Paris pt. 3 850 years of Catholicism

Cute metro stop leading to an underground labyrinth
of passages and rail lines

After we left the Arc de Triomphe, we decided to try out the metro rail. Turns out it was super easy! For only €3.40, both of us were able to ride to any single stop on the metro. After learning this, I regretted walking all day. Every joint and every muscle in my lower body was throbbing by the time we sat down on the train. We rode to the stop closest to Notre Dame de Paris and set out to fulfill the last identifiable picture from 1945.

Like many cathedrals in Europe, Notre Dame is the result of centuries of work. This cathedral is one of the first buildings designed in the gothic style, and in fact set the precedents of architecture for many cathedrals following after. It may be difficult to pronounce Notre Dame ever truly finished. This year marks the 850^th anniversary of the church, and they are receiving 9 new bells from the French government. The new bells will replace the bells that have rung in the church since 1856. The 1856 bells were themselves replacement bells; cast of poor quality metal and producing inferior sound. During the French revolution, the bells were stolen from the church and melted down; since that time, the bells in the cathedral have not done justice to the majesty of the building.

The Portal of the Last Judegment
Western Facade, Notre Dame de Paris
2011

The Portal of the Last Judegment
Western Facade, Notre Dame de Paris
1945

We arrived shortly before a mass, and were able to witness the start of the service. Friday night Advent services include several priest and frankincense and myrrh. A warm glow filled the massive space from candles and spotlights; just enough to keep the rooms dim. It is very easy to understand how the cathedral could represent the power and beauty of God to the people.

Notre Dame de Paris

Paris pt. 2 Meeting more famous Ladies

Leaving the Louvre, we decided to go to the Arc, because we could see it from the museum, meaning it had to be close. Lies. Deception. Trickery. According to Google, the two are separated by a 45 minute walk. I think it is safe to assume that this period is calculated without including stops to look at cool things along the way. We were also looking for a place to eat that wouldn’t break the bank, but we quickly realized that cheap food would be hard to come by, and decided that if we were going to have to shell out for lunch, we would do it in style, and would eat in the Eiffel Tower restaurant. Hence, we diverged from our path to the Arc, and headed for the tower.

Still 1.7km away

It looked pretty big as we started walking toward it, but we came to realize, that once again, we had been deceived by its size, and our destination was actually much farther away than we thought. As we walked closer, it began to loom ever higher overhead, and I realized how truly large this landmark is. For some reason, I never grasped its size from pictures, but this tower is 1063 feet tall, quite a feat when you take into account that it was constructed in 1889.

A Couple Blocks Away

This structure is unique in its lack of walls; it’s like the skeleton of building, only made from steel and rivets. We paid for our tickets, including a trip to the very top, and joined the elevator queue. It dropped us at the 2^nd floor, a mild inconvenience for us hungry people who wanted a hot meal in a restaurant with walls, on the 1^st floor. This necessitated a climb down the tower, over 300 dizzying steps. It is very difficult to focus on the climb when you can see the ground below you, and feel the wind whipping around. To conserve space, the levels are built on top of one another, so you feel like you are climbing down in a circle, further enhancing the terror of the climb. I do not recommend this for anyone who is afraid of heights (Hi mom) in any capacity, just pay to take the elevator.

Directly Underneath the Center of the Tower

In the restaurant, we ordered some very tasty food and drank some French wine in France. The waiter was not so great. I think he either resented us for being so young, or was prejudiced against us, and expected us not to pay or tip. Regardless of the reason though, he provided much better service to all the older couples in the room. We were ready to go and trying to get him to bring us our check, when he started hurrying all of the people out of the tower. He was acting very flustered when he asked us all the please pay and hurry out of the building as there had been a threat. Another (American) patron asked, “What a bomb threat?” and the waiter confirmed this to be true. For whatever reason no one panicked, we all quickly and orderly made our way to the elevator. This reminds me of an important point: always carry cash in case the international monument you are dining in has a bomb threat and you need to evacuate quickly. Words to live by people.

PHOTO BOMB!!

At the bottom we loitered for a few minutes, trying to decide the legitimacy of the danger at hand. We decided on the off chance there was a bomb, we would vacate the area, and not die in the pile rubble. Since we had other destinations on our to do list, we picked one that put as much distance between us and the tower as possible. We kept checking back to make sure it was still there, and tried to count the police cars that raced toward the tower. It was strange to walk through the city knowing something that the millions of other people around us did not. As it turns out, it was only a threat, but better safe than sorry. http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Europe/Eiffel-Tower-evacuated-over-bomb-scare/Article1-780349.aspx

Scroll right and left to see the whole picture!

I know its a big picture, but I didn't want to shrink it. Now you can imagine you are there too!

Panorama from the 2nd Floor

Looking for Arches that aren’t Golden, Mysterious Buildings, and Rose Windows

While we have been in Europe, I’ve been trying to track down locations featured in my Grandpa’s photos. I do not have all the information about his time in service, but I do know that he was here in 1945. My Grandma found a little book detailing some of his locations and the action his unit saw, but it stops in April 1945 and I have pictures from September 1945. Grandpa took all the photos, and developed them himself–my mom actually found a letter from him to his aunt, apologizing for not writing sooner, as his spare time had been devoted to developing pictures. On some of the photos, he wrote the city and the date, but others were blank. I started with two easy ones, labeled Brussels and Paris.

                                                                   

Brussels 1945

Finding the building featured in the Brussels photograph proved to be quite a challenge. Google image searcher was not helpful. Neither was googling any combination of the words Brussels, 1945, WWII, history, photos, etc. Following several hours of non-fruitful internet combing, I just decided to start using google street-view to roam around the city. Now, before you picture me sitting at my computer digitally walking up and down the streets of Brussels, I had a plan. From studying the photograph, I learned some important information about the street pictured. First: the street pictured was flat–important because so many of the streets in Brussels are not. Second: both the road with the building and the road my Grandpa stood on, had streetcar tracks, and were wider than normal streets. Third: I was able to discern some of the features of the buildings lining the street, as well as letters on a sign–SAMY. I looked up streetcar routes in Brussels, and learned that they had changed a lot since 1945, and many had been paved over in the intervening years, so that lead was out. SAMY didn’t return any results either. I was left with wide flat streets. I found a couple possible buildings, but when I showed them to Joe, he did not think they were the right one. Even after all that searching, when we drove into Brussels, I had almost nothing to go on.

We were not paying attention, and had left the GPS on silent as we approached the city, so we missed out exit, and had to take an alternate route. This actually proved quite fortuitous. Driving in, I was checking every street, trying to see if any features jumped out at me, or if the building I was searching for lay at the end. We finally turned onto a long flat street, and at the end, there is was, the same building my grandfather had photographed 60 years earlier. The streetscape had drastically changed; nothing remained of the SAMY building or the intricate façade of the building on the left, but somehow the building in the center of the picture remained unchanged. The building was not labeled, and when we tried to go inside and get some information, it was empty and under construction, though most recently it seemed to have been a bank. As of this moment, I do not know the purpose or history of this building: it remains shrouded in mystery.

Brussels 2011

The Paris picture seemed easy; it was of an arch, so I assumed it was the Arc de Triomphe. Little did I know there were so many arches in Paris. By the time we reached the Louvre, we had already seen 4. I was getting a little uncertain about the arch in the photo when we started walking toward it, and the angles did not match up. However, as we moved closer, we realized that the arch had two sides, and my grandfather had taken his photo from the other side. Tiny heart attack averted, and arch photo snapped.

Paris 1945

Paris 2011

The final picture I decided to track down during this trip was a “new” photo. My mom has been away from work on medical leave, and found some time to scan more photos from my Grandpa. I used images.google.com to try to track down some of the more obvious pictures. One such a picture was of a rose window on a cathedral. To my untrained eye, this could any number of rose windows on any number of cathedrals in Europe. Many look very similar to each other, and an unlabeled, 60+ year old photograph of only a rose window seemed difficult to trace. However, google image searcher said it was most likely the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. I compared the photos myself and agreed with that assessment, and Notre Dame was added to our list. 

Chasing History

When we learned of our imminent move to Europe, I told both moms that if they wanted me to track down any holes in the family history, I would be glad to do it. My mom adopted family research as a hobby of hers some 10 years ago, but has not done much with it since then. In the intervening years, the internet has grown exponentially and I now have access to documents she could only read about before. It seemed possible that I could turn up something new, especially with first hand access to documents here in Europe.

Further fueling my passion to research history was our location in the former heart of the Nazi regime. I knew my grandfather had fought the Germans during WWII and I was interested to learn more. When students learn about WWII in the US, it’s not a very hands on lesson. We were bombed by the Japanese, we shipped all our able bodied men overseas, and our women got to work in the factories and to wear pants. In Europe, there is a completely different story told. We do not learn about the two sides bombing anything that moved and leveling centuries old cities to the ground. We do not learn about the atrocious acts some soldiers committed against the German people in retaliation (mass gang rapes in front of other family members). We do not learn that our “spoils of war” belong to the families of the dead soldier from whom they were stolen.

I watched a special on BBC international (one of our very few English channels) and it discussed the spoils of war taken from Japanese soldiers during WWII. Our soldiers stole pictures, helmets, and flags from the deceased Japanese soldiers. This show focused particularly on the flags. Many featured words of love and encouragement for the Japanese soldiers. Now, the US soldiers are working to return the spoils of war to the families of the war dead and to provide some closure. This hit particularly close to home, as I know my grandfather has a Nazi flag, and I wondered if it had the same kind of significance. As I retrace his steps here, I am learning a lot more than I ever did during history class, and though history is written by the victors, there are plenty of “losers” here who remember details we seem to have “forgotten.”

Paris pt.1 We meet Lisa

Where to begin with Paris? Perhaps with its size: Paris is the largest city I have been to, miles and miles of buildings, each with its own history. We arrived by train, with a plan in mind: the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the Notre Dame de Paris. A big agenda, but we had 10 hours and felt that we could accomplish our goals if we moved quickly.

At the train station we obtained a map, and noticed that the tourist desk sold fast pass Louvre passes for 10 euro. Since it was our first destination, we bought 2 and headed that way. Our route to the Louvre took us through some seedier parts of the city, not dangerous feeling, just not as family friendly as other places. We saw our first real-live prostitutes, and passed by a troop of day laborers before entering the garment district where the shops sold scads of buttons and fabrics.

After a lengthy walk, we reached the Louvre, which was packed with people waiting in line outside, even though it was cold, rainy, and the middle of the day. We realized they were waiting for tickets, and as we had already purchased ours, we could bypass the line, and go right inside. If you want to visit the Louvre, buy a ticket before arriving at the museum. This will save your hours in line, which you will want once you get inside.

The Glass Pyramid of the Louvre

The Louvre buildings are a work of several hundred years, beginning in the 1100s, and with the passing of time they grew more grand and ornate. The present layout is sort of like an upside-down U, where you approach from the open end, and descend underground through a glass pyramid to enter the different wings.

Expect to be jostled, and keep a close eye on your things as there are people everywhere and, yes mom, you could get pick pocketed. It didn’t happen to us, but I suppose it could have it we had not been on guard.

Since this museum is so large, it is best to arrive with your battle plan already laid out. You will not be able to see everything in 1 day, so don’t expect to, or you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Instead, pick out a few pieces or artists beforehand, put them on a must-see list, and plan your footsteps accordingly. Also, make sure your must-see list is not too long, as it is easy to get distracted by something breathtaking.

My plan was concise: Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Medieval Louvre, and Objects d’art. Even this list was too long. We were only able to see the first 3 things on the list, and we were in the museum for 3 hours. 

(Clarification: we saw other masterpieces besides the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, just not the items on the list)

The Mona Lisa

Some quick observations:

The Mona Lisa is very tiny, only 20 by 30 inches. This may sound large, but you cannot get within 20 feet of the painting, so it appears smaller from that distance. Other paintings are closer, but Lisa needs extra protection

This painting will absolutely be surrounded by people just standing and listening to their audio guides. They do not feel the need to make room for others, so if you want to photograph it or see it closer, it helps to be short and to have skill throwing elbows.

The Venus de Milo

 Lots of the Greek and Roman statues are missing body parts



 Paintings depicting the lives of Saints can be very dramatic to look at (think severed heads)

Medieval Louvre is a cool (temperature) place to explore, which is a nice break from the other, warmer rooms


You are allowed to photograph the artwork, but you may not use a flash or a tripod, so it can get a little tricky. To accomplish non-blurry photographs, own a decent camera, and familiarize yourself with its manual exposure settings. 

And now, a sample of what awaits you at the Louvre:

Christ Carrying the Cross

Altarpiece of the Virgin

Christ Carrying the Cross

David and Goliath
(I love how only the masterpieces are in focus)

Gastronomic Establishments

This is how all the guide books refer to restaurants. I think it is the result of an interesting translation. I know the word, but I can’t say I have ever heard them used in context before our trip. We have eaten sausages, sauerkraut, and schnitzel in Germany, waffles in Belgium, crepes in France, and Swiss cheese in Switzerland. My favorite I think were the waffles, though during our week in Belgium, I found myself missing the bratwursts that had become a regular feature of our diet.

In Mons, two particular establishments stand out above the rest: the Indian place and steak on a rock. Sadly, I did not take note of their real names, but both places are located on the main plaza in Mons. The Indian place will be easier to locate, and well worth it. The staff speak English and you can order food to go, or stay and eat in the restaurant. I have done both, and I have not been disappointed by anything they served. The prices are also very reasonable.

Steak on a Rock is up the street from the tourist office and looks to be a run-of-the-mill bar, but I promise you, it is not. While they offer other fare, their main dish is raw meat served on a hot stone. This arrives at your table on a tray with salad, potatoes, and a dipping sauce: you tend to the cooking yourself. The meat is seasoned, but I highly recommend the pepper sauce. It’s delightfully spicy without alienating those who don’t like spicy things. And the meat is delicious. I can’t comment on the cooking, as you watch it yourself and are in control of the doneness and dryness. We order the mixed grill because it lets you taste a little bit of everything. In addition to the draw of the food, there is the beer. Dozens and dozens of beers to choose from, each in their own specific glass; I never had a repeat while I was there. A word of caution though, Belgian beers are usually stronger than American ones, and 1 beer in Belgium can have 2-3 times the potency of their counterparts in America.

We bought our Belgium waffles from a street vendor during the Christmas market. These waffles are vastly superior to the ones available in the states. It’s a different flavor and I’m not sure how to describe without borrowing from the Mad Hatter: they have more muchness. 

Mons

Mons, Belgium is where NATO has its SHAPE headquarters. This means, when Joe has to go to Belgium, we stay in the small town of Mons. We arrived at night, causing the place to look dark and a little forlorn. It is an old industrial town, and lacks some of the gothic splendor of the larger cities where we had been staying. Most of the buildings are constructed of brick, which is an unusual medium for European buildings. I will be the first to say that I misjudged it. My first impression was sadness, as if Mons was a town that time was not kind to, and then forgot, but I found my mistake the following morning.

It’s amazing what sunlight can do to improve the image of a place. While Joe was at work, I walked uphill into the town square. It was a hive of activity as workers prepared for the beginning of the Christmas market at the end of the week. Our hotel was maybe 100ft down one of the side streets off the square so it was easy to navigate around the town without getting lost. I wandered around and saw an interesting church under construction, and began to appreciate the differing style of architecture, as it gave quaintness to the tight streets.

I visited the tourist office and received a free guide book on the town and the surrounding area. In 2015, Mons will be a UNESCO Capital of Culture, and the tourism office is hard at work making sure the town is ready to receive an influx of visitors. Construction work is already underway, and many places were closed to undertake preparations for the event.

The guidebook did call my attention to the Castle Park. This sight was open(ish) and in the city, so I could easily walk to it. I asked him about it, but Joe had never been there, so I was off to explore this new territory on my own. I am convinced that I discovered the prettiest place in Mons.

Castle Park is situated around the belfry, which is famous on its own for being the only baroque belfry in Belgium. The belfry tower is easily discernible from anywhere in the city, and it rises up behind all the buildings on the square. To find my destination, I simply walked uphill, and kept the belfry in front of me. The entrance to the park is near a youth hostel, and is up a one way street. I was hesitant but climbed up this street too, and through the gate. It was open so I figured that if the park were closed I could at least use the open gate in my argument, The road led upward between two walls, so the view during the climb was unexceptional. It terminated under a stone building, and before me lay a beautiful park on top of the city. The sunlight at the summit was warming, and the park’s height provided wonderful vistas of Mons and the surrounding towns. I walked twice around the park, reluctant to leave, but it was lunch time, and I needed to be back at the hotel room. Normally, the belfry is open, and visitors can tour inside, and presumably, climb to the top, but this too was under construction, so I had to content myself with merely walking in the park.

The following day I brought Joe to witness it for himself. In warmer weather, I believe I will spend my mornings there while he works, happy just to be in such a pretty place. 

Carriageway Travels

Our GPS will occasionally call the highway the carriageway, and say things like, turn half-right and follow the parallel road. These directions can be a little confusing to follow, as the amount of roads in an area can make the directions ambiguous at best. We’ve spent a good deal of time traversing the carriageways in Southern Europe and there are great disparities between the rest stops.

Two particular examples come to mind as the best and (hopefully) the worst, in Belgium and France respectively. The others fall somewhere in the middle with no outstanding features which warrant your attention.

In France, I found myself in need of a restroom, so we pulled over at the next rest stop. It was little more than a bathroom with an area to park. The sign on the building indicated the water was not potable, and advised us not to drink it. Inside, the women’s room brought back memories of the old chicken coop on my Grandmother’s farm: stinky with years of feather and bird poop residue. The sink/counter area was crowded with trash, and the whole place had a grimy atmosphere. I approached a stall and opening the door found a hole in the ground, surrounded by a sloped metal area, which I assumed caused excrement to drain back to hole, much like a shower. Considering the squalor surrounding me, I was pleasantly surprised when I found toilet paper. A few moments into the proceedings, water began running across the metal floor to clean the hole in the ground. I said a silent prayer of thanks, as I had considered planting my feet where the water was now running, and I would not have been happy with non-potable, hole-rinsing water on my feet. Perhaps the worst thing about this bathroom was the knowledge that Joe had a real toilet to use. Maybe someone switched the signs? Men seem much more adapted to peeing in a hole than women.

In Belgium, we stopped for dinner at the rest stop that advertised its Pizza Hut. We were hungry and still not close to our destination, and as it was Sunday, there was no guarantee of anything being open when we did arrive. It was night, so we could not see the size of the building we approached, and were surprised when, shortly after entering, we had to ride an escalator. At the top was a very large and well kept dining area over the highway. It was designed like a ski chalet with a slopped roof and windows in the side. The bathrooms had numerous stalls and were clean: they even had a Dyson air jet hand drying machine–love those.

Guests had several options for food, including the Pizza Hut specials, or selecting items from the buffet line. Fresh fruit and vegetables were available, as were homemade desserts and salads. To drink, you could select from the usual line of beverages, or you could opt for some beer or wine. Joe and I felt that selling alcoholic beverages at a rest stop was a little odd, as everyone had to drive to get there, but they acted as though this were normal. The food was delicious and reasonably priced, and in short time we found ourselves back on the road.

I don’t think there is any way to predict the quality of your rest stop before arrival, but I recommend choosing one that has a restaurant, as they will most likely have actual toilets. 

Ubiquity

Having spent considerable time in Germany now, I feel myself somewhat qualified to comment on the features of the people that I see most frequently: in short, their ubiquitous characteristics.

First on the list is their propensity for bicycle riding. It seems every German, from toddlers (yes!) to the elderly, rides a bicycle, and the cities have accommodated them by paving special sidewalks (or are the siderides or sidepedals) for the particular use of the cyclists. It is very important to be aware of these sidepedals because someone can come zooming by out of nowhere putting you in danger. Furthermore, the Germans have adapted their bicycles to suit any and all their travel needs. It is rare to see a bicycle without a basket or shelf on either the front and/or back to carry backpacks, groceries, and purchases. Another common option is the trailer. These are attached to the rear wheel and extend behind to bike. Mostly, I’ve seen them to carry children, but there are others for carrying things besides small persons. The child toting trailers have canvas walls with plastic windows, and the kids sit back there lounging while mom or dad pedals away up front, never looking fatigued, which brings me to my next observation.

Contrary to popular belief, in Germany you will not find large busted, rotund women named Helga, or equally large, potbellied men named Hans. Perhaps these stereotypes are drawn from the knowledge that Germans drink on average, multiple pints of beer a day. This is not the case, as most Germans are very fit, or at least slender looking. The overweight German is rare to be seen.

Perhaps the lack of obese Germans is due in part to their propensity to smoke. Maybe the US would have less of an obesity problem if we stopped running all those anti-smoking ads, or if we exercised–definitely one of those two. They may not smoke where food is served, so the inside air is not usually smoky, but outside there are smokers everywhere: even in crowds. Recently, Joe and I were in a Christmas market jammed packed with people, and there were some smoking in the dense crowd. I was concerned that I would be bumped into their cigarettes or they would not be paying enough attention and cause me bodily harm: it’s happened before. This brings me to self-absorbedness–I’m making up words.

This trait actually can be attributed (in my opinion) to Europeans in general. They rarely seem to take into consideration how their actions (in public) will affect those around them. They walk in front of cars without stopping even to check if they are imperiling their lives. They walk in lines and monopolize the whole sidewalk, not making room for others. One woman ran my foot over with her stroller and did not even pause to look back or apologize: just kept right on walking. I know the report is out there that Americans are the rude ones, but in our experience, that has not been the case.

Luxury vehicles: I know I devoted an entire post to the cars already, but I want to emphasize a particular brand of large vehicles. In the states, there are many makers of semi-trucks, and fire trucks. My father will swear to it that E1 fire trucks are the best, but I promise, other brands do exist (if not in his eyes). In Germany, if you drive a large vehicle, it will be a Mercedes-Benz. The semis are Mercedes, the UPS trucks, and yes Dad, the fire trucks. They have completely corned the large vehicle market here.

Finally: beer–it’s everywhere, more common than water. This stems from the beer purity laws enacted centuries ago. Beer could only have certain ingredients: yeast, water, wheat, hops, and barely–nothing else. Water was not subjected to such purification standards, and as such, beer was safer to drink, and drink it they do. The taps in even the simplest establishment would put most places in the US to shame. Good beer can also be cheap beer–the two are not mutually exclusive. 

We see the Alps for Real

Following our night in Zurich, before setting off to Belgium, we drove south another 54km to visit Lake Lucerne and the city of Luzerne. This gorgeous lakeside town sits at the foot of the Swiss Alps. We found it in our guide book and could not resist visiting the area before continuing our journey. According to the city’s website, Luzerne has many beautiful sights, but our attention was focused almost solely on the Alpine peaks rising behind the city out of the clouds. As the sun beat out the morning fog and mist, more and more snow capped mountains appeared on the skyline. It was mesmerizing.

Panorama of Lake Lucerne in Luzerne, Switzerland

Lake Lucerne, Luzerne Switzerland

Swiss Alps in Luzerne, Switzerland

Kapellbrucke in Luzerne, Switzerland

A fascinating site we were able to appreciate was the Chapel Bridge or Kapellbrucke. This covered, wooden bridge spans the river running through town, and was erected to protect the city from aquatic invasions from the lake. The bridge is the oldest surviving truss bridge in world, and survive it has. In 1993, a devastating fire almost destroyed the entire bridge. The bridge has since been restored and is a fun way to meander across the river. Also destroyed during the 1993 fire were paintings from the 1600s depicting the history of the city and her patron saints.

Painting in Rafters of Kapellbrucke

These paintings were on triangular shaped pieces of wood in the rafters of the bridge. Some paintings were restored but others have been replaced with photographic replicas. Still others were left missing, to serve as a remembrance of the fire. 

Zurich

Due to our love of sleeping in on Saturdays, we arrived in Zurich after dark, even later than imagined due also in part to traffic and rainy weather. Common features around Switzerland are tunnels. I think these are used to free up congestion above ground and make the cities more visually appealing. We reached our hotel around dinner time, and set out into the city to find a place to eat. It was very cold, rainy, and windy and we were having terrible luck finding a place to eat. The bars only served bar food, and many places had already closed for the evening.

Kirche St. Peter

Among the sites we took in before retreating to the sanctuary of our hotel were the Grossmunster and Kirche St. Peter churches. St. Peter church dates from the 1200s and has 2 owners; the parish of St. Peter and the city of Zurich. The city owners the church tower, and historically used it to watch for fires. The tower also boasts the largest church clock face in Europe, with a diameter of 8.7 meters. The clock is a testament to Swiss watch making, and has been telling time since 1366. All other clocks in Zurich conform to the time on this clock.

Grossmunster has twin towers that preside over the river below. The church is dedicated to the two patron saints of Zurich, Felix and Regula, whose saint day is September 11; an interesting coincidence I think. The siblings were part of a Roman legion that converted to Christianity, even though doing so condemned them to death. Felix and Regula fled to Zurich trying to escape their persecutors. They were caught and beheaded. They then stood up, picked up their heads, and walked 40 paces before laying down in death. Grossmunster has relics of these saints, and is on the banks of the river over the saints’ graves. 

Grossmunster

While we were able to see the beautiful architecture of Zurich at night, we were not able to locate a place to get dinner; Prada, Hermes, and watch dealers do not serve food. We finally retreated to the hotel to dry off, warm up, and get some dinner in their restaurant.

Christmas Decorations in Zurich

We originally avoided the place because of its prices, but quickly realized they were average. This brings me to the main take away here; Switzerland is expensive! Our dinner was near 100 Swiss Francs, which converts to over 100 US dollars. Luckily, the hotel, parking, internet, and breakfast were free, so it balanced out. If traveling in Switzerland, I recommend staying only a couple days and searching for a hotel that has lots of comps like parking and internet, otherwise the price of your vacation will skyrocket very quickly. 

Confoederatio Helvetica

CH is Switzerland’s country abbreviation because of its full Latin name, Confoederatio Helvetica, which means the Swiss Confederation. The Swiss are famous for many things, further adding to their diversity. Switzerland has 4 national languages: French, Italian, German, and Romansh. Sadly, we know none of these languages, so the increased number of communication options did not help. However, as with many places in Europe, nearly everyone we encountered spoke English.

The Swiss people are staunchly neutral and have not been involved in an international war since 1815. Somehow, they even managed to avoid invasion during both world wars. In adherence to this neutral policy, Switzerland is not actually part of the European Union. It does participate in many of the economic measures adapted by the EU and allows for fluid border crossings, but the country maintains its independence, and its own currency: The Swiss Franc.

To enter Switzerland by car, as we did, you need a special sticker, called a vignette. As handy as our GPS is, it is not stellar at telling us where one country ends and another begins. The international borders are very faintly drawn and not labeled, so they appear as roads. As such, we were taken by surprise when a Zoll (customs) booth appeared seemingly out of nowhere. We did not have the sticker, and had to stop so a customs officer could examine the vehicle. The customs agent seemed especially puzzled by the box of Cheerios in the back until I explained that we bought it on an army base. Shortly after, he realized Joe worked with the military, and stopped searching the car. This may have been because he was finished, or because he felt that he did not need to continue. Stopping actually worked out in our favor, as we were able to buy the sticker and change our Euros into Swiss Francs. Unfortunately, they did not have any stamps so they could not stamp our passports, though I like to think they would have if the stampers were there. 

Not as Black as it’s Painted

 We stayed in Regensburg for Thanksgiving weekend, and were ready to go somewhere else the following weekend; we chose Zurich, Switzerland. We easily booked a hotel with credit card points (Chase Sapphire is everything it advertises) and planned the route. When we visited Neuschwanstein we missed the Black Forest by 100 miles or so, and did not realize until after we left the area. On this trip, we resolved to visit the area as it was mostly on the way to Zurich.

Triberg Wasserfalle

Google helped me to locate a city in the heart of the Black Forest, Triberg. In addition to fitting our only criteria (location) this city had an additional attraction, the Wasserfalle. The waterfalls are the highest in Germany, cascading down the mountainside for 163 meters. In the winter, they close off most of the upper parts of trail for safety, but you can pay €1.25 to hike closer to the fall and its pool.

Triberg Wasserfalle

Immediately after parking the car, we could hear the sound of the water hitting rocks, and it was not difficult to locate the ticket booth. As per usual, we had to hike upwards, to see the tourist site, but also per the norm, the view was worth the short walk. Judging from the labyrinth of paths that were closed above us, there is more to these waterfalls than meets the winter eye. I would gladly stop back in the warmer months to view more of the trail system developed by one of the former rulers in the area.

Black Forest Cake
Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte

After we (very carefully) made our way back down the path, we stopped in a local restaurant for a quick bite of the local specialty, Black Forest Cake or Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. Black Forest Cake is layers of chocolate cake sandwiched together with whipped cream and cherries. This cake, like beer, falls under certain German regulatory laws; it is not Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte if it has not been made with kirschwasser. Literally translated it means cherry water, and it is an alcohol made from distilling cherries, and it was a great contributor to the flavor of our slice. I am fairly certain that the cherries between the cake layers were soaked in liquor as well. Alcohol makes the Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte taste vastly different from its American counterparts. 

Regensburger Dom St. Peter

This cathedral has such a cool name!

Western Facade of the Regensburger Dom

It can be called either Regensburger Dom or Dom St. Peter. Lately I have just been mashing the two names together so I do not forget either aspect of the place. This cathedral, in contrast to St. Jakob down the street, is built in the Gothic architectural style. Its towers rise above the town and dominate the skyline from almost any angle.

Regensburger Dom was built and rebuilt over the centuries, a small church was built around 700, and the towers were erected in the 1860s so it is difficult to pin down a specific date of construction. Despite this range of dates, it is considered one of the best examples of Gothic architecture in Bavaria. The high ceilings with the ribbed vaulting are particular to this period, as well as the cruciform (cross-shaped) floor plan. At the foot of the cross in the entrance to the building (usually in the west), and in the cross-sections are other entrances, more seating, and occasionally other smaller chapels venerating a particular saint. At the head of the cross, usually the eastern end of the church, are the altar and possibly smaller altars. However, Regensburg does not have the characteristic rose window on the western façade, though it makes up for this with many other stained glass windows.

Interior of Regensburger Dom showing ribbed vaulting and high columns. 

Like St. Jakob, the inside was dark, so dark in fact, that I could not immediately read the pamphlet; I had to let my eyes adjust. The English pamphlet was not what I would call useful. It provided a label for the most iconic statuary and some of the artwork, but did not explain any further. Not being intimately related to the scores of Catholic saints, I found myself wondering what these people did to obtain sainthood. I also wondered whom they had buried in the floor under the bronze plates, and why those people were significant. It was not easy to wander around a near dark Cathedral without stepping on (and thereby desecrating) in ground tombs. Not to worry though, Joe and I managed to leave the church without invoking the vengeance of long dead saints and dignitaries.

Apse of Regensburger Dom

A particular feature I found most interesting was the high altar in the eastern nave. The altar appeared silver and was the most brightly lit object inside. Furthermore, it was framed by the stained glass windows of the apse, naturally drawing the eyes toward it.

Back outside, I decided to take some pictures of the western façade against the (lately rare) blue sky. When glancing up at the northern tower I noticed all the statuary was missing. It is probably out for cleaning or repairs, but it was very unusual to see gaps in the architecture where things were missing.

Missing Statuary On the Northern Tower of the Western Facade

From this realization, we studied the southern tower to make a comparison, trying to see what we were missing, but we came to realize that the south tower did not have as many intricate carvings as the north. The statues were not missing; they were never there to begin with! It is very interesting to look at a non-symmetrical church, and for that streak of OCD inside me, it is slightly infuriating.

Schottenkirche St. Jakob

On Thanksgiving, my cousin (Hi Kate) asked me about a Benedictine monastery she thought was in Regensburg. She called in St. James, and I said well there is a place called St. Jakob: turns out they are the same place. I knew it as the building we walk by to get into town with the interesting door. From the (very) little I had read about the place, I knew that historians have not managed to interpret the symbolism around the door and that it was founded by Iro-Scottish monks.

As it turns out, you can go through the intricately carved door and explore the inside. The carvings around the door have been encased in glass to protect them from pollution. The damage already done has caused the stones to blacken. Beyond the 8 inch-thick wooden door was a modest cathedral.

The current structure was built between 1175 and 1180. The architectural style is Romanesque, so it is less intricate and detailed like gothic architecture. The church was originally in the hands of Irish monks, but then it passed onto Scottish monks in 1577. In German, Schottenkirche refers to Ireland and Scotland together, even though it looks as it only means Scottish. In 1862 the monks left and the Schottenkirche became a seminary school.

Even though we visited during the day, inside was very dark. The windows were small and there were no lights, but I imagined that during services, the place would be lit up with candles and it would be very beautiful inside. Along the walls were paintings and carvings venerating Saints. The pillars supporting the high, ribbed ceiling came down amongst the weathered, wooden pews in some places.

Around the altar were intricately carved wooden benches and chairs of a very dark wood, maybe mahogany. Beyond this area was the apse featuring stained glass a golden painted domed roof. I can only imagine the beauty that candlelight would add to this place.


P.S. Read the comments attached to this article for further insight on the Irish involved in this Benedictine monastery.