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Wednesday, March 02, 2005
2a. add to pics
Pics:
1) The ride up the ski-lift, looking good!!
2) Dropped off and at the bottom of my first run.
Check out the depth of that snow on the roof!
3) The view down into the Garmisch-Partenkirchen
valley
4) Finally a bit of sun and you can see the lower
mountains above
1) The ride up the ski-lift, looking good!!
2) Dropped off and at the bottom of my first run.
Check out the depth of that snow on the roof!
3) The view down into the Garmisch-Partenkirchen
valley
4) Finally a bit of sun and you can see the lower
mountains above
Goodbye Love(story), Hello Happiness!
Monday Morning, said good-bye to Josef and took the train south. The view through the train windows not as beautiful as the trip north most of the time until you get past Munich. When I got to Garmisch-Partenkirchen--wow. Scenic, classic, shrouded in fog. It was snowing beautifully as I walked a mile or two to the Edelweis American Lodge. Entered the main lobby where there was a great fireplace surrounded by couches and other typical resort trimmings. Arcade, heated pool with a fountain, steak restaurant; not bad!
But the rooms were booked and expensive. The cheap place I had been told about no longer existed. I walked around the town with an increasingly heavy backpack for a total of about 5 hours. It got colder, it got dark, I grew tired. I found rooms for over $100/night. Found a small one for $70/night, figured I could at least afford that for some rest but I walked on. Finally, an older lady pointed me to a house that takes lodgers. The rooms were small, the price was right. My four-day stay total was less than one day at the most expensive hotel I found, and included breakfast mornings. Shower was down the hall--just right! Quite cold and tired turned into happy and grateful. My thoughts again turned to the slopes.
Day 6, Tuesday. Rented/bought snowboard equipment through the Americans. Went up on the mountains with the Germans. And Italians, and Swedish--it seemed like everyone was there. IT WAS HEAVEN. Fresh, deep snow everywhere, still on the trees. Bliss on a blade. Smiled, laughed, came downhill over and over. Took pictures and made movie clips. Ate Gummy Bears and Pizza for power. Went to my room satisfied. I can die happy now. If I don’t, tomorrow will be a travel day so my legs can rest.
Tuesday. Feb 21, 2005 Wondered briefly how Josef was coming along. Ever so briefly. The train doesn’t run east and west in Southern Germany so I bought an all day bus pass for about $10 and rode out to Neuschwanstein. Again the country side was like postcards. If the bus windows weren’t so dirty… At any rate, the fog again hung low, snow flurries flitted and fluttered. The Castles of the Kings, they call the area. The famous castle that Disney copied for their logo is the more pristine castle here. It is clean and restored and cost a hand full of Euros to walk through. You can’t take your camera so I stayed outside and had a Bratwurst. Mmmm, meaty! It tastes all that much better in this kind of weather.
Horse drawn carriages were available for the more complete experience. For the hiker, like me, it meant stepping more carefully and avoiding being downwind. But seriously, it all did have a bit of a magical effect. Even huge touring groups of Asians and Americans couldn’t break the spell. The nearby lake was frozen over and covered with snow, it seemed the King could arrive at any moment, or some Knights ride through to report a conquest. There might even be a glass slipper…but the search for something else would begin on Thursday. The plan formed as I drifted off to sleep on the bus-ride home…
Ernie
pics: 1st: A view out the window traveling south on the train
2nd: Germans in black as usual, the younger generation a bit taller, checking the train schedule as I often did.
3rd: Typical house and painting in Garmisch
4th: Never too cold for a kid to want ice-cream. Typical, even though this one is American.
But the rooms were booked and expensive. The cheap place I had been told about no longer existed. I walked around the town with an increasingly heavy backpack for a total of about 5 hours. It got colder, it got dark, I grew tired. I found rooms for over $100/night. Found a small one for $70/night, figured I could at least afford that for some rest but I walked on. Finally, an older lady pointed me to a house that takes lodgers. The rooms were small, the price was right. My four-day stay total was less than one day at the most expensive hotel I found, and included breakfast mornings. Shower was down the hall--just right! Quite cold and tired turned into happy and grateful. My thoughts again turned to the slopes.
Day 6, Tuesday. Rented/bought snowboard equipment through the Americans. Went up on the mountains with the Germans. And Italians, and Swedish--it seemed like everyone was there. IT WAS HEAVEN. Fresh, deep snow everywhere, still on the trees. Bliss on a blade. Smiled, laughed, came downhill over and over. Took pictures and made movie clips. Ate Gummy Bears and Pizza for power. Went to my room satisfied. I can die happy now. If I don’t, tomorrow will be a travel day so my legs can rest.
Tuesday. Feb 21, 2005 Wondered briefly how Josef was coming along. Ever so briefly. The train doesn’t run east and west in Southern Germany so I bought an all day bus pass for about $10 and rode out to Neuschwanstein. Again the country side was like postcards. If the bus windows weren’t so dirty… At any rate, the fog again hung low, snow flurries flitted and fluttered. The Castles of the Kings, they call the area. The famous castle that Disney copied for their logo is the more pristine castle here. It is clean and restored and cost a hand full of Euros to walk through. You can’t take your camera so I stayed outside and had a Bratwurst. Mmmm, meaty! It tastes all that much better in this kind of weather.
Horse drawn carriages were available for the more complete experience. For the hiker, like me, it meant stepping more carefully and avoiding being downwind. But seriously, it all did have a bit of a magical effect. Even huge touring groups of Asians and Americans couldn’t break the spell. The nearby lake was frozen over and covered with snow, it seemed the King could arrive at any moment, or some Knights ride through to report a conquest. There might even be a glass slipper…but the search for something else would begin on Thursday. The plan formed as I drifted off to sleep on the bus-ride home…
Ernie
pics: 1st: A view out the window traveling south on the train
2nd: Germans in black as usual, the younger generation a bit taller, checking the train schedule as I often did.
3rd: Typical house and painting in Garmisch
4th: Never too cold for a kid to want ice-cream. Typical, even though this one is American.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
1b. add fotos
more pics, a note on the graffiti--it is everywhere in Germany and it is an artform. The best in graffiti can be found on anything that isn't moving but especially on the walls where the trains travel. Then there is my friend Josef who really helped me out by giving me a place to stay, and a little german girl that I just had to have a picture of, and was she shy!
1a. add fotos
here are some more scenes from around Germany, the
last one is a view from the top of the Koeln Cathedral.
Pic 1 Typical Train Station
Pic 2 Where living is art...
Pic 3 ...and art is a living!
Pic 4 View from the top of the Dom, Cologne
last one is a view from the top of the Koeln Cathedral.
Pic 1 Typical Train Station
Pic 2 Where living is art...
Pic 3 ...and art is a living!
Pic 4 View from the top of the Dom, Cologne
Are You a Frankfurter?
If you are so inclined to hear more, I then arrived in German early Thursday morning. I went to visit the Frankfurt temple in Friedrichsdorf where I had served on the days of dedication 17 years before….I finally made it back!! I met briefly with some of the current missionaries and current Mission President. Truth be told, I also got accidentally locked into the chapel while reading some scriptures and had to leave through a window. Don’t worry, I sought forgiveness, found an authority with a key, and got everything back in order. Happens to me all the time.
I called a Mormon friend contact I had made on the internet and agreed to meet him Friday evening. I got a Schnell Zug (Fast Train) pass and headed up to Koeln (Cologne) and Fulda, some cities from my mission. I climbed the Dom(cathedral) in the center of Koeln and visited the street where I had lived. That Cathedral, by the way, was hit 17 times in bombing raids as the Allies tried to hit the bridge near it, and it survived it all, stoking the faith of believers. And I had some yummy food from the bakeries and imbisses. Mmmmm! I found that eating all that meat gave me some better resistance against the humid, chilling cold, I was so cold!!
Fulda had grown so much, from a smallish dorf to something of a tourist destination as well. My apartment had become a closed office location for the church. Don’t know what that means. Traveling through the country side on the Fast Train I always kept a window seat. The hills and fields so green even in Winter were dotted with little dorfs, all with old churches at their centers. Watching them go by was like flipping through postcards; every second was another picture of perfection. I loved it.
Some of my first impressions back in Germany after 17 years were that the people were very healthy looking, fashionable, and just plain looked better! Especially the younger generation, say those under 30, as a whole dress very nicely ALL the time, their skin and hair are very beautiful, and they are much taller than previous generations. The Germans dress generally all in black or in dark clothing this time of the year, changing to green and tan for the Summer.
The locals shook off the cold like so much snowflakes. Out for walks in below freezing conditions, eating outside at food stands, kids even with ice-cream cones. No big deal. I was so cold. After meeting my connection Josef, he quickly loaned me a down-filled coat. Between that and some good wurst(sausage), I was able to handle it the weather much better. And just as well, it snowed and snowed Friday night. YES! For my planned mission was to go snowboarding in the Southern Alps, as well I did. But apparently, there was something else for me to do here….
Saturday we went shopping and I got a ski-jacket for a great price at a discount store. Josef then also acted as a guide through Frankfurt. The old buildings are mixed in with the ultra modern, and outside the new building, so little changes in Germany over decades and decades. Churches, very common, are many hundreds of years old. That evening I met his sister, who was cute and kind enough to let me transfer my pictures to a CD on her computer; I had already filled-up a very large disc(1 Gig) with pics and images after only 4 days out of Kirkuk.
We all stayed and chatted and then went back to Josef’s where I gratefully accepted an air mattress on the floor. It is then I discovered my true mission in Germany, perhaps ;-) Josef had broken up with an amazing girl and realized he had let something go that he shouldn’t have had let go of. So I listened and played Dr. Love, as it were. For several hours. Hopefully he was able to get some principles clarified and a game plan from our discussion. We then prepared for church at the International Ward in Frankfurt for Sunday on the morrow. Where, incidentally, he and his former girlfriend are about the only eligible singles and teach primary classes right next to each other. A bit uncomfortable for them. Tune in again soon for Sunday's continuing saga and more….
The International car and heart doctor checking out for now, Ernie
I called a Mormon friend contact I had made on the internet and agreed to meet him Friday evening. I got a Schnell Zug (Fast Train) pass and headed up to Koeln (Cologne) and Fulda, some cities from my mission. I climbed the Dom(cathedral) in the center of Koeln and visited the street where I had lived. That Cathedral, by the way, was hit 17 times in bombing raids as the Allies tried to hit the bridge near it, and it survived it all, stoking the faith of believers. And I had some yummy food from the bakeries and imbisses. Mmmmm! I found that eating all that meat gave me some better resistance against the humid, chilling cold, I was so cold!!
Fulda had grown so much, from a smallish dorf to something of a tourist destination as well. My apartment had become a closed office location for the church. Don’t know what that means. Traveling through the country side on the Fast Train I always kept a window seat. The hills and fields so green even in Winter were dotted with little dorfs, all with old churches at their centers. Watching them go by was like flipping through postcards; every second was another picture of perfection. I loved it.
Some of my first impressions back in Germany after 17 years were that the people were very healthy looking, fashionable, and just plain looked better! Especially the younger generation, say those under 30, as a whole dress very nicely ALL the time, their skin and hair are very beautiful, and they are much taller than previous generations. The Germans dress generally all in black or in dark clothing this time of the year, changing to green and tan for the Summer.
The locals shook off the cold like so much snowflakes. Out for walks in below freezing conditions, eating outside at food stands, kids even with ice-cream cones. No big deal. I was so cold. After meeting my connection Josef, he quickly loaned me a down-filled coat. Between that and some good wurst(sausage), I was able to handle it the weather much better. And just as well, it snowed and snowed Friday night. YES! For my planned mission was to go snowboarding in the Southern Alps, as well I did. But apparently, there was something else for me to do here….
Saturday we went shopping and I got a ski-jacket for a great price at a discount store. Josef then also acted as a guide through Frankfurt. The old buildings are mixed in with the ultra modern, and outside the new building, so little changes in Germany over decades and decades. Churches, very common, are many hundreds of years old. That evening I met his sister, who was cute and kind enough to let me transfer my pictures to a CD on her computer; I had already filled-up a very large disc(1 Gig) with pics and images after only 4 days out of Kirkuk.
We all stayed and chatted and then went back to Josef’s where I gratefully accepted an air mattress on the floor. It is then I discovered my true mission in Germany, perhaps ;-) Josef had broken up with an amazing girl and realized he had let something go that he shouldn’t have had let go of. So I listened and played Dr. Love, as it were. For several hours. Hopefully he was able to get some principles clarified and a game plan from our discussion. We then prepared for church at the International Ward in Frankfurt for Sunday on the morrow. Where, incidentally, he and his former girlfriend are about the only eligible singles and teach primary classes right next to each other. A bit uncomfortable for them. Tune in again soon for Sunday's continuing saga and more….
The International car and heart doctor checking out for now, Ernie
The Adventure Begins (again)
Did I tell you my trip to Germany was the greatest? I have to admit, that although having regular jobs has been outside my zone, this paid vacation stuff can be pretty darn nice! I’ve never had a vacation like this before, for two weeks. I enjoyed it thoroughly and for once on a vacation, hardly touched a car. I did help push a dead Mercedes out of traffic, belonging to a woman from India and her two girls. My access to resources was too limited to do much else. But I would count that simply as exercise. And that was in Dubai on my way back.
It is a complicated process to leave here. I went first to Mosul, then Baghdad, Dubai, and finally Frankfurt, a path and process that takes over two days. In Frankfurt I was blessed with a place to stay with a Mormon friend named Josef I had contacted over the internet and stayed there for a few days. Then to the South, namely Garmisch-Partenkirchen. There I found a humble room in a type of house that the citizens in that area often rent in the fashion of a youth hostile. A bed, sink, desk, and blankets for a small fee. It was perfect.
When I woke up the second morning in Frankfurt, fresh snow had fallen all night. In Garmisch, it added to the huge amount already fallen. The southern mountains (alps) have not only had an unusually good season for snow, but had added a meter the weekend before I arrived! Although I rendered some thanks to Heaven, it felt redundant because I was already there. I rented a snowboard and carved and couldn’t stop smiling. Finally, I returned for a night in Frankfurt, started to help someone in the International ward move Saturday Morning, and caught my flight around lunchtime.
But first came the flight out of Iraq. I can’t believe how much greener (and it still is not all that green) it was from when I flew in for the first time last fall. And there is a lot of water laying in the low spots. And an amazing row of snow-capped mountains to the Northeast. It will probably all change back to that oven-blasted sandscape soon with the approach of Summer, but for now the land looked quite different.
Then there was the stay in Baghdad. The food was so much better !!! I was so happy. I’d forgotten what a limited menu we have here in Kirkuk. And the shopping, the PX, had so many more choices. By no means a Walmart, but again, compared to what we can find in Kirkuk…wow. Then to Dubai.
Dubai is part of the Arab Emirates, and seemed more like small and not so distinct state, rather than a country. East and across a small ocean from Kuwait, it is a vacation destination. We were treated to catered buffet-style dinners and rooms for the night. There are unique buildings and lots of ocean-front property. They even drop huge amounts of sand in the ocean to create islands in the shape of palm trees, for example. It was actually on the return stay that I got out into the place.
I was determined, perhaps with a California frame of mind, to Reach the Beach. I covered 7 or 8 miles on foot to get there and back, but it was worth it! It was a beautiful day, perfect temperature. I walked through parts of town that had influences from India and also China. I saw many a sheik jr. driving nice autos, it seems the Toyota Landcruiser or Jeep Grand Cherokees with Limo tint were some of the favorite vehicles. I was probably the only guy without black, black hair and dark skin. And jeans and a t-shirt. Probably the only one even thinking about wearing shorts. And very, very few women on the streets. It seemed like a male planet. With its fancy shops and high foreign population, it was like the Beverly Hills of India.
And that is the first leg of the trip….more about Germany soon, Ernie
It is a complicated process to leave here. I went first to Mosul, then Baghdad, Dubai, and finally Frankfurt, a path and process that takes over two days. In Frankfurt I was blessed with a place to stay with a Mormon friend named Josef I had contacted over the internet and stayed there for a few days. Then to the South, namely Garmisch-Partenkirchen. There I found a humble room in a type of house that the citizens in that area often rent in the fashion of a youth hostile. A bed, sink, desk, and blankets for a small fee. It was perfect.
When I woke up the second morning in Frankfurt, fresh snow had fallen all night. In Garmisch, it added to the huge amount already fallen. The southern mountains (alps) have not only had an unusually good season for snow, but had added a meter the weekend before I arrived! Although I rendered some thanks to Heaven, it felt redundant because I was already there. I rented a snowboard and carved and couldn’t stop smiling. Finally, I returned for a night in Frankfurt, started to help someone in the International ward move Saturday Morning, and caught my flight around lunchtime.
But first came the flight out of Iraq. I can’t believe how much greener (and it still is not all that green) it was from when I flew in for the first time last fall. And there is a lot of water laying in the low spots. And an amazing row of snow-capped mountains to the Northeast. It will probably all change back to that oven-blasted sandscape soon with the approach of Summer, but for now the land looked quite different.
Then there was the stay in Baghdad. The food was so much better !!! I was so happy. I’d forgotten what a limited menu we have here in Kirkuk. And the shopping, the PX, had so many more choices. By no means a Walmart, but again, compared to what we can find in Kirkuk…wow. Then to Dubai.
Dubai is part of the Arab Emirates, and seemed more like small and not so distinct state, rather than a country. East and across a small ocean from Kuwait, it is a vacation destination. We were treated to catered buffet-style dinners and rooms for the night. There are unique buildings and lots of ocean-front property. They even drop huge amounts of sand in the ocean to create islands in the shape of palm trees, for example. It was actually on the return stay that I got out into the place.
I was determined, perhaps with a California frame of mind, to Reach the Beach. I covered 7 or 8 miles on foot to get there and back, but it was worth it! It was a beautiful day, perfect temperature. I walked through parts of town that had influences from India and also China. I saw many a sheik jr. driving nice autos, it seems the Toyota Landcruiser or Jeep Grand Cherokees with Limo tint were some of the favorite vehicles. I was probably the only guy without black, black hair and dark skin. And jeans and a t-shirt. Probably the only one even thinking about wearing shorts. And very, very few women on the streets. It seemed like a male planet. With its fancy shops and high foreign population, it was like the Beverly Hills of India.
And that is the first leg of the trip….more about Germany soon, Ernie
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