Saturday morning we headed over to southeastern London to meet up with the Shorts. They were staying with Kevin's old roommate (from when Kevin did his PhD in London with Gerald), Simon and Simon's wife, Vaishali. We are used to seeing the Shorts regularly in the US (we are halfway on the drive to Kevin's folks so they often make an overnight stop along the way), so it's been strange to go so long without seeing them. It was a wonderful reunion with all of them (including Simon and Vaishali) and a treat to have 2 1/2 days to explore London together, especially since the kids were experiencing it for the 1st time (excluding oldest child Timmy's visit when he was 18 months old!). Despite rainy weather, the Shorts and we headed in to central London around lunchtime. Kevin led the kids (as he had led Elyse when she visited him in London while he was doing his PhD) on his trademark route out the underground to a fantastic view of Big Ben and Westminster. It was fun to see the kids' reactions and to share in the joy of seeing London through their (and their excited parents') eyes.

We managed to see a lot of the "big" sights that afternoon, despite occasional showers, the Gay Pride parade, and the increased security because of the two car bombs that had been found the day before. We met up with Simon in St. James Park after he finished his shift at the Science Museum and walked through Trafalgar Square before catching a train back to Catford (where they live). The rest of the afternoon was filled with card games and shared stories and delicious Indian take-away dinner (we were getting our fill of ethnic foods that are not as good - or as available - in Germany). We stayed in a B&B nearby so that we were able to come and go to Simon and Vaishali's house fairly easily.

We had a very filling and delicious "full English breakfast" at our B&B the next morning (enough to nourish someone for 3 days!) before meeting up with everyone for an outing to Greenwich (only about 15 minutes from Catford). There were actually periods of sunshine and blue sky that day and it made everything that much prettier. They have done a wonderful job at the Royal Greenwich Observatory and we spent a few hours going through their exhibits. It was fun to stand on the Prime Meridian line and interesting to see the original mechanisms (watches, etc.) created to assist navigation at sea.

We took a break for lunch (see everyone above - Simon and Vaishali are at the far end of the table) and a quick walk through the crafts market (some beautiful stuff for sale) before going to the Maritime Museum. We weren't sure how the kids (ages 8-15) were going to hold up with another museum, but this place was great, with lots of hands-on activities and exhibits. See below left for Aidan's attempts to navigate a rescue ship (the simulation was so realistic that Elyse was feeling slightly sea-sick!) while Kristen fills in her question-booklet, and (on the right) Tim's attempt to manipulate a contraption underwater while Brielle looks on. We had a lot of fun playing.

Simon & Vaishali went off to a Pat Metheny concert that evening, but for the rest of us, the evening was another relaxing one with games, stories, laughter and good Thai food for dinner. We also got our double cream "fix" over apple crumble. YUM!

With all the security alerts, we knew that we were going to need to get to Heathrow even earlier than usual, but that still left us with the morning free, so we all headed into London. We were able to leave our suitcase at the train station and walked around to Leicester Square and Picadilly Circus, etc. The highlight, however, was a stop in the huge toy store, Hamley's (where, back when Gerald & Kevin were in London for their studies they had fought off kids so that they [the "adults"] could play with the demo-toys. Various claims for this behavior have included that they wanted to explain properly the physics of a gyroscope being demonstrated and/or that they wanted to test things for their newly born nephews, but Elyse thinks it's because they are both just big kids at heart.). It was a fun time playing with remote-control flipping bumper cars, 3-sided boomerang-type flying toys, and lots of looking around. By then we needed to head off to the airport, so we parted ways (they still had another week or so left to explore London and environs), knowing that we will see them all again soon across the Atlantic. It was a great visit.

We got to Heathrow about 3 hours early for our flight to find that it had been canceled and we had been booked onto the next flight two hours later. We used the food voucher they gave us to get a real lunch and were ready to settle down and read our books when we noticed an earlier flight to Frankfurt on the screen. We didn't think we would be able to make it on time, so we ignored it...until the screen said that flight had been delayed. Back to the information desk again... and we ended up on the "earlier" flight that left about when our original flight had been scheduled! It was much less of a hassle than we expected given all the security concerns and we were back in Heidelberg at a decent hour.

We didn't have to get up early the next morning as Gerald took time off to celebrate Elyse's birthday. He spoiled her rotten (says she) by: taking her out to our favorite bakery-café for breakfast, taking her on a walk through the Botanic gardens, buying her a hot chocolate, eating lunch together, and then taking her to a delicious meal in a pretty old hotel-restaurant in the old town for dinner. The rain held off long enough for us to be able to walk home through the old town and streets of Neuenheim. A lovely celebration and a nice way to end a really great weekend.

THE AHR VALLEY

Gerald's host, Holger, and his wife, Claudia come from neighboring towns in the Ahr Valley, about a 2 1/2 hour drive northwest of Heidelberg (near to Bonn). They had invited us to spend a weekend with them and their family exploring the surroundings and tasting the wine. The Ahr Valley is one of Germany's few red wine producing regions, specializing in Spätburgunder (pinot noir). The hillsides (it is an old volcanic region) are covered with vineyards, reminding us of the wine-growing areas around Adelaide, while also looking very different from Oz: the vines themselves look more vertical than the ones around Adelaide and the hills are steeper. The wines, however, were also excellent. They don't make enough to export any (even out of the region, never mind the country), so we knew to appreciate the opportunity that much more. And the surroundings are absolutely spectacularly beautiful!

We stayed with Holger, Claudia and their 4 kids at Claudia's parents' house, but we also got to meet Holger's parents (Gerald had met them once before) and some of their siblings. They were all very welcoming, very nice to be with and very generous with food and wine! The weather broke from its month-long pattern of cool, rainy days and we had two days of warm temperatures and sunny skies - a welcome relief.

Our first day, Claudia (and baby Elisabeth) took us into Ahrweiler to look around. Ahrweiler is an old town with half-timbered buildings surrounded by an original medieval town wall and four gateways (one is in the middle picture, below). Unfortunately, the church (below, right) was closed so we couldn't see its 14th century frescoes, but the outside looked pretty impressive. We returned home with detours to see Claudia's old school (a huge old convent that reminded us of Hogwarts from the Harry Potter books) and Holger's home village. We shared a delicious sampling of local meats, cheese and dark breads for dinner. Holger arrived late that evening in time to enjoy some of the wines Claudia's dad had opened for us to try. We were feeling pretty relaxed by the time we stumbled to bed!

Saturday, we all (except eldest Katarina, who stayed at home with a stomach bug) headed over to Altenahr, described as "the most romantic location in the Ahr Valley" by our guide book. And we can understand why. The drive up took us through narrow valleys bordered by high, rocky peaks and steep hillsides covered with vineyards. The town itself was also stunning, with narrow streets and stone and half-timbered homes backed by the peaks (see below, left). We took a short walk along the wooded 35-kilometer Rotweinwanderweg (Red Wine Hiking Trail) to the Burg Are. The ruins of this castle overlook the valley and make for fun climbing (especially for the kids) and spectacular views (see below).

Our lunch spot was not what we'd imagined we would see in this historic area, but it was a great restaurant whose architecture was inspired by Gaudi (see below). In addition to delicious food and wines and beautiful views, it also had a playground that kept the kids happy while we enjoyed our meal!

In case we hadn't eaten enough (!?), we headed next to Holger's parents' house where we enjoyed a sample of his Mom's baking skills - a delicious cream cake with fresh raspberries - along with tea, coffee and - a bit later - wine. They are very nice people and it was great to sit in the back yard playing football with the kids (below, left) and just enjoying a few hours together. When we returned to Claudia's parents' place, Holger and we went for a walk among the vineyards near the house (see below). It was late evening, so everything looked that much more spectacular. We were relieved that Gerald didn't break any body parts climbing one of the trees to pick a cherry (well worth the effort!), and thoroughly enjoyed the stunning and peaceful walk. Luckily, Claudia and Holger had convinced her mom not to cook a big meal that night. The tasty meats, cheeses and breads did help soak up the various local wines we sampled though. It was a fun, relaxing end to a great day.

Sunday, Katarina was feeling better and we all headed over to the "wine and jazz fest" at one of the local vineyards. Luckily we got there early enough to get a table at the end of the balcony overlooking the (great) playground below, so that the kids could come and go on their own. There was a great atmosphere in the place - people were relaxed and enjoying the Dixie band music and the good food and wine (notice a theme of "good food and wine" for this weekend? We did.). We spent the afternoon there (Claudia's parents came later and joined us for a sampling of the tasty desserts), including many trips to the playground, complete with trampoline and the fantastic swing pictured below! It was a wonderful way to spend a beautiful afternoon.

Claudia's parents have a beautiful garden area out the back of their home, so we relaxed there when we got home. Holger got one of the big ladders from the house to climb up to pick some delicious small cherries that were out - and we also sampled some of the other goodies from the trees there, including a delicious grape-sized, plum-tasting fruit. The kids played on the swings and "baked breads" (that looked remarkably like sand) while the adults contemplated naps!

However, we roused ourselves for a foray into the center of Bad Neuenahr. Bad Neuenahr is a town whose "curative waters" have been sought after for about 150 years. It and Ahrweiler are now joined as one town, but that combination is mostly in name only. It was clear that Bad Neuenahr, with its spas and casino, attract a wealthier and older crowd. There are very different "feels" to the two towns, although each is attractive in its own way. We got some ice creams and walked around the big park in town. This park has pools of the hot mineral waters that include periodic geyser-like spurts that relieve the pressure below, and a fountain where one can drink the water (not as tasty as the local wines!). There is also a water therapy pool (created after the recommendations of a medieval priest named Kneipp) that Gerald, Valentine and Johanna sampled (see below) - as you can see from Valentin's reaction the water was pretty cold!

After another meal of good food and shared wines and another restful night's sleep, we were on our way back to Heidelberg. The Ahr Valley is a beautiful area, the wines are delicious and it was a real treat to have had a fun and relaxing few days with Holger and Claudia and their families.

MAINZ & WORMS

Gerald was attending a workshop in Heidelberg and had a workshop dinner one night, so Elyse decided to make a long day trip to visit a couple of places relatively close by: Mainz and Worms. Mainz, Worms and Speyer (which we visited in March) each have a Romanesque cathedral from the Middle Ages and were important sites for the Holy Roman Empire. Mainz is at the crossroads (crossrivers?) of the rivers Main [which goes through Frankfurt] and Rhine [which goes through pretty much everywhere in Europe!], and had a Roman garrison there in 12 BC. Then English missionary St. Boniface established an archbishopric there in 746. It's probably best known (other than for the cathedral) as the birthplace of Johannes Gutenberg (father of movable type / the printing press).

Elyse went first to the Gutenberg museum as that was her primary motivation for going to Mainz. It was well set up and very interesting. They only have bits and pieces of information about his life, but think he was born about 1400. He was a goldsmith by trade but, after having left for a while, was back in Mainz with his printing invention in the mid-1400s. He had adaoped the screw press that was used in wine-making (big in this neck of the woods) for his press. They think he probably printed school grammar books first as they were easy to sell. The first (150-180) bibles were printed in 1454-5. It was very cool to see the original 42-line (per page) bibles (right - luckily Elyse wasn't told that photography was not allowed until after she had taken pictures of the bibles!). His bibles were each made up of two volumes of 1,282 pages! And, even though the text was printed on the press, each page was hand illuminated. Gutenberg died almost penniless in 1468 as his benefactor was granted the workshop as a result of a dispute over Gutenberg's debts to him. The archbishop decided to provide Gutenberg with a small allowance for the rest of his life as recognition for his contributions. There were many other beautiful books on display, as well as explanations of the materials used for printing (e.g., ink "ingredients"), and samples of different printing presses from over the years. There were exhibits on printing in Asia as well (Elyse knew that the Chinese had invented a printing press about 700 years before Gutenberg, but enjoyed learning more about their processes and seeing samples). There were many other parts to the museum that she didn't get to see (e.g., Islamic book art, newspaper printing, the annual choices for "Germany's most beautiful books" and much else), but time was short and the list of things to do long!

She then made her way over for a quick visit to the Cathedral. It was built in the 11th century, but burned down the day of its consecration in 1066! It was impressively large and had some beautiful sculptures, but Elyse has just about had her fill of big churches for now. It was already later than she had hoped, but Elyse really wanted to make one more stop before leaving for Worms - to see the stained-glass windows created by Marc Chagall that are located in the St. Stephan church. They were worth the walk across town - beautiful blue tones and his familiar "style" and designs. She had also wanted to see the two full-scale models and the remains of five original Roman ships (found when digging the foundation for the Hilton hotel!), but as it was she knew she was going to be short of time for her visit to Worms, so she caught the next train out.

Each train trip (Heidelberg - Mainz; Mainz - Worms; Worms - Heidelberg) was about 40-50 minutes - just enough to rest and, in this case, eat some lunch! Worms is one of the oldest cities in Germany and had been the capital of the Burgundian Kingdom for a while in the 5th century. It started to become most important under Charlemagne's rule and hosted more than 100 imperial diets (imperial parliaments) of the Holy Roman Empire. Martin Luther came here in 1521 to defend his Protest-ant views and there was a thriving Jewish population living here for over a thousand years - until Nazi attacks in 1938. Elyse decided to skip going to the tourist information site (since she had copied a map from a guide book at the library) and headed directly to the old synagogue. The Jewish community was strong and scholarly in Worms, and had survived until the Nazi's despite some nasty times during the crusades and assorted pogroms (mostly due to plague-inspired accusations of well-poisoning). However, all remaining inhabitants were expelled and killed during WWII.

The synagogue (below, left) was originally built in 1034 and was rebuilt in 1964 using as much of the old stone as possible. The inside was simple and serene. There is also a Mikve (ritual bath) from the same period that still survives. Next door was a building (on 14th-century foundations) that had been named after the famous Talmudic scholar Solomon ben Isaac of Troyes (France) - known as Rashi - who had studied here in the 11th century. It now houses a museum on Jewish holidays and rituals that was very well done. There were some models (of a seder, a wedding, etc.) and lots of ritual objects, along with clear explanations of the traditions. Elyse's next stop was the old Jewish cemetery (below, right) whose oldest stone (of the 2000 there) dates from the 11th century. It was eerie there: it was easy to see how old the stones were, but one remembers that the "modern" community was destroyed and those "ghosts" are present, too.

Based on closing times, Elyse decided to visit the Nibelungen Museum next. The Nibelungenlied is a 12th century epic poem (by an anonymous author) that has since been set as an opera by Wagner. Its mythology was used by the Nazis as propaganda with one of the characters seen as the quintessential German hero. The museum is based in two towers and the ramparts of part of the medieval town walls (see right). Elyse knew next to nothing about the story before going and the audio guide and displays were superb. The first tower told the story itself - full of dwarves, dragons, superwomen and castle intrigue. The narrator "was" the 12th-century poet speaking from the world of the dead (so that he was able to comment on modern interpretations and uses of his work). The script very cleverly weaved in discussions about similarities with a Scandinavian tale, misrepresentation of the story by Wagner, and use of the poem by Nazis (and dangers of propaganda / use of mythology for political purposes). Elyse could have spent another hour there, but that wasn't possible since they were closing.

Elyse finally headed over to the Cathedral (although she had passed it and seen its 4 spires and 2 domes often from around town, including the view below from the Nibelungen Museum). The sun had finally come out, so there were some dramatic lighting effects inside. It was an impressive architectural achievement, built in the 11th century, and was relatively simple inside other than the Baroque altar (see below, middle). The windows were clearly modern and included this interesting pane that reflects the persecution of the Jews during the First Crusade, the plague-inspired pogrom, and the Nazi attacks. It's reassuring somehow to have this recognition / reminders of this part of German history.

The last stop Elyse made was to a memorial for Martin Luther. He came here in 1521 to defend his views to an imperial diet that declared him an outlaw. The memorial has an imposing statue of him (with a plaque declaring his words: "Here I stand. I have no choice. God help me. Amen.") surrounded by other important figures in the Protestant Reformation. Unfortunately (for Elyse, not generally), the memorial was in the midst of being cleaned, so most of it was covered in scaffolding. She was able to see Luther in profile (below, left) and a few of the other figures. Luckily there was a picture of what it looks like uncovered, so she was able to appreciate it better. The trip home was easy and pretty (below, right) as the train passed through the Rhine wine regions with hillsides covered in vineyards. It was a full and interesting day and, even though there were other things Elyse would have liked to have seen and done in each town, she is glad she at least got to visit.

HEIDELBERG & SURROUNDINGS

Heidelberg continues to be a pleasure to live in, even though we were not here very much this past month! It seemed very small and quiet when we returned from Turkey. With the tourist season upon it, activities seems to be picking up and we have come across many international and German food festivals (with music, of course) while out walking around. We also had a Fussball tournament being played outside our window one week (see below, left) that looked like a lot of fun. The weather hasn't been the most pleasant - with lots of rain - but many days had mixes of sun and rain that produced some treats like the rainbow below (from our apartment balcony).

One Sunday, we spent a lovely few hours with Holger and family at a festival held at a 12th century monastery (pictured below) still being used by Benedictine monks that is about a 20 mins. bike ride from our apartment. They had music, beer, wine (their own), good food (including their own trout), lots of activities for kids (see the painted faces below) and beautiful grounds to walk around. After we left the monastery, we headed over to the Gies household for the rest of the afternoon, enjoying their company and the views and breeze from their balcony, and then watching the launch of the kids' balloons (with postcards attached with their name and address) from the festival. Balloon-postcards mailed back in past years indicated those balloons had traveled almost to Prague. No word yet, but you never know!

Elyse has taken a few longer bike rides (when the weather has cooperated - and even when it hasn't) to nearby towns, including Ladenburg, Neckargemünd and Neckarsteinach. They were all nice rides along the Neckar river - despite bouts of rain during each of the trips - and it was nice to walk around the towns. The left picture is in Neckargemünd, while the others are in Neckarsteinach. The castle is one of the four that one family built (due to family disagreements) in Neckarsteinach; we had visited one of the ruined ones with Holger and his kids back in March.

Yesterday (Friday, July 20) we biked to Ladenburg for a delicious dinner at a Greek restaurant and a walk around the beautiful town. We are very glad that we discovered it; it has become one of our favorites. It was a glorious night - light breeze, nice sunset - and a wonderful way to say goodbye to it. Today we decided to visit Mosbach - because it sounded good from one of the pamphlets we have. We considered taking our bikes on the train and riding back, but it sounded pretty far and the weather was iffy, so we decided to just use the trains. The ride over there was beautiful as the train follows the Neckar - with all its bends and turns - and passes through lots of little villages (including Neckargemünd and Neckarsteinach). When we arrived in Mosbach it was raining lightly, so we found an outdoor restaurant with a table under an umbrella and enjoyed tasty food while admiring the half-timbered buildings in the market square, especially the Palm House (pictured below). After lunch the weather cleared enough for us to take a leisurely walking tour of the town where we saw this (below center) smallest half-timber house in Germany (at 52 sq. m) and many beautiful streets. We stopped for a hot chocolate/coffee and then meandered back for a train back to Heidelberg. We attended the performance of the choir to which Holger and a few other friends belong to tonight and it was great. It was called African Sanctus and it combined traditional African music with a Latin Mass. Fasinating and superbly performed. It's off to Spain tomorrow.

We hope that we'll get to take a day or two off (that is that Gerald will get to take a day or two off - Elyse has taken pretty much 364 days off) together the week before we return to the States - maybe for a hike or bike ride or something relaxing to help Gerald unwind a bit before we leave. Seems strange only to have one week after we return from the conference in Spain; we'll be back in the US before you (and we) know it!!

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LONDON

THE AHR VALLEY

MAINZ & WORMS

HEIDELBERG & SURROUNDINGS