7 June 2010

Because we wanted to have plenty of time to drive to Frankfurt to the airport, our day started early. The hotel had set out breakfast for us, as we were leaving before the normal breakfast time.

The drive to Frankfurt was OK without too many traffic delays or problems. The GPS even got us to the rental car return without a hitch.

Then the fun started. We were unable to do a normal check-in at the machines, because Lufthansa couldn't find the reservation. It even took the agent much time and effort to find it. The problem was we had booked an Air Canada flight on Expedia, but the flight was actually a code share on a Lufthansa plane. The Expedia booking number did not work nor did using a passport for ID. When the agent found Dick's ticket, he had been put on stand-by as the flight was over booked. But she was able to check his bag through to Portland, even without a boarding pass for the second leg. Karen's came through with the seat assignment and all the way to Portland, though that took some effort. And Dick's bag was overweight, so she combined the two bags for weight. She was very helpful and spent a lot of time with us.

At the gate we were able to replace Dick's boarding pass with the correct seat assignment, and on to Portland. A major hurdle down!

The flight was blessedly uneventful. As is normal for international flights, there were two meals, complimentary wine, and lots of water offered. We watched the movie Invictus, about Nelson Mandela. There was a bit of stuff about Africa, especially South Africa because of the World Cup, in the magazine. (Karen watched a couple other movies, too.)

When we landed in Vancouver, we needed to go through Canadian immigration and customs, recheck our bags, and go through US immigration and customs. The baggage carousel jammed, and it took a very long time (45 minutes) to get both our bags. Then we had to find our way to the ticket counter area to come back in and re-check the bags and go through security. By that time we had less than a half-hour before our flight to Portland left, and a long way to the gate. When we got to the gate, they had not even started loading, since it's a small plane. But it was a bit hectic!

The flight to Portland was smooth and uneventful, like a flight should be. From the airport, we took a taxi home, and thus ended our latest great adventure.

6 June 2010

Our last day in Germany was a quiet one. Again, it was warm and sunny, as the time in Bielefeld has been. It began with Gottesdienst at the Johanneskirche in Bielefeld where Dick Gehrke is Cantor. Once again, we could understand little of the German, but the service was familiar and we could sing along on the hymns. Dick turned pages for Dick for the Prelude and Postlude.

After the service we joined the coffee hour and stayed for an interesting concert of brass and harp at the church.

The afternoon was spent at Dick and Sabine’s for lunch and conversation. Lunch was simple and delicious. We had white asparagus (called Spargel, a German spring delicacy), French fries, scrambled eggs, and a dessert of fresh strawberries and quark, a delicious thick cream. It was a good relaxing time with friends. But, alas, it had to come to an end so we could go back to the hotel to pack for the trip home.

We ventured out one more time to find an open restaurant for dinner, and did find one in the neighboring town of Steinhagen. It was a Greek restaurant in a German beer garden. Both the food and beer were very good. The meal began and ended with a complimentary glass of ouzo, a delicious anise flavored Greek liqueur.

Back at the hotel, it was time to finish packing our bags to be ready to drive to Frankfurt early in the morning.

5 June 2010

We stayed in Bielefeld today, exploring the city where Dick and Sabine live. We first drove through the area of Bethel, a very large complex or “city within a city” that serves disabled people. It is a huge complex, essentially a city of its own within Bielefeld. It was founded about 150 years ago by a Lutheran pastor, and is the largest such facility for handicapped persons in Germany.

Our first stop was Sparrenburg, the castle on the hill overlooking the city. There are two castle/fortification structures on the hill. One is now being excavated, and the other newer one has a tower and other buildings.

We wandered the grounds, noting the views of the city as well as the ruins of early fortifications. Dick and Dick climbed the tower for a good view of Bielefeld and the surrounding countryside. Returning to the ground and rejoining Karen and Sabine, we decided to take the “Dungeon Tour.” This was a very interesting tour into the underground parts of the castle. Much of the defense of the castle depended on this area. There were many passages and rooms. One room had a large stone oven in which bread was baked. Another room was noted as a possible prison room, but other than that the term "dungeon" is a bit misleading. We learned much about Medieval castles from this tour.

The Bielefel zoo provided our venue for lunch of Bratwurst and Currywurst. We headed into the center of town from there. The streets and pedestrian areas were crowded. The weather was nice, it is a holiday weekend, and there was a parade through the market area.

We saw Die Evangeliceshe Altstädter Nicolaikirche, the Lutheran church in the city center. We continued wandering the old city, noting the Rathaus and the Dom. The current rathaus is near the old one and other medieval buildings. The Dom had a wedding going on, so we were unable to do our usual church inspection.

Our final stop in town was the church where Dick plays, so he could do a little practicing for tomorrow. Dick was recruited to be a page-turner. At the end of the practice session, I played the Bach Fantasia in D on yet another organ.

We then returned to the Gehrke household and walked to a neighborhood beer garden restaurant for dinner. It is owned by two Turkish brothers, and features pizza and gyros. We all had pizza (and beer of course). Both were very good. Shortly after dinner, we returned to the hotel.

4 June 2010

Small(er) towns northwestern Germany was the focus of today’s outing. After breakfast at the hotel with the two other guests, we went into Bielefeld to Dick and Sabine’s. Sabine had to work, so Dick served as our tour guide around the area.

Our first stop was in Westerkappeln, where Dick had been the organist at der ev. Kirchengemeinde after moving to Germany. On the way we passed Werther, the home of the famous candies.

The church building at Westerkappeln dates back to the 12^th century when the tower was built. The rest of the church building is newer, from the very early 16^th century. The organ is much newer than that, but it was still great to play in a small village church that is that old. Actually, we were very fortunate to get in to the church. The custodian was in the church office and was gracious enough to let us in. Dick’s having been organist there must have helped. After our visit to the church, we found where Dick and Sabine had lived in Westerkappeln, on castle grounds. It really looked lovely.

Our next stop was Osnabrück, another pretty well preserved medieval city. It was here that the Peace of Westphalia was signed in the Rathaus. We visited St Marien am Markt, the Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirchengemeinde. It is a 14^th century church that started as Roman Catholic, and became Lutheran with the Reformation. The history of the church goes back more than 1000 years. It is interesting that many city churches did not change their name of St Mary’s (Marienkirke) after the Reformation.

Next, we visited the Dom, St Peter’s Cathedral. This church was built in the 13^th century in a gothic style with some Romanesque elements.

After a nice lunch in the square, we visited the last main church in Osmbrück, St John’s (Johanniskirche). This is another 13^th century gothic church. Most of these churches have beautiful alter pieces, often from the 13^th century. The organs in them are all much newer with beautiful casework.

Continuing our journey, we decided to go the Münster, the other city in which the Peace of Westphalia was signed, ending the 30 Years’ War. Once again the Rathaus was the site of this event. Münster is the largest city on today’s list. We visited two main churches, Lambertikirche and the Dom.

St Lambert’s Church is unusual for its lattice style spire. It is 325 feet tall and was added in the 19^th century. The Dom is a 13^th century building with two towers, two transepts, and two chancels. There is the usual medieval statuary and decoration. After looking at this church, we walked through the main market square.

The drive back to Bielefeld was quicker than the trip out, since we took the autobahn back. It was late by now and we were hungry, so we ate a fashionable late dinner at a local restaurant, a little after 10 PM.

3 June 2010

It was another long drive day, but with a break in the middle. We left Berlin and headed for Bielefeld. We found most people were surprised that was where we were going – it is not a usual foreign tourist destination.

On our way we stopped in Magdeburg to look around and have lunch. Dwayne Brandt had told us about it, as he had studied there for a year in the eighties when it was East Germany. It is now a mostly modern town, with a few remnants of the old city, including the Rathaus and Dom. The market square in front of the Rathaus was filled with tents being set up for a fair of some sort.

On Dwayne’s advice, we found the ratskeller for lunch. It truly is the keller (basement) of the rathaus (city hall). It was an interesting room and, of course, good food.

We then drove to the other side of the city center to the Dom. As is our luck, most of the front was covered in scaffolding. They are doing major renovation (this was East Germany) and archeological diggings inside. It is a typical gothic cathedral building, built in the 15^th century, on top of the original building, dating from the 11^th century. That’s what they were looking at in the archeological digs inside the building. Of course there are two organs, one in the gallery and one in the transept. The gallery organ is quite new.

From Magdeburg we drove to Bielefeld for a four-night stay. Actually our hotel is out in the country in Steinhagen, an outlying area of Bielefeld. It is in the Teutoburg Forest, a large forest area of northwest Germany.

Dick Gehrke met us at the hotel, let us in, and we found our room. They had given him the key the day before since they would be gone when we arrived. There was no one here, as it was a local holiday, Corpus Christi. We’ve never come to a hotel with no one there before. We then followed Dick to his house for a fun and relaxing evening of dinner and reminiscing.

2 June 2010

Today we continued our exploration of Berlin. Our first stop was the Reichstag, the seat of the German government. We had looked around the area yesterday, but today we went inside. Of course, one has to stand in line and go through security. But earlier in the day, or late evening have shorter lines.

It is an interesting building, with the lower floors a reconstruction after the war, and the top floor and dome, new additions. And the dome is very interesting. It is glass, with a spiral ramp to the top. Since it came with a free audio guide, we knew what we were seeing, or in some cases supposed to be seeing, since the low clouds and fog were a bit thick.

From the Reichstag we walked to the Brandenburg Gate, as we had yesterday. This time we actually noticed the US Embassy right next to the gate. It's a fairly austere looking building, with much built-in fortification. We did not go in.

We retraced our tour of Unter den Linden, stopping to do a bit of shopping. Lunch was at an Italian restaurant, where we had pizza. Berlin is a cosmopolitan city.

We next made a stop at Fassbender & Rausch again, for a chocolate snack. The second floor restaurant features many chocolate drinks and desserts. We also bought some chocolate to take home.

Then we headed to Checkpoint Charlie, the famous US border crossing between East & West Berlin. They have reconstructed the guardhouse, and put up an historic memorial wall. There are also actors playing US and Soviet soldiers for picture-taking purposes. Here there are also a few remnants of the Wall, but not in their original place. Only the paving stone line marking the wall in the pavement. This, too, was an interesting reminder of history in Berlin.

Back at the hotel was a brief rest time before heading out to dinner. We repeated a restaurant, returning to Dicke Wirte. We then caught the bus to the Philharmonie for a concert by the Berlin Philharmonic led by Herbert Blomstedt (whom I remember in San Francisco). They played the Beethoven Triple Concerto and Bruckner's 6th Symphony. Our tour of European concert halls may be over, now. The bus back to the hotel was crammed full of concert goers.

1 June 2010

We explored Berlin today. After breakfast at the hotel, and confirming a couple of directions from the hotel clerks, we headed out for the day.

From near our hotel two bus lines go through the main parts of Berlin. We took one in and the other back out. After driving through Tiergarten and past the Grosser-sturm (covered in scaffolding and plastic), our first stop was at the Reichestag. This is the impressive building that is the home of the German Parliament. Like many of the major buildings here, it was rebuilt after the war, and is now topped by an interesting glass dome.

One of the most important historical sites in Berlin was our next stop, a couple of blocks' walk from the Reichestag: the Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor). On the way we saw memorial plaques for some of the victims of the wall who tied to escape to West Berlin. The gate is an impressive site, complete with the chariot and horses on top. It is now a pedestrian zone and is at the west end of Unter den Linden, a very busy shopping street. It is the center of the eastern part of the city. We walked the entire length of the street with the Linden trees and stopped in a little café for lunch.

There was supposed to be an organ recital at one of the churches in town, but we couldn't find the church, even after asking for help. We did, however, find other churches and interesting buildings. One round church was St Hedwig's, a rather austere building, rebuilt by the Soviets to appease the people of East Berlin. A block away was a brick gothic church building, that is now a museum. We then walked to the French Dom and the German Dom, two identical (from the outside) church buildings, with the Berlin Symphony Concert Hall between them.

Around the corner is Europe's largest chocolate store, Fassbender & Rausch. More chocolate in one place than I could imagine, and we only bought a few broken pieces. We then walked back to Unter den Linden and caught the bus to the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral). Built as the Catholic cathedral, it is now a Protestant/Lutheran church. It is truly an impressive building, even including statues of Luther and other reformers. There is a large organ, and stairs to the base of the dome. Dick climbed while Karen rested in a pew. The views from the top (at the base of the dome) were wonderful, even on a cloudy, drizzly day.

We understood that the #200 bus would loop back and head back to our hotel area. But it kept going further to the east. Eventually, we figured it out, got off, and caught the next one going the other way. This bus goes past the Philharmonie, where we made a stop to buy tickets to tomorrow night's Berlin Philharmonic concert. We then continued our bus ride back to our hotel.

On the advice of the hotel clerk, we found a good Italian restaurant a couple of blocks from the hotel. Another good meal in Berlin. After dinner we walked back to the bus stop, and took a night ride through central Berlin for a different view of the city. It was interesting to see it at night.