Armin, our driver, picked me up at 9 a.m. It was my last moment at Jim's in Heidelberg. It felt like a second home - so comfortable, a great place to take breaks from our travels around Europe. I had spent the day before (when I came back from Wiesbaden) reorganizing and getting caught up on work stuff. Now we were off on the last leg of our adventure. We will come back to Heidelberg only the very last evening to discuss the nominations and awards -- the night before we go home.
We were heading for Brunssum in The Netherlands (not Holland - it was explained to me that Holland is only a province of The Netherlands, but because it's the most famous province, which provides tulips...and wooden shoes, everyone calls the whole country Holland. Wrong!) Brunssum is right on the border of Germany and The Netherlands, with parts of the base in both countries. This only adds to the confusion. Luckily, we have finally been blessed with good weather, no, not just good weather, spectacular! It's mid-60s and sunny this day, as we drive north (a five hour or so drive.)
The surprise was our accommodation. It's called Overste Hof, and though it wasn't easy to find, it was worth the search. This place, unlike every other place we've stayed, is far off base. It's in the countryside; they have horses! and goats! and sheep! It's next to a place called Snow Mountain - a huge indoor skiing and sledding resort-type place. The Overste Hof must have been a former stable; the buildings are built in a big square with a courtyard in the center. The rooms are small, quaint, but modern, clean and comfortable (especially the bed.) Since it was such a beautiful day, we just wanted to sit in the courtyard in the sun and soak it in.
I wanted to see the town and do some errands, so Armin and I took an excursion, leaving Eva and Annette to enjoy the hotel's amenities. Unlike most places we visited, this place is modern -- everything built after the war. Not because it was all destroyed, though some major battles were fought near here, but because this had been mostly brown coal mines, which eventually ran out of coal. Nature reserves, lakes, ponds, forests and new towns have taken their place. So the architecture is nothing special. It was like being in a small suburban town -- it was just Dutch. The shops, the bakeries, everything was in Dutch and they did NOT want to be confused with the Germans, though most people speak both languages.
The Brunssum theatre group gave us each baskets filled with (mostly) edible gifts. Very nice. We were taken to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. No menu here. The owner just came by and asked us what we wanted: duck? fish? chicken? beef? pork? (no!), rice? We didn't know what to expect, but were pleasantly surprised by the variety and quality of every dish.
After dinner, it was on to the theatre to see their production of The Foreigner by Larry Shue. The play tells the story of a shy man who comes to a guest house to get away from his boring life and in an effort not to have conversations with anyone pretends to be a foreigner who can't understand English. As a result, everyone tells him their secrets and he discovers his personality in the process (while overcoming the KKK, by the way.) It's a very funny script which was a hit in New York about 25 years ago.
The next morning, we set off for Kaiserslautern. Back south again, another 4 hour trip. But we broke it up by stopping in Trier for lunch. What a surprise that was! I have been nearby before, but never went to the center of the town. Trier is the oldest town in Germany; the main church, the Dom, dates from the 600's. The one City gate, that still exists, the Porta Nigra, "black gate" as it is called is the symbol of the City; it's an ancient Roman structure that calls to mind The Colleseum in Rome, with its rows of arches. Here's a photo.
The center Center of town is the Hauptmarkt, where everyone gathers in outdoor cafes and restaurants. There is a flower market with spectacular tulips, as you would expect, and also gorgeous gerber daisies, roses and orchids. From here, where we had some soup at one of the lovely outdoor spots, it was short walk to the Dom. Another church, I thought, what could this one be like that is different from the others. Well, aside from its age -- it's the oldest standing church outside of Rome -- it's the artwork inside that makes it special. Unlike Italian churches, frescoes are not present; what they have are intricate, sculpted friezes that are remarkable in their detail and vibrancy. There's one on the apse as you enter, all in white, that is beautiful and evocative. Here's a picture of that.
Further down the street is the house where Karl Marx was born. Nice house; no hint of who would emerge from it.
Trier has an added interest for me, since my high school was called New Trier (West), and we never really knew anything about Trier when we were growing up. So I now have photos to show my former classmates the real Trier. We had to indulge in ice cream and it was among the best we've had in Europe this trip. I couldn't get myself to leave the sunny streets to do any shopping or anything (after leaving the church.) A picture perfect day!
But we had to leave eventually to get to Kaiserslautern in time for our dinner and show. The dinner was at a local German pub/restaurant. The food in this area is slightly different; we are in Franconia now, not Bavaria. They have a specialty that looks like a very thin pizza, which my colleagues liked a lot. I opted for spaetzle and steak. Not a great choice, as it turned out. I was also disappointed in the apple streudel, which I had high hopes for.
The play we saw here was The Night of January 16th by Ayn Rand. It was written in the 30s. It's a courtroom drama about the murder of millionaire (Madoff-like) swindler. The gimmick is that audience members are selected to be members of the jury and they ultimately decide whether the defendant (his mistress) is guilty or not. Different endings are written depending upon what result comes from the jury.
Today we are off to Grafenvoehr again.
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