Tomorrow we move out of our Duisburg apartment and start our "real" vacation. We take a train to Munich (with a layover at the Frankfurt airport to store some of our luggage) and have about 1.5 days in Munich for sightseeing. Then we meet our Backroads friends, take a bus for about an hour, and head out on the bikes. This trip has a two star Michelin restaurant on the second night, so I hope they work us hard on the bikes :-) The temperatures are predicted to be reasonable, but there is a bit too much rain in the forecast. Let's hope it dries up somewhat by the time we are riding. We end in Salzburg, where we have 2 days for sightseeing and then back to the Frankfurt airport by train.
Thursday, June 29, 2017
Reserved parking places (really, test of picture uploading)
This was a novel way to set things up as reserved parking places. The owner of the space uses a padlock to keep the red and white pole upright, and then lays it down when he wants to park. Takes a bit more time than our method of just having a sign, but it's a lot harder to ignore.
Hey, looks like this method of uploading pictures works! Hope to find time to report on the bike trip regularly.
Hey, looks like this method of uploading pictures works! Hope to find time to report on the bike trip regularly.
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
German houses
I think we have been in more private homes in Germany this visit than any previous one. This is not a tour of all varieties of German living arrangements (these people are all but one academics, from grad students to very senior professors, so that might lead to some biases). Sorry, no photos, as I wasn't thinking about doing a post like this when I visited, and also, it's sort of rude to visit someone's house and start taking pictures to show Americans who don't know about Germany.
Individual houses: two different people living in those. Both were in what I would consider a suburb, though I'm not sure whether they technically met that definition. One was single story; the other two story. The kitchens (here and everywhere) tend to be small by our standards, but the houses overall were of reasonable size (if you aren't looking for a McMansion). They have very small yards; I didn't see any lawn, but there were lots of nice trees and flowers and patios for sitting at. No air conditioning, the walls are of thick stone, and the most insulated windows you have ever seen ("The Germans are very proud of their windows").
Multi-story apartments: Three different instances of this. Two of them were in buildings where most apartments were single floor, but the top floor had a two level apartment with a roof garden as a third level. One was in an old building with no elevator (and on the 5th and 6th floors), but the other was a quite new building with underground parking and a building elevator. Both had circular staircases going to the roof, I assume to save space. Very spacious, but obviously the roof gardens, which were relatively large, were the only outdoor space. Fantastic views. The third one was on the ground floor (and one floor up), with the rest of the apartments in the building being single story. This one was more spacious, even had a sort of "man-cave"/bonus room. They had a small fenced patio in front. All three of these apartments were owned by the residents. Two of them were within a large city, and one was in a small suburb.
Single-story apartment: This was a two bedroom place (really one bedroom with office, but since German homes seldom have built in closets, an office is indistinguishable from a bedroom,until it is furnished). The rooms were nice sized, and the view was killer. But no outdoor space -- just a tiny terrace, barely big enough to sit at. I'm pretty sure this place was rented.
I think all Americans would have been taken aback by the small yards (unless their experience was downtown New York City, Chicago, Boston or the like). The houses would have seemed average to small by our standards, though I thought the owners felt they had plenty of room, and the multistory apartments would be similar. The single story apartment would be very similar to a two bedroom apartment anywhere in the US.
Individual houses: two different people living in those. Both were in what I would consider a suburb, though I'm not sure whether they technically met that definition. One was single story; the other two story. The kitchens (here and everywhere) tend to be small by our standards, but the houses overall were of reasonable size (if you aren't looking for a McMansion). They have very small yards; I didn't see any lawn, but there were lots of nice trees and flowers and patios for sitting at. No air conditioning, the walls are of thick stone, and the most insulated windows you have ever seen ("The Germans are very proud of their windows").
Multi-story apartments: Three different instances of this. Two of them were in buildings where most apartments were single floor, but the top floor had a two level apartment with a roof garden as a third level. One was in an old building with no elevator (and on the 5th and 6th floors), but the other was a quite new building with underground parking and a building elevator. Both had circular staircases going to the roof, I assume to save space. Very spacious, but obviously the roof gardens, which were relatively large, were the only outdoor space. Fantastic views. The third one was on the ground floor (and one floor up), with the rest of the apartments in the building being single story. This one was more spacious, even had a sort of "man-cave"/bonus room. They had a small fenced patio in front. All three of these apartments were owned by the residents. Two of them were within a large city, and one was in a small suburb.
Single-story apartment: This was a two bedroom place (really one bedroom with office, but since German homes seldom have built in closets, an office is indistinguishable from a bedroom,until it is furnished). The rooms were nice sized, and the view was killer. But no outdoor space -- just a tiny terrace, barely big enough to sit at. I'm pretty sure this place was rented.
I think all Americans would have been taken aback by the small yards (unless their experience was downtown New York City, Chicago, Boston or the like). The houses would have seemed average to small by our standards, though I thought the owners felt they had plenty of room, and the multistory apartments would be similar. The single story apartment would be very similar to a two bedroom apartment anywhere in the US.
Pictures from Cologne
Forgot to share some of my better photos, taken while we were in Cologne.
This is from walking along the river bank (the Rhein) after the opera. That's the Cologne Cathedral in the distance.
This is a tower from an old Roman wall that is right in the middle of town (the Romans were on one side of the river and the ur-Germans (Goths?) were on the other.)
I was quite pleased at how both of these came out, so I didn't want you to miss them.
This is from walking along the river bank (the Rhein) after the opera. That's the Cologne Cathedral in the distance.
This is a tower from an old Roman wall that is right in the middle of town (the Romans were on one side of the river and the ur-Germans (Goths?) were on the other.)
I was quite pleased at how both of these came out, so I didn't want you to miss them.
Neanderthal Museum and Guiten Dorf
Germany seems to be a place of really interesting, well thought out, small museums. Last year it was the Roentgen Museum in Lennep. This Sunday we were invited to go to the Neanderthal Museum in Mettman, a town about 30 minutes from here, with my German tutor. It's at the site where Pastor Neumann (in Greek, Neander -- in a weird coincidence, the name means "new man") found the first neandertal skeleton (Neanderthal, the German spelling, means Neander's Valley) in 1856. He didn't think to record the exact location of the cave he found it in, so until a new team went looking in the area that fit his general description in about 1997 and found more bone fragments from that same skeleton, the location wasn't known.
I don't think that any of the artifacts in the museum are original, but that doesn't make them uninteresting. They have a variety of skulls and other bones that look like they come from an anthropological dig -- some parts look like bone, with other parts being plaster, or whatever is used for missing pieces when they reconstruct a skull from fragments. But the more interesting exhibits are the reimagined full bodies. Here is a Neandertal woman:
One of these people below is a neandertal (making the point that these people were really similar to us - we share 97.7% of our DNA), the other is a museum visitor, who doesn't seem to dress as well as his ancestors.
We also visited a quaint village called Guiten Dorf, with many 16th to 18th century houses. A few pics, the first of a classic half timbered house, now a restaurant:
It's the opportunity to have outings like this that sometimes makes us think we should rent a car and wander the countryside on some of our weekends. Of course, these places are curated for us by locals, so it's not clear we would do as well on our own.
I don't think that any of the artifacts in the museum are original, but that doesn't make them uninteresting. They have a variety of skulls and other bones that look like they come from an anthropological dig -- some parts look like bone, with other parts being plaster, or whatever is used for missing pieces when they reconstruct a skull from fragments. But the more interesting exhibits are the reimagined full bodies. Here is a Neandertal woman:
This is Homo erectus (from an earlier time -- the number on the base is approximately when he lived.)
And this is the famous Lucy, the oldest known humanoid fossil. Pretty sassy for such a short person.
This is a neandertal child. While the fossils found in Africa were consistently given dark skin and kinky hair, the neandertal reconstructions had a variety of skin tones, from mid-dark to quite pale, and included models with straight blond hair. I have no idea of research behind those decisions, but it was thought-provoking.
The placards and audio material (available in English) were excellent; I learned a lot about neandertals that I hadn't known, and many myths were dispelled (such as that neandertals were not as intelligent/as advanced in tool making as the homo sapiens that lived at the same time). There was separate material for adults and kids, and a variety of activities for kids to do as they went through the museum (one example: a skeleton is buried in loose sand and the kids can use special brushes to move the sand away and then record findings about this skeleton with measuring instruments and sketching).
We didn't have time to visit it, but there is also a small zoo, where they have "backbred" animals to be more similar to the animals of prehistoric times. There are bison, aurochs (proto-cattle), and tarpan (proto-horses). Here are some tarpan
We also visited a quaint village called Guiten Dorf, with many 16th to 18th century houses. A few pics, the first of a classic half timbered house, now a restaurant:
Another half timbered house, even older. It was originally owned by a doctor.
An old watermill on the River Düssel
It's the opportunity to have outings like this that sometimes makes us think we should rent a car and wander the countryside on some of our weekends. Of course, these places are curated for us by locals, so it's not clear we would do as well on our own.
Fidelio
Fidelio is the only opera Beethoven wrote. We went to see it in Cologne last Friday. The Cologne Opera House is undergoing renovations, so this was in a random warehouse-like building on the edge of town. Our friends were able to get tickets in the third row center. The orchestra wasn't in a pit, so you could see them well, and the action on stage was highly visible too. There were also German super-titles (actually "side-titles", since they didn't have a place to put them above the stage). With the help of those, I was able to understand the lyrics surprisingly well.
Since Beethoven wrote the music, the music/orchestra is really the star of the show, and this orchestra was up to it (even with the limited acoustics). The primary roles were also very well-performed, with the "ingenue" (the daughter of the jailkeeper, for those who know the story), being as good an actress, in that exaggerated way that opera people act, telegraphing every emotion, as she was a singer. Despite being a bit sleep deprived, due to a hot hotel room the two nights before, we stayed awake through the entire performance (It doesn't hurt that unlike many other operas, this one has a happy ending).
Since Beethoven wrote the music, the music/orchestra is really the star of the show, and this orchestra was up to it (even with the limited acoustics). The primary roles were also very well-performed, with the "ingenue" (the daughter of the jailkeeper, for those who know the story), being as good an actress, in that exaggerated way that opera people act, telegraphing every emotion, as she was a singer. Despite being a bit sleep deprived, due to a hot hotel room the two nights before, we stayed awake through the entire performance (It doesn't hurt that unlike many other operas, this one has a happy ending).
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Heat Wave
This somewhat pales in comparison to the extreme heat that folks on the West Coast (of the US) have been experiencing, but it's been hot here too. Temperatures in the high 80s (F). It's somewhat more of a problem in Germany because a) no one, including hotels and most public buildings, has air conditioning, though Jay's office does at least, b) hotel rooms and apartments are not designed for cross ventilation, c) I don't think that Germans believe in fans (the first two English speaking Germans I asked could not think of the word in German; I have only seen one in a store the entire time, and I have been looking), and d) it doesn't get as cool in the evening here (in part because the sun doesn't go down till after 10pm) as it does in California. So we have been suffering. We can't solve things by going out to dinner in an air conditioned restaurant or by going to the movies (unless we want to sit through a movie that I only understand partly and Jay doesn't understand at all). Luckily the temperatures dropped to the 70s yesterday and will stay that way till Thursday, when they drop further to the high 60s, of course accompanied by rain (because this is Germany).
Here all the discussion is about how climate change is really having an effect. Not sure that's the same conversation that most Americans are having about the strange weather.
Here all the discussion is about how climate change is really having an effect. Not sure that's the same conversation that most Americans are having about the strange weather.
Bielefeld
Bielefeld is really a lovely town. It has a great Altstadt (old town) with buildings from the 1500s, and a nice pedestrian zone with all sorts of both ordinary and high end shops; it's right on the edge of the Teutoberger Wald, which has tons of hiking and biking trails; the restaurants are varied and good. It has fantastic public transportation, even for Germany; it has some lovely museums and other cultural venues. It has the usual share of castles, old churches and other interesting buildings. It has a well regarded university. It even has an "adequate" football/socecr team. It is something like the 20th largest city in Germany. I could easily imagine living there. Here are a couple of pictures of sights in Bielefeld.
This is the old Town Hall (Rathaus)
This is the old Town Hall (Rathaus)
And this is the view from my friend Bettina's apartment, not directly downtown, but still within town and right next to public transportation (the apartment itself lives up to the view)
The odd thing is that there is an internet meme that is essentially "Bielefeld doesn't exist". Even Angela Merkel has alluded to it ("I was in Bielefeld last week, at least I think that's where I was"). It's meant to epitomize the ordinary, boring German city where "no one goes". But I think that it's one of the prettier and more livable German towns I have been in.
Biking in the Teutoberger Wald (Bielefeld)
Managed a bike ride while I was in Bielefeld. Bettina, the friend I was visiting, lent me a bike and helmet and we went off to ride. We didn't have a cyclometer, but I think we got in about 25 miles. And this on the hottest day of the year so far (in the high 80s). We first rode to the little town of Werther, where the Werther's Original caramel candy came from (it's now made about 10 miles away), where we found an ice cream cafe to replenish us. I learned about "spaghetti eis", a German concoction that takes whipped cream and ice cream, covers it with more ice cream that has been put through a potato ricer or spaetzle press (which really does look spaghetti) and then a topping -- chocolate, strawberry, something green -- that will make it look like a particular kind of sauce. Like this:
A very odd concoction, but definitely tastes good.
On the way back, we went through the large forest, the Teutoberger Wald, that Bielefeld sits right up against. The idea was to find shade, which we did. This was pretty much all on dirt track, which was a challenge for me, on a strange bike with different shifters than I am used to. But fun. We probably made a few wrong turns, since the paths, which are primarily hiking paths, were not well marked, but we found our way back. Here's a view from more or less the highest point of our ride
It was great to get back on the bike for a day, with 10 days to go before our biking vacation. And biking was a much better way to spend a really hot day than walking around in town.
Afterwards, Bettina and I went to dinner. Matthias, her partner, (and my former language learning partner -- he was learning English and I German) was supposed to join us, but he works as a legal expert for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and was stuck in some sort of a meeting in Berlin. We sat outside under a sun umbrella as a rain storm cooled things off, enjoying our meal.
A very odd concoction, but definitely tastes good.
On the way back, we went through the large forest, the Teutoberger Wald, that Bielefeld sits right up against. The idea was to find shade, which we did. This was pretty much all on dirt track, which was a challenge for me, on a strange bike with different shifters than I am used to. But fun. We probably made a few wrong turns, since the paths, which are primarily hiking paths, were not well marked, but we found our way back. Here's a view from more or less the highest point of our ride
It was great to get back on the bike for a day, with 10 days to go before our biking vacation. And biking was a much better way to spend a really hot day than walking around in town.
Afterwards, Bettina and I went to dinner. Matthias, her partner, (and my former language learning partner -- he was learning English and I German) was supposed to join us, but he works as a legal expert for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and was stuck in some sort of a meeting in Berlin. We sat outside under a sun umbrella as a rain storm cooled things off, enjoying our meal.
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Next round of adventures
I leave in an hour for another adventure filled week (it's Wednesday as I write this), having seemingly survived the current heatwave (highs in the high 80s, and it doesn't cool down in the evening the way it does in California). This week:
- Jay has already left for a conference in Bielefeld
- I leave to join him shortly (it's a 2 hour train ride)
- I will have dinner this evening with the girlfriend of my language partner from when I was visiting Bielefeld 3 years ago
- Tomorrow she and I plan to go biking -- she is loaning me a bike and a helmet. Since the high is predicted to be 86 and it might rain, this could be an adventure
- That evening (Jay has activities for his conference from 9am to 9pm, so I'm on my own), I will most likely have dinner with both this woman and her boyfriend, my language partner
- On Friday, Jay and I together with our host in Duisburg, who is also at this conference, will go to Cologne to visit with him and his partner. We are going to the opera -- Fidelio -- that evening.
- Saturday we return to Duisburg, in time to do a bit of grocery shopping (grocery stores are closed on Sundays) and laundry.
- Sunday morning, we go to the Neanderthal Museum, in the Neander Valley (that's what Neanderthal means) where the first remains were discovered, with my German teacher and her partner.
- That evening, we go to dinner with one of the students my husband worked with and his wife and two children.
I'm tired just writing it down. The coming week is Jay's last week at the University, and we have one other dinner invite and may get a second. Then it's on to our bike vacation.
Genealogical research
I haven't had a chance to describe my genealogical adventures in Leer a week ago. I learned more than I thought I might, but not the answer to my burning question (which was, why did the family -- 4 kids and 2 adults -- emigrate?)
I had made arrangements to visit the city archives, as I read that both church and city records were there. My friend in Oldenburg convinced me to try to find the right church and see if I could look at their records directly. I looked at the churches in the old part of town using Google maps, checked which had been around long enough, and picked the Reformed Church as the most similar to what my relatives attended when they were in Iowa. I wrote the pastor on Saturday, who immediately responded that the church and graveyard would be open (I thought I might find a headstone for one of my ancestors, but these are the great-greats-greats who didn't emigrate eventually, and they are buried elsewhere), but that the office was closed that day. He copied the person in charge of the office (translating German titles is a challenge, so I won't try), to ask if he could accommodate me. I never heard back from him.
I got to town early, due to limitations of train schedules, and went to the church to just wander around till the archive was open. The person who was showing people around took me to the office, where apparently a family with three kids lives, who were having lunch. The husband, who I suspect was the person who was cced on the email, did nothing, but the wife took me into the office and we found the correct records (she had to ask her husband where they were) and she helped me find and understand what the records said. I copied the relevant ones to my phone. I was able to go back as far as great-great-great-grandfather, but he (and his wife) were born in a different town, so I would need another trip to investigate further back. But my guess is that there is more to be found. The main thing I learned from this was that my grandfather was born a year earlier than Ancestry thinks he was, so he was just over a year old when they emigrated, not 6 weeks (which is why I thought there must be a story there -- who would take a 6 week old baby on a ship, probably in steerage, unless there was something urgent?)
Off to the city archives, where the archivist, who never answered my earlier emails or letter, was extremely nice and helpful. Among the things I learned
All in all, a lot learned in about 4 hours. Perhaps I will be able to come back and visit the nearby towns, if I find they also have this kind of information available. Not this trip though.
I had made arrangements to visit the city archives, as I read that both church and city records were there. My friend in Oldenburg convinced me to try to find the right church and see if I could look at their records directly. I looked at the churches in the old part of town using Google maps, checked which had been around long enough, and picked the Reformed Church as the most similar to what my relatives attended when they were in Iowa. I wrote the pastor on Saturday, who immediately responded that the church and graveyard would be open (I thought I might find a headstone for one of my ancestors, but these are the great-greats-greats who didn't emigrate eventually, and they are buried elsewhere), but that the office was closed that day. He copied the person in charge of the office (translating German titles is a challenge, so I won't try), to ask if he could accommodate me. I never heard back from him.
I got to town early, due to limitations of train schedules, and went to the church to just wander around till the archive was open. The person who was showing people around took me to the office, where apparently a family with three kids lives, who were having lunch. The husband, who I suspect was the person who was cced on the email, did nothing, but the wife took me into the office and we found the correct records (she had to ask her husband where they were) and she helped me find and understand what the records said. I copied the relevant ones to my phone. I was able to go back as far as great-great-great-grandfather, but he (and his wife) were born in a different town, so I would need another trip to investigate further back. But my guess is that there is more to be found. The main thing I learned from this was that my grandfather was born a year earlier than Ancestry thinks he was, so he was just over a year old when they emigrated, not 6 weeks (which is why I thought there must be a story there -- who would take a 6 week old baby on a ship, probably in steerage, unless there was something urgent?)
Off to the city archives, where the archivist, who never answered my earlier emails or letter, was extremely nice and helpful. Among the things I learned
- I have copies (phone images) of my grandfather's birth certificate and his parents' marriage certificate. Unfortunately, the state didn't register births and marriages at the time my great-great-grandparents were married or when their kids were born
- I found the same church records and more. I need to work out a few more details, but I believe I have found two step brothers of my great-grandfather. They were born to a "widow", but their fathers acknowledged parenthood. This same widow (she seems to have gotten around) had a child (my great-grandfather) by my great-great-grandfather, and they seem to have gotten married after that (they attested to the church when my great-grandfather was baptized that they were married -- using an antiquated term that might mean something closer to "were sexual partners", so I'm guessing they were not married in a church at that time, since other records mention the church people were married in). See below for more information about this.
- I also was shown city directories that showed where my great-great-grandfather and great-grandfather were living in 1888 and 1890. (the women are pretty invisible, except in church records). They were all living together in '88, but by '90 my grandfather (and presumably wife and 2 or 3 children) had moved to a house about two streets away. (I was able to walk those streets, but the old houses were no longer there --- I suspect they weren't that nice.) In the great-great-grandfather's house were two other adult men (well, one in 88 and both in 90) who had the same first/middle names as the possible stepbrothers, but had taken my family's last name. I'm guessing that means my great-great-grandfather raised them as his own.
- One of these possible step-brothers was one of the witnesses at my great-grandparents' marriage. Both in the part written by the city clerk and where he signed it, he uses my great-grandfather's last name.
- I also learned that my great-grandfather was a worker in a paper factory and his father was a sail maker. Since great-grandpa became a farmer in Iowa, that surprised me.
- I didn't find anything out about their leaving; they didn't get passports and they don't seem to have registered their departure (which was and is the law in Germany). We looked in a lot of places for this information. (Increases my belief that they left perhaps because great-grandpa was in trouble with the law :-)
- There was no evidence that there was an economic upheaval at the time they emigrated, and there was no persecution of their religious sect at that time, so most likely they came to the US for the "streets that were paved with silver and gold". I was given a locally produced pamphlet about people who emigrated to the US from Leer and what is (in general) known about them. It's in German, so I will be reading it slowly.
All in all, a lot learned in about 4 hours. Perhaps I will be able to come back and visit the nearby towns, if I find they also have this kind of information available. Not this trip though.
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Walking in the Cotswolds, Day 3
Our third day we traveled to the very quaint town of Broadway. This time we had a choice of routes, either 11 miles and 1300 feet of vertical or 9 miles and 400 feet of vertical. As you might guess, if you know us or have read this blog before, Jay opted for the shorter, less hilly route (and brought his Kindle for the wait) and I went for the longer one. At the end of the day, in part due to a few wrong turns and extra (intentional) excursions, I had my longest day ever -- 17 miles (If you are a Fitbit user, you may be interested to know that 40,000 steps in one day is the "Cleats" badge).
Today was almost all on The Cotswold Way. We walked along together a bit more than a mile to the hamlet of Hailes, with a 12th century churchlet, where we parted company for Jay to go directly to Wood Stanway (1 mile) and me to take a 3-sided route there (3 miles). I thought he might have to wait for me for an hour and a bit, but a few things got in my way. Just after the church are the ruins of Hailes Abbey, which was destroyed in "the Dissolution" (when Henry VIII confiscated and often destroyed all the Catholic church property). It wasn't open yet, but I was waylaid by the guide/caretaker who was setting up. When he offered me a private tour, who was I to turn it down? This was a Cistercian Abbey. The Cistercians were famous for their skills at corralling water, so the abbey has very complex water canals, cisterns and the like. As I said, it is now ruins (I was so enthralled I forgot to take pictures, but here is one from the web):
There are two kings and a queen buried here (I thought I knew which ones, but apparently wikipedia disagrees with my guide/my memory, so I'm not sure any more). The church of the abbey was a duplicate of Westminster Abbey (which is unusual, since the Cistercians were supposed to be into simplicity).
This took up 30 minutes of my time (but was well worth it). I started up a lovely tree lined path, built by the Cistercians), heading in the direction of Beckbury Camp, which was an ancient hill fort, and also the highest point of the day. The last part the climb was almost a scramble, but luckily almost all of the uphill was in shade (while most of the rest of the day was in sunshine -- the high was 85F). Once I got past Beckbury (about a mile from where I left Jay), there was a long flat section and then downhill. Here is another round of gorgeous views.
View from near Beckbury. Notice the double line of trees on the lower right side of the picture
These are the above mentioned trees, up closer. The row goes on for almost 2 miles, and we crossed it several times. No idea what it represents.
Just another gorgeous view:
Random village church. I think this was Stanton, where we had to cross through both the old and new graveyards as part of our path
Random small hamlet. I'm guessing it's Laverton.
Yet another lovely hamlet
These marker stones were common as driveway markers. They look like mushrooms.
Coming into Broadway
A nice house in Broadway
My getting back to Jay (who ended up sitting under a tree with the couple we shared the B&B with that night) was delayed by another adventure. As I was about to enter a field, a pair of women came through the gate, one with her hand covered with tissues. She told me to be careful as she had been kicked by one of the horses. (How do you get kicked in the hand by a horse?) The horses were waiting right beside the gate I was headed for, so I waited about 5 minutes for them to move. They, of course, headed directly for me, hanging around the gate I was at (I suspect looking for a treat). I finally started banging my hiking pole on the metal gate and that eventually shooed them away, off to a corner where there was shade. I walked through the field without incident. In the next field, I met walkers who told me in the next (third) field there were some "aggressive horses", so perhaps they were the kicking ones, but I was never in that field. Overall this cost me about 20 minutes.
Shortly after that, I went through a field that had a sign warning of a bull, but he and his cows had enough sense to stay on the other side, where it was shady. I also went through several fields with sheep that day. In addition, lots of people walk their dogs on these paths, we saw innumerable pheasants and a few raptors of unknown species. Very animal filled day.
After meeting up again with Jay (with much texting to locate each other exactly), we had lunch at a (the) pub in Stanton, where I had a "salmon pate" starter, which a) was nothing like a pate. It was about 3 slices of each of three kinds of smoked salmon -- hot smoked, cold smoked, and gravlax, with bread, pickles etc. -- and b) was way too large to be a starter. It was my entire lunch, but I couldn't finish it. All three kinds of salmon were extremely tasty.
Broadway was pretty touristy (I would recommend trying to visit on a weekday), but not as much as I expected, probably due to the heat. We stayed in "Dove Cottage", a little B&B on the edge of town with only 2 rooms. It had been originally a dovecote, and you could still see some of the holes for the doves to enter (covered up on the outside) in the living room. It had a typical English garden. The downstairs was amazingly cool, given the heat of the day, but the upstairs, where the bedrooms were, was pretty warm. Still, it had tons of Cotswold charm.
Our dinner that night was in the most upscale looking of all our restaurants (but still in the middle price range), and sadly, was our only mediocre food experience the entire trip. Oh well, can't win them all.
The next morning we took a hired car back to Heathrow (the cars were, by our calculation, only about 20% more expensive than the train, and much more convenient, especially since the trains didn't run on Sunday morning).
Our trip was with Cotswold Walks, who were terrific. They were able to arrange this at the last minute (the other company I called couldn't make it work), gave us this incredibly detailed booklet of directions for each day which was waiting in our room, rented us hiking poles, were available 7 days a week by email (and presumably phone, but we didn't have to put that to the test), made the luggage transfers work seamlessly and were just overall nice people. We met a couple of other groups who were hiking with them also. Also, ours was a semi custom tour -- they had a 2 day option, and 4 or more day options, but we wanted 3 days and they made that work. Not all their walks are 15 miles/day -- we met people who were doing the same paths (more or less) as we were, but were walking 8 or 9 miles a day. So I would highly recommend them
The accommodations were "quaint" (made more so by the heat wave -- the only air conditioned building we were ever in was a toy store. It's just not needed in this area). For example, the floor in Dove Cottage was slanted, and I felt like I was falling out of bed all night But that's part of the charm. The breakfasts were uniformly good, with often homemade jam (and definitely made to order eggs and meat). The dinner restaurants were recommended by Cotswold Walks, though you can find their menus on the internet, and even the last one wasn't bad, just not as good as the others.
Today was almost all on The Cotswold Way. We walked along together a bit more than a mile to the hamlet of Hailes, with a 12th century churchlet, where we parted company for Jay to go directly to Wood Stanway (1 mile) and me to take a 3-sided route there (3 miles). I thought he might have to wait for me for an hour and a bit, but a few things got in my way. Just after the church are the ruins of Hailes Abbey, which was destroyed in "the Dissolution" (when Henry VIII confiscated and often destroyed all the Catholic church property). It wasn't open yet, but I was waylaid by the guide/caretaker who was setting up. When he offered me a private tour, who was I to turn it down? This was a Cistercian Abbey. The Cistercians were famous for their skills at corralling water, so the abbey has very complex water canals, cisterns and the like. As I said, it is now ruins (I was so enthralled I forgot to take pictures, but here is one from the web):
There are two kings and a queen buried here (I thought I knew which ones, but apparently wikipedia disagrees with my guide/my memory, so I'm not sure any more). The church of the abbey was a duplicate of Westminster Abbey (which is unusual, since the Cistercians were supposed to be into simplicity).
This took up 30 minutes of my time (but was well worth it). I started up a lovely tree lined path, built by the Cistercians), heading in the direction of Beckbury Camp, which was an ancient hill fort, and also the highest point of the day. The last part the climb was almost a scramble, but luckily almost all of the uphill was in shade (while most of the rest of the day was in sunshine -- the high was 85F). Once I got past Beckbury (about a mile from where I left Jay), there was a long flat section and then downhill. Here is another round of gorgeous views.
View from near Beckbury. Notice the double line of trees on the lower right side of the picture
These are the above mentioned trees, up closer. The row goes on for almost 2 miles, and we crossed it several times. No idea what it represents.
Just another gorgeous view:
Random village church. I think this was Stanton, where we had to cross through both the old and new graveyards as part of our path
Yet another lovely hamlet
These marker stones were common as driveway markers. They look like mushrooms.
Coming into Broadway
A nice house in Broadway
My getting back to Jay (who ended up sitting under a tree with the couple we shared the B&B with that night) was delayed by another adventure. As I was about to enter a field, a pair of women came through the gate, one with her hand covered with tissues. She told me to be careful as she had been kicked by one of the horses. (How do you get kicked in the hand by a horse?) The horses were waiting right beside the gate I was headed for, so I waited about 5 minutes for them to move. They, of course, headed directly for me, hanging around the gate I was at (I suspect looking for a treat). I finally started banging my hiking pole on the metal gate and that eventually shooed them away, off to a corner where there was shade. I walked through the field without incident. In the next field, I met walkers who told me in the next (third) field there were some "aggressive horses", so perhaps they were the kicking ones, but I was never in that field. Overall this cost me about 20 minutes.
Shortly after that, I went through a field that had a sign warning of a bull, but he and his cows had enough sense to stay on the other side, where it was shady. I also went through several fields with sheep that day. In addition, lots of people walk their dogs on these paths, we saw innumerable pheasants and a few raptors of unknown species. Very animal filled day.
After meeting up again with Jay (with much texting to locate each other exactly), we had lunch at a (the) pub in Stanton, where I had a "salmon pate" starter, which a) was nothing like a pate. It was about 3 slices of each of three kinds of smoked salmon -- hot smoked, cold smoked, and gravlax, with bread, pickles etc. -- and b) was way too large to be a starter. It was my entire lunch, but I couldn't finish it. All three kinds of salmon were extremely tasty.
Broadway was pretty touristy (I would recommend trying to visit on a weekday), but not as much as I expected, probably due to the heat. We stayed in "Dove Cottage", a little B&B on the edge of town with only 2 rooms. It had been originally a dovecote, and you could still see some of the holes for the doves to enter (covered up on the outside) in the living room. It had a typical English garden. The downstairs was amazingly cool, given the heat of the day, but the upstairs, where the bedrooms were, was pretty warm. Still, it had tons of Cotswold charm.
Our dinner that night was in the most upscale looking of all our restaurants (but still in the middle price range), and sadly, was our only mediocre food experience the entire trip. Oh well, can't win them all.
The next morning we took a hired car back to Heathrow (the cars were, by our calculation, only about 20% more expensive than the train, and much more convenient, especially since the trains didn't run on Sunday morning).
Our trip was with Cotswold Walks, who were terrific. They were able to arrange this at the last minute (the other company I called couldn't make it work), gave us this incredibly detailed booklet of directions for each day which was waiting in our room, rented us hiking poles, were available 7 days a week by email (and presumably phone, but we didn't have to put that to the test), made the luggage transfers work seamlessly and were just overall nice people. We met a couple of other groups who were hiking with them also. Also, ours was a semi custom tour -- they had a 2 day option, and 4 or more day options, but we wanted 3 days and they made that work. Not all their walks are 15 miles/day -- we met people who were doing the same paths (more or less) as we were, but were walking 8 or 9 miles a day. So I would highly recommend them
The accommodations were "quaint" (made more so by the heat wave -- the only air conditioned building we were ever in was a toy store. It's just not needed in this area). For example, the floor in Dove Cottage was slanted, and I felt like I was falling out of bed all night But that's part of the charm. The breakfasts were uniformly good, with often homemade jam (and definitely made to order eggs and meat). The dinner restaurants were recommended by Cotswold Walks, though you can find their menus on the internet, and even the last one wasn't bad, just not as good as the others.
Walking in the Cotswolds, Day 2
Our second day went from Bourton-on-the-Water to Winchcombe, about 13 miles (for us a total of 15 miles for the day again), but this day had 1400 feet of vertical, which meant we had several long, sloggy hills to climb. Like the day before, the skies were overcast to partly cloudy, with some dark clouds at midday that threatened rain, but never made good on the threat. We walked in long sleeved shirts in the morning, but changed to short sleeves after lunch.
Early on our walk, we found this sign, telling us of even more "perils" on the walk.
Since it was a weekday and pretty early in the day (before 9am), we didn't hear any shooters, but it gives you an idea of the multi-use nature of these pathways.
Here is a typical path along the edge of a field. It's pretty obvious where the path goes, though not at all marked (sometimes it wasn't that obvious, but hundreds of people are on these paths every day, so it does get worn down).
Another of these stone walls (and another village):
A typical view from the top of a hill.
We had lunch in Guiting Power, where I had a very nice ploughman's lunch -- 3 slices of ham, a hunk of cheddar, an apple and some pickles. I felt very British.
We walked by Sudeley Castle, where Catherine Parr, the wife who outlived Henry VIII, lived with her 4th husband (the one after Henry) and died there. The grounds are lovely, but we were too tired to go in. The castle is stilled owned (and possibly lived in part time) by the family who has owned it for 150 years. It also has a very large children's play area/climbing structure that makes it a great outing for families.
On the walk we encountered plenty of other walkers (especially on the third day, which was a Saturday) and talked to local people in the pubs and tea shops we stopped in. The locals were all very interested in the fact we were walking (though they must get tons of other walkers). They gave us great advice "go around the front of the manor at the edge of town; the views are tremendous", "be sure to check out the Jersey heifers in the field after you get to ... They are so cute".
We decided to stop for an English tea (tea, scone, clotted cream) today, as we needed the break and dinner was latish. If I lived in England, I would die of heart failure from clogged arteries very quickly, because I would not be able to resist the clotted cream. It even looks like the sort of material that sticks to your arteries, but it tastes so good.
Winchcombe was the largest town we stayed in, large enough to have a restaurant with a Michelin star and another with an AA 2 rosette award, but we opted for something a bit more down to earth (and English) -- I think I had the lamb loin that night. Apparently the mainstays of English restaurants in this area are: lamb loin, seabass with salsa verde, salmon, and roast chicken. They were all good, at least the versions we had. There was quite a lot to see in Winchcombe, but by then we, especially Jay, were so tired that anything that involved more walking was not appealing. We slept very well that night.
Early on our walk, we found this sign, telling us of even more "perils" on the walk.
Since it was a weekday and pretty early in the day (before 9am), we didn't hear any shooters, but it gives you an idea of the multi-use nature of these pathways.
Here is a typical path along the edge of a field. It's pretty obvious where the path goes, though not at all marked (sometimes it wasn't that obvious, but hundreds of people are on these paths every day, so it does get worn down).
Here are some more shots of gorgeous Cotswolds views.
A random village below us:
A typical view from the top of a hill.
We had lunch in Guiting Power, where I had a very nice ploughman's lunch -- 3 slices of ham, a hunk of cheddar, an apple and some pickles. I felt very British.
We walked by Sudeley Castle, where Catherine Parr, the wife who outlived Henry VIII, lived with her 4th husband (the one after Henry) and died there. The grounds are lovely, but we were too tired to go in. The castle is stilled owned (and possibly lived in part time) by the family who has owned it for 150 years. It also has a very large children's play area/climbing structure that makes it a great outing for families.
On the walk we encountered plenty of other walkers (especially on the third day, which was a Saturday) and talked to local people in the pubs and tea shops we stopped in. The locals were all very interested in the fact we were walking (though they must get tons of other walkers). They gave us great advice "go around the front of the manor at the edge of town; the views are tremendous", "be sure to check out the Jersey heifers in the field after you get to ... They are so cute".
We decided to stop for an English tea (tea, scone, clotted cream) today, as we needed the break and dinner was latish. If I lived in England, I would die of heart failure from clogged arteries very quickly, because I would not be able to resist the clotted cream. It even looks like the sort of material that sticks to your arteries, but it tastes so good.
Winchcombe was the largest town we stayed in, large enough to have a restaurant with a Michelin star and another with an AA 2 rosette award, but we opted for something a bit more down to earth (and English) -- I think I had the lamb loin that night. Apparently the mainstays of English restaurants in this area are: lamb loin, seabass with salsa verde, salmon, and roast chicken. They were all good, at least the versions we had. There was quite a lot to see in Winchcombe, but by then we, especially Jay, were so tired that anything that involved more walking was not appealing. We slept very well that night.
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Walking in the Cotswolds, Day 1
(Obviously, I did not solve my picture posting problems. Very annoying)
We started out Wednesday night in the town of Moreton-in-Marsh. Got there (a 2 hour car ride from Heathrow -- had we planned better, we could have flown into Birmingham) in time for dinner. Our first day's walk was to Bourton-on-the-Water (not to be confused with Bourton-on-the-Hill), 12 miles, though because our second night's lodging was a bit out of town, we ended up with about 15 miles on our Fitbits.
The countryside is absolutely beautiful, as are the quaint villages we encountered. We had a booklet of very detailed directions, including the relevant segment of the British Ordnance Survey map (their equivalent of the US Geological Survey maps), with instructions such as "go through a field gate, then to the far right corner of the field, through a kissing gate and then a footbridge and another gate" (a field gate is something large enough for a tractor to get through, a kissing gate is a sort of double sided gate, where it "kisses" the second side while you are going through the first side -- a little like a revolving door). While I sometimes found the directions a bit vague, we only go lost 3-4 times in 3 days, and never for more than 5 minutes. It was always obvious from details given like "the Fox Inn will be on your right" that we had made a wrong term.
The whole trip is based on the wonderful notion of "public footpaths" (and bridle paths) all across England. These date from the times when most land was publicly owned, and when the and was given to landowners (I suppose by various kings) the normal paths people used to get from place to place were now on private land. These were made into rights of way (sometimes diagonally crossing a farmer's field or going through a cemetery) that still exist. They are well signed (though we moved from one route to another, so the signs were only confirmation from the written directions that we were on the intended route) and reasonably well maintained. They have names like "The Cotswold Way" "the Heart of England Way" "The Winchcombe Way". The markings can be very strange. See below for one we encountered the first day. This stump is about 2 feet high, and the two yellow markings show the intersection of two paths in the middle of this field. As this picture also shows, you end up crossing fields with cows, sheep, horses, and the occasional bull.
This was our least hilly day, only about 800 ft vertical, with no serious hills, only lots of ups and downs. Some additional pictures:
A typical house of Cotswold stone (a soft sandstone).
We started out Wednesday night in the town of Moreton-in-Marsh. Got there (a 2 hour car ride from Heathrow -- had we planned better, we could have flown into Birmingham) in time for dinner. Our first day's walk was to Bourton-on-the-Water (not to be confused with Bourton-on-the-Hill), 12 miles, though because our second night's lodging was a bit out of town, we ended up with about 15 miles on our Fitbits.
The countryside is absolutely beautiful, as are the quaint villages we encountered. We had a booklet of very detailed directions, including the relevant segment of the British Ordnance Survey map (their equivalent of the US Geological Survey maps), with instructions such as "go through a field gate, then to the far right corner of the field, through a kissing gate and then a footbridge and another gate" (a field gate is something large enough for a tractor to get through, a kissing gate is a sort of double sided gate, where it "kisses" the second side while you are going through the first side -- a little like a revolving door). While I sometimes found the directions a bit vague, we only go lost 3-4 times in 3 days, and never for more than 5 minutes. It was always obvious from details given like "the Fox Inn will be on your right" that we had made a wrong term.
The whole trip is based on the wonderful notion of "public footpaths" (and bridle paths) all across England. These date from the times when most land was publicly owned, and when the and was given to landowners (I suppose by various kings) the normal paths people used to get from place to place were now on private land. These were made into rights of way (sometimes diagonally crossing a farmer's field or going through a cemetery) that still exist. They are well signed (though we moved from one route to another, so the signs were only confirmation from the written directions that we were on the intended route) and reasonably well maintained. They have names like "The Cotswold Way" "the Heart of England Way" "The Winchcombe Way". The markings can be very strange. See below for one we encountered the first day. This stump is about 2 feet high, and the two yellow markings show the intersection of two paths in the middle of this field. As this picture also shows, you end up crossing fields with cows, sheep, horses, and the occasional bull.
This was our least hilly day, only about 800 ft vertical, with no serious hills, only lots of ups and downs. Some additional pictures:
A typical house of Cotswold stone (a soft sandstone).
The typical stone fence for the area. The wall is dry stone (no mortar) construction, and in some cases (not this one) the top row is also done without mortar -- and it all fits together snugly.
Here is a random church we passed. I think the flowers are for a wedding.
And this is Jay on one of the tree lined tracks we travelled on.
We had lunch in Stow-on-the-Wold, one of the very picturesque (and pretty full of tourists) towns along our route. Excellent pub food and lots to wander around and see (I was, of course, so busy gawking that I forgot to take pictures). Jay had a ham sandwich with some terrific ham he is still raving about, and I had a mediocre tomato soup and a fantastic chicken liver pate with a great homemade chutney on a warm baguette.
We went near Sezincote House, but due to a map reading error, we didn't realize it till we were a mile past it. With a 12 mile day, we didn't feel we had time to return to it. It's an early example of Moghul (Indian) architecture built for a "Nabob of the East India Company" in England. Here's a picture of the exterior from the web.
Our lodging this night was a 5 room Bed and Breakfast. Every place we stayed offered us a full English breakfast (eggs, bacon, blood pudding or other sausage, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans and toast). We tried various subsets, though we didn't get into beans for breakfast.
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Duck Races in Oldenburg
We spent the weekend visiting long-time friends in Oldenburg (near Bremen and the North Sea). Saturday was the annual Lion's club duck race, where 5000 rubber duckies float (actually, are pushed by a big fire hose) down the river It's a charity event. We "rented" our ducks and cheered them on. Sadly we didn't win, but a great time was had by all.
Here are two photos, one early in the race and the second when the ducks had all been corralled into a narrow channel. There is also a picture of us in the local paper, as people who came from far away just to watch the duck races. https://www.nwzonline.de/oldenburg/oldenburger-entenrennen-2017_g_31,3,785027931.html (we are picture #8 in this gallery).
Here are two photos, one early in the race and the second when the ducks had all been corralled into a narrow channel. There is also a picture of us in the local paper, as people who came from far away just to watch the duck races. https://www.nwzonline.de/oldenburg/oldenburger-entenrennen-2017_g_31,3,785027931.html (we are picture #8 in this gallery).
Friday, June 9, 2017
Cotswolds here we come
A stock photo of a classic Cotswold cottage.
We were going to visit our son while in London, but his client changed their plans, so we are now going to spend our time in England (starting on June 14) hiking in the Cotswolds. This plan emerged early this morning, and I have since booked the trip (It's self guided, but they arrange the hotels, move your luggage, give you detailed walking directions, etc), arranged to get from Heathrow to the starting point and back to Heathrow, and Jay and I have bought new hiking shoes, since we didn't bring them on the trip. All in about 6 hours today. I am exhausted. But really looking forward to this.
Thursday, June 8, 2017
Back in Germany, one more time
We are back in Duisburg again, for the month of June, with a bike vacation in July. So I'm posting again.
We arrived yesterday, pretty painlessly. Got reasonably settled in the apartment. We have the one adjacent to the one we had last time. Pretty much identical, but mirror image. It's been freshly painted, so if the window shades didn't look 30 years old (full of kitchen grease), it would be a pretty nice apartment.
Today was errand running (of course, almost every day is errand running here). In looking for a picture to brighten up the post, the only thing I found worth photographing is the yarn store's attempt to cover the traffic bollards (I know there is a name for this activity, but I can't think of it right now). This changes every visit or so
Here are all three of them:
This trip will involve a lot of travelling, mostly within Germany. This weekend we go to Oldenburg to visit friends there (and participate in rubber duck races). On the way back, I'm going to stop in Leer (more or less on the way) to visit the city archives to do some genealogical research. My grandfather was born there, and I want to see if I can figure out why they left. They left when he was six weeks old, so there must have been some urgency, but the entire family (parents and three kids) left together, so there must have been someone able to pay the fare. Since my grandfather died when my father was six years old, we don't have much info about him. Wish me luck. (I doubt that anyone at the archives will speak much English, so this will be a test of my German skills).
Today being my birthday, Jay is taking me out to dinner at a nice little Italian place. No, it's not a milestone birthday, just an ordinary one.
We arrived yesterday, pretty painlessly. Got reasonably settled in the apartment. We have the one adjacent to the one we had last time. Pretty much identical, but mirror image. It's been freshly painted, so if the window shades didn't look 30 years old (full of kitchen grease), it would be a pretty nice apartment.
Today was errand running (of course, almost every day is errand running here). In looking for a picture to brighten up the post, the only thing I found worth photographing is the yarn store's attempt to cover the traffic bollards (I know there is a name for this activity, but I can't think of it right now). This changes every visit or so
Here are all three of them:
And here is one close up:
This trip will involve a lot of travelling, mostly within Germany. This weekend we go to Oldenburg to visit friends there (and participate in rubber duck races). On the way back, I'm going to stop in Leer (more or less on the way) to visit the city archives to do some genealogical research. My grandfather was born there, and I want to see if I can figure out why they left. They left when he was six weeks old, so there must have been some urgency, but the entire family (parents and three kids) left together, so there must have been someone able to pay the fare. Since my grandfather died when my father was six years old, we don't have much info about him. Wish me luck. (I doubt that anyone at the archives will speak much English, so this will be a test of my German skills).
Today being my birthday, Jay is taking me out to dinner at a nice little Italian place. No, it's not a milestone birthday, just an ordinary one.
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