European Travels

Raymond and I were fortunate last month to travel to the continent for a week-long vacation. The impetus was the 20th class reunion of my grad school program at the University of Freiburg in Germany. As we missed the reunion 10 years ago, I vowed that we would attend this one. So we flew to Lisbon and onward to Zürich before catching a late train to the border town of Rheinfelden, Switzerland. The above photo is from our first morning as we awoke to the Rhine river flowing below our window and Germany on the other side!

Above L to R: a view of our hotel from the border bridge in Rheinfelden; posing on the bridge with Germany over Raymond’s shoulder and Switzerland over Lukus’ shoulder; scenes from the old town (tower, fountain, and architecture).

Schwarzwald

After an amazing day traveling from Rheinfelden, Germany through the Black Forest (via bus, tram, bus, and bus) we arrived at the charming village of Wieden (above). Impressively, every connection on our journey was on time! Here are some of the sights we saw on the way:

Klassentreffen

The class reunion was a blast! It was so fun to see old classmates after so many years. And the whole experience was so well-orchestrated – from which bedrooms were assigned to whom in the huge rental house, to meal planning for 20 adults and 11 children, to arranging for daily morning bread delivery, to planning our hiking excursions.

The first day Raymond and I hiked from the rental (elevation 3,000 ft) up to a mountain pass inn for a schnapps (alas, they were not open and it was sooo cold and windy!). From there we continued hiking to a hight of 3,600 ft where we could see snow-capped mountains in the distance before looping back down to the house. The second day the whole group hiked to a local fluorite mine and we had a lovely tour inside. It was also a sunnier day not as cold. Sadly, all things must end and we all parted ways on Sunday – with a promise to not wait another 20 years to see each other again next time.

Spring on Terceira

The strangest thing about traveling to Europe was seeing Spring grandeur in its fullest. Though much further north than Terceira, there were fields lush with wildflowers, roses and rhododendrons blooming around farmsteads, spring leaves bursting from beech and birch trees, flowering apple and cherry groves…I didn’t realize how much I missed these things.

It has been a slow Spring on the island – between overcast skies, DAYS of dense fog, and the lingering cold/wind damage from winter storms, the landscape (though green) doesn’t have that fresh newness that Germany had.

Above, L to R: a sunny day driving home through the middle of the island; the stream side plants freshly cleaned of vines and weeds (dracaena, Japanese cedar, and tree fern); the newly trimmed pathway through what has become a meadow in our back yard (with Nicodemus); the black fig and the pear tree

After all the disruption of clearing the land of the invasive ginger and vines we have decided to let yard become a meadow. Starting from whatever grasses and weeds blew in, I have simply helped nature along – pulling weeds I don’t want and spreading seeds of things I do want (like clover). The diversity is amazing – we counted 6 varieties of grasses one day during our walk with the cats. The plant growth helps keep soil erosion at bay and works like a sponge to keep the soil moist. It also provides instant mulch for the fruit trees when we trim it.

A windy day with the waves blowing away from the coast for once.