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Stuck in Amsterdam ….damn

Andy dropped us off at Detroit Airport at 1pm Monday
Lunch at max and Erma’s at the airport Monday

Started out on time out of Detroit at 6:30 pm Monday night. Then it was a 2 hour connection to fly to Berlin and arrive at 11am. Looked good on paper 🤣

Then our Berlin flight had a gate change and an airplane change and then we pushed back an hour late. Still not too bad. Then they couldn’t get the second engine started. We had to taxi out away from the terminal and wait for a bus to pick us up. It was a mad house to get to a transfer desk and get rebooked. Now we are sitting in Amsterdam for 6 hours, flying to Copenhagen and then connecting to Berlin 😬. If all goes as planned it will be a 24 hour trip to get to Berlin. looking forward to a German beer!!!

Joys of travel!!

In Amsterdam and Still smiling😬

Off to Germany

pre trip in Berlin

I’m looking forward to seeing the old Berlin Wall and check point Charlie. It seems like yesterday that I was sitting nuclear alert guarding the west coast and Canadian border against communist aggression!

one of us is packed and ready, one is not quite ready🤣.

On to Scotland

First stop is Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. Population is 500,000. We walked about the city, take cabs, and ride the hop on hop off bus.

One big hill up to the castle. I walked, Patty took a cab with a few others in our group. A fun stop was the royal yacht, HMS Britannia, it is set up as a museum on the waterfront(The Firth of Forth). A couple of days of walking around and then it was off to Aberdeen.

The rainy forecast never materialized. We’ve had great weather so far!
A welcome to Scotland at a rest stop on the highway
Walking to the Edinburgh castle

A day trip to Whitby

We drove to the seaside town of Whitby located about an hour and a half from York. We saw the Whitby Abbey dating back to the 900’s. Whitby is where explorer James Cook launched his world voyage. Bram Stoker spent a year here writing Dracula. Whitby is also famous for jet jewelry, a black stone favored by Queen Victoria. It’s also the town where they claim Fish and Chips was first served.

Whitby Abbey
Details of the Abbey
Whitby Abbey
Nice view of the North Ses
Cod Fish and chips, really good !

Castles of the Middle Rhine

We had a nice morning on a 40 mile stretch of the river between Bingen and Koblenz. It is a Unesco World Heritage site with more than 28 castles visible from the river.

Rheinstein castle, a 14th century castle, it features a drawbridge
Stahleck castle from the 12th century, rebuilt in 1909 and has a youth hostel. Oh to be young and travel the world.
The Maus(mouse) Castle, named by counts back in the day because of its small size. It was built in 1353.
Lots of commercial barge traffic on the Rhine.
The Marksburg Castle, like you see in Disney Land!!! Built in 1117 and beautifully maintained.
As one of the waiters pointed out, from this perspective it looks like a rocket ship on its launch pad.
Statue of Lorelei, the rock wall behind the statue was made famous in the story of the maiden who jumped to her death and became a siren who lured sailors to their deaths

Next two stops on the Rhine river ….. Speyer and Mainz Germany

A walking tour with an English speaking guide using techno vox listening device. Great way to be able to wander and look at nearby things while hearing the guide talk about history and details of the architecture.
We are approaching the Imperial Cathedral of Speyer. It was originally built between 1030 and 1061. It was restored in the 1950s. It was Speyer that gave the religious revolution its name, ,”Protestantism.” The name comes from the Diet of Speyer, a document signed in 1529.
The cathedral
A walk about the old town of Speyer on a cold morning, It was snowing just before we docked this morning.
We found a crowded little cafe and Bernetta from North Dakota/Mesa Arizona had room at her table. Hot chocolate was a welcome beverage.
In the afternoon Rod and Lonn(from Traverse City) headed back to Speyer and discovered a fabulous museum. The Techno Museum of Speyer was right down my Alley. The highlight of the trip so far for me. I’m standing on the wing of a Boeing 747 looking down at an F101 voodoo that I probably flew. It is an old Texas Air National Guard airplane and I trained with the Texas Air Guard when they had this aircraft. There is also an F4 phantom from the Michigan National Guard on display. I spent 2 1/2 hours in the museum and didn’t see it all.
On the wing of a 747
A Texas Air Guard F101, I probably flew this airplane in 1973!
Mainz, Germany and the Gutenberg Museum. Gutenberg invented the printing press that revolutionized book printing. This was the beginning of getting books in the hands of common people rather than the very rich and the church. In the 1450s he printed 180 bibles and 49 remain today. We saw two them in a locked and secure vault.
Our guide demonstrates printing on a replica of the Gutenberg press.
St Stephens church in Mainz is one of 5 places in the world that display Marc Chagall’s stained glass windows. He installed these between 1978 and 1985.
Chagall window in St Stephens
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