tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3793275668260203962024-03-14T03:11:53.735+01:00ROWDY IN GERMANYSandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.comBlogger195125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-4375037178349100182013-02-14T21:05:00.000+01:002013-02-14T23:18:44.938+01:00Last TripWe've had a little technical difficulty with our blog here on RowdyInGermany.com. But now we're up and running again just in time to show you our last trip in Germany. So, here it is.<br />
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Well, it's come to this. Our last trip in Europe during our stay in Germany. Where to go? That's pretty easy for Jeff and I, our favorite city in all of Europe, Munich!! Yes, we've been there plenty of times before over the last couple years; just to be there, to pick up a new car, to be a part of a number of different beer festivals, with friends, with family and by ourselves. Every trip to Munich since we first visited the city in 1984 has been wonderful and that's what we got on this, our last trip.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Thursday, 17 January 2013</strong></span></div>
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<strong>We're in Mannheim after the train from Kaiserslautern. There's our train, the ICE 515, the high speed train to Munich. </strong><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-19qzhL8DZeU/UQ1oFD5OTEI/AAAAAAAALGY/8TeD7DXSPv0/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-19qzhL8DZeU/UQ1oFD5OTEI/AAAAAAAALGY/8TeD7DXSPv0/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+006.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>We're on board sitting in 1st class right behind the train's engineer; Jeff and I in a compartment of eight seats, all by ourselves. When you're on a train going over a hundred miles an hour what's the one thing that can make it even better? A beer!!</strong><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nWZuzCGQh4E/UQ1oFFT1GnI/AAAAAAAALGU/UYNnlTGFPFE/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nWZuzCGQh4E/UQ1oFFT1GnI/AAAAAAAALGU/UYNnlTGFPFE/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+007.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>Along the way to Munich we made stops in Stuttgart, Ulm and Augsburg. Each stop was ve</strong><strong>ry quick and efficient, only 3-5 minutes. Here's the weather we saw all day; very steady flurries. Obviously, we're in Ulm.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KfblzozJZ9U/UQ1oICUuweI/AAAAAAAALGo/fL9wb41gLm8/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KfblzozJZ9U/UQ1oICUuweI/AAAAAAAALGo/fL9wb41gLm8/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+010.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>From the train station here's an image to Ulm Minster which has the highest steeple in the entire world, 530 feet. Another interesting fact about Ulm, the home town of Albert Einstein.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FFVgPQ6jMF4/UQ1oJQEPCFI/AAAAAAAALG0/t7bkHmFI4l0/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FFVgPQ6jMF4/UQ1oJQEPCFI/AAAAAAAALG0/t7bkHmFI4l0/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+009.JPG" width="300" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>A video of our train to Munich.</strong><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/K7S-_7990j4" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>
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<strong>See, these things go faster than the 100 mph mentioned in the video above. This is about 125 mph. Later we were going even much faster.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K0dLnquJq4w/UQ2EBu4iZxI/AAAAAAAALQk/_50YpynsYVA/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K0dLnquJq4w/UQ2EBu4iZxI/AAAAAAAALQk/_50YpynsYVA/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+014.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>After we arrived in Munich we immediatly got on the S-8 S-Bahn that would take us out into the Bavarian countryside southwest of the city. The last stop on the S-8 is Herrsching, a short taxi ride to the village of Andechs where we spent the night.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c6XXxOG_1fU/UQ1oWwYlnAI/AAAAAAAALHU/UzcSxs7IsyI/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c6XXxOG_1fU/UQ1oWwYlnAI/AAAAAAAALHU/UzcSxs7IsyI/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+036.JPG" width="300" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>In all of Germany and Europe, this is one of our favorite hotels. the Hotel zur Post Garni in Andechs.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SCLbqnsq1As/UQ1oZwyYaMI/AAAAAAAALHk/vjYcA1E1sUE/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SCLbqnsq1As/UQ1oZwyYaMI/AAAAAAAALHk/vjYcA1E1sUE/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+019.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>Our room was on the top floor and a self-contained apartment with kitchenette complete with dishes and utensils.</strong><br />
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<strong>The other side of our apartment/room at zur Post in Andechs.</strong><br />
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<strong>Out nest is built at the hotel and we're on our way to Kloster Andechs, one of our favorite places in Germany.</strong><br />
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<strong>After a short, beautiful walk through the village of Andechs, there it is on the "holy mountain," Kloster Andechs.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TnvsDIMnn1g/UQ1okOIwJ3I/AAAAAAAALII/vOkaRqanyg0/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TnvsDIMnn1g/UQ1okOIwJ3I/AAAAAAAALII/vOkaRqanyg0/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+020.JPG" width="300" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>Oh yeah, it's snowing outside and we're inside the warm, welcoming environ of the Kloster Andechs brauhaus. Here's Jeff with two Kloster Andechs Doppelbock Dunkels; world's best beer.</strong></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mTlNaoaTT9s/UQ1okfkdnPI/AAAAAAAALIM/2OOM4FegU1k/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mTlNaoaTT9s/UQ1okfkdnPI/AAAAAAAALIM/2OOM4FegU1k/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+023.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>Gotta have a BAB, Big Ass Brezel, too.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PsS9LTJZK_8/UQ2KvAu0miI/AAAAAAAALQs/Qw-YWzeEIlU/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PsS9LTJZK_8/UQ2KvAu0miI/AAAAAAAALQs/Qw-YWzeEIlU/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+024.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>Now it's time for the main meal, Schwein Haxen!!!</strong><br />
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<strong>The ultimate meal, Schwein Haxen, German potato salad with a liter of Kloster Andechs Doppelbock Dunkle.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5m9BSy4GEzs/UQ1orcb92iI/AAAAAAAALIs/V7LfG06-55c/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5m9BSy4GEzs/UQ1orcb92iI/AAAAAAAALIs/V7LfG06-55c/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+026.JPG" width="300" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>Above one of the tables in the Kloster Andechs brauhaus is this sign claiming this to be a Stammtisch, a local's table. This one, however, is only reserved for locals on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday (Mi + Sa + Su) after 6PM (ab 18 uhr). Gotta have a picture of Ludwig II to make it official.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j0HqqqQH1ko/UQ1owKyhJcI/AAAAAAAALI0/x0DpTvs7exU/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j0HqqqQH1ko/UQ1owKyhJcI/AAAAAAAALI0/x0DpTvs7exU/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+028.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>Outside it was a winter wonderland, amazingly beautiful. Prost!!</strong><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wE71kaIPK3M/UQ1owsr719I/AAAAAAAALI8/K-ud7eACgF0/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wE71kaIPK3M/UQ1owsr719I/AAAAAAAALI8/K-ud7eACgF0/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+031.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>Back inside the warm and inviting Kloster Andechs brauhaus. It's a long, narrow room that comes alive as the night wears on.</strong></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E__t_TD3PzY/UQ1o1yy9qVI/AAAAAAAALJQ/k21RX9yRlBI/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E__t_TD3PzY/UQ1o1yy9qVI/AAAAAAAALJQ/k21RX9yRlBI/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+033.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>The heart of the Kloster Ancechs brauhaus. Pay for your beer on the right, pick it up fresh poured on the left.</strong><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Friday, 18 January 2013</strong></span></div>
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<strong>Next morning we're on our way back into Munich. It snowed all night and continued into the morning. This is from our hotel room.</strong><br />
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<strong>Back in Herrsching, we're waiting for the train back into Munich. Here's a typical German mailman's delivery bicycle. These bikes aren't just something used in the quaint villages of Bavaria. They're used by the German postal service across the country; big cities, towns and villages.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v4O_jeKi_oM/UQ1o6FkTAhI/AAAAAAAALJc/mnDWC6GS1Q8/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v4O_jeKi_oM/UQ1o6FkTAhI/AAAAAAAALJc/mnDWC6GS1Q8/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+037.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>As you can see by this clock outside the Herrsching train station, in this part of Bavaria, Kloster Andechs is king.</strong><br />
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<strong>We're checked into our Munich hotel so it's time. Yes, the <span style="font-family: inherit;">Hofbräuhaus</span>!! </strong></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UPGejd8uC10/UQ1pSwqwEqI/AAAAAAAALJ4/Uk6QEAnxts8/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UPGejd8uC10/UQ1pSwqwEqI/AAAAAAAALJ4/Uk6QEAnxts8/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+039.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>There's no place else in the world like it, the Hofbräuhaus. Beautiful!!</strong><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ruDbLZXvVOs/UQ1pUoZt0jI/AAAAAAAALKA/xlC2ysIgfyI/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ruDbLZXvVOs/UQ1pUoZt0jI/AAAAAAAALKA/xlC2ysIgfyI/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+040.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>Oh yeah!!</strong><br />
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<strong>The band's unique tip mug at the Hofbräuhaus.</strong></div>
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<strong>Now those are happy people!!</strong><br />
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<strong>Heaven on earth.</strong><br />
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<strong>OK, we can't spend our entire time in Munich in the Hofbräuhaus so we're on the move. Here's a few scenes of wintry Munich. The two domes of the Frauenkirche (Cathedral of Our Dear Lady) and the tower of the new Rathaus (city hall) which houses the famous Munich Glockenspiel.</strong><br />
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<strong>The maypole in the Viktualienmarkt. Although the market was up and running the beer garden was not. Beer wimps!</strong><br />
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<strong>A closer image of the tower of the new Rathaus. In front is the Mariensäule (Marian Column) erected in 1638 to give thanks for the withdrawal of Swedish forces. What the hell were the Swedes doing down here?</strong><br />
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<strong>We've taken this picture almost every time we've visited Munich; Jeff and the wild boar statue in front of the Hunter and Fisherman's Museum.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1kAgEsjpEEI/UQ1ps_Z_4hI/AAAAAAAALLQ/8tyYeBc_8YE/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1kAgEsjpEEI/UQ1ps_Z_4hI/AAAAAAAALLQ/8tyYeBc_8YE/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+052.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>It is a Fisherman's Museum too so we might as well get a picture with the BAC, Big Ass Catfish.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s9aFfg-hjhs/UQ1prtMRVGI/AAAAAAAALLM/P8Vmi9GeuNA/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s9aFfg-hjhs/UQ1prtMRVGI/AAAAAAAALLM/P8Vmi9GeuNA/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+053.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>So here's our destination after leaving the Hofbräuhaus. If you've read our blogs or know your beers you might guess where we are. The JW is part of the logo for one of Munich's favorite beers. </strong><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hLKUmTw_6JQ/UQ1p34sO1VI/AAAAAAAALLc/f7CvwcEwDmw/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hLKUmTw_6JQ/UQ1p34sO1VI/AAAAAAAALLc/f7CvwcEwDmw/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+054.JPG" width="300" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>It's Augustiner. The JW is for Joseph Wagner who purchased the brewery around 1880. We're in the <span jsdisplay="i.title" jstcache="43"><span jsdisplay="!features.embed" jstcache="50" jsvars="$show_backlink:i.linkback&&!(i.lba&&i.lba.cr8Line1);"><span dir="ltr" id="place-title" jsattrs="dir:bidiDir(i.title, true);" jscontent="raw:i.title" jsdisplay="!$show_backlink&&true" jstcache="60"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Augustiner Großgastst</span>ätte, another great beer hall in Munich. Who would have guessed.</span></span></span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DkK_yRUMpQs/UQ1p6wvIO3I/AAAAAAAALLk/741OqLYfYFw/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DkK_yRUMpQs/UQ1p6wvIO3I/AAAAAAAALLk/741OqLYfYFw/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+055.JPG" width="300" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>Jeff and I at the <span jsdisplay="i.title" jstcache="43"><span jsdisplay="!features.embed" jstcache="50" jsvars="$show_backlink:i.linkback&&!(i.lba&&i.lba.cr8Line1);"><span dir="ltr" id="place-title" jsattrs="dir:bidiDir(i.title, true);" jscontent="raw:i.title" jsdisplay="!$show_backlink&&true" jstcache="60"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Augustiner Großgastst</span>ätte.</span></span></span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FPqOlCa6F3I/UQ1p8rX7IlI/AAAAAAAALLw/fkaB9BN8ja0/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FPqOlCa6F3I/UQ1p8rX7IlI/AAAAAAAALLw/fkaB9BN8ja0/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+056.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>Some snobby folks think that these beer halls in Munich are too touristy but, really, that's a big part of the fun. This is our new friend Len from South Africa. We spent a great hour and a half with Len and his wife and two adult kids. Great conversation!!</strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Walking back to the hotel through the beautiful snow covered Kaufingerstra</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ße, one of Munich's main shopping streets that opens onto the Marienplatz.</span></span></strong></div>
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<strong>Winter night in the Marienplatz and the new Rathaus. You can see the famous Glockenspiel in the tower.</strong><br />
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<strong>It's the end of another great day in Munich. We're back at our hotel, the Torbrau, right next to the Munich's medieval gate, the Isartor.</strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Saturday, 19 January 2013</span></strong></div>
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<strong>Next morning we're taking a walk through the English Garden in Munich. It's the largest city park in the world. On that island is the Japanese Teahouse and garden.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PlzKTRjA1Vg/UQ1qMoDw8DI/AAAAAAAALMk/vUQJGp13A5s/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PlzKTRjA1Vg/UQ1qMoDw8DI/AAAAAAAALMk/vUQJGp13A5s/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+067.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>The Monopteros, built in 1836, sits atop a favorite sledding hill in the English Garden.</strong><br />
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<strong> Beautiful scene in Munich's English Garden.</strong></div>
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<strong>Me and the Monopteros in Munich's English Garden.</strong><br />
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<strong>The Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower) which is surrounded by a 7000 seat beer garden. Not much beer sold here today but it was available. The Chinese Tower was originally built in 1790 but was destroyed by fire in 1941 after an Allied bombing raid. The present Chinese Tower was reconstructed in 1952.</strong><br />
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<strong>After a beautiful walk through the wintry English Garden, what better place than the old standby to warm up. Yeah, the Hofbräuhaus. As you can see at the lower right, established in 1589.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fBY7PK8SAQc/UQ1uv_CDq5I/AAAAAAAALNg/sdKJksTnhi4/s1600/Germany+Last+Pix+066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fBY7PK8SAQc/UQ1uv_CDq5I/AAAAAAAALNg/sdKJksTnhi4/s400/Germany+Last+Pix+066.JPG" width="300" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>Pretty big, and a very good, band playing at the Hofbräuhaus this day.</strong><br />
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<strong>Awww, the perfect thing for cold lips.</strong><br />
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<strong>The best Stammtisch (locals table) sign in the Hofbräuhaus.</strong><br />
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<strong>The Hofbräuhaus kitchen. It's an amazing and big operation.</strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Sunday, 20 January 2013</span></strong></div>
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<strong>We're visiting the Deutsches Museum in Munich, just a short walk from our hotel. It's the largest science and technology museum in the world.</strong><br />
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<strong>The Deutches Museum actually sits on an island in the Isar River which is referred to as museum island. </strong></div>
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<strong>The main tower and entrance to Munich's Deutsches Museum.</strong><br />
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<strong>There are some 50 areas of science and technology on display in the Deutsches Museum such as astronomy, bridge building, electricity, mining, tunneling and much, much more. But, our interest was the aerospace wing which includes everything from kites to gliders to planes to jets and on into to space travel. I think that by far this is the most popular section in the entire museum. Here on the first floor, in the ship/sailing section you can look above into the aerospace part of the museum.</strong><br />
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<strong>I don't remember what type of airplane this is but it's an original, early 1900's German plane. It was built to very closely match the shape of a bird. Towards the back of the fuselage, not surprisingly, is a beer advertisement.</strong><br />
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<strong>Although there were some replicas in the museum most of the planes on display were orginals such as this Wright Flyer and the Fokker Dr.I triplane.</strong><br />
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<strong>This was a pretty cool display. I sat at the controls of an airliner and all my inputs from the rudder pedals and yolk moved this model plane appropriately.</strong><br />
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<strong>An impressive Fokker Trimmotor. These planes were built in the 20's and 30's and used commercially and by the Germany military. We've seen one of these more than once flying around Germany.</strong><br />
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<strong>Germany's premier fighter plane in WW II, the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Germany built almost 43,000 109's during WW II.</strong><br />
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<strong>On the floor is the very first operational jet fighter, Germany's Me 262 Swallow. The Me 262 appeared toward the end of WWII and was much feared by Allied pilots. Hanging from the ceiling is the Me 163 Komet, a rocket powered fighter plane. The Komet was an interesting plane, powerd by peroxide like rocket fuel. It had a tendancy to blow up on takeoff.</strong></div>
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<strong>A quirky German attempt to build a vertical takeoff and landing fighter, the VJ-101 experimental jet. It's got jet engines at the end of each stubby wing. The engines rotate to achieve the vertical takeoff and hover capability. In addition, it was supersonic. It never went into production though.</strong></div>
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<strong>Museum done. Time for lunch. How convenient, just a short walk away is the Hofbräuhaus. This is one of our favorite tables near the front entrance, although it was a bit chilly this day when the big entry doors were opened. This table is fun to sit at and watch people walk into the Hofbräuhaus for the first time. They almost always have a universal expression of WOW and a big smile.</strong></div>
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<strong>Besides the location of the table we like to see this Texas A&M logo that our daughter Megan, Class of 2007, and her husband carved into the table top in December 2010. Gig 'Em!</strong><br />
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<strong> This is an awesome picture of the Hofbräuhaus taken from our table where we spent the rest of the evening. The band and the high vaulted ceilings put the Hofbräuhaus into a wonderful perspective.</strong><br />
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<strong>Here's one of the Munich locals, the type that some folks say never go to the Hofbräuhaus. I think on every visit we've made to the Hofbräuhaus during the last couple years, this gentleman was there. He and his group of local friends.</strong><br />
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<strong>As you can tell from this video, music played in German beer halls is not Polka. It's German beer-drinking-let's-have-fun music. And, that's what the Hofbräuhaus is, lots and lots of fun.</strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Monday, 21 January 2013</span></strong></div>
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<strong>Time to get back and so the next morning we hopped on the train and after a relaxing four hours we're almost back to our German home and only days aways from returning to the U.S. and our Texas home.</strong><br />
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Regretfully, that's it. The next few days were spent out processing from Ramstein Air Base, packing up, tying up loose ends and saying good-bye to the great friends we'd made over the last couple years. What wonderful experiences we've had and fantastic places we've visited. We hope you've enjoyed our travels, gotten ideas for your own adventures and learned something along the way too. Thanks for all the comments we've received from friends, family and folks around the Internet. It's been so much fun doing this blog and share our memories with you and so, for one last time, PROST!!<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Thursday, 24 January 2013</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Life goes on. We've just arrived back in Texas. Some chips, guacamole, queso and margaritas will help sooth the European separation anxiety.</strong> <strong>But we can hardly wait to get back. So for now, we're Rowdy In Texas. Bye Ya'll!!</strong></span><br />
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<br />Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-67567960400150662332013-02-07T17:26:00.002+01:002013-02-07T17:26:20.771+01:00How about an ice cold can of . . .. . . DICK.
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Well, actually it says, DICK und stolz drauf! Fat and proud of it! Yeah, DICK translates to FAT or, if you don't want to be too crude, BIG or LARGE. That's a one-liter DICK can of Astra Urtyp beer.<br />
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Astra Urtyp, brewed by Carlsberg, is a beer produced in the northern German city of Hamburg. <br />
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Who knew the Germans have such a great sense of humor?Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-67175502090143982342013-01-15T15:14:00.003+01:002013-01-15T15:14:30.898+01:00German Forest HarvestIt's that time of year in Germany. Logging season. There are vast forests across much of the country and a significant portion of those are huge pine forests with very tall, straight trees. Actually, there's logging that goes on all year, but during the winter months, when the undergrowth has gone dormant and the deciduous leaves have fallen, it's much easier to see the work that is ongoing. <br />
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German's use pine extensively in their buildings. They love pine tables, chairs, benches, floors, walls and ceilings, so they use lots of it and there's always a huge demand for pine products across the country. Although they harvest a tremendous amount of pine each year German's also tenderly care for their forests and replenish them with millions of new pine saplings each year.<br />
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<strong>This is a typical pile of logs, not far from our house, that's waiting to be picked up and taken to a wood processor.</strong><br />
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<strong>Another pile nearby that shows how these trees are meticulously cut to a uniform length.</strong><br />
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<strong>A path through the pine forest left by the large harvesting machines.</strong><br />
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<strong>Just outside Ramstein village is one of the largest wood processors in Germany, Rettenmeier. It's a huge, around-the-clock operation. Most of the pine harvest in our area ends up here.</strong><br />
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<strong>The gigantic yard where pine logs await to be cut into boards, planks or beams.</strong><br />
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<strong>A closer look at the thousands of logs that still need to be processed.</strong><br />
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<strong>In the summer, when temperatures are much warmer and there's less rain, these logs are kept damp with the use of large sprinklers. This time of year though, because of the amount of rain, the sprinklers aren't needed.</strong><br />
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<strong>Eventually those logs end up a finished product in these areas. Covered in plastic and ready to be shipped to some builder in Germany or across Europe.</strong><br />
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<strong>It's hard to describe just how big this operation is but it's certainly needed to satisfy the German appetite for wood and pine products.</strong><br />
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<strong>Not surprisingly, at least for Germany, in one corner of the Rettenmeier operation is this Gertränkmarkt
and Imbiss. The Gertränkmarkt, (drink market) a place to buy beer but also wines and juices and the Imbiss, for a quick bratwurst and pommes frites (fries). Gotta keep the workers happy and when you're working with wood, at any level, a beer will certainly make it more enjoyable.</strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Germans love their forests. Germans love their trees. The more wood in a German's home, the happier that German will be. So poetic.</span></strong>Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-55818411219337649532013-01-08T18:38:00.000+01:002013-01-09T17:16:00.171+01:00German New Year's 2012/2013A big part of celebrating the New Year in Germany is fireworks. We showed you a couple years ago <a href="http://www.rowdyingermany.com/2011/01/german-new-year.html">what this spectacle looks like</a>. The sky above villages and towns becomes filled with fireworks of every type. It looks like a happy war and this amazing display goes on for well over a half an hour. Well, this year we were armed with our own arsenal.<br />
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<b>This is just our contribution to the evening's party. For a size reference there's a can of coke sitting on top of the large box. That large box is Fire-Combat; three connected batteries that contain 144 various shooting fireworks and will be the climax of our event. To the left a huge bag of BABR, Big Ass Bottle Rockets. The two yellow things are those whirling, flying thing-a-ma-jigs. That long box at the top is one single, long string of firecrackers, folded over on itself, so it's twice as long as that box and each firecracker is the size of your thumb. At the bottom, you can see two, red BAF, Big Ass Firecrackers. We're armed to the teeth!!</b><br />
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<b>In addition to being a New Year's party, it's also Jeff's and my going away party. So here are Jeff and I with the other ladies of the night.</b><br />
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<b>OK, we're out in our launch position about to begin. The fireworks start in earnest about 15 minutes before midnight and last at least until half past. Here's Jeff and Linda. You can see Jeff has on his new GoPro Hero video camera to catch the action and a set of safety goggles to protect him from some stupid mishap which is likely to happen given the fireworks and the amount of inebriation involved.</b><br />
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<b>OK, here we go!! That's no ordinary bottle. That's a Moet-Chandon bottle.</b><br />
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<b>After 40 minutes of firing off our arsenal and those of a couple of friends, we're ready for the grand finale. The three battery Fire-Combat. We apologize in advance for the F-bomb, but as I mentioned earlier, the inevitable stupid mishap did happen. This is mostly black but it still shows plenty of what the night was like. There's some amusing commentary at the very end.</b><br />
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<b>Beth, me and Linda. Still bright eyed and bushy tailed at 2 AM.</b></div>
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<b>The next morning. The scene of the happy war. Multiple this times a hundred other sights around the local area and thousands across Germany. </b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Lots of fun the night before. Slow day the day after. Sure wish we could do the same thing in our backyard in Texas. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Happy 2013!!</span></b></div>
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Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-55853923903181538422013-01-08T15:09:00.000+01:002013-01-08T15:09:17.668+01:00Important German Issue<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beer bottles.</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Half-liter beer bottles in Germany are pretty standard. If it's not a porcelain pop-top then your beer of choice here will probably be in one of the bottles below. Both are a half-liter. The shorter bottle on the left, considered an old </span>style<span style="font-family: inherit;"> bottle, is called a Bauarbeiterhalbe (construction worker's half liter). It got that name from the carpenters, construction workers and other labors that would arrive at work each day with a case of beer. You don't see that anymore but 25 years ago it wasn't uncommon to pass by a building site where a new home was going up and see a case of beer sitting up in the rafters. In those times, most of the cases were made up of the </span>Bauarbeiterhalbe. Since it doesn't often get hot in Germany and even slightly warm beer is not much of a concern here, there was no need to keep workman's beer on ice. Of course, it's very possible that a case lasted two, three or four days.</b><br />
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<b>A few breweries still use the Bauarbeiterhalbe, even Augustiener in Munich. However, 15-20 years ago the taller, slender bottle became more and more common until today it is definitely the most common beer bottle in Germany. A few years ago Bitburger introduced a bottle design unique only to them but other than that there aren't many novelty bottles in Germany.</b></div>
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<b>By the way, the beer on the left is a light, rauch (smoke) beer from Bamberg, just north of Nuremberg, in the northern part of Bavaria. The slender bottle on the right is from the oldest monastery brewery in the world, Kloster Weltenburg located on the Danau (Danube) River just an hour north of Munich. </b></div>
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<b>There you have it, beer bottles. It's an important subject here in Germany. PROST!!</b></div>
Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-9504337422503449392013-01-05T16:38:00.000+01:002013-01-06T13:14:20.022+01:00Israel--JerusalemAfter returning to Tel Aviv from the tour the evening prior, we hopped in our rental car and drove to Jerusalem. It's only a 55 mile drive and so you'd think that would take around an hour but the perennial traffic jams around both cities resulted in our drive taking an hour and forty-five minutes. With Jeff's excellent map skills we drove straight to the center of Jerusalem, not an easy feat, and right to our hotel. We were dragging after the all day tour and the drive to Jerusalem. Since we were getting right into another tour the next morning we grabbed a bite to eat and hit the sack. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">27 December 2012</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Jerusalem</span></b></div>
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<b>This is our hotel in Jerusalem, Notre Dame. The full name is Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center. We found this hotel on booking.com, liked the reviews and the location, and really knew nothing more about it. Notre Dame was originally built for French pilgrims visiting Jerusalem. Construction began in 1885 and although the first pilgrims were greeted in 1888 the hotel wasn't fully completed until 1904. It really is a very nice, clean hotel. The rooms are nicely appointed but certainly no frills and one interesting point, no televisions. The hotel is now owned by the Catholic church and run by a priest.</b></div>
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<b>This is the view out our hotel window at the Notre Dame. This is the New Gate in Jerusalem's Old City wall and here we're looking into the Christian Quarter of the Old City.</b><br />
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<b>A bit closer look at that car parked next to the New Gate. He's got two coffins on top of his car. I don't think I've ever seen that in the States. Wonder if they're occupied.</b><br />
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<b>We're with our tour and our first stop is the Mount of Olives to the east of the Old City. Immediately behind me is one of the huge Jerusalem Jewish cemeteries Beyond that you can see the Old City Wall and the golden dome of the Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount.</b><br />
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<b>A closer photo of the Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount. In front of the wall is another Jewish cemetery. The Dome of the Rock was completed in 691 AD on the previous site of the Second Jewish Temple which stood here between 516 BCE and 70 AD. The First Jewish Temple was here too before it was destroyed in 586 BCE and according to Jewish belief a Third Temple will be built on this site at some time in the future. Of course, that view is a problematic to the Muslim world.</b><br />
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">A bit above and </span></span><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">to the west of</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> the Dome of the Rock is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This church was built on the site the Hill of Cavalry where Jesus was crucified and also over the tomb where Jesus was buried and from which he was </span></span><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">resurrected</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">. Construction of the Holy Sepulchre was ordered by Emperor Constantine in 325 AD and his own mother was involved in directing the construction.</span></span></b><br />
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<b style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another significant site in the Muslim world is the dark gray dome here which is the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is one of the holiest sites in Islam. Muslims believe that Mohammed was transported from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and then from here he rose to Heaven, all this on what is known in Islam as the Night Journey. The mosque was originally a small prayer house but was greatly expanded and completed in 705 AD.</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">So you can see just how close these major religious areas are to each other here's the Dome of the Rock on the right and the dark gray dome of the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Al-Aqsa Mosque on the left, both on Temple Mount. Further back is the light gray dome of the </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Temple Mount is at the center of three religions, </span></span><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Judaism</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> Islam and Christianity. Jews believe that Temple Mount is where God chose to rest and created Adam. Jews, Christian and Muslims believe that it is the site where Abraham was directed by God to sacrifice his son Isaac but was stopped by an angel . Jews also believe that the Ark of the Covenant, which held the original Ten Commandments given to Moses, were stored here in the First Temple. Muslims believe, as already mentioned, that it is the place where Mohammed ascended to Heaven.</span></span></span></b><br />
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<b>Now we're on our way into the Old City of Jerusalem. Jeff loved this top sign. He tells this joke from time to time. What's brown and sounds like a bell? DUNG!!</b><br />
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<b>Our first stop in the Old City is King David's Tomb. Most people will remember that David was the shepherd boy that defeated Goliath, the Philistine giant, and would grow up to be the king of the Israelites. He was also the father of Solomon who would also become king and build the First Temple on Temple Mount.</b><br />
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<b>The tomb of King David. Kind of a strange worshiper here at the tomb. He stood completely still except to shrug his shoulders about every twenty seconds. </b><br />
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<b>The Room of the Last Supper. The site of Jesus' last meal which he shared with his Apostles.</b><br />
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<b>Inside the room of the Last Supper.</b><br />
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<b>Another angle in the room of the Last Supper.</b><br />
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<b>A golden olive tree which symbolizes where Jesus sat during the Last Supper.</b><br />
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<b>From the Old City you can see that tall steeple which is next to the Chapel of the Ascension which is the point where Jesus ascended to Heaven.</b><br />
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<b>An interesting gate to the Old City. This is Zion Gate which was built by the Turkish Sultan in the 1530's. When this gate was finished the Sultan decided he didn't want to pay the architect and the chief builder so he had them killed but he buried them both in their own memorial graves within the city to honor their work. Nice guy.</b><br />
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<b>The Old City of Jerusalem is made up of four quarters; Christian, Armenian, Jewish and Muslim. This is one of the streets in the Armenian Quarter and as you can see, within the Old City, it's hilly and at times quite steep.</b><br />
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<b>We're now in the Jewish Quarter overlooking the Wailing Wall or Kotel in Hebrew. It is also known as the Western Wall since it is the west remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the courtyard on Temple Mount. The Wailing Wall is second only to the Temple Mount courtyard itself as the most sacred location in the Jewish faith.</b><br />
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<b>Another picture to show you the Wailing Walls location with reference to the Dome of the Rock and the <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Al-Aqsa Mosque. Non-Muslims are only allowed up to the courtyard of Temple Mount for a few hours each day. Access to the courtyard is only permitted to non-Muslims via that wooden bridge. Non-Muslims are not permitted in the Dome of the Rock at any time. Non-Muslims seen praying on Temple Mount will be </span></span><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">immediately</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> removed. Many Jews will not set foot on Temple Mount because of its extreme sanctity and the </span></span><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">possibility</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> of infringing on the Divine Presence that they believe still exists there today.</span></span></span></b><br />
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<b>The area in front of the Wailing Wall is divided into a men's section to the left and a women's section to the right which is about a quarter the size of the men's. The two sections are separated by a wall called a Mechitza. On the day we were at the Wailing Wall there were quite a few Bar Mitzvahs taking place. Here you can see the mothers, grandmothers and sisters looking over the Mechitza to see the boys undertaking their Bar Mitzvah. </b><br />
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<b>The men's side of the Wailing Wall is quite large and certainly not to be breeched by any women.</b><br />
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<b>In the middle of this picture you can see a boy participating in his Bar Mitzvah. He was one of many doing the same thing that day.</b><br />
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<b>Anyone can pray at the wailing wall, Jew or non-Jew. Jews believe that God visits the wall twice a year and so they will place a small note to God in the wall with the hope that it will draw his attention. You can see the piles of notes squeezed between these big blocks on the Wailing Wall.</b><br />
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<b>Another boy having his Bar Mitzvah this day. You can see he and the men of his family are wearing their prayer shawls called a tallit. Also, you can make out the black block on the forehead of some. Those blocks are called tefillin. The tefillin contains small scrolls which are inscribed with verses from the Torah. One tefillin is placed on the head and the other on the left upper arm which also includes a leather strap which is wrapped around the forearm. </b><br />
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<b>This video shows the area around the Wailing Wall. The second part of the video shows a bit closer view of some of the activity around the Bar Mitzvahs.</b><br />
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<b>From the Wailing Wall we continue into the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.</b><br />
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<b>This is a market street that leads to the Cotton Gate and onto Temple Mount. Only Muslims are allowed to enter Temple Mount through this gate.</b><br />
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<b>Apparently the coffee is good in the Old City. We saw another coffee shop called Stars & Bucks. Even their logo looked very similar to the big corporate coffee chain.</b><br />
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<b>Israeli flags flying in the Muslim Quarter. 20% of the population in Israel are Arabs, most of them Muslim. They have all the rights of Jewish Israelis.</b><br />
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<b>We have joined the Via Dolorosa, Latin for The Way of Grief. It is the path that Jesus took through Jerusalem from the point he was condemned by Pontius Pilate to his crucifixion on the Hill of Calvary. The Via Dolorosa is marked by the Stations of the Cross, nine on the streets of the Old City and five within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Each Station is a point of significance during Jesus' agonized journey through the city.</b><br />
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<b>Our tour group joined the Via Dolorosa at Station 5. This is the point where Simon picked up the cross and carried it for Jesus.</b><br />
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<b>A small Franciscan chapel is at Station 5, dedicated to Simon. </b><br />
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<b>As you can see here, the terrain on the Via Dolorosa is significant and although these steps were probably not present on that day it was a steep climb for Jesus to Calvary.</b><br />
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<b>Station 6 is to the west further up the hill from Station 5. This is where Veronica wiped the face of Jesus with her scarf. There's a Greek Catholic chapel at this site.</b><br />
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<b>Jesus is now carrying his cross again and Station 7 is where he falls for the second time. Behind this door is another small Franciscan chapel which is closed to the public.</b><br />
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<b>Our tour did not take us to Station 8 but we planned to visit that later on our own. Here at Station 9 we are very close to the top of what was the Hill of Calvary and now the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This is where Jesus fell for the third time.</b><br />
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<b>Station 9 on the Via Dolorosa.</b><br />
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<b>The rest of the Stations of the Cross are within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and that is where we are entering now.</b><br />
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<b>The place where Jesus was stripped of his clothes and nailed to the cross.</b><br />
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<b>The crucifixion site is below this altar here in the Holy Sepulchre.</b><br />
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<b>Beneath this altar and through a hole here you can reach down to touch the actual rock of the Hill of Calvary.</b><br />
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<b>Nearby is this stone where Jesus was laid after he was taken down from the cross. This is where Mary Magdalene anointed Jesus' body with oil before it was moved to the tomb.</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15.833333015441895px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Aedicule is the structure that was built over the sepulchre or tomb of Jesus within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.</b></span></span><br />
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<b>The front of the Aedicule and the entrance to the tomb.</b><br />
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<b>Inside the Aedicule the tomb of Jesus is just beyond these burning candles.</b><br />
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<b>A very moving moment within Jesus' tomb.</b><br />
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<b>We're leaving the Old City of Jerusalem. This is one of the major gates of the Old City, the Jaffa Gate. We're on our way across town to visit the Jerusalem Holocaust Museum.</b><br />
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<b>The wall of the Old City of Jerusalem.</b><br />
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<b>On the way to the Holocaust Museum we passed the Knesset, Israel's parliament.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Holocaust Museum</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Yad Vashem, the Jerusalem Holocaust Museum, first opened in 1957. Since then modern new buildings and displays have been added and the dedication of the the new museum was in 2005. This is the triangular shaped building that houses the main museum. A triangular hallway runs the length of the building with rooms on either sides that show how the Holocaust began and spread across Europe. It uses the stories of 90 Holocaust survivors with personal testimony and stories of the turmoil they faced.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">As we approached the entrance to the museum complex we saw these Israeli conscripts. All Israelis, men and women, are required to serve in the Israeli military. If you look closely you can see that most of these troops have red patches on their shoulders. That red patch signifies that these guys have been bad boys in one way or another. As part of their punishment, or maybe ongoing </span></span><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">indoctrination,</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> they're brought to the museum to expose them to some of the reasons of why they're asked to serve.</span></span></b></span></div>
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<b>In this area of the museum curators planted trees dedicated to the memory of non-Jews who, at their own risk and danger, saved Jews during the Holocaust. Each tree is for a single person or group with their name at the foot of the tree. One tree is dedicated to Denmark, the only European country that openly defied the Nazi efforts to round up the Jews of their country.</b><br />
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<b>Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish architect and diplomat who was working as a special envoy in Budapest during WWII. He provided Swedish passports to as many as 100,000 Hungarian Jews and placed them in buildings and homes designated as Swedish territory thereby saving tens of thousands of lives. In April 1945 Wallenberg was detained by the Red Army during the siege of Budapest and taken into custody under the suspicion of espionage and disappeared. Subsequently, Raoul Wallenberg received numerous humanitarian honors and became an honorary citizen of the United States, Canada, Hungary and Israel.</b><br />
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<b>Irene Sendler was a Polish Catholic social worker who worked with the Polish underground during the WWII. She, along with others, was able to smuggle 2500 children out of the Warsaw ghetto, giving them false identifications, placed them with families outside the ghetto and documented all their names and families for after the war. She was captured and tortured and sentenced to death but was able to escape. Although in hiding the remainder of the war her work with the ghetto children continued. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize in 2007 but, on that year, Al Gore won for narrating a movie. Irene Sendler died in 2008 with numerous humanitarian awards and honors from Israel, Poland and around the world</b><br />
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<b>The tree planted for Oscar Schindler.</b><br />
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<b>Oscar Schindler is known to the world mainly because of the movie <i>Schindler's List.</i> Schindler, who was a member of the Nazi party, was an ethnic German industrialist who saved at least 1100 Jews by employing them in his armaments factory. He insisted that these Jews and their special skills, although in many cases they had none, were necessary for his factory to meet its production needs. Schindler treated his workers humanely and allowed them to practice their religion. Oscar Schindler died in 1974. He had asked to be buried in Jerusalem and is buried in a Catholic cemetery on Mt. Zion, the only Nazi party member to be so honored.</b><br />
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<b>The memorial to the 1.5 million Jewish children who lost their lives in the Holocaust. A very moving presentation.</b><br />
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<b>The Children's Museum was built with money donated by Abraham and Edita Spiegel who survived Auschwitz and were rescued by Soviet forces in 1945. Their son, Uziel, was killed in Auschwitz in 1944. The Spiegels emigrated to the US in 1947 and, in spite of knowing very little English, built a successful construction company and became the president of two savings and loans.</b><br />
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<b>Uziel Spiegel.</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Janusz Korczak memorial. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Janusz Korczak was a Polish Jew, a doctor, educator and a child's author. When the war broke out he was operating an orphanage for boys in Warsaw. When the German's arrived and created the Warsaw ghetto they also force Korczak to move his orphanage into the ghetto. Even though he had opportunities to escape he moved into the ghetto with his boys. When the Nazis came to ship his 192 boys to the Treblinka death camp, again, he had a chance to escape with the help of the Polish underground but he choose to stay with his boys. Even while waiting for the train to take them to Treblinka, a German officer recognized Korczak as the author of one of his favorite childhood books and offered to help Korczak escape. Instead, Janusz Korczak got on the train with his boys and was never seen again.</span></b></span><br />
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<b>The Remembrance Hall has a single, eternal flame with the names on the floor of all the death camps the Nazis constructed across Europe.</b><br />
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<b>The Warsaw Ghetto memorial at the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.</b><br />
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<b>Touring is done for the day. We ate and had a couple beers in this bar just a few blocks from our hotel. Interestingly, it's kosher and here's their certificate proudly displayed near the entrance. However, if you see the date on the certificate you'll see it expired 13 December 2012, just two weeks prior. So are we eating koscher or not?</b><br />
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<b>Before we left the bar we saw this sign on one of their toilets. I guess this says it's for handicapped and one-legged women with no head. That's pretty specific.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">28 December 2012</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Bethlehem</span></b></div>
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<b>So we have a tour scheduled for Bethlehem the next morning and will be picked up at our hotel. A cab driver shows up and says "I am to take you to the checkpoint." We think he means he's going to take us to a central location where we meet up with the rest of the folks on the tour. But no, he takes us to the southern edge of Jerusalem, to the Israeli security wall, drops us off at the checkpoint, tells us to go through security there and our Palestinian driver, Ronny, will be waiting on the other side, in Bethlehem.</b><br />
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<b>Once on the Bethlehem side of the security fence, meeting our driver and picking up our tour guide our first stop was the Milk Grotto, officially the Grotto of the Lady Mary. When Herod heard that the King of the Jews had been born he sent his soldiers out to kill all new born boys. Mary and Joseph fled to this cave to hide. It is said that while nursing her new son, a drop of milk fell to the ground turning the stone white.</b><br />
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<b>Mary nursing her son.</b><br />
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<b>Jeff and I at the door of the Milk Grotto.</b><br />
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<b>The chapel area of the Milk Grotto built within the cave. On the right you can see a camera crew setting up to broadcast the service around the world.</b><br />
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<b>The area of the cave where the Holy Family sought refuge.</b><br />
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<b>From the Milk Grotto we drove into the valley to the area where shepherds tended their sheep during the birth of Jesus. It's called The Shepherd's Field now.</b><br />
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<b>A pretty walk in The Shepherd's Field.</b><br />
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<b>A Franciscan chapel in The Shepherd's Field.</b><br />
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<b>A fresco in the chapel showing the shepherds in the fields the night of Jesus' birth.</b><br />
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<b>Another fresco that shows the angels telling the shepherds of the birth of Jesus.</b><br />
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<b>Below is a cave that was used my shepherds at that time and is now a chapel.</b><br />
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<b>From The Shepherd's Field and across the Israeli security fence one of the new Jewish settlements can be seen. These are the settlements that are causing so much difficulty with forwarding peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis.</b><br />
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<b>Our last stop in Bethlehem. The Church of the Nativity.</b><br />
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<b>A sign welcoming us to Bethlehem with a little political statement included.</b><br />
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<b>The Church of the Nativity.</b><br />
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<b>Across the street from the church is Manger Square which is where Christmas midnight services take place. Across the square is the Mosque of Omar, the only mosque in Bethlehem. Bethlehem has a population of around 25,000 people, about a third of them being refuges. 40% of the cities population is Christian, the oldest Christian community in the world, the rest are Muslim. </b><br />
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<b>The Church of the Nativity was originally ordered to be built by Emperor Constantine in 327 AD over the site of the birthplace of Jesus. In this picture you can see three different entrance frames. The large, rectangular entrance is the original but in order to prevent men on horses from entering the smaller round top entrance was built. Finally, the smaller door was constructed to ensure that people would humbly bow as they entered the church.</b><br />
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<b>Inside the Church of the Nativity. Throughout the centuries the church has had many rough times and even vandalized. Although a magnificent structure, it is mostly plain and any ancient decorations quite faded. </b><br />
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<b>Beneath the floor of the basilica floor are these protected and beautiful stone, mosaic floors. In the picture above you can see where this section of the floor is open for viewing.</b><br />
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<b>The front altar in the Church of the Nativity. Beneath this altar is the cave and birthplace of Jesus.</b><br />
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<b>The actual site of Jesus's birth marked by a fourteen point silver star. You are allowed to kneel down beneath this altar to touch the birthplace.</b><br />
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<b>Jeff and I in front of the the birthplace of Jesus.</b><br />
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<b>Nearby is the place where the manger was located.</b><br />
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<b>Here we are in front of the manger site. As you can see by my expression all this was quite emotional</b><br />
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<b>We're now in the Church of St. Catherine, the Catholic church built next to the Church of the Nativity. The administrative responsibility of the Church of the Nativity is held by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities. This situation has actually caused problems among each monastic members who have quarreled and even brawled over the respect of other's prayers, hymns and even the responsibility of who cleans what part of the floor. Bethlehem police have had to be called to break up some of these fights.</b><br />
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<b>A manger scene in St. Catherine.</b><br />
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<b>Stained glass at the front of the Church of St. Catherine.</b><br />
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<b>At the rear of St. Catherine is this stained glass window.</b><br />
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<b>Within the Church of St. Catherine is this bronze family tree which depicts the fourteen generations from Abraham, through David, to Joseph and finally Jesus Christ.</b><br />
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<b>You may have seen this cross in number of the photos we've shown. This is the Jerusalem Cross. It's seen at most Christian sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The five crosses represent the five wounds of Christ on the cross; two hands, two feet and the wound in his side. The four smaller crosses are also said to represent the four gospels; Mathew, Mark, Luke and John.</b><br />
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<b>A Jerusalem Cross with Bethlehem in the background.</b><br />
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<b>Our time in Bethlehem is over and we're back at the Israeli security fence. You can see just how high the fence is. We're taking the Entrance to Israel.</b><br />
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<b>On our way through the Israeli security fence. We had to get in line with all the Palestinians and go through a metal detector and paperwork/passport control. You can see a round blue and white sticker on my upper right arm; Jeff has one too. That's so our taxi driver on the Israeli side will know who we are and drive us back to our hotel.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Bethlehem was a wonderful experience!!</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">More Jerusalem</span></b></div>
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<b>Time for a bit of rest and some nourishment. Since we had a bottle of Israeli wine we got the key from our hotel front desk to go up on their roof and take in the sights from there.</b></div>
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<b>Really great to just take some time and absorb Jerusalem. The high ground is the Mount of Olives, the tall tower is next to the Chapel of Ascension and the Dome of the Rock stands in front of a huge Jewish cemetery.</b><br />
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<b>So we're on our own now and there's a few things we still need to see so we're on foot, walking along the wall of the Old City. Across the street is this cop. He looks serious.</b><br />
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<b>This is the Damascus Gate, one of the entrances to the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. There a numerous markets on Friday in the Muslim Quarter and they apparently close around noon so these folks are all leaving the Old City.</b><br />
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<b>The immense wall around the Old City of Jerusalem.</b><br />
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<b>This is Herod's Gate, another entrance to the Muslim Quarter.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Garden of <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Gethsemane, at the foot of the Mount of Olives; our destination.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span></b><br />
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<b>The Church of All Nations in the Garden of <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Gethsemane and the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdealene behind.</span></span></b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yS9Nt5GMa1s/UOMFiU-Uz_I/AAAAAAAAKSg/yIaQOKBop44/s1600/IMG_2562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yS9Nt5GMa1s/UOMFiU-Uz_I/AAAAAAAAKSg/yIaQOKBop44/s400/IMG_2562.JPG" width="300" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Lots of signs and arrows pointing to all kinds of points of historical and biblical significance.</b><br />
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<b>Almost there.</b><br />
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<b>Just at the bottom of the hill now.</b><br />
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<b>The entrance to the Garden of <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Gethsemane. Notice the Jerusalem Crosses.</span></span></b><br />
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<b>The Garden of <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Gethsemane where Jesus and his disciples prayed the night before his crucifixion and where Christ was betrayed and taken into custody</span></span></b><br />
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<b>Ancient olive trees in the Garden of <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Gethsemane.</span></span></b><br />
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<b>Inside the Church of All Nations, also known as the Church of the Agony.</b><br />
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<b>Mosaic of the betrayal of Jesus in the Garden of <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Gethsemane</span></span></b><br />
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<b>Inside the Church of All Nations is the rock where Jesus prayed while his disciples fell asleep and failed to stand guard.</b><br />
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<b>We're entering the Old City once again at the Lions Gate, another gate entering the Muslim Quarter.</b><br />
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<b>Our last goal was to see the first Stations of the Cross that we missed the day prior with our tour group. So we're at the beginning of the Via Dolorosa. Stations 1 and 2 are across this narrow street from each other.</b><br />
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<b>Across the street from these two sanctuaries is Stations 1. Station 1 is site where Pontius Pilate condemned Jesus to be crucified and then absolved himself of any wrong by washing his hands before the crowd who had called for Jesus' death.</b><br />
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<b>Station 2 actually is the two sanctuaries mentioned on the brass plate above, the Flagellation Church, pictured below, where Jesus was ridiculed, flogged, beaten and a crown of thorns placed upon his head.</b><br />
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<b>The second sanctuary of Station 2 is the Church of Condemnation, its altar seen here, where Jesus took up his cross and began his agonized journey to the Hill of Calvary.</b><br />
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<b>Along the Via Dolorosa in the Old City of Jerusalem.</b><br />
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<b>Station 3, after a sharp turn to the left along the Via Doloras, is where Jesus fell for the first time. Today there is a Polish chapel located on this site.</b><br />
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<b>Station 4 is adjacent to 3 and is where Jesus met his mother Mary. The Armenian Church of Our Lady stands here today.</b><br />
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<b>Much of the Via Dolorosa was not paved with stone on that day but here, at Stations 3 and 4, the path was part of an ancient Roman street. These large road stones may have been the very stones that Jesus walked upon.</b><br />
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<b>We're back at Station 5 where our tour the day prior joined the Via Dolorosa. It's another place where Jesus' path took a sharp turn, this time to the right. Here there is an imprint in the stone that is said to be the hand print of Christ where, after Simon took up Jesus's cross, Jesus placed his hand against the wall for support.</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The final point of the Stations of the Cross that we did not see the day prior was Station 8 which is where Jesus spoke to the women of Jerusalem; "<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.78333282470703px; text-align: justify;">weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children."</span> </b></span><br />
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<b>Because it's Friday and will soon be the beginning of Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, we are walking back to the Wailing Wall since we've been told it's a very different crowd there at that time. On our way we past the Cotton Gate, the Muslim only entrance to the Dome on the Rock. So we figured we'd see how they prevent you from walking out onto the Temple Mount. Well, this is as far as we got. Two Israeli guards with automatic weapons turned us away. So that's how they stop you, pretty effective.</b><br />
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<b>We're back at the Wailing Wall. I am not in the men's prayer area but just slightly above that where the general public can stand and watch. Shabbat begins at sundown on Friday and continues until three stars appear in the Saturday evening sky. As you can see by the shadows here, sunset it approaching.</b><br />
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<b>According to Jeff, I'm the nosiest person in the world. You can see me here standing on a lawn chair so I can look into the men's prayer area of the Wailing Wall.</b><br />
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<b>As sunset approached, more and more people poured into the Wailing Wall area. Notice the guy in the blue flannel shirt carrying a large automatic weapon. He certainly wasn't the only one.</b><br />
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<b>We hadn't seen these hats the day prior during our visit to the Wailing Wall. This brown, fur hat is called a kolpik and is worn by Hasidic rabbis on Shabbat and other special religious occasions. </b><br />
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<b>More and more of these Hasidic rabbis began showing up for the beginning of Shabbath.</b><br />
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<b><br /></b><b>Eventually, most of the area close to the Wailing Wall was occupied by these Hasidic rabbis, four or five deep.</b><br />
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<b>As you can see, sunset has occurred and Shabbat is in full swing. The prayer area in front of the Wailing Wall was packed with all sorts of folks that practice various traditions and extremes of the Jewish faith. The more orthodox appeared to be mostly deep in prayer and chants while others where involved a circular group dance that approached a party fervor.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">29 December 2012</span></b></div>
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<b>It's Saturday, we're back at the Ben Gurion airport after our very easy drive from Jerusalem. Many Jews do not drive during Shabbath, which takes up most of Saturday, so there was very little traffic to contend with. We're waiting for our Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul where we change to our flight to Frankfurt. Here's an interesting picture Jeff took in one of the airport toilets. Guess the very low urinal wasn't obvious enough. </b></div>
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<b>We're back at the Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul with a few hours to kill before we get on our flight to Frankfurt; what better way to pass the time than with the local favorite, Efes. Wow, deja vu all over again.</b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">What a wonderful, emotional visit and experience in Israel. We are so happy we had the opportunity to make this trip before we return to the States. This will be one of our very special memories of our time overseas. Once again, Shalom!!</span></b>Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-35720656877416218302013-01-02T20:26:00.001+01:002013-01-02T20:26:52.670+01:00Israel--Tel AvivWe'd been planning this trip for six months. Three nights in Tel Aviv, three in Jerusalem. Days packed with tours all over Israel. It got a little dicey a few weeks prior to our trip with high tensions between Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. But, as you can see, in the end it was good enough for us to go.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">23 December 2012
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<b><span style="text-align: left;">Departed Frankfurt at 1140 en route to Istanbul, Turkey where we would change planes and then on to Tel Aviv. The day in Germany was dreary and rainy so we didn't mind leaving that behind. Here's our Turkish Airlines plane getting loaded up.</span>
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<b>Changed planes in Istanbul, Turkey and since we had a couple hours to kill what better way than with the local favorite, Efes.</b><br />
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<b>Arrived right on time, 2010 (810P) at Ben Gurion Airport outside of Tel Aviv, Israel. Passport control was frustrating. We had an Avis rental car reserved. When we asked for a GPS we were told that Avis hires a third party to supply those and that the guy would meet us at the car. Well, that didn't happen, he never showed up, so we headed out onto the Israeli roads with map only.</b><br />
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<b>Well, the drive to our hotel wasn't too bad, just missed one exit and Jeff's navigation skills recovered from that quite nicely. It was close to 2200 (10P) by the time we checked into the hotel and put our bags in the room. So, after a long day it was nice to relax in the hotel lounge.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">24 December 2012</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Tel Aviv</span></b></div>
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<b>First full day in Israel. We have no scheduled events. Just planning on a walk about of Tel Aviv. Here's the view out of our hotel room looking east toward the Mediterranean Sea. </b><br />
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<b>We're out on the Tel Aviv promenade just across the street from our hotel, and there's where we're staying, the Sheraton Tel Aviv. Very nice. But, don't plan on bacon or ham with breakfast. In fact, don't plan on meat of any kind for breakfast, lunch or dinner.</b><br />
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<b>Right next door to the Sheraton is the French Embassy. Quite a fortress.</b><br />
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<b>The promenade runs along the Mediterranean shore and seems to go on forever in both directions. A great place for a walk or run.</b><br />
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<b>A quirky Tel Aviv building.</b><br />
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<b>The new Tel Aviv opera house. Very modern. Strange statues look like two naked guys that jumped out of an airplane with their luggage.</b><br />
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<b>Maybe the ugliest building in the world.</b><br />
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<b>Lots of bars along the promenade in Tel Aviv.</b><br />
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<b>Oh, guess I was wrong. This might be the ugliest building in the world.</b><br />
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<b>Stop signs in Israel don't say stop. </b><br />
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<b>Regardless of what your opinions might be of Israel, who have to admit, based on this, that they are a tolerate people. Here's a Muslim mosque smack dab in the middle of Tel Aviv. The Israeli population is about 20% Arab and most of those are Muslims. I'm guessing there probably aren't any synagogues in Damascus or Tehran or Baghdad. A large percentage of the Muslim world wants to destroy the Israeli nation but they're still allowed to worship within their country.</b><br />
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<b>We stopped for lunch at Mike's Place. This bar/restaurant was blown up by a suicide bomber in 2003.</b><br />
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<b>Fish and chips at Mike's. Take note, ketchup in Hebrew.</b><br />
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<b>Now we're at 16 Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, Independence Hall. This is where Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion read the country's Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948. Not quite as nice as our Independence Hall in Philadelphia.</b><br />
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<b>Across the street from Independence Hall is this statue of Meir Dizengoff, the first mayor of Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 on the outskirts of the ancient port town of Jaffa. Jewish immigration resulted in the city quickly outgrowing Jaffa and today Tel Aviv is the second most populace city in Israel behind Jerusalem.</b><br />
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<b>The Common Market in Tel Aviv. Seemed like most of the folks shopping in the market were Arab women.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fGfi9KRUfLI/UOGmNRY0WwI/AAAAAAAAJ0U/nN-hNX6ucAA/s1600/IMG_2132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fGfi9KRUfLI/UOGmNRY0WwI/AAAAAAAAJ0U/nN-hNX6ucAA/s400/IMG_2132.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>We're back on the promenade and found this place at the top of the stairs where we could sit and watch the sunset.</b><br />
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<b>Sunsets go especially well with a bit of the amber nectar; Goldstar, a local Israeli beer.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OVNgaFZBPJk/UOGmb2fVGvI/AAAAAAAAJ0s/1HwB1U6VEvs/s1600/IMG_2134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OVNgaFZBPJk/UOGmb2fVGvI/AAAAAAAAJ0s/1HwB1U6VEvs/s400/IMG_2134.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Walking back to the hotel at the end of the night we saw this sign. Who knew that Hebrew was such an easy language to learn.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-30WFLy4ue1c/UOGmfasA0OI/AAAAAAAAJ00/MjfSt3Jq9vM/s1600/IMG_2141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-30WFLy4ue1c/UOGmfasA0OI/AAAAAAAAJ00/MjfSt3Jq9vM/s400/IMG_2141.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Christmas, 25 December 2012</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Masada</span></b><br />
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<b>We're on an all day tour to Masada and the Dead Sea. From Tel Aviv we drove through the north side of Jerusalem and then began our descent into the low lands east of the city. It really is an amazing transformation. West of Jerusalem the terrain is green and plush but very quickly after leaving the city to the east it becomes a barren desert. From here on, the drive descends below sea level until we get to the lowest point on terra ferma, the Dead Sea.</b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hvU4I5rVa1E/UOGn_-N-dfI/AAAAAAAAJ2U/JQV9ZJwnvoY/s1600/IMG_2143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hvU4I5rVa1E/UOGn_-N-dfI/AAAAAAAAJ2U/JQV9ZJwnvoY/s400/IMG_2143.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>There's so much history in this part of the world and, of course, these tours can't stop at every point of significance. For example, along the way to Masada and the Dead Sea, off there on the horizon is the ancient city of Jericho.</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QlQwrUqC_CQ/UOGoEPrRdlI/AAAAAAAAJ2c/MOLGEmn8T5s/s1600/IMG_2145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QlQwrUqC_CQ/UOGoEPrRdlI/AAAAAAAAJ2c/MOLGEmn8T5s/s400/IMG_2145.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Here's another one of those points of interest and significance that we didn't have time to see. In this valley, known as Wadi Qumram, is where Bedouin tribesmen found the Dead Sea Scrolls in a series of twelve caves beginning in 1946.</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4tiLHC1P82M/UOGoJKnFiRI/AAAAAAAAJ2k/rWWoSHN9xFI/s1600/IMG_2148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4tiLHC1P82M/UOGoJKnFiRI/AAAAAAAAJ2k/rWWoSHN9xFI/s400/IMG_2148.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>And here's one of our early pictures of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on land any where in the world at 423 meters, 1237 feet below sea level. The waters of the Dead Sea have greatly receded in the last 150 years. British surveys then showed that the road that we're driving on would have been under water 150 years ago.</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EEHaZfRQrxg/UOGoMyaH2CI/AAAAAAAAJ2s/d1YpPpVXWoU/s1600/IMG_2149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EEHaZfRQrxg/UOGoMyaH2CI/AAAAAAAAJ2s/d1YpPpVXWoU/s400/IMG_2149.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>At the southwestern tip of the Dead Sea is Masada. Masada was a fortress and palace built on a rock plateau by Herod the Great around 35 BCE. During a Jewish revolt against Rome in 66 AD, 960 zealot Jewish rebels, along with their families, retreated onto Masada. In 73 AD 15,000 Roman soldiers laid siege to Masada to finally crush the Jewish rebellion.</b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-goxdmS14iJU/UOGoPRAp7pI/AAAAAAAAJ20/yX8n5UxJsAc/s1600/IMG_2151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-goxdmS14iJU/UOGoPRAp7pI/AAAAAAAAJ20/yX8n5UxJsAc/s400/IMG_2151.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Masada is the plateau on the right. The three tiered palace on the norther tip of the plateau can be seen on the far right end of the plateau.</b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6MH9cXxY6Ts/UOGoSwesEHI/AAAAAAAAJ28/K7NFKShgSV4/s1600/IMG_2153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6MH9cXxY6Ts/UOGoSwesEHI/AAAAAAAAJ28/K7NFKShgSV4/s400/IMG_2153.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>This facility is at the base of the plateau and houses a movie theater, small museum, food court and, most importantly, the cable car station that takes us to the top of Masada.</b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TEFYyWbYC-0/UOGoXVVqOoI/AAAAAAAAJ3E/5wpjVpNeqcM/s1600/IMG_2155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TEFYyWbYC-0/UOGoXVVqOoI/AAAAAAAAJ3E/5wpjVpNeqcM/s400/IMG_2155.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Of course, back in 66 AD the only access to Masada was via a steep foot path. Now, a three minute cable car gets us to the top, 1300 feet above the desert floor.</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bp4XzlH5uFw/UOGobm4iCuI/AAAAAAAAJ3M/Ik9FT3JvCYw/s1600/IMG_2157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bp4XzlH5uFw/UOGobm4iCuI/AAAAAAAAJ3M/Ik9FT3JvCYw/s400/IMG_2157.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>We're on the Masada plateau now. Here's the Dead Sea from the top.</b></div>
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<b>Looking back to the south across Masada and the Dead Sea beyond.</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BjK-6pkGpIw/UOGoi-yAv1I/AAAAAAAAJ3c/PPNPXcWetmc/s1600/IMG_2163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BjK-6pkGpIw/UOGoi-yAv1I/AAAAAAAAJ3c/PPNPXcWetmc/s400/IMG_2163.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Masada was a large fortress with walled fortification running along the entire rim of the plateau.</b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jUfVD78AO0w/UOGondnNClI/AAAAAAAAJ3k/DDG0-8-wIB0/s1600/IMG_2165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jUfVD78AO0w/UOGondnNClI/AAAAAAAAJ3k/DDG0-8-wIB0/s400/IMG_2165.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>After the Roman siege of Masada it was used briefly during early Byzantine times but after that it remained untouched for over 1500 years when it was found again in 1842. Serious excavation didn't occur though until 1963. Some renovation has been done so that people can better visualize what buildings looks like then. Any such structures have a black line that shows anything below that line is original, anything above a renovated section.</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5KXSz_VuyaA/UOGosto1NAI/AAAAAAAAJ3s/jo5FF8zHEJ0/s1600/IMG_2164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5KXSz_VuyaA/UOGosto1NAI/AAAAAAAAJ3s/jo5FF8zHEJ0/s400/IMG_2164.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Inside many of the Masada buildings are examples of decorative frescoes. Amazingly, much of the colors are still bright and vibrant 2000 years later.</b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k42gvGhm4M8/UOGowkrLOXI/AAAAAAAAJ30/qN1RZ1iepxY/s1600/IMG_2166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k42gvGhm4M8/UOGowkrLOXI/AAAAAAAAJ30/qN1RZ1iepxY/s400/IMG_2166.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Jeff and I on Masada with the Dead Sea behind.</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G7By4AgsTTY/UOGoz2NaRYI/AAAAAAAAJ38/W5nivhxpvek/s1600/IMG_2168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G7By4AgsTTY/UOGoz2NaRYI/AAAAAAAAJ38/W5nivhxpvek/s400/IMG_2168.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Looking north on Masada across storage rooms, the bath house to the left and the northern palace remains.</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cg0CI_L_d6M/UOGo3aZDPJI/AAAAAAAAJ4E/2RHYHZi7lsg/s1600/IMG_2169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cg0CI_L_d6M/UOGo3aZDPJI/AAAAAAAAJ4E/2RHYHZi7lsg/s400/IMG_2169.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>This was an olive oil storage room. The circular holes in the floor were to collect any oil that might leak from <span style="text-align: center;">containers which could then be easily scooped out and put into a new container.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Um0BKF4_bcE/UOGo9F2eA6I/AAAAAAAAJ4M/Yyni513P938/s1600/IMG_2170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Um0BKF4_bcE/UOGo9F2eA6I/AAAAAAAAJ4M/Yyni513P938/s400/IMG_2170.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>A model of the three tiered north palace on Masada. We're standing at the top level.</b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EXconlS4_80/UOGpBtiSveI/AAAAAAAAJ4U/Wk4ponojC8g/s1600/IMG_2175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EXconlS4_80/UOGpBtiSveI/AAAAAAAAJ4U/Wk4ponojC8g/s400/IMG_2175.JPG" width="300" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Looking over the edge of the plateau down to the second level of the palace.</b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z4Bzl3HTdr8/UOGpGqjhGvI/AAAAAAAAJ4c/vWF0p2NfO8I/s1600/IMG_2172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z4Bzl3HTdr8/UOGpGqjhGvI/AAAAAAAAJ4c/vWF0p2NfO8I/s400/IMG_2172.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>From the northern palace looking south across the storage rooms and the Dead Sea beyond.</b></div>
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<b>Mosaic tiled floors in the Masada bath house.</b></div>
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<b>The bath house floor on Masada. Hot air would be pumped into the pillared area below the bath house floor which would heat the water.</b></div>
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<b>Two millennium decorative tiles on the Masada bath house.</b></div>
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<b>This building housed pigeons that could be used for sending and receiving messages.</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UeQOazVAvJk/UOGpf9g3zeI/AAAAAAAAJ5E/q837izSvUsM/s1600/IMG_2182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UeQOazVAvJk/UOGpf9g3zeI/AAAAAAAAJ5E/q837izSvUsM/s400/IMG_2182.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Now here's what makes the Masada story so intriguing. Once the 15,000 Roman soldiers arrived at the base of the plateau they realized they would not be able to conquer the 960 Jews 1300 feet above them by using the narrow footpaths. So the Romans built an earthen ramp up to the walls of Masada on which they then moved a huge siege tower and battering ram to the top. This is what remains of that ramp.</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rx2LtpnlHrw/UOGpmFdSh2I/AAAAAAAAJ5M/-gE9iy4_Kjc/s1600/IMG_2183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rx2LtpnlHrw/UOGpmFdSh2I/AAAAAAAAJ5M/-gE9iy4_Kjc/s400/IMG_2183.JPG" width="300" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Here's an artists depiction of the ramp and siege tower. After a couple months the Romans were able to breach the Masada defenses but then retreated for the night to their camps below. The Jews of Masada knew that they faced certain slavery or worse and so, on that last night, all 960 Jews were killed by ten chosen men of their group. Finally, those last ten men drew lots to decide on who would kill the remaining nine and then commit suicide. The following morning the Romans found all the Jews dead and all building set ablaze except for the storage rooms. The full storage rooms remained to show the Romans that the Jews had not been defeated because of depleted supplies.</b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lxgdas_kw9s/UOGpr6Dq-MI/AAAAAAAAJ5U/t20OAHRLFKo/s1600/IMG_2184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lxgdas_kw9s/UOGpr6Dq-MI/AAAAAAAAJ5U/t20OAHRLFKo/s640/IMG_2184.JPG" width="640" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Back in the van on our way to some swimming in the Dead Sea. The waters of the Dead Sea, which are 36% salt, are ten times saltier than the oceans of the world which contain about 3.5% salt. Because of that Dead Sea waters are very buoyant. </b></div>
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<b>Some warnings before getting into the Dead Sea waters.</b></div>
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<b>One more meter to the shore line, -423 meters below sea level. Jeff had to swim alone since I forgot my bathing suit.</b></div>
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<b>Almost like being on a float. You can actually float in a foot of water in the Dead Sea.</b></div>
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<b>The bottom of the Dead Sea, at least in this area, has this black mud that is said to have amazing skin recuperative powers. In fact, there's a whole industry that sells Dead Sea products for the skin. So putting black mud on yourself and others is something for folks to do that aren't happy with just floating.</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F_bRAzq91D0/UOGp-QNcgEI/AAAAAAAAJ58/WhGDTtqPAkY/s1600/IMG_2211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F_bRAzq91D0/UOGp-QNcgEI/AAAAAAAAJ58/WhGDTtqPAkY/s400/IMG_2211.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Jeff didn't get into the mud but after all that floating a Goldstar was certainly in order.</b></div>
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<b>Here, on the shore of the Dead Sea, is the only Christmas Tree we saw on this Christmas day of 2012. From here we made the nearly two hour drive back to Tel Aviv.</b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TUeeU-VVu7U/UOGqJ3Ug0YI/AAAAAAAAJ6M/JkkoF6-PwTs/s1600/IMG_2215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TUeeU-VVu7U/UOGqJ3Ug0YI/AAAAAAAAJ6M/JkkoF6-PwTs/s400/IMG_2215.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">26 December 2012</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Nazareth</span></b><br />
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<b>Next morning we're on our way to northern Israel to Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. Along the way we passed this rather wealthy Arab town with near palatial homes. Jeff said the architecture was very similar to what he'd seen in Kuwait City.</b></div>
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<b>Another mosque in Israel. Probably aren't any synagogues in Gaza or Syria or Egypt or any other Arab country where it just wouldn't be tolerated.</b></div>
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<b>Almost to Nazareth. Nazareth was the childhood home of Jesus. Today the town is 70% Muslim, 30% Christian.</b></div>
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<b>A shop in Nazareth selling Christmas decorations.</b></div>
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<b>Our tour guide took us to the Nazareth "Art Center." It's really a souvenir store selling the standard stuff. I think our guide gets a cut.</b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Church of the Annunciation is one of our destinations in Nazareth. The Church of the Annunciation was built over the site where the angel </span></span><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Gabriel</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> revealed himself to Mary and told her that she would become pregnant with the Son of God.</span></span></b></div>
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<b>A Muslim jab at Christian pilgrims on the way to the Church of the Annunciation.</b></div>
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<b>The entrance to the lower lever of the Church of Annunciation. This church was built in 1969 where a previous Crusader-era church had stood and, prior to that, a Byzantine church.</b></div>
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<b>In front of the Church of the Annunciation.</b></div>
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<b>Two large metal doors at the entrance to the church. This one depicts scenes from the Old Testament.</b></div>
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<b>This door shows the New Testament scenes of the life of Jesus.</b></div>
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<b>Inside the Church of the Annunciation. In the center and below is the grotto that was of the home of Mary.</b></div>
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<b>The grotto in the Church of the Annunciation, the home of Mary and where Gabriel revealed himself.</b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HG06j4312SI/UOGsMr70qJI/AAAAAAAAJ9Q/5n6jAiBEzQs/s1600/IMG_2238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HG06j4312SI/UOGsMr70qJI/AAAAAAAAJ9Q/5n6jAiBEzQs/s400/IMG_2238.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Inside the grotto.</b></div>
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<b>On the second level of the Church of the Annunciation countries from all over the world have sent art works for display here in the church. This is from Japan, a mosaic of Mother and Child. Mary's blouse is made of hundreds of pearls.</b></div>
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<b>A video of the service in the chapel of the Church of the Annunciation. Interesting dynamics here. The service is in Arabic. While we were there a little Jewish man walked in and sat down so not sure what that was about. Pretty chapel.</b><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hncMnskdl9M" width="560"></iframe></div>
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<b>Nazareth today.</b></div>
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<b>Excavated Nazareth which reveals the streets and buildings of Nazareth 2000 years ago, the time of Jesus' childhood.</b></div>
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<b>The Church of the Annunciation from the Church of St. Joseph.</b></div>
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<b>The Church of St. Joseph was built over the site of Joseph's carpenter workshop.</b></div>
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<b>Beneath the Church of St. Joseph are ancient ruins. Among those ruins is this Mikveh, a Jewish ritual cleansing bath.</b></div>
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<b>OK, done in Nazareth, we're on our way to the Sea of Galilee</b></div>
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<b>Outside of Nazareth, on the way to the Sea of Galillee, we could see Mount Tabor, behind the tree, where the Transfiguration of Jesus occurred, achieving divine radiance, and where he spoke with Moses and Elijah. </b></div>
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<b>A beautiful valley in Galilee.</b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sea of Galilee</span></b><br />
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<b>Jeff at the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is the lowest fresh water lake in the world and second lowest lake after the Dead Sea. Jesus spent some three years of his life living along the Sea of Galilee.</b></div>
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<b>Here is the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter built on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.</b></div>
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<b>Inside of the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter is this rock called the Mensa Christi, Latin for Table of Christ. This is where Jesus presented a breakfast of fish and bread to his disciples after the miracle catch of fish and where Jesus told Peter to "Feed my sheep."</b></div>
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<b>Jeff and I on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. There is so much Biblical significance here. The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calmed to the storm and walked on water. Here he fed the 5000 with just a few fish and a basket of bread.</b></div>
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<b>Back in the van. Again there's so many sites and places that we didn't have time to stop. We had passed through the town of Cana, now Kafr Kanna, which is where Jesus performed his first miracle of turning water into wine and also near the ancient town of Magdala believed to be the home town of Mary Magdalene. Here's another of the places we passed by, Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount.</b></div>
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<b>I'm standing in front of the ruins of two churches that were built around the ruins of the home of St. Peter in the village of Capharnaum.</b></div>
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<b>There a Biblical verses that tell of Jesus and Peter attending synagogue in Capharnaum then walking to the home of Peter. These are the ruins of the synagogue in Capharnaum just a short walk from the ruins of Peter's home.</b></div>
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<b>A closer image of the ruins of the synagogue of Capharnaum. The lower, black volcanic rocks are from the original synagogue of Jesus' time. The newer, white synagogue was built on top of the original foundation.</b></div>
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<b>Fisherman still work on the waters of the Sea of Galilee.</b></div>
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<b>A statue of St. Peter at Capharnaum.</b></div>
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<b>It's time for lunch and since the Jesus Restaurant was full we ate at the St. Peter's Restaurant.</b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15.833333015441895px; text-align: left;">Well, since we were on the Sea of Galilee Jeff and I both tried the local catch, </span></span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15.816666603088379px; text-align: left;">Tilapia zilli (redbelly tilapia) "St. Peter's fish." </span></b></div>
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<b>Strange rodents running around the rocks on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Our guide didn't know the English name but said the Hebrew name translated to Rock Rabbit. Now that we're home we've learned they're called a Hyrax.</b></div>
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<b>Last stop of the day was at the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee where the lake flows into the Jordan River. This place is quite misleading. It would give you the impression that this is where Jesus was baptized in the Jordan but that actually happened well south of here near Jericho. But, it's still water fresh from the Sea of Galilee and it is the Jordan River.</b></div>
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<b>You think they cater to the Christian community here?</b></div>
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<b>They have a operation here that enables you to enter the river and renew your baptism. They sell you the big white shirt and have dressing rooms for you to get ready. </b></div>
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<b>As I mentioned, it is the Jordan River and just feet from it's source, the Sea of Galilee, so we got a small bottle of water.</b></div>
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<b>Looking south down the Jordan River.</b></div>
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<b>We're on our way back to Tel Aviv and as we drive away we can see across the Sea of Galilee to the Golan Heights. Prior to the 1967 Six-Day War the Golan Heights were owned by Syria who stationed artillery batteries there and would shoot onto the Israeli villages on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. In addition to simply kicking ass on Egypt, Syria and Jordon, Israel confiscated land from each of the three Arab countries including these Golan Heights.</b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">We had a long drive back to Tel Aviv, two hours through the crazy Israeli traffic. Once there we got in our rental, with no GPS, and drove to Jerusalem and to our hotel for the next three nights. Our Jerusalem adventures in the next blog. Shalom!!</span></b></span></b></div>
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Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-90750153914681379122012-12-22T21:06:00.002+01:002012-12-22T21:06:42.580+01:00Frankfurt ChristkindlmarktSince we were dropping our BMW off just south of the Frankfurt airport, with the folks that would be shipping it to States, we decided to take the opportunity to visit the Frankfurt am Main Christkindlmarkt. The Frankfurt Christmas market is one of the biggest in Germany and draws just about the largest attendance of visitors of any Christmas market in the country. So, this is our last Christmas market of the season and of our stay here in Germany. It was a Thursday afternoon so the crowds were quite manageable which made the day there much more enjoyable. Here's some of the images of our last Christmas market of 2012.<br />
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<b>We've just dropped off the BMW and now we're driving into the big city. Frankfurt is one of the few cities in Europe that includes skyscrapers in its skyline. Here, we're crossing over the Main River.</b><br />
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<b>We've checked into our favorite hotel in Frankfurt, the <a href="http://www.rowdyingermany.com/2012/03/frankfurt.html">Fleming's Deluxe</a>. We've blogged about this before and some of the unique characteristics of this hotel.</b><br />
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<b>Here's one of those unique characteristics, the glass shower in the center of the room. I took this picture of Jeff from our bed. Yeah, that's a bit different.</b><br />
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<b>You can see the city skyline and traffic reflected in the glass walls of the building next to our hotel.</b><br />
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<b>The first time we visited the Frankfurt Christmas market was in 1988. We thought it was big then and it was quite crowded. Well, here we are on the </b><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">periphery</span></b><b> of the city's Christmas market which has grown north from the </b><b><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15.816666603088379px;">Römerberg (Roman Platz)</span></b><b> all the way the main shopping district on the Zeil. Here's a cute barrel shaped warm drink vendor. Interestingly, they don't sell </b><b style="background-color: white;">Glüwein</b><b>. Say what!?!?</b></div>
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<b>Another chocolate vendor but here the chocolates are in the shape of tools and other common, every day items. Here you can see chocolate cameras and those light gray items are chocolate handcuffs.</b><br />
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<b>Here we're on Paulsplatz, just across the street from </b><b><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15.816666603088379px;">Römerberg</span></b><b>. Pretty vendor huts.</b><br />
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<b>These paper star decorations are very popular at German Christmas markets.</b><br />
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<b>You don't see this often. Hand frosting </b><b>their ginger bread cookies.</b><br />
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<b>Obligatory merry-go-round in the Paulsplatz. In the background is Wagner Honighaus (honey house). They build that house just for the Christmas market. Obviously, they sell all sorts of honey products including bee's wax candles and that sort of thing.</b><br />
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<b>Here we're crossing the street from the Paulsplatz into the </b><b><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15.816666603088379px;">Römerberg,</span></b><b> the main square of Frankfurt's old town.</b><br />
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<b>Once we're into the <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15.833333015441895px;">Römerberg </span></span>we're immediately confronted by Jeff's krytonite, the dreaded Kr</b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>ä</b></span></span><b>uterbonbons. These vendors are at every German festival. These are strong liquorice or anise flavored candies and Jeff finds the smell quite repugnant. </b><br />
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<b>This area was almost completely destroyed during the war. These six buildings were reconstructed from 1981-1984 and make a magnificent back ground for the Frankfurt Christmas market.</b><br />
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<b>Prune people with walnut heads. Just what everyone wants for Christmas.</b><br />
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<b>Not just any merry-go-round in the <span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15.816666603088379px;">Römerberg. This pretty one is a double-decker.</span></b><br />
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<b>Incredibly colorful Christmas market in Frankfurt with the beautiful rebuilt half-timbered buildings.</b><br />
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<b>The Frankfurt Christmas market has expanded all the way south to the Main River.</b><br />
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<b>What says Christmas more in Germany than the Mexikanisch (Mexican) vendor. Tacos anyone?</b><br />
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<b>As always, the sausage vendor is a popular place at any German festival market.</b><br />
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<b>Again, what would put you in the Christmas spirit more than Hot Africa's Christmas Circus?</b><br />
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<b>Never too cold for a bit of the amber nectar. We stopped at this vendor for a Carolus Doppelbock der Stark, a Belgium dark beer.</b><br />
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<b>Me too.</b><br />
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<b>They brought their Christmas tree all the way from Bavaria.</b><br />
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<b>Another pretty view of the Frankfurt Christmas market in the old town </b><b><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15.816666603088379px;">Römerberg.</span></b><br />
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<b style="background-color: white;">It's evening and we're walking back to the hotel. Almost forgot, gotta get a Glüwein. It's the last one of the season. As always, tasty and warm.</b><br />
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<b>Just north of the Zeil, Frankfurt's main shopping district, is our hotel, the Fleming's Deluxe. That's it with the yellow light top floor just across the street from the<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Eschenheimer Turm, one of Frankfurt's medieval city gates.</span></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Well, that's it. Our German Christmas market season is over. We hit some big city markets and a couple of small ones this year but they all shared one thing in common, fun and </span></b><b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Glüwein.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">We're flying out of the country for Christmas. More on that when we return. Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!!</span></b></div>
<br />Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-60746689162380237392012-12-22T10:31:00.000+01:002012-12-22T10:31:42.567+01:00Freinsheim Christmas MarketWe visited <a href="http://www.rowdyingermany.com/2012/04/freinsheim.html">Freinsheim </a>for their winefest back in April of this year. We had great fun that day and have been looking forward to their Christmas market ever since. The Freinsheim Christmas market runs through the entire Advent season but is only open on Saturday and Sunday during that period.<br />
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Freinsheim is just north of Bad Durkheim, a bit east of the <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Deutsche Weinstraße</span></span> (German Wine Road). It's one of the many Rhineland-Pfalz vintner towns in this part of Germany. So, this was our final stop last weekend after visiting Karlsruhe and the Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum.<br />
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<b>Today Freinsheim is a town of about 5000 people and has a long history dating back to medieval times. These are the family crests on one of the hotels in the city center. You can see here they date back to 1588. </b><br />
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<b>Pretty half-timbered house on our walk into the town center of Freinsheim.</b><br />
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<b>Pleasant tunneld passageway in Freinsheim.</b><br />
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<b>A wonderfully ornate sign for a tobacco store in Freinsheim. Even advertises in iron that they sell lottery tickets, LOTTO.</b><br />
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<b>More well maintained medieval buildings near the town center.</b><br />
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<b>Christmas tree and church steeple in the Freinsheim town square.</b><br />
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<b>Freinsheim children singing a familiar Christmas carol. Even though they're little, the kids sang most of it in English which we got a bit of at the beginning of this video.</b><br />
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<b>Christmas market vendors along a quaint street in Freinsheim leading to the cities medieval gate and wall.</b><br />
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<b>A really cute little house up the steps from the city's walled tower.</b><br />
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<b>More Christmas market vendor with the town wall just beyond. The Freinsheim wall dates back to 1514.</b></div>
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<b>The Freinsheim tower looking back into the town.</b><br />
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<b>The town gate through their 1514 wall.</b><br />
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<b>Kind of a strange keystone over the archway of one of the town's homes; a Asian man with a big Brezel (pretzel) on his shoulders.</b><br />
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<b>One of the side streets in Freinsheim with a few vendors. Oh, and there's the required kids ride in the back.</b><br />
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<b>Yup, gotta get a </b><b>Gl<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">ü</span>wein</b><b>.</b><br />
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<b>Oh yeah, if you want a little something in your </b><b>Gl<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">ü</span>wein</b><b>, they can help you out. Pimp your </b><b>Gl<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">ü</span>wein</b><b>.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">That's the end of our adventures last weekend. Because we move back to the States next month we realize that we need to start an acclimation program. So, Sunday we pretty much laid around and watched the Vikings stomp on the Rams. Although we did have some good German beer during the game we probably should have had some Coors Light or Rolling Rock. Well, you gotta be careful not to take this acclimation stuff to extremes.</span></b>Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-82872856751143358062012-12-18T17:28:00.000+01:002012-12-18T17:31:48.401+01:00Sinsheim Auto & Technik MuseumAfter our Friday day and evening in Karlsruhe we made the short half hour drive to Sinsheim. Our reason for visiting Sinsheim is their Auto & Technik (Techinical) Museum. Sinsheim is in the German state of Baden-Wurttenberg, part of the Rhine Neckar region, just a half hour southeast of Heidelberg. We've driven by Sinsheim and the museum on the A-6 at least fifty times on our way to or from Munich. In the past we were always in a hurry to get to where we were going and looked at the museum from the autobahn with a bit of passing curiosity However, since we had been in Karlsruhe the day prior and so close we decided it was time to visit the Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum and we're certainly glad we did!<br />
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<b>This is our normal view of the Sinsheim Museum as we pass by on the way to Munich.</b><br />
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<b>The Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum opened in 1981 and is owned by a private association that also owns the Technik Museum in Speyer. Over a million people visit the museum each year. The highlights of the museum are the Air France Concorde and the Russian Tupolev 144, making Sinsheim the only museum in the world that displays both supersonic aircraft. Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum is the largest privately owned museum in Europe. Here you can see one of their static airliner displays with slides for kids. Sinsheim has really made the entire museum family and kid friendly.</b><br />
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<b>Lots of pristine displays at the museum including the Fokker Trimotor here in the middle.</b><br />
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<b>A colorfully painted Russian Su-17 Fitter. Behind in the blue building is the museum's 3D movie theater that shows various films throughout the day. If you want to see the flying film it's shown at 1500 (3PM) and 1800 (6PM) each day. When I say each day, I mean it. The museum is opened 365 days a year. </b><br />
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<b>The museum's Tupolev 144 which was first put on display in 2001. It is completely accessible by visitors to the museum who can enter at the back of the aircraft and walk all the way up to the cockpit.</b><br />
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<b>The Concorde was donated by Air France in 2003 and can be entered just like the Tupolev 144. Inside the museum films is show how both aircraft were delivered to the museum; a pretty amazing story in its self.</b><br />
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<b>The Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum is not some cheesy car or plane museum. Every display is in top-notch condition and there's so much to see. </b><br />
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<b>Every car on display is pristine.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_19FrdDVNPE/UM2MjWOSX7I/AAAAAAAAJkg/sOxYfbQj5_s/s1600/dia-american-dream-cars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="210" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_19FrdDVNPE/UM2MjWOSX7I/AAAAAAAAJkg/sOxYfbQj5_s/s400/dia-american-dream-cars.jpg" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>A 1958 Cadillac Eldorado. Very nice.</b><br />
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<b>The bumper of the same Cadillac Eldorado. Only about 900 of these cars were made because they were so expensive to build. GM lost $10,000 on every car it sold.</b><br />
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<b>A beautiful, wood paneled Rolls Royce.</b></div>
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<b>Strange color, crystal hood ornament and rear view mirrors on top of the spare tires.</b><br />
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<b>Beautiful!!</b><br />
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<b>More cool cars.</b><br />
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<b>Not just old cars either. Relatively new Ferraris, Porsches, Maybachs and pretty much everything imaginable.</b><br />
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<b>The Blue Flame powered by natural gas. Not sure about that record though, it says 1001,452 km/h. Now does that mean 1,001,452 km/h or 1,452 km/h? Either way the Blue Flame record was just over 630 mph.</b><br />
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<b>There's everything here. Planes, cars, tanks, locomotives, artillery, musical organs, motorcycles and every one of them is in perfect condition.</b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_JruSYdQWXA/UM2NHjQa9XI/AAAAAAAAJlo/L0ftprS5r-A/s1600/IMG_2041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_JruSYdQWXA/UM2NHjQa9XI/AAAAAAAAJlo/L0ftprS5r-A/s400/IMG_2041.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Well, this Stuka isn't quite perfect. This is a early WW II German Stuka dive bomber that was found after the war and donated to the museum.</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lm65ELqHrA4/UM2NMNwQRpI/AAAAAAAAJlw/L4zB6EL9iC0/s1600/IMG_2042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lm65ELqHrA4/UM2NMNwQRpI/AAAAAAAAJlw/L4zB6EL9iC0/s400/IMG_2042.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>An F-104 Starfighter that the German Luftwaffee flew from the 60's and into the 90's. </b><br />
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<b>This is the Sinsheim Museum <i>Be a Jet Pilot</i> display. For a couple Euros you get all the jet fighter sounds and are able to bank and climb and dive this aircraft.</b><br />
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<b>My favorite part of the museum. I love trains!!</b><br />
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<b>Look at me, I'm the engineer!!</b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tLz5mTDZqDw/UM2NbF3BO8I/AAAAAAAAJmQ/uTsbhH3L_yQ/s1600/IMG_2080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tLz5mTDZqDw/UM2NbF3BO8I/AAAAAAAAJmQ/uTsbhH3L_yQ/s400/IMG_2080.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>An interesting four seat motorcycle.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BibxyjDZkyM/UM2NfaWNlyI/AAAAAAAAJmY/OStZ4oV3FoY/s1600/IMG_2082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BibxyjDZkyM/UM2NfaWNlyI/AAAAAAAAJmY/OStZ4oV3FoY/s400/IMG_2082.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>An 1899 steam driven car.</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MphCuyScHyU/UM2NjJHzsCI/AAAAAAAAJmg/sMJTMlY2-ao/s1600/IMG_2081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MphCuyScHyU/UM2NjJHzsCI/AAAAAAAAJmg/sMJTMlY2-ao/s400/IMG_2081.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Even a two-man submarine.</b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YFi-Nh1PFA4/UM2NmzrPBLI/AAAAAAAAJmo/q97QGThgl5c/s1600/IMG_2061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YFi-Nh1PFA4/UM2NmzrPBLI/AAAAAAAAJmo/q97QGThgl5c/s400/IMG_2061.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>The Sinsheim museum was educational, fun and simply awesome. Here's a video that shows just a small part of the wonderful sights and sounds that you can experience at the Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum.</b><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eB-WEJAKuDQ" width="420"></iframe></div>
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<b>Did I mention that there's all kinds of musical organs in the museum. Here's one that was extra special. Do you recognize the song?* Take special note of the paper feeding into the organ and the picture of the guy building these music sheets.</b><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rdtxGKvDknM" width="560"></iframe></div>
<b><br /></b><b>Now we're on the roof of the museum about to go into the Concorde.</b><br />
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<b>It's a steep walk up to the cockpit. Most of the seats are still in place but cover by a plastic wall. </b><br />
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<b>The Tupolev 144, commonly called the Concordski</b><br />
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<b>Glad they put this sign in English as well as Russian or we may not have found our way out of the Tupolev.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum was wonderful; perfect for kids, big and small, young and old. They have everything you need for a great day out; restaurants, playgrounds, 3D movies and even a hotel if you want to make it a two-day adventure. We're so happy we finally stopped by the museum in Sinsheim after passing it by for the past twenty-five years.</span></b><br />
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<b>*<i>Please Release Me, </i>Englebert Umperdinck</b><br />
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<br />Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-49651501434612269792012-12-17T16:27:00.000+01:002012-12-17T16:27:14.966+01:00Karlsruhe Christmas MarketThis past weekend we had a plan for three stops; Karlsruhe, Sinsheim and Freinsheim. Our first stop was Karlsruhe which was a one hour fifteen minute drive from our house. Here's a little bit of history about this city in Germany that, today, most Americans pass by on the way to Baden-Baden, the Black Forest or Switzerland.<br />
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Karlsruhe is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg about an hour and a half south of Frankfurt, very near the French border to the west. The city was built in a unique circular design around the Karlsruhe Schloss (palace) which was constructed in 1715. Prior to the Schloss the area had been part of one of the hundreds of principalities, kingdoms, duchies and independent sovereignties that made up what is now present day Germany. It's possible that the city design of Washington DC, which has a similar circular design, was modeled after Karlsruhe because the city planner for DC did indeed have the Karlsruhe plans, as well as other European cities. Karlsruhe's circular street plan has the Schloss tower at the center with 32 radiating streets. Today most of those original 32 streets still exit and the city has expanded along them.<br />
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An interesting side note; Baron Karl Friedrich von Drais, who was born and died in Karlsruhe, invented the Laufmaschine (running machine) in 1818, which would evolve into the bicycle.
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US forces were stationed in and around Karlsruhe from the 1950's and into the 1970's but have long since moved out.
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<b>We stayed at a wonderful hotel in Karlsruhe, the Kaiserhof. If by chance you ever visit the city stay here and ask for room 320 for a very pleasant surprise. It happens to be on Karl-Friedrich <span style="font-family: inherit;">Stra</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>ß</b></span></span><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">e</span>, named after the same guy that invented the bicycle. The Kaiserhof is also right across the street from the Marktplatz (market square) the city's main square and the location of their Christmas market.</b><br />
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<b>A pretty sign at the corner of the Kaiserhof (kings court) states, Zu Gast beir Freunden (To make Friends). They certainly do a good job of that. Also, note at the bottom, Hoepfner Pilsner, the local brewery and even a prominent H on a flower of hops. Pretty cool!</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6LtyXzIyZR8/UM2KfOQw-iI/AAAAAAAAJhw/sW5RBDspbCc/s1600/IMG_2020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6LtyXzIyZR8/UM2KfOQw-iI/AAAAAAAAJhw/sW5RBDspbCc/s400/IMG_2020.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>As I mentioned, immediately across the street from the hotel is the Karlsruhe Christmas market. A bit of a drizzly day but, as always, these Christmas markets are always fun. </b><br />
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<b>Beautiful setting for the Karlsruhe Christmas market in the city's Marktplatz. This was really a pretty market.</b><br />
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<b>Look at the evergreen on this candle vendor; really impressive.</b><br />
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<b>A pretty, plain lit tree in the center of the Karlsruhe Christmas market.</b><br />
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<b>All the vendor booths were pretty, warm and inviting.</b><br />
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<b>Karlruhe Marktplatz Christmas market.</b><br />
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<b>Oh yeah, gotta have some </b><b>Gl<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">ü</span>wein</b><b> and the stuff in Karlsruhe was very good. Here's a warning. When you take a drink of </b><b>Gl<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">ü</span>wein</b><b> be careful not to inhale as you bring the drink to your lips. Otherwise, you're going to get a lung full of </b><b>Gl<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">ü</span></b><b> gas. It has kind of an effervescent quality that will take your breath away.</b><br />
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<b>A vendor selling Schneeballen (snow balls). These are essentially pie crust rolled into a ball and covered with all sorts of wonderful flavors.</b><br />
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<b>A Christmas decoration vendor. Wonder who pays for their electric bill?</b><br />
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<b>A vendor who sells chocolate tools. Pliers, screw drivers, tin snips, they got it all. 6 Euros for the cheapest tool. </b><br />
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<b>You know, Christmas markets can really wear you down. So sometimes you just gotta get away to a nice gasthaus. What a break! Just down the street is Litfass!</b><br />
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<b>That's what I'm talking about. A bit of the amber nectar for immediate rejuvenation </b><br />
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<b>Back to the Christmas market. I have got to get a crepe before the night is done, so here we are. They make all sorts of crepes but as you can see here, they get a lot of orders for some sort of chocolate crepe with an assortment of other flavors.</b><br />
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<b>I got a chocolate and Grand Marnier crepe. Scrumptious!! Here you can watch the process. While we were there they got a big order for chocolate bar crepes. Later there were a few orders for ham and cheese crepes.</b><br />
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<b>Really fun day at the Karlsruhe Christmas market and we're back at our hotel, the Kaiserhof. To finish the night we shared a stick of chocolate covered strawberries. Jeff had the Hoepfner Pilsner and I had a glass of Merlot.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Karlsruhe was just the first stop on our weekend plan and it certainly was worth the drive. Great hotel and very nice city. The rest of the weekend was more of the same but that's for our next blog. PROST!!</span></b>Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-5694828486042925702012-12-14T12:31:00.000+01:002012-12-14T12:31:18.419+01:00Christmas Decorations 2012We won't be home for Christmas this year. No one is visiting us this year either. We'll be in Israel. All our furniture has been packed up and hauled away for our move back to the States in just over a month. We've seen the pictures on Facebook of the Christmas trees family and friends already have put up. Usually, we have a tree up and decorated the day after Thanksgiving but not this year; no tree at all. All our Christmas decorations are in boxes, crated up and on their way to Texas. So this is all we have for decorations in our house for our last Christmas in Germany.<br />
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<b>Two Christmas cards from friends, we expect more, two Gl<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">ü</span>wein mugs and three German beer-themed, glass tree decorations. That's it.</b><br />
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<b>Close up of the German beer themed decorations. Guy in a mug full of beer with PROST on it, guy in lederhosen with a big mug full of beer and Das Beer Boot!! What says Christmas more than beer decorations?</b><br />
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<b>Speaking of Das Beer Boot. In case you've never seen it, here's great video that will really get you in the Christmas spirit.
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Now you're in the Holiday mood for sure. Frohe Weihnachten. Merry Christmas. PROST!!</b></span>Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-90638658892760423802012-12-12T16:14:00.000+01:002012-12-12T16:14:18.439+01:00KTown Christmas Market 2012Third year in a row for the Kaiserslautern Christmas market. It's not the biggest or the best but it's a fun market none the less. If you want to take a look at our last two KTown Christmas markets here's the links: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=379327566826020396#editor/target=post;postID=7717598378030958451">2010</a> and
<a href="http://www.rowdyingermany.com/2011/12/christmas-markte-4-2011-kaiserslautern.html">2011</a>. Just a quick look at our visit this year.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Stiftskirche is the largest </span>Protestant<span style="font-family: inherit;"> church in Kaiserslautern and sits right in the middle of the KTown Christmas market.</span></b></span><br />
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<b>Same Gl</b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><b>ü</b></span><b>wein hut we've taken pictures of the last two years. This place is always busy. </b><br />
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<b>KTown is the only Christmas market, that we know of, that has open fires for the warmth of merry-makers. There must be others but we haven't come upon any. Regardless, it's fun to get a warm drink and cozy up to the fire.</b><br />
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<b>We had pictures of this fire last year too but it's such a unique way to provide a bit a warmth. Apparently, they partially split a log, pour some wax into the cracks and light it. Very nice warm fire. I just can't see them doing something like this at a festival in the US. </b><br />
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<b>Yeah, we've got tons of pictures with us tasting some Gl<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">ü</span>wein but not here, this is Gl<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">übier. It's some kind of Belgium cherry beer. Tastes kind of like drinking a hot cherry cough drop.</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">That's it, quick and festive. Our fourth Christmas market of the season with more to come. <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Frohe Weihnachten, Festtagsgrüsse</span>!!</span></span></b>Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-45903535626173359202012-12-07T18:01:00.000+01:002012-12-07T18:01:05.528+01:00Christmas Market Trifecta<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The German Christmas markets begin the end of November. In most cities these street markets run for the four weeks of Advent. In smaller towns and villages they’ll hold their Christmas market usually for just one weekend. Depending on where you are in Germany, these markets are called Christkindlmarkt or Weihnachtsmarkt but whatever they’re called these markets are a wonderful celebration of the season.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">This past weekend we decided to take in three Christmas markets that we hadn’t experienced during our current stay in Germany; Wiesbaden, Köln and Düsseldorf. Here’s some images of our Christmas Market Trifecta.<b><u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Christmas Market #1, Wiesbaden</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>No matter what Christmas market you attend, the drink of choice to warm yourself and get into the festive mood is Glüwein. It’s a hot spiced red wine, very tasty and certainly does a good job of warming you up. In this picture, Dornfelder is probably the most popularly produced red wine in Germany.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>One thing that’s changed over the years at Christmas markets is the introduction of a new annually designed mug for that particular city’s festival. As you can see, we’re in Wiesbaden. If you look closely at these cups you’ll see that Wiesbaden has a special name for their Christmas market, the Sternschuppenmarkt, which translates to the manger star market. We’ve been to the Wiesbaden Christmas market a number of times but not since 1995. At that time the city’s Christmas market ran through the main shopping street but now it’s held in the Schloßplatz, Palace Square.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The next few photos are some of the sights and scenes of the Wiesbaden Christmas market. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>One of the pretty vendor stands. This one sells all sorts of wood plaques, plates and signs.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Pretty Christmas decoration vendor.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Unique smokers. If you’re going to sell smokers you gotta have a Bob Marley smoker; only 24€.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>You want herbs and spices. They got herbs and spices.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Küsse (kisses) are a favorite at every German festival whether it’s in the summer or winter. Küsse are a very light, airy white creamy center blob with various types of sweet coating.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>A vendor selling beautiful glass mosaic Turkish lights.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Mandeln (almonds) are another German favorite at their festivals. They coat them with all sorts of wonderful, sugary flavors.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>At the base of this huge Advent pyramid windmill is a drink vendor. Beer, glüwein, schnapps, coffee; they got it all. The church behind is the Marktkirche, Market Church. It’s a huge Protestant, red brick church that was built in 1853. The Marktkirche, along with the city Rathaus, town hall, sit at the center of the the Wiesbaden Schloßplatz, Palace Square.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Here’s one of my favorite festival treats, sautéed mushrooms with sour cream sauce. Yummy, another great thing to warm you up at a Christmas market.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-68ItZ3sssoM/UL4TsjsRNGI/AAAAAAAAJR0/Dxem1B2llvI/s1600/IMG_1881.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-68ItZ3sssoM/UL4TsjsRNGI/AAAAAAAAJR0/Dxem1B2llvI/s400/IMG_1881.JPG" width="400" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Beautiful lights of the Wiesbaden Sternschuppenmarkt with the Rathaus behind.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>If you throw a festival in Germany you’ve got to have some rides for the kids and one of them has to be a pretty merry-go-round.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Strange group of statues; Santa, Pinocchio and Wilhem I. How did Pinocchio work his way into the Christmas scene?<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Pinocchio again, this time with a wild boar. Man, Pinocchio and wild boars really make me think of Christmas.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>I’ve shown you pictures before of these big grills at German festivals. Here’s video that shows it in operation. Pretty impressive!<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Jeff and I are going to have a great German meal in the cellar of the Rathaus. The restaurant is run by one of our favorite places in Germany. Here’s a hint.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5kakqGLxDvs/UL4UCX7N3DI/AAAAAAAAJSk/nsz03pynxVI/s1600/IMG_1894.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5kakqGLxDvs/UL4UCX7N3DI/AAAAAAAAJSk/nsz03pynxVI/s400/IMG_1894.JPG" width="400" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>OK, if you couldn’t guess from the picture above try this one. Yes, Kloster Andechs Doppelbock Dunkel, world’s greatest beer according to Jeff. Kloster Andechs operates the restaurant in the Rathaus cellar.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN">We’re back outside. Oh my goodness, Dampfnudel!!! It’s an awesome desert!! It’s a sort of sweet bread with vanilla sauce over the top. Scrumptious!!!</span><u></u><u></u></b></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Christmas Market #2, Köln</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Next morning we’re on our way to Köln (Cologne) but before we leave Wiesbaden we stopped by the American Arms. For decades, the American Arms was an US Army hotel in Wiesbaden where transit and temporarily assigned military members and their families where billeted. Well, they’ve built a new hotel near the BX/PX complex and so the American Arms hotel was turned over to the Germans and it’s presently closed. Here’s what it looks like today. Ghost town.</span>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>OK, we’re in Köln and we've met up with our friends Linda and Cassius. After checking into our hotel we needed some refreshment. Right across the street from the Köln Dom (Cathedral) is a great Kölsch gasthaus, the Gaffel am Dom. Here’s Linda and me.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Well, we’ve been at Gaffel am Dom for a bit drinking Gaffel Kölsch. Kölsch waiters, who are called Köbes, put a tick mark on these beer mats for each beer purchased. So you can see at this point that we’ve had 27. But, don’t be too appalled, Kölsch is normally served in small 0.2 liter glasses called a Stange (rod or pole).<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Before we get into the Köln Christmas market scene here’s another Kölsch joint we needed to try. Sion, another Kölsch brand brewed in Köln. Really, in accordance with the Köln Brewery Association, all Kölsch is brewed in Köln; anywhere else and it just isn’t Kölsch.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Jeff in the Brauhaus (Brewer House) Sion. See, those really are small beers. However, Kölsch waiters are very attentive and a fresh Kölsch is never far away.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>All right, here’s part of the Köln Christmas market in the old town square.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rDfMLgGfels/UL4WeUaplmI/AAAAAAAAJU4/EsT6W9R2RZU/s1600/IMG_1926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rDfMLgGfels/UL4WeUaplmI/AAAAAAAAJU4/EsT6W9R2RZU/s400/IMG_1926.JPG" width="400" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Germans love their Christmas markets and when you attend one in a large city it’s usually very crowed.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We’re down on the Rhine. In case you didn't know, the Rhine flows from Switzerland through Germany and Holland and empties into the North Sea. This boat is going north, with the current, so he's moving pretty quickly.<u></u></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>Pretty buildings along the Rhine River promenade in Köln.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Great St. Martin Church near the Rhine. This church was almost completely leveled during WW II and was virtually totally rebuilt after the war.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>We brought a bottle of schnapps along to the river and since it's a bit chilly we're going to use that to warm up a little. Cassius, me and Jeff.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Back to the Dom and the main Christmas market in Köln. A really amazing setting for any festival at the foot of the Köln Dom (Cologne Cathedral).<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Got a glüwein with St. Nicholas. Also a little tag along guy that wanted in the picture.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Christmas tree at the center of the Cologne Christmas market.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<b>Magnificent!!</b><br />
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<b>It’s getting a little chilly so we’re inside the Früh Brauhaus. Früh is another favorite Köln Kölsch. Me, Linda and Cassius.</b><br />
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<b>Our table and bench offered this nice little Stange holder for our Kölsch glasses. Those tick marks are adding up.</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">At the </span>Früh Brauhaus t<span style="font-family: inherit;">hey offer a 5 liter, fresh wooden barrel of Früh Kölsch.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Yes, they’ll bring a barrel of beer to your table but they’re going to make sure you don’t take it home. Note, the chain.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yXMrY7afjow/UL4Uuoc7ttI/AAAAAAAAJUE/0eUZU4HpQo0/s1600/IMG_1916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><b><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yXMrY7afjow/UL4Uuoc7ttI/AAAAAAAAJUE/0eUZU4HpQo0/s400/IMG_1916.JPG" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">We’re at the Malzm</span>ü<span style="font-family: inherit;">hle (Malt Mill) Brauhaus for our evening meal. Here’s a picture of the special tray used in all the bars in Cologne to carry Kölsch glasses. Of course, this tray has a special name too, it’s a Kranz (wreath).<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0TGVnG0mdGA/UL4U3slYfdI/AAAAAAAAJUU/-rO3gaeCU5k/s1600/IMG_1921.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0TGVnG0mdGA/UL4U3slYfdI/AAAAAAAAJUU/-rO3gaeCU5k/s400/IMG_1921.JPG" width="400" /></b></span></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This video shows the technique to fill </span><span style="background-color: white;">Kölsch glasses at the bars in Cologne. At this place it's poured right out of a wooden barrel and they don't worry about the head on the beer. That's desired to bring out the flavor. Once the beer settles a bit they'll fill these glasses right up to the .2 liter line with a nice creamy head on top.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Our last stop for the night, Cologne’s world famous Dixieland jazz bar, Papa Joes.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>It’s the end of the night and we’re on our way back to the hotel. We’re walking through Cologne’s main train station. It’s never too late for sausage.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b>Christmas Market #3, <span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;">Düsseldorf</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Next Christmas market destination is Düsseldorf, just a short half-hour drive north of Cologne. Düsseldorf is the capital of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The city is near the confluence of the River </span>Düssel and the Rhine. With that you arrive at the name of Düsseldorf by combining the river's name with Dorf (village). Düsseldorf <span style="font-family: inherit;">has a long competitive history with the city of </span>Köln (<span style="font-family: inherit;">Cologne). In medieval time that competition involved out-and-out war. Now there’s still competition but it mostly takes place on a soccer pitch or the favorite beers of each city. After checking into our hotel we’re walking toward the Altstadt (old city) and come upon this store. It’s a mustard (Senf) store. Düsseldorf is well known for its spicy mustard. Take note of the cartwheeling kid on the white sign at the left; more on that later.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Outside the mustard store is this mustard poster that shows the various brands of Düsseldorf mustard. We can probably get one for you if you’d like this poster on your wall.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Löwensenf (Lion mustard); a favorite Düsseldorf mustard. This is a huge replica of a traditional Düsseldorf mustard pot, a <span lang="EN">Mostertpöttche.<u></u><u></u></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The old city of Düsseldorf claims to be "<span lang="DE">Die längste Theke der Welt," (</span>the Longest Bar in the World). That’s based on the fact that there are really a lot of bars, pubs, cantinas, saloons and Brauhauses in the old city. Down the street from the mustard store is one of Düsseldorf’s favorite Brauhauses, Uerige. Well, we’ve got to check that out.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The favorite beer in Düsseldorf and the type that’s produced by the breweries in the city is Altbier (old beer). This is one of the competive issues between Düsseldorf and Köln, the beers they favor; Düsseldorf Altbier and Köln Kölsch. You don’t order Altbier in Köln and you don’t order Kölsch in Düsseldorf. As you saw in the pictures of Kölsch, it’s a light colored and tasting beer. Here you can see Altbier is darker. It also has a more pronounced but certainly not heavy taste.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>In Uerige they serve their Altbier out of wooden barrels.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>A fresh barrel waiting to be tapped.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OYPXTGdZiag/UL4YfXVm_GI/AAAAAAAAJWI/4gHMbQ6WZ3o/s1600/IMG_1939.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><b><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OYPXTGdZiag/UL4YfXVm_GI/AAAAAAAAJWI/4gHMbQ6WZ3o/s400/IMG_1939.JPG" width="300" /></b></span></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lifting the barrel; it takes three guys. I think they've done this before. Eins, Zwei, Drei!</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Near empty barrel on the left, fresh barrel on the right. You can see here that Uerige is a dark, wood paneled place; very traditional Düsseldorf Brauhaus (brewer house).<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Time to hit one of the Düsseldorf Christmas markets. This one is in the main square of the old city with the old Rathaus (city hall) in the background.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>More old city square Christmas market.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">See, gotta have a </span>merry<span style="font-family: inherit;">-go-round for the kids.<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Time for lunch and we’ve walked down the street to Hausbrauerei zum Schlüssel, The Key Brewery House.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another tasty Altbier at zum </span><span style="background-color: white;">Schlüssel.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Zum Schlüssel is a beautiful gasthaus and even more so with its Christmas decorations.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Even the zum Schlüssel bar was pretty.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">We’re walking to another part of Düsseldorf to see some more Christmas markets. This is one of the city’s manhole covers. It depicts two children doing cartwheels. Legend has it that when the people of Düsseldorf heard of their victory over the city of Köln (see, very </span>competitive<span style="font-family: inherit;"> cities) during a battle in 1288 the children began doing flips that eventually evolved into never seen before cartwheels. Yes, Düsseldorf, home of the cartwheel.</span></b></span></div>
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<b>Sort of an upscale little market along one of Düsseldorf's shopping streets.</b><br />
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Germans really enjoy crepes and Christmas pyramid windmills. Here's both side by side with a street tram thrown in.</b><br />
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This is a canal that runs down <span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">Königsallee</span>, Kings Way, the most upscale shopping street in Düsseldorf. Of course, I drug Jeff in Louis Vuitton.</b><br />
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Yet another little Christmas market area. This bratwurst place really went all out with the evergreen roof.</b><br />
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Quick stop for replenishment. Another Altbier favorite in Düsseldorf.</b><br />
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<b><br />At the north end of the Altstadt, along the Rhine River is the Schlossturm, now a museum, with the St. Lambertus church's unique crowned steeple behind.</b><br />
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From the promenade along the Rhine; St. Lambertus, Schlossturm and the Christmas market Ferris Wheel.</b><br />
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These cartwheeling figures were all over Düsseldorf. Remember, Düsseldorf, home of the cartwheel.</b><br />
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Pretty sign welcoming folks to the old city Christmas market.</b><br />
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St. Lambertus, Schlossturm and the Christmas market Ferris Wheel. Our little attempt at an Ansel Adams moment. </b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Well, that's our Christmas Market Trifecta. I do have one point that I've made before and I'd like to make again because now I have some better ammunition for my argument. Why does the English speaking world change the names of German cities that have an umlaut, the two little dots above a vowel? M<span style="background-color: white;">ü</span>nchen becomes Munich, Köln is Cologne. But now, here's my new argument, why do we just change </b><b>Düsseldorf to </b><b>Dusseldorf and are happy with that? Why can't we make </b><b>M<span style="background-color: white;">ü</span>nchen, </b><b>Munchen and </b><b>Köln, </b><b>Koln? Why?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>More Christmas markets soon; I'm sure.</b></span>Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-29677603787236620632012-12-02T16:02:00.000+01:002012-12-02T16:02:08.718+01:00Thanksgiving In LondonWe decided to spend the four-day Thanksgiving weekend in London; take in a couple shows, visit Hampton Court and the Portobello Market. So, Wednesday night we hopped on Ryanair, landed in Stansted at 2020 (820 PM), took the Stansted Express into the city, underground Central Line to Lancaster Gate and got to our hotel just after 2200 (10PM).<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Wednesday, 21 November 2012</span></b></div>
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<b>Our hotel, The Columbia, is a former US Officer's Club in London located on the north side of Hyde Park on Bayswater Road. This is definitely a no-frills hotel that has seen it's better days but for the price, </b><b><span style="line-height: 18px;">£</span></b><b>97 per night, with a great English breakfast, it fills the square. The Columbia is a good example of the old joke that goes: the English are twenty years behind working half days to catch up. Here's a typical reason why that comment may be appropriate; this is a 2' x 4' by-hand tracking board that the hotel uses to manage their room bookings. Guess they've never heard of spread sheets.</b></div>
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<b>It was late but we had to visit at least one pub before the end of the night and, conveniently, just down the street from The Columbia is a cozy, old pub, The Swan. Jeff scoffed at my French 1664. He had the only mass produced lager in Britain, Carling. OK, time for bed, big day tomorrow.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Thursday, Thanksgiving, 22 November 2012</span></b></div>
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<b>We're on our way to Hampton Court, a 35 minute train ride outside of London. If you haven't been in the London underground lately, at some of the the stations, there have been some significant changes. This is Waterloo station where we're changing over to the train system. Here they've built a glass and steel wall along the platform. Not sure if this is a safety or noise issue but it certainly has changed the image of this station.</b></div>
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<b>Catching the 0936 train to Hampton Court. You can see we make a stop in Wimbledon.</b><br />
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<b>Hampton Court is up the river from London on the Thames in Richman upon Thames. It was originally built and owned by Henry VIII's trusted adviser Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. When Wolsey fell out of favor the king received the palace as a "gift" from the Cardinal. Henry then greatly enlarged Hampton Court to be able to handle his court of some 1000 people.</b><br />
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<b>Approaching Hampton Court. On the left is the Jan Seymour Gate and the right entrance is the Great Gatehouse, the main entrance to the palace.</b><br />
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<b>The Great Gatehouse. The history of Hampton Court is divided into distinct parts; the Tudor period which included its use by Henry VIII and his three offspring, King Edward, Queen Mary and Elizabeth I, and the Stuart period used by the first Stuart king, James I in 1603 and beyond the Stuart dynasty to Charles II in 1760. George III of American revolution fame, never visited the palace.</b><br />
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<b>Once passing through the Great Gatehouse, seen here, you find yourself in a large courtyard called Base Court where most arrivals first entered the palace.</b><br />
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<b>Within Base Court is the Wine Fountain. During extra special events Henry would have the plumbing adjusted so that, rather than water, the fountain flowed with wine. I'm checking out the inebriated figure on the steps of the fountain.</b><br />
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<b>Incredible brick work on the chimneys above the Tudor portion of the palace.</b><br />
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<b>Our first stop on the great audio tour provided by the palace was the kitchens built to feed Henry VIII's court.</b><br />
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<b>The double gates through which all the game, meat, vegetables, baking ingredients and more were delivered each day. The far, closed gate, is Jane Seymour Gate.</b><br />
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<b>A huge stew pot used for Henry's court. This pot was permanently fixed with a fire place below that was stoked by the cooks. That's a BAL, Big Ass Ladle. </b><br />
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<b>Fish Court is a narrow alleyway in the kitchen area where food that required cooling, such as fish, was stored.</b><br />
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<b>This is Fish Court. The passage way was intentionally built narrow to minimize direct sunlight and help keep the storage rooms on either side as cool as possible.</b><br />
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<b>In the kitchens of Hampton Court. This is just one of the large fire places used in the kitchens.</b><br />
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<b>Hundreds of meat pies were made each day for the court of Henry VIII. In Tudor times the crust of the pies was just a means for cooking and holding in the ingredients. The people of Henry's court just knocked off the top of the crust, ate the inside meal and tossed away the crust.</b><br />
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<b>I'm standing in one of the doorways of the Hampton Court kitchens. The ceiling in the kitchens is 40' high.</b><br />
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<b>They made hundreds of loaves each day to feed as many as 1000 people in Henry's court.</b><br />
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<b>These are the spits on the open fire place where meat was grilled for Henry and his court. You can see that as many as 8 spits could be turning, by hand, at one time.</b><br />
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<br /><strong> A video showing just how huge the Hampton Court k itchens needed to be to feed King Henry
VIII's court.</strong><br />
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<b>You can see by the soot above this fireplace that it was used extensively.</b><br />
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<b>One of Henry's wine cellars. These are huge barrels and, interestingly, the bands to hold the barrels together are made of reeds.</b><br />
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<b>Henry made his appearance a few times during our tour.</b><br />
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<b>Onto the parts of the castle that were utilized by the upper class of English society.</b><br />
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<b>This is Ann Boleyn's Gate which is across Base Court from the Great Gateway. It's part of the Henry VIII's expansion.</b><br />
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<b>Inside the gateway of Ann Boleyn's Gate.</b><br />
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<b>The opposite side of Ann Boleyn's Gate. An astrological clock made for Henry in 1540. In addition to time, date and phases of the moon it also shows the London tides of the River Thames. Tide information was important since most royalty traveled to and from the palace via barges on the river.</b><br />
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<b>Hampton Court's Great Hall, built by Henry VIII, is the last such great hall built for the British monachy. This is where Henry and those kings and queens that followed would hold their huge banquets.</b><br />
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<b>One of two huge stained glass windows at either end of the Great Hall. You can see an image of Henry at the center. The tapestries on the wall are the very same that hung here during Henry's reign.</b><br />
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<b>LET'S PARTY LIKE THE TUDORS!!</b><br />
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<b>One of the few places in the palace where there's still evidence of Ann Boleyn. These are wood panels at the back of the Great Hall. On the left panel, upper right you can see HR, Henry Reigns. In the center panel, same area is a wide H with an overlying A, Henry and Ann. Once Ann lost Henry's interest and ended up beheaded, Henry ordered any reference to her be removed from the palace. They forgot this one.</b><br />
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<b>After Elizabeth I died with no heir, the Tudor dynasty came to an end. James I and the Stuart dynasty began in 1603. During their reign, James I's son, Charles I, would honeymoon in Hampton Court with his 15 year old bride, the English Civil War occurred, Charles I was beheaded but the monarchy was later restored. In 1689 William and Mary jointly assumed the throne. Mary began a gigantic renovation with the assistance of the renowned architect Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Half the Tudor palace, including Henry VIII's staterooms and private apartments, was replaced. If Mary had not died as the result of smallpox in 1694 she had planned to tear down all remaining parts of the Tudor palace. An example, of William and Mary's renovations, Fountain Court. The architectural design difference, compared to the Tudor palace, is obvious</b>.<br />
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<b>William and Mary's renovations, like the eastern facade of the palace below, were highly influenced by Versailles and French design. Behind us here are the large garden and park of Hampton court. It was in this park that William fell from his horse and later died from the injuries.</b><br />
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<b>The south side of the William and Mary portion of the palace with the Tudor palace beyond.</b><br />
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<b>The two obvious styles of architecture merge here; Tudor on the left, William and Mary on the right. The Tudor part here are original sections of Hampton Court and the apartments of Cardinal Richard Wolsey, the original builder and owner of the palace.</b><br />
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<b>The crest of William and Mary.</b><br />
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<b>We're back in London just walking around to some areas that we had not been in before. The London Eye on the south side of the Thames.</b><br />
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<b><br /></b><b>Parliament, Big Ben.</b><br />
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<b>On our way to the theater. Walking down Regents Street, already decorated for Christmas.</b><br />
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<b>Right next to the theater was this bar. I think it might be a gay bar.</b><br />
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<b>Pre-show pints in The Three Greyhounds pub.</b><br />
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<b>The Prince Edward theater.</b><br />
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<b>We're seeing Jersey Boys. </b><br />
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<b>Prince Edward theater before the show began. Jersey Boys was great!!! The end of a fun Thanksgiving.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Friday, 23 November 2012</span></b></div>
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<b>Friday morning we took the underground to the east side of London, hopped on the Dockland Light Rail (DLR) and got off at the Cutty Stark station to visit the Royal Observatory. That's a steep hill to the top. Take note of the large red ball.</b></div>
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<b>We made it to the top of the hill.</b><br />
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<b>At Sheperd Gate is this 24-hour electric clock, one of the very first such public clocks. The Sheperd Clock was built in 1852 and actually is a slave clock that receives impulses from a master clock.</b><br />
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<b>Below Sheperd Clock are these standard measurements. The actual measurement is from the inside of one brass semi-circle across to the inside of the other.</b><br />
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<b>See, that's six inches.</b><br />
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<b>In 1675 Charles II commissioned an observatory and created the position of Astronomer Royal which was filled by William Flamsteed. The red brick building is Flamsteed House designed by Sir Christopher Wren and was the first science-based structure built in Britain. The red time ball fell, and still does today, at 1300 so that sailors on the Thames could see and adjust their clocks and watches. Here we're standing in Meridian Square.</b><br />
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<b>0 degrees, 0 minutes, 0 seconds establishes the 0 degree longitude, the Prime Meridian. A brass line runs across Meridian Square depicting the Prime Meridian.</b><br />
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<b>Here Jeff straddles the Prime Meridian. Left foot in the eastern hemisphere, right foot in the west.</b><br />
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<b>One of the main rooms of Flamsteed House is the Octagon Room where early telescope observations occured. Here's a 17th century drawing of the room.</b><br />
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<b>Jeff standing inside the Octagon Room under the same paintings seen in the drawing above.</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Within Flamsteed House is a museum that exams the attempts and need to determine longitude accurately. Latitude could easily be established, using tables, by observing the sun and moon height above the horizon. However, for longitude, the distance in time from the Prime Meridian needed to be determined precisely. </b></span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A £20,000 prize was offered to anyone who could create a mechanism that would solve the longitude issue.</span></span> This is the first clock built by John Harrison, a self-taught English clock builder, in his attempt to accurately determine longitude. A winning clock would have to be able to function on the open seas and deal with the rocking decks that resulted for and aft as well as port and starboard. This clock is about two feet tall.</b><br />
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<strong>John Harrison's third clock, constructed to solve the problem of determining longitude accurately.</strong><br />
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<b>Here, I'm standing next to John Harrison's third clock. Although this clock was close, it had accuracy problems because of it's ability to adjust to changes in humidity.</b><br />
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<b>Amazingly, from the third clock to this watch, which is about 5" across, John Harrison solved the longitude problem by developing a time peace that would accurately measure the time distance from the Prime Meridian. This is a copy of the clock that won John Harrison the </b><b><span style="line-height: 18px;">£20,000 prize for solving the longitude problem.</span></b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-70_UayWz954/ULYK0t_embI/AAAAAAAAJPU/gFjmwYEcrYk/s1600/IMG_1791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-70_UayWz954/ULYK0t_embI/AAAAAAAAJPU/gFjmwYEcrYk/s400/IMG_1791.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>From the top of the hill where the Royal Observatory sits we could see quite a ways. That white dome is O2 Arena where the Rolling Stones would celebrate their 50th anniversary the next night.</b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gZ-gB1NxDMo/ULS0uaif4vI/AAAAAAAAJGU/GUSAjSjQ-dw/s1600/IMG_1781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gZ-gB1NxDMo/ULS0uaif4vI/AAAAAAAAJGU/GUSAjSjQ-dw/s400/IMG_1781.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Looking north from the Royal Observatory. The muddy area at the bottom of the hill is where the equestrian events were held during the 2012 London Olympics. They're still recovering from that event.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YvjxAH0gXe0/ULS0xqhWuXI/AAAAAAAAJGg/DwsCNXasXl0/s1600/IMG_1794.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YvjxAH0gXe0/ULS0xqhWuXI/AAAAAAAAJGg/DwsCNXasXl0/s400/IMG_1794.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>We could even see the weird London Olympic Tower in the distance.</b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dH4JGMEWdQM/ULS0z22nugI/AAAAAAAAJGo/0GQ-qsmEjU8/s1600/IMG_1772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dH4JGMEWdQM/ULS0z22nugI/AAAAAAAAJGo/0GQ-qsmEjU8/s400/IMG_1772.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Near the Royal Observatory is the National Maritime Museum. This must be just about the largest ship in a bottle anywhere in the world. But really, how tough would it be to make this? You could crawl inside to build it.</b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v0AX1fMW0xA/ULS03vvGUQI/AAAAAAAAJGw/uGMKgEO7-Gc/s1600/IMG_1771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v0AX1fMW0xA/ULS03vvGUQI/AAAAAAAAJGw/uGMKgEO7-Gc/s400/IMG_1771.JPG" width="300" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Near the Cutty Sark DLR station is, well, the Cutty Sark. The Cutty Sark was one of the last tea clippers, built in 1869. During renovations in 2007 the ship caught fire. Luckily, much of the structure had been removed so that the main concerns were for damage to the iron framework.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6-GICC31S2Q/ULS07_m2QsI/AAAAAAAAJG4/dqgy7vzl2Rg/s1600/IMG_1768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6-GICC31S2Q/ULS07_m2QsI/AAAAAAAAJG4/dqgy7vzl2Rg/s400/IMG_1768.JPG" width="300" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Sightseeing done for Saturday. Coincidentally, our good friend, Mark Torres, was on a trip with American airlines. So what better place to meet than in a pub. Mark and Jeff.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PCya1n7jBcM/ULS0_1stH4I/AAAAAAAAJHA/jRGFvwVU6bw/s1600/IMG_1797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PCya1n7jBcM/ULS0_1stH4I/AAAAAAAAJHA/jRGFvwVU6bw/s400/IMG_1797.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>We're on our way to the theater once again. If you're familiar with London, maybe you can guess where we are. Well, you know we're near an underground station. See the statue in the background. Most folks mistake that as a statue of Eros, the Greek god of love, and if you did, then you figured out that we're at, Piccadilly Circus. With that, the statue is actually Anteros, the Greek god of unrequited love, Eros' brother.</b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--lLfUt8YoYg/ULS1D0aizOI/AAAAAAAAJHI/rr23_duO6_U/s1600/IMG_1802.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--lLfUt8YoYg/ULS1D0aizOI/AAAAAAAAJHI/rr23_duO6_U/s400/IMG_1802.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Right there in Piccadilly Circus is this huge Britannia souvenir store. A big part of it deals with Beatles memorabilia and things. Here I am with the Fab Four.</b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1t42xCGh354/ULS1IGJvHfI/AAAAAAAAJHU/aOx2fjmqkYg/s1600/IMG_1804.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1t42xCGh354/ULS1IGJvHfI/AAAAAAAAJHU/aOx2fjmqkYg/s400/IMG_1804.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Our theater for the night.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YRlBbyNdTYg/ULS1L6rz2HI/AAAAAAAAJHc/J-IuK35edKo/s1600/IMG_1805.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YRlBbyNdTYg/ULS1L6rz2HI/AAAAAAAAJHc/J-IuK35edKo/s400/IMG_1805.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Although Her Majesty's Theater looks twice as big as the Prince Edward from the night before, once inside, it proved to have about half the seating capacity, maybe less.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-idKjt2-8uzU/ULS1QMk-1TI/AAAAAAAAJHk/RzSSSFI-aNM/s1600/IMG_1807.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-idKjt2-8uzU/ULS1QMk-1TI/AAAAAAAAJHk/RzSSSFI-aNM/s400/IMG_1807.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>And the show for the evening . . . Phantom of the Opera. I've seen this production twice before but Jeff had only seen the movie. As always, it was great!!</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z5EeXa_h-v0/ULS1Ufeg0WI/AAAAAAAAJHw/2vN5IWgys_M/s1600/IMG_1806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z5EeXa_h-v0/ULS1Ufeg0WI/AAAAAAAAJHw/2vN5IWgys_M/s400/IMG_1806.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Saturday, 24 November 2012</span></b></div>
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<b>We're on our way to catch the bus to Portobello Road. On the way we pass The Swan and knew that you'd want to see it.</b></div>
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<b>The Portobello Market takes place on Saturdays and is a huge tourist attraction. It began in the 19th century as a fruit & vegetable market. In the mid-20th century antiques dealers of all kinds showed up at the market and now Portobello is the largest antique market in Britain. </b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JKoZ9t5nWWA/ULS236cI-kI/AAAAAAAAJIA/KVV4cDG6lsc/s1600/IMG_1810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JKoZ9t5nWWA/ULS236cI-kI/AAAAAAAAJIA/KVV4cDG6lsc/s400/IMG_1810.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Sounds like they're serious about shoplifters at the Portobello Market.</b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IuFuQ9_a7fQ/ULS275lRu_I/AAAAAAAAJII/av8_uq65uMk/s1600/IMG_1809.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IuFuQ9_a7fQ/ULS275lRu_I/AAAAAAAAJII/av8_uq65uMk/s400/IMG_1809.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Colorful buildings line each side of the market.</b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_zJinvwLbt0/ULS2_bPa12I/AAAAAAAAJIQ/6kx9uxGeIeA/s1600/IMG_1811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_zJinvwLbt0/ULS2_bPa12I/AAAAAAAAJIQ/6kx9uxGeIeA/s400/IMG_1811.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>An antique clock dealer with really great stuff but also expensive. We saw a couple clocks that we liked but they cost <span style="line-height: 18px;">£1200 and we would still have to get it on Ryanair somehow.</span></b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YWAQXN6sU_M/ULS3DZ-h0BI/AAAAAAAAJIc/bPRQUY_bA5A/s1600/IMG_1812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YWAQXN6sU_M/ULS3DZ-h0BI/AAAAAAAAJIc/bPRQUY_bA5A/s400/IMG_1812.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Antique shops of just about every kind; books, athletic equipment, cameras, clocks/watches, etc. Plus, lots of other things like tea shops, Scottish stuff, clothes and shoe shops, couple pubs, etc. again.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4Flm2WSVXf4/ULS3HLrApdI/AAAAAAAAJIk/GLbmRBq6FMI/s1600/IMG_1813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4Flm2WSVXf4/ULS3HLrApdI/AAAAAAAAJIk/GLbmRBq6FMI/s400/IMG_1813.JPG" width="300" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Just by saying it I think it's doubtful.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vTed5MpO1O0/ULS3LscCijI/AAAAAAAAJIs/Zd58l4dtGV8/s1600/IMG_1814.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vTed5MpO1O0/ULS3LscCijI/AAAAAAAAJIs/Zd58l4dtGV8/s400/IMG_1814.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Surprising amount of silver for sale.</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yf5j7eLO2Jg/ULS3Q0f6R7I/AAAAAAAAJI0/Qg8r7j6N2YY/s1600/IMG_1816.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yf5j7eLO2Jg/ULS3Q0f6R7I/AAAAAAAAJI0/Qg8r7j6N2YY/s400/IMG_1816.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Even furs.</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WH2mV3j6TFE/ULS3U438c1I/AAAAAAAAJJA/VsAcFhhIh9Q/s1600/IMG_1817.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WH2mV3j6TFE/ULS3U438c1I/AAAAAAAAJJA/VsAcFhhIh9Q/s400/IMG_1817.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Fruit and veg.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FeF0S3HUoi0/ULS3ZA2wUtI/AAAAAAAAJJI/5cfbE2sHmdc/s1600/IMG_1818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FeF0S3HUoi0/ULS3ZA2wUtI/AAAAAAAAJJI/5cfbE2sHmdc/s400/IMG_1818.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Baked goods.</b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-axD1aWEL1tI/ULS3dmmxteI/AAAAAAAAJJQ/MmLanjDs2uY/s1600/IMG_1819.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-axD1aWEL1tI/ULS3dmmxteI/AAAAAAAAJJQ/MmLanjDs2uY/s400/IMG_1819.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Tasty fry up.</b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-spxweIdh1gs/ULS3hY6XE0I/AAAAAAAAJJY/mhZ2zrlcmlQ/s1600/IMG_1821.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-spxweIdh1gs/ULS3hY6XE0I/AAAAAAAAJJY/mhZ2zrlcmlQ/s400/IMG_1821.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>It's the Christmas season so you gotta have trees.</b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2lsD7pZUEj0/ULS3ldriZMI/AAAAAAAAJJg/5oJZ53ELxZM/s1600/IMG_1820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2lsD7pZUEj0/ULS3ldriZMI/AAAAAAAAJJg/5oJZ53ELxZM/s400/IMG_1820.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Just down the street from Portobello was a house with this plaque. George Orwell, author of <i>1984.</i></b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-peXRGK6rjtk/ULS3oPXAbqI/AAAAAAAAJJs/IhlYWvaLjGM/s1600/IMG_1823.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-peXRGK6rjtk/ULS3oPXAbqI/AAAAAAAAJJs/IhlYWvaLjGM/s400/IMG_1823.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>We're back on Oxford Street which was closed to traffic for the day. Probably because this big package is in the way.</b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6bABqMVC2B4/ULS3sJ3CjUI/AAAAAAAAJJ0/CT7jbjEM4jg/s1600/IMG_1824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6bABqMVC2B4/ULS3sJ3CjUI/AAAAAAAAJJ0/CT7jbjEM4jg/s400/IMG_1824.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Now we're on a mission for the afternoon. We're starting in Westminster station which has been greatly updated, like many other stations for the Olympics.</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n_PgRGtF020/ULS3vw92BZI/AAAAAAAAJJ8/K9uOWkqGDTM/s1600/IMG_1827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n_PgRGtF020/ULS3vw92BZI/AAAAAAAAJJ8/K9uOWkqGDTM/s400/IMG_1827.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Our initial destination is Blackfriars station which had been closed for almost three years and opened just before the Olympics. Very nice upgrade. It was a rather dingy station before the renovation.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i-FlPIQI6H8/ULS3zXkLtoI/AAAAAAAAJKE/2YXJw77zjOQ/s1600/IMG_1828.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i-FlPIQI6H8/ULS3zXkLtoI/AAAAAAAAJKE/2YXJw77zjOQ/s400/IMG_1828.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Yup, we're at Blackfriars station.</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-26WK48yUkq8/ULS32b9kiBI/AAAAAAAAJKM/-Oz1M2esTHw/s1600/IMG_1829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-26WK48yUkq8/ULS32b9kiBI/AAAAAAAAJKM/-Oz1M2esTHw/s400/IMG_1829.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Up on the street level Blackfriars has entered the 21st century.</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YVvDRRYugWc/ULS36fVhiZI/AAAAAAAAJKY/4HHnfpPCJiI/s1600/IMG_1833.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YVvDRRYugWc/ULS36fVhiZI/AAAAAAAAJKY/4HHnfpPCJiI/s400/IMG_1833.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>What a coincidence! Right across the street from Blackfriars station is the Blackfriars pub and our first stop on our Saturday afternoon pub crawl.</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_4Ak55uB6LY/ULS391bDINI/AAAAAAAAJKg/qrQZASnbUxU/s1600/IMG_1832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_4Ak55uB6LY/ULS391bDINI/AAAAAAAAJKg/qrQZASnbUxU/s400/IMG_1832.JPG" width="300" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Jeff's ready for the pub crawl with his new beer drinking hat in place. There was a monastery on this site until 1639 and the friars that occupied it wore, you guessed it, black robes.</b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--lP654kJWlw/ULS4Cah5czI/AAAAAAAAJKo/Svi4SQvp6Kk/s1600/IMG_1834.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--lP654kJWlw/ULS4Cah5czI/AAAAAAAAJKo/Svi4SQvp6Kk/s400/IMG_1834.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Inside one of our favorite London pubs, Blackfriars.</b><br />
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<b>Next stop, #2, is just off Fleetstreet, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, established in 1667, just after the London Fire which put out the London Plague.</b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OzimFnw7skM/ULS4KTCITKI/AAAAAAAAJK4/QR0wVMSOl3U/s1600/IMG_1840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OzimFnw7skM/ULS4KTCITKI/AAAAAAAAJK4/QR0wVMSOl3U/s400/IMG_1840.JPG" width="300" /></b></a></div>
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<b>The original room of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. Almost black wood with a coal burning fire.</b><br />
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<b>Across Fleet Street from Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is Tipperary, #3, the first Irish pub in London. Of course, we had a Guinness.</b><br />
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<b>West along Fleet Street is Ye Olde Cock, #4. Excellent meat pies!!</b><br />
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<b>Just a block north of Fleet Street is the rather new pub, The Knights Templar, #5. What makes this pub different is its size; big!</b><br />
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<b>The Knights Templar is in a building that formerly housed a bank. I think most banks should be turned into pubs.</b><br />
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<b>The Knights Templar pub.</b><br />
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<b>See, I told you, it's big.</b><br />
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<b>It has a beautiful, huge bar.</b><br />
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<b>Just down the street to the west is the Seven Stars, #6, and the complete opposite of The Knights Templar. Seven Stars is in the running for oldest pub in London, established in 1602, and its small.</b><br />
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<b>A unique setting on the Seven Stars bar, cat dishes for food and water next to Jeff's beer. Oh, and the beer was Pilsner Urquell so they really liked Jeff's hat.</b><br />
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<b>The cat, Tom Paine, even showed up; complete with white ruff. </b><br />
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<b>Seven Stars is a great little pub. Be careful going up to the loo. It's steep! Here I am walking back down the stairs.</b><br />
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<b>Last pub of the night is in Covent Gardens, #7, The Nags Head. A very popular, crowded pub but it's well worth the visit.</b><br />
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<b>We're walking to the bus stop and happen upon this new Agatha Christie memorial very near Leicester Square. My English grandmother loved Agatha Christie books and passed that love of reading and Agatha Christie onto me.</b><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Sunday, 25 November 2012</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Breakfast. Underground Central Line from Lancaster Gate to Liverpool Street. Sell back out Oyster Cards. Stansted Express to the airport. Check bag, security and passport control. Ryanair flight back to Frankfurt-Hahn airport. One hour drive home. GREAT WEEKEND!! CHEERS!!</span></strong></div>
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Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-30796394260408080672012-11-21T12:58:00.002+01:002012-11-21T12:58:53.300+01:00German CemeteriesWalking around our town here in Germany, and other German villages and towns, we’ve happened upon a number of German cemeteries. I’ve always found cemeteries interesting so we’ve wandered around these German graveyards to see how they might be different from what we’re familiar with in the States. Two of the biggest differences are much more ornate decorations and, quite often, very large grave stones. Beyond that though, we've learned some things about the German cemetery industry that we figured you'd find as interesting as we did.
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Here in Germany cemeteries are relatively small, especially compared to every other European country and the U.S. One reason is that most Germans are cremated but another cause is the fact that in Germany, grave sites are recycled. You're probably wondering, "How's that work?" Graves are leased in Germany, usually for 20 or 25 years at the cost of 800 to 4000 Euros depending on the size of the plot, single or family. At the end of the lease period most cemeteries place a yellow-tag notice on the grave to let any relatives or friends know that the time to rest in peace is up. Usually there's no accompanying phone call and only one notice. If the cemetery director doesn't hear from the family and a new lease period contracted, the head stone will be pulled up and, when the need arises, the site will be leased to a new occupant, the plot dug up and a new tenant buried there.
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<b>An example of the large grave stones that are very common here in Germany.</b><br />
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Now, when folks are buried in Germany their body is placed in a simple wooden coffin. No lead lined caskets, no cement vaults. So the body and coffin decompose relatively quickly. If a lease is not renewed for a grave site, the bones are left in the ground. Should a new grave be dug those bones will be dug up too and placed back with the dirt when the new inhabitant is settled into the ground.<br />
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<b>Very well kept plot that's decorated for the upcoming Christmas season.</b><br />
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<b>Another Christmas decorated grave with a "perpetual" candle that's very common here.</b><br />
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In order to save money, some Germans choose smaller plots rather than a long, rectangular grave. They can choose a smaller square grave and be put in the ground vertically . . . yes, perpendicular eternity.<br />
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You may wonder what a cemetery might do with the grave stones it removes from plots that no longer have a lease. They buff off the name and any comments on the stone and put it up for sale once again.<br />
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<b>A war memorial site in the Weilerbach cemetery.</b><br />
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<b>A small plot that may be one of those vertical grave sites.</b><br />
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Germany is the only country in Europe that does this grave recycling. They began the practice about 200 years ago in order to save space. Jewish and Muslim cemeteries are not required to utilize this leasing system. The graves of famous people are not leased either, in order to save their resting place for posterity. However, not everyone's fame lasts forever. Each year cemeteries review their list of in-ground celebrities, so a family might surprisingly find that their has-been dead personality no longer qualifies for a perpetual, no-cost resting place.<br />
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<b>Simple but well kept.</b><br />
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<b>You can see here how popular these "perpetual" candles are.</b><br />
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<b>This grave has a little bit of everything.</b><br />
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A lot of Germans are not happy with these practices and maybe that's one of the reasons so many choose cremation. Quite often at the end of the initial 25 year lease families simple choose not to renew. Other times, families/friends that don't visit often are surprised to find somebody else occupying what once was their dead acquaintance's grave. Well, regardless of the complaints from many Germans, obviously, cemeteries are doing a good business . . . people are dying to get in there. Hahaha!! I just had to throw that in there.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Rest In Peace!!</span></b>Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-22088054912450022982012-11-15T15:20:00.000+01:002012-11-15T15:20:59.642+01:00Prague . . . Again<b>In May 2011 Jeff and I enjoyed a wonderful trip to <a href="http://www.rowdyingermany.com/2011/05/praha-prague.html">Prague, Czech Republic</a>. Well, we had such a good time that we wanted to go again and, this time, we went with some friends to expand the fun. We joined up at our house in Weilerbach and started our drive at 0800. Here we are below, and yes, it's foggy. From left, Killer, Cassius, Me, Paige, Sue and Linda.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">DAY 1</span></b></div>
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<b>Stopping once for gas, buying a mandatory vignette at the Czech border and probably a traffic delay or two, it takes six hours to drive to Prague. Here we're approaching the German/Czech border but we've got to make a gas stop at the Esso in Amberg, the last "cheap" gas before departing Germany.</b><br />
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<b>One other stop before Prague on this trip, the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in Pilsen, Czech Republic. This is the gate, built in 1892, that leads into the original Pilsner Urquell brewing site. Before 1842, the city of Pilsen was not happy with the local swill being produced that was being called beer. So they invested in a new, modern brewery and hired a Bavarian brewer, Josef Groll, to produce a whole new style of beer. In October, 1842, Groll brewed a bottom fermenting lager, the world's first golden beer that became known as Pilsner Urquell (From Pilsen, the original).</b><br />
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<b>We drove right through the gates and parked next to this Pilsner Urquell ice cream cone.</b><br />
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<b>Part of the original Pilsner Urquell brewery and the water tower.</b><br />
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<b>Killer, Rowdy and Cassius. These hats identify them as beer drinking professionals. The green sticker on Jeff's shirt cost $5 and allows him to take photos during the brewery tour.</b><br />
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<b>Jeff and I at the Pilsner Urquell brewery. What a distinguished hat. I guess it's pictures like this, that we've posted in previous blogs, that got us recognized on the streets of Prague. Later during this trip I was standing on the curb of a very narrow street, waiting for our group to catch up, when a gentleman on the other side of the road said, "Hey, aren't you the lady that does the RowdyInGermany blog?" Wow, that really made me happy.</b><br />
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<b>This way to the brewery tour.</b><br />
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<b>Pilsner Urquell is actually German. The beers name in Czech is what you see below and means the same, From Pilsen, the Orignal.</b><br />
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<b>We're about to start the tour. Hat's in place.</b><br />
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<b>An early symbol of the Pilsner Urquell Brewery; wooden keg of beer, brewery gate, year of the first Pilsner Urquell and P for Pilsen.</b><br />
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<b>Our tour bus. It only took us a couple blocks back and forth.</b><br />
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<b>The brewery's original water tower.</b><br />
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<b>Walking into the brewery.</b><br />
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<b>A depiction of the Pilsner Urquell brewery bottling process. </b><br />
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<b>Here's part of what we saw during the brewery tour. In the video you'll notice a strange magnetic, bottle cap belt and, very quickly, a strobe light that detects defective bottles. You might also notice that these a brown bottles. Pilsner Urquell is bottled in green bottles. The brewery also produces a number of other brands, such as Gambrinus and Master, both brown bottled beers. The day we were on the tour the Pilsner Urquell line was momentarily not running.</b><br />
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<b>One of the things that made Pilsner Urquell so special was a new strain of yeast that fermented in the bottom of the beer rather than on top, as was common prior to 1842. That strain of yeast is stored today in Pilsen, Prague and London. </b><br />
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<b>Mandatory brewery art pictures. BAV, Big Ass Vats. These are old vats that are no longer used.</b><br />
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<b>These are BAVs that are used today in the modern Pilner Urquell brewery.</b><br />
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<b>Jeff with even more BAVs. Nice hat! Even our tour guide said so.</b><br />
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<b>Stainless steel cooling BAVs. </b><br />
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<b>Even more BAVs.</b><br />
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<b>Jeff next to a portrait of Josef Groll, the first brewer of the brewery and the developer of Pilsner Urquell.</b><br />
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<b>The large copper vat that produced the very first Pilsner Urquell in 1842. Pilsner Urquell was and still is the only beer in the world that is triple mashed. Some beers use only one, others two. Mashing is the process of adding water and barley malt and heating it to allow enzymes to break down the starch into sugars. The resulting product is called mash.</b><br />
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<b>Beneath the brewery are nine kilometers of caves that were dug out by hand.</b><br />
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<b>Some of the old style wooden beer barrels. It took coopers, barrel builders, one month to construct one of these barrels. The little hatch at the bottom of the barrel is to access the inside of the barrel for cleaning. Just open and crawl in. Our tour guide on the right.</b><br />
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<b>Pilsner Urquell still brews a small portion of their product using old fashioned techniques. These are barrels of mash fermenting a new batch of beer. This beer will be served unpasteurized and unfiltered.</b><br />
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<b>This is a daily record of the wort as it is fermenting in the barrel. First column is the days of fermentation, the second is the temperature of the wort. As the fermentation process continues the temperature increases.</b><br />
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<b>Walking in beer heaven.</b><br />
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<b>This guy was filling up a number of these big pitchers. Regretfully, not for us.</b><br />
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<b>Ahh, here's our sample of fresh, unpasteurized, unfiltered Pilsner Urquell. You can see how hazy the beer is because the yeast is still in the beer. </b><br />
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<b>We're a happy group.</b><br />
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<b>Pretty sight in the caves of Pilsner Urquell.</b><br />
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<b>On the way out they had a barrel access simulator so I gave it a shot.</b><br />
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<b>Must have been a pretty sight in the Czech countryside to see a train pulling a long line of these.</b><br />
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<b>It's been a long day, driving, brewery, check into hotel, but now we're at U Medvidku. It's a great hotel/restaurant/brewery in old town Prague. Here's Linda sampling their sekt bier, champagne beer. Tasted like ginger ale.</b><br />
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<b>U Medvidku's own freshly brewed beer. Very good.</b><br />
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<b>Here's our bill at U Medvidku. I know the slashes at the bottom are our beer count.</b><br />
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<b>Walking back to the hotel we came across this restaurant. <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Švejk</span></span> is a character from the 1923 publication <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Good Soldier Švejk </i>which is one of the very first satirical antiwar protests<i>. </i></span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Švejk has become a kind of Czech favorite in terms of a character that resists authority. In World War I, the Czechs were reluctantly dragged into the war on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Švejk epitomizes the entire countries reluctance to be involved in that war.</span></span></b><br />
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<b>This cartoon on the front of the <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Švejk restaurant shows that the Germans had to force </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Švejk to the front. In spite of the handcuffs, </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Švejk puffs on his pipe is happy with who he is.</span></b><br />
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<b>We stopped in the Prague old town square for a night cap. Amazingly they served Pilsner Urquell. What better way to end the day?</b><br />
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<b>Hat still one, Jeff with a Pilsner Urquell.</b><br />
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<b>This place offers a Prague Breakfast. Sounds tasty.</b><br />
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<b><b><span style="font-size: large;">DAY 2</span></b></b></div>
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<b>Next morning we're on our way. Here's Jeff and I in the Prague old town square with the double spired Gothic towers of <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Church of Mother of God before Týn. Really a magnificent building.</span></span></b><br />
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<b>Prague's Astronomical Clock and the <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Church of Mother of God before Týn.</span></b><br />
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<b>We're on the Charles Bridge now with the Prague Castle high in the background with <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Saint Vitus' Cathedral there in the center.</span></span></b><br />
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<b>The tower at the east end of the Charles Bridge. Beyond that tower is the old town of Prague. Charles Bridge is built across the <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Vltava River.</span></span></b><br />
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<b>The towers at the west end of the Charles Bridge. Also, </b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Saint Vitus' Cathedral high on the right.</span></span></b><br />
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<b>Jeff and I on the Charles Bridge. In the background are the Prague Castle with <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Saint Vitus' Cathedral in its center.</span></b><br />
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<b>Gotta take a rest from intense sightseeing. We're at Jo's Bar on the west side of the river in Prague.</b><br />
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<b>Surprisingly, we all agreed, the nachos at Jo's Bar were the best any of us had ever had. So you gotta go to Prague for the best nachos in the world.</b><br />
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<b>Men's urinal in Jo's Bar. Wonder who created this citrus wonderland?</b><br />
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<b>The city of Prague from the Prague Castle. On the left side you can see the twin spires of the <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Church of Mother of God before Týn. Our hotel is just behind them; a leisurely walk here to the castle.</span></b><br />
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<b>Royal guard at the front of the Prague Castle. You can see by Jeff's expression that this guarding stuff is serious business.</b><br />
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<b>Strange but interesting street light near the Prague Castle.</b><br />
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<b> From above the castle; <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Saint Vitus' Cathedral.</span></b><br />
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<b>Another break from sightseeing. Pilsner Urquell dark.</b><br />
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<b>Another good Czech beer. Notice the nice porcelain condensation plate under the glass. That's pure genius.</b><br />
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<b>Hey, look who we found in this place, <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Švejk. He didn't say much but certainly seemed pleased to be there.</span></b><br />
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<b>These hats kickass.</b><br />
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<b>Here's a little change of pace, an Absinthe bar.</b><br />
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<b>Shelves and shelves of Absinthe. Absinthe is an anise flavored liquor that was said to have hallucinogenic abilities that was very fashionable among writers and artists of the late 1800s and early 1900s such as Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Vincent van Gogh and Ernest Hemingway. Because the drink is green in color it became known as the Green Fairy. <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">The chemical compound </span>thujone, which was in Absinthe in trace amounts was said to provide the hallucinogenic affects that eventually resulted in the drinks ban in the US and most of Europe by 1915. Absinthe was once again resurrected, without thujone, in the 1990s.</span></b><br />
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<b>One of Vincent van Gogh's favorite drinks.</b><br />
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<b>A video of our Absinthe drinks being poured. If you don't like black licorice, you probably won't like Absinthe.</b><br />
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<b>OK, let's get back to normal. Jeff has a Guinness night cap. That hat goes with all beers.</b><br />
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<b><b><span style="font-size: large;">DAY 3</span></b></b></div>
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<b>Interesting poster in Prague advertising one of their art museums.</b><br />
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<b>We're at the Pilsner Urquell store in Prague. Here's Jeff with the Magic Glass. No clue why it's the Magic Glass but you could buy it for 4800 Czech Koruna, $240. </b><br />
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<b>What would you expect at the Pilsner Urquell store? You're right, Pilsner Urquell.</b><br />
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<b>Killer getting tips on the proper technique to pour Pilsner Urquell. I guess this guy doesn't know us or didn't pay attention to our hats. Otherwise he'd know that we're professional beer drinkers.</b><br />
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<b>Sitting outside in Prague, just below the Charles Bridge, after another intense sightseeing stretch at the Pilsner Urquell store. Yeah, that qualifies at sightseeing!! Me, Cassius, Killer, Sue, Paige and Linda.</b><br />
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<b>Jeff and I in Prague. On our way to one of the best spots in the entire city, U Zlateho tygra. </b><br />
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<b>We're at U Zlateho tygra, At the Golden Tiger. They're one of the few establishments in Prague that serve an unpasteurized Pilsner Urquell. Here the beer is extra fresh and very tasty.</b><br />
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<b>The Golden Tiger isn't anywhere near the size of Munich's Hofbrauhaus. There's one small room at the back in this picture. It's mostly a locals place and every table is a locals table. You ask to sit at a table if there's room. Once the place fills up, if other locals show up they may tell you vacate the table so they have a place to sit. But the beer is worth the short looks of indignation and even these folks can become quite friendly once the beer flows.</b><br />
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<b>Jeff at the operation center of the Golden Tiger.</b><br />
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<b>Our group in U Zlateho tygra.</b><br />
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<b>Stopped in another place that night in Prague, U Vejvodu. The Czech Republic drinks more beer than any other country per capita. They make some of the best beers in the world too. With all that, you'd think they could do without Corona Extra. But no, that lime gimmick in the top of the bottle has them tricked too.</b><br />
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<b>On our way back to our hotel. If you've been around in Europe at all you've probably casually noticed where short concrete protective columns are build at the corners of buildings or alleyways where vehicles may scratch or gouge the building. Normally, that involves just a single, short column to protect the exterior of the building. During the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, prior to World War II, the owner of this building built this alleyways protective column and more; a subtle message to the occupiers.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">DAY 4</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Just the drive home. Even with a stop for the "cheap" gas in Amberg we made it back in five hours. What a great weekend with wonderful friends and all in a beautiful, fun city. </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: white;">Na zdraví!</b></span></div>
Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-10557744809953132482012-11-14T10:15:00.000+01:002012-11-14T10:15:29.702+01:00Guess Where<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Guess where we were a couple Saturdays ago. </span></b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7EYN92yzd2k/UI1OfXJvJ-I/AAAAAAAAIvk/u4trJ0_SEnA/s1600/IMG_1537.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7EYN92yzd2k/UI1OfXJvJ-I/AAAAAAAAIvk/u4trJ0_SEnA/s640/IMG_1537.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Valuable prize for all who guess correctly.</span></b></div>
Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-42021283049847535102012-11-01T11:05:00.002+01:002012-11-01T11:05:36.516+01:00Best Selling Beer in Germany<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6HkVMaZnegQ/UI-y3KMFqTI/AAAAAAAAIw4/YTnAPNXbUk0/s1600/Oettinger.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6HkVMaZnegQ/UI-y3KMFqTI/AAAAAAAAIw4/YTnAPNXbUk0/s200/Oettinger.gif" width="200" /></a></div>
What do you think is the best selling beer in Germany? Bitburger? Becks? Hofbrau? Paulaner? No, to all of those. The best selling beer in Germany is Oettinger. And, with that, most of you will almost certainly be saying who are they?<br />
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Well, Oettinger Brewery has been producing beer since 1731 and has been the top selling beer here in Germany since 2004. Their headquarters are located in Oettingen in Bayern just south of Rothenburg and very near Dinklesbuhl. Oettinger brews 23 different types of beer; everything from a Pilsner to a Strawberry Weizen beer. Oettinger does not advertise. They have no middle-man delivery service, using only their own delivery trucks. They have a plain gold bottle cap; no fancy painted design. They also have highly automated breweries requiring only a few employees.<br />
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In 2008 Oettinger produced over 174 million gallons of beer. (Compare that to Anheuser-Busch beer production in that same year of 11.1 <b>B</b>illion gallons.) Aah, but which beer is better? Really, need you ask?<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">And to prove that point, not surprisingly, we have some O</span>E<span style="font-size: large;">TTINGER. Tasty!!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">PROST!!</span></b></div>
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<br />Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-52116427379627249002012-10-28T15:18:00.004+01:002012-10-28T15:18:50.859+01:00KTown Kerwe<strong>Last weekend we were at the Kaiserslautern Kerwe (community festival) for the third year in a row. </strong><strong>See how sunny and warm it was. Two years ago it was freezing; last year chilly. You can see the Kaiserslautern city crest in the middle here, two red stripes with on white in the middle and a blue carp.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lCfmeHqyXSk/UIospWEIC3I/AAAAAAAAIsU/QH6uIF_Rhgg/s1600/IMG_1532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lCfmeHqyXSk/UIospWEIC3I/AAAAAAAAIsU/QH6uIF_Rhgg/s400/IMG_1532.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>We started the day with a Wodka mit Feige (vodka with fig).</strong><br />
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<b> The drink of choice the previous two years was Gl<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ü</span></span>wein (hot spiced red wine), not today.</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dqnMF73Z0I8/UIosyubSP5I/AAAAAAAAIsk/f_H3neBX2eM/s1600/IMG_1523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dqnMF73Z0I8/UIosyubSP5I/AAAAAAAAIsk/f_H3neBX2eM/s400/IMG_1523.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>There it is, Wodka mit Feige, 3 Euros.</strong><br />
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<strong>What do you think this pretty little area might be? Little kids toilet.</strong><br />
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<strong>This is the baby care room.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fYTibCCuCmc/UIos-7ghKYI/AAAAAAAAIs8/hah3AABnY_c/s1600/IMG_1515.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fYTibCCuCmc/UIos-7ghKYI/AAAAAAAAIs8/hah3AABnY_c/s400/IMG_1515.JPG" width="300" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>This is the children's toilet. Gotta be under 12 and for both rooms you have to get a key from a vendor near by.</strong><br />
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<strong>Making friends with the monster outside the haunted house.</strong><br />
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<strong>Now doesn't that look good. From the local brewery, Bischoff.</strong><br />
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<strong>A cute cow bench.</strong><br />
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<strong>I love pigs!</strong><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WLPpsKlG_l0/UIotUxfugbI/AAAAAAAAItk/fjH3WEFrF58/s1600/IMG_1528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WLPpsKlG_l0/UIotUxfugbI/AAAAAAAAItk/fjH3WEFrF58/s400/IMG_1528.JPG" width="400" /></strong></a></div>
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<strong>Look at this lady carefully; something strange there.</strong><br />
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<strong>We met up with Cassius and Linda. The big news -- Linda has a new iPhone. I'm giving her some tips. iPhoning is way more fun than festing.</strong><br />
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<strong>On our way out. Hey, lets get another Wodka mit Feige.</strong><br />
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<strong>Cassius, me, Linda and Jeff. Jeff with his new brush.</strong><br />
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<b>Well, that was last weekend. Here's what we woke this Saturday morning. Wouldn't want to be going to the Kerwe today.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">So, we've made the big jump into the cold weather. This morning's low was 21 F. So happy we visited the KTown Kerwe last weekend. It wouldn't be much fun this weekend. Prost!!</span></b></div>
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Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-51543041348215080202012-10-24T17:26:00.000+02:002012-10-24T17:26:01.090+02:00PROST!!Prost; rhymes with toast.<br />
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When Germans have gathered for whatever reason for fun, festing and a few beers, repeatedly, throughout the event, someone will hoist their beer and boldly call out "PROST!!" It's another form of "Cheers" or "Bottoms Up" but to Germans it has much more meaning. When that declaration of "PROST!!" is made it's a statement by that person that "I'm happy you're all here, I enjoy being with you." After a "PROST!!" all folks in their group, and even others that aren't, will lift their beer and reach out to tap the glass or mug of everyone else also raising their beer. So with a "PROST!!", certainly, you want to tap the glass of all your friends but, as mentioned, often times you'll tap the glass of complete strangers sitting nearby who are enjoying the event too and your groups "PROST!!"
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One other action must take place during a German "PROST!!" According to tradition, if you don't make direct eye contact with the folks your prosting with then you're going to suffer seven years of bad sex.
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See the picture of Jeff below. I've circled his eyes so you can easily see the eye contact technique that is necessary during a "PROST!! to avert that seven years of bad sex.
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Now, last weekend, we were having a few beers with some German friends, Ziggy and Bridgette. Now both Ziggy and Bridgette are in their 70's and, although strictly adhering to direct eye contact during each "PROST!!", Bridgette had a very astute observation; seven years of bad sex is better than no sex at all. You know, I think she's right.
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">PROST!!</span></strong>
Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-40170852595098019562012-10-18T15:11:00.000+02:002012-10-18T20:22:51.869+02:00Feuerwehr Offen TagEach year, on the second Sunday of October the Weilerbach Feuerwehr (fire brigade) has offen tag (open day) or their open house. Last Sunday was the Offen Tag and since the fire house is only two blocks from our house Jeff and I walked over for the festivities. This is our third year in a row to be a part of the Weilerbach Feuerwehr Offen Tag.
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<strong>The town fire trucks are pulled out of the garages and lined up along the street so that there's room indoors for some out-of-the-weather festing. On this day that was a very good plan because it drizzled all day.
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<strong>Coat of arms of the Weilerbach fire department.</strong></div>
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<strong>A rought translation, God be close to the brigade.</strong><br />
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<strong>All the festival tables are set up inside the fire house. Lots of great German food, including awesome deserts.</strong><br />
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<strong>Jeff and I split a saumagen (pig stomach) and saurkraut. Quite tasty.</strong><br />
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<strong>Pretty good two-man band provided the entertainment; all the usual German festival songs.</strong><br />
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<strong>PROST . . . and he means it!!</strong><br />
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<strong>Some of the fire fighter's wives and girlfriends put together this fun dance. The lady in the red is supposed to be the flames, while all the others, obviously, are the fire fighters.</strong><br />
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<strong>On our way home. I love these big fire trucks.</strong><br />
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<strong>An original stone commerating the fire department from 1890. You can just make out the date at the bottom.</strong><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Just another simple example of German community and </strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><strong><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=379327566826020396#editor/target=post;postID=6352153286751365903">Gemütlichkeit</a>. T</strong></span><strong>hey really do look for opportunities to come together as a village, town or city and celebrate their lives together; fantastic!!</strong></div>
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Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-63521532867513659032012-10-18T15:08:00.000+02:002012-10-18T15:08:50.512+02:00GemütlichkeitYou may have noticed that Jeff and I enjoy going to festivals and Germany certainly is the place to partake of those type of events. The thing that drives these festivals in Germany is something called Gemütlichkeit (gŭ moot' lĭk īt). It doesn't matter if it's the world's largest festival in Munich, the Oktoberfest, or the smallest German village's Kerwe (more on that in an upcoming blog) it's all about Gemütlichkeit. <br />
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Right now the wine festival season is winding down but various towns and villages are still involved in their own local festival celebrations. Town fire departments hold an annual open house to spread Gemütlichkeit. Halloween is catching on in Germany because it's another opportunity for Gemütlichkeit. Early November begins the Fasching season, late November the Christmas markets start, January and February include numerous Fasching events until it all climaxes on the Tuesday prior to beginning of Lent, March includes the Starkbier, Strong beer, season in Munich, spring festivals begin in April, May brings the first wine festivals that run through the summer until the frenzy of August and September and all of these are all about one thing, Gemütlichkeit.<br />
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So what the heck is Gemütlichkeit? It roughly translates to being comfortable or cozy but in terms of a festival it means a relaxed, fun feeling. It's a cheerful time with friends, old and new. It's been described as "public festivity" in the form of music, food and drink.<br />
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At just about every event mentioned above you'll hear a familiar German song repeatedly played during the day and night that calls the crowd to hoist their glasses and sing along, "Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, der Gemütlichkeit," ("Cheers, Cheers, enjoy life, friends, drink, food, music and have a great time!!" I guess that covers it all.) and that's exactly what the folks at the festivals will do, reaching across tables to tap their glass with their friends and strangers alike.<br />
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When you go to a festival you expect Gemütlichkeit and that's what you'll get. In fact, statements of expected Gemütlichkeit have gone so far that one gentleman sued a travel/tour company when their advertised prospects of Gemütlichkeit were not met. If they promise Gemütlichkeit they better bring Gemütlichkeit. <br />
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You've heard the term, it's all about the money. Well, in Germany, when it comes to festivals, it's all about Gemütlichkeit. And, after all the festivals Jeff and I have been to, after all the years, I don't remember one festival that failed to deliver Gemütlichkeit. PROST!!Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-67719954271104757102012-10-16T17:18:00.001+02:002012-10-16T21:14:08.491+02:00Grandpa in GermanyWell all our kids were here for ten days. Kelly stayed an extra week for the Berlin marathon so she was here almost three weeks. She left on a Wednesday and Jeff's dad arrived on Friday for week long visit. We just stayed around the area and did a few day trips but we made sure that Dad got his fill of schnitzel, brats, beer and wine. Here's some of the sights and sounds of Grandpa Wickstrom's visit.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Offenbach-Hundheim</span></strong></div>
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<strong>We definitely wanted to show Dad one of the little village festivals that are so plentiful in our area. Although it's the end of the wine/village festival season, we were lucky enough to have an early October village fest just a half hour away in the small town of Offenbach-Hundheim. We arrived just after the parade on Sunday and so the festival was just warming up when we got there.
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<strong>Pretty obvious this is a fall festival with vendors like this one selling painted pumpkins and gourds, plus these flowering artichokes.</strong><br />
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<strong>Offenbach-Hundheim had this very nice beer/wine tent with a quite talented band.</strong><br />
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<strong>Like I mentioned, we missed the parade but it was quite obvious that one of the themes of the parade must have been cowboys . . .</strong><br />
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<strong>. . . and Indians.</strong><br />
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<strong>And hippies, or maybe Willie Nelsons.</strong><br />
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<strong>The band was most enjoyable. Here's an interesting tune that some of the USAF fighter pilots in the crowd might recognize. Probably the most famous fighter pilot song of all time; <em>Dear Mom Your Son Is Dead</em>. You can sing right along.</strong><br />
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<strong>This guy would carry that wire basket out full of bottled drinks and bring it back full of empty bottles and mugs. Not like Munich's Oktberfest.</strong><br />
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<strong>This was an interesting guy. I told him I liked his racoon tail. He wanted to make sure that I knew that he wasn't the first guy to wear this outfit. He's wearing a memorial shirt of his costume mentor.</strong><br />
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<strong>OK, Grandpa, right, is getting a little crazy. Time to get him home, he's 84 after all. In typical fashion, the gentleman on the left was a very nice German, who lives very near us, and was great fun to talk with.</strong><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Bernkastel-Kues</strong></span></div>
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<strong>On a very pretty day we drove up to Bernkastel for a late lunch. Here's Jeff's dad at one of our favorite watering holes in Bernkastel, Bitchen. Powered by Bitburger.</strong><br />
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<strong>Jeff and Dad. You can't go to Bernkastel without taking a picture of a half-timbered building.</strong><br />
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<strong>Dad and I on the shores of the Mosel River. Kues is across the bridge on the far shore.</strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Weilerbach</span></strong></div>
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<strong>We're on our way to Ramstein Air Base for a couple beers at the Belgium Bar and then a great German meal on base at the Deutsches Haus. Jeff and Dad.</strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">That was a quick week. Jeff's dad left the next morning. It was so wonderful to see him doing so well. What a great four weeks we had with all the kids and Dad; made our German experience just that much more meaningful.</span></strong>Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379327566826020396.post-74942201430921980702012-10-11T15:53:00.000+02:002012-10-15T12:59:09.595+02:00Kids in Germany2012 was to be our 15th Oktoberfest. To make it extra special we invited our kids to come to Germany and experience Oktoberfest and much more with us. So they all arrived together on Saturday, 15 September, for a ten day extravaganza. Here’s some of the images of this very special trip.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Saturday, 15 September 2012</strong></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">Arrival</span></strong></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">After picking them up
at the Frankfurt airport, getting them back to the house and situated, we took
them all to the Blockhaus in Weilerbach for some great German food and
beer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s our group; our son Ryan and
his wife Jenny, our daughter Kelly, me, and son-in-law Will and daughter Megan.</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Sunday, 16 September 2012</strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Bad Durkheim & the Wurstmarkt</strong></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Next morning after a short 40 minute drive we’re in
Bad Durkheim for the Wurstmarkt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
checking into the hotel here’s Kelly across from our room; ready to fest.</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Here I am outside our
room with the Wurstmarkt festival grounds in the background.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Jeff and Kelly at the
vintner tents at the Bad Durkheim Wurstmarkt.</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Me, Will and Megan
sampling the cold, fresh German white wines at the Wurstmarkt.</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Because it’s
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kelly, Megan and Jenny.</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">From the top of the
Ferris Wheel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two big wine festival
tents at the top and one big wine/beer festival tent to the right.</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The vintner tents at
the Wurstmarkt; 18 tents, 36 vintners.</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Jeff, Will and
Ryan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Man cannot live by wine alone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Sister silliness.</strong></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In the wine/beer tent
at the Bad Durkheim Wurstmarkt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Me,
Kelly, Megan, Will, Jenny and Ryan.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HVPZEw7R5s0/UG7d5SixOcI/AAAAAAAAILU/1quEWenzJO8/s1600/IMG_1140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HVPZEw7R5s0/UG7d5SixOcI/AAAAAAAAILU/1quEWenzJO8/s400/IMG_1140.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">A great friend of
ours, Mike Ryan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He and his wife Gloria
showed up unannounced but knew where to find us.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-njbYFU9MkLI/UG7d9VjIrHI/AAAAAAAAILg/YuSaBv4uGgY/s1600/IMG_1141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-njbYFU9MkLI/UG7d9VjIrHI/AAAAAAAAILg/YuSaBv4uGgY/s400/IMG_1141.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Megan, Kelly and Ryan.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kU32y0gLt9k/UG7eAuOzIWI/AAAAAAAAILo/8VE6nplbUM4/s1600/IMG_1145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kU32y0gLt9k/UG7eAuOzIWI/AAAAAAAAILo/8VE6nplbUM4/s400/IMG_1145.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Monday, 17 September 2012</strong></span></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Rüdesheim</span></strong></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Jeff and I the next
morning on the way to breakfast and then an hour drive to Rüdesheim.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y2A15C8L654/UG7eQwSN7kI/AAAAAAAAILw/W9qNsrJ6Msg/s1600/IMG_1146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y2A15C8L654/UG7eQwSN7kI/AAAAAAAAILw/W9qNsrJ6Msg/s400/IMG_1146.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Vineyard pictures. The girls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Megan and Kelly.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U7ZsVy1CRhM/UG7eVx4uiII/AAAAAAAAIL4/EBdQy2_fRr0/s1600/IMG_1148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U7ZsVy1CRhM/UG7eVx4uiII/AAAAAAAAIL4/EBdQy2_fRr0/s400/IMG_1148.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Will and Megan,
Kelly, Ryan and Jenny.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j8-gNyYZhus/UG7eZ6BPysI/AAAAAAAAIME/Zso0oADYkCM/s1600/IMG_1150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j8-gNyYZhus/UG7eZ6BPysI/AAAAAAAAIME/Zso0oADYkCM/s400/IMG_1150.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Dad with kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kelly, Megan, Jeff and Ryan.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xf3ITvGKOB0/UG7ed8UOmDI/AAAAAAAAIMM/fpc_RYWbPd4/s1600/IMG_1151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xf3ITvGKOB0/UG7ed8UOmDI/AAAAAAAAIMM/fpc_RYWbPd4/s400/IMG_1151.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In Rüdesheim we
sampling the Federweißer, feather white.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The new wine from the most recently harvested grapes; not yet fully
fermented.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gjQHoaITnFQ/UG7ehpRCCiI/AAAAAAAAIMU/6IpOQQuJBns/s1600/IMG_1159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gjQHoaITnFQ/UG7ehpRCCiI/AAAAAAAAIMU/6IpOQQuJBns/s400/IMG_1159.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">High above Rüdesheim
is the Niederwald Denkmal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The huge
statue that commerates Germany’s victory over France in 1871. Nice trip by small cable cars.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yy_L13nkYbQ/UHU6_GdhjJI/AAAAAAAAIik/HhPjYLC9EhI/s1600/IMG_1161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yy_L13nkYbQ/UHU6_GdhjJI/AAAAAAAAIik/HhPjYLC9EhI/s400/IMG_1161.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Mmmmmmm!! Rüdesheimer Kaffee, gotta have it!!</strong></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tzxUmAj9ydE/UHbIfZuE5rI/AAAAAAAAInU/Z1yiyLxQUX4/s1600/Rudesheimer+Kaffee.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tzxUmAj9ydE/UHbIfZuE5rI/AAAAAAAAInU/Z1yiyLxQUX4/s400/Rudesheimer+Kaffee.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tuesday, 18 September 2012</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Weilerbach, local stuff, get ready for the Bavaria extravaganza</span></strong></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">All of us on the BAB,
Big Ass Bench. In the village of Eulinbis.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ijvsnIHHQ6o/UG7eqRDyfVI/AAAAAAAAIMo/V7WEvVxvl_c/s1600/IMG_1164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ijvsnIHHQ6o/UG7eqRDyfVI/AAAAAAAAIMo/V7WEvVxvl_c/s400/IMG_1164.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Sampling the
no-kidding real, European version of absinthe.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MWrDsRVKCiw/UG7evpI2UgI/AAAAAAAAIMw/UWfXHdufegw/s1600/IMG_1168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MWrDsRVKCiw/UG7evpI2UgI/AAAAAAAAIMw/UWfXHdufegw/s400/IMG_1168.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Wednesday, 19 September 2012</strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Bamberg</strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>We’ve begun our
Bavaria tour; first stop in Bamberg and finally ending in Munich and the
Oktoberfest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our first stop after
checking into the hotel is the <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Klosterbr</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ä</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">u</span>. The oldest brewery in Bamberg, established in 1533.</strong></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h00aqH_uJiM/UG7e0QQgoZI/AAAAAAAAIM4/bCwhkZxNbkU/s1600/IMG_1172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h00aqH_uJiM/UG7e0QQgoZI/AAAAAAAAIM4/bCwhkZxNbkU/s400/IMG_1172.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Dad and sisters, Kelly
and Megan, on a bridge over the Main River in Bamberg.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r1QcYeHDxIk/UG7e4TgaLCI/AAAAAAAAINA/SZhYPEHJInY/s1600/IMG_1173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r1QcYeHDxIk/UG7e4TgaLCI/AAAAAAAAINA/SZhYPEHJInY/s400/IMG_1173.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Pretty scene along
the Main in Bamberg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From here the river
flows to its confluence with the Rhein near Frankfurt.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5J6o6z5Q4ms/UG7e82HRWVI/AAAAAAAAINM/a8ht33mNNso/s1600/IMG_1177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5J6o6z5Q4ms/UG7e82HRWVI/AAAAAAAAINM/a8ht33mNNso/s400/IMG_1177.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pretty scenery on the Main River in Bamberg.</span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L7yX8BtMH-4/UG7fAWywr8I/AAAAAAAAINU/-q8XqLuc8GA/s1600/IMG_1178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L7yX8BtMH-4/UG7fAWywr8I/AAAAAAAAINU/-q8XqLuc8GA/s400/IMG_1178.JPG" width="400" /></span></strong></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Alt Rathaus, Old City Hall, in Bamberg, built in the middle of the Main River.</span></strong></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tdVpWV4q7Og/UHU5VS98QwI/AAAAAAAAIhs/9rzLFIoJUPk/s1600/Old+town+hall.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tdVpWV4q7Og/UHU5VS98QwI/AAAAAAAAIhs/9rzLFIoJUPk/s400/Old+town+hall.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Brauerei Spezial, the new brewery on the block, well, at least at one time. They started brewing in 1536. Great light smoke beer.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PUiZWLMmgVs/UG7qtMZzNNI/AAAAAAAAIYk/xm2JszK9-s4/s1600/IMG_1175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PUiZWLMmgVs/UG7qtMZzNNI/AAAAAAAAIYk/xm2JszK9-s4/s400/IMG_1175.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Bamburg Hofbrau.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-igZ-2c07QW8/UHaN9wnWheI/AAAAAAAAImo/-JeVVKyd7cs/s1600/IMG_1180X.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-igZ-2c07QW8/UHaN9wnWheI/AAAAAAAAImo/-JeVVKyd7cs/s400/IMG_1180X.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Brauerei-Ausschank,
brewers of Aecht Schlenkerla the most famous rauchbier, smoke beer, in Germany.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ANXjmQ98D6c/UG7qgR2VJtI/AAAAAAAAIYc/WwU9TnVkApY/s1600/IMG_1184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ANXjmQ98D6c/UG7qgR2VJtI/AAAAAAAAIYc/WwU9TnVkApY/s400/IMG_1184.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Brauerei-Ausschank
established in 1405.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> So if this place started in 1405 why does the Klosterbr<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ä</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">u claim to be the oldest in Bamberg? </span></span>This is where we’ll
be eating tonight.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ROy3IyUBhKA/UG7qAXgBPvI/AAAAAAAAIYI/2L6uu3RotCQ/s1600/IMG_1183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ROy3IyUBhKA/UG7qAXgBPvI/AAAAAAAAIYI/2L6uu3RotCQ/s400/IMG_1183.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Here’s our table in
the Schlenkerla.</span></b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z3ZsShUrR68/UG7p4abcUxI/AAAAAAAAIYA/HYbW7p2mTVs/s1600/IMG_1187.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z3ZsShUrR68/UG7p4abcUxI/AAAAAAAAIYA/HYbW7p2mTVs/s400/IMG_1187.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Not your typical
breakfast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“For Your Morning Pint”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bratwürst and Sauerkraut or Weißwurst and
Brezel (white sausages and pretzel) with a ½ liter of their heavy smoke beer.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SYKJXL_Sub0/UG7pp8sP64I/AAAAAAAAIX4/xxjPziJBbGw/s1600/IMG_1188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SYKJXL_Sub0/UG7pp8sP64I/AAAAAAAAIX4/xxjPziJBbGw/s640/IMG_1188.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Ryan, Jeff, Megan and
Kelly with rauchbiers (smoke beers) in hand.</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cOYOiUQRqp0/UG7fZx1FMZI/AAAAAAAAIOQ/e2LiA4Qn-IY/s1600/IMG_1189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cOYOiUQRqp0/UG7fZx1FMZI/AAAAAAAAIOQ/e2LiA4Qn-IY/s400/IMG_1189.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong> Thursday, 20 September 2012</strong></span></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Nuremberg, Kloster Weltenburg, Weihenstephan</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nuremburg courthouse where the Nuremburg trials took place after WW II.</span></strong></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RpPz4qfSNy0/UHU5sM-h3nI/AAAAAAAAIh8/cquVDyWKx-c/s1600/court+house.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RpPz4qfSNy0/UHU5sM-h3nI/AAAAAAAAIh8/cquVDyWKx-c/s400/court+house.JPG" width="300" /></span></strong></a></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Albrecht Dürer, most famous German renaissance artist, house in Nuremberg.</span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JZ4uh3XmEvs/UHU5tZ07NzI/AAAAAAAAIiE/Kw0di2PeIXI/s1600/Albrecht+House.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JZ4uh3XmEvs/UHU5tZ07NzI/AAAAAAAAIiE/Kw0di2PeIXI/s400/Albrecht+House.JPG" width="300" /></span></strong></a></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tower in the Nuremberg castle.</span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gOYKoFxIaSs/UHU5utqH_jI/AAAAAAAAIiM/tDbvNkOEilo/s1600/Nuremburg.castle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gOYKoFxIaSs/UHU5utqH_jI/AAAAAAAAIiM/tDbvNkOEilo/s400/Nuremburg.castle.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>On the shore of the Danau (Danube) river. Only issue, we're on the wrong shore. That's Kloster Weltenburg, the oldest monastery brewery in the world. They began brewing in 1050.</strong></span> </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LZEHmbgYAoM/UG7gBRpkXdI/AAAAAAAAIOc/1pTfBrQG-xs/s1600/IMG_1197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LZEHmbgYAoM/UG7gBRpkXdI/AAAAAAAAIOc/1pTfBrQG-xs/s400/IMG_1197.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Oh, how convenient, there's a ferry across the river.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rmPuyHUKMww/UG7gIzv_6ZI/AAAAAAAAIOk/j89Abcgp6eo/s1600/IMG_1196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rmPuyHUKMww/UG7gIzv_6ZI/AAAAAAAAIOk/j89Abcgp6eo/s400/IMG_1196.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We're all loaded up on this very unique ferry.</span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HPpRu1mNPbo/UG7gNq1x83I/AAAAAAAAIOs/AgrVais1nnQ/s1600/IMG_1201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HPpRu1mNPbo/UG7gNq1x83I/AAAAAAAAIOs/AgrVais1nnQ/s400/IMG_1201.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Here we go. No power ferry, just the current of the river takes us across.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8d7F6gP4v4k/UG7gSfVD57I/AAAAAAAAIO0/Y9r6tuKrkJE/s1600/IMG_1202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8d7F6gP4v4k/UG7gSfVD57I/AAAAAAAAIO0/Y9r6tuKrkJE/s400/IMG_1202.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Interesting item on the Weltenburg menu, Potato-Rocket salad. No clue.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GNdylOte1Yw/UG7q8EkYFjI/AAAAAAAAIYs/svpfgrlnP94/s1600/IMG_1205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GNdylOte1Yw/UG7q8EkYFjI/AAAAAAAAIYs/svpfgrlnP94/s400/IMG_1205.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh yeah, they have beer on the menu at Weltenburg too.</span></strong></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3JZEw22RjAs/UHU5iuphmkI/AAAAAAAAIh0/Ivs5yzmj2pE/s1600/Weltenburg.beer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3JZEw22RjAs/UHU5iuphmkI/AAAAAAAAIh0/Ivs5yzmj2pE/s640/Weltenburg.beer.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Jeff and I on the shore of the Danube, behind us the Danube Gorge. </strong></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yvMqueg2USM/UG7gZt2eDsI/AAAAAAAAIPE/78AldT-eUyI/s1600/IMG_1206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yvMqueg2USM/UG7gZt2eDsI/AAAAAAAAIPE/78AldT-eUyI/s400/IMG_1206.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Sisters posing at Kloster Weltenburg on the shore of the Danube.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hiw9Z_3WXNs/UG7geUF2cFI/AAAAAAAAIPQ/JNdTA3cES6o/s1600/IMG_1208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hiw9Z_3WXNs/UG7geUF2cFI/AAAAAAAAIPQ/JNdTA3cES6o/s400/IMG_1208.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Everyone gets a Kloster Weltenburg hat.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AJWzZ7s86PQ/UG7gih_eddI/AAAAAAAAIPY/Rn6XsXFspqY/s1600/IMG_1211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AJWzZ7s86PQ/UG7gih_eddI/AAAAAAAAIPY/Rn6XsXFspqY/s400/IMG_1211.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Return trip on the ferry.</span></strong> </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-XEEBQNMWMc" width="420"></iframe><br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Bad info on the video above. We did not go to Winklerbrau. Once back in the van we drove to Freising, just north of Munich. Checked into our hotel then immediately drove over to Weihenstephan, the world's oldest brewery. After a couple beers it was time to eat. BAM! Big Ass Meal, for two. Yes, I'll have some gravy with that.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qbD0DA5b0AI/UG7glyyJuMI/AAAAAAAAIPg/GfW-3198evs/s1600/IMG_1215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qbD0DA5b0AI/UG7glyyJuMI/AAAAAAAAIPg/GfW-3198evs/s400/IMG_1215.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>End of day two of the Bavaria tour. Time for the What-do-you-know-about-Beer/Oktoberfest/Germany/Wurstmarkt/Wine test. Sample questions:</strong></span></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">What are the four main ingrediants of beer?</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">How many states are there in Germany? Name four.</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">What's the number one grape grown for wine production in Germany?</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Kelly is on her own.</span></strong></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b0moO6MS564/UG7gpNd6jSI/AAAAAAAAIPo/G6Qosces6hg/s1600/IMG_1217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b0moO6MS564/UG7gpNd6jSI/AAAAAAAAIPo/G6Qosces6hg/s400/IMG_1217.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Jenny and Ryan confer on the test.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iXUKDkua640/UG7gxGxxZnI/AAAAAAAAIP8/dRtzbEyw01o/s1600/IMG_1219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iXUKDkua640/UG7gxGxxZnI/AAAAAAAAIP8/dRtzbEyw01o/s400/IMG_1219.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Megan and Will do to and must do it a bit better because they end up the winners.</strong></span> </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5j65Cfj29nk/UHvsGFdrxVI/AAAAAAAAIos/BnBjGFue_K4/s1600/IMG_1218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5j65Cfj29nk/UHvsGFdrxVI/AAAAAAAAIos/BnBjGFue_K4/s400/IMG_1218.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Friday, 21 September 2012</strong></span></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Tegernsee, Linderhof, Kloster Andech</span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Jeff and I at Tegernsee. A beautiful holiday lake southeast of Munich. Oh by the way, they also have a great beer hall/garden.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gijUFpquKLw/UG7icYlIdBI/AAAAAAAAIQI/hYEFF92tQFo/s1600/IMG_1220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gijUFpquKLw/UG7icYlIdBI/AAAAAAAAIQI/hYEFF92tQFo/s400/IMG_1220.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>A one hour drive from Tegernsee. Linderhof, from behind the palace. The only one of Ludwig II's castles/palaces that was completed prior to his death.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_smkXlpDlk/UG7ih2KurtI/AAAAAAAAIQQ/KUy3fhcaSM0/s1600/IMG_1227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_smkXlpDlk/UG7ih2KurtI/AAAAAAAAIQQ/KUy3fhcaSM0/s400/IMG_1227.JPG" width="300" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The man-made grotto high above the back of Linderhof, complete with swan shaped boat. Inspired by the operas of Richard Wagner. Ludwig II would invite performers of the day do play for him, a one-man audience, here in his grotto.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9VT_Xbafy2o/UG7imW_dBkI/AAAAAAAAIQY/z0IEmpf8W0k/s1600/IMG_1224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9VT_Xbafy2o/UG7imW_dBkI/AAAAAAAAIQY/z0IEmpf8W0k/s400/IMG_1224.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Linderhof Palace from the front.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OXpVYEVIgbk/UG7iuBXqd2I/AAAAAAAAIQg/cUAp33Sur_c/s1600/IMG_1231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OXpVYEVIgbk/UG7iuBXqd2I/AAAAAAAAIQg/cUAp33Sur_c/s640/IMG_1231.JPG" width="640" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Magnificent shooting fountain at Linderhof Palace.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2byblxTHamQ/UG7iyStlmAI/AAAAAAAAIQo/bdL1R34gCHs/s1600/IMG_1233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2byblxTHamQ/UG7iyStlmAI/AAAAAAAAIQo/bdL1R34gCHs/s400/IMG_1233.JPG" width="300" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Sightseeing done for the day, checked into the hotel, relaxing at Kloster Andechs with a Doppelbock Dunkel.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Io3LqN5lfQE/UG7i2yvv0KI/AAAAAAAAIQ0/GCKnLu6lMz8/s1600/IMG_1236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Io3LqN5lfQE/UG7i2yvv0KI/AAAAAAAAIQ0/GCKnLu6lMz8/s400/IMG_1236.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The shadow of Kloster Andechs in the setting sun.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fgKgpiejo4U/UG7i50O9j1I/AAAAAAAAIQ8/KbDbMDXYWtU/s1600/IMG_1239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fgKgpiejo4U/UG7i50O9j1I/AAAAAAAAIQ8/KbDbMDXYWtU/s400/IMG_1239.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Tonight's game, coaster flipping. It was very competitive and drew quite a bit of attention from everyone else on the deck. Ms. Intensity just missed.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j9yeVFDMD8Y/UG7jC0lG1MI/AAAAAAAAIRM/p0ofudo1mqI/s1600/IMG_1242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j9yeVFDMD8Y/UG7jC0lG1MI/AAAAAAAAIRM/p0ofudo1mqI/s400/IMG_1242.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>WOO-HOO!!! 30 coasters flipped by Kelly!! She and Ryan were the finalists, brother vs. sister.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Oix8t7jnWv4/UG7rSq3xRSI/AAAAAAAAIY0/oGGkuTUWEhU/s1600/IMG_1245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Oix8t7jnWv4/UG7rSq3xRSI/AAAAAAAAIY0/oGGkuTUWEhU/s400/IMG_1245.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The ultimate winner and present world champion, Ryan, with 35 coasters</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mWdVR2jPz7w/UG7jF0mb1dI/AAAAAAAAIRU/8u1xJrZa1JA/s1600/IMG_1241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mWdVR2jPz7w/UG7jF0mb1dI/AAAAAAAAIRU/8u1xJrZa1JA/s400/IMG_1241.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Picture time with liter mugs; Megan with five empties. How do those waitresses do it with 8+ full mugs?</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w-NMevTflYU/UG7jNHRBd1I/AAAAAAAAIRk/1L_Op5oqI_4/s1600/IMG_1246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w-NMevTflYU/UG7jNHRBd1I/AAAAAAAAIRk/1L_Op5oqI_4/s400/IMG_1246.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Jenny with four full mugs.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PrCAO4GIT_o/UG7jQne7XfI/AAAAAAAAIRs/rAAHU4ISAes/s1600/IMG_1249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PrCAO4GIT_o/UG7jQne7XfI/AAAAAAAAIRs/rAAHU4ISAes/s400/IMG_1249.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Saturday, 22 September 2012</strong></span></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Oktoberfest Opening Parade, Hofbrau Keller, Park Cafe, Osteria Italiana</span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Opening day parade for Oktoberfest 2012. Here's the first drum and bugle corps to start the parade.</strong></span><br />
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scenes from the opening day parade for Oktoberfest 2012.</span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L1dJZq-Kk0E/UG7j3m7InGI/AAAAAAAAIR8/tC5UJY_2kfY/s1600/IMG_1252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L1dJZq-Kk0E/UG7j3m7InGI/AAAAAAAAIR8/tC5UJY_2kfY/s400/IMG_1252.JPG" width="400" /></span></strong></a></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Parade over. We're on our way to lunch at the Hofbrau Keller. Had to stop by the bronze wild boar in front of the Fishermen and Hunters Museum.</span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8zIJQJ42Tj4/UG7kYaoEEMI/AAAAAAAAITA/L8u_61KFlyo/s1600/IMG_1266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8zIJQJ42Tj4/UG7kYaoEEMI/AAAAAAAAITA/L8u_61KFlyo/s400/IMG_1266.JPG" width="400" /></span></strong></a></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our evening meal was at Osteria Italiana. A very good and pricey Italian restaurant. This restaurant has an interesting history. In the 1930's it served traditional Bavarian cuisine and was the favorite restaurant in Munich of Adolf Hitler.</span></strong><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Sunday, 23 September 2012</strong></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;">Hofbrauhaus breakfast, Hirschgarten, Augustiner Keller, Chinesicher Turm, Hofbrauhaus</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>0930 at Munich's Hofbrauhaus for breakfast. Kind of quiet. Ryan and Jenny trained to Neuschwanstein for the day. The rest of us were on a beer garden quest.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Tp7TII3bKo/UG7lVHbS36I/AAAAAAAAITU/398ECWTUKlY/s1600/IMG_1272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Tp7TII3bKo/UG7lVHbS36I/AAAAAAAAITU/398ECWTUKlY/s400/IMG_1272.JPG" width="300" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>After the breakfast the first stop of the day was Hirschgarten, the world's largest beer garden; seats 8000.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1YlkhRgOZqQ/UG7lZTM135I/AAAAAAAAITc/iWb6A9hEEEA/s1600/IMG_1273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1YlkhRgOZqQ/UG7lZTM135I/AAAAAAAAITc/iWb6A9hEEEA/s400/IMG_1273.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Good grief!! That mugs almost as big as Kelly.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3DT4xZ9LGh4/UG7lfFEoBkI/AAAAAAAAITk/QRfdpMrpCms/s1600/IMG_1274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3DT4xZ9LGh4/UG7lfFEoBkI/AAAAAAAAITk/QRfdpMrpCms/s400/IMG_1274.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>It was definitely a beer cover day at Hirschgarten. Bees were buzzing and chestnuts were falling.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-en1z7cizwQo/UG7lioH3H2I/AAAAAAAAITw/5OF-YrVmm6Y/s1600/IMG_1275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-en1z7cizwQo/UG7lioH3H2I/AAAAAAAAITw/5OF-YrVmm6Y/s400/IMG_1275.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Backup liter mugs. Just in case.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jBp5GZYGIwo/UG7loClZmzI/AAAAAAAAIT4/3NR8EtN80pM/s1600/IMG_1276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jBp5GZYGIwo/UG7loClZmzI/AAAAAAAAIT4/3NR8EtN80pM/s400/IMG_1276.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Augustiner Keller, second beer garden of the day. Megan, Jeff and Kelly.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cdBUqGb5Ajo/UG7ltgaoK6I/AAAAAAAAIUA/Gag-WVPE9wo/s1600/IMG_1277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cdBUqGb5Ajo/UG7ltgaoK6I/AAAAAAAAIUA/Gag-WVPE9wo/s400/IMG_1277.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Time for a snack. Some pommes frites, couple BAB (Big Ass Brezel), two landwurst and one of our new favorites, Obatzda, a slightly spicy cream cheese, excellent on a BAB with onions. </strong></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Augustiner's most kickass logo, JW. Both Jeff and Jenny Wickstrom give it two thumbs up.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vgtcmI-yO40/UG7l0ws00bI/AAAAAAAAIUQ/OAqhVvEn4Ys/s1600/IMG_1279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vgtcmI-yO40/UG7l0ws00bI/AAAAAAAAIUQ/OAqhVvEn4Ys/s400/IMG_1279.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>In the Augustiner Keller, keller. Yes, they still use wooden beer kegs.</strong></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Megan, me and Kelly in a cute, barrel table.</strong></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>OK, now Megan's in the act.</strong></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>And Kelly too.</strong></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Back at the Hofbrauhaus for the evening. Jeff and Ryan on the stairs that lead to the upstairs restaurant and fest hall.</strong></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Me, Will, Megan, Kelly, Jenny and Ryan at Munich's world famous Hofbrauhaus.</strong></span> </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bE95vIfV9eA/UG7mLxfravI/AAAAAAAAIVI/x7Ne_xiuHIo/s1600/IMG_1288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bE95vIfV9eA/UG7mLxfravI/AAAAAAAAIVI/x7Ne_xiuHIo/s400/IMG_1288.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Monday, 24 September 2012</strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Finally!! OKTOBERFEST!!</strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Dirndl girls. Megan and I.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FT8eEQ9ybGc/UG7nw3AHQyI/AAAAAAAAIVk/Ph_f_ZtsCZI/s1600/IMG_1290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FT8eEQ9ybGc/UG7nw3AHQyI/AAAAAAAAIVk/Ph_f_ZtsCZI/s400/IMG_1290.JPG" width="300" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Jeff and his fraulein Megan.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LFPYtVQ6ml8/UG7n0b70xFI/AAAAAAAAIVs/KLEOm9J7QJ8/s1600/IMG_1295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LFPYtVQ6ml8/UG7n0b70xFI/AAAAAAAAIVs/KLEOm9J7QJ8/s400/IMG_1295.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Kelly with the Lowenbrau horses.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yCXI3fDTb88/UG7n6lgUH6I/AAAAAAAAIV0/RmSmZA5r-DI/s1600/IMG_1298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yCXI3fDTb88/UG7n6lgUH6I/AAAAAAAAIV0/RmSmZA5r-DI/s400/IMG_1298.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Will, in lederhosen, Megan in dirndl.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KLDm7t25DC4/UG7n_LToPVI/AAAAAAAAIV8/GFnk49hd7Qc/s1600/IMG_1299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KLDm7t25DC4/UG7n_LToPVI/AAAAAAAAIV8/GFnk49hd7Qc/s400/IMG_1299.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Cute sign pointing to the closest WC.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lZqO2KrWzNo/UG7oDpWJZgI/AAAAAAAAIWE/RgThhJS2Yfs/s1600/IMG_1302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lZqO2KrWzNo/UG7oDpWJZgI/AAAAAAAAIWE/RgThhJS2Yfs/s400/IMG_1302.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Whips to music in the Schottenhamel tent. Pretty cool but I think I'd feel like kind of a sissy with those little whips after hearing the BAW (Big Ass Whip). It's gotta be a little nerve racking for the folks under those BAWs.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>At the southwest corner of the Oktoberfest grounds is this large statue, named Bavaria. You can walk inside up into her head. And so, we did.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5NFYzhx1DwE/UHXMzGUD44I/AAAAAAAAIkk/ju7UZGlGJQQ/s1600/Bavaria_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong></strong></span></a><br /></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wahoXSvAo9M/UHbNNQXYk1I/AAAAAAAAIoA/iQqXpP-s0C8/s1600/Oktoberfest-Bavaria-Hullbr3ach-500x333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wahoXSvAo9M/UHbNNQXYk1I/AAAAAAAAIoA/iQqXpP-s0C8/s400/Oktoberfest-Bavaria-Hullbr3ach-500x333.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>There's three little openings in the statues head, only about 4" x 4". This is the view to the north. At the right you can see the double round dome of Munich's Frauenkirche, which is right near the Marienplatz.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K34VV3L1EaI/UHaGSTaZv9I/AAAAAAAAIlQ/5VqTvP1FE0I/s1600/IMG_1305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K34VV3L1EaI/UHaGSTaZv9I/AAAAAAAAIlQ/5VqTvP1FE0I/s400/IMG_1305.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Right out the statue's forehead is this view of the Oktoberfest grounds.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oS2b8cY7K4A/UG7oL_o_0CI/AAAAAAAAIWY/HWoyyBsb6Iw/s1600/IMG_1306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oS2b8cY7K4A/UG7oL_o_0CI/AAAAAAAAIWY/HWoyyBsb6Iw/s400/IMG_1306.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>It was cramped in the Bavaria head; Jeff and Kelly.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZY-wIJH0YkE/UG7oQeThN_I/AAAAAAAAIWg/X1mzhRnwNiA/s1600/IMG_1308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZY-wIJH0YkE/UG7oQeThN_I/AAAAAAAAIWg/X1mzhRnwNiA/s400/IMG_1308.JPG" width="300" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Megan and I in the statue Bavaria's head.</strong></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W97ZiBenzRI/UG7oT0A8u8I/AAAAAAAAIWo/Mj8DfQgvLvg/s1600/IMG_1310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W97ZiBenzRI/UG7oT0A8u8I/AAAAAAAAIWo/Mj8DfQgvLvg/s400/IMG_1310.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Anyone for a cow sandwich?</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qv-dJzNiqQo/UG7oZba5_WI/AAAAAAAAIW4/CGveP1So_U4/s1600/IMG_1320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qv-dJzNiqQo/UG7oZba5_WI/AAAAAAAAIW4/CGveP1So_U4/s400/IMG_1320.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>OK, it's time to go into our reserved table in the Löwenbräu fest tent. Same table every year, row seven, straight in front of the band.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gfl60kxyogs/UG7rpYMlS8I/AAAAAAAAIZA/S4vEPnm_pYQ/s1600/IMG_1315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gfl60kxyogs/UG7rpYMlS8I/AAAAAAAAIZA/S4vEPnm_pYQ/s400/IMG_1315.JPG" width="300" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Father and son; Jeff and Ryan.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ciDgU8nK8Lw/UG7ocpQZ3aI/AAAAAAAAIXE/SmoRFji0ivA/s1600/IMG_1322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ciDgU8nK8Lw/UG7ocpQZ3aI/AAAAAAAAIXE/SmoRFji0ivA/s400/IMG_1322.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Megan and I already up on the benches. That's not some spare German yelling in my ear. That's our friend Cajun.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nl1sGMbyMqI/UG7ofhiWKnI/AAAAAAAAIXM/zHyShSiqy9k/s1600/IMG_1323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nl1sGMbyMqI/UG7ofhiWKnI/AAAAAAAAIXM/zHyShSiqy9k/s400/IMG_1323.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Nice picture of Megan and Will.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hmycuPp-jjg/UG7ojYUWFFI/AAAAAAAAIXU/BK5GdL8jBHU/s1600/IMG_1326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hmycuPp-jjg/UG7ojYUWFFI/AAAAAAAAIXU/BK5GdL8jBHU/s400/IMG_1326.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Kelly, the new </strong><strong>Löwenbräu lion.</strong></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t7d8F4_BQps/UG7onV9OJsI/AAAAAAAAIXc/J_WilBmi2Kg/s1600/IMG_1328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t7d8F4_BQps/UG7onV9OJsI/AAAAAAAAIXc/J_WilBmi2Kg/s400/IMG_1328.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Or maybe Ryan.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c2hWkZ5an7k/UHWNOInicbI/AAAAAAAAIjQ/HcukUMKD4cU/s1600/Ryan+Lion.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c2hWkZ5an7k/UHWNOInicbI/AAAAAAAAIjQ/HcukUMKD4cU/s400/Ryan+Lion.JPG" width="300" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>A video of Megan and Kelly on the bandstand. They seemed to pretty much camp out up there; at least four songs.</strong></span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/v2ZEj3LECWQ" width="420"></iframe><br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Hey, look at this, there's beer here.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pG8Iz6MLcD4/UG7oqmgO_vI/AAAAAAAAIXk/yTcTuSxLPAY/s1600/IMG_1331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pG8Iz6MLcD4/UG7oqmgO_vI/AAAAAAAAIXk/yTcTuSxLPAY/s400/IMG_1331.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Butt, butt, butt. </strong></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-136FAkcHkyU/UHWNaAWtPZI/AAAAAAAAIjY/Sp711uo43xQ/s1600/butt.butt.butt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-136FAkcHkyU/UHWNaAWtPZI/AAAAAAAAIjY/Sp711uo43xQ/s400/butt.butt.butt.JPG" width="400" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Oh yeah, this is kickass fun!!!</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mwaIAsO69mQ/UHWNfO8e4QI/AAAAAAAAIjg/rWGPX2M4tlI/s1600/Sandy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mwaIAsO69mQ/UHWNfO8e4QI/AAAAAAAAIjg/rWGPX2M4tlI/s400/Sandy.JPG" width="300" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Ryan, Jeff and Kelly.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xDbOrAy2S9Y/UHWNlp8lmlI/AAAAAAAAIjw/JNdehfynoag/s1600/ryan.jeff.kelly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xDbOrAy2S9Y/UHWNlp8lmlI/AAAAAAAAIjw/JNdehfynoag/s400/ryan.jeff.kelly.JPG" width="300" /></strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The end of the night. Ryan and Will with our waitress. She's worked our table two years in a row now.</strong></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DocPCVw-0Yc/UHWNorYLlKI/AAAAAAAAIj4/mnRKnCsUjj4/s1600/Waitress.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DocPCVw-0Yc/UHWNorYLlKI/AAAAAAAAIj4/mnRKnCsUjj4/s400/Waitress.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That's it! Next morning we took Megan and Will, and Ryan and Jenny to the Munich airport for their flight home. Kelly came back to our house for the trip to Berlin at the end of the week for the marathon. It was a wonderful time and so much fun to show our kids around Germany and why we love it here. So, once again, PROST!!</span></strong> </div>
Sandy and Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00528735433829995035noreply@blogger.com8