PJtravel

What a day! Ursula and John were up early and hiked up Mount Subasio to St Francis’ summer campsite, the Hermitage, arriving around 10:00 as it opened. To get to the area where St Francis and his followers camped it was necessary to go through the monastery itself, down a set of stone stairs and through a series of rooms, each smaller than the last with a smaller doorway than the last, until you finally squeeze out onto the walkway overlooking the ravine and a small stone bridge across to niche where they set up a covering to protect themselves from bad weather. The area is extremely peaceful and as you walk further along the path you find small sitting areas and serene pathways for silent contemplation of nature. At the end of the main path ... read more

Up early to catch the train to Potsdam to do a tour and see the Sansouci Palace and Park. Upon arriving for our train at the Berlin Central Station we discovered that there were multiple trains to Potsdam, even some of the locals we pick up near our hotel. Oh well, over planning is OK. We arrived early in Potsdam and walked to a park near where we were meeting our guide, had a nice cappuccino at a café that favored 60s US music. Fun. We walked the area and were impressed with the small signage that keeps the area looking neat and attractive while allowing for commerce. Met up with our guide, Till from Seg2Go, and had a nice practice session in the local park before going out on the road. We settle on the ... read more

It was a rough night: hot, thunder and lightning, NO air conditioning. The room (the same room we had when we were here 10 days ago) has a system on the wall that has all the dials for a heating/air conditioning system … but all you can do is turn the fan on as the temperature dial does not work. This was discovered when John asked the front desk to fix the system. “We don’t have air conditioning; most hotels in Berlin do not have air conditioning.” John told them we would be leaving and went off on a rented bicycle to find another hotel! Turns out most don’t have air conditioning and there is a huge convention coming into town today. Like Oliver hew would get off his little bike and go into the lobby ... read more

Today was devoted to Peggy’s family and a visit to Zutphen, the small town south of Amsterdam from which her relatives departed in the late 1600s to avoid various bloodbaths resulting from battles with the Spanish, the French and the English. Most of the time the residents of Zutphen were the victims of the battles rather than the aggressors or defenders. Hendrick Rycken came to New Amsterdam in 1663 and was the progenitor of a huge family (12 boys). As part of coming to the New World, Hendrick added “von Zuytdam” (south of the dam) to his name as a distinction and it became Zuytdam and then Suydam. Back to the present, we took an early train from Amsterdam, changing at Arnhem for Zutphen. Walking into town was quick as the station was right on the ... read more

Peggy slept, recuperating from the fall last evening on the street outside the hotel. So John stayed in and didn’t go walkabout. We went together for breakfast at the hotel around 9:00 and hit the high period for guests. Lots of people and few tables but John snagged one as people left and bussed the dishes etc and reset the table. Then the issue was getting up to the coffee and tea machine (located in a corner with a long line out front) to take whatever we can get. The food is actually pretty good (other than the sausages) and we had a nice breakfast. Then off to Van Gogh Museum for our prescribed visit. We arrived a few minutes early and went into the Modern Art Museum shop for a colorful pair of socks. On ... read more