Waxing poetic?

 Well, not poetic, but at least thoughtful.  I guess sitting at the airport with just waiting time brings me to thinking.  The view out the window is cloudy with rain.  The high peaks of the Alps are not visible, but the world of the airport marches on.

Having spent most of this trip not in 'super tourist' mode, I truly appreciate the hospitality shown me, both in Germany and France.  I love seeing the everyday life of my friends and family, visiting their grocery stores and garden centers, joining them on excursions they take, enjoying the restaurants they frequent.  Life is good, though varied.  And that is what travel is about for me:  seeing that routines, choices, opinions and methods, different from my usual, also work perfectly well.  

Yesterday was Lindt chocolate day.  There was lots of information and plenty of chocolate to sample.  A success for all.

Next year I turn 75.  After that, travel insurance becomes much more expensive.  I plan to get my travelling in before that Oct. date.

Gardening

My first garden was a patch about 1m wide and 4m long along the driveway at the farm.  That garden is still there, now being tended by the new Mrs. Locher.  I remember how delighted I was to have my own space.  

In subsequent houses, I have had many gardens, some established when I got there and just needed enlarging, embellishing  or total revamping, some that I planned and brought to life.  I have taken some courses in plant culture, but most of my gardening knowledge comes first from my Mother and then by trial and error.  Yes, there have been mistakes and failures, but for me, a garden has always been a joy.  I used to say that as long as I had a garden I didn't need a therapist.  It turned out that was wrong, but gardening is therapy.  My kids used to say that 'Mom plays in the dirt'.  True, true.

And I have gardened in many places.  In my own places in London, Millgrove, Hamilton and now Chippawa, I have refined my techniques and decided on what plants I have to have.  I have worked in other gardens for friends and family at home and abroad.  I tend my brother's garden which I helped his late wife plant.  I have pulled out invasive species -- even the lupins in Sweden.  

This week I had the opportunity to work in a lovely garden in France.  It is quite different from my own and has some plants which I can only dream of, but most of the weeds are the same and mulching helps here as much as at home.

Just before I left home, there was an unusual spike in the pot with the bird of paradise.  Indeed it was a flower, of which I saw just the beginning, but Ian has been sending me a picture each day so I can delight in the opening blossom.  It will probably be finished by the time I get home, but I am enjoying it, and as my father would say:  You can't hunt all the rabbits.  And when I get home, there will be lovely things to see even if they are not orange.

Living

 Rhonda picked me up at the Basel train station and we came here to her and Robert's house in Habsheim.  We talked and talked, the way we always do.  She brought me up to date on family and friends and I did the same.  We walked around the garden and the village and talked.  We set up a picture puzzle and pulled out paintings to take to a shop and talked.  We drove to the supermarket and the craft store and talked.  We stopped for lunch and talked.  But in everything, we also laughed.  We have always laughed together, through difficult times and happy times.  I guess that's what makes for a lasting friendship, being able to share the hurdles of life and still find the positive.

An alternate life

 My cousin Johanna was sent to a convent boarding school for 4 years -- the last part of her regular school time.  It was the suggestion of a great aunt who lived in the region and thought it would be good for a young lady, perhaps even secretly hoping that she would choose to become a nun.

Well Johanna went, met some great teachers and friends, but did not take up the habit.  But she has kept up contact with the convent, which since, is no longer a school but now a retreat centre and hotel.  However, the Sisters still reside there and a number of the ones who Johanna had as teachers are still living and remember her.  Back at the end of July, the class of 9 girls had a reunion at the Bonland Kloster.  The building has changed, of course, but there are still gardens and the church as she remembers.  How interesting to hear the details of a schooling so different to mine.  We had coffee and cake at the Kloster and I met Sister Cecilia who was the head music teacher and played the organ in the church.  Since her hearing started to have difficulties, she only plays in the Sisters' chapel.

My grandfather was buried in Rot an der Rot, and although the grave is gone (they are only kept for 20 years) we visited the cemetery and sat in the funeral church.

I need to put in a big MMM for food in Oberschwaben.  They make wonderful roast, great schnitzel, lovely mixed salads, impressive tortes and superb spaetzle.  They were a favourite when I was growing up, my kids loved them, and now the grandchildren in both Canada and Sweden choose them for their special meals.  With a onion gravy, a mushroom cream sauce or cheese, they are fabulous!

And now I leave Germany and head for France, via Switzerland.

Oberschwaben (Upper Swabia) and the Allgau

 There is no noticeable difference between the two regions in the title, it's just that the latter is closest to Austria and Switzerland.  So both are in the foothills of the Alps.  We zigzagged back and forth between the two the last two days, seeing some amazing sights.

Yesterday we started at Steinhausen, a lovely baroque church in a tiny town.  It is currently under restoration. (The kids always said you could recognize a church by the scaffolding around it.)  This Sunday they will dedicate the cross and orb which will be lifted to the top of the spire in the next few weeks.  Fabulous painting, carvings and free standing figures.  Take a look:

In the afternoon, we ventured to the Federsee, site of a primitive settlement in the area of 5000 years ago.  The lake that they settled around has diminished considerably and today it is little more than a 1 meter deep pond, but home to dozens of swans and families of ducks.  The walk to the lake is a 1.5 km boardwalk with marsh plants encroaching more and more into the lake.  It was amazing that the original settlers here lived in teepees and log houses so similar to the North American natives.

Today we had a totally different (delicious) focus:  A cheese fest in Lindenberg.  Almost all the cheeses were of the area, but the variety of flavours and textures was amazing.  Kids even took a ride in a goat-pulled wagon.

We needed to go for a walk after all that cheese sampling and there is no better place than along the water, so it was back to Lake Constance at Langenargen.  OK, we couldn't pass up the elderberry ice cream, or the extra black!

The Lake Constance area is a major fruit growing part of Germany.  It's mostly apples, some pears and hops.  The trees are dwarfed, and grown under fine netting to protect them from birds and hail.

We have put many kilometers on Johanna's car in the past two days, but always enjoyed the ride together.  And then there are the meals --oh my!

So much to see and do!!

 Over the past 4 days, the phrase which keeps coming up is "next time",  Yes, there are so many castles, museums, monasteries, gardens for the tourist to enjoy and then, there are the special family villages, houses, grave sites and, of course, people, that I truly hope there will be a next time for me in this part of the world.

Any of the places I mention have much better descriptions on the internet than I am going to provide.  Look them up if you are interested.

Maulbron Monastery is a huge complex started a thousand years ago for monks and lay persons for whom the Benedictines had become too lax in their religious practices.  The biggest surprise of the spectacular buildings was the remnants of colour on the walls and ceilings.  Those monks were not all grey and dull.

After the Monastery, we went to supper at a Besse.  Yes, that means broom in German and no one was able to give me a good reason why a traditional slaughter meal served in a barn at a vineyard, had that name.  All those sausages my Dad made when he slaughtered a pig were available, as well as Maultaschen.  Notice the similarity to the monastery name?  The legend has it that the pasta pockets filled with ground meat and spinach were developed there.  There is more to the legend which you need to read for yourselves.

I think every traveller in the world has heard of Neuschwanstein castle, but what about Hohenzollern?  It rivals the former in size, was completed where Ludwig's was not, and is still occupied by some of the Hohenzollern family.  For me, it is much more a castle to live in than the extravagance shown in Ludwig's 4 castles.  And what a lovely escape it would make!

Today it was a step into the past and a step into the future.  The Porsche museum showed everything from the first concept car to the latest racers and street machines.  Then it was about 1 km up the road to have lunch at Neuwirtshaus.  The building where I was born no longer stands, but in its place is another inn built in the same style and still serving great food.  Ok, the spaetzle were made by machine, not off the board as my Tante Dina would do for special guests.

Johanna and I have now landed in Berkheim where we will spend the next few days.  She went to school here in the Oberschwaben region (southern part of Germany just before the Alps) and will show me around.  Can't wait!

Mainau Island

 There is a very good reason why the "Flower Island of Mainau" ranks so highly on lists of things to see in this area.  It is AMAZING!  More on that later.

Since they did indeed decide to fly, Air Canada did a fine job of getting me across the Atlantic and into Frankfurt on time.  Got a ticket to Vaihingen which involved 2 changes.  Unfortunately we were delayed and I missed the last train, but there was another half an hour later, so still got to Franz's house just about 4 pm.  (The Germans are quite disgusted with their train as they are not as punctual as the Swiss, but for me, being able to get just about anywhere on a train seems like a great system.) Considering I had managed only 30 min. sleep, I was good for a piece of cake, some planning and then bed at 8.

The Bodensee (Lake Constance) was about a 2.25 hour drive south, some of it through construction but also some of it along stretches which still have unlimited speed limits.  I saw us hit 184 km/hr.  Franz drives the Mercedes very well.  We chose Meersburg as the embarkation point along the lake for our ferry ride to the Minau island.  Imagine a garden whose climate is moderated both summer and winter by the water around it, which was planned as a garden for a rich family and which has a clientele  who come to see beautiful nature.  That is Mainau with themed areas of trees, perennials, shrubs, bulbs and a palm house for the truly tropical plants to live in when the weather gets too cold.  I could go on and on, but will let some pictures speak for me.

Forgot to mention that it was the most amazing showing of dahlias that I have ever seen--250 varieties!