Kitzigen & Dracula's Grave

We had the awesome opportunity to hook up with our friend Michael who was stationed with us in Giebelstadt.  He retired in from the Army in Germany and he and his lovely family have been hosting us for the past few days. 

Michael was kind enough to be our tour guide and companion as we went for a stroll down memory lane.  We hit Wurzburg (which was the "big" town near where we were stationed), Kitzigen (one of the neighboring towns where there was another Army post) and Giebelstadt.  We went on lots of country roads and buzz through so many little villages it made my heart sing!

View from Dracula's Grave

This is the tower in Kitzigen.  Accordinng to Lore (whether it's G.I. Lore or a German story I have no idea), when the tower was being built, there was a stortage of water to mix the mortar.  They used wine (or beer) instead for the mortar and for the men.  Then the story takes a bit of a turn... Either the men had their fill of wine and that's why the tower's tilted OR when the mortar set, the alcohol made the tower slant due to the uneven drying of the mortar.  Either way, HUNDREDS of years later it tilts.

This is the mural on the ceiling of Dracula's Grave.  it shows angels breathing fire, parts of bodies mixed in with skeletons and death all around.

On top of the tower there's a gold ball.  The tower slants toward an old cemetary located in the heart of the town.  When you go into the cememtary it's a beautifully manicured and landscaped area with georgeous trees and headstones dating back to the 1700's.  Then there's Dracula's Grave.  According to yet another tale of the area, when the tower finally falls, the golden ball will land on Dracula's Grave and wake him from his restful sleep.  This will signify the end of the world.   

Dracula's Grave

Michael, Dennis & Matthew looking into Dracula's Grave

Normandy Memorial

After spending two days in Paris, two nights ago we spent the night in a parkplatz (autobahn wayside gas station) somewhere in France and then decided to throw all caution to the wind and reroute our trip to see the beaches of Normandy.  It was not only moving, but beautiful as well.  It's hard to believe that such a big battle took place there now.  We went to the Normandy Memorial and toured through the wonderful museum and spent some time walking amonst the graves, before heading down to the beach.  Dennis found a LAMB who was killed on the beaches during D-Day and we left him a fresh, crisp U.S. dollar bill on his grave.  I collected some sand in a seashell for the American Legion at home, if they want it. 

The thing that struck me most, was how young we all were while we were in the military, and how young all these soldiers were when they died.  As we walked around the museum and saw pictures of some of the guys that were killed, knowing we're celebrating our 20th Anniversary, we could've been most of their parents.  The grief and sadness that must have followed that day for each individual family had to be heart-wretching and unconceivable.  It really makes you stop and stand back when you think you've had a bad day, just how truly lucky we are.

The Americans own the land at the cemetary and there are four perminenant positions there for prior service Americans.  The only requirement beyond military service is you have to be fluent in conversational French.  The land and cemetaries are beautifully kept and it's was an honor to see.

Greetings from Zurich!

Well, we've pressed our luck and made it to one more campground without a reservation. Den and I decided if we would have waited two more weeks to start our vacation, we wouldn't have been so lucky on finding available spots. We would have actually had to make plans and reservations. So tonight it's camping in Zurich, Switzerland. Last night we stayed in, perhaps the only, campground in Lichtenstein and it was great. We had some of the best pasta and schnitzel EVER at the restaurant in the campgrounds. $158 US dollars later, we settled down to a beautiful night of pouring rainstorms on a tin roof. It actually got so loud that we all put ear plugs in! Our day started out quite late. Our RV has this wonderful feature of blackout blinds. You can sleep the night away and wake up at 9:30 in the morning feeling fully refreshed and it's still dark out. We might blame our inability to wake up on time when we get home to jetlag, but chances are the blackout blinds have spoiled us. By the time we got out of the campground it was 10:40am, so we decided to ride the chairlift up the ski hill and walk amongst the cows, complete with the big bells on, back to the bottom. Matthew and Patience have decided that we have to come back this winter and try out a few runs... Oh to come on someone else's dime and dream! It turns out we have some great pictures of the cows and video/audio of the bells, but I need to get to a stronger and faster wifi to give you a listen and see. Lichtenstein and Switzerland are beautiful beyond imagination and even sweeter than our memory serves. Around every turn is something magical out of a story book. We ditched the autobahn system and opted for the killer mountain passes for three days; definitely recommended way to go! Although we must warn, our motor home is quite large according to European standards and we've left kilometers and kilometers of farmers and cows alike in awe we've made it to where we've been. We must also note, parking this thing has also been a challenge. Spots for BMWs and such just don't cut it. We've decided a few times to play the "touist in a rental" and have found superb parking in front of a few fortresses and churches. We have yet to get a ticket or even a scolding and the locals seem to understand. We also understand that it fits through tunnels nicely that are at least 3.6 meters high. We've decided not to push our height limits any farther and you have to stay in the center, not veer right or left. I'm in charge of tunnel running in the little villages and making sure it clears. We've had a few horns honk but they'll remember us and we have German plates! All in all, We've enjoyed many of the different customs of the road, to include shameless staring. Now the Lamb Fam proudly waves vigorously until they smile from behind our shroud of white RV as we cruise the lovely highways and byways. I don't know if it's the mega-rental RV, but no one seemed to notice when I left the floormat pasted to the front of the hood while driving down the road! It does however dry faster at 120 kph. It wasn't until Den slowed down that we even noticed it was still there! All fun aside, we are starting to plan our exit strategy. I'll still be updating some of our adventures and adding pictures after we land back in states. We're going to check out a bit of old city Zurich tomorrow. We've had our fill our tourist shops and window peaking. Then we're headed to Paris, which is a seven hour push. It's been nice to be able to pull to the side of the road at a parkplatz and snooze for a few hours, then continue on. Once again, we don't have reservations, but luck has been on our side. Only eight days left until we fly...

Greetings from Switzerland

We've stopped at a pizzeria with WiFi, so I thought I'd quickly check in! Yesterday we left Italy after lots of shopping and exploring through beautiful Venice. We stayed at a campground on the beach that had absolutely everything you could ask for right on property. It reminded us of an all-inclusive resort in Mexico. After three nights (€211,70 for the three nights), we moved on heading for Switzerland. On the Italian border we met a wonderful family with a small garden and supplied our RV with tons of fruit. We picked guava off the tree (at least I think it's guava), blackberries, cherries, strawberries, figs, raspberries and two pears. They also grew avacados, Chinese mandarin oranges (which we fed to the horse they had), lettuce and cabbage. They were very-very generous and really friendly. It was a highlight for sure! Last night we parked at a 24 hour parking spot in southern Switzerland and woke up to beautiful Alps views and three spectacular castles. Dennis went for a morning hike and was greeted by a hillside with goats begging for attention and a mid evil castle to poke around in from the 13th century. The kids and I made pancakes in the RV and then explored another castle from the 13th century as well. I've come full circle, back to the pizzeria with WiFi. We're in a small Alps town called San Bernardino. If you get a chance to google it, please do! The journey has been hairpin turns on a back road where I swear we've met our bumper a few times! We've gone from sea level to 5500 feet and it's glorious! We're truly on top of the world! We're now going to hunt down a campground and spend the night in Switzerland again... Next stop Lichtenstein, then off to Paris!

Tonight we are bedding down at a beautiful campground on the Austria-Germany border and somewhere near us lies the Neuschwanstein Castle, the one Disney used for inspiration for their castle.  We pulled up to the campground in a light rain that’s been following us for the past day and a half.  It’s a great relief from the 90-something degree weather we had just yesterday as we toured Rothenburg, o.d.T.  We chose our campsite tonight because of the proximity to the playground and we were facing a farmer’s field with cows in it.  As the clouds clear, there are two perhaps three, castles in the distance just on the other side of a wonderfully gray-blue lake.  Dennis is capturing the moment with the camera and a glass of wine.  My companions are my laptop and coffee.   The kids are using the break in the weather to hit the playground.  We’ve reserved our spot for two nights so we have all day tomorrow to check out the castles and nearby communities.

It’s been wonderful wandering about with no real agenda.  We spent an amazing four nights with our old Army friend Michael and his beautiful family.  It was a welcome break after spending so much time in the eastern part of the country to see the rolling hills and thriving communities.  Michael lives near Giebelstadt, Germany, where all three of us were stationed.  It was great sharing and reliving our old memories as we explored our old post and the surrounding area.  Gieb is now just a sad shell.  They did a great job cleaning it out before turning it back over to Germany.  Where once manicured grounds were, the trees are now reclaiming it all.  The blacktop has trees growing through it and the buildings sit like skeletons.  Patience kept asking me if I was sad to see it like it is and gave me permission to cry; not that I needed it.  I kept assuring her that MY Gieb wasn’t just the PLACE but the PEOPLE who helped shape MY memories.  It was great having the three of us together while we explored all we could legally.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I think it pretty much met my expectations.

Berrlin & Potsdam

 We spent two days exploring Potsdam and Berlin.  When we were there in 1991 and again in 1993, there was such a sharp contrast between East and West, that doesn’t quite exist anymore.  It’s hard to even see where the Berlin Wall once was unless it was an area that was marked.  We have to keep reminding ourselves, that was 20 years ago and of course things change.

In Potsdam we took a train to the hoptbahnhof Potsdam (train station) and then took a recommended guided tour of the city.  We stopped at Schloss (castle) San Souci and learned about King Fredrick II and his time on the throne in 18^th Century.  We also saw the Russian prison where many famous and infamous people were held.  The most impressive thing about Potsdam is that it’s still in construction-mode.  According to our tour guide, most of the homes and large buildings that are being remodeled and brought back to their glory are being funded by private funds.

Berlin is a tourist destination town.  Check Point Charlie is manned by German actors wearing US Army uniforms holding US Flags.  For two Euros you can have your picture taken with them with Check Point Charlie in the background.   We learned that they are actually two Brandenburg Gates, one in Potsdam and its famous twin in Berlin.  There are huge soccer tournaments happening right now, so there’s a jumbo-tron set up in front of the Berlin Brandenburg Gate and lots of people wearing all sorts of German Flags and German Football gear.  When we were returning from Berlin back to our campground, we had flashbacks of returning to our hotel in Boston after a Sox game.  Loud, drunk, happy fans crowding the subway and trains; fans and a love for sports teams seem to be universal.

In Berlin we walked amongst The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe which is the Holocaust memorial for Germany.  The memorial consists of a Field of Stelae and is made up of 2711 concrete blocks of varying heights.  One thing we heard over and over is that the coating on the concrete blocks to prevent graffiti (which is prevalent in Berlin) to stick was being applied by a sister company to a company that provided the gas, Zyklon B  for the concentration camps gas chambers.  After long conversations, they decided to allow the company to complete their contract and the company took no payment for their work. 

At the information center there is a long piece of the Berlin Wall that they have left intact.  Running parallel to the wall are story boards with the history of the Natzi Party and they tell about impact it had on the people and lands in Berlin.  It told story after story of Gypsies, Jews, people who were mentally and physically disabled from within the city that were transported to concentration camps, never to be seen again.  There was a picture of a six year old little girl who had epilepsy and parents sent her to a hospital to see what they could do to help her get better.  Alongside the picture is a letter from her father to the hospital asking when the visiting hours are for the new place she was at and when they could go and see her.  She was transported just days before to a camp and just disappeared.  Story after story of heartbreak and cruelty lined the wall.

Luggage Detail

I keep having flashbacks of a Top Gear (British edition) where the guys go caravanning; if you haven’t seen it, it’s a must see to truly get an idea of what camping is like over here.  We’ve fit into a rhythm of going, stopping for two nights at a campground, dumping all waste water and moving on.  That’s where the fun truly is…

This morning as we were divvying up our duties, Patience got dishes, Dennis had electric cord and clean water duty, and Matthew and I (once again) got potty luggage duty.  Matthew was excited to give it a “roll”.  So we pulled the little luggage box out of the cubby and proceeded to join the luggage march to the dumping station.

 It was our lucky day!  No one was at the sink, so we could just pull up and take care of business (so to say).  Our luck ended quite quickly when I opened the spout to dump over the sink and a wheel fell off onto the floor.  The smell was horrid at ground level!  After Matthew and I ran out of the room gagging, we went back in to accomplish our goal.  While gagging with our noses inside our shirts, I watched the handle dip into the sink. Then the little door to the flusher fell off!  Between laughing, running out of the little sink room gagging and begging for fresh air, our faces glued inside our shirts AND our potty falling apart; we got everything back into shape and casually rolled our luggage past the stern faced old man with his own baggage waiting in line.