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December 26, 1994
Now for a little about our trip to Europe. The following is the story of most of it. There are two sections still incomplete: activities in Berlin and at Brad's place. Also, it was written very quickly and may not read too well, but this will give you an idea of what we did. It's the longest letter I've ever written.

November 2, Wednesday:
We were scheduled to take a morning flight on Continental Airlines on which we would have to change planes in Newark, New Jersey. When we got to the airport, however, our flight was late and Continental said we would miss the flight from Newark, so they sent us over to Delta. When we got to Delta, we decided to take a non-stop flight, but with one hitch, we would not leave for another 8 hours! What a start for our trip -- to wait around LAX for 8 hours. Anyway, our non-stop flight was wonderful, and the food was better on Delta than what I've experienced on Continental.

A Russian woman performing on a very cold night in Berlin.

November 3, Thursday:
We got into Frankfurt, Germany in good shape. After de-planing, we were walking down a corridor at the end of which, was a Delta employee of Asian descent directing passengers. Lately, since Lyn, I scrutinize Asians very closely and try to figure out their particular country of origin. At the end of this corridor, I thought that I had picked out a Filipino. So, I am very softly (I thought anyway) saying to Lyn, "Is she (a Filipina)?" Either the girl overheard me or read lips and understood my incomplete question, because she flashed a smile and said "Yes, I am".

We picked up our luggage and took the subway to the train station where we had 2 or 3 hours to kill, when who should we meet, but more Filipinos. Well, so much for sight seeing in Frankfurt, but they were very nice people. We boarded the 190 m.p.h. train to Munich. Early on in the trip the countryside was going by in a blur and Lyn experienced the first of many bouts with nausea. I told Lyn that this was probably the nicest train we would be riding on and the rest of them would be worse. As we got closer to Munich the tracks grew more windy and the train's speed lessened. It was so beautiful. We were so relieved that there were still many leaves on the trees. The fall colors are something that Lyn has never experienced.

Cathrine

Munich is considered one of the world's most beautiful cities, but we didn't have time to view it as Cathrine met us at the train and wisked off to her Mazda and our first ride on the autobahn. We were expecting a wild ride with speeds exceeding 100 m.p.h. and that may have been true for the cars flying by us, but not for ours. Cathrine's little Mazda, filled with three people and luggage would only be able to make that speed going down the Zugspitze, with a strong tale wind. The autobahn wasn't as terrifying or chaotic as I thought it would be. True, some cars would fly by, but we just puttered on quite nicely between 50 & 65 m.p.h. and passed when it was safe, returning to the far right lane as soon as possible.

We had met Cathrine only a week before. Cathrine, Andy (her boy friend), and Andy's parents were vacationing in America in a rented Motorhome. They happened to stay a our recreational vehicle park and one day we started talking. Cathrine told Lyn that if we came to Germany, she would pick us up in Munich and take us to her home. Cathrine lives with her Oma, (grandmother in German).

At our destination, Garmish-Partenkirchen, we checked into a beautiful Gastehaus (Germany's form of a bed-and-breakfast). For dinner, the three of us met up with Andy (Cathrine's boyfriend), Steve, and Manu. Steve was born in New York, but mostly raised in Germany, but spoke English with no accent, not even a New Yorker one. Manu is an Italian who now lives in Germany and does not seem to like Italians. Cathrine is 1/4 Filipino, 1/4 Brazilian, and 1/2 German, but seems to find Germans pushy and overbearing. They are all very nice people though. Where does this group of Germans, partial Germans, and non-Germans go for dinner? Well, to an Italian restaurant of course.

View from the Zugstpitze. We were all bundled up there, but down in the valley, I wore just a short sleeve shirt. (The sign says: "Stepping out onto roof area is forbidden. Take care! Danger!")

November 4, Friday:
The next day was a Friday, workday for the rest of the group, and Lyn and I were off on our own. It was a beautiful day and I went out before breakfast and did some jump rope in shorts and a tee-shirt! Let me explain that this was a November day in THE German alpine resort town. We skated through the town on down to the railway station. We boarded a train for a short ride, to another short ride to a cog railroad. Then we boarded a cable car which took us to the top of the highest peak in Germany, the Zugspitze, which is a little under 10,000 feet. The view was gorgeous in all directions. We were told that there are only a few days every year which are as clear as what we saw.

Europeans have a strange compulsion of stringing a cable from the base of a mountain to the top and sending people up to the top in a parachute-less car. Yes, there is a lot of air between you and the ground. This took a little getting used to for me. The second cable car ride took us from the Zugspitz all the way down to the base. We noticed how fast we were going as a cable car on the way to the top wizzed by us. There were two supporting towers along the way and as we passed by each one our stomachs were left behind as dropped from the support. We walked for awhile around the Eibsee, a lake at the Zugspitze base.

It was a very long cable car ride back down into the valley, but the view was great, provided you could see over all the other people packed into the car.

Cathrine, Andy, and Cathrine's mother all work in the same bank. Cathrine's mother cashed several traveler's checks without charging us a commission or service charge. Cathrine, Andy, and their parents and friends were so nice to us it was frustrating. We wanted to do something for them, but they wouldn't let us.

That evening we went to the Mukkerfuck restaurant for dinner with Cathrine, Andy, Cathrine's parents, and Manu. We had a delicious salad, and with much complaining, we were not allowed to pay.

November 5, Saturday:
The next day Cathrine, Andy, Manu, & Steve drove us around. We went across the border into Austria and saw the Zugspitz from that perspective and found out that there is a cable car to the top from Austria as well. After recrossing the border, we went to probably the most photographed and famous castle in the world, the fairy tale castle of Neuschwanstein. Neuschwanstein Schloss (castle) was built for mad King Ludwig, the castle builder king. One story goes that some of his subjects got disgusted of Ludwig spending so much money building castles that they had him committed and then possibly executed (drowning in about a foot of water). Neuschwanstein was Ludwig's last castle and he only lived there for a short time just before his death. Apparently, only a couple of the floors are complete, but the tour is, never-the-less quite impressive. It was quite a hike on a steep path to reach the castle. We also hiked over to a foot bridge over a deep gorge for the best view of the castle. Again the day was beautiful and we were in shirt sleeves.

This was shot on a narrow foot bridge over a deep gorge. I was leaning back over the fence. The international cast included: Andy (German), Cathrine (German, Filipina, Brazilian), Lyn (Filipina), Steve (former American), Manu (Italian). Oh, by the way, Neuschwanstein Castle is in the background.

On the car trip we also saw Wieskirche. On the outside, it appears to be a large, but, considering the architecture in Bavaria, somewhat plain church. This illusion is destoyed however, once going inside. This is truely an incredible sight. In it's own way it is just as ostentatious as Neuschwanstein, which was built seemingly for that sole purpose. Neuschwanstein was built during a time when there was no need to build castles, but Ludwig just liked to do it.) As with the castle, the artwork likewise incredible. You can just stare at it look at the attention to every detail. This artwork not only brings out the people perfectly in every detail, but it brings out the emotions as well. Throughout Bavaria, you are just amazed at all the artistry that's displayed. That evening we went over to Steve and Manu's and had tortellini.

November 6, Sunday:
On Sunday, we were off to the Olympic Stadium. The two towns of Garmisch and Partenkirchen were united for the 1936 olympics. Every year, this is the site of a ski jumping competition which is broadcast around the world. Then, it was off the the Partnaklamm, a deep canyon with walls about 100 yards high and about 15 feet across. There is a stream at the bottom and a walking path just above it, which, for some of the path, is cut directly through the rock. One book characterized it as dangerous and I think that may have been in reference to flash floods. In the afternoon, we had Russian apple cake with Andy's parents. Cathrine prepared a delicious roast for dinner and we had our first of what could be considered German food.

Cattle crossing over the autobahn.

November 7, Monday:
On Monday, it rained some, but in the afternoon we went to a park and hiked around. We went back to the Italian restaurant for dinner and I was determined to pay the bill, but was cheated out of it by Cathrine's mother who could speak German to the waiter. Cathrine and Lyn prepared another Russian apple cake and we took along some on the next day when we left to go to Budapest. It was hard leaving, but Garmisch was a last minute destination and we had already spent 4 days there. We both would have loved to spend more time there, but there are so many things to see in Europe.

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