Sep. 30, Day at the Fest - again :;))

We had our second day at the Fest but this time we took our cousin, Iris, with us. She was coming by the train from an hour away and with the station problems yesterday, first she was coming, then not coming, then she was on one train, had to change to another train and then she was later than expected because of the tracks etc., so, she said that it was way easier to fly to Canada than to take a small trip in her own country. Finally we met at the fruit column in the Fest area and watched the parade.
The parade was very long and had lots of breaks in between the floats etc. but that made it hard to watch and stand for so long. Lots of people lost interest at varying times, including us, so we walked away about half way through and headed for a beer tent to have some lunch.
We ordered a typical 1/2 chicken and bun for two and a salad plate for me and of course a beer. A band was already hyping up the crowds and so we sang, rocked and talked to strangers. It's a natural thing.
We took Iris all around the fair grounds so that she would know what to expect for the next time because it was her first time ever to this festival. We bought lots of different foods and tried them all. It was a very busy place today because it was Sunday and because of the parade and there were many children to watch out for. Almost all visitors were dressed in their festival clothes. At different places through the park people would be in the walking lanes doing games or tricks for the crowd. We saw one poor young man who was in a box with a hole cut out in the middle for the young women to through balls into. He was pushed around by his buddies - nice friends!
After about 5 hours, all three of us were ready to leave. Again, trains help to move the traffic pretty smoothly and so we saw Iris off to her train and we headed off to our S-Bahn. In the train station, after finding some water and milk for our cereal for supper, we walked back to our hotel.
Oh our feet are sore. Never mind, laundry time - a traveller's chores are never done!

Excellent poster

As we were walking back to the hotel last night, I found a large sign and it seemed to say a whole bunch of things to me that capture how we try to live our life - with mindfulness and being in the moment. It has taken me many years to get to this spot and it's kind of wonderful how I keep getting reminded of it.

Saturday, Sep. 29

People our age can not do 2 days in a row of beer tent festivities so we took an easy day and got up later, ate later and went down town later. Good thing too because we were going to take the train to Ludwigsburg but when we left the hotel late in the morning, it was to 20 fire trucks, cops and a mobile people transporter racing around by the train station. As we got to our construction site, we saw all the vehicles by the train tracks and many people milling about with several people dragging suitcases behind them.
Too, when we got to the actual stn, there were hundreds of cops in many paddy wagons just waiting or controlling traffic. We walked right into a huge protest walk that happens every Saturday, for the whole day, as they gather to speak out against or to try and shut down certain gov't plans. This particular one was against the proposed train station reno's to put it all under ground and spend billions of € and 10 years doing it.
Also, the issue with the trains was that as a train pulled into nearing the station, some of the structure had fallen through and the tracks and wires were torn. So all trains were stopped and many people are now stranded in the station awaiting everything to open. They are gathered now and are singing, dancing and generally having a good time anyway. It was so weird to see all the platforms empty with red tape everywhere and cops lining the entry ways. However, all the S-bahns and U-bahns are still running as they are mostly underground, so the the Oct. Beerfest is saved. But good thing we had a late start as we would probably be held over in another town unable to make the trip back.
Now the protest is another thing as it hounded us all day, swerving in and around the entire downtown, causing a lot of noise and interruption. We shopped anyway ;)) of course. G's cousin, who is supposed to come in tomorrow for the Fest parade may not make it due to train troubles. Good thing we are taking the plane to Britain and can take the S-Bahn there.
Weird things generally happen to us as we travel and this is no exception.

Sep. 28, Beer Fest

Zicken, Zacken, Zicken, Zachen, Heu, Heu, Heu !!!!
Well, how many times did we scream that last night. What a time we had. Way better than in Munich - always remember to come to Stuttgart for Oct Beer Fest because in Munich there are too many people, too many tourists and mostly Americans, and nothing is free.
We headed out to the fair grounds at 1:30 in the afternoon and walked around for a bit before the actual festivities begun. We wanted to get a handle on things before the crowds came. The grounds are always open but the beer tents and the rides etc. are not open until 3 on the first day and 11 for the rest of the 2 weeks.
We sat and had lunch at one of the beer tents on the midway and then headed out to search for our places to visit for the evening. We found gigantic beer halls, some of which hold 5000 people. Everything was already in the swing of preparing as they feed thousands of visitors in seconds of every order made.
We walked and walked and at exactly 3 it was almost like magic as the whole fairground was swarming with people. We made one last walk around to finish off our tour and then headed for a beer tent. Now all tents have reserved tables which you have to reserve on the computer but, here's the clincher, you can only book them if you have up to 10 people coming. Otherwise, you take your chances when you come that there will be some, very few mind you, empty seats in the unreserved sections which are always off to the side away from the stage. So by 4 when we walked into the first tent, the unreserved section was almost all full. We managed to squeeze into the end of a long table up against a wall. We put in our order to our table server and, boom, our beer and food were there in less than 1 min. Our table buddies were German and very sweet and we sang and swayed together for 4 hours. They kept wanting us to drink schnapps and bought us some bottles but we only feigned drinking them and then put them into our bag. We two weren't meant to drink so much. We ate the fest's roasted chicken, drank the 1litre glasses of beer and left the first tent happy and full.
Then we moved onto the next tent. We couldn't find a seat there so we had to go around asking people if we could join their table. Some people got irate with me for even asking but those kind of people are usually the ones who are snobs. Not to worry, I found a group of young male soccer players who were only too happy to have us join them in standing on the benches and singing and banging beer mugs together. We ate another plate of typical Fest food - dry ribs and another 1 ltr beer.
When G and I couldn't handle the cig smoke any longer, we headed home. When kids are 16 in this country, they are allowed to drink so there were loads of them, all dressed in German festival clothes and some of whom were way too tipsy, roaming everywhere even until after we left. Even some adults fell asleep at the tables due to too much alcohol and we were told that many people are found all over the fair grounds just sleeping off the night. G and I took the train back to town and arrived at the hotel tired and happy. G put me to bed- thank goodness someone takes care of me!!

Porsche Museum, Sep. 28

In the morning we went to the Porsche Museum and found it not so exciting as Mercedes but still quite good. It isn't as big because Porsche only made and makes sports cars while Mercedes made and makes everything.
The building was created by a world architect contest which is why it's so new-age and amazing - especially at night when it bounces lights off the surfaces.
We learned a lot about race cars and even found my very first cabriolet - which is a car I've always wanted. Even a mint condition beetle bug was there. There was a Formula 1 race car there that is so well built that they say if we could get it to a certain speed, I think it was 314 k's, then it would be able to ride on the ceiling because it is so aerodynamically built. Amazing.
So, when we went into the actual car dealership to view the vehicles, we were once again reminded just how poor we are in the pockets. Even a used Porsche costs a couple hundred thousand euros. By the way, you aren't allowed to even touch the cars that are for sale on the floor. So we held our breath and walked silently, mouths open, through the showrooms - then we ran out ;) .

Family time in Ulm and surroundings

While visiting family we took a trip to Ulm which is the largest city closest to Heidenheim. We reached it on a lovely curvy side highway. In the center of the city, the old part, there is a huge gothic church, cathedral, basilica, I don't know, which is the highest in Europe. Now the inside is not particularly pretty but the outside is quite dark, spiny and ominous looking in the city square.
The Neckar River runs beside the city as well, which is joined by a neighborhood of homes and walkways over bridges and on small islands all kept in the half timber style and some of them as crooked as those that you can find in Amsterdam. It is a lovely Hansel and Gretelish kind of world. We walked for 2 hours, stopped for a couple of cafe sips and got home pretty late.
On other days we went up to the cloisters where a beautiful church is attached to what used to be a nunnery but is now a hotel, restaurant and other things. We also took a walking trip up a mountain to walk around the town's castle and then had a cafe sip there as well. Our life has become days of looking for sips at cafes. I seem to remember my time living in Germany as being full of cafes as well. Somethings never change, it's nice to know.

Sep. 27 Day in Stuttgart

I spent a bit of time last night fixing mistakes on the blog and loading some new photos with labels. It's hard to get all done when there isn't email access or what is available is down right crap. So if wanted, recheck out new pics and stuff.
We started our tour of Stuttgart with a stop at G's favourite site. It is the proposed 10- year project of the new bahnhof (train stn) in the center of the city. When we stand on the high street, we have a wonderful view of every worker and every project going on. We watched them pour tons on cement to build up walls and floors and G explains everything to me. Imagine, we are in this huge city for the sights and Beerfest and he says "I could sit in a chair all day and watch this!" There is no hope for my little guy.
First we went to the tourist info by the train stn to get our bearings and who do we get served by, none other than a good 'ole Winnipeger. Karin, who has German parents and who grew up in Riverview, no less, going to Churchill High, went to Germany for a year after school and met her husband and stayed. She has been her for 20 years and now works in the info office. It's one of those chance encounters of life.
We took the train to the Mercedes Museum today and it took us 4 hours to go through the entire building. There were 8 floors of cars and then the matching world history when each car was created.
I now know how hard it is and have a great respect for Formula 1 drivers as I had a chance to go into a simulator to drive one. I can't believe that there aren't more accidents as I couldn't keep my head still at any time and even with seat belts on, I was buffeted all over the cockpit. It is an amazing place. Then we came back into the city to stroll along the old town streets where no traffic is allowed. We popped in and out of several stores, tried calling home with the T-mobile card - again, the stupidest thing I've ever had the displeasure to use, and waited out a thunder shower in the train stn.

Wed. Sept. 26 visiting family

We've been with family in Heidenheim, a small city 1 hour outside of Stuttgart. We have had many laughs, mostly over the mistakes Jo makes with the German language ;), but also over stories told and activities we've done such as crazy minigolf. German minigolf is very odd because you are not allowed to stand on the platform but only off to the side and try to putt by stretching yourself to reach the ball. Needless to say, we cheated a lot and possibly came to close to getting kicked out. Such a family.
We have enjoyed seeing everyone again and are now heading off to stay in Stuttgart for a few days to spend some time at the October Beerfest.

Fri. Night onto the ferry

We headed to the overnight ferry in the evening and left the dock at 8:30. We had a lovely little berth for the night which was clean but being a ferry, it was filled with many truck tankers of liquids and many 18 wheelers as well as cars and people. Many people just had a chair to sit in all night, however, we bus group people each had a cabin.
It was G's first overnight ship ride and he was worried to be sick so he took a gravol. Things went well for him even though the sea was very choppy all night. It was a 10 hour cruise and most of us didn't sleep due to the extreme engine noise and the horrible swaying. It's not at all like a big cruise ship as the stabilizers work so much better on a bigger ship that isn't racing to another port as if your life depended on it - which of course the captain must do to keep his job.
All in all, we arrived safely, albeit tired. We disembarked in Naples to head back to Rome for the night. Today is Sat. and we are more than thrilled to be leaving. We have checked on our flight and all is ready to take us back to Germany.

Palermo

Palermo is an interesting city of contrasts. One part is run down where most of the immigrants live, one part is very rich where things are clean and spacious and the other part is just normal. Sound like anywhere we know? Just about all places for us. But this city is easy to walk through because all streets go from piazza to piazza - forget finding a street name though - and there are many fruit and flea market streets that connect each area. Things are cheap here, for the poor, a necessary thing. We stopped to take a pic of how big things are. The walnuts were the size of half of G's hand.
We enjoyed walking along the Prada store areas and such, which were along the nicer of streets, but found our most interesting places amongst the other two areas. The streets team with scooters, no bikes, it's too dangerous. There are unowned, free roaming dogs everywhere in Sicily but especially in Palermo. They just cross the street whenever, sleeping in the middle of everything, and everyone touches and feeds them. They are rundown and often hurt and definitely sad.
There are no laws or rules on the island. A red light is just a colour, a street doesn't mean anything and a crosswalk is for parking on. So take your chances! Still, there is good coffee to be had.

Heading to Palermo

We left Syracuse and drove through the interior of Sicily towards the capital city Palermo and stopped in a place called Selinunte, a small town which has the remains of a Greek acropolis. A huge ancient city was unearthed and the remains could be walked through which is what we did for two hours. For lunch, we headed down the coast to a beach where G and I swam again for another 2 hours while the bus buddies went up to a restaurant to eat. The ocean water was quite a bit colder than the Tyrennian sea, of a few days ago, because this one was on the open ocean that is only a short distance from the Northeastern tip of Africa. It is some of the most pristine and clean water we have ever been in but most people wouldn't go into it because it was too cold. Can't keep a Maritimer out of the ocean - even though I still don't like to put my feet down onto the ocean floor. One time having my toe snatched by a crab was enough for me. So I always send G out far and then swim to him and then he has to carry me for a bit until he sets me loose to swim some more. It was an afternoon of swim, carry, swim , carry. We did make a sand castle :)
We arrived in Palermo just before supper and headed out on our own to walk for a bit and to find a nice private place to eat. Most of the bus group chose an optional supper at a fancy restaurant but we found it too expensive and then we wouldn't have had the option of what we could eat. Besides, too much time spent with the people on the bus is not good.
So, after asking some locals about good places to eat, we found a small restaurant which turned out to be very special for us. We didn't have a reservation, which was necessary, and we weren't dressed, which is normal for the two of us, but after some lower lip action and some sad puppy dog eyes, we were given one of the two unreserved tables in the room. Mind you, the place was empty because we like to eat early but by the time we left, it was full.
When we sat down, 4 gentlemen, all dressed in black tuxes sporting slicked back, black hair appeared in front of us. One was pouring free champagne, the other was placing a bun on the plate, the other was handing out the menus and the other was bowing low over us and speaking in perfect English. I swear we were sitting in a true home grown Italian family, if you get my drift. We were treated as if we were royalty and did not lift a finger to do anything including pouring water or picking up a fork. All was done for us as they watched us like a true home grown Italian family, if you get my drift. They were lovely and we shared life stories with them and part way through the evening, which lasted 2 1/2 hours, we were given a large Palermo table book, about 39€, all in colored and glossy pictures and in English, to take home with us. We were astounded by the attention and ended the evening by kissing the head man and giving him a Cdn pin. My faith is restored. However, after telling our tour guide what happened, she asked if we kissed the man on the lips and she was worried because in Italy, to a member of the Italian home grown family, if you get my drift, once that happens, you are in.
We spent the next day on the hop on/off bus seeing all of the city. We had another lovely experience at a city Pizzeria place beside the opera house where 50 cops were gathered, not only here but all over the city at every major bank and important building, to ensure that the striking force who were revolting against the gov't weren't going to cause any trouble. In amongst them were two sleeping dogs.
All in all, we were ready to leave Sicily.

On to Syracuse, Sep 18

Okay look , I'm rather tired of complaining but today we headed towards Syracuse and of course one of the added excursions was to Mt Etna - good grief, did no one tell these people that if you've seen one, you've seen 'em all! Apparently not.
Another 2000 meter bus, switchback climb with J's head in G's chest. It went on for way too long. What's the big deal? Mt Etna is a live volcano, actually there are many live volcanoes in this area and G has chosen to head on up a further 1120 meters to the top to walk along and see two of the smok'in suckers live. They weren't allowed near the real thing, as it is always falling in or spitting stuff out.
G had to take a cable car up to the top of one place and then continue on in large jeep, along a scary volcanic surface, to the top where they actually then walked along in the clouds to the burning holes. The temps up there were 5 degrees, where I was at 2000 was 11 and down in the town it was 26.
I had, what else, coffees, walked through all the tourists' shops and walked the two smaller volcanoes on my own. One was very high but not too rough to walk and the other was a cute smaller one where I went down into the crater and with lava rocks I wrote a message. After about 2 1/2 hours, G was due but he missed the cable car by one person and so he was 15 min late, and the last person, getting down. Everyone was worried about him cuz they saw him but then he was gone. He took films with his camera of the smoke and the red hot lava reflected off the sides of the volcano. He also took a movie of the clouds rolling across his feet. On his way down, the clouds rolled right over the jeep and put them into a whiteout and going straight down blind scared him goodly. Nice to know that it's not only me who can get scared.
After this we were taken to a castle where a family makes jewelry and our group was being invited, a set up ;), to view and buy if desired. Along with this special ;) opportunity was a free snacking lunch and refreshments for the group. The lunch was lovely actually and it was my first taste of prickly pears, which are those beautiful blossoms that grow on the end of those fat cacti. Never knew we could eat them but they are delicious. Did I buy jewelry? Does water run uphill?
Early in the afternoon we arrived in Syracuse and G went off to Ortigia, an island that was its own city and is famous for baroque architecture. I thought it best to let him go on his own as he has the bigger interest and each of the optional excursions are so expensive that we think very carefully before we head out on them. I went around the city of Syracuse on my own which the others, who go on the trips, don't get to do.
Sometimes I just like to get away from all the people who we need to be living with for each bus tour. You do tend to get peopled-out and some away time is nice.

Taormina Sep 15 to 17

A long drive today brought us to a southern Italy ferry in Messina to cross for 15 min to Taormina. Onward to Sicily. More mushrooms I tell ya, we are stunned by our forced stupidities, as we didn't actually stay up in the mtns at this lovely town but rather in a seaside town called Letojanni. We were let off on the highway and had to walk down the streets to our hotel - our luggage already there from a smaller van. After supper G and I went for a walk with another couple and G and I wanted to step into the sea to test the water and guess who fell in. Well, his sorry little butt had to sit in his sorry wet pants until we got back later that evening.
The next day we set out to the highway to catch the public bus up the mtn to Taormina. It's a lovely place where G visited a Greek theater from 600 BC. before the Romans took it back. All these years and still the Greeks and the Romans can't get along. I had a couple of coffees of course. Then we walked ........ until lunch and then we tried to take the bus back down. You should know that there are no real laws here in Italy - James would have a fit as a safety officer - and as a lady got off the bus and bent into the baggage rack under the bus, the driver thought it was a good time to drive away and nearly took her, the stroller and G's watch with him. Thank goodness we woman have a good and loud scream.
After we finally made it down the hill safely, G and I went swimming in the sea. It was so warm, no fish or jellies but plenty of rocks. We stayed all afternoon. That night for supper I had the best fish of my life so far - fresh swordfish caught on the day- a piece as big as my plate.

Sorrento Sep. 12

With another hydrofoil, we took a 15 min trip to this next beautiful port city about an hour outside Naples. We got there in the a.m. and all the bus crew went on a bus trip to the Amalfi coast drive to Positano and beyond. I chose not to go as it was one of the worst cliff-side drives of our trip so I stowed my luggage in the hotel storage area by the reception and set out to see the nearby city walkways and life styles of the people. Lots of people came back from the trip queasy and missed supper. I had a wonderful time talking - using my pretend Italian- and getting the city surroundings under my belt. I stopped for many coffees and then had a nap later in the afternoon when I could get into my room.
In the evening G and I went to an Italian Tarantella musical with dancing. It was the story of peasants falling in love and included "O Sole Mio and Santa Lucia, which G hasn't stopped singing yet, and the finale was "Funiculi, Funicula" Oh what great fun it was to sing along with the crew. We were encouraged , and so being CDNS, we don't want to let anyone down. We walked back to our hotel after 11 and the stores were still open and the city was alive with the young. (That would be us :) ))
We had two rainy days after this but it didn't stop us from anything. We walked down to all the piers, had many coffees and then ate a nice lunch under the leaking awning supported by a trusty umbrella tied to the post to catch the errant drops. Of course, wine always makes everything drier.
We bought a lovely mahogany lazy Susan created by a 6th generation family with the areas natural lemons and limes all around the border and the town of Sorrento in the center. We are so proud of ourselves as we never buy anything for ourselves while on holidays. Oh yes, we did have a lovely hour and a half "fitting" in a small shop as a man, the owner, pushed me into the dressing room and kept throwing clothes at me and telling me to "get out here" so that he could rearrange his ideas and then disappear again for more stuff. G enjoyed the show as I had no control over anything and finally purchased an outfit. His wife creates everything and then all items are made in his factory in Positano. We had 4 lovely days and we drank in all the memories quietly and alone so to hold them dear forever.