June 4th, 2017 - Heidelberg, Germany
Elisa and I both slept well tonight. We didn’t have anything specific on the agenda today other than making sure we got into Heidelberg by around 12:00 noon so we could meet with one of Elisa’s long lost High School friends - Terri Rooney and her husband Gary Fowler. Elisa and Terri had lost touch with one another in about 1979 or 1980. Both she and Terri were moving to different locations and they simply fell out of touch.
When we began planning on our trip to Europe, for some reason her friend Terri popped into her head and although she had searched for her many times on the internet, Facebook, etc. all her searches came up empty. This is largely due to the facts that Rooney is such a common name and all of her searches would be overwhelming. Nevertheless, something was urging her to do another search. This time she searched while adding another piece of information that she remembered about Terri and that is that she was in the Navy at one point in her life. This time the search produced some new results - Elisa was led to a webpage on Bank of America’s website. The page was celebrating its employees who were U.S. Military Veterans. Lo and behold, up pops a faded photo of her friend Terri, from when she was in the Navy. The page indicated that Terri was now a Sr. Vice President with BofA and working in……wait for it…..Germany of all places. It is so strange, that Elisa got the premonition to do another search prior to our taking a vacation to Italy and Germany. (Cue eerie music). How wierd.
So now we at least knew that in 2014, when the webpage was created her friend Terri was working for BofA in Germany, managing banking operations for US military bases. Now the problem was to figure out how to get connected. It just so happens that our daughter Krista’s fiancé’s mother Connie also works for BofA. So Elisa gets in touch with her, and Connie explains that there are strict rules at BofA that prohibit her from distributing personal information about other employees - totally understandable. However, Connie is able to use the information to find a LinkedIn page for Terri. Bingo, Elisa is able to use that to message Terri. Our only concern is that if Terri is like us, we don’t look at our Linkedin messages that often. We are in luck and within a week or two, Terri responds and the two are reconnected - after some 37 years. The two catch up via email on each other’s life story and plans are made to meet when we are near the Frankfurt area. How exciting.
So, today is that day, when the two will finally see one another again and Elisa is filled with anticipation. We get up around 6:30 am, we take our time getting ready and eating some breakfast. I’m busy reading the news and at 8:30 she says let’s get going. We aren’t scheduled to meet with Terri and Gary until 12:00 in Heidelberg. So, we decide that we will go early so we can visit the Heidelberg castle before we get together with them at noon. We leave the house by a little before 9:00 and we are headed up the hill to find parking near the castle by around 10:00. Most people park down in the Altstadt and take the funicular train up the hill to the castle. We opted to search for parking up near the castle entrance since it is near opening time. We are in luck, we find a great parking space (thank you Minerva) right near the entrance - and it is a free parking spot. The castle sits about 300’ above the city of Heidelberg, and as we make our way into the grounds we are taking photos along the way. We pay for our admission and pick up an audio guided tour of the grounds.
The castle is really amazing. They are largely in ruins, but great efforts have been made starting back in the late 1700’s to preserve the ruins as opposed to reconstructing them. Some items, such as some of the statuary are remade to create an accurate historical record of the castle. Construction of the castle was commenced around around the late 1100’s. It was periodically destroyed by fire and war but rebuilt. By the 1600’s the then Kings made very elaborate additions to the castle. However by the early 1700’s the castle would again be destroyed by the French who had taken it in the “Nine Days War”. Which came after the Thirty Years War. I’m going to have to study up on the history…all these wars seem to have to do with the feudal system that emerged in Germany where you had a bunch of rich guys holding rule over people in an area and a political struggle that emerged between the Holy Roman Empire and the Palatine rulers - oh and then throw in hostilities from neighboring countries from time to time. Anyhow, this time the French really did a number on the castle, they exploded the powder magazine which blew one of the huge stone towers completely in half. They then set a number of fires. There are stories though that suggest that one of the French general that was leaving told the villiage towns people to light fires so the smoke from their fireplaces would make it appear that the castle fires were larger then they really were. Supposedly, the General wanted to leave enough to the beautiful and might castle behind for the sake of history. This time, the castle would never be rebuilt, however by the later 1700’s efforts were made to preserve the ruins and it would become a visiting ground for philosophers and writers of the day - including Johan Von Goethe the famous German statesman and writer/philosopher.
Our tour of the castle was really interesting. We got to see the mighty giant wine barrel. One was original and it was the “tithe barrel”, where growers and wine makers that served the lord of the castle would have to bring 1/10th of their harvest to be turned into wine and poured into the great barrel. This thing is huge and lore indicates that it was only filled 3 times in its existence - by the way the wine wasn’t very good. In the 1800’s an even larger barrel was built to celebrate the church. That barrel was never filled with wine - its a good thing because it is the size of a small house. There was also a “traveling exhibit” at the castle that detailed the history of the “Apoteke” or pharmacy. This too was very interesting. It provided educational details on the history of medicine making. There were recipes using different types of plants to cure various maladies that date back to 120BC. The ancient Greeks began accumulating these recipes from faraway lands in Africa and Arabia. The Romans would enslave Greeks to be the modern day equivalent of doctors for the Roman Empire. Marcus Aurelius would endeavor to create the first collective library of medicin making and the collection of the plants and other natural materials that would go not these locations. The science would continue - there would be setback in the early ages - when religious fervor would look down on man made cures. However, by the 1500’s the pharmaceutical business was back in business. The museum included private collections of entire “drug stores” of different time periods starting in about the 1500’s. It was very interesting and a real highlight. Based on my web research, this exhibit has been here for some time.
By the time we were done, we notice it is going on 11:30 and we needed to find our way down the hill to get to the restaurant where we would be meeting Terri and Gary. Unfortunately, our internet connection is down on our phone and we can’t get the map coordinates for GPS plugged in. After heading blindly down the hill we make several wrong turns but finally we have a good enough connection to get the GPS working again - and none too soon because we were already attracting a toot of a couple of horns based on my meandering the streets of Heidelberg. We make our way over the Rhein River and find the meeting point, but there is no parking. We find a spot a few blocks away (thank you Minerva) and we head over there. The two spot one another while we are still about 100 yards away. We all rush together and hugs are exchanges and tears are falling - the two are so happy. Gary and I shake hands and get to know one another as well.
The plan is for us to take a short hike on the Philosophers Way in Heidelberg. This paved walking trail was a favorite hangout for the famous philosophers and writers of the day - back in the 1800’s. We can understand why, after you make the steep up-hill hike, the views are wonderful. At the summit we have a commanding view of the Rhein River, “Old” Heidelberg, the cathedral and of course the castle. It really is breathtaking. The forecast included rain, and it was cool and rainy when we left the house, but by the time we are making our way up the hill the clouds parted - a little bit - and the rain stopped. (Thank you Minerva). This is the Germany I remember from when I lived here - the days of blue skies and warm weather were far and few between. The hike is about 2-½ miles and it take us up a steep hill for about ¾ of a mile, the next ¾ of a mile is a flat to gentle uphill slope and next ¼ mile is pretty steep downhill and the last ¾ is flat and takes you along the riverside and leads us back to our restaurant - River Cafe.
By now, it is around 1:45 and we are ready for lunch. Gary and Terri had held their annual Cinco-de-Mayo party the night before - it was delayed due to Gary being back in the States in May. Their German neighbors love and look forward to it every year. Apparently the Germans love Mexican food. Who would of thunk it. So, we are glad that they could make the trip down to Heidelberg to meet us. The restaurant is small and cozy and has a menu that leans a little Italian and little French. Elisa decides to go light and orders a shrimp and avocado salad - (we have been missing avocados). Terri and Gary also get a salad - Gary has Caesar with Chicken and Terri one with goat cheese. I opt for some sautéed veal steams with fingerling potatoes wrapped in crispy bacon. I have to say that the Germans do potatos very well, there potatos have a unique, almost sweet tast to them. I also order some grilled vegetables for Elisa and I to share. I wash mine down with a great .5 liter of blond pilsner beer - delicious. The food is great and we all enjoy it.
We dine at a leisurely pace, and the restaurant does not mind. After eating we stay another couple hours catching up and filling each other in on our lives, kids, likes, dislikes, etc. Before you know it, it is going on 5:30 - talk about a leisurely lunch. We loved it and had a great time. Before parting, Terri and Gary give us a great suggestion to catch one of the Rhein River boats in Mainz and to make our way slowly up the Rhein to Koblenz. We can hop on and off the boats that run regularly up the river. We’ll spend about 5 hours doing that tomorrow and hopefully make our way to a castle here and there along the way up. Then we will stop by Terri and Gary’s place on the way back from Mainz and have dinner and some Karaoke at their place. It turns out they met each other and fell in love singing karaoke 25 years ago. Elisa’s eyes light up - she has found kindered spirits because she too loves karaoke. Unfortunately, my talents in this area are non-existent but I make a great and enthusiastic audience. I’m looking forward to it as well.
So that is all for today. our step count was at about 12000 steps or 6 miles. Not a bad day.
Aufwiedersehen for now!