On The Rhine with Flo and Birgitt

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Day on the Rhine

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Sorry I made a mistake on this slide show. I put Henrik's school in the mix with some of the Berlin Pictures. You will need to look at an advertisement and then wait for the Smilebox to download. Something to do on a rainy day if we ever get one. Enjoy

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Some of the great food and fun we experienced when we all went out with Opa and Oma. They paid for the entire gang. We had such a good time.

This is one of my favorites -Weiner Schnitzel

Opa and Beatrix

Maxie, Martin and Melanie.

Andreas on the right and his brother Rubert.

Thomas' family is here in the United States. They are having a wonderful time. Here is the link to their blog http://hasisgousa.blogspot.com We talked to them tonight but had a bad connection so we thought we would try it again tomorrow. I am trying to get my pictures downloaded and then I am going to start from the last part of our trip in Austria and print the pictures backwards. Then it will come out in the correct order (hopefully) from the beginning to the end. I am having trouble getting anything done because I am still trying to unpack and am missing some things like camera cords. I'll write more soon. Sending our love your way!! Nita and John

I have added this poem because it is the legend of Lorilei. As we took our tour down the Rhine they played the song of the Lorilei (Loriley). This is the narrowest and deepest part of the Rhine. There are several poems written about Loriley but this one is written by Mark Twain. The picture is of the rock cliff where Lorilei was said to have enticed her forlorn sailors.


An ancient legend of the Rhine
I cannot divine what it meaneth,
This haunting nameless pain:
A tale of the bygone ages
Keeps brooding through my brain:

The faint air cools in the gloaming,
And peaceful flows the Rhine,
The thirsty summits are drinking
The sunset's flooding wine;

The loveliest maiden is sitting
High-throned in yon blue air,
Her golden jewels are shining,
She combs her golden hair;.

She combs with comb that is golden,
And sings a weird refrain
That steeps in a deadly enchantment
The listener's ravished brain:

The doomed in his drifting shallop,
Is tranced with the sad sweet tone,
He sees not the yawing breakers,
He sees but the maid alone:

The pitiless billwos engulf him!-
So perish sailor and bark;
And this, with her baleful singing,
Is the Lorelei's gruesome work.

Mark Twain 1880

WE'RE BAAAAACCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!. We had a really nice plane trip to the states. John and I had an exit row and didn't have anyone in front of us. There was enough room for us to stand at our seats for a while and stretch our legs. It was nice. The Hasenzagl's were with us which made it more fun. We really liked Austrian Airlines. It was almost a 10 hour trip but it went by fast. Once we got on the plane to finish our trip from Chicago to Louisville, it seemed like no time until we were home. Momma and Donna picked us up and then we went out to eat. Although we had such a wonderful time, it felt good to be home. We both went straight to bed and slept until the next day. I hope you will continue to look at the blog. I will be adding more pictures once I get things straigtened out around here and I have some time to download the pictures. I think we took around 800 pictures. It will be a lot to go through. The Hasenzagl family will be keeping a blog of their trip to America. I have to get the address from them. If you like reading blog's a friend of mine has a wonderful blog that I will add here. This is Teri's blog http://overonpigeon.blogspot.com/ I hope you get a chance to read it. She does a great job and is very talented in many ways. Be back with more later. Nita

It is Sunday night in Austria. We are sitting in Thomas' living room watching what else=== The Sound of Music. It is so neat to watch the movie through different 'eyes'. We have seen many of the places where the movie was filmed in Salzburg now it means more to watch it. We are watching it in English with the subtitles in Germam. It is really an experience.
We will be going back to America on Wednesday. The Hasenzagl family will be traveling to Chicago with us and then we will go our separate ways. OH How sad!!!!! We have had such a wonderful time on the entire trip. It is going to take us a long time to get our thoughts together and realize just what we have seen. Just like today, Thomas' Opa took us to a village that was wiped out by Hitler during the war. We saw the remains of a church and walls from the village. There was a overrun cementery where Hitler's grandfather is officially believed to have been buried. Many of the Hitler family were buried in this cemetery. All of the markers have disappeared or have been stolen. I guess the Hitler name has been wiped out. Most of them probably changed their names after the war. It was really neat because we were the only ones on this hill. Someone had been there before us because there was one lone candle burning on the church entry way. I will include pictures later. It was totally fascinating to hear the story or I should say to listen to Thomas interpret the story through the eyes of someone wh0 lived there during that time. Opa was 11 years old when all this took place and he remembers it like it was yesterday. It is a very isolated place and we really had to search to find it and then we had to walk up a hill.(Everyone knows how I like to climb hills!!!!!) It was amazing. I plan to continue writing in my blog when we get back. It takes a while to download the pictures so we will work on it when we get home. We are going back to Vienna tomorrow. (Or as they say here Wien) Tuesday we are going to stay in St. Pölten and pack to get ready to come home. We are looking forward to seeing all of you soon. Hope you will continue to check back. Love, John and Nita

This picture was taken in Vienna. We have seen many of these 'people statues'. They usually stand very still until you give them money. I would say they probably make more money than I do.
These are my famous dumplings.
This is the pool behind Thomas' house. We had a night party.
Well believe it or not. Andreas was able to get us last minute tickets to a sold out concert of Kris Kristofferson. It was absolutely wonderful. We were sitting 8 rows back from the front. It was like he was singing to us personally. He is seventy-two years old and still going strong.

The churches here are unbelievable. Everything is in gold. This picture was taken at a church called Mariazell. It was up in the mountains. It has actually been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Last year the church turned 850 years old and the pope was there to hold the service. This is a place where they are famous for making ginger bread. This picture is of all of us at an Austrian restaurant called Heurigen. This is the Hasenzagl clan. Oma and Opa along with their three sons and their children. They have six beautiful grandchildren. I am going to try to make a page with just some of the unusual dishes we have tried while we were here. On this night I had two huge dumplings filled with meat and sauerkraut on the side. It was great being with our extended family.

THOMAS AND HIS DAD, Andreas
This is a beauitiful village in the Alps where Beatrix's Oma, Opa and Father are buried. It is called Ebensee This is a a picture of the traditional cemetery. It is beautiful with all the mountains and scenery surrounding the area. Beatrix lit a candle for her family.Of course you can not come to Austria without visiting Salzburg, the home of Mozart. This is where he was born. It is right in the middle of the city and is now a museum.

One of many statues in Vienna. Same as below.


Melanie, Beatrix and Martin at a wonderful Austrian Restaurant. This is in Vienna.

WE HAVE ARRIVED!! We are here in AUSTRIA on the last leg of our trip. Thomas and hisfamily met us at the airport. It was a very quick trip and everything went fine. We ate dinner with Thomas' Oma and Opa. It was a wonderful Austrian meal. We are able to communicate with them and are having a wonderful time.

On The Rhine

Yesterday we went on a beautiful trip down the Rhine River. It was breathtaking. We saw many castle's and so much beautiful scenery. This is a place where there are many winery's. The grapes grow all over the steep hills. It was just like looking at a picture. We noticed there were many American's there. The current is very swift on the Rhine but the trip was very calming. We went through a part where the legend of Loriley come from. Our great neice is named Loriley so we found this very interesting. Loriley was a very beautiful young lady with long blonde hair. She would sit on a high rock and sing a very sad song while combing her long golden hair. As the sailors would pass by they noticed her and could not take their eyes away and then wrecked their ships into the rocks or would swirl down into a whirlpool never to been seen again. Their is a statue of Loriley but we did not get a good picture of it from the boat. I will try to look it up on the internet.
Tomorrow we will be leaving for Austria. We have decided to fly because it would take so long by car. I think this will be a lot easier on all of us and we won't lose as much of our vacation time. It is so hard to leave each family as they have treated us like kings and queens. Everything has just been perfect. Hello to all and thanks to everyone who has made a comment. We love reading them. It keeps us connected. Love, John and Nita

John took this picture when he and Flo climbed to the top of the Cathedral in Cologne. This is the Rhine River.
Flo's Oma and Opa with his mom and sister Thea. His dad is in the next picture.

This is the cathedral in COLONGEFLO AND HIS DAD

This picture was taken from on top of the TV tower in Dusseldorf. It was a little scarey!!!!!

We have been having a super time at Flo's house. It is a gorgeous house in a town called Korchensbroich (I'n going to have to check on that spelling). We went to Dusseldorf yesterday and shopped, climbed a TV tower (well we rode the elevator!) ate at a wonderful German restaurant and came home and crashed. Today, Thomas, Flo's dad had to work all day so Flo' s mom, Birgitt, Flo, Thea (his sister), John and I went to Cologne. I loved it. It had the most beautiful cathedral I have ever seen. John and Flo climbed to the top. The three girls all went and ate Italian Ice Cream while they climbed. It has just been awesome to be here enjoying Flo's family. Tonight we were able to meet his Oma and Opa. (Grandma and Grandpa). They could not speak a word of English but somehow we all got through and communicated and laughed together. Flo had told me his Opa was a character and he was right. They fixed a wonderful traditional meal of saurkraut, ham and mashed potatoes. It was great. Tomorrow we look forward to taking a trip down the Rhine River. I'll write more later.

When we arrived at Flo's house they had a huge American flag hanging in the driveway for us. It was a wonderful way to greet us and make us feel at home. Here we are with Flo in front of his house. This was the first night at Flo's house. We sat outside and ate. It was so pleasant. Not at all like the hot and humid weather of Kentucky.
This picture was taken in front of a Greek restaurant where we at on the Baltic Sea. It is Henrik's favorite restaurant and now I think it is mine. The little town is called Neustadt.