"Sand Kerwa" Celebrating St. Elizabeth

This small, beautiful, simple church was
consecrated in 1354 next to the river in Bamberg.
In 1951 a devote member
and beer drinker
decided it was about time the community
remembered his church.
By far not the biggest place of worship in town,
but a special one.

Fifty-nine celebrations later "Sand Kerwa",
honoring St. Elizabeth,
is a five day,
fun-for-all-folkfest
(that's how the brochure described it)
with a beer to quench your thirst.
Local breweries (about 30)
line cobblestone streets with stands
featuring roasted chicken, brats, more brats,
kraut, potato salad, dumplings,
and their beer of course!

Bands from every direction blare out musical tunes.



"Sit down have a beer . . ."
is a festival tagline,
a hundred thousand people did!
Saturday and Monday night
featured firework displays
over St. Michaelsburg Monastery
on the hill.
Carnival rides kept kids happy
along with toy and
sweet tooth booths.
We enjoyed several walks with friends.
(Kellie and Stephanie pictured)
It gave us the opportunity to lift our mugs and toast.
The custom of raising your beer or wine glass
to signify community and
fellowship is a German must!

Wroclaw Poland

Sixty years ago the city was almost leveled
in a brutal, 80-day siege.
But you would never know it today;
many central square buildings were
rebuilt from rubble to the original
Gothic and Baroque style of architecture.There are also many structures today
remaining from the Communist era
that display no charm,
they are just big.





Wandering around market square,
we were impressed with its beauty.
Many well done bridges and the riverfront also are eye pleasing.










Graffiti and poverty are two words that come to mind
when describing other sites we saw.
Old streetcars, broken windows, unpainted buildings,
roaming animals,
and elderly homeless men and women on the streets grip one.
Central Wroclaw is different than residential Wroclaw.




99% of Poles are Roman Catholic.
We attended 7:00 a.m. Mass at Saint John the Baptist Cathedral.
Pews were full and most in their Sunday/Funeral/Wedding suits.
Elderly, angelic looking Sister Mary Poland
passed the collection basket
and thanked you with a nod.

Many Sisters, from varying orders, of all ages, attended services.
A pre -Vatican II style of worship was conducted.
The number of large city churches amazed us,
all beautiful!

Poland is recovering from years of political strife.
Driving back to Bamberg we noted countryside decay of farm buildings.
Villages were stark and stressed financially.
However, one of my most memorable images is of people walking proudly to Mass,
heads held high.
(I've visited on three Sundays)
The faith and welcoming ways of the Polish
will move them forward.

P.S. When in Poland count on someone trying to wash your windshield for a buck!

Boleslawieckie Swieto Ceramiki

The annual five day festival at Boleslawiec celebrating pottery,

tradition and community was a really fun stop for us.
As far back as the 14th century ceramics put the town on the map.
Today distinctive patterned pieces,
either hand stamped or hand painted
(most with royal blue in them)
can be found in homes worldwide.
Many, many people in southwestern Poland
are employed by this craft industry.

An event highlight is daily locals become pottery themselves!
They come to the bath (pictured) and cover up with a thin layer of clay.
Dry a bit, and then parade around as goodwill ambassadors.
Some weren't so sure about what they were doing,
others led the way.

Pottery demonstrations,
a chance to paint your own piece,
great food (candy smorgasbords),
live music, antique displays, shopping and
people watching combined for a
Saturday morning well spent.

Lutherstadt Wittenberg

The story of Martin Luther's life and Reformation history
not only changed the church as an institution,
it also influenced culture and architecture.
As the 16th Century began,
Renaissance thinking was blossoming,
education and art were being sought out.





A monk and professor,
Martin Luther lived in the Augustinian Monastery
on Wittenberg's east side.


His 95 Theses were meant to inspire an academic discussion about indulgences
(paying $$ to the Pope/Church to be absolved of wrong doing,
get rid of Catholic guilt etc.)
Residents of Germany and Hungary
were said to actively engage in the practice.



Several excellent museums and exhibitions
tracked Reformation movement as it spread to various German cities.
We went to numerous exhibits and attempted to educate ourselves.

Germany celebrated 20 years of reunification this past fall. Former provinces of East Germany have seen population loss of 14 to 30%. Decline is continuing, redevelopment is necessary to deal with problems of unoccupied buildings and deterioration of municipalities.

Sunday morning before hitting the autobahn,
we meandered on backroads.
It didn't take long to see the scars of hard economic years,
but yet pride and dignity
were displayed in some well kept homes.
Culturally East Germans have maintained
a love for the arts,
especially classical music.

Seventeen communities in the Saxony-Anhalt region have come together
addressing issues of specific relevance to each.
Their goal being to develop sustainable profiles that give a sense of place to residents.
Most funding in the 1990's to the East went for roadways and core retail areas.



Now intense effort
from those closest to depressed
areas is needed.

Still Rolling Along

With one month left of our European adventure,
our car still not fixed,
we headed north three hours to Wittenberg.
Last weekend driving Czech country roads with windows wide open,
80 degrees and sunny was fun.
Racing on the autobahn at 80 mph plus
(you have to or BMWs eat you up)
this weekend at 90 degrees had little luster.
It's not scenic and my hair blew into one big snarl.

Because of a past negative experience,
(Tom has nightmares about Formula l crew guys)
he declined to pull over at a way side rest.

Only once were we slowed in a STAU
(traffic jam).
Mr. Photography used this opportunity to snap a picture of us.
Since the back had more shade,
I had crawled over the seat for cover.
("Put the camera away honey!" I pleasantly said)
So I guess it's driving Miss Katie now!


Back to the action, we hit the jackpot.
Wittenbergers were celebrating Erlebnisnacht.
Seventeen musical groups performed from 7:00 p.m. to 12:00.
Townspeople and temporary residents (tourists, that's what they refer to us as) conversed, listened, drank and ate until midnight.


A WOW! light and fireworks show was staged from the castle, connected to the Church of the Reformation, amazing everyone watching.


Yes, local citizens were playing with fire on the building Luther nailed up his Theses to.

Maria's Hills

Many of the beautiful

mountains, lakes, hills,
churches and monasteries
that appear in

"The Sound of Music" are located
south and east of Salzberg.

Austria's beauty always impresses us each time we visit the country.
It's breathtaking to see such fantastic landscape from all directions and angles.












Maria marched down the Basilica of St. Michael's aisle in Mondese.
The church, with its baroque altars, was blessed in 1487.
We attended an organ and strings concert on Sunday evening.
Music composed by Bach and Handel was performed.

Castles, Monasteries, Towns and Czech Beer

Aristocratic, baroque styled palaces that are marvels of decadence and monasteries displaying simple beauty are well known landmarks in southern Bohemia.

Rose towns, built by two powerful, very wealthy families in the 13th century, are walled communities featuring beautiful squares. We visited Treborn, Tabor and "the jewel" as it is called Cesky Krumlov. Tourists seek these destinations because of architecture, which was strikingly different than that of most villages.













Pilzen with its famous brewery, Pilsner Urquell, resembled a typical European city. An old town section preserved past glory. Postwar high-rises, common in Eastern bloc reconstruction, surrounded the center.

The brewery was huge, modern and commercialized! (it resembled Disney Land) Czechs would like to enlighten you with two facts: 1. They were first to brew a pils beer, not Germans and 2. Budweiser was brewed by Czechs before it was brewed in St Louis.(Click on this photo )

Bohemian Road Trip

We haven't yet heard from German insurance about the Saab's fate. It still runs (quite well we found out) with a dented hood, no air conditioner, and strong tape supplied by a Formula I crew guy over the smashed headlight covers. (got new bulbs and the lights still work)

Windows rolled down, hair blowing and singing to the radio (YMCA) we ventured to rural areas of the Czech Republic. Tom thinks we got great mileage for two reasons; no air and with windows open we benefited from a drafting effect.
It was scary at times on roads, they are curvy and many Czechs dream of being race car drivers. They tail, don't use their brakes to slow down (a waste of gas) and love the thrill of passing trucks on two lane roads.
Small farm communities are graced with humble homes, gardens, few stores, churches and a fish pond. In the heart of Europe there are not many lakes, thanks to Catholic customs, ponds were dug out by villages to raise fish. Site cultivation began in the 16th century and is still maintained today. A crew "fishes out a pond" with nets once a year. Usually a town celebration follows!
Farm landscape showed signs of Communist ways. Large, empty barns and sheds are abandoned with many broken windows and crumbling walls. Little new construction can be seen. Field equipment from the 1960s and 1970s is still running. Men on tractors had a content look and hardworking peace about them.

Helping Out a Friend

In April we made a trip to Boleslawiec Poland for pottery shopping and a weekend of R & R. Over 40 ceramic factories compete to catch your eye and dollar. Good buys (1/3 of U.S. retail cost) can be found and really good deals on seconds.

Stephanie, a dental colleague, asked if I wanted to join her for a return trip. She twisted my arm, Tom was on call, so why not? I navigated and she drove her car. "Claudia", our Navigon, let us down, twice. First we were directed around a traffic jam onto a road that was closed 20 km later. And then entering Poland, at 10:00 p.m., the freeway was blocked with a big mound of sand. An arrow directed autos off, but no detour signs said to which road.

40 km from our destination and no directions or detailed map. Friendly, helpful Poles rescued us. Two gas station attendants understood the dilemma, came outside and pointed exactly where to proceed.

Kliczkow Castle provided gourmet food and lodging for us. A bountiful breakfast buffet of Polish foods was presented for guests. For those who stayed two nights, dinner could be had for an additional $5 each.

Saturday shopping was intense, Stephanie became overwhelmed and had to step outside. The store pictured above made her see too many polka dots. Artistic display and organization are not the priority, quantity of goods is. I managed to find several big bowls at 40% off! (don't worry I did a wellness check on Stephanie, besides she drove)

Roundabouts, pointing arrows, and a foreign language can confuse one, twice on Saturday somehow we got driving in the wrong direction. Attendants were once again great, drawing out detailed maps and marking businesses. I went in and asked for assistance while Stephanie guarded her auto and/or pretended she didn't know who that helpless American was.

One more bit of travel advice for you. If the car's gas gauge shows under 1/4 of tank , fill it before driving across eastern Germany. No stations are next to the autobahn for about 150 km. Pulling off into a small town, we found no station either. Hopping out again, disturbing Sunday dinner for local cafe diners, I was told gas could be gotten five km. west in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully the station was open for business. The attendant had skipped pork and dumplings going straight to beer for his lunch! Very chatty, a bit too chatty, after filling up we locked our doors and were off!