Family Blog

Last week we returned from one week vacation on Malta. Malta is the smallest country of the EU and a very historic island. Although it has only 400,000 inhabitants it has many churches - one for each day, as our neighbour told us. And some of them are really old.

In Rabat we were in an underground chapel of the 4th century. And there were also graves in the Catacombs of St Agatha's. In other cities (e.g. in Mellieħa) there were catacombs which were used as shelter in the 2nd World War.

We also visited Popeye Village where 1980 the Walt Disney movie "Popeye" was shot. The village was built only for the movie and is now a little attraction - if you are a child.

There are only a few beaches with sands on Malta. Most of the coast are rocks and beautiful cliffs where you can walk (or dive if you like). And you can reach nearly each part of the island by bus.

Unusually for us was the left-hand traffic (Malta was a part of the British Empire till 1964). Each time I want to cross the road we look to the wrong side. And sometimes we started to enter the bus on the wrong side.

This year we decided to visit our own country Germany. I have never been in Dresden so this goal should be one of the first. But before we visited Eisenach with the Wartburg, where Martin Luther translated the bible into the German language.

Our next stop was Erfurt, the Capital of Thüringen. But before we took a trip to Weimar, where we want to visit the Anna Amalia Library, which was destroyed by fire 10 years before. But you must stay early in the morning to get one of the limited tickets. So we visit the Goethe House and other buildings.

The 3rd day we did sightseeing in Erfurt. There are many old buildings, an impressive cathedral and a very old synagogue which was detected some years ago.

The 4th day we left Thüringen and entered Sachsen and the capital Dresden. Dresden was and is one of the cultural center of Europe. There is the Semper Opera, the Zwinger, the Frauenkirche (which were reconstructed some years ago) and many other buildings and museums. And you have the Elbe River where you can walk.

Near Dresden is Meißen with an old cathedral and the Europe's first porcelain manufactory. Leipzig, our next station, is about 100km westwards. You find the Monument to the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig, many old villas and the St. Nicolas Church, where the prayers for peace started 25 years ago which ended in the reunion of Germany.

Last stop of our trip was Quedlinburg, where we lived in a 400-year old half-timbered house with a crooked floor. There were many such houses in Quedlinburg.

Day One

A few years ago we started the "Westweg" (Black Forest Trail), a 100-year old path thru the Black Forest from Pforzheim in the north of the Black Forest till Basel, Switzerland. This year we continue this path and start on Sunday at the Mummelsee. First we had to climb up from 900 m to over 1100 m. At the top we had a good view and could see the Rhine Valley and the Vosges in France. We pass Schliffkopf (1055 m) and reached the Alexanderschanze in the evening. This day we stayed at night in Kniebis.

Day Two

We started at 9:00 AM at the Alexanderschanze. We had luck with the weather and had again a good view. Near Bad Griesbach we pass an airfield for hang gliders. But today is Monday and we see no gliders and nearly no persons today.

Normally this tour would end at the Harkhof, where you could stay over night. But today is Monday and the inn is closed. So we continue with the next stage.

At Kreuzsattel there is a hut where we took a break and eat something. After 34 km we reach a hotel in Housach at about 7:00 PM and ate something, before we went to bed - very tired and exhausted.

Day Three

Today there are some steep climbs and descents. The trail is mostly very narrow and again you are alone in the forest - we met almost anyone.

One highlight of the stage is the Karlstein (964m) with a 25-meter-high granite block. From there you have a good view over the Black Forest.

Our trip ended at Wilhelmshöhe, a inn near Schonach. We ate a Black Forest Cake while we waited on Manuel who took us back at home.

Last week we visited our son in Istanbul. It is said that there are two cities which never sleeps: New York and Istanbul. And it's true: we arrived very early in the morning at about 4 o'clock and there was already so much life in the city...

The public transportation is very good in Istanbul. You have not only busses but also several Metro lines, trams and ferries. And you can reach with them even till the Black Sea as we tried one day. But the busses and lines are always full although the go very often.

The Marmary Metro was opened one week before where you can from the Asia side of Istanbul (here our son lives) to the European side. Not all is finished and you do not have to pay a ticket for that line.

We were six days in Istanbul and enjoyed next the metro the food, the culture and the many attractions Istanbul has. And we were happy to see our son again although he had not so much time - he had to write two testimonials in this week.

At Monday we left Germany at 36°C. On Thursday we arrived at 5 o'clock in the morning in São Paulo: cold and rainy. When we arrived Florianopolis our daughter told us, that it had snowed in Curitiba - the first snow since over 30 years.

Unfortunately the houses here in Brazil are not prepared for winter - no isolation and no heating, only air-condition.

For three days we visited Nuremberg. Nuremberg is an old city and the home of the Imperator in former days. One of the attraction is the old castle from the 12th century where you have a good view over the city. And you can see old weapons and armors in the castle museum.

But Nuremburg was also the main city of the Nazis, a dark chapter in the history of Germany. On the first day we visited the Documentation Centre at the former Nazi party rally grounds which got the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education 2000. One of the reasons for the rise of the Nazis was the use of propaganda - one thing you unfortunately can see also today in many countries.

The downtown of Nuremberg is very nice. Although most of the city was destroyed during tne 2nd World War you can find a lot of old buildings there. Nuremberg is also known for its gingerbread which you can buy all the year not only before christmas. And on sunny days you can sit in a beer garden where you can eat a bratwurst and drink some beer.

Last week we came back from the US and I need some time to arrive in my daily work. What I missed most is the free internet access at each corner (even in the plane you can find WiFi). On the other site I'm happy to have my normal breakfast each day. One of the first thing our daughter wanted was a pretzel when we landed in Stuttgart.

We started our visit in New York which is a very busy (and never sleeping) city. After three days we rented a motorhome and went first to the north (to the Niagara Falls) before we went west to Whitefish Bay near Milwaukee. The first stop at a gas station we were a little surprised - we need nearly double so much gas as expected but the price for it was about half of the price in Germany (about 4$ per galeon).
In Whitefish Bay we had the luck to be part of the family where Manuel had been four years ago. His family was so friendly to us and we learned a lot of the Americans in these days. We had also some political discussions - this is something what I had not expected.

While the weather was warm in Wisconsin the weather in California (where we flew from Milwaukee) was hot (except San Francisco). We spent one day in Lincoln, where we had an excellent Mexican dinner and nice day with Philip's host father from his time at school some years before. We had too less time to visit all the great national parks but some of we saw (and they were really great). Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon were the last big attractions before we went back and spent a (sunny and warm) day in San Francisco.

Our flight back to Stuttgart started in the evening (6:55 PM), so we had some time left for a last trip to a shopping mall in San Bruno. Back at the airport we heared the news about the damages of the storm "Irene" and saw pictures from New York were we have been three weeks before - what a luck we had with the weather.
We were all tired when we reached London Heathrow, but we were more tired when we were back in Gerlingen again. When I went to work this morning it was a strange feeling driving a Smart because the last three weeks I was used to drive a motorhome.
Philip came back this evening. Only Manuel is missing - he will spent one more week in Wisconsin.

Because we had to be back in San Fransico on Saturday morning we decided to go back directly. But before we visited the Sunset Vulcanology Crater. With about 500 miles the Thursday was the longest section because we wanted to leave the Mojave Dessert behind us. We stopped in Tehachapi on the same campground as a few days ago.
For the next campground we looked for one near Santa Cruz and found one at the Sunset State Beach near Watsonville. Manuel wanted to go swimming but the weather was foggy and cold. So we walked only on the beach and saw a lot of seagulls and pelicans sitting there.
Next day we stand up early in the morning (6:00 AM), because we had to bring back our RV till 11:00 PM. We drove about 2400 miles from last week, where we started here.
From the RV rental we took the train into the city of San Francisco and visited chinatown, the cable car, Lombard Street, Fisherman's Wharf, the Painted Ladies, before we looked for a Mexican restaurant. We had luck with  the weather - first it was foggy (which is normal in August), but in the afternoon it was sunny.

On Tuesday we reached Las Vegas, but not without stopping at a shopping mall before. In Las Vegas we found a cheap RV park at Sam's Town and I think it was the same RV park as 20 years before.

In the late afternoon we visited the strip with Cesar's Palace, Paris Las Vegas, The Venetian and all the other big gambler paradises. One the one side it was overwhelming to see the Rialto Bridge, the Eifel Tower or artificial waterfalls in Las Vegas, on the other side it is a big waste of valuable resources. Back to Sam's Town we risked a play at a slot machine and Philip won something (ok, it was only 10 cent).

Next day we visited the Hoover Dam. On the way to it we had to pass a security point where we had all to get out of our RV.

On the way to the Grand Canyon we come in a little sandstorm. The weather was not so good this day and we saw lightnings in the distance. But we had luck and an overwhelming view when we reached the Grand Canyon. There were many people from Germany, but we saw also some people from Tibet and many Asian people.