Upon my return from the trip to Germany, I have had a number of people ask the typical questions of “What was your favorite part of the trip?” or “What was the one thing that really stood out?” Generally my reply was along the line of “There were many things; too many to pick just one!” Then I would tell about how all of my mental images of the country I had developed over the years were confirmed, and how beautiful the place was. Of course I shared about the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart, as well as a couple of side-trips Tammy and I took to Oberstdorf and Dachau. However, as I reviewed the journal I kept on the trip, and have thought back to different things we did, there were a number of “smaller” things, those that were not necessarily in the travel guide, that made a significant impression on me.
Something that I have come back to a number of times since the trip was a very brief, but memorable encounter we had with a gentleman that stacks stones and sells photographs of his natural sculptures to make a living. His name was Sepp Bogle, a tanned, burly man with long white hair and a matching, bushy beard that wore a blue t-shirt and blue shorts. We had about a half-hour wait for a train at a village called Radolfzell, located along Lake Constance, and we decided to walk a little ways down a pier to enjoy the beautiful day. I saw these stones that were stacked on a concrete ledge, and Bogle standing near by when we found a bench to sit on facing the lake. Shortly after, a large swan came out of the lake right in front of us, walked toward and then past us, headed toward the stone sculptures. This burly man then proceeded to “shoo” him away, and at that point we struck up a conversation.
He shared with us that he spends six months in Radolfzell, staying in a room at a hotel or on the pier when the weather permits. The other six months he goes to one of the Canary Islands, where he basically lives the same life as he does on the shore of Lake Constance. He provided an English copy of an article that was written about him, and talked to us a bit as well. He was soft-spoken and very nice, and we discovered he was a very successful business man earlier in his life, acquiring great wealth and living that fast-paced lifestyle. However, that was not what he wanted, and after his marriage fell apart, he opted to leave all of that behind and get in touch with what he believes is much more important in life. In fact, in addition to stacking stones and selling pictures, he often counsels people who seek him out, as well as others who are referred to him by people he has gotten to know over the years. I wish we had spent more time talking with him as there are times that I wonder if I could actually live a similar life.
Another one of the little things I enjoyed was a visit to the small village of Birnau, about ten miles from Uberlingen, where we saw perhaps the most incredible church I have ever seen. The Birnau Abbey Church was decorated in the Baroque style, and included beautiful ornamentation, sculptures, and paintings. While I have not seen some of the great churches, cathedrals, or basilicas in Rome and elsewhere, I have visited a number of them in other places, and I have to say that nothing has struck me the way this small little church did on the Bodensee. It was amazing!
Coming from an agricultural family, I was particularly interested in farming in Germany, and since we spent the majority of our time in Baden-Wurttemberg and Bavaria, there was a lot to see. These are the two primary agricultural states in the country. Though nearly all of my observations were from the road, it was none the less very interesting to me. For one thing, the farms were very small compared to what we have in Iowa, and in some respects, it seemed that everything was on a smaller scale. Their tractors and machinery looked the same as what we have, but were about two-thirds the size. The same with hay bales. Dairy barns were constructed of wood rather than metal, and smaller because at most a farmer may have had twenty cows. What was fascinating to me was that there were many places with fruit trees that were a hybrid that grew up instead of out and were planted very close together. And, they had netting over the top to protect them from birds and hail. They also had taller nets that covered hops that were growing, climbing over cables that were stretched the length of the nets. Fascinating!
We also experienced a number of different things in their culture. To no surprise a lot of people ride bicycles, and ride them significant distances. There is no place in the towns and cities to park cars, so bikes make a lot of sense. Of course you can take a train about anywhere, and people do. It is a very popular type of transportation. Some of our kids stayed with families outside of Uberlingen and rode the train every time they needed to come for an event or departure. We rode a train quite a few times, and I have to say that it is a shame we do not have that kind of transportation more available to us in our country.
One thing that was a surprise to many of us is that bottled water had “gas” in it, and you could buy it with different levels of gas. Gas means carbonation, and most of our kids really did not care for it. In a few places you could find water without gas, but that was the exception rather than the rule. Along the food line, I expected different cuisine and was able to try traditional German food. However, just like in our country, there were ethnic restaurants every where we traveled. Pizza places were all over the place and it wasn’t hard to find a Chinese or Italian restaurant. McDonalds was interesting as it lacked many of the traditional choices we have, and had quite a few different ones. While we were there they were promoting a number of items with jalapeños. Most satisfying were the ice cream stores! In downtown Uberlingen there must have been at least ten ice cream shops, all of them featuring very elaborate treats. I believe I ate ice cream every evening!
There are a number of things I am sure I will remember from this trip; some that I had never seen before. There was also quite a bit that was familiar. All of that said, I think two of the things that will remain with me as they took me back to the days of my youth were that every vehicle I rode in had a manual transmission, and I saw many of the old cigarette machines that used to be by the exit of restaurants years ago. It was kind of strange to once again see those things as I had not thought about them in years. I guess in some respects, the more things change, the more they stay the same!
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