Fairwell to Germany
After spending a delightful few days with my friends Gene and Nancy in Lamperthiem, a period of time where for some reason I left my camera sleeping in my suitcase, I headed back home. The time with them was spent partly going onto the base where Gene works supervising the repair, maintenance, and upgrading of US Army helicopters (he works for one of the good contractors of the DOD), and on Saturday taking a five K Volksmarch in a small part of the Pfalzwald, which I mentioned in the previous post. The Volksmarch was fun, and I had seen Gene's alpine hat covered with small medals from Marches he had been on, and I wanted to get my own first Volksmarch medal. However, apparently things have changed. This time, we got little plastic cars instead of medals for having completed the hike, and Gene and Nancy were thus able to complete the first part of the Christmas shopping for nieces, nephews, and other kids needing little toys. I was able to buy a Hey Lands Beer truck (Give us this day our daily beer), which will serve as a fine souvenir of the day in the woods. And yes, we did see a lot of windfall as we walked through the woods, a reminder of the previous weekend that had all the warnings about not going for a walk in the woods.
A nice thing about Volksmarching is that there is a check point about half way through the march. This is not only to stamp the card to show that one is well on their way to completing the prescribed distance, but it is also a chance to have a seat, rest, and drink a (good German) beer or two. Ah, they seem to know how to do it right.
From Viernheim, I took the train back to Munich for two nights. Munich is an interesting city, and I suppose someday I will go back in September to take part in the Octoberfest. But for me, the highlight was seeing the carillon clock in the city center, with two layers of dancing figures. It reminded me so much of the clock of nations at Midtown Center in Rochester. Well, it should have, as the clock in Rochester was designed with the clock in Munich in mind. The Munich clock is better. I do remember my mother describing the Rochester clock by saying that at noon, all the little doors open and all hell breaks loose. The same is basically true in Munich, except that it happens at eleven o'clock.
When I first moved to Europe, and indeed, when I first visited Germany, I did not think I would like Germany much. Militarism, antisemitism, that whole bit. However, I have come to enjoy my time in Germany, and am fortunate to have found good friends there. I will be returning to see them in December. Meanwhile, I like to keep in mind something that Klaus told me. He said that it is a matter of pride for him that he may live his whole life with Germany not having gone to war once. He is sad that there are German troops trying to help keep the peace in other parts of the world, but he considers that different from going to war. I thought about America during the same period of time. Korea, Lebanon, the Dominican Republic, Granada, Kuwait, and on and on and on and on. So sad. Again, I am pleased to have the friends I have, who have helped me know Germany as a country of great beauty, intersting history, and wonderful cuisine.
A nice thing about Volksmarching is that there is a check point about half way through the march. This is not only to stamp the card to show that one is well on their way to completing the prescribed distance, but it is also a chance to have a seat, rest, and drink a (good German) beer or two. Ah, they seem to know how to do it right.
From Viernheim, I took the train back to Munich for two nights. Munich is an interesting city, and I suppose someday I will go back in September to take part in the Octoberfest. But for me, the highlight was seeing the carillon clock in the city center, with two layers of dancing figures. It reminded me so much of the clock of nations at Midtown Center in Rochester. Well, it should have, as the clock in Rochester was designed with the clock in Munich in mind. The Munich clock is better. I do remember my mother describing the Rochester clock by saying that at noon, all the little doors open and all hell breaks loose. The same is basically true in Munich, except that it happens at eleven o'clock.
When I first moved to Europe, and indeed, when I first visited Germany, I did not think I would like Germany much. Militarism, antisemitism, that whole bit. However, I have come to enjoy my time in Germany, and am fortunate to have found good friends there. I will be returning to see them in December. Meanwhile, I like to keep in mind something that Klaus told me. He said that it is a matter of pride for him that he may live his whole life with Germany not having gone to war once. He is sad that there are German troops trying to help keep the peace in other parts of the world, but he considers that different from going to war. I thought about America during the same period of time. Korea, Lebanon, the Dominican Republic, Granada, Kuwait, and on and on and on and on. So sad. Again, I am pleased to have the friends I have, who have helped me know Germany as a country of great beauty, intersting history, and wonderful cuisine.
posted by Steve at 1:35 PM
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