Samantha's Visit June 2008

My niece Samantha came for a two week visit. Everyone concerned would say that it was a successful trip. Mom got to travel and visit friends, Pam, Sam and I got to see Barcelona and Sam found a new passion, fußbol.
Samantha arrived on Sunday June 22nd. She came out of the customs door escorted by 2 US Air employees. Because Samantha was an unescorted minor, Mom had purchased the ability to see her off at the gate in Philadelphia and the escort in Frankfurt. I feel that Sam could have managed on her own, but there is peace of mind knowing she was getting some help.
Sam is competitive and she wants to be able to visit as many countries as possible. She has already been to Italy and Germany and traveled through Switzerland (transferred planes). On this trip she was going to accumulate two more countries, France and Spain.
On Tuesday Sam and I drove to Strasbourg, France. Strasbourg is about a 90 minute drive down the Rhein Valley from Heidelberg. Strasbourg is built along the Ile River and the old town is bordered by the river on one side and a canal on the other, effectively making the old town of Strasbourg an Island.
Sam is not the most talkative person in the morning (but not difficult to get moving either) so she was pretty quiet in the car on the way down. We made it to Strasbourg in about 75 minutes or so. Driving across the border into France is completely uneventful. On the German side of the Rhein there are no remants left of the passort control and on the France side there is just the islands that the booths used to sit and a Welcome center.
I followed signs and the cathedral spir to the old part of town, parked the car and we walked overand through the old town to the Cathedral. By this time it was lunch time and we were both pretty hungry. We ate at a sidewalk café near the cathedral.
After lunch we walked around the corner to the Cathedral. I had taken Sam to the Cathedral in Heidelberg so she would have something to compare Strasbourg against. The Strasbourg Cathedral is of a completely different architectural style and much more ornate and a whole lot larger, it was the tallest building in Europe when it was built and is still the 4th tallest church in the world. It also houses a very large Astronomical Clock.
From the church we walked over to the canal for a canal boat ride around the old town. We chose to take the enclosed air conditioned boat instead of the open air boat as it was warm. During the ride around the town you can listen to a narrative with a headset and choose your language. You also proceed through two locks, one up and one down. Samantha had never been through or seen a canal lock working and I explained how it worked. Then second part of the trip is past the old town and down the Ile River to the EU Parliament Building. It is a beautiful glass and metal building.
Wednesday was very hot and very humid! Of course it always seems hotter when you depend on fans to keep cool and not air conditioning. Sam and I took the #5 Straßebahn to Mannheim. Samantha said that Mannheim felt more like a city to her. It has mostly modern buildings. During WW2 Mannheim was a major manufacturing center and was totally destroyed by Allied Bombing. Heidelberg on the other hand is half the size of Mannheim and was not much of a manufacturing center so it was virtually untouched by the war.
After walking around and doing a little shopping, Sam and I were in quest of a restaurant. Not just any restaurant, it had to have Schnitzel and, more importantly, it needed to have air conditioning. It was a hot quest but we succeeded. The restaurant Maredo looks and sounds like it should be a Mexican restaurant, but not by American standards. We walked in and were hit by a nice blast of cold, American air conditioning.
While we were eating, it had started raining. We paid the bill and got to the front door where about 5 people were watching the water flow down the street like a small river. We waited for the rain to slow, while I worried about whether the windows were closed at home. The rain slowed and we walked to the straßbahn and went home.
Thursday we left for Barcelona in part 2.

Steve's Visit

Pam’s father, Steve came for a visit in May and arrived on Friday May 9. This coincided with a party for Christine Waesle who had returned to Heidelberg from Singapore to defend her Doctoral thesis. That evening we invited a bunch of Christine’s friends and SAP Colleagues over for a little party. We had about 15 people over for the party.
Having just arrived that morning, Sep was obviously not staying up very late and he went to bed at about 10 that evening. I felt a little bad about that as we started up with the Wii about that time and it went from being just a nice quiet chatty party, to being a little louder with a good deal of laughter (see pix).
Saturday we drove along the Neckar to Dilsberg where there are several castles. The Castles were built at different times and are on different hill tops and there is a trail that you can walk to each of them. We walked to three of the castles but not the forth which is the furthest away. One castle is in good condition and is used for catering for weddings and other events. After the castle walk, we went down along the River in Neckarsteinach. We sat along the Neckar and had a drink and snack.
Sunday morning we did our usual shopping routine at the Saturday Market at the Tiefburg. After shopping we drove over to Bad Durkheim where there was supposed to be a wine festival. The festival turned out to be a one winery festival. We stayed and had a glass of wine and left. Being Sunday, there was not much open but we knew about another festival in a town nearby , Moßbach, so we drove over there. This was more of a food festival than a wine festival. It was warm and sunny and we walked around and checked out the many booths, got something to eat. It was very pleasant and excellent people watching.
Monday was a holiday in Baden-Württemberg and Pam had the day off. It also means that nothing is going to be open, but there was a medieval festival in Weinheim, a town about 10 miles north of Heidelberg and we decided to check it out. We parked the car and walked to the Hauptstrasse in Weinheim and had lunch first. We sat outside and ate in the sun and people watched while eating.
The Fesitval was located on the grounds of the castle. There was a troupe of period dancers there, and we watched the end of their performance. There were also demonstrations of period craftsmanship, blacksmithing, carpentry, bread baking and the like. It was not quite what we expected, but it was interesting. This kind of festival seems to bring out a lot of interesting people. Many were people like us, tourists checking it out, some were young families with children and then there were the people who dressed up for a very special occasion. Some of the people were dressed in period costumes (there were booths where you could purchase everything you need from hats to shoes). The second type of people were Goths, lots of dark hair, black eyeliner, black lipstick and piercings.
We stayed at the festival for little more than an hour and then went back to the car. We decided to drive up to a castle we had seen on the hill above Weinheim, Wachenburg. We did not know how to get there and we did not know what the place was called, so we drove in the general direction and completely missed it. On the second try, we made it up there, parked the car and then walked the rest of the way up the hill. Wachenburg was built as a convent and a school and now has a restaurant and an excellent view of the Rhein Valley.

On Monday morning arrived and time for Steve to head home. We loaded up the car and I drove him Frankfurt.

Our visit to Amsterdam

The weekend of April 11th Pam and I went to Amsterdam. We were traveling with Melissa, an SAP colleague from the US also living in the Heidelberg area. We were meeting Pam Levine a former SAP colleague now working for Centacor and who was coming the for business but took advantage of the travel to spend the weekend there. Pam, Melissa and I drove to Frankfurt Airport and had a completely uneventful flight.
The Netherlands has an interesting topography. When coming into airports almost anywhere else you look down on fields and highways and roads and such, but what is striking about Amsterdam are the canals and the water. Dikes are clearly visible as well as the canals….and it is all very, very flat.
The airport in Amsterdam is very nice and very modern with great shopping. We took a taxi from the Airport to the hotel, The American Hotel. After checking in and getting to our room, Pam got a call from Pam, she was not going to be able to come, her trip had been canceled just that afternoon. She was supposed to be leaving at about the time she was calling.
We were all hungry and we all decided on sushi, we called for a taxi. We asked the driver for a recommendation and he took us to a very nice Japanese restaurant, it had it all, regular order of the menu Japanese, Hibachi made in front of you and Sushi. I have to say, the sushi was excellent, not a lot of variety, but the fish was fresh and tasty. By the time we finished dinner it was already getting pretty late, we took a cab back to the Hotel.
Saturday started a bit cool and rainy. None of us had ever been to Amsterdam and we had no idea what way to walk to get to anyplace we wanted to be. We crossed the canal and looked around, but it did not ‘feel’ right in that direction. We turned around and walked the other direction. After a very short walk we came to a Plaza and in a corner of the Plaza was a Sports bar that was advertising breakfast. We went in and it looked good, so we sat down. Pam and Melissa had these crepe like things with strawberries they had seen other diners eating and I had a breakfast of Eggs, Sausage, potatoes and coffee. It was all very good.
We did a lot of walking. Amsterdam is a beautiful city and very livable. The canals are the defining feature of Amsterdam. They are arranged in arcs around the center of the city and the streets on either side of the canals have the same name as the canal. Another defining feature of Amsterdam is the bicycles. There is a 4 story parking garage just for bicycles. Also, it is not uncommon to see two people on a bike, the passenger being seated behind the on a carry rack. At traffic lights the passenger would jump off and then jump back on after giving the driver a little push start. This is something you seldom see in Germany.
It turns out that we could easily have walked to the Sushi restaurant we had been to the night before. We walked by the Anne Frank house, but the line was quite long and we decided to wait until Sunday to stop there and to do it early before the line got too long.
After lunch we also walked through the red light district. It was both not as tacky as we expected and very sad. The smell of marijuana drifted out of the coffee shops as we walked by and as we walked down the main drag, you could see the women standing in the windows selling themselves. The openness that allows this kind of thing is refreshing, but at the same time it is pretty sad to see someone stoned out of their mind, nearly passed out or seeing someone who you suspect this is their lifestyle. And for the women in the window, is this a bottom for them? Do they really enjoy what they do? I would think that that there are some women for whom being a prostitute in that environment is a nice job. You have good healthcare and have a structure to work within and then there are those for who this is a last chance. They believe they do not have the skills or wherewithal to do anything else and this provides for them and their family.
Dinner Saturday evening was at an Indonesian restaurant. We sat upstairs. We had a nice view of the street and the apartments across the street as it was not that wide. None of us had ever eaten Indonesian food before and we decided to get a sampler platter which we all enjoyed. Our server was a guy in his early 20’s who was very affable and he told us quite a bit about his life and how he wound up in Amsterdam.
Sunday Pam and I went for breakfast and we went to the same sports bar for breakfast. We then went directly to the Anne Frank house, the day before it had a very long line which we were hoping to avoid this morning. There was a line when we got there, but not nearly has long as the day before. Having grown up hearing about Anne Frank and knowing that the house they hid in was a museum, I knew that it was something that I wanted to see, but it was not something that I felt like that I needed to see. So, I was happily surprised when I really enjoyed it. The presentation is well done and they give a good history of the time period.
After the visit to the house, Pam and I spent the rest of the day walking around Amsterdam, walking around in parts of Amsterdam which are more residential. The canals of Amsterdam are lined with house boats. Some of them are really quite elaborate, from what we could tell looking in from the outside.
After walking around for most of the day we collected our luggage and headed back to the airport to fly home. Amsterdam is a very nice city with a lot to offer both historically and culturally. It would definitely be a city that Pam and I could see living in.

Ryan's Visit

My Nephew Ryan arrived in Germany on Friday March 28th, 2008. I drove to Frankfurt to pick him up at the airport. I was glad to see Ryan and he had also brought a gift I had purchased for Pam. Pam had seen the Nintendo Wii back in November and had said several times that she wanted one. I had purchased a Wii thru Amazon and had it shipped to Dave (my brother) and Ryan picked it up the weekend before he left. Ryan looked remarkably fresh after having flown overnight and being as tall as he is, sleeping in Coach is not going to happen.
It was a beautiful day, so we walked the hard way into town, up into the hills and down the Philosophers Way and into town. We walked around a little and made our way to the Cathedral and we walked up the Türm (tower). Most of the way up was easy, but the last couple turns got to be very tight and I had to duck my head. I turned around and Ryan was squeezing himself through. I had never been up the tower before and it was quite nice up there. The walk down was even more amusing as now Ryan was leaning forward and walking down the steps, he looked very uncomfortable.
Being the good Uncle that I am, I suggested that we walk up to the Schloss. He was going to sleep well this night. We walked around the Schloss for a while and as we were both hungry, we headed back down into town and we got lunch at the Palm Gasse. After lunch we walked up the Hauptstrasse and took the easy walk home.
We waited for Pam to come home. The Wii was laid out waiting. When Pam arrived home she was thrilled. We got dinner and started playing. The Wii is pretty amazing. It totally changes game play, similar to the late 70’s when Intellivision came out and eclipsed the Atari.
Saturday morning we did the Saturday market thing with Ryan. The Saturday market is where we buy our fresh fruit and vegetables and meats and fish. It is pretty nice actually and the vendors have gotten to know us pretty well. After shopping we put the groceries away and had breakfast.
After breakfast we drove across the Rhein Valley to Bad Durkheim, which is along the German wine road. We eventually wandered north on the wine road to Kallstadt where we found the Paradies Winery. We tried a variety of wines and purchased several wines.
Sunday was kind of a lazy day. The morning was spent playing Wii and I don’t think any of us had a shower until around noon. Then we went out a walked in the hills behind the house. The hills back there are just loaded with miles of trails. The trail we walked was about 5 miles, 2.5 up and 2.5 down and afforded a beautiful view of the valley from the top. Afterwards we walked in to town for coffee.
Monday Pam and I were working. Ryan being Ryan, I kicked him out of the house with a little cash and my US cell phone to use in case of emergency. He had a really nice time. He walked over to Heidelberg University Campus and walked around there (see pix). He then walked down the Hauptstrasse to the old University and the University Platz and to the Schloss.
I took Tuesday off and Ryan and I went to Rotenberg ob der Tauber. Rotenberg is an old walled city that used to be a fairly large town until fortunes moved and it became somewhat of a backwater. Because of that it retains much of its original character and the old town is completely surrounded by a wall. It was a pretty nice day and we got to walk around town a lot. We had lunch on the Rathaus Platz, the Rathaus is the city hall. Ryan had Bratwurst and sauerkraut and I Kohlrollladen which was nice for me since I had not had that in a very long time!
On Wednesday, Ryan got thrown out of the house again. This time he took public transportation to Mannheim. We have not used the Strassebahn much and I suggested that he go into town and catch it there, which then took him right past Handschuhsheim. Ryan wandered around Mannheim and went to a couple of different museums before coming home around 4pm that afternoon. I think Ryan enjoyed being able to wander and explore by himself.
Again, the end came too swiftly and on Wednesday we played a little Wii in the morning. About 9am we loaded up the car and drove to Frankfurt. I went in with Ryan to make sure his flight was departing in a timely manner, after a big hug and he was off.

Mom and Samantha Visit

On the Morning of Tuesday March 18th, Sam Seplow took a shuttle to Frankfurt to fly home to Philadelphia. That afternoon, I drove to Frankfurt to pick up Mom and Samantha at the airport. They had taken a rather circuitous route. They had a stop in Rome before coming to Germany. Having had some time in Europe already they were more adjusted to the time zone than most of visitors. Pam was working and I took Mom and Sam to the Hauptstrasse. After walking back to the house, we all took short naps. After Pam came home from work we walked across the street to the Roten Ocksen (Red Ox). Sam had schnitzel for the first time and very much enjoyed it.
On Wednesday morning, Sam slept in and before doing some work, Mom and I went for a walk up into the hills to the Philosophers Way and into Heidelberg going across the Old Bridge and then back down the Hauptstrasse and home. The walk is pretty damn hilly and strenuous and Mom thoroughly enjoyed the walk. The view into the Rhein Valley from the top is pretty amazing and I have posted lots of pictures at different times of the year from there. That afternoon, Mom walked into Heidelberg alone. No Map, no phone, just walked out the door without any aids. She was gone for hours….walking around and shopping in town. I was beginning to get worried after a couple of hours and was contemplating looking for her, but just before I was really going to leave, the doorbell rang! Mom…excellent.
Thursday we went to Speyer. Speyer got its name because of the number of church spires that you can see as you approach town (or even from the Philosophers Walk). Speyer also had a fairly affluent Jewish community, still has a Jewish bath and has a considerable part of the old wall and one of the original gates still. Unfortunately, this was Easter week and the Cathedral was in use and the Jewish Bath was closed also.
After a quick lunch we drove over to Schwetzingen. Schwetzingen has a Schloss with extensive gardens. The Schloss used to be a simple fort but was built up into a summer home for the Elector of Wurttemberg, Carl Theodor (1724-1799). The weather was rainy cold and nasty. We walked around the grounds for about an hour and we found a Mosque, a large pink Mosque.
Pam had off for Good Friday, but that also means that everything else was closed also, except for restaurants and coffee shops. We walked Heidelberg. The weather this day was exceptionally poor. Standing near the Cathedral, we got caught in a shower that turned to hail and sleet and then to snow, all in about 15 minutes. We then took the Funicular rail to the Schloss. We walked around the Schloss for a while and then walked back down to town, where we met our friends for for cake and coffee (this is what all good Germans do on Sundays and holidays, spend time with family and friends, take a walk and end up with cake and coffee) . Sam became bored of adult conversation, I gave her the key to the house and my cell phone and she walked back on her own. The five of us sat in the coffee house for a while longer before we walking back to our house for had dinner.
Sadly, Saturday arrived and it was time to take Mom and Sam to the airport. . Before leaving for the airport, we took Mom to the Saturday market at the Tiefburg. This is a farmer’s market that happens every Saturday - markets like this are common all around Germany. We then had breakfast and then packed up the car and went drove to Frankfurt.
We parked the car at a meter in front of the terminal, the meters are 15 minutes, and went in with them. The flight was delayed, very delayed and so we stayed with them for a while, having lunch and trying to prolong the visit as much as possible.

Sam Seplow's Visit

Sam Seplow came to visit March 8th to 18th. While this is not Sam’s first visit to Deutschland or even Heidelberg, his first visit was so long ago that he does not remember much. When traveling from the US to Germany you fly overnight and arrive early in the morning. If you are a good traveler, you can sleep on the plane and then the first day here is not a problem.
Pam and I both drove to the Frankfurt airport and met Sam there. After arriving in at our home, we walked into Heidelberg and walked down the Hauptsrasse. We stopped for lunch along the way and then walked back to the house. Sam took a short nap (you do not want to nap for too long) and then for the next couple of days we hung out around Heidelberg showing Sam the sites.
Tuesday morning I drove Sam into Mannheim where he took the train to München (Munich). Sam wanted to visit Dachau Concentration camp. The pictures from Sam’s trip are included in the Garmisch pictures. Sam also took the time to visit the Marienplatz where the Glockenspiel is located. The glockenspiel is nothing more than a very large and elaborate coo coo clock.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Pam and I left Heidelberg and drove to Garmisch where we would meet Sam who was taking the train from München. The weather was terrible. It was rainy and cold the whole way there. The mountains alongside the highway were hardly visible through the overcast and rain. Although even that provided a few dramatic views as the clouds thinned now and again. For most of the way, Pam was on conference calls. It was dark and rainy (did I mention that it was rainy?) when Pam and I got to Garmisch and Sam had arrived a couple hours before us. We were all hungry so we walked out into the rainy evening looking for someplace to eat. We walked about a kilometer before finding a place that looked promising and in fact was quite tasty (we have pix of the food).
Thursday morning dawned cloudy and windy, but not raining and not so cold. As with most European hotels, breakfast is included. So we headed downstairs for breakfast. Breakfasts at European Hotels are kind of like a movie. Each day you go down and you see the same people. Some people leave, new ones arrive, but you see the same basic people while you are there. The breakfast here was fairly typical for Germany, lunchmeats – salami, prosciutto, ham and other meats of indeterminate variety, bread and jams, hard boiled eggs, fruit and yogurt. .
After breakfast, Sam and I were going skiing. From the train station you could get to 4 mountains, Hausberg, Kreuzeck, Alpspitze and Zugspitze. Having looked at the map, I decided that we should try the Alpspitze. We took the train, purchased lift tickets and I rented equipment at which point we realized that the ski area was not going to open, it was too windy. In fact it looked like they were taking the cars off the Alpspitze gondola. So we took the train back to Hausberg and skied there for a few hours. Hausberg is considerably lower than the other areas and the available skiing is much less. So we skied a few hours and then headed back to the hotel.
As Pam is not a skier, she had stayed behind at the hotel, done some work and explored town. Sam and I took short naps and then we all headed out to explore and find something to eat. This evening, we headed the other direction, to an area Sam had walked before. We wound up at an Italian place off a Platz, where the food was exceptional. I ordered bruschetta and it was arguably the best Bruschetta I have ever eaten.
Friday morning dawned, rainy, overcast, cold and nasty! Sam and I agreed that it was not good skiing weather and since the Zugspitze was closed, we decided that we would get in the car and explore. We could head either north or east-ish. To the north was Ettal, where there was a monastery that brewed beer and also some Lord’s hunting lodge and in the other direction we could go to a town where there is a world famous violin making family. Sam and Pam were both a bit non-committal – beer won! The drive up to Ettal took you into the mountains and was amazing. It would have been nicer had the weather been nicer. After we arrived in Ettal, we parked and walked around the Monastery. The buildings are beautiful but it is not a large Monastery. We had an excellent lunch and yummy beer at a small restaurant next to Monastery and then found a store selling Ettaler beer from the monastery. I purchased a couple of six packs and Sam purchased Papish Beer. I have not done any research, but I think perhaps the current Pope is from an area not far from there. We then drove further into the mountains to the Hunting lodge. The grounds were amazing, but then again, out there everything looks amazing. We drove back to Garmisch, hung out in town and had dinner.
Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny with clear blue skies interrupted only by small wisps of high clouds. After breakfast, all three of us headed for the train to go to the top of the Zugspitze. It takes over an hour to get to the top. About 2/3 of the trip is in tunnels carved through the mountain. The trip is kind of amazing when you are not being bored looking out the window and blackness. The train was packed with people and we stopped twice on the way up as trains coming down the mountain went past. We exited the train and walked out to an amazing view (again, see pix). This far up a mountain, you are skiing on glaciers but the previous two days rain down below had brought plenty of snow to the top the Zugspitze. After snapping some pictures, Pam headed back down and Sam and I headed out for skiing. Here, there were vast areas you could ski and at the same time, there were areas the size of Rhode Island that was not open. We wound up skiing for about 5 hours and then took the train back down to town. So…for me, I have been skiing three times in Europe for a total of 10 days. Of those 10 days, I have had one day of good skiing, not a good average. I will attempt to better that number next season!
For dinner this evening, we headed out in a different direction, passing several restaurants and finally stopping at an Italian restaurant, which had one open table for 5. There were two women also waiting for a table and the host asked if we would share the table….we all agreed. It was very interesting. The women were sisters who grew up in München and the elder sister was living and working in Garmisch and the sister was in for a weekend visit. We had good conversation with them as they spoke very good English. Dinner was very good.
On the whole, Garmisch is a very nice town, but not a resort town such as Jackson, WY or Lake Tahoe (places I have been). I would call it more a working town that has skiing. Were I to visit again, I would rather earlier in the ski season when the weather would be better for skiing.
We drove back home to Heidelberg on Sunday morning and this time you could see the mountains…..much nicer on the way back. Sam stayed until Tuesday. Pam took Sam to Strasbourg one day. Strasbourg is in France and an old town and also claims ownership of Gutenberg and his press and is also home to many EU offices. On Tuesday morning, Sam took the shuttle back to Frankfurt as I was picking up Mom and Sam later in the day for their visit.

Paris - Feb 2008

On Friday, February 15th I flew from Frankfurt to Paris to meet Pam who had arrived in Paris on Thursday for work. We were to meet Pam’s Uncle Mike and Aunt Sandy, who go to Paris twice a year for Fashion week (they work in the fashion industry). Sadly, while we made it to Paris, my luggage did not. It turns out that it was still in Frankfurt.
We all met at a small boutique hotel, where everyone knows Mike and Sandy as they always book the same room for each of their visits. After a short catch up, we all went to a Vietnamese restaurant not far from the hotel for dinner. Pam and I love Vietnamese food, ever since our trip to Vietnam a couple of years ago. The restaurant was quiet small, but the food was excellent and very authentic after dinner we wandered around the neighborhood where the hotel was and Sandy and Pam each had Crepes.
Saturday morning arrived sunny and cool and so had my luggage. We met Mike and Sandy and left for breakfast. We went to Paul’s which is a chain of restaurants and is essentially a French diner. Each location bakes their own fresh bread and the bread is exceptional.
We spent Saturday walking around Paris, taking in the sites, doing some shopping and people watching. We also met up with Claudia, an SAP Colleague of Pam’s who is living in Paris. We wondered over to Luxembourg Gardens and on the way stopped at a gourmet chocolate store, which sold not only the most beautiful looking chocolates, but also fabulous Clementine preserves. It will be worth the trip back to Paris, just to by more. We only saw a small part of the Gardens, but they are very nice. The Palace at the Gardens now houses the French Parliament.
On Sunday, most of Paris is closed and if it is not closed is does not open until after lunch, except for the Marias (which means marsh), which is the Jewish area of Paris. After a quick breakfast, we made our way to the Marias where we continued the meander of the day before. We found a Jewish Middle Eastern restaurant ((as opposed to a European Jewish).
The best part of this trip… we had no agenda and no plan. It was just a chance to see our friends and get to know the Paris that Mike and Sandy have come to love over the years.