Israel – Masada, Dead Sea, and Jerusalem

I got a chance (work-related) to visit Israel, and it was an incredible experience.  Most of the time there was spent working about 14-16 hour days, but since our Israeli partners don’t work on Friday or Saturday (due to Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest), we got a chance to take a couple of tours on those days.  I hadn’t planned on this, but I had brought our old camera, just in case we got a chance to see something–I was really glad I did. Read the rest of this entry »

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Driving through the rain today,
watching the miles slip by,
on my way back home again
from another TDY,
Started thinking somehow of my life,
where I’ve been, what I’ve been through.
Tomorrow is my birthday,
and I’ll turn 42.

I’ve seen Dixie in the springtime,
and Paris in the fall,
watched moonlight on the Arabian Sea,
looked down the Canyon’s wall.
I’ve stayed up all night long
and watched sunrise tint the sky,
heard the desert’s night song,
seen bats and eagles fly.

I’ve raised my hand, signed my name,
and followed Uncle Sam,
crossed the seas a time or two,
held judgment in my hand.
I’ve loved a man I shouldn’t have,
and been what I shouldn’t have been,
I’ve said I do, and signed I don’t,
and I’d rather not do either again.

And there are days I hate my job,
and everything around,
and everything’s against me,
and it all just takes me down.
But I have a man who loves me,
he is strong–and also sweet,
and a precious growing daughter
who makes my life complete.

Although I’m not always quite sure
I guess I’m where God wants me to be,
so I’ll hold on to what He says
while I look toward 43…

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Three times a year, Heidelberg has a castle lighting event.  The Heidelberg Schloss is lit up to look like it’s on fire, in memory of the three times in history (1689, 1693 and 1764) when the castle actually was on fire (twice under attack, finally destroyed by lightning).  It seems that thousands of people converge on the Neckar River in Heidelberg three times a year for the castle illumination and fireworks.  We decided to go to Heidelberg for Labor Day weekend, to see a little of the town and the castle, and stay for the lighting.

We got to Heidelberg in early afternoon, and I think the crowds were already starting, as we had to look around for a place to park.  The parkhauses in Altstadt were already full.  We found a parkhaus close to the new bridge across the river, which worked out quite well for us.  The weather was pretty nice, so we walked along the river towards Altstadt (old town) and the Schloss (castle).

The Heiliggeistkirche (Church of the Holy Ghost) in the Marktplatz is one of the few buildings to have survived the many wars over the past several hundred years.  The foundation was laid in 1398 and the tower completed in 1544.  This church has been used by both Catholics and Protestants, and had a divider from 1706 until the 1930s, so both could have services there.

We walked through the Brückentor (Bridge Gate) to the Karl Theodor bridge or Old Bridge (Alte Brücke), built by Prince Elector Karl Theodor in 1786 to replace the latest of several wooden bridges at this location which were destroyed by ice, snow, and high water. There are really nice views of the castle and the city along the banks of the Neckar River from the bridge. We also saw the Heidelberg bridge monkey. This monkey statue is either a legendary symbol to remind the city-dwellers and the people who lived outside the city that neither is better than the other, or it’s just there for the natives to laugh at the tourists putting their heads in it to get a picture…

We rode the funicular up the mountain to the castle grounds. Much of the castle is in ruins, but a lot of it is still standing. Apparently it’s free to walk around the grounds and the gardens, or you can pay the entrance fee to go into the courtyard area. We overheard a guard saying you could get into some of the buildings with a guided tour. Evidently you can also get married at the castle; we saw a couple having wedding photos taken.

With the entrance fee to the courtyard, you also get entrance to the Fasskellar (the wine cellar, with the world’s largest wine cask) and the Apothecary Museum, which has historical displays of medical scientific items, especially pharmacy items, actually pretty interesting!

We also walked around the castle garden areas. There are several statues, and a lot of green open space and trees. You can also get some really gorgeous views of the castle and overlooking the city.

We rode the funicular back down the mountain and went back into Altstadt.  There was a craft fair or market of some type in the Kornmarkt, so we walked through that and then back along the main street in the old city to find something to eat. Then we went back along the river toward the area where we parked the car. It rained a little bit, but not too badly. Our plan was to stay around and see the castle lighting, so we positioned ourselves along the bank of the river with a few other people, close to the parking garage. The weather cleared up and it was nice watching the boats cruise along the river waiting for the illumination, but it really wasn’t worth waiting around three hours for. It got really crowded as the time got closer, which wouldn’t have been so bad, except that when the illumination started, people immediately starting standing up and crowding right in front of us. We watched the illumination and about five minutes of the fireworks, and then beat feet to the car, so we could get out of the city before the massive crowd started going.

Heidelberg Schloss and Altstadt are worth a visit; it was a nice day trip for a reasonably fair weather day.

View our Heidelberg photo gallery.

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Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen!  We followed in the path of H.C. Andersen, leaving Odense for Copenhagen.

To get from Odense to Copenhagen, you have to cross a large body of water called the Store Baelt (remember the movie where they were going to Copenhagen on the ship?)  Now there’s a huge bridge spanning that waterway.  They’re still paying for it, I guess, since the toll was about 30 Euro to cross (around $45 or so!)

We didn’t think Copenhagen was all that wonderful when we got there.  We found the hotel building, but there was no parking, not even pay parking, available anywhere close.  We ended up going round and round trying to figure out how to get to a the parkhouses we could see signs for–all while trying to avoid the masses of bicycles that own the whole right side of the road.  Finally, we found a parking area a few blocks away.

We stayed in a “managed apartment”, like a hotel room but with a little kitchen area.  Nothing fancy, but good enough for a few days.  When I went in the bathroom with the shower and sink and saw no toilet I was a bit concerned, but the toilet turned out to be in a separate room by the front door.

Of course the first thing to do was find something to eat, so we walked a few blocks and found a little cafe.  Our server had gone to school in New York, so he spoke very good English.

We walked around our area of town a bit.  The city hall and square (Rådhuspladsen) were not far from our hotel, so we looked around.  There’s a large statue of H.C. Andersen between the square and the entrance to Tivoli (looking out over H.C. Andersen Boulevard, I think).  The square was a nice wide open area, and the city hall and statues are nice to look at.  However, this area of town seems a bit shabby and dirty–frankly, I was a little disappointed.

Back to the room to plan our trip for the next day–leaving Copenhagen (already?) to take a side trip to Sweden.

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Our Fairy Tale Road took us out of the country of the Brothers Grimm, and into Denmark, the country of Hans Christian Andersen.  We decided to go to Copenhagen via Odense, partly to see the city where Hans Christian Andersen was born, and partly because you can get to Copenhagen this way via bridge (we were still unsure about how the ferry crossing worked on the other route).  The weather was gorgeous and we made it to Odense with no problems. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Odense

In Germany, the “Fairy Tale Road” winds through a collection of towns and areas where fairy tales took place.  The Brothers Grimm traveled around this region collecting tales and stories.  We didn’t really follow this road and visit all the places, but we did sort of make our own Fairy Tale Road with our trip in June 2009! Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Bremen

Our Memorial Day trip was to the Black Forest area.  We stayed in a nice little bed and breakfast type hotel called Hotel Moosgrund, and from there we went to Titisee-Neustadt to spend the morning at Lake Titisee, and then to Triberg, one of the most popular destinations in the Black Forest. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Germany

For Memorial Day weekend, we decided to see a few things inside Germany.  Our first stop was Europa Park, Germany’s largest theme park.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Germany

The last stop on our spring break trip was Cologne.  The two main items on our agenda here were the Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) and the Chocolate Museum.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Germany

Day 5 of spring break–we left Amsterdam and stopped in Haarlem on our way to Cologne.  Haarlem is the capital of the province of North Holland, and from the little we saw of it, it’s a really pretty city.  Our main reason for the stop was to see the Corrie ten Boom museum.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: The Netherlands