youth prison (a very imaginative use of an old building; it already has lots of single rooms - monks' cells - communal dining room, administrative offices, etc.) But the conventual church is still open, and is one of the treasures of Oberfranken (Upper Franconia) church architecture - it is now a parish church, which presents certain problems, more on that later.

Most notably, the church has three organs! Each one is played from a separate console. Processional music was written specially for this church and its instruments for use on high festivals, and some of it was recorded last century, a recording which is, alas, no longer available. There are however other recordings of the orans in this church that one can buy there Architecturally, it is in that late baroque style called "roccoco"; very ornate, and almost overdone. One of its features is marble pillars, except the marble is actually plaster of paris, coloured to look like marble - not because that was cheaper, but because it was actually more epxensive! It is one of Germany's treasures, and is protected as a historical monument, which may not be a good thing for the local parishioners, since they will be expected to carry a good deal of the preservational freight!

June and I visited this church in late Summer of 2002, six year ago. At that time, one almost couldn't see the interiour; they had just begun a major restoration, and the entire interior space was covered with scafolding and protective plastic. This time, all that was gone, except that all three organs had been removed for rebuilding. Talking with one of the parishioners who was there as a guide, it will be three more years before they are back in uninterupted business! (And, they are fundraising as best they can; the German and Bavarian governments are providing a major percentage of the restoration costs, because this is a national treasure; however, the governments are not interested in paying for anything related to actually maintaining the building as anything other than a museum, like a place where people worship, and so the loal people, for whom this is their church, face enormous costs.

Thus, it was very gratifying to see, that, within this enormous convent church, the local congregation had carved out a worship space sufficient for its needs. At the crossing, an altar and ambo, both of solid bronze and modern design, had been placed, surrounded on all sides with chair-seats (ingeniously interlocked and yet re-arrangeable), seating perhaps 200 persons - the church itself would seat at least 2000. Thus, they had created a relatively intimate worship space within an otherwise too large bulding.

After a quick supper of sausage and beer we left Ebrach, in the direction of Pommersfelden, but detoured via the near to Pommersfelden (within 2 km) town of Steppach. This is where my father managed the local dairy for the Bayerische Milchversorgung (Bavarian Milk Supply) in the late 1940s -1960s. This was the place where I spent a number of happy Summers, riding the milk collection trucks with my step-brother Karlheinz, helping out around the dairy (in retrospect, if we hadn't been the boss's kids we might not have been tolerated as much). Sadly, the dairy has been closed, and is not being maintained - and becoming a ruin or slum. Don't know who actually owns it, but they don't seem to care.

From there, back to Pommersfelden, and Schloss Weissenstein. After an exterior (we were too late for interior) walk-around, we went back to the "Gruener Baum", and a very nice dinner in the restaurant there.

And this day we hit bed early!

Germany with Scott 2008; 26 Apr 2008

Boeing 777's rock!

We ended up in "Hospitality" which is Air Canada's euphemism for economy, but on this aircraft, despite having about 350 seats, the comfort level is quite high. The seat pitch does not make you feel too crowded, and one can recline enough to sleep. The lighting when darkened is somewhat lurid - pinkish and purplish, think bordelo - but otherwise, very comfortable.

We arrived early in FRA, cleared immigration with the usual no hassle (by the time you actually arrive at the booth with a German "Grenzschutzdienst" officer inside, they have gone over the aircraft manifest, which was sent to them as soon as we pushed back, with magnifying glasses, so the casualness with which your passport gets stamped is pretent; if you are a bad guy, they will be much less casual! )

Then on to the baggage hall (free carts - Toronto YYZ please note!!!), get our bags, go through the green line (nothing to declare) and we are out in the arrivals area, following the signs (very clear) for the car rental desks - probably a 500 metre trek.

No problem at Avis, but the charming young man behind the desk, taking a look at our luggage, suggests we might want to go up one size on the car I had booked, at not much more cost, and we agreed. Handed the keys, and directions to the car in the FRA multi-story car park, it'a about another 10 minutes, and we are putting our "stuff" into a C series Mercedes Benz station wagon (diesel). I am sceptical-not knowing much about diesels-but, what the h.....

And so, we are off! But first we have to find our way.

I know how to get from FRA to the Autobahn south in the direction of Nuernberg, but we have brought Scott's Tom-Tom GPS, which has maps for Germany on it. So, following it, I miss the first turn - which becomes a common theme - you either follow the directions from the GPS, or your own knowledge, but don't argue internally, because you will miss a turn. (This happens all the time in Canada, when I am following my own [Garmin] GPS, and just know that the directions I am being given are wrong - actually that I know something about the suggested route that the GPS doesn't, like too many lights or stop signs.) Suggestion for travellers using a GPS: if you don't know the route, follow the GPS directions; they will get your there! If you do know the route, follow your own instincts; the GPS does not know about local traffic conditions, or construction, or anything else that is not permanent.

Eventually, we are headed southwards to our first destination, which is the Hotel "Gruener Baum" in Pommersfelden, near Hoechstadt an der Aisch, the town my father (Scott's grandfather) lived the last decades of his life, and where he , and my stepmother Frida (Friedl), are buried.

And, as we hit the Autobahn with unrestricted speeds, I discover that our car will go like snot! I loose my nerve at about 180 km/h, but am still being passed! We eventually settle to a max of perhaps 150, which is slow for some of the natives. And, with all of that, the fuel consumption, indicated on an in-dash display, settles at about 6.5 l/100 km - and in Gemany diesel is still cheaper than regular gasoline!

But first, we go off the Autobahn in the direction Sulzfeld am Main, south of Wuerzburg, for a walk-around, and a lunch of their famous 1 metre sausage. Sulzfeld is a pretty little wine village, well worth a walk-around, even without the sausage, with lots of "fachwerk" - meaning half-timbered - buildings, lovely gardens, and little alleys worth exporing, and at most of the pubs in town you can get a lunch of the famous sausage, sauerkraut, potato salad, and/or green salad, at very reasonable prices - we actually went for the half-metre sausage, with kraut, salad, and a half-litre of the local beer; all of it excellent and sufficient.

From there we went off the main route cross country. First to Iphoven, another pretty wine village, with a beautiful parish church, and, again, streets and alleys worth exploring. Then, along the "Steigerwaldhochstrasse" in the direction of Hoechstadt an der Aisch, through Castell, another wine village. Then on to Hoechstadt and Pommersfelden, to check-in.

About the Hotel "Gruener Baum." It has been in the little village of Pommersfelden, nestled up against the wall of Schoss Weisenstein, the local residence of the Schoenborn family (owners of vineyard, producers of the Lord Bishops of Wuerzburg, and more) for almost 575 years (that will be in 2011) all in the ownership of the Hofmann family. A very pleasant place to stay; recently modernized, and the Hofmann's, four of them, the older one's in their 80's but still helping out, and the present owners in their 50's, very friendly and pleasant folk. We had an "apartement" which was a very large living/dining room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom and toilet. Nicely furnished, and with Ethernet connection!

After checking in, we returned to Hoechstadt, and drove around; visiting my father's former house, now painted an attrocious green, and his grave (and that of my step-mother-no evidence of rolling-over because of the green paint on the house!). Then, dinner at Weberskeller, the local pub that my father used to love, and where we had a reception/dinner following his funeral in early March 2002. We ate outside, overlooking the wide and beautiful Aisch river valley, notably eating a white asparagus salad (at a seeming unreasonable price, like about $1 per spear, until you work out what it takes to get that one spear to your table.) The owner of Weberskeller, after I identified myself, remembered my father, and the reception/dinner we had had there, about six years before.

After that, back to the "Gruener Baum" in Pommersfelden - we should have gone to bed immediately, but we stayed up far too long.

[A note on German prices: Unlike in Canada, German prices as listed on price tags, are what one pays; that is the tag is the total cost to the consumer, including the usually 19% value added tax. In restuarants, the menu price is what one pays; it includes the value added tax and a service charge, what we would call a tip. When the bill comes, it is customary to round it up to next Euro. Thus, while menu prices seem high, relative to Cananda, one needs to increase the Canadian price by about 30% for comparison, and when one does that, the prices are relatively equivalent. And, the service in Germany is usually much better than in Canada; to be a waiter in Canada is usually a way to earn money while in university or college, even high school; a waiter in Germany has been through training at the equivalent of our community colleges, and is highly skilled.]

Germany with Scott 2008-Setting off

This trip has been planned a long time, over a year, but is finally happening. Scott (my older son) and I are heading off for two weeks touring in Germany, my birth country, and a place that he has been as a child, and toured on his own as a young adult.

I've checked us in, and almost a miracle in the space-available travel world, we have been assigned seats on Air Canada (AC) 872, Toronto (YYZ) to Frankfurt (FRA), leaving at 17:30. Mary (Wilson) Mueller, Scott's wife is driving us to the airport, June and the munchkins, Trinity and Rachel, are coming along.

We've planned the itinerary for a long time, balancing driving with just being in an area. What we ended up with is mostly a route where we stay at a hotel for 3 or 4 nights, and travel around in the surrounding area, or the city near which we are staying. That way, we don't have to lug suitcases every morning, and we get to have some choice, based on weather or circumstances, on just exactly we will do, rather than being forced by reservations.

Eventually, I will post pictures (a selction from both Scott's and mine) on http://longworth_mueller.fototime.com/; from the main screen scroll down to "Germany (with Scott); Apr-May 2008" in the list of folders to view.

And now, we are off!