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Published: September 23rd 2010
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This will be my last post for this trip, as Rob and I have arrived home safely. Rob is working on his final post, as well; he'll be describing our visit to the Wieskirche (The Wies Church) in Bavaria -- without a doubt the most stunning church we have ever seen -- but I won't steal his thunder.
Our trip to Germany met all expectations and more. Communicating was fun -- you know I like a challenge. "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" was the first phrase out of my mouth whenever we began a conversation. (Actually, that's not quite so. The first thing I usually said was "Guten Tag.") We were fortunate in that so many Germans have a better grasp of English than I do of German, despite many hours of German classwork almost 40 years ago. I just wish I could I pronounce the "gutteral R" in the village name, Grossgartach!
Getting around the countryside was not a problem either. My job is navigator. The roads are extremely well marked. We took a few wrong turns here and there, but for the most part we were able to stick to our travel schedule. I loved traveling on the roadways;
there are no telephone or electrical wires or poles to mar the often lush scenery. There, also, are no shoulders on the road, and I had to wonder about that. Overall, most roads we traveled, with the exception of the autobahns, gave the impression of meandering "road paths" -- very different from the way our roads look in the US. The green grass just grows up to the side of the road. Germany truly has the look of an "older world."
I recognized the remnants of the German culture within my own family customs and experiences; however, they are fast disappearing and may not survive for our children. I still enjoy the traditional sauerkraut on our holiday days; our children won't eat it. I was pleasantly surprised (but shouldn't have been) at the decorated, stoneware crocks for sale at the German pottery shops, identical in form, decoration, and substance to those I grew up with at the homes of my parents and grandparents. I recalled my mother putting egg dumplings into her homemade soups and sweeping the front porch everyday. My 98-year-old dad still talks about "the grip" epidemic of 1918 ("die Grippe). And I knew that Santa Claus
didn't decorate the Christmas tree until Christmas Eve. (For some reason, our children think the tree should go up just after Thanksgiving.) I understood that there is still a bit of German left in me. Perhaps that is why I enjoyed attempting to "sprechen die Deutsche Sprache" so much.
Just for fun, here are the top five things I liked in Germany, followed by the five things I liked the least.
I liked:
1. Lufthansa
2. Bäckereien (bakeries)
3. German toilet paper (yes!)
4. Road signs
5. Mushroom soup
I disliked:
1. Frankfurt airport
2. Frankfurt airport
3. Weiner Snitzel
4. Pay toilets (especially at McDonalds)
5. No paper coffee cups.
For this entry I am uploading a few photos taken from the passenger seat of the car: some en route, some from the stopped car. Rob was always willing to pull over on the nonexistent shoulder when I wanted to take a picture.
I would go back to Germany in a heartbeat, and am grateful to Rob for wanting to share with me the beautiful and interesting places he had visited when he lived in Oberammergau and Heilbronn many years ago. We
want to return and visit the northern part of the country to see the towns of his ancestors, particularly the community of Bünde, home of his g-g-grandfather and immigrant ancestor, John Henry Stohlmann. And, yes, I don't mind traveling at 110 mph on the autobahn to get there!
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