We all had coffee together, then Axel took the train to Heidelberg because he had to work for a couple of days. We drove to Siegen with Otto & Inge. Siegen was a one hour drive north of Frankfurt. When we arrived we had a tour of their lovely home, then I decided to lay down and rest for a bit. I didn't sleep a wink on the plane all night and I was tired. (My theory is that if the passengers are all asleep, the pilot might decide to take a nap as well. Someone has to stay awake just in case and that someone is always me.) I slept for about 3 hours while Roy visited with Inge. Inge speaks very good English, we had no trouble communicating at all. Otto doesn't speak much English, but certainly enough to make himself understood. Dinner that night was a homemade soup, it really hit the spot. We visited through the evening and went to bed early.

We got up early the next day, eager to see a bit of the town. The day starts with a huge breakfast. In Germany the theory is that you need a lot of food to get your day started, then a whole lot more food at lunch time. Lunch is the big meal of the day and it is usual for everyone to rest for an hour after eating. Supper tends to be a much smaller meal. We adapted to that schedule quite quickly. Breakfast was delicious. There were a variety of breads (all dark, heavy, tasty breads), a variety of cold meats, including black forest ham that was better than any I've ever tasted. There were also many kinds of cheese and curd, yogurt, coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice. (Squeezing the orange juice was Roy's daily job.) After breakfast we headed off to the market to buy a Christmas tree. There were already a couple of trees decorated in the house but this was to be the large, main tree for the sitting room. After purchasing the tree and getting it home we drove to Freudenberg. It's a town right beside Siegen where Inge was born. It was absolutely beautiful with lovely houses and cobblestone streets and sidewalks. And speaking of houses in Germany, they are as solid as a rock. Most are built out of concrete - floors, walls, ceilings - all concrete. You certainly don't hear any noise from room to room and no street noise comes in at all. There is no such thing as a squeaky floor. They are very cozy and warm with absolutely no outside maintenance to do at all. The windows were quite something, Jackie & Wayne would love to have windows like this in their house.

Otto came home from his hairdressing salon for lunch. Everyone had a one hour rest, then back to the shop for Otto and we went on a tour of Siegen. Inge showed us the kindergarten (day care) they own, along with some of the many flats and garages they own. We went up the hill to the castle that overlooks the whole city. Interesting note: cars park up on the sidewalks or nearly in the middle of the street. So long as everyone can get by, no one seems to mind. We never heard any horns honking, even though a lot of people were driving like maniacs. We picked up Otto and went to a nearby city for drinks in a hotel owned by a friend of theirs. Home for a light supper then downstairs to the bar to visit. Axel arrived later that evening.

The next day we had a huge breakfast, then drove around town for awhile again. We went to the billiards club so Axel could practice. Home for lunch, then we went with Axel to Dumlen where he and his team were going to compete. Dumlen is in a very industrial part of the country and the air was positively brown with pollution. The competition was a draw, they won two and lost two. We were home for a late supper, then had a musical evening with Axel on the piano and Otto on the violin. They are both very talented and it was a very enjoyable evening. We stayed up quite late with Axel, visiting.

For lunch the next day we went to the Struck Hotel in the town of Helden. What a beautiful building that hotel is, inside and out. We were in our own oval alcove in the dining room. Everything was gleaming wood, beautiful upholstery, lace and unusual light fixtures. Quite an atmosphere. The food was delicious. When you eat out in Germany the food is for your eyes as well as your stomach. The presentation of the food on each plate is just stunning. For dessert I had "Pumpernickelmousse" which is just a fancy way of saying bread pudding. I was thinking it would look something like Mom's bread pudding with maybe some whipped cream on top. Wrong! There were three mounds of colorful, light, fluffy pudding. There was whipped cream on the side with mint leaves. On the plate, surrounding all of this was a drizzled swirl of caramel and chocolate sauce. I hated to ruin it by eating it!

Inge & Otto stayed in the restaurant while Axel, Roy and I drove to the Attahohle Cave nearby. It's a huge cave and the kilometer long tour through it is very interesting. There were stalagmites and stalactites everywhere. We went back to Siegen mid afternoon. We headed downtown with Axel to meet his friend Delia, they've known each other since school. She is very nice, speaks quite good English and goes to university in Siegen. We had coffee in a little pub and visited for a couple of hours. Home for supper, then we visited all evening.

Up early the next morning with a busy day planned. We picked up Delia then headed off to Cologne & Bonn. Both cities were beautiful. We did some shopping in Cologne then went to their famous cathedral. It was stunningly beautiful. (During the course of our time in Germany we saw countless beautiful cathedrals. Each has it's own style and we were always amazed at the beauty of them.) The twin spires on this cathedral go up over 600 meters. This cathedral was undamaged during the war because of its location. It was easy to see because of its size so the Allies used it as a guideline and bombed all around it instead. There is a narrow, winding, concrete stairway going up one spire and Axel and I climbed it to the top. Don't ask me how many times I had to stop to rest for a bit. The view from the top was amazing. We watched a large ship going down the Rhine River and took pictures of the Christmas Markets below us.

The Christmas Markets deserve their own paragraph. Every city has them during the month of December. They are small, red huts with lights all around the outside. They are quite small with just enough room for a vendor and whatever the vendor is selling. There are all kinds of delicious foods, mulled wine, and crafts like I've never seen before. All sorts of candles, blown glass ornaments, wooden ornaments, jewelry. It's difficult to describe. In some cities there are dozens of these little huts. The smells and sounds of the Christmas Markets are something we will never forget.

We drove to Bonn, which is near Cologne. We had lunch in a beautiful little cafe and walked around the downtown area. Axel showed us the parliament buildings. Bonn was the capital of West Germany. The capital was originally Berlin, but after the war when Russia carved up Germany, the capital moved to Bonn. Now that Germany is reunited, the capital is moving back to Berlin. This is something that seems to receive much more approval from the rest of the world then it does in Germany. Symbolically, it seems like the right thing to do but the cost is enormous. It will cost billions and take years to finish moving.

By now we had noticed a number of cultural differences. In the stores there are switchblades and Swiss Army knives for sale everywhere. It seems like all the men have one or the other. The streets were very busy with people. Their population in Germany is huge, nearly three times the population of Canada in a country that is smaller than Saskatchewan. Black was the most common color we saw people wearing on the street and many people wore leather. There were some people wearing colorful clothing but the majority wore rather dark colors. We passed a store that sold Levi's. There was a big sale on and you could buy a pair of jeans for $104. I didn't realize they were still so expensive over there. Clothing in general was rather expensive but extremely good quality. That was a common theme in that country - many things were rather expensive but the quality was tremendous so definitely worth the price. People also show a lot more affection in public than we are used to. It's not at all unusual to see someone stop in the middle of the sidewalk to kiss long and passionately. One of the most surprising things for me was seeing dogs in restaurants and supermarkets. They were always very well behaved and once I got used to the idea I thought it was pretty neat. People seem to be much more laid back and relaxed about that sort of thing. The whole country was just as neat as a pin. There was no garbage blowing around anywhere. Many of the towns had cobblestone back alleys, there wasn't even dirt in a lot of places, let alone any mess.

The next day we left Siegen for Berlin, which is about 600 kms away. I thought the trip would go very quickly because with the Autobahn there are no speed limits in a lot of places. The problem is that with such a huge population the roads are always packed so you often hit traffic jams, even with 3 or 4 lanes of traffic. Traffic jams there can be as much as 10 km long. Then the smart thing is to head off the Autobahn onto a Federal Road for a few miles until you are past the jam. They have a station that broadcasts all the traffic jams all the time, telling you exactly where they are and how long they are. (These Germans are so organized) The broadcast even overrides your tape deck if you are listening to a tape on your car stereo. So, even with being on the Autobahn it took us nearly 6 hours to get to Berlin.

Berlin! What a city. It was my favorite part of the whole trip and I hope I get to see it again some day and spend more time. The energy there is incredible. The amount of construction going on is amazing. I have never seen so many cranes in my life. Much of the construction goes on all day and all night with huge spotlights illuminating the construction sites at night. It was in Berlin that I finally learned what it is to be German. I don't know how to explain it but it was an overwhelming feeling. I spent much of my time there with a huge lump in my throat, choked with emotion.

The first thing we did upon arrival was drive downtown. We parked the car and got out to walk. You hear every language on the streets in Berlin. We first went to the Kranzler Cafe. It is the most famous cafe in all of Germany. The desserts on display looked so good they didn't seem to be real. We ordered and sat down to dessert and coffee. (Being the most famous cafe in Germany it is also the most expensive. Earl Grey tea cost $8.50.) I had a bite of apple strudel and I was immediately transported into Grandma Uhl's kitchen. I couldn't believe it. I have not tasted that particular flavor since I was a child and I recognized it immediately. It was Grandma's "pie by the yard". All I wanted to do in that moment was buy all the apple strudel they had, bundle it up, and send it to all my brothers and sisters so that, just for a moment, they could be back in Grandma's kitchen too. That was the warmest, safest place in all the world when I was a kid. No one ever told you that you were talking too loud, or to settle down. You could just be. Unconditional love. The trip was worth it for that feeling alone.

After our snack we headed out to the streets again. We walked to the remains of the Kaiser Wilhelm Cathedral. We saw pictures of what it had looked like. It was a tremendous structure with beautiful architecture. It, like everything else in Berlin, was destroyed in the war. There is one massive spire remaining, with the top missing, and the front foyer also remains. The foyer was restored inside and it is beautiful with nearly every square inch having beautiful painted designs. There were black and white pictures inside of Berlin during the war - the people running into the bomb shelters, the rubble in the streets. There was a picture of this same cathedral. It was taken soon after it was bombed. The picture was taken from where the roof used to be. There were people standing for a church service. They couldn't sit because the pews were all destroyed. There they all were, trying to pretend life was normal when everything around them was destroyed. What an impact that picture had on me. When I learned about the war in school, the focus was usually on the bombing in London and how awful that was. I guess I just never really thought about the fact that all of Germany was bombed as well. Berlin was utterly destroyed. There is a new modern church now beside the ruined cathedral. I had to sit in there and pray for a little while before I could continue.

The only city that was not bombed at all was Heidelberg. That was because of the university there. There was a pact between Germany and Britain. Britain would not bomb Heidelberg if Germany would not bomb Oxford and Cambridge. Thank goodness for that at least.

By now, it was dark and Axel thought it was time to see the Brandenburg Gate. I'm glad we went at night. It was just beautiful the way it was lit up. We parked the car and walked through the gate, just awed by the significance of the fact that we actually can walk through that gate now. I never thought that would happen in my lifetime. The wall went right along the gate, cutting it off from both sides, the east and the west. We walked through a nearby park to look at some of the other buildings. Even though it was dark, we felt perfectly safe. There doesn't seem to be a lot of crime in the streets there at all.

We decided it was time to find our hotel, check in and have some supper. We were staying at Potsdam, just outside of Berlin, in the former East Germany. That was quite interesting. Driving down the streets in Potsdam with some of the streets seeming like little more than ruts. The Russians took and took and took from Germany until there was nothing left. There was no upkeep at all. That's the reason for all the construction that is going on now. We drove down a long, dismal, graffiti filled street to our hotel, which was a lovely little private hotel. Our rooms were spacious and comfortable. We dumped all of our stuff and headed out to find a restaurant. We were driving through a shabby, run down part of town when we saw a new looking restaurant sign. The buildings were all very old and shabby but the restaurant inside was beautiful. Very modern. We sat down to a delicious meal and let Axel continue the story he had started at the Brandenburg Gate, telling us about the day the wall came down. There is something about hearing that story from a German person that is very special. He told the story like no one from North America ever could. We talked all evening, headed back to our rooms, and talked some more. It was one of the most interesting days of my life. It was worth more than all the history classes I ever took.

The next day we went on a tour of Potsdam. The university buildings are beautiful. There is also a palace there that had been built by Frederick II as a summer home, the San Soucci Palace. We toured it and were amazed at the architecture. After that we drove into Berlin again. We spent much of the afternoon driving around, looking at all the statues and monuments. The city is full of them. We finally found the small cemetery where the last remaining few meters of the original wall are standing. It seemed so small and ordinary. In your mind you think of it as being such a huge, overwhelming, impenetrable wall but it's really just a wall. At that particular area the two walls were about 100 meters apart. (There were actually 2 walls all through Berlin, in some place they were right beside each other, or just a few feet apart, in other areas they were quite far apart.) We stood in the area between the two walls, it was just an empty, grassy area. However, it used to be "no man's land" filled with mines and with guards patrolling on both sides. One interesting rule they had - if you tried to run across, the East German border guards were allowed to shoot you. However, the West German border guards were allowed to shoot the East border guards to protect you, so long as the East shot first. That actually happened a few times.

We left the cemetery and went for a walk through the city again. We went up in a tower that looks much like the CN Tower in Toronto. It is in the former East Berlin. The view from the top was beautiful at night with all the city lights. We had a couple of cokes at the bar and the bartender turned out to be quite a story teller. He told us how the Russians had used the tower to snoop. It had all sorts of antennas and they would listen to conversations on both sides of the wall. After we came down from the tower, we walked through a nearby Christmas Market and had a delicious supper of bratwurst sausages and hot, fresh beer nuts.

From here we went to Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous crossing point from West to East Berlin. Now it's just a regular looking street. Inside the building though is the most amazing museum. It covers several floors and is filled with stories of the people who escaped from the East. There were cars that people used and it was almost impossible to figure out where the people hid in them. There were pieces of furniture, stereo speakers, even suitcases that people hid in. To hide in the suitcases, they would set two large suitcases beside each other on the train. One side of each was cut out, these sides were placed together, and a woman lay in the two suitcases. It was difficult and extremely risky. There were stories about many of the people who tunneled out. Some of those stories were amazing. One of my favorites is of the 5 men, 4 in their 70's and 1 in his 80's who dug a tunnel that was 5 feet high. It took much longer because it was so high and was therefore much more dangerous. But they didn't want their wives to have to crawl out, they wanted them to be able to walk, with dignity. The stories were fascinating and it took a long time to go through the whole museum. Even now, just over 7 years since the wall came down, Axel finds it depressing and difficult to go through the museum and re-live what his people went through. His mother has an aunt living in East Berlin and they sent her "care packages" for over 30 years. Many families were split up - siblings were separated, married couples were separated, parents and children were separated. It left a scar that will probably never go away so long as this generation lives.

The next day we headed back to Siegen, stopping for lunch in Leipzig. We also stopped at the Wartburg Castle in the town of Eisenach. This castle has a very interesting history. It was built in 1160 and is considered to be the best preserved and most beautiful secular building north of the Alps. Martin Luther studied here for 4 years until 1501. He returned years later after many battles with the Pope and the nobility over his Lutheran teachings. While there he translated the New Testament from the original Greek into German in just 10 weeks. His bible became the foundation of the New High German written language still used today in Germany, Austria and parts of Switzerland. The castle is still in use as a retreat.

We spent that night in Siegen and departed again the next day. This time we took Delia and headed to the south of Germany to Delia's home town of Radolfzell. She stayed with her folks and we rented a beautiful little apartment nearby. We spent 3 nights there and had a great time exploring that region. This is probably the most beautiful area in Germany. We went to a small wine bar the first night. It was a lovely building, all vine covered on the outside. Inside the furniture was all old, dark wood with a large wooden bar. It was quite dark inside with timbered walls and ceiling. All the tables were lit with candles. We sampled some of the local wines. What ambiance in that wine bar! It was another of my favorite places.

The next day we spent the morning exploring Radolfzell, a lovely little town of about 21,000. After lunch we left Axel at the apartment to do some work with his computer and we went with Delia for a drive to Switzerland. What a beautiful little town we went to there. The paintings on the buildings just blew us away. Such incredible detail. We bought some Swiss chocolate (yummy - melt in your mouth!) and toured a bit more before returning home. Delia cooked that night - spatzle and a delicious salad.

Much of the next day was spent in the car. We drove through many small towns, including one called Uhldingen. We stopped at more beautiful cathedrals, including the basilica at Birnau. That was probably the most breathtaking one we saw. It's situated on Lake Constance looking across at the Swiss Alps. The basilica is huge and inside every square inch is full of detailed biblical paintings with lots of gold trim. I lit a candle to Mom. We went to the Meersburg Castle, the oldest castle in Germany, built in 630. It was a very interesting tour and we bought a few souveniers. We had supper in Old Mary's Pub in Konstanz. Again, lots of atmosphere, then back to Radolfzell.

We left Radolfzell to return to Siegen. On the way we drove through the Black Forest. What a beautiful area that is. I'd love to see it in the summer. We stopped at a clock museum. Don would have loved that place. The entire history of the clock was there and samples from every era. The old sundials were really something. Of course we bought ourselves a cuckoo clock from the Black Forest.

On to Strasbourg, France. It is a whole lot bigger than Strasbourg, Saskatchewan. The cathedral is quite imposing. We didn't stay long. The weather was getting a bit ugly so we had lunch, bought a bunch of postcards and headed back to Germany. By now the weather was quite yucky, fine blowing snow and sleet and it was getting dark. We stopped at the town of Rastatt, looking for the Uhl Brewery. It took awhile but we finally found it, just after it closed! Fortunately we were able to talk our way in (giving a guy $20 just before Christmas is always a good idea) and had the opportunity to buy some Uhl Pils beer glasses for the family. We then went to a pub and had Uhl Pils beer. Pretty good stuff. On the road again and the weather got better as we got closer to Siegen.

Christmas Eve at last. Christmas in Germany really is something different. There are lots of outdoor lights at night but they are usually all white, very few colored lights. It looks very nice and I was beginning to find that the colored ones looked kind of tacky and out of place. There doesn't seem to be the mad rush in the stores, before or after Christmas, that we have. There is much less emphasis on the materialistic side of things and that was very nice. Christmas Eve day we drove around a bit in the morning, had lunch, then rested for a bit. We all gathered in the sitting room for coffee and liqueurs at 4:00. The Christmas tree had been brought inside and decorated earlier that day. We visited for awhile and I phoned Dad & Evelyn to wish them a Merry Christmas. Axel, Inge and Otto all spoke with Axel's brother Jurgen and his wife on the phone. They live in another city. We had a delicious Christmas dinner with breast of duck a l'orange as the main course. After supper, Inge sent the rest of us upstairs to the music room where Axel entertained us on the piano. Inge rung a small bell and we went downstairs again to the sitting room. The candles on the Christmas tree had been lit. Yes, I said candles. I was just waiting for the whole thing to go up in flames but it never did. Everyone had their own little pile of gifts placed throughout the room. Some were wrapped, some weren't. We spent at least an hour admiring each others gifts, then headed downstairs to the bar where we spent the rest of the evening visiting. (Yes, we blew out the candles on the tree first!) It was a wonderful day all the way around and we stayed up quite late that night.

Christmas Day was sunny and cold. We went downtown for a delicious dinner in a very nice restaurant. Because the families celebrate Christmas Eve, Christmas Day seems to be given over to going out to eat and visiting. We went home for a rest, then went out to another hotel for afternoon coffee and dessert. This was a stunning hotel that is decorated something like a hunting lodge. I've never seen anything quite like it. Very luxurious with decor that you couldn't stop looking at. We had apple strudel again (of course) and it didn't taste like Grandma's but it had a very familiar flavor I couldn't identify. I don't know what it reminded me of but I know it was something from my childhood. Maybe something that Mom used to make.

The rest of the afternoon we sat around the house. I wrote out postcards and wrote in my journal. Roy played backgammon with Inge, Otto practiced on the accordion he got for Christmas and Axel was glued to his computer, working. That evening we went to a party with Delia and her boyfriend, Andrea. (He's from Italy.) We watched a movie and had a nice visit.

It was finally time to go to Heidelberg and see Axel's place. When we arrived we first went on a tour of the famous Heidelberg Castle. That was very interesting. Heidelberg is a very pretty city. We drove around and did some sightseeing in the town. We settled into Axel's flat and went out that night with Axel and his friend, Tanja. We went into a couple of different bars in Karlruhe. We entered a contest in one bar and I won the 1997 Guinness World Book of Records. It's in German of course but I don't care. Axel won a small bottle of Guinness.

The next day Axel went to work. We met him for lunch, then Roy stayed at the flat while I explored the shopping district. They have a wonderful cobblestone street, about 2 km long with shops and cafes all along it. I found it very interesting and had a great afternoon there. We headed back to Siegen later that day.

December 28, our last full day in Germany. We both had our hair cut at Salon Uhl, a gift from Otto. Back home for a delicious lunch, then to the local billiards club where Axel had another competition. Again it was a draw, win two and lose two. Axel won his game very handily and we found it very interesting to watch. Delia and Andrea joined us at the house for supper and we spent the evening visiting.

The next day we were up early and at the Frankfurt Airport in plenty of time for our 12:30 flight. We said goodbye to Inge & Otto at the house, Axel took us to the airport on his way home to Heidelberg. We had coffee with Axel in the airport, then said goodbye. The flight home was uneventful and a very pleasant interlude before we went back to work and our ordinary lives the next day.

The weather in Germany was much the same as it usually is here in the winter. Misty, rainy and about 3-6 degrees above for most of the trip. The last few days it got sunny and cold, -10. The day after we left the Frankfurt airport was closed because of heavy snowfall!

All in all, we loved every minute of our trip and will be eternally grateful to Axel for the invitation. I had to wonder why our ancestors left such a beautiful country. We would love to return during the summer, though Christmas is probably the most interesting time to be there. It was good to be home though. At the risk of sounding sappy, I would rather be Canadian than anything else.