Trains and pay toilets

Europe has a wonderful but flawed train system. For everything to run on time, you must be at the right track and the correct car and be ready to haul in all of your heavy luggage. When switching from one train to another you may have only minutes to make your connection. Can't really complain there.

But what if you have to go to the WC (potty)? And what if you do not have the correct amount of change? 

In three words, you are screwed!

I have admired 99% of what I have found in Europe. It is clean, the views are spectacular, the people for the most part are more than helpful, and the food is great.

But you see, Europe was critical of the city of Detroit when officials there decided to shut off the water of folks who hadn't paid their water bills. Some in Europe called water access a "basic human right."

Well Europe, your hypocrisy has been exposed! And here and now I declare that the human body's need to go potty without delay and without proper coin, is perhaps the most basic and fundamental human right of all.

Until the rampant and continuing breach of that right comes to a screeching halt at all of your train stations, you should purse your collective lips at Detroit's water bill problem.

My experience with the Austrian polizei

It's Friday night and I am driving one of the rental cars back from Georgenberg Abbey. I got stopped at a police checkpoint along with several other cars. The very nice officer came to my window and asked for my license and car papers. After these were dutifully supplied, I was then asked to blow into a portable breathalyzer. Apparently one does not need any indicia of intoxication to do this in Austria. 

"Okay, Mr. Kelly from Minnesota please breath into this tube until the beeping stops." Imagine Arnold Swarzenegger telling you this.

I am proud to report that the result was 0.00!

A Few Photos

Let's talk about how houses are built in Austria

You will not find our normal "stick built" house in Austria for new construction. What you will find are houses built with concrete basements and floors bordered with brick walls. You will find the walls well insulated. The concrete floors will be covered with an in floor heating system topped by solid wood flooring. The windows, doors and molding are commercial grade plus, trimmed with thick, solid pieces of wood. I was told that a house like this may last one hundred years without major structural problems. Rap any wall hard with a closed fist and you may not even hear a dull thud.

It is not unusual for houses here to be hundreds of years old. Of course they may be  renovated or repaired, or even expanded, but the basic structure is a fortress--and every fortress here is built on solid rock. The hotel bed and breakfast we are currently staying in has sections that date from the mid-sixteenth century. Even more remarkable, the building and land have been owned by the same family since 1650!

A new house can take over a year to build, much of that time for concrete and mortar to properly cure and dry. Houses are often three stories with full basements. Many new houses have solar panels with modern insulated windows.

Patience is definitely a virtue when building a new house here. The reward,  however, is a house with a quality and durability that would be the envy of any homeowner here. Besides, people here stay put and a house may be inhabited by more than one generation, and stay in the family.

Austria Tyrol Mayrhofen Zillertaler Alpenhorn

Well we arrived in Austria safe and sound after 8 hours on the train. This country is a wonder for anyone who has never been around mountain ranges with peaks that look like broken sharks teeth, averaging 6000 to over 9000 feet in height. I will be posting some pictures and videos on Facebook.

Oh yeah, I have been driving one of the two cars we rented! Austrian freeways are similar to ours in many ways, but if you drive through small towns or into the mountains, the roads are narrow and winding. All, and I mean all of the cars here are diesel and normally have manual transmissions. Haven't had to buy fuel yet and I may avoid that experience altogether. 

We are in the Tyrol region of Austria. Today we travelled to the village of Mayrhofen. We took a gondola ride to hiking trails that have a magnificent view of the Zillertalen Alpen. I did some hiking but spent most of my time taking pictures and short videos, hoping that these could make up for my poor powers of description. It is a vertical world here, with villages below and houses and pastures above, separated by thousands of feet of altitude. Your neighbor is more likely to be well above or below you  than next door.

We are staying at Klammsteinhof, a hotel/bed and breakfast well up in the mountains. Lilli's sister Vroni and her husband Hannes Sporer own this wonderful place and maintain a dairy farm as well! If that were not enough they also make prize winning schnapps, sweet liquor and honey. The schnapps I tasted last night will cetainly cure what ails you--it was 80 proof and smelled of apples.

Enough for now.

Dad's Sunday Post

Last night in Paris, before Austria. Spent the day taking the train to Caen, and from there to Pont du Hoc--then to Omaha Beach. Massive bomb and shell craters at Pont du Hoc. The Rangers who assualted this area paid a heavy price in dead and wounded, only to find that the 152 mm guns they came to destroy had been moved inland. What do Rangers do after climbing a cliff and taking caualties for guns that weren't there? Why, they followed the tracks left by the gun carriages, found the guns and wrecked them with thermite grenades.

I have read about the massive gun emplacements and the "hedgerows" (bocage) faced by the GIs after clearing the beachhead, but you don't appreciate just how thick the bocage was until you see it up close. Farmers have planted bocage for centuries to cut down on erosion. The farmers usually kept them trimmed the tour guide told us, but the Germans ordered that they be left to grow even taller and thicker than normal, realizing what a hindrance they would be to the Allies.

The American cemetary was simply humbling. Thousands of neat rows of marble crosses, all telling the name, rank, unit, state of origin and even whether the soldier was an officer, a volunteer or a draftee. Many of the gravesites contain the remains of unknown soldiers. The French gave this land to the U.S. and now it is very well maintained by the US Park Service.

My French has proved useful only occasionally, but I made a bit of a joke today with our female tour guide, asking if my back pack could be placed in the "derriere" of our van, knowing full well that that refers to the human rear end, not the motor vehicle one!

Traveling in Paris on the Metro was relatively easy for me, mainly because womanfolk did 99% of the work in buying tickets and determining routes. Yes, I admit it, the menfolk were slackers in this regard.

Paris is a city constantly in motion. Everyone wants to walk straight to where they are going. You have to learn to either hold your ground or revert to Minnesota nice and move out of the way. 

Most of the cafes have excellent service. French would be nice, but you can get by in English--all of the menus we had were in both French and English.

The French people we met were almost always polite and helpful--that is a sea change when I was last here in 1979. I'm sure some of it is to promote tourism in a city of tourists, but I would also like to think that the French don't need false arrogance anymore. We may come from a richer and more powerful nation, but we have really nothing to compare to the lifestyle here, which is comfortable enough with great food, public transportation that is far superior to ours, and absolutely no lack of access to modern data/cellphone and computer technology.

The French still smoke too much, and our American fast food has perhaps too much of a foothold, but by and large, all us in the group note how rare was the overweight Frenchman/woman. Is it the food? Is it the walking? Or, is it all about knowing how to eat, perhaps to slow down and really enjoy a meal as a part of living and not merely a refueling stop.

Paris, the sites, the walking, the food, the Metro and today's Normandy tours have all made this trip absolutely unforgettable.

Tomorrow it's off to Innsbruck!

Sunday with the Sun King

Just a few thoughts before turning in, because it's been another long day-- leaving the hotel at 8, returning at 10.  After breakfast, we headed to Notre Dame, where we attended Mass.  The next destination was Versailles, which was wonderful but way too much for 1/2 day.  We spent our time in the gardens.  Here are some photos from today.

Approaching Notre Dame for 10am Gregorian Mass

To be honest, 3 of us tested this innovative toilette, which sanitizes itself after each use.  Tom's the one caught on camera!

The boys at the Gardens of Versailles

Versailles has concerts at the fountains-- very good sound, good music-- just not as spectacular as the  material would have you believe.

Our day ended at the top of the Arc de Triomphe-- Scott Lee will have a story about that.

Guillaume

Well, we're at the end of Day 2, and I still have a story to tell about Day 1.  We arrived at our hotel early-- about 11am, and were told it would be at least 3pm before the rooms would be ready.   Left our bags at the Hotel de L'Avre, and headed out to find some lunch and see the Eiffel Tower.  We finished the afternoon with a boat ride up and down the Seine.

Came back to the hotel absolutely exhausted, and checked into our rooms.  After a 2-hour nap, dead to the world, we were revived and ready to find some dinner....enter Guillaume-- aka William--our waiter at Bouquet de Grenelle.  When he brought our dinner, i had the guide book out.  He stood there waiting until I put the book away-- stern yet a little impish-- since working on our plans should be reserved for after enjoying our dinner.  Same thing happened later for dessert.  We enjoyed him, learned the rules about tipping in France and got directions to the nearest market from him. So here is Guillaume, who insisted we call him William.

Dad's second day.

Paris is a wonderful city and far friendlier to tourists who don't speak the lanuguage, if at all. My only bad experience was a result of my not following the rules while at the Louvre. I touched an ancient bust of Alexander the Great and was loudly chastised for it. My French has helped here and there--not in conversation but words and phrases and passing pronunciation. Sorry Brother Tupa, that five months in Montpellier in 1979 just didn't stick! A riverboat ride on the Seine was breathtaking, the Louvre simply cannot be done in a week, let alone a day, and the Champs Elysses-Elysees was unforgettable. Signals at crosswalks can be mere suggestions to both pedestrians and motorists alike, so crossing a busy street can be an adrenalin rush. But it is 1: 10 am here right now and my knee and feet ache from long walks, stone stairways and standing trips on the Metro. Going to bed.

Dad's addition

Paris is a crowded, frenetic city with tourists and natives moving in all directions at  once. The streets can be  narrow, and with the unannounced and frequent appearance of scooters and motorcycles buzzing through at top speed, treacherous. It was unseasonably warm our first day. The Eiffel Tower is magnificent--I could stare at its curves and geometrical patterns all day.

Day 1 Itinerary and Tales

We arrived in Paris at about 8:15 on the morning of September 19.   After being allowed to enter the country and collecting our luggage, we set about figuring out how to get to our hotel (it should be mentioned here that Lori prepared a detailed itinerary which actually told us how to get to our hotel-- the task here was to implement her plan!  We found the information booth at the airport and learned how to take the train from CDG to Paris, bought our tickets and at the same time bought Museum passes.

I'm proud to say that we didn't once get "lost" or go in the wrong direction, due largely to the collective intellect of our group.  We did face one harrowing moment, though.  We needed to exit the "B" train and connect with the "6."  We had figured out what to do and were boarding.  That is, Tom boarded, and then all the doors began to close.  I thought to myself that of all of us, he would be the best able to  handle the metro on his own.  But then he looked at me through the doors with a look that said, "What in the h___ am I going to do?" and I realized that he did not know the stop we should be exiting at.  I think it was Christi who saw that another door on the car was still open.  She boarded, followed by Scott, Scott, Lori and me.  Well, except that everyone was getting pretty jammed in the entrance to the car and I was not completely on-- my backpack was not completely in.  A woman to the left of the door probably saved my life when she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me further into the car.

And that is it for tonight's report.  It's 1am and I need some sleep before we meet for breakfast at 7:30.  I'll finish the Day 1 report sometime later....

The Adventure is Underway!