European Travels - Part II

Huge apologies for the delay between posts!  We are seriously behind but will be caught up in the next couple days.  Thanks for staying tuned!

We were greeted in Prague at the train station by our good friend Alex who had been living there the previous 2 weeks preparing for and rehearsing the play that he was directing.  We had last seen Fruake (good friend of mine from studies in Sweden) and Alex when they visited us in Reno in the summer of 2009.  The opportunity to meet up together in Eastern Europe and to have the chance to attend the premier of Alex’s play was really exciting.  We spent a few days before the premier walking the city and visiting some of the classic sites: Medieval Astronomical Clock dating to 1410, Castle Complex - largest in the world, The Jewish Quarter, and the large parks surrounding the castle grounds.  In the evenings we would get together with Alex in between rehearsals and really enjoyed learning a little about the world of theatre as the premiere drew closer.  Frauke joined us in Prague for the premier.  The timing was perfect.  Frauke had just finished teaching and was on spring break for a week and Alex also had a break after the premiere which gave us a week to travel together from Prague to Berlin via Dresden and then time to explore their home city of Hamburg together. 

Graham liked to call Prague “Medieval Disneyland”.  Likely a result of our Easter break timing, we along with many other tourists, managed to squeeze and filter through the enchanting narrow streets and alleys of the old city, explored the nooks and crannies of the extensive medieval castle complex, and lined the banks of the Vlatva River soaking up the unusually warm sunny weather.  Because the city escaped damage during WWII, the historic buildings and medieval ruins have largely been preserved providing visitors a truly authentic look at the development of culture, religion, and governance.

Prague Panorama

Alex, Graham, and Frauke at the Astronomical Clock - Prague

Park above the castle in Prague

Attending the premiere of Alex’s play “The Last Days of Humanity” was fascinating especially given the play was translated into Czech from German!  We didn’t understand much of the dialog…I should rephrase; we didn’t understand any of the dialog but did get the gist at times.  On the train ride to Dresden and Berlin, we had great discussion with Frauke and  Alex about the plot and his direction and quite modern interpretation of the original work.

Poster for Alex's Play

We spent an afternoon in Dresden walking around the city center visiting a few of the historic icons: the royal palace, Frauenkirche, and Rathaus (city hall).  Much of the city was destroyed during WWII.  The primary historic buildings have since been restored to pre-war condition.  We had some interesting discussions about the immense expense of restoring buildings to pre-war condition.  Similar restoration has occurred in many cities across Germany in the last decades.  

City Hall in Dresden - view toward Frauenkirche

That evening we traveled by train to Berlin where Frauke and Alex treated us to a fantastic hotel room in a really exciting vibrant part of the city – Prenzlauer Berg near the Mauerpark.  We enjoyed a wonderful gourmet pasta meal and bought groceries for the next day as most stores would be closed on Easter Sunday.  Easter morning we shared a picnic brunch in the park and took the rest of the day to visit some of the city sites: The new Holocaust Memorial, Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Museum Island, and the new train station.  We really enjoyed walking through different parts of the city, again so vibrant.  Graham was blown away by the changes he observed since his last visit in 1999.  The city was in a visible state of development, culturally, and physically.  Look forward to spending more time there someday.

Reichstag (Parliament Building)

Holocaust Memorial

Berlin Cathedral on the Museum Island

After our short Berlin visit we took the train to Hamburg where Frauke and Alex have been living the last 4-5 + years.  We enjoyed a week there living in their flat.  Some of the highlights included a canoe trip on the Auβenalster (beautiful large lake in the middle of the city), the port area (third largest in Europe), bike paths, and beaches along the River Alster, the new developments and old warehouses in Hafen City, the botanic park Planten un Blomin, the energetic bergs of Altona and St. Pauli, the colorful red light district, and the high density of VW camper vans and buses (at least one on every block!).  We rode bikes everywhere thanks to an amazing efficient city bike program that allowed us to rent bikes pretty much for free.  One night Alex invited us to attend a rehearsal of a children’s play that a colleague was directing.  It was in German (and written for children) so Graham got a kick out of it.  I enjoyed it too though had some questions at the end.  We shared many great evenings cooking together in Frauke and Alex’s flat – asparagus crepes with a fantastic nut sauce, and endive wrapped in ham with a cream sauce were a couple dishes we enjoyed, not to mention really wonderful breakfasts of fresh rolls and bread from the bakery down the block, cheeses, meats, lattes, etc. and how could I forget…the Mohnschnecken (poppyseed pastry roll).  Graham has a special place in his hear for mohnschnecken!

Canoeing on the Auβenalster

Alex and Frauke at the port in Hamburg

Historic warehouses in Hafen City Hamburg

A comfy, stout Hamburg city bike

Asparagus Crepes with Nut Sauce...Yum!

Mohnschnecken!

Bicycle and Pedestrian tunnel below the Alsta River

We rented a car together one day and made the pilgrimage to the town of Dalldorf.  The town today is pretty sleepy but it was great to visit.  We don’t really know if there is any relation to Graham’s family name but it was great to get some good pictures.  From there we drove to Lubeck and walked around the historic medieval areas.  Beautiful city famous for their marzipan.  Many of the historic buildings had again been restored following destruction during WWII.   

The town of Dalldorf

Medieval Gate in Lubeck

Historic City Hall - Lubeck

We said goodbye to Frauke and Alex and departed for the coast of Holland via Amsterdam to catch the ferry to England.  We arrived in Amsterdam the day after Queens Day a.k.a. “Hangover Day”.  The city had been a raging party the day and night before and we got there just in time to witness the aftermath.  There was garbage everywhere – in the streets, in the canals.  It was kind of a bummer, but we made the most of our time and enjoyed the afternoon.  We boarded the ferry at Hoek van Holland and set sail for Harwich on a brand new ferry.  We had our own luxurious cabin and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.  

Ferry Sunset

Our spacious cabin aboard the ferry

In Harwich we boarded a train to Cambridge where we had the opportunity to visit Graham’s family and wrap up our time in Europe before heading home.  Cambridge was alive with tourists enjoying a long weekend extended by the Royal Wedding and Bank Holidays.  The incredibly ornate colleges were quite a sight, as were the historic city streets, and boats punting along the River Cam. 

Punting along the  River Cam - Cambridge

Kings College in Cambridge

We enjoyed our visit with Graham’s Aunt Barbara and Uncle Mick, second cousins Gemma, Alicia and their husbands and kids over tea.  I was excited to have the opportunity to meet Graham’s Mom’s side of the family.  Graham especially savored the visit given the family connections are becoming more distant, Barbara and Mick are getting older, and it’s hard to stay when we will make it back to England.  Barbara passed along photos of Graham’s Mom Dinah, shared some great stories, and answered a few questions Graham had.  The next day we took the bus to the village of Great Barford and then walked along the River Ouse to the village of Willington where Graham’s great grandparents, grandparents, and Mom and Aunt Barbara had lived.  

Aunt Barbara, Uncle Mick, and 2nd and 3rd Cousins

Aunt Barbara and Uncle Mick

We happened to run into the town archivist, Sheila, who was giving a tour of the historic dovecot and stables that date back to the 16^th century.  We came to find out the local history group has been working to collect photos of people, places, and events from the past to display inside the stables for visitors.  We were in luck!  As Sheila was describing the history of the community, she mentioned market gardeners had established themselves around the turn of the century in the village.  Graham mentioned his granddad was a market gardener in the village.  She asked the family name.  Turns out she had known Graham’s Grandma (Nanny Wooding) and had been working over the years to collect photos of his family and others to put in the history albums.  Graham was really blown away as he looked through the album finding photos of his great grandparents, grandparents, Mom, and Aunt at various community events.  Graham learned that Nanny Wooding had been the primary organizer and seamstress of a theatre group post WWII that had performed to earn money for veterans in the area.  There were great photos of her in costume.  

Historic Church in Willington

The Dovecot (Dove House)

Willington archives on display in historic stables building

Nanny Wooding

The Croot's Family Farm

Family Graves

 This experience really made our trip.  Sheila was so kind and helpful - we were lucky to connect with her.  It was really a great opportunity to walk around the village where Graham’s family had lived for many generations, to learn so much more about his heritage, and to visit the graves of his Mom, Grandparents, and Great Grandparents. 

The following day we took the bus to London and departed for the U.S.  Final destination: Reno.  What a fantastic time and opportunity to visit amazing places, friends, and family!

The London Bridge

Greenland

Belgium and Switzerland

It was a pity to have only a few hours to spend in New York City before our departure from JFK to Dusseldorf. But we were very excited to be headed for Europe to visit our friends there, all of whom we had not seen for some time, and to visit some wonderful European cities. After an uneventful flight, we hopped onto the wonderful German rail system headed for Antwerp, Belgium. There we would visit and stay with Sofie, a friend of Kristen’s through connections in Quincy, and her boyfriend Jan. We were thankful to stay for several nights in their spacious, castle-like abode, complete with a large backyard/garden area. The beautiful spring weather with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70’s made for a complete package.

After a day of recovering from jetlag, we visited Antwerp several times over the weekend. The first visit included visiting a nice bar/café on the margin of a plaza, and watching Jan perform with his band at a standup comedy/open mike night. Jan is a great keyboardist/pianist who has toured with Zap Mama and been involved with some well-known acts over the last several years. For the next two days Sofie arranged some bikes for us to use, and we rode into town, gliding over the reddish-orange bike paths the entire six miles along with folks young and old, business people, families, and many other Antwerpens riding and enjoying the spring weather and beginning of Easter Break. The transportation infrastructure for bicycles, as well as the use thereof, was truly inspiring to see and participate in. Perhaps one day areas of the US will have this as well. How expensive is gas over there now?

Antwerp was glorious in the sunny weather. The train station is an incredibly impressive structure. We spent several hours walking around the city, and experiencing the contrast of different neighborhoods, including the Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods and the red light district, and their features, such as the various green spaces (botanical garden, city parks) and impressive baroque architecture. There were also newer architectural features that caught the eye, such as the new courthouse. After touring the city by day, learning its history and becoming familiar with its contours, we prepared an “American style” hamburger BBQ dinner for Sofie and Jan out in their expansive backyard. It was great to be in the city by day and retire to their “country estate” by evening. One afternoon we had the pleasure of enjoying good Belgian beer with another of Kristen’s friends from Quincy, Kaley, who happened to be visiting Antwerp that weekend with his girlfriend. The weather turned showery the last day we were there, so we took a break to regroup and plan for our next adventure. We said goodbye to Sofie and Jan, thanking them for their much-appreciated hospitality and welcoming them to visit us in the US whenever they get the chance… perhaps on Jan’s next big tour abroad with a band or as a quest for studio recording equipment! 

The train ride from Antwerp to Baden (outside of Zurich), where we would visit Ansgar and Patricia, took an entire day and involved several transfers (Brussels, Cologne, and Basel), but traversed some beautiful country, especially in the south of Germany and in northern Switzerland. We arrived in the evening and met Ansgar, who took us to their apartment minutes from the station that overlooks the Limmat River. It was great to see the two of them, especially since we last saw them at our wedding and Patricia was now ~26 weeks pregnant! We enjoyed wandering the streets of Baden the next day, from the medieval walls of Ruine Stein, to the hotsprings that give the town its name and draw many tourists. The hotsprings have been in use for millennia, and there were ongoing archaeological excavations into the “Baden Kultur” from the Romans through the Medieval Era to more modern times.  We walked around the area that was open to the public and could see some of the unearthed remnants of bathhouse structures long since past. 

The next morning we departed Baden for Calancatal, a rural valley in southern Switzerland where Patricia’s family has a mountain cabin. The drive was visually stunning, passing through the beautiful Vierwaldstaedte See, through the Gotthard Tunnel, and up into the mountains. Calanca Valley is simply beautiful, with steep glacially-carved valley walls, rushing creeks, picturesque small villages, green forests, and livestock (mainly goats, but also cows) grazing in the flatter grassland areas. Their cabin is a really amazing “Steinhaus”, built mainly of native stone in the early 18^th century (and possibly earlier) as shown by the date on the fireplace. The short doors hinted of a time when people were shorter, and the blackened walls made us wonder about the horrendous indoor air resulting from the constant attempts to warm the house. After a short walk around the village, we enjoyed a scenic view of the green valley and a delicious meal from the grill: sausages, salad, bread, and bacon wrapped bananas for desert.

 The first full day in Calancatal we went on a long hiking traverse high on the west slopes of the valley, skipping the teleferique ride at the outset that arrives in the village of Landarenca, which is not accessible by car. The village was very quaint and compact, with narrow cobblestone alleys for roads that were traveled as much by goats as people. Continuing above the village, we came to see that most flat-ish spaces on slopes above the main valley were occupied by some structure or another- many in various stages of decay. The following day we hiked up to a few small cabins that are also part of Patricia’s family’s property (visiting some beautiful cascades along the way) but are perched high on the steep slopes of the eastern side of the main valley. Here we ate a simple lunch while our eyes feasted on the breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains. 

We were sad to depart Calancatal, but we were happy to see some of Zurich the next day after returning to Baden. We rode into Zurich on bikes – a ride of about 25 km one way – and enjoyed a beautiful day visiting Zurich Lake and some of the sites of Zurich, including the Grossmuenster Church and the narrow cobblestone paths of the old city. Such urban sites made for a nice transition to our next destination and another European gem with great heritage: Prague. We left Baden the following morning, grateful for such a wonderful time and incredible hospitality, and wished Ansgar and Patricia the best in the upcoming expectant months.