Friday May 22: Drove to St. Louis in weather threatening rain. After we parked in the SLU parking structure we hurried down the street to the Metrolink station. As the bag of apples we were carrying to snack on broke and a couple of apples rolled down the street, Celia said, "maybe this is an omen!" Little did we know. Other than that, we got to the Metro station and to the airport without incident. However, because of the inclement weather, our plane was delayed getting into St. Louis and thus we were an hour late taking off for Atlanta, reducing our 90 minute window in Atlanta to 30 minutes. On the way to Atlanta, the pilot announced that, because of the weather, we had to fly a holding pattern for a while. Finally we landed with 15 minutes to get from Terminal B to Gate 15 of the International Terminal E. We got on board, along with a couple of standby passengers and the plane left for Amsterdam at 7:30 p.m. Atlanta time as scheduled.

  Saturday, May 23: Although the flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam only took eight and a half hours, the time was filled with a snack, followed by dinner, followed by lot of sitting, followed by two movies, followed by breakfast, thus getting us to Amsterdam (actually Schiphol, a suburb of Amsterdam) about 10:20 a.m. Amsterdam time. After getting off the plane and getting ready to validate our rail pass, I found our Eurail pass missing, not in its preplanned, prescribed compartment in our luggage. We then proceeded to check/unpack all our luggage in a vacant spot of the terminal in Amsterdam -- no Eurail pass anywhere in our luggage. So we reported it to the airport police, got a new rail pass, and headed for Amsterdam Central Station. While waiting there on the platform waiting for our selected train heading south toward Belgium, we were talking to a lady whose husband had been flying standby and had not made his flight. Furthermore, her luggage had been lost, so she was waiting at Amsterdam for her luggage, not knowing if her husband would be coming to Amsterdam or Brussels or where. During the chatting, my subconscious reminded me that, at the last minute in packing, I had decided that the rail pass was to big for the slot in the luggage, and I had put it in the money pouch with the extra travelers checks and extra credit cards I carried around my waist under my clothing. So we left the "lady in waiting", hopped the train back to the airport at Schiphol (20 minutes), cancelled the police report, got our money back for the rail pass and finally got a train from Schiphol, heading south, able to save a bit of time by not going back to the Central Station. As it turned out, the unthinkable happened; that train had the "slows", causing us to miss our connection at Brussels. We took a later train heading for Liege, Belgium(the next place to change trains). The train schedule printout from the Web that I had gotten before we left home turned out to be extremely valuable, because in Amsterdam/Schiphol they could not tell us what time the last train would be going to Wiltz, or even if there was such a train, or how close we could come. My selected printouts turned out to be completely accurate, but we didn't know that in Amsterdam. During the ride to Liege, perhaps because we were the only passengers in the first class cars, the conductor spent a lot of time chatting with us. A forty year old Belgian, with a wife and no children, he had some very definite ideas about problems in the world and their solution. He discussed the problems created by the immigration of East Europeans into West Europe; he discussed the problems arising in a country that has more than one officially recognized language. He gave examples of unreasonable Belgian Railway rules involving language usage imposed on the railway based on the particular location the train was passing through (sort of like airlines in the past not serving alcoholic beverages when flying over Kansas). There were places where, even though all his passengers spoke Flemish, he was not permitted to use Flemish for announcements, but required to use French only. He and his wife spent many of their vacations riding a motorcycle in Luxemburg. He enjoyed the scenery there and besides, he said, it was cheaper there, because although Luxemburg and Belgium have the same currency, in Luxemburg there was no tax.
  He indicated that, because of the delay at Brussels, we would again miss our train at Liege, but wished us well.
  Unfortunately, none of the folks at Liege station spoke English or German or Spanish, so it took some effort to get some snacks for supper. We did sit down in the restaurant there, but the combination of French only menu, a waiter who only spoke French, and the fact that we could only use Belgian currency, of which we had none, discouraged us from trying to eat our supper there. By now it was 6:30 p.m., and we learned there was a later train leaving for Luxemburg(City), and that there was a possibility of a train from Kautenbach if the train from Liege to Kautenbach was not more than two minutes late. By this time we were much later than any eventuality I had considered possible when I printed out the train schedules, so we had no way of being sure that I had understood him correctly, or that he was correct in his information.
  We boarded the specified train at 7:08 p.m. at Liege, traveled several hours and got to Kautenbach at 9:10 p.m., 20 minutes ahead of schedule. The conductor on that train to Kautenbach confirmed the information about the train to Wiltz. That is to say, the conductor in Luxemburg did so; they change conductors, and apparently train crew when they go from one country into another, and the conductor in Luxemburg on the train from Liege to Kautenbach was very helpful in reassuring us we would make it to Wiltz that evening, even telling us what track at Kautenbach it would be on. (we had obtained this kind of information from conductors, because it helps have precious seconds if you have only a few minutes to change trains, since you then don't have to look up this information on the boards posted on the station platforms). I had considered alternatives such as taking a taxi the last ten miles from Kautenbach to Wiltz, or even farther if we couldn't get to Kautenbach.
  The train from Kautenbach to Wiltz was a modern short train, with the name "Wiltz" lit up in the car windows, formed from pinpoints of glowing red light - the first one like that we had seen. At the time it was to leave for Wiltz, we were the only passengers. However, they waited a number of minutes for more trains to drop off passengers (a half dozen more) before leaving for the ten minute ride to Wiltz, arriving about 10 p.m.
  As we got off the train, it was clear that there were no hotels in sight, contrary to the information from the Luxemburg Tourist Office in New York which had assured me that all the hotels were near the train station in Wiltz. So I decided to ask (in German) the first person we encountered, "Which direction to the du Commerce Hotel"? He replied, "I'm from there - Vic Weber" (the owner-manager: the hotel has been in his family for three generations). He had come to meet the train and pick us up. This was the first of a sequence of very thoughtful and considerate actions of his that we experienced during our stay in Wiltz. Upon arriving at the hotel, without requiring us to fill out the usual check-in forms (he did that the next morning when we had had a chance to rest), he showed us to our room - the one featured on their post card. Thus ended a very busy, and at times tension-filled day.

  Sunday, May 24: Slept soundly through the night in a king-sized bed under a king-sized modern version of a feather-bed cover.

Had a great breakfast - we helped ourselves
to items from the breakfast buffet in the
dining room of the hotel (there is a "Kneipe"
with bar and casual tables in one room, then
the dining room with room for 30-40 people
seated at tables with tablecloths and linen
napkins, then a much larger "Banquet" room
furnished like the dining room.

After breakfast we took one of the booklets
left in our hotel room that included a map of Wiltz
and walked around the area near our hotel.

We were surprised to find the Wiltz castle within a few blocks of our hotel - it had been dark when we were driven to our hotel last night. We also found a grocery store and a bookstore - both closed within easy walking distance. After exploring the castle grounds (the buildings were closed), it was time for Sunday dinner at the hotel.
Despite the fact that there were enough other customers that about filled the dining room, he took the time to translate each item on the menu for us into English. His mother prepares, or helps prepare, the food. Two hours later (it was a delicious multi-course meal with enough food for 4-6 people) we finished and went to our room for an afternoon nap. We were interested in the fact that the hotel attracted a lot of the local people to its bar and dining room - both were comfortably packed, so we were not the only ones who thought that the food was delicious and well-prepared.

  Later in the afternoon we explored more of the area around the hotel. I found a 24 hour money machine and got some Luxemburger/Belgian cash.

  After a tasty supper of weinerschnitzel, with potatoes, white asparagus, and other items to numerous to mention, we were going up to our room when Vic Weber, the manager, asked us if we were interested in the history of the "Battle of the Bulge" in late 1944 and early 1945. He loaned us 5 books from his "archives". He showed me his library/archives.

He is obviously quite a historian/politician and a major factor in the local community's efforts to recognize, preserve, and honor its history and people, something we learned from a book we bought later in Wiltz. Three of the books he loaned us dealt with the immigration of Luxemburgers to the New World, one of which discussed in detail a village of Luxemburger immigrants in Minnesota, and two were collections of ships' lists of passengers from Wiltz to the New World. Many familiar German-sounding names were included. The other books described in words and pictures the preparations for and carrying out of the Battle of the Bulge. He offered to take us and show us, in the morning, the Battle of the Bulge Museum, which is not scheduled to open until next week, but since he was very much involved in the organization that planned and promoted it, he had a key.
  We spent the evening looking through all the materials he had loaned us.

  Monday, May 25: This morning after our usual breakfast (they remembered Celia needed hot tea and I wanted hot chocolate), we walked with Vic Weber to the Battle of the Bulge Museum in the castle. Because the U.S. Signal Corps had been stationed here in Wiltz from the time the U. S. forces liberated it in September of 1994 until the German counterattacked several months later, there were lots of pictures of the town before and after the battles. Over 80 per cent of the buildings in Wiltz were damaged or destroyed. One photo shows General Eisenhower at the building behind the hotel - his general staff had been housed there. Vic Weber's father, born in 1922, was involved in the war, while his grandparents were taken to Poland to work in a labor camp.
  After his personalized tour of the museum, we went to the Tourist Information Center, located at the castle and also visited the Museum of Arts and Crafts, showing artifacts and information involving various crafts practiced by artisans of the community in previous centuries. We bought a book about the various members of the nobility who controlled Wiltz throughout its history. After leaving the castle, we spent some time at the bookstore we had spotted, but found no good information about Wiltz. Back at the hotel, we asked Mr. Weber if there was another bookstore in town. He gave us directions and off we trotted. Since this was the hotel's "Ruhetag" and thus there would be no noon or evening meals served, we stopped at a nearby grocery store, got some appropriate food, and ate our lunch at a nearby bus stop, before visiting the bookstore. At the bookstore, we found the kind of books about the history and people of Wiltz we were looking for. The bookstore is in the lower part of Wiltz and on the way up the long climb to the hotel, we got caught in a shower of rain and took refuge for about an hour in a nearby memorial honoring Wiltz's war dead.
  We ate our supper (including a milk-based peach-apricot beverage) in our hotel room. Buying groceries is a challenge when nothing but French appears on the boxed items for sale. I selected one small package of sliced lunch meat solely because there was a small picture of a chicken on the front-- Celia was wanting me to avoid ham slices.
  We spent the rest of the evening watching CNN on TV and in reading the books on Wiltz we had borrowed and purchased.

  Tuesday, May 26: Got up a bit earlier than usual; got our luggage packed and were down for breakfast with our luggage by 8:30 a.m. Our hotel manager had promised to take us to the train station after breakfast; we got there with time to spare. Our train route from Wiltz to Hamelin (Hameln in German) was a bit circuitous, going first south to the capital city of Luxemburg where we changed trains, then east into Germany near Trier and on to Coblenz where we changed trains and headed for Frankfurt, changing again to an ICE train from Frankfurt to Hanover with its speed in excess of 200 kilometers per hour, and finally a rather packed local train from Hanover to Hamelin.
  The ride in and out of Luxemburg-City was fascinating; I'd never seen a city built on so many different specific levels. The different levels of elevation were dramatic, but necessary, in order to accommodate the scenic mountainous terrain.
  The ride into Germany brought feelings of being more at ease, with no threat any longer of being forced to communicate with people who spoke only French.
  The ride from Trier to Coblenz along the Mosel brought back memories both of Agnes Schuester, who had lived in the area, but also of our rides on the boat from Bingen to Coblenz, because both the areas are significant wine producing areas and we saw lots of vineyards, cultivated, as always, "up and down" the steep slopes. We ate our lunch on the train that we had bought the afternoon before: boxes of juice, crackers, cheese, chicken slices, rice cakes and bananas.
  When we boarded the train from Koblenz to Frankfurt, the first several train compartments we came to in the train car were had several persons already in them; we were running out of opportunities, so we entered a 6 seat compartment occupied by only one man. He was quite friendly, chatting about train travel, about the places in Germany he had lived, about Germany's political problems and their cause. We commented about the places we had visited both this year and previous years, about the places our ancestors had come from and our current plans. As we came to the point of the Rhine where the Lorelei Rock is located, he was surprised to learn we knew of its existence and location. I replied, "Ja! Ich weiss nicht was soll es bedeuten, dass ich ..." He joined in and together we sang (in German) several stanzas of that song. I never thought, when I had committed those verses to memory several years ago, that I would ever be singing them in German on a train rolling along the Rhine with a man we had met only 30 minutes earlier. He reminded us of Lucile's friend in Wittenberg, though ours was much more serious, sensible, and level-headed.
  The entrance of two business men as additional persons in our train compartment ended the cordial mood. That had been the most intensive one-on-one German conversation I had carried on since we stayed overnight with the Balsings in Melle several years ago.

  When we got to Hamlin (Hamelin), we asked at the Tourist Office for the location of the nearest hotel. We got a city map, walked the half mile or less to the Dorint Hotel, where we are staying now(we like to call it the Dorito Hotel). While Celia rested, I reconnoitered the area, found a money machine and got DM300, found a place for our light supper and found a grocery store where I picked up a few things for a midnight snack. Celia then joined me for our supper - a couple of chicken burgers with cheese and a soft drink - which we ate on a park bench in the adjacent city park. After supper, we browsed along a tourist shopping area on nearby streets even after the stores closed because it was still daylight and comfortable to walk around at 10 p.m.
  Our pre-midnight snack concluded our day.

  Wednesday, May 27: Up for the breakfast buffet in the hotel dining room by 7 a.m. Breakfast room was packed - most seemed to be businessmen. After breakfast I went to the grocery store two blocks away to get our lunch fixings for on the train. We then explored a typical "market" on the municipal plaza next to the hotel, where folks were selling meat, vegetables, fruit, flowers, clothes, household items, bread, etc. After a visit to the bookstore across the street to get a book about Hamelin, we got back to the hotel in time for the 11:00 a.m. checkout time.
  Then, a walk back to the train station, then a train to Hanover during which ride we ate lunch, then changing trains at Hanover to go to Bremen. The Bremen train station was undergoing extensive remodeling, so we had some trouble locating the Tourist Information Office, located outside the train station. We eventually found it, bought two tickets for a two and a half hour guided city tour tomorrow, got a city map, and walked to our hotel a few hundred feet from the station (Hotel Bremer Haus) where I had reserved a room via e-mail. After a brief, the storm clouds were gathering, so we hurried to a Pizza Hut near the train station just as the rains came. Over an hour later, we were stuffed with excellent Euro pizza and Erdbeeren Eis and the sun was again shining.

  During a brief visit to a book/magazine shop at the train station, we bought a copy of "The Musicians of Bremen", the story of the donkey, dog, cat and rooster. Back to the hotel to spend the evening resting, snacking and watching television.

  Thursday, May 28: Woke up relatively late (7 a.m) and went down for breakfast - had scrambled eggs on the buffet for the first time on our trip. Did several hours of browsing in the shops around the train station.

The city tour started at the central bus station, located adjacent to the main train station. It was a pleasant and informative tour, with only nine of us on a rather large bus, together with the driver and guide who explained the sights. While we were walking with the group near the cathedral - a pedestrian only zone - Celia spotted some desirable-looking T-shirts in a shop window. After the tour was over, we used our city map to walk from our hotel to that area. After making a few purchases, we walked back to the train station, bought another T-shirt, stopped by a pastry shop on the way back to our hotel for a couple of delicacies.
  After a brief rest, we headed out for supper at the same Pizza Hut as last night, but without the rain. After supper we took a round-about way back to the hotel, including two Magnum ice creams on a stick from a sidewalk vendor. Called Günter and Friedhelm to let them know we were in Bremen.
  We enjoyed the rest of the evening in our hotel room.

  Friday, May 29: Our last night in the Bremer Haus hotel was comfortable. The three helpings of scrambled eggs at breakfast were delicious. After checking out of the hotel and walking to the train station, Celia waited outside a bookstore in the hallway of the station while I went to a grocery store just outside the station and got our lunch for the train ride. My selection included some chicken slices, ready-to-eat waffles, individual orange drink cartons, and some bananas - we had some left over cheese slices and rice cakes, so we were all set. We were on the proper train platform with an hour to spare, so we waited in a no-smoking waiting room there. When the train came at the appointed hour of 11:01, we boarded a first class car and found a totally empty 5-person compartment. The train made only one stop between Bremen and Osnabrück, and by the first stop we had eaten a leisurely lunch.
  When we got to Osnabrück, I called Günter, who said Friedhelm had not yet returned from shopping, and they would come get us as soon as possible. They did so. After we got to their house, I had a brief nap. Then we had a great meal of cooked potatoes, asparagus, and pork steak. Günter was still recovering from a severe bout of intestinal flu, so he rested while Friedhelm showed us the improvements they had made in their farmstead since our last visit.
  After some apple pastry, we went for a walk along the roads in the neighborhood, met a family living on land the Freese's used to own and returned in time for "Abendbrot" and headed for bed about 11 p.m.

  Saturday, May 30: Slept very soundly in Günter and Friedhelm's feather bed. They asked us if we'd like to go somewhere or see something - we replied we just came to visit them. Friedhelm had a chance to show me some more of the renovations and repair work he had done around the farmstead - doors and windows replaced, walls repaired, an elegant table saw he bought to help him with these tasks, although some of his efforts included masonry and aluminum.
  Went to Fritz and Wilma's for the noon meal. Had some delicious soup, containing some scrambled eggs, potatoes and gravy and meat. Strawberries and cream, along with another kind of berry constituted dessert. Chatted for several hours; a lot of talk about politics and the SPD party that is likely to come into power this fall. Had plum cake and coffee for a mid-afternoon snack. We left about 6 p.m. to go back to Günter and Friedhelm's. After more visiting, we watched a 2 hour videotape of Christmas music that Günter had taped from the TV a year and a half ago consisting of a variety of choirs, including some very large ones, performing Christmas music.
  Got to bed by midnight.

  Sunday, May 31: A bit earlier breakfast than usual (8:30 a.m.). Had tomatoes for breakfast as well as supper last night. Went to Günter and Friedhelm's church at 11 a.m. We were introduced at the "announcements" time of the service. After the service, folks came up with cups (and saucers) for everyone for coffee or tea, along with cookies.
  After the church service, we had invited Günter and Friedhelm out to a Greek restaurant in Mettingen. Delicious food, and lots of it. What Celia could not eat, Günter and Friedhelm are planning to use as their main meal tomorrow. Then Günter treated us to an ice cream dessert at his friend's ice cream place nearby. Then back to Günter and Friedhelm's to pick up our luggage and on to Osnabrück. We were about 30 minutes early so Günter was saying they would take us to the correct train platform and go. But they stayed around until the train came. The train was on time and we hugged and waved good bye through the train window as the train pulled out.
  A few customs officers walked the train cars as we went from Germany into The Netherlands, but they didn't stop to talk to us. It was interesting to see the landscape change gradually from that near Osnabrück, which is so much like home, to the much flatter and wetter landscape near Amsterdam. Also, there were a lot more cattle in the fields as we got closer to Amsterdam. Since our train was a fast virtually non-stop train, we arrived in Amsterdam after a three hour trip.

As we walked out of the Central Station there,we could see the name of our hotel (Hotel Barbizon Palace) on the top of the building across the plaza (and canal!) from the train station.
  While Celia waited in our hotel room, I scouted out the area and found a McDonalds. She and I had supper there. As she said, watching the mass of humanity around us, "This sure is a cosmopolitan area!". Amen to that! As we walked back to the hotel, we could see the gradual change in the blocks to that of the typical night scene and night people.

  Monday, June 1: After a great breakfast in the hotel, by 9 a.m. I was waiting in line at the Tourist Information Office at the train station to select any tours we might like to take. Bought a combination tour - a two hour guided bus tour that started at 10 a.m. and a one hour boat tour that we could elect to begin on any half hour the rest of the day. The bus tour was excellent with the tour guide giving her narration in German, English, and Spanish. We made two stops - one at a windmill and one a a diamond polishing firm that gave demonstrations, but no samples!
  After lunch at McDonalds, we returned to our hotel room for a brief nap, then out to browse in the stores in the shopping area, then to the boarding point for the boats. They were large boats with transparent sides and ceiling so the 60 or so passengers could easily view points of interest. This tour was again narrated, this time in English Germany, French, and Spanish. We traveled around in the city's canals, learning about the four major canals, about the over 100 kilometers of canals in the city. After traveling around in the city canals, including being stuck in a "traffic/canal?" jam, the boat went out into the harbor for a bit. As we were passing the train station along the harbor side, one of the things we were told was the fact that, when the train station was built about 100 years ago, since the water level is so high (or the ground level is at or below sea level) the entire structure sits son 9000 pilings.
  After the boat tour, we spent several more hours browsing shops in the area. Then a walk to the train station to check on the times trains would be traveling in the morning from the Central Station to Schipol Airport. Then back to the hotel for a bit of packing and such and watching T.V.

  Tuesday, June 2: The return home: Celia was up before 5 a.m. so we both got up, did an early breakfast in the hotel shortly after it was available at 6:30 a.m. and checked out of the hotel by 8 a.m. Got to the train station, found a train leaving within minutes for the Amsterdam airport at Schiphol. Upon arriving at the airport, we went through the security check with a minimum of waiting and hassle, and were able to get better seats on our flight to Atlanta by virtue of our early check-in and to get boarding passes for both legs of our flight. But by flight time we were told that the airport traffic control had imposed a one and one-half hour wait. With only a 2 hour layover in Atlanta, we were a bit concerned. However, we made up an hour of the delay during the flight to Atlanta. We went through customs in Atlanta and made our way to the gate for the St. Louis flight in less than thirty minutes, so we had 30 minutes to spare.
  After getting to St. Louis we had a celebratory ice cream snack at Lambert, then took the Metrolink to Grand Avenue, got our car from the SLU parking structure and headed home.

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