Erik wants YOU to leave a comment!Wednesday, September 26, 2007
September 24
We slept in a little and then had breakfast at the hotel before taking the train a few stops back, deeper into the Black Forest. We stopped at Titisee, a lake there in the forest. It's apparently a pretty touristy place on the weekends, but we were there in the morning of a weekday, so it was nice and tranquil, for the most part. We mostly walked around and looked at the scenery. I looked at some kitschy gifts but couldn't quite bring myself to buy any of them. Then we sat on a bench and watched the boats on the lake. That was probably the best part.
Boats for rent, lined up on the shore of the lake.
The water was so clear. Look at the fish.
Just so you know, German ducks say "kwak, kwak."
Trying to restrain the crazed Navy vet.
The Freiburg cathedral
Gargoyle Row
This is the really impressive portal to the cathedral.
Dr. Rust and I dwarfed by said portal.
We spent a little time wandering around Freiburg and then decided to head back to Kirchzarten for dinner. We ate at our same place from the night before. We spent three or four hours solving the world's problems over dinner, as usual. They probably miss us there now. And our hotel probably still hates us for not eating at their restaurant.
Boats for rent, lined up on the shore of the lake.
The water was so clear. Look at the fish.
Just so you know, German ducks say "kwak, kwak."
We were all standing there enjoying the peace and quiet when a tour group showed up and piled onto a nearby boat. We'd all had enough of tour guides the day before, so we were pretending to be annoyed. Dr. Rust dreamt up a good newspaper headline. We thought maybe the story could run in the Lariat:
CRAZED GERMAN NAVY VETERAN TORPEDOES TOURBOAT ON LAKE TITISEE. 27 CHINESE TOURISTS DEAD.
Okay, I'll admit that this is still cracking me up, a week later. Maybe you had to be there.
CRAZED GERMAN NAVY VETERAN TORPEDOES TOURBOAT ON LAKE TITISEE. 27 CHINESE TOURISTS DEAD.
Okay, I'll admit that this is still cracking me up, a week later. Maybe you had to be there.
Trying to restrain the crazed Navy vet.
After we had enjoyed as much of Titisee as we could stand, we got back on a train and traveled over to Freiburg, where Dr. Rust does research in the naval archives. He was pretty excited to show us around a city he loves, and we had a good time. Our visit began with trips to five or six bookstores. Erik was way too happy, and we finally had to tear him away so that we could get some lunch. We went to one of Dr. Rust's favorite restaurants, a pizza place near his normal hotel, and split a few pizzas.
Afterwards, we visited the Freiburg cathedral, which is pretty neat. It's built out of a red stone that I didn't recognize, and the gargoyles are really low, where you can see them well from the ground. After that, I looked through a bunch of sheet music for sale in the cathedral square. Some of it would have been nice to have, if it hadn't mostly been transcriptions for bassoon!
Afterwards, we visited the Freiburg cathedral, which is pretty neat. It's built out of a red stone that I didn't recognize, and the gargoyles are really low, where you can see them well from the ground. After that, I looked through a bunch of sheet music for sale in the cathedral square. Some of it would have been nice to have, if it hadn't mostly been transcriptions for bassoon!
The Freiburg cathedral
Gargoyle Row
This is the really impressive portal to the cathedral.
Dr. Rust and I dwarfed by said portal.
The church had lots of really neat side chapels, all the way around the back of the sanctuary. This altar was amazing, all carved so delicately from wood.
We spent a little time wandering around Freiburg and then decided to head back to Kirchzarten for dinner. We ate at our same place from the night before. We spent three or four hours solving the world's problems over dinner, as usual. They probably miss us there now. And our hotel probably still hates us for not eating at their restaurant.
September 23
After yet another great breakfast courtesy of Inge (just laugh at anyone who calls the breakfast offerings at an American hotel "Continental"), Inge, Dr. Rust, Erik, and I hopped in the car and drove over to a nearby park, where we explored a really neat cave. We can't remember the name of the cave right now - we'll ask Dr. Rust. Anyway, the cave is part of the same system as the Blautopf and Urspring. All the springs and caves in the area are connected, whether the connections are big enough for people to crawl through or not. They've done some tests with colors in the water. I think soap in the water would be better.
Checking out the "cauliflower" stalactites. Do I always look so slack-jawed?
These stalactites look like frozen water.
Because of the day before at the cathedral, Erik got a lot of ribbing for actually making it all the way into and out of the cave. Poor guy. Dr. Rust had collected some beech nuts to show us. I ate one. Apparently, the Germans ground them for flour during the tight times after both world wars.
We stopped for a few minutes to check out the park's year-round ropes course. It seemed like a really nice one. Inge brings groups from Urspring's sister schools here regularly. Erik and I should do something like that sometime.
We went back to the Banholtzers' place and sat in the garden until dinner. Dr. Rust and I paid Schildy a visit at his turtle pen. Schildy was initially a bit worried but decided that we were okay. Inge and her mom fixed us a really good dinner (Germans eat their big meal at noon), including lots of home-grown and locally-grown stuff. We had rouladen, a chanterelle mushroom dish, mashed potatoes, wine, etc.
After lunch, it was time for us to take leave of the family and head to the train stations. Inge's mom was really sad to see us go and gave both of us big hugs. Our train ride through to the Black Forest was really beautiful.
We checked in at our nice hotel and decided we probably couldn't afford it for supper. So we took a walk and checked out Kirchzarten. It's a pretty small place, so our walk took about 10 minutes.
Checking out the "cauliflower" stalactites. Do I always look so slack-jawed?
The cave was drippy and wet and pretty chilly, so deep in the earth. We climbed down, down, down on ladders, traveled laterally for a ways, and then climbed back up, coming out at a different spot from where we descended. Dr. Rust stayed up top in the park while Inge went with us. Dr. Rust had bad memories of being put through the paces in this cave by his boys two years ago. I guess they rushed through the whole thing in about 15 minutes, while we took almost an hour. He said he was pretty sore for days after that! Inge was happy to be down there with us, though, since she's a science teacher. Things like stalactites and erosion really get her going, though she can't stand the English names for a lot of them. German is much more scientific, you see.
These stalactites look like frozen water.
Because of the day before at the cathedral, Erik got a lot of ribbing for actually making it all the way into and out of the cave. Poor guy. Dr. Rust had collected some beech nuts to show us. I ate one. Apparently, the Germans ground them for flour during the tight times after both world wars.
We stopped for a few minutes to check out the park's year-round ropes course. It seemed like a really nice one. Inge brings groups from Urspring's sister schools here regularly. Erik and I should do something like that sometime.
We went back to the Banholtzers' place and sat in the garden until dinner. Dr. Rust and I paid Schildy a visit at his turtle pen. Schildy was initially a bit worried but decided that we were okay. Inge and her mom fixed us a really good dinner (Germans eat their big meal at noon), including lots of home-grown and locally-grown stuff. We had rouladen, a chanterelle mushroom dish, mashed potatoes, wine, etc.
After lunch, it was time for us to take leave of the family and head to the train stations. Inge's mom was really sad to see us go and gave both of us big hugs. Our train ride through to the Black Forest was really beautiful.
We checked in at our nice hotel and decided we probably couldn't afford it for supper. So we took a walk and checked out Kirchzarten. It's a pretty small place, so our walk took about 10 minutes.
A stork! We saw this guy and his wife (or perhaps the other way around) a lot while we were in town. Dr. Rust says that in his hometown, everyone has a platform on top of the house to encourage stork nesting. Cool.
We managed to find a good and cheap restaurant - Spritzen Bier- und Weinstube. As could be expected from the name, they have tasty beer. Erik had new wine, something he'd tried the night before. It's the grape-harvesting season here, and you can get some of the newly-pressed, not totally fermented wine. It's sweet and cloudy. We spent about three hours eating and talking and decided to come back the next night.
We managed to find a good and cheap restaurant - Spritzen Bier- und Weinstube. As could be expected from the name, they have tasty beer. Erik had new wine, something he'd tried the night before. It's the grape-harvesting season here, and you can get some of the newly-pressed, not totally fermented wine. It's sweet and cloudy. We spent about three hours eating and talking and decided to come back the next night.
September 22
After a really great breakfast at August and Inge's, we drove to Ulm, where we visited the Saturday market, toured the cathedral, and walked around the city. The cathedral, called Ulmer Münster, is the tallest church in Europe. And I went all the way to the top, as you will soon see.
Check it out!
Inge, Dr. Rust, and I check out the elaborately carved choir stalls.
768 steps, one way. Quite a climb!
View of the market as we began the ascent.
My art shot for today.
Erik had abandoned me by this point. He was feeling kind of uneasy and asked me to be more careful with the camera. I pretended to throw it off the edge, and it just killed him. Picture a jellied mass of cowering Erik. So, I left him at the first main stopping point. Later on, he mustered up the courage to follow me up a ways further, but he went back down before I descended.
A really cool gargoyle. It's really weird to see one from this angle. Dr. Rust's son Martin took a picture of this guy two years ago, so I was glad to find him. You really get a sense for how tall the cathedral is. See the Danube back there? Much more beautiful than it was in Vienna - even blue!
My gargoyle friend from above, surveying the marketplace.
See how tiny the people are? What crazy guy was hanging out there putting those decorations on the church?!?
Almost to the top - this was the final staircase.
Looking down at the church itself. You can just barely see the sparrow, the symbol of the city, down on the ridgepole in the middle of the church's roof.
Ulm and the Danube. What a pretty day. Bavaria is on the left shore.
On the way back down, whom did I spy but Dr. Rust and Banholtzers.
See, I made it to that last railing up there!
So many of the houses are like this.
The City Hall with its celestial clock.
Check it out!
Inge, Dr. Rust, and I check out the elaborately carved choir stalls.
After we checked out the church, it was time for us to climb the spire. Inge graciously payed for Erik and me to go up. As it would turn out, she wasted her money on Erik!
768 steps, one way. Quite a climb!
View of the market as we began the ascent.
My art shot for today.
Erik had abandoned me by this point. He was feeling kind of uneasy and asked me to be more careful with the camera. I pretended to throw it off the edge, and it just killed him. Picture a jellied mass of cowering Erik. So, I left him at the first main stopping point. Later on, he mustered up the courage to follow me up a ways further, but he went back down before I descended.
A really cool gargoyle. It's really weird to see one from this angle. Dr. Rust's son Martin took a picture of this guy two years ago, so I was glad to find him. You really get a sense for how tall the cathedral is. See the Danube back there? Much more beautiful than it was in Vienna - even blue!
My gargoyle friend from above, surveying the marketplace.
See how tiny the people are? What crazy guy was hanging out there putting those decorations on the church?!?
Almost to the top - this was the final staircase.
Looking down at the church itself. You can just barely see the sparrow, the symbol of the city, down on the ridgepole in the middle of the church's roof.
Ulm and the Danube. What a pretty day. Bavaria is on the left shore.
On the way back down, whom did I spy but Dr. Rust and Banholtzers.
See, I made it to that last railing up there!
After the cathedral, we walked around Ulm. It was such a beautiful day, and we saw at least three newly-married couples getting their wedding pictures taken.
So many of the houses are like this.
The City Hall with its celestial clock.
For lunch we went to the fishmonger's. The shop has been operated by the same family for at least 300 years. Pretty tasty, too.
Inge and August are unstoppable, so our next move was to pile back in the car and head out for a hike in the mountains. We walked through some beautiful woods to the ruins of a castle that commands a stunning view of the surrounding countryside. The trees are just beginning to turn, so it was really beautiful. We had a really good laugh about a tourguide who was absolutely torturing a group of old people. He stood in the same spot and blabbed for at least half an hour. There was a big tent with a lunch laid out, obviously set up for the group, and someone started a joke about how there would be a multiple choice test that they would have to take before they got to eat. I think we finally established that 50 percent or under had to retake the course, 50-60% earned you bread and water in the dungeon, 70% got you dinner but no dessert, 80% was dinner and dessert with water only, and 90% and up got to have beer or wine with their meal. Okay, so we're weird, but it was really cracking us up.
Inge and August are unstoppable, so our next move was to pile back in the car and head out for a hike in the mountains. We walked through some beautiful woods to the ruins of a castle that commands a stunning view of the surrounding countryside. The trees are just beginning to turn, so it was really beautiful. We had a really good laugh about a tourguide who was absolutely torturing a group of old people. He stood in the same spot and blabbed for at least half an hour. There was a big tent with a lunch laid out, obviously set up for the group, and someone started a joke about how there would be a multiple choice test that they would have to take before they got to eat. I think we finally established that 50 percent or under had to retake the course, 50-60% earned you bread and water in the dungeon, 70% got you dinner but no dessert, 80% was dinner and dessert with water only, and 90% and up got to have beer or wine with their meal. Okay, so we're weird, but it was really cracking us up.
The whole area lies in the crater of an extinct volcano.
We ended our day with dinner at a local restaurant, Hirsch im Grünen. That's like "stag in the country," or something like that. All the food and drink comes from the countryside around. Everything was good, and the Pils was great. The proprietor had such a crazy accent that even I could tell it was weird. Good times.
September 21
It's a really beautiful school with many buildings dating from the 15th century. The complex was a convent before the Reformation and became a school about 100 years ago. The whole thing is built around a beautiful blue pond formed by water gushing up from the ground - hence "Urspring" or "source fountain." Unfortunately, we left our camera in the car, so we had to steal some pictures from the school's website.
A badly cropped photo of Inge.
And one of August (or Barney, as Dr. Rust secretly calls him.)
Urspring School
After Urspring, we drove down to Blaubeuren proper and visited the Blautopf, a larger spring that is part of the same system as Urspring. It's a really beautiful place with dark, dark blue, clear water.
The Blautopf (blue pot). Once again, we forgot our camera and have borrowed this photo from the web.As we were walking away from the Blautopf, Erik walked right into the gutter of the oldest blacksmithing shop in Swabia. I saw it about to happen out of the corner of my eye, but the closest I could come to stopping him was to punch him right in the gut while uttering a primal cry. Despite my best efforts, he walloped himself right on the crown of his head and landed in a heap. He sprang right back up, though. This was to be the first of many smooth moves on Erik's part.
After the Blautopf and a stop for some tea and coffee, Erik and I checked in at our hotel, if a guesthouse 6 kilometers from a town that no one has ever heard of can be so called. We had some time to rest and then went over to August and Inge's house for dinner. We got to meet Inge's mom, a really sweet lady, and their new cat, Scotty.
Now for a bit of backstory. While walking the streets of Maastricht, we stumbled upon this humorous bit of graffiti. Maastricht has next to no graffiti, but this sample was in French, which explains a lot since Eastern Belgium is covered in the stuff.
I am Turtle!!!
But when we came to August and Inge's house and met their most laid-back family member, we discovered the truth. Meet Schildy:
Ich bin Schildkröte!!! We had a great dinner that started with champagne, ended with single-malt Scotch, and included a home-grown salad, red wine, and a selection of the finest meats, cheeses, and breads in the land. We had a lot of fun, even though a lot of the conversation was in German.
Biking in Maastricht
We just returned from a 5-day trip to Germany (Swabia and the Black Forest), so we have a lot of catching up to do! Bear with us. Before we left for the trip, though, we had some really nice days in Maastricht and did some biking with Dr. Rust.
As you probably know, stereotypical Holland is a land of dikes, dams, canals, etc. This isn't so true down in our region, but we do have one very nice canal near Maastricht. It's really nice to bike along there on a nice day. We see a lot of nature and animals, and it's neat to see the boats sail by. And since Maastricht isn't exactly hilly, we can bike for miles without running out of steam. The three of us have lots of fun and laugh at Erik when he tries to crash.
As you probably know, stereotypical Holland is a land of dikes, dams, canals, etc. This isn't so true down in our region, but we do have one very nice canal near Maastricht. It's really nice to bike along there on a nice day. We see a lot of nature and animals, and it's neat to see the boats sail by. And since Maastricht isn't exactly hilly, we can bike for miles without running out of steam. The three of us have lots of fun and laugh at Erik when he tries to crash.
Erik exploring at the edge of the canal.
Since we first arrived in Maastricht, Erik had been allured by the McDonald's "McOriental" sign in the central market of town. He finally talked me into going to try them. So, for 3.5 Euro apiece (plus 50 cents a packet for ketchup and mayo), we had McOriental combos. As great as all this may sound, it really wasn't. Gross! I guess McDonalds is still McDonalds, wherever you go. But if you want a bad cumin meatloaf hunk on pita, then you now know where you can go.
Before I realized just how big a waste of money the McOriental was to be. Why is it "oriental," anyway? Maybe "McGreek" or "McTurk."
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
September 9
We ate breakfast at the hotel before heading out for the train station. We missed the free breakfast the first day, so we made up for lost time by pigging out. Erik's eyes were bigger than his stomach, so he picked up too many pastries. We stuck them in our bag when no one was looking and ate them for lunch. Yum! Good thing, too, because our chances for food were next to nil during our journey back to Maastricht.
Yes, Austria really looks like the postcards.
We arrived back in Maastricht at about 11:50 PM with a bunch of students in tow. We met up with them by chance on the train from Frankfurt. Overall we had a great trip, though the soakings we endured stuck us both with colds over the next few days.
September 8
We are so behind! We'll try to be better.
We started our day at about 3:30 AM and were at the Franciscan cloister in Graz by 4:00 AM. It was so early and dark and cold! It was Saturday morning, too, so some drunk people were still wandering the streets, especially since we had to walk through the red light district. Well, maybe it wasn't really a red light district, but there were lots of signs that said things like "Cold Drinks, Hot Girls!" We made the walk without incident, though.
Our friendly and helpful friars.
Heading up.
This was our allotted space in the crowd. We were closer than most, believe it or not.
The Pope arrives! See the whitish car thing right in the middle of the picture? That's the Pope-Mobile.
The procession of the Magna Mater Austriae.
There was a procession of this image after the Mass. It's at least 850 years old and was kind of the symbol of the unity of Austria and its empire. It was really neat to see all the Slovenes, Hungarians, Croatians, Poles, etc. coming together with the Austrians at this event. Some of the pilgrims were even waving Habsburg flags. We stuck with our "Viva Papa!" one.
We started down the mountain on the wrong path and made it a long way before we realized we weren't going towards our bus. So, we climbed back up and found the right path down. It was fine, though, because we were on the bus well before it left. We didn't get back to our hotel in Graz until 7:00 PM or so, so it was a really long day. We devoured our dinner and went to bed. We slept really well after such a long day!
We started our day at about 3:30 AM and were at the Franciscan cloister in Graz by 4:00 AM. It was so early and dark and cold! It was Saturday morning, too, so some drunk people were still wandering the streets, especially since we had to walk through the red light district. Well, maybe it wasn't really a red light district, but there were lots of signs that said things like "Cold Drinks, Hot Girls!" We made the walk without incident, though.
We had a really Monty Python-esque moment when the friars came down to meet us. We were waiting at this massive door (see below). We heard footsteps resounding down some stone corridor and then lots of whispering followed by the turning of four or five ancient bolts. Then the door creaked open and a short friar stuck his head out, retreated, and slammed the door again. More whispering. Apparently everything seemed safe, so the group joined us outside and led us to the bus.
The Door. It was much darker out than it seems in the picture.
The Door. It was much darker out than it seems in the picture.
Our friendly and helpful friars.
After about three hours of riding in the most uncomfortable tour bus I've met to date, we arrived at Mariazell. About a million buses (slight exaggeration) and about 30,000 people (slight underestimate) arrived at around the same time, so it was all pretty wild. Of course, it was drizzling the whole time and pretty cold.
Did I mention that Mariazell is in the Alps, like, on a mountain? And we had to climb it. And every pilgrim climbing the mountain had to pee. And there was only one port-a-potty. All the guys just dove off into the brush, but the women were all lined up for the potty. I eventually followed the lead of a fat old lady and went behind a hay bale. What relief. Unfortunately, we were both too distracted at the time to think to take a picture.
Did I mention that Mariazell is in the Alps, like, on a mountain? And we had to climb it. And every pilgrim climbing the mountain had to pee. And there was only one port-a-potty. All the guys just dove off into the brush, but the women were all lined up for the potty. I eventually followed the lead of a fat old lady and went behind a hay bale. What relief. Unfortunately, we were both too distracted at the time to think to take a picture.
Heading up.
This was our allotted space in the crowd. We were closer than most, believe it or not.
The Pope arrives! See the whitish car thing right in the middle of the picture? That's the Pope-Mobile.
Our view. We stood here for over four hours. The tiny blip on the platform way up on the left is the Pope.
The Mass was pretty weird. We're pretty sure the Pope wasn't too involved in the planning, like picking the vestments and stuff. Most of the Mass was in German, but the rest was in one of the languages of the old Austro-Hungarian empire. It was neat. Erik understood quite a bit, but I was mostly there just soaking up the atmosphere. The people near us were really neat and really excited to be there. There was a good mix of young and old, just different kinds of people all having that experience together. I wouldn't trade the experience, but I'm not sure that I'd want to go again.
The Mass was pretty weird. We're pretty sure the Pope wasn't too involved in the planning, like picking the vestments and stuff. Most of the Mass was in German, but the rest was in one of the languages of the old Austro-Hungarian empire. It was neat. Erik understood quite a bit, but I was mostly there just soaking up the atmosphere. The people near us were really neat and really excited to be there. There was a good mix of young and old, just different kinds of people all having that experience together. I wouldn't trade the experience, but I'm not sure that I'd want to go again.
The procession of the Magna Mater Austriae.
There was a procession of this image after the Mass. It's at least 850 years old and was kind of the symbol of the unity of Austria and its empire. It was really neat to see all the Slovenes, Hungarians, Croatians, Poles, etc. coming together with the Austrians at this event. Some of the pilgrims were even waving Habsburg flags. We stuck with our "Viva Papa!" one.We started down the mountain on the wrong path and made it a long way before we realized we weren't going towards our bus. So, we climbed back up and found the right path down. It was fine, though, because we were on the bus well before it left. We didn't get back to our hotel in Graz until 7:00 PM or so, so it was a really long day. We devoured our dinner and went to bed. We slept really well after such a long day!
September 7 Part II
We arrived in Graz at about 3:00 in the afternoon and walked from the station to our hotel. Fortunately, the hotel was much closer to the train station than the last one was. After checking in, I decided to take a nap, and Erik left to figure out our plans for the next day.
Gasthof zur Steierstub'n
Gasthof zur Steierstub'n
I woke up about two and a half hours later and was dismayed to find that Erik was still gone. He had made arrangements with the diocese of Graz to send to our hotel our tickets for the Pope's visit to Mariazell. Unfortunately, the reception had no idea what we were talking about. So Erik went on an odyssey beginning with an internet café and including three churches and the diocesan museum. After about three hours of searching for someone who could help, Erik finally ambushed some Franciscans after their afternoon Mass. After bumbling around in German for about half an hour, the brothers brought down Br. Franz, a giant with a shaved head. Br. Franz knew English and was really happy to help. He spent about 40 minutes making several phonecalls and finally sorted things out. He told Erik to meet them at 4 AM in from of the cloister so that we could all walk to the bus together. Lucky break!
The Franciscan church where Erik finally found help.
After Erik finally made it back to the hotel at about 6:00 (he wasn't dead in the street somewhere, after all!), we went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner. We both had Styrian Schnitzel with wine for me and a Pils for Erik for under 20 Euro! Much better than prices in Vienna! The hotel was about 20 Euro cheaper a night, too. The food was better, and the hotel was nicer. Unfortunately, Graz is apparently the city that never sleeps (on Friday nights at least), so we didn't get a lot of sleep that night in preparation for our 3:00 wake-up time the next morning...
The Franciscan church where Erik finally found help.
After Erik finally made it back to the hotel at about 6:00 (he wasn't dead in the street somewhere, after all!), we went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner. We both had Styrian Schnitzel with wine for me and a Pils for Erik for under 20 Euro! Much better than prices in Vienna! The hotel was about 20 Euro cheaper a night, too. The food was better, and the hotel was nicer. Unfortunately, Graz is apparently the city that never sleeps (on Friday nights at least), so we didn't get a lot of sleep that night in preparation for our 3:00 wake-up time the next morning...
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