Hello from Pat & Jeanne

Hello from Pat & Jeanne

We're writing to you from St. Johann im Pongau, Austria—it's beautiful here. It's Monday evening, August 25.

We decided that you need to hear a few of the lighter moments of this wonderful trip. We're all having a great time. These are random thoughts and in no particular order—we just want you to see what fun we really are having!

One of the first lighter moments of the trip occurred when we were in Ghent, Belgium. We went outside with a map and Jim & Bill were trying to figure out which way we should go. They studied the map and at the same time, they each pointed in the direction they thought we should go—they were pointing in opposite directions. Of course, Jeanne & I got the giggles! (A picture will follow.)

We have to say that a lot of our giggles have come from bathroom incidents—most of them are pay, as Jim already mentioned.

Also in Ghent, we were in a restaurant and Bill needed to use the bathroom. He came back giggling, because as he was standing at the urinal, women were walking by behind him (and we mean actually brushing against his butt as they walked by)—we think they were also travelers, because they, too, were giggling. (That was a free toilet—no door!) So, of course, Jeanne & I had to go up and check it out—unfortunately, there weren't any men in there then!

Now for Paris stories: Jim was approaching a urinal and thought he was putting his glasses in his shirt; unfortunately, he missed: they fell right into the urinal and a French guy who was standing beside him said: oh, oh! (and a few things Jim couldn't understand) Bill watched the whole thing and didn't say a word. We've chuckled many times over that one.

The next Paris incident was when we were getting ready to get on the subway. Bill led the way and said something like, let's get on, we can make this train. Well, guess what! Bill made that subway, but the rest of us didn't. Bill was inside the subway, trying to open the doors and they just wouldn't open. We all waved and shouted the name of the stop where we'd meet him.

We had such a good time in Paris—Jim, too. One of our favorite things was our dinner in the Eiffel Tower. It was so much fun and just as we were ready to descend, the Tower did a “twinkle”, where tiny lights all over the Tower flashed off and on for about 15 minutes.

One of our biggest laughs was on the train between Karlsruhe and Ratingen where we would visit Irina's family. I, of course, had to use the bathroom on the train. I closed the door but couldn't get it to latch. I tried several times and Jeanne finally came and said she'd hold the door closed for me. So, I sat down on the toilet and the next thing I knew, Jeanne was on the inside of the bathroom door going back and forth as the very heavy door was slamming her. (There were several men waiting to get off the train, right outside the door.) Jeanne was gigging hysterically and the guys (our husbands, who were sitting at the other end of the train car) could hear us from their seats. By then, I was sitting on the toilet giggling. Finally, I was able to get up and get my clothes back on. Jeanne was giggling so hard that she then needed to use the bathroom. I, in my wisdom, said I'd hold the door for her. Well, you can probably imagine that soon I was being thrown back and forth by the door. At one point, I asked one of the men if they could help us—he ran away! After our incident, the train people put up an “Out of Order” sign. We thought it should have been there a little sooner. (It might be one of those stories where you just had to be there, but thank goodness you weren't standing outside that door!!)

At one restaurant, Matthias asked the waitress for ice for my water. She agreed and soon brought me one tiny ice cube. We all got a chuckle out of that.

We all really miss ice for our water—it just isn't used here. When we were at Irina & Matthias', they had a tray of ice cubes for us. Bill and I discussed, each evening, who got the most ice!

As we write this, we're all sitting around a table, in the hotel lobby, chuckling some more.

We left Irina & Matthias yesterday and there were many tears shed. Before we left, they fixed us a wonderful German Sunday breakfast—we ate in the dining room with Sunday dishes. We had so much fun with them and we so enjoyed living in their home. It was such fun to go to Ratingen and see all of the family.

Jeanne and I will write again soon. We haven't given you all of our fun stories, but we're tired and it's time to go to bed. Tomorrow we're going to Neuschwanstein Castle.

Hello yet again from Karlsruhe, Germany

Sunday Morning August 24, 2008 (sixth travelogue of this trip)

We are once again at Irina and Matthias apartment (here). The past few days seem like a blur. Pat and the Birts have been helping me with some of the details. It is a good thing we are writing this blog, so that we can go back and recall what we have done and where we have been {grin}!

Tuesday, Matthias drove us into the Black Forrest region of Germany (Irina had to work). Our first stop Vogtsbauernhof, a wonderful historical farm village in the town of Gutach, Germany (http://vogtsen.land-in-sicht.com/index.php). This village has the original farm house dating back to about 1600, as well as several other farm houses that have been relocated from other areas (each from about the same period) I have attached a picture of one of the houses. These houses all had similar designs. Their roofs all came very close to the ground to shed the snow in the winter. They also combined the barn and house into one unit. The cows were in the first floor (said to provide some heat in the winter), the living area was on the second floor and the barn area (for equipment and hay) was on the third level. They were built on the hill side and this allowed a path into the third floor for easily getting the equipment and hay into the building.

Our next stop was quite an experience! We went to the beautiful Alpirsbach Monastery in Alpirsbach, Germany (http://www.schloesser-magazin.de/en/monastery-alpirsbach/Monastery/237632.html). I have included a link to their website as there is no way that our pictures can do justice to this magnificent structure. The structure was started around 1125. As was the case with most of the cathedrals and monasteries, they were built over a rather long period (sometimes taking 300 or more years to complete). This monastery was no exception. In fact, it has the unique feature of having two different styles of architecture: Gothic and Romanesque. One of the buildings has both types of architecture.

After touring the Monastery we enjoyed a tour of the brewery that the Monks started. This brewery is both an active brewery and a museum. The tour was absolutely great. Matthias had talked to the folks about getting an English speaking tour guide. It turns out that we went on a German speaking tour, but the main tour guide went along and gave us a personal tour. He had a lot of passion about his job and a great sense of humor. Of course, we got to sample the end product (Alpirsbacher) at the end of the tour {great beer!}.

After the tour we went to a great restaurant owned by the brewery. We ordered several different entrees that were typical of the regional food.

Matthias then drove us back to Karlsruhe via back roads in the Black Forrest. It is impossible to describe the fantastic scenery!

Wednesday the boys got up early and went with Matthias to the great museum in Sinsheim, Germany. This museum is famous for being the only one to have both the Concord and Russian Tu-144 supersonic passenger planes in one location. Both are mounted on the roof of the building and you can walk trough them. The museum does not have a great website, but this site will give you some idea of the fabulous collection: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinsheim_Auto_&_Technik_Museum

That afternoon we met the girls at beautiful palace in Ludwigsburg, Germany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwigsburg_Palace). The construction of this palace was started in 1704. This palace reminded us of Versailles. We had a great English speaking tour guide for the tour of the inside of the palace and then took a long walk through the enormous gardens. I have attached a photo, but as usual, it does not do justice to the palace and surroundings.

Now for some random notes:

I try to put links to Google Maps for many of the places we go. In the USA, that is easy, since our satellite dish gives us that information directly. I just found a website that makes it easy to put in a European address and it will locate the GPS coordinates. I then transfer those coordinates to Google maps and put the link here. Now that I have that ability, I will catch up with our previous stops. The Paris hotel is (here). The Ratingen hotel is (here). I have updated the previous blogs to reflect this information.

Irina had pointed out some corrections to the blog. First of all she pointed out that their wedding was in 2005 rather than 2006 as noted earlier. Next, she filled us in on some of the building dates for the structures I mentioned in my Ratingen post. The Water Castle dates back to roughly 1000 for the first part of the castle and the first house in the old market was built in 1472

We are amazed at way that people treat there dogs here. Many folks have dogs and they all seem to be very well behaved. What amazes us most is that dogs are often welcome in the restaurants. Indeed, Birgit's family brought their dog to the family “reunion” dinner and there were several other dogs there as well. Every once in a while, there will be a brief “barking” match, but it ends quickly.

At least half of the public toilets in Europe are pay toilets. Some have coin operated turn stiles, some have attendants, and some have “tip” dishes at the entrance. They are all quite clean, so you don't mind paying for the use.

As we have been noting, there are cathedrals in every town/village. They are all magnificent structures. But what is really noteworthy is that most have functional bell towers. Almost everywhere we have gone we have been serenaded by the beautiful sound of these bells.

As has always been the case, fuel in Europe is very expensive. Currently gasoline is 1.5 Euro per liter and diesel is 1.4 Euro per liter. That equates to $8.51 per gallon for gasoline and $7.95 for Diesel. They also use the “ultra low sulfur” diesel that is now required in the USA.

You see almost no pickup trucks on the streets. Most of the cars are what we would call compact (most hold 4 people comfortably). Most are powered by small diesel engines and they are standard shift. Matthias said his car gets about 5.5 liters per 100 kilometers (standard unit of fuel mileage in Europe). That equates to about 43 MPG. He has been chauffeuring us around in a borrowed VW van (see photo) that gets about 36 MGP.

I think that is about all I am capable of writing right now. I am still three days behind, but I will try to catch up as we travel to Austria by train today.

Farm House at Vogtsbauernhof

Palace at Ludwigburg

Our "tour bus" for our Karlsruhe Stay

Hello again from Karlsruhe, Germany

Hello again from Karlsruhe, Germany

Wednesday Evening; August 20, 2008 (fifth travelogue of this trip)

As has been the case with the last few travelogues, I am starting this one while traveling from Ratingen back to Karlsruhe, Germany (on Monday 8/18). Except this time, it is a bit slower form of travel. We are on a boat cruising from Koblenz to Bachrach on the Rhine river. This is a cruise we have taken many times. It has a very large number of Castles on both sides of the river (and one in the middle).

We arrived in Ratingen Sunday afternoon and were greeted by Irina's dad who had a roses for Pat.

Our hotel was very nice and had a great European style breakfast included. It is located (here)

Yesterday we toured Ratingen.

One of the stops was the Water Castle (see photo) which used to be an old farm (update: Irina said that this building was first started about 1100). As the photo shows, it is very picturesque. We also walked through the town market place. There are some gorgeous old buildings including one of the original houses (1600s, I think – later information from Irina it was built in 1472).

We went to Irina's sister Karin's for a great lunch and then to another sister (Birgit) for afternoon coffee and cake (a typical event in Germany). From there we returned to the hotel for an hour of rest and then to a family dinner with all of Irina's family. The dinner was at a restaurant that used to be an old water wheel powered mill. All of Irina's family was there. That includes her two sisters, one brother, her dad, two spouses and 6 nieces and nephews. The Birts and Shepherds had each given the nieces and nephews shirts (the Birts had shirts made with their kids' names on the back and a map of Iowa with a star showing where Prescott is located on the front – the Shepherds gave them Bronco shirts). They seemed very happy with the shirts and we took several pictures including the group photo (see attached). Irina's brother Andreas treated us to our dinners and schnapps for Bill and I. Unfortunately, Matthias had to remain in Karlsruhe because he was on call at the hospital.

Our trip to Ratingen was very special to us and we had a wonderful time.

We took a brief walking tour of Bacharach and then boarded a train for our return to Karlsruhe

Note: I am a few days behind, because there is so much going on and so little time to write. I am going to post this today (8/20) even thought I have not covered the last two days. Hopefully I will catch up in the next few days.

Water Castle in Ratingen

The Dinner Party in Ratingen

Hello from Ratingen, Germany

Hello from Ratingen, Germany

Sunday Evening; August 17, 2008 (fourth travelogue of this trip)

As was the case for the last two travelogues, this one is being written on high speed train as we travel from Karlsruhe to Ratingen Germany. Ratigen is Irina's home town (more about Irina a bit later in this travelogue).

Those of you who know me, know that France is not on the top of my list of places to visit in Europe (how is that for an attempt to be politically correct?). Well, I now have to admit that I had a great time in Paris! We got to see a lot of great places and the people seemed friendly and willing to help us.

We have been doing a tremendous amount of walking AND climbing stairs! It seems like everywhere we go, there are several flights of stairs. That is good for our health, but it has emphasized the need to be in better shape!

The cost travel to Europe is quite expensive. Hotels and restaurants have always been on the expensive side, but the real factor on this trip is the “soft dollar”. When we started out, the Euro cost 1.56 dollars. Since we arrived here, the dollar has improved a bit (1.47 dollars to the Euro as of 8/15). We knew going into this trip that it would be costly, but it could easily be our last trip and we wanted to travel here while we still had our heath and could walk up all of the d@$& stairs {grin}.

Now, a bit a background about our stay in Karlsruhe and Ratingen. In '81/'82 we had a German exchange student: Irina Koslowsky. She stayed with us for a year and attended high school with our girls. We have stayed in close contact with her over the years. She has visited us several times since '82 and we have visited her and her family several times as well. In March of 2006 (editorial correction: their wedding was 2005) we traveled to Karlsruhe to attend her wedding to Matthias Obert. When they found out about our plans for this trip, they offered to move out of there apartment and let us stay there for over a week. When they were in Colorado for our family vacation in June of this year, they helped us finish our plans for the trip. They are really super people!

We arrived in Karlsruhe Friday afternoon about 2:30 and Irina was there to greet us. She had ridden her bicycle from work to the train station. She walked the short distance to tram (street car) tracks with us to make sure that we got on the correct tram. She then rode her bike across town and met us at the tram stop for her apartment. In the afternoon we took a tour of the palace in Karlsruhe This was built 1715. It is the center of town and the streets radiate out from the Palace. We climbed to the top of the Palace (more stairs) and had a great view of the city. Karlsruhe is a city of 300,000 people.

That evening we had a great dinner on the patio of the apartment. Their apartment is very spacious and modern (built in the '50s on a foundation that was built about 1900 – the original building and most of the city was heavily damaged during the war).

Saturday we went to the farmers market at a town square. We had done this the last time we were there and it is a very fun activity! In the afternoon Matthias drove us to the Maulbron Monastery. This monastery was started in 1147. A book that Irina bought for us gives a great description of the monastery: “The Cistercian monastery conveys an almost unadulterated image of a medieval monastery complex enclosed by walls and embedded in a remote landscape”. It is a complete village that is still in use today. Instead of being a Catholic monastery, it now houses a protestant school and many of the town government functions. I have attached a couple of photos.

On the way home we stopped in a small town (Oberderdingen) and had a fantastic dinner at a winery. We each ordered different dinners and shared. This turned out to be a once-a-year festival. They had a band that we listened to for a few songs. They were singing American songs in English (“California Dreaming, Stand by your man, etc.)

As I write this, we are traveling beside the autobahn and we are going much faster that the cars are going (and as you all know, they drive very fast on the autobahn). We are going 291 KPH (187 MPH). On the autobahn some people drive at 200 KPH, but most drive closer to 160 KPH – 100 MPH). Our seats are just behind the train engineer, and we can see out the front of the train.

Village at Maulbronn Monastery

Maulbronn Monastery

Dinner in Oberderdingen

Hello from Karlsruhe, German

Hello from Karlsruhe, Germany

Saturday Morning; August 16, 2008 (third travelogue of this trip)

Note: the photos for this post are at the bottom of the post.

As was the case with the last travelogue, I am starting this on the train (Friday afternoon). In this case, it is the high speed train from Paris to Karlsruhe. This train has seating much like that in first class on a plane. It also has an AC power outlet to power our computer.

We need to catch up on a couple of things. We have always traveled by train when we are in Europe. We buy a Eurail pass (only available in the USA) that lets us travel 1^st class on any train in Europe at any time. The trains here are absolutely great. The passenger trains will take you most anywhere, run frequently, and are generally very prompt and clean. First class (only class available with Eurail) is very similar to first class plane accommodations. The passenger trains are almost always electric and run on their own set of tracks (no freight trains on the same track). It is easy to figure out the schedule. For this trip Pat made several reservations for the major legs of the trip (extra cost, but required on some trains). The rest of the time, we will show up at the station and figure out where we are going to go. If we get on the wrong train it is no big deal, we just get off and get on the right train without worrying about having to buy tickets. The Eurail pass also lets us travel on cog trains, and the boats on the Rhine.

When we traveled to Bruges, it was our second time there. Both times we traveled with a Gates co-worker and both times in a Citroen (premium French Car). The first time, was many years ago and we traveled in a Citroen DS which was a car that was way ahead of its time. I have attached a picture of this kind of car (last made in 1972, I think). I am also attaching a photo of Jos and the Citroen that we traveled in this time. It was a very modern 1600 CC diesel powered, 5 speed standard vehicle that had great power, and gets about 35 MPG. There appears to be several organizations in the US devoted to the history and collection of Citroens. One is: http://www.citroen-ca.com/members.html. The DS had a very unique hydraulic over air suspension that was said to be superior to anything on the road.

The weather here has been quite good for touring. The highs have been in the 70s and low 80s, with a few showers. It looks like it will be that kind of weather for a few days. However it looks like it will be pretty hot when we get to Rome.

When we got to Paris we bought Metro (subway) three day passes. We got very proficient getting around the town. Often times transferring several times on a trip.

Our hotel in Pars (see photo) was very small, as were the rooms! It is located (here). However, it was fairly typical of the older hotels in Europe. Most are not air conditioned, but that was not a problem, as the evenings were cool and we opened the windows (no screens). It was quite comfortable.

Tuesday evening (8/12) we rode the subway to the Moulin Rouge (three stops and one transfer). It is a very famous night club (French Can Can). We did not go in, but it seems to be a “happening” for both tourists and locals.

Wednesday morning we went to Sacre-Coeur which is a beautiful cathedral overlooking all of Paris. Our Metro tickets covered the cost of the Funicular (cable car) up the steep hill to the church.

Wednesday afternoon we took the Metro to Champs Elysees (a beautiful tree lined street for perhaps one mile and then very fancy stores for the second mile) leading up to the Arch de Triumph. This is a magnificent monument to commemorate military events. It was built by Napoleon stating in 1806. We went to the top (284 steps, but we took a lift part way).

Wednesday evening we booked a tour which included a boat ride on the Seine river, and a dinner at the 95 meter level of the Eiffel tower. It was a great experience. We then took the tour bus back to the Moulin Rouge and walked about a mile back to the hotel.

Thursday we took a combination Metro/train ride out to Versailles. The Palace and Gardens of Versailles was built in the seventeenth century by Kings Louis XIII and XIV. It became the center of the French Government. It is a huge set of buildings with unbelievable art and decoration. We took a private tour of the King's “apartment” and the gorgeous Chapel. I have included a photo that shows some of the Estate. There is no way to photographically do justice to this very famous location.

Sorry this is a bit long, but there is so much to document and I had some time on this three hour train trip.

Our Hotel in Paris

Jos and the Citroen we rode in to go the Bruges

A Citroen DS like we rode to Bruges many years ago

Sacre-Coeur whick overlooks Paris

Some of the buildings at Versailles

Hello from Paris

Travelers at one of the windmills in Bruges

Typical Bruges buildings

Dinner at the Grand Plaza surrounded by beautiful buildings in Brussels

Some of the Buildings in the Grand Plaza

Hotel Deville in the Grand Plaza

Hello from Paris France

Tuesday Evening; August 12, 2008 (second travelogue of this trip)

I am starting this travelogue on the high speed train between Brussels and Paris. This train travels at 186 MPH!

Sunday we went to Bruges, Belgium. This is another historic city that used to be an ocean port. It has mostly been restored and is quite a tourist attraction for European, as well as world travelers. There are lots of canals and several windmills. We got to to tour two of the windmills. They were used for grinding various grain products. They have to be mechanically turned to face the wind.

I have included a couple of photos of Bruges. It is impossible to really show the great architecture. One beautiful church “Church of our Lady” (started in 1220 and took over 200 years to build) had a Michelangelo sculpture “Madonna and Child” (1504). It was the only one of his works to leave Italy.

In Bruges we had lunch at the local brewery. It was a great lunch and the beer was even better. Jos said that there are 854 brands of Belgium beer registered with the government. We were only able to try 5 or 6 brands, but they were all great.

Sunday evening we went to a very special dinner. We had gone there before, and Pat really enjoyed it. The last time there were perhaps 10-12 courses with wine or sorbet in between each course. The place is actually a house where the couple prepares and serves the meals. This time there were not as many courses, and some of the courses were a bit “different”. For those of you who know Pat and Jeanne, they both had raw salmon! Even though the dinner experience was not as good as it was previously, we had a great time.

Monday we toured Gent some more. We went back to the beautiful cathedral (St. Baafskathedraal) where they have an unbelievable painting from 1432, by Van Eyck. The colors are still magnificent, and the painters of that period had some sort of technique that makes the painting look three dimensional. We also went a neat castle (“Castle of the Counts”) that was close to the hotel

Monday afternoon we went by train to one of our favorite places in Europe – the Grand Plaza in Brussels. We did some walking around and had dinner in a sidewalk cafe surrounded by the magnificent buildings in the Grand Plaza (dating back to the 1400s. I have included a couple of pictures.

Today we traveled to Paris. So far, I am having fun in Paris if you can believe that!

More in a few days.

Hello from Gent, Belgium

Our Hotel in Gent

Hello from the Novotel Hotel in Gent Belgium.

Sunday Morning; August 10, 2008 (first travelogue of this trip)

Just a bit of background on this trip. A couple of years ago when we were visiting Bill and Jeanne Birt (Jeanne is Pat's cousin) back it Iowa (a favorite place for us to visit) we started talking about Europe and their desire to travel there. Since then we have been planning this trip. Of course, the timing is not good with the dollar vs Euro, but we decided to go anyway.

We met up in Dallas and flew to Paris. That is a 9.5 hour flight. From there, we took the train to Gent, transferring in Brussels from the high speed train to a commuter train. We arrived at the hotel at 4:00 PM in the afternoon.

Our hotel is right in the middle of historic Gent, Belgium (here). After we arrived in Gent, we met with Jos, a fellow that I used to work with when I made many trips to Belgium for Gates. I had contacted Jos when we knew that we were coming to Belgium since he has lived here all of his life and is a great “tour guide”.

Jos gave us a great walking tour of Gent, and we ended up at favorite restaurant of his that only serves spareribs. The restaurant, Amadeus, is located in an historic old building.

I will write more about Gent later, but it has a lot of history and many of the buildings date back to the 1200s.

We seem to have adjusted to the time change (“jet lag”). We forced ourselves to stay up until it was time to go to bed according to the local time.

Thats all for now.