Germany Part 2 - other parts of Europe

 It's now been a month since we've returned from our trip, but I wanted to continue the travelogue. 

After our first day of wandering around semi-lost in and around Heidelberg, we had a good night of sleep and woke up ready for more site-seeing. Our daughter had class in the morning, so we hiked down the hill a short way to the runs of the Heidelberg castle - or schloss. Apparently, it was much loved by Romantic artists and poets, and it's easy to see why it captures the imagination. Early records date the castle as far back as 1225, but it was added to over the centuries. Documentation of the design of the gardens dates back to 1610, and during the 1600s there was quite a bit of building and expanding, but also quite a bit of destruction and rebuilding - wars with the French and lightning strikes were primary destructive forces. In the mid-1700s, the ruling family moved to neighboring Mannheim, and the castle fell into neglect, although various reconstruction efforts continued sporadically until the 1900s, when a historical preservation society considered rebuilding, starting a debate about whether to rebuild the castle or maintain it as ruins. 

From Wikipedia - A painting of Heidelberg Castle painted in 1815 by Karl Phillip Fohr

Today, the castle gardens are maintained as gardens, and a small portion of the castle was retrofitted as a pharmaceutical museum because of a donor's esoteric interest. The views from the castle across the river are beautiful, and the handful of visitors strolling the grounds the morning we visited seemed to spend most of their time taking photos of the view. 

A cave like garden party room now a protected home to bats and salamanders

Christ the pharmacist

A convent pharmacy on display in the castle

 

Unicorn horn remedies and a mounted unicorn at the pharmacy museum

 

Castle views

After we documented our own perspective, we walked down into town and met our daughter for lunch in town at a little vegetarian place, and then had sweets at the vegetarian bakery next door.  While she had another class, we walked across the river to hike up the "philosophenweg" to the ruins of an ancient church, tower, and amphitheater. The name is supposedly a nod to the university professors and students who would hike up the hill to contemplate life and beauty and the meaning of it all. The footprint of a church dates back to a monastic community that lived on the hill a thousand years ago, but the tower can still be climbed. We walked as far as the little gasthaus, but the biergarten was geschlossen, so we turned back there without seeing the amphitheater, which supposedly was used by the Nazis as a gathering place in the woods. I would have been happy to hike further, but this was a compromise on my part. Hiking is another source of marital discord when my husband and I travel together - I like to hike and walk in nature; he likes to walk around town and sit in coffee houses and pubs. Actually, we both like to do both things, so we try to split our time pretty evenly. If the biergarten had been open, we both would have happily sat and enjoyed a beer in nature, and then I would have campaigned to walk farther. Happily, most things we both agree on - such as visiting castles and museums like the pharmacy museum when time allows. 

 

Lunchtime deserts - no calories in gluten free treats, right? 

Crossing the River Neckar to head up the Philosophenweg - weather was cool enough for jackets, but hiking we warmed up.

The medieval tower. Still standing a thousand years later.

Phlox? in bloom

Back in town we had time for some glutwein and some kuchen, which was a great boost of energy to walk back up the hill to our hotel. The plan for the evening was to treat our daughter and a few friends - in this case a few means seven - to dinner. We had time for a shower and in my husband's case, a short nap, while I explored around the hotel. We then took the car down the hill with the thought that walking up in the dark wouldn't be fun. The students were craving Italian, so we strolled through town to pick out a place, where they met us after having a happy hour with one of their professors. The restaurant was practically empty, a benefit of traveling during off-season. I was a little worried it might be a testament to the quality of the food, but actually the food was delicious and spirits were high, so it was a feast to remember. 

The next day was Saturday, and the plan was to take our daughter and a friend to see a bit of Switzerland and France. So we checked out and loaded up the girls and their stuff and headed to Zurich, a four hour drive through beautiful countryside - an advantage of driving.  A disadvantage - at this point we still thought our daughter's cell service could navigate us there, but we had to use the map book and the directions we had downloaded before we left the wifi at the hotel. We both got a laugh out of the comment our daughter's friend made about how she liked taking trips with her mom or with her dad, but when they were both together, they bickered too much. Too familiar! 

In Zurich I had reserved a little apartment just on the other side of the canal that circles the old town. We checked in and then walked to the town, passing first by a canal where canoe polo is played before strolling through the botanic garden where snowdrops carpeted the hillside and hellebores were nodding and crocuses were just peeking out of the ground. Since our daughter's friend was vegan and our daughter loves vegetables, lunch was at a restaurant that supposedly was the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world. It was also really expensive, just as everyone had warned us about Zurich. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering through twisting lanes and peeking in and out of churches and shops.  Zurich has several remarkable churches, one dating back to the time of Charlemagne but with stained glass windows by Marc Chagall. It also has more than a fair share of high end designer shops and stores with pretty linens and housewares out of our price range. 

Stone Musicians in Zurich

The botanical garden and Conrad Gesser

Snowdrops

More beautiful flowers shops

Swiss chocolates in Zurich

Does our mutt need a swiss anorak?

Statue of Charlemagne removed from the tower of the St Peterskirche to the crypt to avoid environmental damage.

Lake Zurich sunset  - alps in the background. Happy together again

I'm not sure the relationship of Ganymede to Lake Zurich but a scenic photo stop.

While sipping vin chaud and snacking on more pastries, we worked our way back to the far side of town where Lake Zurich forms the edge of the town. We arrived just in time for a glorious sunset over the alps in the distance. We strolled along a large park that borders the town and the lake, and admiring the golden rays of the setting sun and the other people doing the same thing. For a half second we contemplated stopping in an outdoor sauna/icy lake experience. I think our daughter's friend would have gone in, but the rest of us weren't up for the co-ed experience, so we turned back to walk through town to our hotel. It was a bit of a challenge finding a place for dinner because of my concern for overspending, the need for vegan options, and the dining in restrictions - the Greek place said they weren't seating in doors, although I think they just assumed we didn't have our covid passes, and the Indian place didn't look appealing, but we found a place with poke bowls, which our veggie loving diners loved. My husband was beginning to despair of all the schnitzel and wurst he was missing out on. 

After dinner the girls talked about going to a movie, but at 25 euro a ticket, they decided to head back to the hotel with us, with a stop at a fancy grocery for dessert snacks and breakfast foods. I got my muesli and yogurt I was craving, and we all enjoyed shopping the fancy foods. And my husband was happy to get a German beer and pretzels, even if we were in Zurich. 

A contemporary church near our apartment that was hosting a one man show that evening

Sisters

Christmas decor was still brightening some doorways

Even while florists were displaying hellebores and bulbs

A shiny tribute to Zwingli, Swiss Protestant

A relief of some nuns right across from shiny Zwingli.

Inspiration

Father daughter bonding time

Some beautiful contemporary frescos in the courtyard of the frauenkirche

"Heads Up," it says.

So you don't miss this view

Friendly Zurich swans

The next morning, we compromised on a hike up a small mountain alongside Lake Zurich - not a part of the Alps, but the zenith offered a view of the higher mountains.  The girls were up for the adventure, and I agreed to take the shorter route to the top. It was absolutely breathtaking- partly because it was chilly, but we all warmed up quickly.  The guesthouse at the top of this mountain was open and quite busy. It had an inn, a tower to climb for an extra fee, and a cafe selling coffee, pastries, and beer - all accessible by a road up the other side. 

Narnia-esque

We took our time enjoying the views and the fresh air before hiking back down for a quick lunch snack before driving to Strasbourg, where the buildings, except the Strasbourg cathedral, look very German,  but the vendors sell crepes and vin chaud, instead of pretzels and glutwein.

But more on that soon - this post already has way to many photos!

Germany! Day One

Our oldest daughter is studying in Germany for the spring semester. A couple months ago that statement conjured thoughts of Covid restrictions and difficulties with testing and vaccinations. Now it raises questions about the stability of political institutions and potential violence. 

But two weeks ago, neither of these concerns troubled us. We had our booster shots, we had negative Covid tests just in case (which may have been a mistake - more on that later if my fears come to fruition. We made the mistake of going to a clinic to get tested that may bill us an exorbitant amount - but I'll worry about that when the time comes.)  We had plane tickets, a hotel reservation, a rental car reserved, KN 95 masks, comfortable shoes, and a daughter to visit.

Here we are setting off for international travel only momentarily maskless on our 14 hour journey. My parents came to watch the younger kids, as we again took advantage of a child studying abroad for an excuse to travel.  Travel from Texas to Europe is overnight - we left midafternoon and arrived midmorning in Frankfort. 

A credit card perk - visiting the airport lounge for a meal and free

Welcome to Heidelberg!

We rented a car from Frankfort, thinking it might be just as economical as taking public transportation (I don't think it was, after paying for gas and parking), more flexible (it was), and safer from Covid (another perk). However, we did not rent the GPS - thinking we could use our daughter's cell phone to navigate and only rely on our international plan, which charges per day of use. I had printed some google maps and directions from the hotel, but they didn't provide a lot of detail, so this was a source of marital discord over the first couple of days, because neither of those options provided reliable cell service while driving. We finally reduced the stress of trying to get where we were going by buying a map, which was not quite detailed enough, and checking the directions at our lodging places the night before or at a cafe with free wifi, and then screen shotting them, so we could read the directions without cell service. How did we ever navigate in the 90s with just a Let's Go, Europe! and vague notions of the locations of train stations? We never felt as lost then as we did the first couple days of this trip with more information at our fingertips than ever. Perhaps because of that false sense of being able to access information immediately, I did not plan very much for our journey, knowing that our daughter had ideas that she hadn't completely committed to yet.

Finally checking in to our small hotel.

The view from our hotel in Heidelberg - overlooking the Neckar river from high on the hill above the Heidelberg castle, or schloss. Hence, the name of our hotel - Schlosshotel Molkenkur. In spring when there isn't a covid outbreak, this patio has dining tables.

Gummi bears on our pillows

Junk food requested by our daughter and her friends, whcih took up precious space in our carry on bags, which is all we were allowed (plus personal item, of which we brought the maximum size, of course)

Here she is! In front of her accommodations - an old mansion on the hillside. Twenty-four students and a few staff, including the residence hall parents, live here.

The walk from her house to the town was downhill through a small, wooded park

Loved the moss covered walls.

Universityplatz. I'm bungling the spelling here,

Time for cafe cremas.

Loved the flower shops - more photos to come. The flower ships in each town were better than the last. 

A closer view of the Marian statue in the platz

Some almost familiar stores along the Hauptstrasse

Small details along the way

At the Jesuit church in Heidelberg

The interior of the Jesuit Church

A recognizable image

An image not quite so recognizable - this is Ruah, an incarnational represenation of the Holy Spirit in as a woman.

The sanctuary of the Presbyterian church was decidedly quieter.

The building where our duaghter has class.

Our first dinner out was at a restaurant called "The Potato" (Kartoffel?) in a little town about 20 minutes away down the river. It took us about 20 minutes longer to get there as we bungled our way along without a map. But the meal was worth it - meat, potato, salad, beer, and apple strudel with ice cream.

A hunk of raw meat which we cooked on a burning hot lava rock was the star of dinner.

Good night, little town on the Neckar River, whose name I can't remember!

Recent recommendations

 A little time today to catch up. Here are a few recommendations from recent watching/reading:

The new season of All Creatures Great and Small is airing on Sundays on PBS. I think if you subscribe to PBS, you can watch them all at once, but we are enjoying the anticipation of the Sunday evening family viewing time once everyone is in their PJs and ready for school Monday morning. The seven year old starts counting the days until the show on Thursday. I loved James Herriot's books as an elementary student. I wanted to be a country vet for a number of years. The show derivates from the books, but it is excellent escapism. This season is all about James trying to discern whether he should stay with the Farnons or return to Glasgow. The theme of finding a home resonates a little too close to my own sense of rootlessness/desire for rootedness.  Ready to emigrate to Yorkshire. 

We also watched Ted Lasso with the older kids over the holidays. It is adult viewing, for sure - not just because of the terrible language - but the relationships between the team and staff are warm and forgiving. Wounded people finding friendship and acceptance makes for heartwarming viewing. I think I could also make a home in England. 

We also saw the box office hits Encanto and West Side Story recently, the first at home, the later in the theaters. I think I prefer Coco to Encanto, although the theme of Encanto of appreciating everyone's gifts in a family is a good one to celebrate, although I thought the plot was a bit thin. It's getting a lot of positive press, and the music is super catchy - almost too catchy. I'd prefer to alternate the playlist with the songs from West Side Story, but only the 15yr old went with me to the show. We went while waiting for her to compete in a track meet in College Station. It was a reward to her for coming with me to the George HW Bush presidential library. I'm a fan of presidential libraries - lots to learn about contemporary history: the stuff you live through and don't know how it will be remembered, if you even realize you are living through history at the time. 

Finally, my reading in 2022 is off to a good start: I think I mentioned that I finally read Edith Shaeffer's The Hidden Art of Homemaking. It made me feel nostalgic for our early parenting days, when I was both more intentional about parenting, and less bombarded by images of what parenting should look like. I was not nearly the artful and intentional homemaker that Shaeffer was - partly because I didn't enjoy the art of a good deal of it. Reading it made me feel slightly guilty - we'll never have musical evenings as a family, nor will we sit around and read Shakespeare, much as I'd enjoy that. But I can get the laundry washed and folded and set candles on the table and put up some curtains and practice hospitality when we can. These days that mostly means providing taquitos and ice cream sandwiches to the teenagers. 

Next, I turned from homemaking to historical fiction. I binge read Pachinko by Min Jin Lee over the weekend. It is an excellent portrayal of the Korean experience in Japan beginning before WWII up to the 80s as it follows a Korean family that had to emigrate from their island country to that of their colonizers. They struggle to make a living in a country where they are despised, but because of their poverty and the conditions in Korea, they are never able to return. It is a novel full of heartbreak but also strong depictions of family devotions - sometimes to the point of tragedy. The book is long, an epic about a family whose hard work eventually pays off, but with a price. We have friends who are Korean, and when we had dinner with them a few times they commented on how they prefer Korean to Japanese ramen and Korean soju to sake, etc. Until I read this book, I didn't consider that the preference was more than just taste. 

I also finished  Tish Harrison Warren's Liturgy of the Ordinary which was the Chritianity Today book of the year in 2017. Warren and her husband are both ministers in the Anglican Church, and as I mentioned, she is the writer in residence at a church in South Austin. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of Kathleen Norris's Quotidian Mysteries, but with childcare and marriage added in. Norris's work focused more on the idea of making every moment holy, while Warren looks more for the holiness in every moment. Is there a difference? Perhaps only slightly. Several themes stood out - seeing each day as a gift from a loving God and honoring that gift instead of wasting it, as well as being content with the way things are instead of wishing them to be otherwise - which is my great failing. Her connection of dissatisfaction with being a consumer of life, instead of a grateful receiver, was pertinent. She also reflects on our attitudes toward work being oriented toward production rather than gift, reminding readers that Christians have a different perspective towards time, success, suffering, communion, etc. What we do should bless others - whether it's meal prep, sending emails, or some other form of what she calls "vocational holiness." There are lots of good quotes in this book, but not enough time to share them, because now I need to head to sleep, because glancing through this book again has reminded me that her last chapter on sleep is probably the one that was most necessary for me to read. She present sleep as something we do for others and as a response to God's generosity and our incarnated selves. I often, as in right now, skimp on sleep to do something I want to do instead of getting enough rest to serve my family and God tomorrow. 

So it's off to bed, even though I have a list of other things I wanted to write about, and a list of other things I should be doing. Maybe tomorrow.