10th and Lawrence Streets, N.E. Washington D.C. 20017
However, I must tell you up front that on this, my first overseas trip in 50 years, I did not get bitten by a monkey, not even by a mosquito, despite that fact that Germans use no screens on their windows! And, as I have already announced, I did, in fact, bring back all the underwear I left with!!
Now for some background ....... My daughter Jen actually initiated the trip. Having been a Student Ambassador and having traveled to Australia and New Zealand prior to her junior year of high school, she was bitten by the travel bug. She asked us where in the world, literally, she could go next. I had told her of my mother's neighbors in 1966-67 when we lived in Adelphi. He was in the German navy and stationed in D.C. Though they were neighbors only a short time, the friendship endured and my mother traveled to Germany and they came here in later years, the last being in 1983. Jen played a long shot and wrote to them out of the blue. They replied indicating that they would be happy to host us, and to make a long story shorter, they did. Did they ever!!! We had asked to experience the German culture and people, and we did!!!
To say we were given the red carpet , royal treatment is putting it mildly. If you've seen the pictures posted on the web site, you already know that they greeted us at the airport with champagne. And for the next ten days we were as well pampered. As international travel goes, this has to be as good as it gets. Since they are now retired, they insisted on personally escorting us to each attraction. So we had personal tour guides escorting us to some fabulous German sights, and of course, translating everything for us. They wouldn't even let me pick the tab most of the time. They really were excited we had come and took great pride in showing off their country for us.
I should also say up front that I now have a new appreciation for the word "old." Trust me when I say this: 50 is NOT old! 100 isn't even old! 500 maybe. So many of the sights we saw dated back to the 1200's. So I will accept 800 as "old."
Our first excursion was into the town of Lubeck, the Hanseastic capital originally founded in 1143. Its 25,000 residents built the five cathedrals which can be seen today, all within walking distance of one another. These are so hard to write about because they must be seen to be believed: the artwork, the towering spires, the intricate carvings, the stone work ... totaling awe-inspiring.
An aside: We also saw the boyhood and adult homes of the author Thomas Mann, born in Lubeck in 1875. He is considered Germany's greatest writer having won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929. He left Germany in 1933 following the Nazi's rise to power. After a stay in Switzerland, he moved to the USA and lived in California. He wrote a novel in 1947, Doctor Faustus, which I have been inspired to read. But since each sentence is about three paragraphs long, I'm still struggling through it. But the novel explores a topic I've always wondered about - how could such a civilized and bourgeois society as Germany allow a horror like the Holocaust to occur? No answers provided, but it is a stimulating read.
Now back to the trip ..... We also tasted the original marzipan! Now there's another German treat! Lubeck is the home of the original marzipan, and they take great pride in presenting the original taste.
Another trip took us to the town of Schleswig and their cathedral, home of the "most beautiful altar in Germany." Check out the picture at the web site. The altar has biblical scenes carved from solid oak blocks, some 31 of them. It took from 1514 till 1521 to complete. We just sat and stared at it for a long while, and we weren't alone.
We also took a day trip into Denmark to its oldest town with borough status, Tonder. There was a totally neat market area that ran for blocks - all cobblestone with traditional Danish buildings lining each side. We luckily were there on a special day with a military band playing in a main square. The most impressive building was an apothecary built in the 1600's. What most impresses me with these "old" buildings is that they are not museum pieces; they are still in use today as they have been for hundreds of years! Totally cool!!! The apothecary was a three story building with numerous rooms and exposed beams throughout. Lots of lace in Tonder! Lace made Tonder famous in the 18th century and it still hold a lace festival of world importance every three years. Tonder also takes great pride in their doors!! Doors are elaborately designed and painted. This is true also in much of northern Germany. Actually, this part of north Germany has gone back and forth with Denmark over the years with the last major war being fought in 1864. So there remains a strong Danish influence in northern Germany. The two countries get along very well now and even hold reenactments of great battles of the war.
One of my favorite attractions was the North Sea and the Island of Sylt. The Island of Sylt (pronounced Zoolt in German) is the vacation spot for the very, very, filthy rich of Germany. In the 60's it was known as the island of the rich and the naked. Unfortunately, I only saw the rich, and boy were they rich! You have to be rich to go there because they charge for everything - to go on the beach or even the boardwalk. Of course when we got to the boardwalk there was a 17 piece, formally-dressed orchestra playing classical music, Back or Wagner no doubt. Again, totally cool! It was also neat getting to the island. We traveled north through Denmark to take a ferry much like the Cape May-Lewes ferry to the island. We exited the island to the east via the auto-train, but this was not at all like our auto-train. We actually drove our car onto the train and then rode in our car off the island. Yes, there was water on both sides and I was left wondering what what holding us up! Seems they built a dam and we were riding on top of the dam.
Flensburg was a nearby port town with a storied history we visited a few times. Shall I mention that it is home to the much-enjoyed Flensburger Pilsner? Okay , I will. Most of these were enjoyed at room temperature, by the way, though my host insisted that Germany also serves cold beer as well. Flensburger also had a quaint shopping district near a harbor. I admit I was a bit chagrined to see McDonalds and Pizza Hut on these cobblestone streets. We call that progress????
I need to mention the Castle of Glucksburg. Again, this was held in Danish hands for much of its history and only recently was acquired by the Germans. So much of its artwork is of Danish royalty. But it was such an impressive, old-fashioned castle. On one floor we had to wear slippers over our shoes to protect the floor. The castle is still being used for special occasions. One main hallway had dinner set for about seventy at one table. The chapel on the first floor is still used for weddings, baptisms and other special events. The weird part was that the chapel was just steps from the cellar prison, a dark, dank, despicable place where one can only imagine how badly the prisoners were treated in the Middle Ages. I don't think they had laws against cruel and unusual punishment.
Those were some of the highlights of sights seen and places visited. I would like to close with some observations of German life vs. American life that both Jen and I noticed. The Germans really seem to care more about the environment, despite the efforts of our current Democratic candidate for president. It was not unusual to see containers catching rain water. So many houses had them, and I don't think it was a matter of saving a few bucks. Almost everything is recycled. And the recycling rules are enforced, as are all rules! To the extent that one of their neighbors had their trash dumped on their lawn and the "authorities" showed them what should have been recycled and how. I had to laugh when my hosts commented at how relaxed the Danish are. "If it doesn't get done today, it will get done tomorrow." The Germans want it done yesterday!! Even when you park your car at a two hour parking space, you have to put a device on your dash that shows what time you parked the car. And woe to you if you try to cheat!! Even in Denmark, if you're caught speeding you have to pay the ticket on the spot! If you don't have the money, they take your driver's license and follow you to the bank or wherever to get the money! In some ways this enforcement of the laws seemed refreshing! Our hosts had very little trash. They use returnable bottles and take their canvas sacks to the grocery store. No plastic or paper bags are offered though you can ask for them. Of course, gas is $4.50/gallon, so all the cars are small and not much gas is consumed, compared to us.
Flowers are everywhere!!!! And I do mean everywhere!! It really is a beautiful country. The houses are immaculately kept. The streets are clean. As I mentioned earlier, no one has screens on the windows. They're much farther north and certainly don't have our bumper crop of mosquitoes to contend with! Of course, we saw more of the country than the big cities, but there just seemed to be more of an appreciation of beauty and nature than I see here. So many Germans ride bicycles that I thought I was in China. Each road has an adjacent bicycle path next to it, and there's always someone on it. Young, old, male, female - everybody rides a bike. Maybe they're all in such great shape they can eat all their meats, cheeses, sausages, breads, etc. without keeling over with a heart attack. Or maybe it's the schnapps that follows so many meals! Each large family gathering I witnessed - and we had a few (in our honor I think) - concluded with a bottle of schnapps being offered and ceremoniously consumed. "Proust" (to your health) is the toast that accompanies each round. I'm trying too continue that tradition here though I haven't been able to find those cute little schnapps glasses yet! I'm still looking!!
Thanks for reading this far. It was a fantastic trip. Maybe in another 50 years I can do it again!