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Family Treasures~Part 2

12 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

As I mentioned last week, sometimes, the things you grow up with, just don’t seem like anything special.   They are just “there”….part of the woodwork. I’ve found that, not until I got older – and left my girlhood home – did those “things” become important to me.

My mother and father lived in the house I grew up in for many years following my marriage. Fred and I moved to Fort Worth, Texas, for him to attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Following that, we went to San Jose, California for one year for Fred to study meteorology at San Jose State College, to prepare him for his meteorologist career in the U.S. Air Force. During that year, my father died.

Mother continued to live in my growing-up house. About five years after my father’s death, mother remarried. We saw them only one time in that house before they sold it and moved into an apartment. Many of the things I grew up around, were put in storage in my step-father’s sister’s garage. While on a visit one time, mother asked if we had the chalk pictures – which I didn’t. Apparently they were put in that storage. I would love to have them now, but they are gone – no one knows where.

Again, they were just part of the “decoration” of the house where I grew up. I always thought they were neat and cute, but they didn’t have any “hold” on me at that time. I don’t remember who did the chalk drawings, but one was of my brother at about two years of age, and the one of me was at about two years of age, also. They were in colored chalk, and really cute.

Here are a couple of pictures of Bill and myself beside our respective chalk pictures. Unfortunately, these pictures were in black-and-white, so you can’t really see the colors.

However, here is another one that had the pictures in color. Mother and dad had purchased a new couch, and mother had made a new picture arrangement above it.

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And here’s another one, taken in 1966, Christmas, that shows those pictures a bit closer, and in color.

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These are a family treasure to me, even if they aren’t in our possession. Something to remember and enjoy the memory.

 

 

 

 

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Family Treasures~Part 1

5 Jun

 

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 Sometimes, the things you grow up with, just don’t seem like anything special.   They are just “there”….part of the woodwork. I’ve found that, not until I got older – and left my girlhood home – did those “things” become important to me. When my Aunt Jessie died, we had an estate auction – at her house. The auctioneer said that, with all the antiques she had, her house was the perfect setting for the auction. They sold everything “down to the carpet.”

Of course, there were some things that each of us wanted that was hers. I took some things that were special to me, as did my brother and my mother.

But when my mother died, my brother and I took things of mothers that she had taken to the apartment where she and my step-father lived. Not a whole lot was left of my girlhood home, but we did get a few things. Some things have ended up in our daughters houses, as well as with our niece and nephew.

There were a couple of mirrors that I especially wanted to keepsake, and I’m glad I did. Growing up, there was a gilt-edged mirror over the mantel of our living room fireplace. Of course, to a child, it seemed huge! Here are a couple of pictures of that particular mirror.

 

Since Fred and I didn’t really need a mirror that size, our oldest daughter said she would like to have it. That was a joy to me, that she would want something that was a part of my family history – a family treasure. I am reminded of my childhood home every time I see that mirror.

And so, Karen and her husband acquired that mirror and it now hangs above the mantel over their living room fireplace. Here is a picture of that mirror in its new home.

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Brian (son-in-law) had always enjoyed the mirror, but had no idea of its significance to our family. As we were discussing it with him one day, I mentioned that it had been in my girlhood home until mother and my step-father sold the house and moved into an apartment. His reaction was priceless! “It wasn’t just some mirror you found to give to us?” No, it was in my family from the time I could remember until you acquired it. He said that it meant a great deal more to him, now that he knew that particular mirror had family history to it. I think he enjoys it more now, because of that family treasure.

There is another mirror that is a treasure of mine. This is a mirror that was in my bedroom as I was growing up. I always enjoyed the fact that the outer “rim” was small pieces of mirror – mirror tiles. It was so pretty. Unfortunately, by the time that mirror made its way with us around the country and world, a lot of those little mirror tiles had broken off and were lost. So I had more mirrors replaced, but just a solid piece of glass instead. It’s still pretty – and it still hangs in our guest room – but I miss the uniqueness of those little mirror tiles. However, it’s still a great reminder to me of my childhood – and it’s still a part of my current life. I like that.

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The Cruise of a Lifetime~Coming Home

29 May

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 Because our flight from Budapest was at 6:30 a.m., we had to get up about 2:15 a.m. to get ready, pack, and get on the shuttle bus by 3:30 a.m. We had showered the night before, so all we had to do was shave (Fred), put on makeup (Judy), finish packing, and off we went. There were 14 of us from the ship that were going to make that flight.

It was a 30-minute drive from the ship to the airport. And when we got there, it was a “hurry up and wait” situation. We waited 30 minutes for the counter personnel to arrive and begin taking customers. We were first in line, thank goodness. Even though we had our bags with us, she convinced us to check the larger bags, as the plane from Budapest to Amsterdam was “small.” The flight took off pretty much on time, and it was a two hour flight to Amsterdam. They did feed us breakfast, but it was nothing like we had before – a sandwich with either deli-thin slices of chicken, or cheese, with mayonnaise on it. Well, Fred doesn’t eat mayo in ANY form! But we were able to get him some slices of cheese and chicken that wasn’t too “polluted” from the mayo.

We had a fairly long layover in Amsterdam, which was good. Schiphol Airport is really big, and we had to go quite a ways to find our gate. Fred said it looked like the lady in Budapest had checked our bags all the way to Orlando, but he wasn’t sure. So when we had the attendant in Amsterdam check, sure enough, they were checked through. However, she said we had to pick them up in Atlanta and go through Customs there.

The flight from Amsterdam to Atlanta was nearly nine hours long. The fortunate thing about it was that we were on an Airbus, and were in the two-seat side, rather than the four-seat middle. I always enjoy flying with just Fred, rather than three of us across. They fed us lunch – we both had tortellini, salad, cheese and crackers. A few hours later they had wrap sandwiches for us – Fred had a “meatball” and I had a veggie wrap. Surprisingly tasty. And of course, there was always the pretzels and peanuts.

We finally arrived in Atlanta – really nice to realize we were back on US soil! We picked up our bags and headed through Customs and Immigration. Not a bad thing, and we got through fairly easily. We were glad to have that done in Atlanta, rather than having to do it in Orlando, when we were super tired.

The flight to Orlando was just barely over one hour. As we like to say, they hardly got up when they had to start down again! They did have time to hand out pretzels and soft drinks, but they were hurrying through it.

Richard Lynch picked us up and headed toward home. When we discovered they had not had dinner yet – and our tummys were growling – we agreed to meet at Panera for a light supper. Pam and Piper were waiting for us. We were able to tell them a little bit about our trip, but were so very ready to get home.

We unloaded our suitcases quickly, as I HAD to do a load of undies, since all we had needed to be washed before the next day. So with all that done, we were able to get to bed by about 10:00 p.m. We figured that we had been in the air about 13 hours, and had been awake about 25 hours – with only cat-naps on the airplane! We were truly and fully exhausted!   We didn’t even set the clock to wake us up on Saturday – just decided to sleep our fill.

It was wonderful to be home and sleeping in our own bed.

But we are grateful and thankful that we had the wonderful experience of the Viking River Cruise Grand Tour. A cruise of a lifetime!

 

~~~~~~~~~~The End~~~~~~~~~~

Budapest, Hungary
Bratislava, Slovakia
Vienna, Austria
Wachau Valley, Austria
Passau, Germany
Regensburg, Germany
Nuremburg, Germany
Bamberg, Germany
Rothenburg, Germany
Rhein River, Germany
Gefjon, our long ship
Kinderdijk, Holland

 

 

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The Cruise of a Lifetime~Part 14

22 May

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

Since we had sailed overnight to Budapest, and had an early shore excursion, we were up by 5:30 a.m. We had breakfast at 7:00 a.m. with Richard, Judy, Lucy, Roy and Jill, Joyce, Rick and Mary.

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By 8:30 a.m. we left on the shore excursion for Budapest. Some “Fast Facts about Hungary” from the ship’s info sheet:

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Home to over a million people, Budapest spans both sides of the Danube River – historic Buda on the east bank and cosmopolitan Pest (pronounced “Pesht”) on the west. Brimming with history, culture and attractions, Budapest is full of baroque, neoclassical and Art Nouveau architecture, and plenty to do. Museums, shopping and restaurants are the places to be.

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The bus took us around the town, then stopped at the square where we went on to the castle.

Funicular

 

Back to the ship by bus, we had lunch, then to our new room on the Lif, for a nap.

At 2:15 p.m., we had a “Budapest by Boat” tour, with our Program Director, Carl West giving the commentary.

Carl West – Program Director

We went by the Parliament Building, which is the most famous picture shown in the Viking advertisements – red-topped building. Really beautiful.

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We were back on the ship by 3:30 p.m., where we rested/napped and read some – quiet time for us.

We had our final/farewell dinner at 7:00 p.m. with Richard, Judy and Lucy. While it was a fun time, we had our last hugs and “wish we lived closer to you” from each of us. While I know it was a very concentrated two weeks with them, we all feel we forged a deep and lasting friendship, that will only continue when we all get to heaven.

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Since tomorrow would be a REALLY early day (we asked for a 2:15 a.m. wake-up call, with a 3:30 a.m. bus departure time into Budapest), we showered that night, and were in bed by 8:30 p.m.

The Whale

The Whale

According to Google search: That’s the “Bálna / Whale” (formerly called CET building) a modern shopping, cultural, and entertainment centre, as well as a tourist attraction on par with Paris’s Eiffel Tower, or the Covent Garden in London – at least that’s what the city leaders want it to be.

According to Google search: The Shoes on the Danube is a memorial to the Budapest Jews who were shot by Arrow Cross militiamen between 1944 and 1945. The victims were lined up and shot into the Danube River. They had to take their shoes off, since shoes were valuable belongings at the time.

The memorial was created by Gyula Pauer, Hungarian sculptor, and his friend Can Togay in 2005. It contains 60 pairs of iron shoes, forming a row along the Danube. Each pair of shoes was modeled after an original 1940’s pair.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

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Faster Weeks, Slower Me

19 May

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I'm a winner

I mistakenly believed that once I retired life would slow down and weeks would not fly by faster than a comet. It seems the only slowing down that has occurred is me. Maybe since it takes me longer to accomplish tasks, that is why it feels that weeks are zooming along.

On Monday the husband and I went to work on the slide area in our yard. The  county Soil and Water department suggested we replant the area with tall Fescue grass. We decided to fertilize, amend with lime and re-seed the entire yard. My husband used the garden tiller to break up the grassed areas that had become particularly bare and hard. After that we put out lime, then fertilizer and seed. My job was to gently rake the tilled area to spread some soil over the seeds. We have no idea if that is what one does when seeding clay soil. Growing grass in Florida is totally different. Finally we spread wheat straw and watered everything. I am NOT a fan of yard work, but the day was beautiful with a gentle cool breeze and I enjoyed it.

Tuesday was an interesting day. The charging port on my husband’s phone stopped working and my do-it-yourself man decided he could change it out. He is pretty sharp at fixing things but this one almost defeated him. Ten tiny screws had to be removed to change the port. No problem, Spilling the screws and losing one, now that is a problem. After an hour of searching, he put the phone together without the screw. It powered up and he was able to place a call. Yea! Except he could not hear me talking to him. So, tear the phone apart again. The missing screw had not appeared but being a problem solving kind of guy, he remembered that his old phone was the same brand as his current one. He pirated the old one for a replacement screw, put the phone back together and now it charges and has sound. Problem solved.

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Missing screw found! We are cleaning house for company and removed rug and furniture from the room of the lost screw. Handy husband pushed all the debris into a pile and used his flashlight to illuminate the screw. Now to save it or not to save it.

Wednesday started off well. We had breakfast with friends then spent the rest of the morning running errands. Somewhere along the way, my energy drained away and my mood slipped lower than the thermometer on a Ontario winter day. I decided to hibernate.

After a good night’s sleep and some motivational musing, today is looking up. I am not the center of the universe. That job belongs to someone far above me. My job is to keep looking up.

Cherry Blossoms on tree.

 

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The Cruise of a Lifetime~Part 13

15 May

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

Since we had to change ships today, Fred and I were up at 5:30 a.m. to shower and dress and finished packing. At 7:00 a.m. we had breakfast with Richard, Judy and Lucy. At 7:45 we completed our packing and put our bags out in the hallway as instructed.

At 8:15 a.m. we reported to our assigned bus to leave the ship and go to Bratislava, Slovakia.

According to the ship’s info on Bratislava:   The emergence of Slovak national consciousness dates to about the 1700s. The written language appeared before the 18th century, and near the end of that century a national movement began to encourage a Slovak identity and the development of Slovak Romanticism with a focus on popular folk traditions. At the end of World War 1,Slovak identity was fully formed, and in 1919 Slovakia joined with Czechia to form a union of two western Slavic nations: Czecho-Slovakia. But its independence was greatly limited by its strong economic, military and political dependence on Germany.

It was then conquered by the Soviets, who wanted to create a pro-Soviet and Communist Czechoslovakia. This lasted until the fall of Communism during the Velvet Revolution of 1989. In 1993, the Slovaks and the Czechs agreed to separate peacefully in what is called the Velvet Divorce. The Czech Republic became a democratic state. Slovakia became an independent nation.

 

We arrived at the Bratislava Castle by 10:00.

 

It was quite windy day but not too cold. While we didn’t go inside the castle, the outside was interesting. Because I knew the history of SPQR, I found this interesting.

According to Google and Ancient Rome for Kids:

The letters SPQR stood for Senatus Populus Que Romanusa – the Senate and the People of Rome. After defeating Tarquin, the last Roman king, the people started a new type of government, a republic. A republic is a type of government whereby people elect officials to represent them in government.

As a publicity campaign, and as propaganda, the new senate had the letters SPQR chiseled, branded or stamped on everything that they controlled. Public buildings, new coins, and even park benches got the letters SPQR added to them.

 The people of Rome were proud of their new government, and were reminded every time that they saw SPQR that they were a part of the Roman Republic, and no longer ruled by a king.

At 10:30 we left for Old Town with a walking tour. We saw many fascinating sights. Here are some:

This little guy is called Cumil (pronounced as Chumil).   As the story goes, Cumil was a mischievous person who while working, used to emerge from under the manhole to look beneath the ladies’ skirts! (Tripadvisor)

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Statue of Bratislava Cavalier Schoner Naci

Napolean – one of the few places to sit

We were given two hours of free time, to look around Bratislava on our own, which is really too long. We found no place to sit – no public benches. We finally went into a bakery and had a hot chocolate and a chestnut pastry. We met and shared a table with Iris and April, sisters from Calgary, Canada (Richard called them “the sisters”), who were also on our cruise. We complained to Carl West (who is from Bratislava, as is Billie, our concierge), that there were no public benches where we could sit and rest our feet. He just laughed. We think it is the city’s plan so visitors have to go into a shop to eat or drink in order to sit and rest.

At 1:00 p.m. we had lunch in the Austrian Trend hotel – it was a very good meal and the entire upper level was set up as a restaurant for our entire ship’s compliment.

At 2:30 p.m. we were back on the bus for our trip Budapest, Hungary. All the buses stopped for a restroom break at 3:45. The bus trip to Budapest normally takes only three hours, but took us four hours instead. We were finally on board the Lif at 6:15 p.m.

At 7:00 p.m. we had dinner with Richard, Judy and Lucy. Richard told us their tour guide, while going through Transylvania, told a story about “wampires… and the bus erupted with laughter.

We were in bed by 10:00 p.m. It had been a long day.

 

 

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The Cruise of a Lifetime~Part 12

8 May

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

After breakfast, we began a partial bus-and-walking tour of Vienna, Austria. There’s just so much to see. It seems strange to have an ultra-new building with the old buildings, but they seem to fit together rather well. For the entire six years we lived in Germany, I hounded Fred about taking me/us to Vienna. Never happened! So this trip finally put us in that beautiful city.

 

I’m not a terribly good historian, but I have heard of the Hapsburg Dynasty. Austria was the home for that dynasty. The ship’s info sheet stated: The rise and fall of the House of Hapsburg began along the Danube’s banks in 1276. With Austria firmly in their grasp, the family gained new territories by marriage until their serial nuptials put most of Europe under their power. As their wealth and territory grew, few royal families remained to help them acquire more kingdoms. Their solution to this problem may have also been their undoing. While the dynasty actually had its beginning in 1020, it wasn’t until 1273 when it moved to Austria.

The info sheet also said: The Hapsburgs sought to retain their massive power through intermarriage between cousins or uncle and niece. “The best spouse for a Hapsburg is another Hapsburg,” went the proverb. The last of the Spanish line, Charles 2, was disabled from birth, perhaps from a genetic disorder typical in children born from siblings, and died. It’s likely that the Austrian Hapsburg line ended for the same reasons.

While there are still living relatives of the Hapsburgs, for all intents and purposes, the dynasty died out in 1918, at the close of World War 1.

We walked through Saint Stephen’s Cathedral, which has a really dark interior. I was unable to get any good pictures there.

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But the outside is remarkable. There is even a bronze model of the cathedral outside, that is to scale.

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We then walked through some of their Christmas Market. It was still rather early in the season for the Christmas Market to be up and running, but there were a few booths set up already, and we enjoyed seeing them.

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At 12:45 we met under the clock on the square and headed back to the bus and into the ship for lunch, which we had with Richard, Judy and Lucy.

At 2:00 p.m. we took a tour of the Schönbrunn Palace. It’s very opulent, but beautiful.

On our way into the Palace, there was a man on the sidewalk, covered in gold. He was standing on a box, and was singing some Mozart – advertising a concert. I just thought it was cute. I gave him a short curtsy, and he replied with a small bow.

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We had an early dinner (6:00 p.m.) with Richard, Judy and Lucy. At 7:00 p.m. some of the group left for a Mozart and Strauss Concert, that was free to all who wanted to attend, since we had to change ships again. Fred and I decided to stay onboard and pack. Then we read some, and then were in bed and asleep by 9:30 p.m.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

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The Cruise of a Lifetime~Part 11

1 May

 

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

November 16th, Monday- We were up at 6:00 a.m. to shower and dress. We had breakfast at 7:15 a.m., with Richard, Judy and Lucy joining us (they don’t get up as early as we do). By 8:00 a.m. we arrived at Emmersdorf, Austria.

 

At 9:30 a.m. we took a bus to the 900-year-old Melk Abbey. It is situated on an outcrop rising above the Danube, crowned by twin towers.

As you can see…we are fascinated by pipe organs
They were not without music
Here is a model of the Abbey

While the abbey was founded in 1089, and given to the Benedictine monks, the current abbey was renovated between 1702 and 1736. It was originally a royal palace with ceremonial courts, guest apartments, grand halls and a library – which contains around 80,000 medieval manuscripts.

Courtesy Wikipedia

Courtesy Wikipedia

The abbey has a blue room,

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a green room,

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a marble room, and the mirrored room.

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Many of the floors have beautiful wood-inlay.

 

This beautiful stairway is the beginning of the grounds. However, since I still couldn’t maneuver stairs very well, we walked down (and later up) the ramp.

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By 12:10 p.m. we were back on board the ship, and had lunch in the Lounge with Janice and John from Ontario. We were also joined by the couple from Los Angles (originally Denmark) but we still did not get their names.

At 2:00 p.m. we sailed through the Wachau Valley.

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The countryside is stunningly beautiful. Both banks are dotted with ruined castles and medieval towns and are lined with terraced vineyards.   The Wachau is described as “an outstanding example of a riverine landscape.” Noted for its cultural importance as well as its physical beauty, it is described: “The architecture, the human settlements, and the agricultural use of the land in the Wachau vividly illustrate a basically medieval landscape which has evolved organically and harmoniously over time.”

At 4:00 p.m. we docked in Krems.

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Fred and I decided to stay on board the ship because it would be getting dark soon and it was cool and windy. Before dinner Fred and I watched the Monuments Men movie in our stateroom. Really good movie, and gave us some insight into the Nazi greed and stupidity.

At 6:45 p.m. we went to the preview of tomorrow’s Vienna excursions. Carl West told us we have to change ships again. Following much groaning from the passengers – during which he remained silent – he said, “thank you.”

At 7:15 p.m. we had a traditional Austrian dinner. We had our first schnitzle with potatoes, a small piece of chicken, wurst, and dessert. Richard, Judy and Lucy ate with us.

We sailed to Vienna overnight.

 

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

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The Cruise of a Lifetime~Part 10

24 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

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This is the day we would be transferring from the Gefjon to the Skadi.

Therefore, we were up at 5:30 a.m., dressed and finished packing. We had breakfast at 6:45 a.m. with Richard, Judy and Lucy, and Danny who is retired military. Richard liked to tease Danny, so we had a lively breakfast conversation.

We had to have our bags outside our door by 8:30 a.m. We were also to have our room keys turned in by 8:30 a.m. We boarded bus number 3 and left at 9:00 a.m. along with three other buses bound for Passau. We rode the bus for one-and-a-half hours to Passau.

We checked into the Skadi. It was essentially the same ship, just a bit older. We even had the same room number, 325. We unpacked our tote bags (they would bring our suitcases later), then at 11:30 a.m. we went on a one-and-a-half-hour walking tour of Passau.

Passau (pass-ow) is known as the “City of Three Rivers.” It lies at the confluence of the Inn, the Danube and the Ilz rivers. It was originally a settlement of the Boil Celtic tribe, and later the site of the Roman fort, Castra Batava. Passau was an important medieval center for the salt trade, the “white gold.” It was transported from the Alpine salt mines to Passau, where it was processed by entrepreneurs called Salzfertiger. The salt imports to Passau were forbidden in 1707, and that trade was lost.

During the Renaissance, Passau became famous for making high-quality knife and sword blades. Local smiths stamped their blades with the Passau wolf, and superstitious warriors believed that the wolf granted them invulnerability.

When fires ravaged the city in the 17th century, it was rebuilt to reflect the baroque character that survives today. Today, Passau is home to 50,000 people.

We were back on board the Skadi by 1:30 p.m. and had lunch in the lounge with Richard, Judy and Lucy. By the time we had finished lunch, our suitcases were in our room, so we unpacked them. We hoped this would be the only transfer we would have on this cruise. One nice thing about a cruise – you usually get to stay in the same room for the duration, which makes it quite nice. This was just a small disruption.

After we had unpacked, we went back into town. We saw St. Michael’s cathedral first,

and then Saint Stephen’s.

It is one of the town’s foremost baroque landmarks and boasts the largest pipe organ outside the United States. Beautiful. It has 17,974 organ pipes, 233 stops and four carillons. All five parts of the organ can be played from the main keyboard, one at a time, or all together.

The Skadi sailed at 5:00 p.m. At 7:00 p.m. we had dinner with John and Denise from California, and a couple from Los Angeles who were originally from Denmark (never got their names). He was a German teacher in a high school in Los Angeles.More interesting sights in Passau:

Remember, we were told that the incomplete “8” equals a “4” – therefore, the date shown is 1499.
A plaque on the wall in the Glass Museum

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

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The Cruise of a Lifetime~Part 9

17 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

Saturday was a sailing morning, so we slept in a bit, and went to breakfast at 8:15a.m. We had our breakfast with Richard, Judy and Lucy.

Richard and Art, our server
Lucy and Judy

We are now on the Danube River. We went through the last two locks on our journey during breakfast. These are the first locks that lower the water level rather than raising us up a level. Most interesting process to watch.

We spent time with the Richard, Judy and Lucy until lunch, which we shared with them. They are such fun people to be with. Still reminiscing about Albuquerque.

Carl West had informed the passengers that we would be able to purchase a flash drive with all the pictures he had taken on this trip. Fred purchased one for us. I had taken quite a few pictures, but thought that the ones Carl had taken would just add to our experience and memories. NOTE: Carl West followed each day’s excursions, and was snapping pictures all the time – usually of the groups and what we were seeing.

We docked at Regensburg at 1:30 p.m.

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At 2:00 we began a walking tour of Regensburg. Regensburg is the oldest city on the Danube, and one of Bavaria’s most beautiful, best-preserved medieval towns in Europe. The Roman Gates of 179 AD are still standing. It was a very cold and very windy day, so we were back on the ship by 3:45. As Fred’s Mother, Kitty Wills once said when we were with her and Charlie in Edinburgh, Scotland, “I’m just about as cold and wet as I care to be!” So we returned to the ship.

There is an area in Regensburg that has brass plaques in the bricks with people’s names and dates on it. They were murdered by the Nazis during World War 2. Their relatives never wanted them to be forgotten, so this was their way of memorializing them.

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Occasionally the Danube overflows its banks, and the river water floods the city. Here are a few markers with dates – about 15′ to 20′ above the river’s normal level: February 1893 and June 2013.

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Oskar Schindler (of Schindler’s List fame) lived in Regensburg from 1945-1950 in the Goliath House.

Notice Goliath's left arm around the window frame

Notice Goliath’s left arm around the window frame

He immigrated to Argentina in 1950. He died in 1974, and at his request, is buried in Jerusalem.

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A point of interest: Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013) grew up in Regensburg. He was the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415.

We stayed on the ship the remainder of the afternoon, since the weather was not too good. We had a short nap, and just rested.

At 6:45p.m. we were in the lounge where Carl West gave us all the information on the ship transfer the next day.We had dinner with Jane and Steve (Colorado) and another couple.

By 9:00 we were back in the room to pack is much as we could of our clothes for the transfer the next day. Because we would have to get up early the next morning, we took our showers before we went to bed.

Some interesting pictures in Regensburg:

Greenpeace was making a statement
A Christmas store
t’s beginning to look like Christmas…
This beautiful wood-inlay table in a shop window
Notice the horse-drawn carriage on top of the sign
Cathedral artistry

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

 

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