We are living like Kings and Queens! One staff person for every two passengers! No cooking, no cleaning, just eating, drinking and enjoying the sights! Wonderful castles (any one want a summer home?) vineyards that climb hills so steep that only mountain goats can tend them! Many are very small, just 8 to 10 rows of vines tucked into whatever usable space can be cultivated. We left the Rhine river for the Moselle two days ago and are now in the Roman city of Trier heading now to see the cathedral created by St. Helena, mother of Constantine. Internet access interesting... and not easy to find. More later... some day.
Bea and Bev and the guys....
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Bea' birthday!!!
Day Three
Bea’s Birthday
Another fine complementary breakfast (hard boiled eggs, cheese, meats, fruit, with excellent coffee, great bread, and delicious European butter) prepared us for a crisp, sunny day. It is a 20 minute walk from the hotel to nearest train station, from which we traveled to the north of the old city…Goethe Platz. Frankfurt is a compact city…we were on new ground, but could see St. Bartholomew’s (in the old section) in the distance.
Our destination: the Goethe Haus, the home of Johann Goethe, Frankfurt’s most famous son. The three-story home is furnished with a combination of family belongings and items from the era. In 1944, just as with the Stadel museum, the valuable items were stored before the Allied bombings. The worst attacks came in March and destroyed most of the old city. The home has been carefully reconstructed and feel amazingly authentic---down to creaky, uneven floors. On one landing stands a tall and wondrous 18th century clock that belonged to a friend of the Goethe family. It is inlaid with multiple woods…multifunctional in that in tells the day, time, phases of the moon, day of the week, astrological signs…with a bear at the bottom that falls over when the clock needs to be rewound. It is easy to imagine young Johann’s fascination with it. The house also contained Goethe’s mother’s porcelain, his father’s art collection and library, an pyramid pinao forte family expense ledgers, and the puppet stage young Johann received when he was four years old. It gave us a glimpse into the life of Frankfurt’s upper class in the late 1700’s.
Time to eat again! Following the advice of Rick Steves, we walked south, crossed the river into Sachehausen (an old friend by now) to Maingau Restaurant, which he described as one of the finest in Frankfurt. The place was empty; lunch was obviously over. But the welcoming Indian maitre’d , after checking with the kitchen, seated us near a sunny window and treated us like visiting royalty. What a birthday feast: delicious tomato soup, roast duck, lamb liver with onions, white fish over a bed of sautéed spinach. With a dry Riesling…perfect!
Frankfurt has an amazing amount of green space. After our latish lunch, we walked the old city walls, now parkway with fountains, bike paths, playgrounds. It is as though the city is surrounded by a Central Park.
When we stumbled on the Old Opera House, photographers were gathering. We asked one about the event (a local film and cinema awards); he volunteered that Germans like Americans and Canadians because of the jobs and prosperity they brought to West Germany after the war. “No one says it outloud,” he admitted, “but we all wish the wall was back and twice as high. We have to pay for everything. I work night and day and never get ahead.” We had no adequate response and wished him well.
More green space, another train ride and walk back to the blog and packing for tomorrow.
Bea’s Birthday
Another fine complementary breakfast (hard boiled eggs, cheese, meats, fruit, with excellent coffee, great bread, and delicious European butter) prepared us for a crisp, sunny day. It is a 20 minute walk from the hotel to nearest train station, from which we traveled to the north of the old city…Goethe Platz. Frankfurt is a compact city…we were on new ground, but could see St. Bartholomew’s (in the old section) in the distance.
Our destination: the Goethe Haus, the home of Johann Goethe, Frankfurt’s most famous son. The three-story home is furnished with a combination of family belongings and items from the era. In 1944, just as with the Stadel museum, the valuable items were stored before the Allied bombings. The worst attacks came in March and destroyed most of the old city. The home has been carefully reconstructed and feel amazingly authentic---down to creaky, uneven floors. On one landing stands a tall and wondrous 18th century clock that belonged to a friend of the Goethe family. It is inlaid with multiple woods…multifunctional in that in tells the day, time, phases of the moon, day of the week, astrological signs…with a bear at the bottom that falls over when the clock needs to be rewound. It is easy to imagine young Johann’s fascination with it. The house also contained Goethe’s mother’s porcelain, his father’s art collection and library, an pyramid pinao forte family expense ledgers, and the puppet stage young Johann received when he was four years old. It gave us a glimpse into the life of Frankfurt’s upper class in the late 1700’s.
Time to eat again! Following the advice of Rick Steves, we walked south, crossed the river into Sachehausen (an old friend by now) to Maingau Restaurant, which he described as one of the finest in Frankfurt. The place was empty; lunch was obviously over. But the welcoming Indian maitre’d , after checking with the kitchen, seated us near a sunny window and treated us like visiting royalty. What a birthday feast: delicious tomato soup, roast duck, lamb liver with onions, white fish over a bed of sautéed spinach. With a dry Riesling…perfect!
Frankfurt has an amazing amount of green space. After our latish lunch, we walked the old city walls, now parkway with fountains, bike paths, playgrounds. It is as though the city is surrounded by a Central Park.
When we stumbled on the Old Opera House, photographers were gathering. We asked one about the event (a local film and cinema awards); he volunteered that Germans like Americans and Canadians because of the jobs and prosperity they brought to West Germany after the war. “No one says it outloud,” he admitted, “but we all wish the wall was back and twice as high. We have to pay for everything. I work night and day and never get ahead.” We had no adequate response and wished him well.
More green space, another train ride and walk back to the blog and packing for tomorrow.
First Day
Day 1:
We’re here!
When Charlemagne and the Franks fled from the Saxons in the 8th century, a white deer led them to a place to cross the Main, in other words where the Franks could ford the river.
After endless chatter about how to find each other in Europe’s largest airport, we practically fell across each other retrieving our luggage at adjacent carousels! Despite just a few hours of sleep on our overnight flights, we put in full eight hours of walking and discovery. We are on our way to becoming Frankfurters…give us a bun and we’re done!
Because the annual book fair filled the city’s hotels, we are in a suburb about 12 minutes from Frankfurt by train. So our first task was to conquer the underground. The ticket machines were daunting at first; it took a while to find English instructions. Then there were the usual challenges of unfamiliar destinations and counter-intuitive directionality. If we had read Rick Steve more carefully we would have saved ourselves some grief. But by 2 pm we were in Frankfurt.
Hunger drew us south of the river Main to Sachsenhausen, a cute, woodsy area that managed to escape WW II damage. It is full of restaurants and pubs. At Adolph Wagner’s we drank traditional apple wine (dry), and ate pickled cabbage, sausage, meatloaf and something called a “beef olive.” (Beef wrapped around mustard and onion, doused in delicious gravy.) Lynn even liked the sauerkraut.
After lunch we walked north, crossed the Main river (again) and found Romerberg, the old city center that goes back to Roman times. After WW II, German cities voted whether to bulldoze and rebuild or restore the damaged buildings. Frankfurt voted to do the former, but kept a few buildings in the city center. A short distance away is St Bartholomew’s Cathedral, where 10 Holy Roman Emperors were elected and crowned. Most of that building was also destroyed by Allied attacks in 1944, but the townspeople had moved the valued pieces to safekeeping. They rebuilt the cathedral in 1955.
After coffee in a cute little shop in Romerberg, we found our way back by yet another station. Returned to the Ibis Hotel with confidence for the morrow.
We’re here!
When Charlemagne and the Franks fled from the Saxons in the 8th century, a white deer led them to a place to cross the Main, in other words where the Franks could ford the river.
After endless chatter about how to find each other in Europe’s largest airport, we practically fell across each other retrieving our luggage at adjacent carousels! Despite just a few hours of sleep on our overnight flights, we put in full eight hours of walking and discovery. We are on our way to becoming Frankfurters…give us a bun and we’re done!
Because the annual book fair filled the city’s hotels, we are in a suburb about 12 minutes from Frankfurt by train. So our first task was to conquer the underground. The ticket machines were daunting at first; it took a while to find English instructions. Then there were the usual challenges of unfamiliar destinations and counter-intuitive directionality. If we had read Rick Steve more carefully we would have saved ourselves some grief. But by 2 pm we were in Frankfurt.
Hunger drew us south of the river Main to Sachsenhausen, a cute, woodsy area that managed to escape WW II damage. It is full of restaurants and pubs. At Adolph Wagner’s we drank traditional apple wine (dry), and ate pickled cabbage, sausage, meatloaf and something called a “beef olive.” (Beef wrapped around mustard and onion, doused in delicious gravy.) Lynn even liked the sauerkraut.
After lunch we walked north, crossed the Main river (again) and found Romerberg, the old city center that goes back to Roman times. After WW II, German cities voted whether to bulldoze and rebuild or restore the damaged buildings. Frankfurt voted to do the former, but kept a few buildings in the city center. A short distance away is St Bartholomew’s Cathedral, where 10 Holy Roman Emperors were elected and crowned. Most of that building was also destroyed by Allied attacks in 1944, but the townspeople had moved the valued pieces to safekeeping. They rebuilt the cathedral in 1955.
After coffee in a cute little shop in Romerberg, we found our way back by yet another station. Returned to the Ibis Hotel with confidence for the morrow.
Fine, large Day
Day 2
“A Fine, Large Day”
The title for today’s post is a quote from Bea and Bev’s father. Thursday was so fine and large that we headed straight to bed at 9:30 without downloading pictures or blogging.
All fine days come with a few challenges. So we started by taking the hotel shuttle back to the airport for a few key tasks…. finding the place where we are to meet the Elderhostel group on Saturday and getting Euros for Lynn and Bea after their travel card failed repeatedly. So it was after 11 when we finally left the airport train station and headed to Frankfurt and museum row…just south of the river. Frankfurt is the Manhattan of Europe. According to our favorite travel guy, Rick Steves, in the 1980’s the city decided to devote 11 % of its budget to the arts and culture. (Muncie, eat your heart out!) Nine museums line the street across the river. We chose the Stadel Art Museum, founded in the 19th century by a patron of the arts; it is the oldest and most prominent art museum in Germany. A perfect setting for a drizzly day.
But our first stop, of course, was the museum’s Holbein Café…a black, stainless, and glass restaurant featuring beautifully presented small portions of interesting foods in long, shallow white tray dishes…diced salmon between little potato cakes, crispy sea bass, lemon grass and curry soup. German beer, of course.
For the next four hours we toured the permanent collection….Steen, Hals, Picasso, Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Ruben, Renoir, Monet, and lots of German painters we hadn’t heard of. In 1937 Hitler removed 700 painting deemed ‘decadent’. In the years since, the museum has repurchased a number. Why “Dog Lying in Snow” qualified as decadent, we couldn’t fathom! In advance of the Allied attacks, museum personnel removed the rest of the collection to safety, preserving it for today.
Then it was back to the café for dessert and coffee…small portions of bourbon crème brulee, warm chocolate cakes, and warm apple compote with yogurt ice cream on the same long white dishes.
By now the sun was getting low. The cobblestone sidewalks were strewn with wet sycamore leaves. We walked along the river again, watching the lights of the city come to life…the modern cloud-scrapers as well as historic buildings. Headed back to Sachenhousen’s narrow, twisting streets of half-timbered houses and one of the three remaining 14th century watchtowers. We are going to try to download some pictures.
“A Fine, Large Day”
The title for today’s post is a quote from Bea and Bev’s father. Thursday was so fine and large that we headed straight to bed at 9:30 without downloading pictures or blogging.
All fine days come with a few challenges. So we started by taking the hotel shuttle back to the airport for a few key tasks…. finding the place where we are to meet the Elderhostel group on Saturday and getting Euros for Lynn and Bea after their travel card failed repeatedly. So it was after 11 when we finally left the airport train station and headed to Frankfurt and museum row…just south of the river. Frankfurt is the Manhattan of Europe. According to our favorite travel guy, Rick Steves, in the 1980’s the city decided to devote 11 % of its budget to the arts and culture. (Muncie, eat your heart out!) Nine museums line the street across the river. We chose the Stadel Art Museum, founded in the 19th century by a patron of the arts; it is the oldest and most prominent art museum in Germany. A perfect setting for a drizzly day.
But our first stop, of course, was the museum’s Holbein Café…a black, stainless, and glass restaurant featuring beautifully presented small portions of interesting foods in long, shallow white tray dishes…diced salmon between little potato cakes, crispy sea bass, lemon grass and curry soup. German beer, of course.
For the next four hours we toured the permanent collection….Steen, Hals, Picasso, Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Ruben, Renoir, Monet, and lots of German painters we hadn’t heard of. In 1937 Hitler removed 700 painting deemed ‘decadent’. In the years since, the museum has repurchased a number. Why “Dog Lying in Snow” qualified as decadent, we couldn’t fathom! In advance of the Allied attacks, museum personnel removed the rest of the collection to safety, preserving it for today.
Then it was back to the café for dessert and coffee…small portions of bourbon crème brulee, warm chocolate cakes, and warm apple compote with yogurt ice cream on the same long white dishes.
By now the sun was getting low. The cobblestone sidewalks were strewn with wet sycamore leaves. We walked along the river again, watching the lights of the city come to life…the modern cloud-scrapers as well as historic buildings. Headed back to Sachenhousen’s narrow, twisting streets of half-timbered houses and one of the three remaining 14th century watchtowers. We are going to try to download some pictures.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
On your mark...
Fall is the most glorious time in Indiana...unless it is spring or winter or the 80 degrees of Indian summer which we are enjoying this weekend. As we pack for the trip, we savor the red leaves of the maple tree just outside our door. The woodlots are turning gold and crimson; the soybeans stand at attention like little cinnamon soldiers. We know our lunches and dinners on the deck these last few days are, for us, the end of the season. Sigh...
After reading "The Art of Travel", I am not surprised by my conflicting feelings: excitement of the unknown vs distance from the familiar; the challenge of new territory vs the comforts of home. But we are off on a great adventure: Elderhostel's Mighty Rhine cruise, including romantic castles, the soaring Cologne Cathedral, Roman ruins, the Moselle Valley, and a few precious days in Amsterdam.
We can't be sure how often we will have internet access; not on the riverboat. But when Bill is willing to pack Bev's computer on day trips and we have a moment to find wireless access, our blog and pictures will be there.
After reading "The Art of Travel", I am not surprised by my conflicting feelings: excitement of the unknown vs distance from the familiar; the challenge of new territory vs the comforts of home. But we are off on a great adventure: Elderhostel's Mighty Rhine cruise, including romantic castles, the soaring Cologne Cathedral, Roman ruins, the Moselle Valley, and a few precious days in Amsterdam.
We can't be sure how often we will have internet access; not on the riverboat. But when Bill is willing to pack Bev's computer on day trips and we have a moment to find wireless access, our blog and pictures will be there.
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