Alpine Adventure- part XV- Finis

Part XV- finis

Sunday, July 31, 2016 - Frankfurt Am main- Finis

         We rose later this day, having caught a full nine hours of sleep and feeling a little better for it. After a leisurely frustuck, we chatted with the couple from Atlanta in the lobby.  They were headed up to Nuremberg, before flying out on Monday. The Two Aussie women were getting ready to train down through Deutschland and Switzerland to Venice, extending their vacation by two weeks, The woman and her daughter from Phoenix were flying to Rome for a week’s cooking class. Most of the others had already flown out this morning. We saw Lucy Gelmi, our tour guide,  and thanked her again for her guidance and courtesies of the last two weeks. She was a pleasure to listen to every day, as she narrated the geography, history and characteristics of the places that we had visited.

A visit with Ozzie Nelson was in order for an hour (nap) Then, we decided to ride the train into the Romerplaz for a brief visit to Town. I felt I could handle that. Outside the hotel, we ran into faithful Tibor, the fantastiche wheelman. We again thanked him for all of his patience and driving skills. The light rail downtown was chockablock with bike riders, mothers with children and people dressed in the native garb of many nations. The cars were always full to the rafters.

         The Romerplaz as usual was aswarm with summer visitors. It was warm and sunny out. We walked down to the river, sat in the shade and watched the tour boats come and go. There is something interesting about harbors. There is always a story unfolding, with a huge cast of characters. We crossed the “lock bridge” there, admiring the skyline of the city from the river. Bike riders, strollers and picnickers were everywhere along the River Main. We took it in for a time and then decided to return to the hotel for an afternoon nap. Yea Ozzie ! A glass of wine, with a large piece of chocolate, kept us calories. We watched TV, read our books and surrendered early to the sandman. I was on the mend, but still not doing all that well.

Monday August 1,2016- Frankfurt Am Main.

         We were up early this morning. It was a cool 53 degrees out (F).  We joined a full busload of Japanese tourists for breakfast. Their tour was just starting out today. We prepped for our run into Heidelberg. A car came for us and dropped us off downtown in front of a small office of the “Green line” tours. It was an English speaking tour. Mostly Americans and a few Aussies filled out the small bus.

        Heidelberg, a small city founded 1,000 years ago, lies 100 km. south of Frankfurt Am Main. On the way south, Adrian, our guide gave us a synopsis of the town and the area. In W.W. II at war’s end, Heidelberg had been surrounded by the American Third Army under General George Patton. Three members of Patton’s staff had graduated from Heidelberg University as had the Nazi commander of the encircled town. Like amicable colleagues after a sporting match, they made a deal to surrender the town to Patton, avoiding any of the large scale damage suffered by many other cities in Germany.

        Heidelberg has 150,000 souls living here. 35, 000 of them are college students attending the University. It means that every coffee house and beer joint in the city is always filled with adventurous youngsters looking for companionship. The Neccar River bisects the town and is connected by a 500-year-old wooden bridge. There are many Victorian mansions sitting along the Neccar River. They had been built by the Kaiser’s many English cousins during the late 1800s.

      We first stopped at the red sandstone expanse of the Hochberg Schloss (castle). Construction of the fortress had started in 1585. Sitting several hundred feet above the Neccar River,  it has a commanding visage of the town and area. Its crenellated battlements were only slightly damaged. That ruin had been caused during the “30 years war,” when armies of the Vatican and the French had come to convince Fredrick V that his choice of Protestantism was not acceptable. Local fathers had decided to keep the castle as it is today. It was deemed more romantic for the tourists to see the damage of war and hear the story of besieging armies.

         A new visitors center and ticket kiosk first greets you. Then, across a green expanse of grass lies the small road that leads up to the castle gate. A sixty-foot deep moat protects the castle proper. A stone walkway now serves to cross the moat where an actual drawbridge had kept out marauding varmints. The huge wooden gate, with sally port,  is attached to an imposing bell tower, whose clock still chimes on the hour. Both looked like they had taken a few hits from angry cannons. The blank space, atop the gate area, showed a bare spot where marauders had removed the family coat of arms for a souvenir. The sturdy metal grating, that dropped down behind the gate, looked like it would still keep out a unit of attackers.

       The whole floor of the central keep is layered with rounded paving stones that had been here forever. They are difficult to walk on.The main troop quarters building, the cookery and the administrative hall were all still functional. Weddings and official celebrations are still held in the main hall of the castle. One oddity of the place is a large two-story wine vat. The local barons at the time had decided to place a ten per cent tax on wine growers in the region. All of the collected tax, red and white wines, were dumped into the huge vat. That didn’t work out too well. The vat was filled only twice and then left empty as an oddity.

We were glad that we had come here on a tour. Taking a train to Heidelberg is an option. But, then you have to cross the old bridge on the Neccar, walk about ¾ mile up the steep hill to the castle and then reverse the process to get back to the town center. I would never have made it.  From the castle, the bus drove us into town. We got off a few blocks from the Markplaz and walked over to that busy square. Die Alt Kirke (St. Mark’s s) commands the square. During the strife, of the 30 year’s war, a room divider wall had been constructed down the middle of the church. One side was reserved for Catholics, one side for Protestants. This practice lasted until the early part of the twentieth century.

Surrounding the church is an array of expensive shops, cafes and restaurants, with tents in front, like the Romerplaz in Frankfurt. It may have been summer recess for college students but someone was occupying just about every seat in the large circular plaz. The tour had provided cheese sandwiches and water for us. We sat in the shade and watched the people from all over come and go. It was sunny, hot and in the mid 80’s out (F). We then walked across the square and down another alley, lined with open restaurants, to the 500 year old Alt Bruck (old Bridge). The red sandstone castle above us and the many homes along the river give the city a well-ordered and attractive appearance. We sat for a time here and enjoyed the view. I don’t think we will this way come again, so we appreciated the scenery.

          The bus picked us up at 2 P.M and we drove back the 100 Km to Frankfurt Am Main. The bus let us off near our hotel. We picked up some sandwiches and other food and retreated to our room to catch a much needed nap. We were leaving early the next morning, so we packed our gear and drifted off to sleep, thoughts of all we had seen, these last few weeks, drifting through our dreams.

Tuesday, Aug, 2, 2016- Frankfurt Am main

         5 A.M saw us up and around. We lugged our gear to the quiet lobby and hailed a cab for the ride to the Frankfurt airport. Passengers were already standing in line, at the American Airlines Counter, waiting for the 6 A.M opening. A pleasant enough clerk put us through the whole “who are you” routine, before sending us our way through the security gates. We had no trouble, arriving at our gate for the nine-hour flight to Charlotte, N.C  A last visit to a gift shop gobbled up our remaining Euros. It was time to go home.

           Riding in Business class was just as pleasant headed west as it was coming over. The stews treated us like visiting royalty. This is the only way to travel. At charlotte N.C. customs and security were a breeze. This is why we had chose Charlotte, N.C.  to fly out of and into the USA. Philadelphia and Newark can be a nightmare if the crowds are big,  and they always seem to be.

The-two hour run into Buffalo was a breeze. I enjoyed seeing the Lake Erie shoreline from the air. Canalside and downtown Buffalo glistened in the afternoon sun. Mr. Dewars even helped make me feel more human, though the plague was still haunting me. A cab from Buffalo International delivered us to our castle in Amherst. We unpacked our gear and settled in to watch some American style television. It was an actual pleasure to watch all of the stations,  in English for a change. It was now almost 3 P.M in Frankfurt, (9 P.M. EST) but we were as tired as old logs in a swamp. It had been a wonderful adventure in the Alpine regions of Europe. The Terrorist schmucks had missed us twice and we were safe and home. God Bless America.

                                             (30)

                                       (1670 words)

                               Joseph Xavier Martin

                                          FINIS