Highlights ofDave and Nila’s

Excellent European Adventure 2014

• The first 10 days are with our 50-voice choir from Lake Grove Presbyterian Church

• June 13 (Friday, no less) we ooze out of bed at 3:45am for our 7:00 flight• First leg to Minneapolis airport is

uneventful

• From MSP to Paris, however, Nila has an low blood pressure episode with labored breathing, but gets over it shortly after being tended to by a physician in our choir.

Unexpected light show over the polar region

Coming in to Paris

Saturday, June 14

We land, bleary-eyed and sleep-deprived at Paris, 8:30 am local time

Dutifully, we pile onto the bus for a quick and dirty tour of old-town Paris

Our tour bus – a familiar view for 10 days

We go through the Louvre – literally –The tour bus drives through the center courtyard

(I wonder what’s inside??)

And yes, that IS real gold up there

Lots of wrought iron everywhere in the old city

… and of course, the Eiffel Tower

The choir shared a sumptuous meal at a Parisian restaurant festooned with wall paintings

and wood carvings

Sunday, June 15

We slept 17 hours straight, nearly missing the tour bus to the concert

The choir was wowed by the resonance of the “White Church”, site of our first concert.

An early evening walk took us to one of the world’s famous

churches: the Cathedral of Notre Dame, followed by a boat tour on

the River Seine

Next day, a stop at the huge Cathedral at Chartres

(notice the difference between the two spires, built in two different centuries)

Tuesday – Thursday, June 17 - 19

Bayeux and Normandy, France

The world famous 13th century Bayeux tapestry,

depicting the Battle of Hastings

Our second concert, at the Bayeux Cathedral, ended in a very holy moment, with our gospel singer, Pam Baker, closing

the program with an extemporaneous a capella rendition of “Amazing Grace”

before a packed sanctuary.

Afterwards, the cathedral exterior lit up and a

venerable old tree trunk served as a unique video

screen.

Wednesday, June 18

A sobering experience:The American Cemetery, Utah Beach,

Omaha Beach and Pointe du Hoc

Imagine scaling these cliffs under enemy fire

Remains of a German bunker

Omaha Beach

Every LST like this carried 32 soldiers – each one carrying packs of 60-70 pounds

The monument reads:

“The Allied forces landing on this shore which they call Omaha Beach liberate Europe – June 6th 1944”

People in this area have not forgotten.

Thursday, June 19

Travel day

Midday stop at Honfleur, an old seaport town

Friday, June 20

Bruges, Belgium

Our third concert, at St. Giles Church, promoted a local

mission dedicated to helping street people in practical ways

Notice the intense colors. They used to be black, from centuries of candle smoke, etc. St. Giles had

recently restored these ancient wood carvings representing the stations of the cross.

Bruges is also known for its chocolate, lace-making,

carriages and canals.

Especially the chocolate.

(reads: “YES!!! – THIS IS CHOCOLATE”)

Sunday June 22

Amsterdam

A very full day:

Singing

Touring

Final choir dinner together

We sang at Singelkerk, a Mennonite church

A very staid and reserved worship service ended with Pam’s rhythmic gospel music – and this gentleman started dancing (…in the Spirit??)

No rest on Sunday

afternoon, but rather a

whirlwind tour of the world-

famous Rijksmuseum

Their most famous painting, Rembrandt’s [misnamed] Night Watch always draws large crowds.

It was also much bigger than I had imagined.

Some more Dutch sights:A typical Dutch-style drawbridge

Some Dutch windmills – OK, only half kidding

Maybe this one in Haarlem was

more of what you were thinking

Nila is fine to get up close and friendly with these iguanas (i.e., metal ones)

An upscale old house on the canal – and it’s for sale, even (for a very modest price I’m sure)

The canal houseboats are actually more expensive than the houses behind them.

Monday, June 23

• Choir goes home, we’re on our own!• We start to learn the bus and train

system• Walk around Amsterdam• Go through the Amsterdam Museum

David and Goliath, in case you were wondering

So many bikes . . .

. . .and so many styles -- Saw one man carrying 3 kids and

groceries on a bike like this

Not many SUVs, and some unusual small cars

Orange fever as The Netherlands advances in the World Cup

Tuesday, June 24

Haarlem, The Netherlands

Corrie ten Boom House(Christian Holocaust survivor

who hid Jews in her home)

Imagine 5-6 Jews hidden in the space behind our guide.

When the alarm sounded everybody had to crawl through this secret entrance in less than 40 seconds .

A late-night concert on the huge pipe organ in the Haarlem cathedral

Wednesday, June 25

Zwolle, The Netherlands

A family ancestry site for Dave

We met Ineke, Dave’s aunt’s niece, and her husband Jan, who gave us an all-day grand tour of Zwolle.

Dave’s grandparents, father and uncle once lived in this residence (Vechtkamp)

Note the cannonball still embedded in the wall from some old battle

Zwolle’s city gate

We tracked down the regional historical archive containing records for the de Vidal de St.

Germain family, including these folders, which we were able to copy with their scanner.

Thursday-Friday, June 26-27

Next morning, on to the beautiful Rhine River

Many castles, both ruined and restored, seemed to float by

our seats on the sun deck of a river cruiser.

Our 100 year old paddlewheel river boat

We walked up to these massiveRheinfelds castle ruins the next morning.

Some views from the tower

About 300 boats a day pass by here.

Note the near-vertical vineyards

Friday-Saturday, June 27-28

Bacharach, Germany

Home to some of Nila’s Pilger ancestors

We searched in vain for the Pilger winery which had been there

previously

Our gracious host at the hotel, who helped us search forsome Pilger connections in the area

No winery, but we did find a Pilger home repair service

A typical winery near Bacharach

This fortress perched atop Bacharach has been converted into a youth hostel.

After a long climb . . .

Sunday, June 29

On the way to Rothenburg a brief stopover in Frankfurt results in a serendipitous visit to a folk mass

at the crowded Frankfurt Cathedral

The ornate Frankfurt rail station (Hauptbonhof)

Something old and something new…

Evidences of the “new Germany”

Monday, June 30

Rotherburg, Germany

Old Rothenburg is a medieval town (many 15th cent. buildings) well-preserved because it

narrowly escaped bombing in WW II

We learned some history amidst the fun of the “Night Watchman” tour of the town

Famous for Christmas shopping

Tuesday-Wednesday, July 1-2

Hallstatt, Austria

This almost-last-minute addition to our itinerary proved to be a scenic highlight.

Hallstatt hangs on the edge of steep mountain cliffs on the shore of a

sparkling lake.

Then there are the 1500-year-old Roman ruins found by accident underneath a sporting goods store.

Thursday – Sunday, July 3-6

Salzburg, Austria

Music, Mozart, Masses, Museums, [Sound of Music]

Memorials and More

Street musicians abounded

A replica of Mozart’s pianoforte, in his birth and early childhood home

A huge Italian-inspired fountain in Residenzplatz

Elegant furnishings from the residence of Austria’s one-time Prince/Archbishop, who ruled as a virtual dictator

Hovering over the old city is the huge Hohensalzburg Fortress,

never successfully attacked

Inside the perimeter walls lived a small city

View from the fortress tower – old city wall in foreground, beginning of Austrian Alps behind

July 4

We spent the evening, not watching fireworks, but listening to a Mozart

concert done by musicians in period costumes and eating a feast

[allegedly] prepared from 17th century recipes

We passed on the “Sound of Music” bus tours, but did see a few

filming sights in the area

“You are 16, going on 17. . .”

Mirabell Palace and Gardens

Remember these steps?

Remember the cemetery scene where the family is betrayed – it was based on this actual site

On a different note, the Hellbrun “trick fountains” where a bored monarch amused himself by drench-ing his unsuspect-ing (and often inebriated) guests with sprays of water coming from unexpected places

This “living statue” twitched his finger as Nila passed by and startled her half out of her wits!

Sunday we attended Sunday Mass in the ornate Salzburg Cathedral and heard Mozart’s Missa

Solemnis followed by another Mass by Bruckner

One of the four smaller organs in the cathedral (not counting the main one which Mozart played on for two years)

Monday, July 7

Fussen, Germany

King’s Castles

The misnamed “Mad King of Bavaria” was many things – a visionary, an incompetent administrator, a profligate spender of public moneys, but not insane, even though his political enemies had him confined on that charge.

He grew up in this castle, probably more than adequate for most folks – but . . .

. . . he had much bigger things in mind, such as building his own castle across the valley:

like this, for example

Neuschwanstein castle, inspiration for the Disneyland Sleeping Beauty castle

Fourteen years in the building (and only partially finished), he lived in it less than half a year before dying under very mysterious circumstances.

View from the Castle

Tuesday – Thursday, July 8 – 10

Interlaken, Switzerland

Tuesday – RainWednesday – RainThursday a.m. – More Rain

Backyard pond in our B and B (ironically named Sunny Days)

The river Aare and medieval locks which regulate the water levels between the two

lakes surrounding the aptly named Interlaken

Thursday – Saturday, July 10 – 12

Gimmelwald (plus Lauterbrunnen and Murren)

Thursday p.m. – Still More RainFriday a.m. – Etc., etc.

In the Alps above Interlaken, Gimmelwald is a tiny isolated village relatively untouched by the modern

world (except maybe for tourism)

Our beyond-rustic Hotel (but a place where we met some wonderful people at the communal dinner)

Most houses have a little garden

The main form of transportation in and out of Gimmelwald

One of the watering troughs for the animals

In spite of the rain, bits of beauty poked out from everywhere

Staubbach Falls, plunging 900’ into the village of Lauterbrunnen

Lauterbrunnen Valley is said to contain 72 waterfalls. We could

see over 20 from our hotel room, some plunging more

than a mile from rim to valley floor

Friday afternoon – a little rain, but some clearing

Friday evening – Rain Again

A Folklore Festival is announced by men parading down the main street

clanging very loud cowbells

A men’s chorus with yodeling (held in the church

Because of the rain)

And of course, alpenhorns

And then . . .

Just before we had to leave

Saturday morning . . .

. . . breakfast stopped while everybody ran for their cameras

Wow!Thank you, God!

Saturday - Sunday, July 12 - 13

Lucerne, Switzerland

We walk across the world-famous 13th century Chapel Bridge, but failed to notice the foreboding

clouds in the background

Sprinkles turned to rain, which turned to heavy rain

which turned into a complete gully-washer and lightning/thunder a few yards away (those shadowy spires are about 3 blocks away)

We drag our soaked bodies over to see Lucerne’s other iconic feature: the Lion monument, carved in memory of betrayed and massacred Swiss soldiers

I am in total awe of how such grief can be portrayed in stone

With time running short the next morning, we take a quick hike on the medieval protective wall around the old city.

View from the city wall

Sunday, July 13

Zurich

After studying the Marc Chagall stained glass windows in the Fraumunster

church, and a long flight home facing us the next day, we top off our trip with a

delightful meal and dessert to Café Felix

POSTSCRIPT

Our planned 19-hour trip from Zurich to New York to Portland turned into a

26-hour endurance contest – but that’s a whole different story . . .