traveldiary.stracke.us

We adults had our last get-together with our German friends on Sunday evening. We met downtown Cologne and had a nice dinner at “Gaffel Haus Köln”. I enjoyed some “Gaffel Kölsch”, served in small 200 ml glasses. The waiter kept bringing more rounds, until I put my coaster on top of the last glass, indicating that I throw in the towel. On the way home, I was driving Joachim’s big S-Class Mercedes and managed to get us home, navigating the large car through the narrow streets without any incident.
Today is Wednesday, April 23 and our students are at the Cologne Airport. This is the last day of their journey, and it is time to say goodbye to the German host families and friends. After checking-in our luggage, it is a tearful and emotional scene, but eventually we have to separate Americans and Germans, in order for our group to go through security.
All the students and chaperons are accounted for, nobody lost their passport(as has happened on the last exchange trip), and Gabi is starting to breathe easier. One more flight and bus ride, and she can turn the kids over to their parents.
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On Monday, April 21st, we are taking Gabi’s students to the former Roman settlement “Colonia Ulpia Traiana”, nowadays “Xanten”.
2000 years ago, it used to be a port city along the Rhine river. The river changed it’s course ,and now our bus drops us in the middle of flat cow pastures, outside of the walled town of “Xanten. It is sunny and pleasant, as we walk past a still working grain mill to the Gothic-style church, the “Xantener Dom”.
We admire the amazing wood-carving skills that produced the life-like figures of the “St-Martinus Altar” and the “Altar of the Holy Mary”, more than 500 years old!
Lunch is al fresco at the market square. I have a traditional Rhineland dish: mashed potato-carrot stew.
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Gabi and I know our way around Berlin pretty well and today (April 19th) her students will experience a “Blitz Tour” of a few of the city’s highlights.
Reveille is at 6:15 and after breakfast, we catch the M29 bus, leaving from “Schöneberger Ufer” at the “Landwehrkanal”. The bus is empty, and we enjoy great views from the front seats on the upper deck(almost like Business Class). We travel to “Lützowplatz”, switch to the 100 bus and drive along the large “Tiergarten”, “Siegessäule” with the hefty 35 ton “Viktoria”, aka “Golden Else” on top, “Schloss Bellevue”, “Haus der Kulturen” (The Pregnant Oyster) and arrive at the “Reichstag” ( House of the German Government) at 8:30. We are in luck, there are no lines to get in. We visit the famous rooftop glass dome with it’s open spiral staircase, over-looking the “Parlament” (Assembly Hall) and the Berlin skyline. It is cold (8°) and sunny, picture perfect weather.
Nearby I see the “Charite”, Berlin’s oldest hospital. It opened in 1727, and the oldest building still in use dates back to 1836. Several physicians, who made medical history, were working here:
Robert Koch: microbiologist: discovered the Bacillus anthracis (Anthrax spores), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Tuberculosis Bacillus), and Vibrio cholerae (Cholera) in Alexandria, Egypt;
Ferdinand Sauerbruch: surgeon: first open chest surgery with positive lung pressure, “Sauerbruch Arm” prosthesis;
Rudolf Virchow (Founder of modern Pathology) among them.
Incidentally, from 1849 to 1856, Virchow was teaching at the Medical School in “Würzburg”,
my Alma Mater.
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On Friday, April 18th, our group is riding the rails again. We arrive in the new, glass-and-steel Berlin Central Train Station at noon. Everything is very clean and shiny. The open hall of this multi-level station includes platforms for long distance, local trains and subways, as well as shops and restaurants, all connected by elevators or escalators. I have no problem navigating our 30 travelers to the youth hostel, switching from “S-Bahn” to “U-Bahn”.
We spent the afternoon in the very informative museum “The Story of Berlin”, including a visit to a nuclear shelter, still ready to be used! Then we take U1 to Europacenter. The sun is coming out, while we relax around the “World Fountain”, known to Berliners as the “Wasserklops” or “Water Dumpling”. To our surprise, the musical entertainment in the “Breitscheidplatz”, is being provided by a “Band of Indians”.
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On Thursday, we are taking taxis for 30 persons from the youth hostel to the train station. I get into the first taxi, together with 5 students, and pay each of the drivers, as they arrive at the station.
We are traveling on ICE 1512 from Nürnberg to Leipzig, with brief stops in Saalfeld, Jena Paradies (Paradise) and Naumburg. From Bamberg to Lichtenfels, our train follows the upper “Main” river valley, then we travel along the river “Saale” to Naumburg, in former East Germany. We are in the German state “Thüringen” and see some of the Nature Park “Thüringer Schiefergebirge” ( slate mountains). The river valley looks beautiful, the river calm enough for canoeing. I want to come back here some time in the future, to enjoy the scenery on a bike tour with Gabi.
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We are now beginning our travel (with the 26 students plus 4 adults) through Germany, and Gabi and I are putting in 18-hour days.
On Wednesday, April 16, we are up at 5:30 AM and have a quick breakfast at the McDonald’s(!) in the
Köln-Deutz train station. ICE 525 is right on time, leaving Cologne at 6:44, and all the students are accounted for (after one of many “group checks”). We travel south through the foggy “Westerwald” and low mountains of the “Taunus”. I explain to the kids, that we travel on a high speed section of the German Rail network, with a top speed of 300km/h. We are leaving the cars on the Autobahn next to us in the dust. I go to the front of the train and watch the driver in his glass-enclosed cockpit. It is a little scary to go through the fog at this speed, when we can see only a short section of track zooming by and disappearing under our feet.
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It is Tuesday, April 15th, and Gabi and I are having breakfast at a “Kamps” bakery in Köln-Porz, fortifying us with croissants and cappucino. Afterwards, we meet Dagmar and Gabi’s students at the school and take the S-Bahn to Köln-Deutz. We walk across the Rhine river bridge and have the magnificent Cologne Cathedral right in front of us. With it’s impressive Gothic towers, under a blue sky right now( for a change), it is the third tallest cathedral in the world. The first phase of the cathedral’s construction lasted from 1248 to 1510 and then ceased due to lack of funds. The unfinished church was part of Cologne’s skyline for over 300 years.
The Prussian King Frederic William IV ordered the continued construction in 1842, and in 1880, Emperor William I celebrated the completion of the cathedral. 300000 tons of stone had been used for the cathedral and at that time the “Kölner Dom” was the world’s tallest building!
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My first day in Germany begins with a bus trip to Maastricht in the Netherlands. In Aachen, I have about 10 minutes in the “Extrablatt” restaurant, before we have to pick up Gabi’s students. Not even enough time to order something to drink. I take out my toiletries and use the restaurants restroom, so I can freshen up before moving on. It is raining, as we cross the former border between Germany and Holland, but in Maastricht the sun comes out for a short time.
Masstricht is the capital of the Dutch province Limburg, located at 50° 51′ N,5° 41′E, along the river “Maas”. Our driver parks our bus ( he prefers it to be called “coach”) outside of the pedestrian town center next to the river”Maas”, and we walk across one of the bridges, having nice views of the waterfront and old merchant houses. The Romans were here about 2000 years before us (Traiectum ad Mosam) and, under Emperor Augustus, had built already a bridge across the river.
During the French-Dutch war (1672-1679), King Louis XIV’s musketeer Charles d’Artagnan was killed here in 1673 during the siege of the town. He died from a gunshot wound through the throat. Fortunately, today the town is much more peaceful and more of a tourist destination. It was also here in 1992 where the Treaty of Maastricht was signed, creating the modern Europe.
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Gabi is running another GAPP High School exchange trip. She left with 26 students on April 9, flying from Newark to Cologne, Germany. Left behind, I have been working the last 5 days.
Today is Sunday, April 13th and I am getting up at 5:30 AM, throw my carry-on bag in the car, and work at SPH from 7AM to 3PM. I am meeting Sonja at the Albany airport and she drives my car home. Perfect timing, we both arrive at the curb at the same time and I continue on my way to catch up with Gabi somewhere in Germany.
I am getting the dreaded “SSSS” on my Boarding Pass and I am glad to have arrived with some extra time for this extra-special security screening. They mess up my suitcase and I re-pack while waiting at the gate. My flight to Newark is climbing above the clouds, at first cruising South along the Hudson River. 40 minutes later, I can see the Manhattan sky line from Newark Airport.
Continental flight 50 is 40 minutes late and I decide to have dinner in a 60′s-style diner. I almost miss the flight and I am the last passenger boarding ( they never called our flight on the PA).
Fate is trying to delay my reunification with Gabi a few times now!
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