26 Jun 2017

Flugwerft Schleissheim is an aviation museum located in the German town of Oberschleißheim near Munich, it forms part of the Deutsches Museum collection and complements the aviation exhibits on display at the main site.

The airfield and its historic buildings were constructed between 1912 and 1919 by the Königlich-Bayerische Fliegertruppen (Royal Bavarian Flying Corps).  In the early 1990s the historic maintenance hangar was restored and enlarged to accommodate the Deutsches Museum's growing aviation collections.   The Museum was opened on September 18, 1992.

Gerri loves aviation museums - it's a her favorite touristing ;D

On the photo to the left below - looks like more aviation enthusiasts huh, you'd be wrong, they were students studying the structure of the hanger.

This home-built aircraft was designed and built to enable a family of five to escape from East to West Germany in 1981, but has never flown. The family were arrested the day before their planned escape. They were charged with "Preparing an illegal border crossing in a 'heavy' case", convicted and imprisoned for one year. They were then deported to the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany).

To keep construction a secret, the builder used only non aviation-grade materials and generally available components. Power was provided by two East German MZ motorcycle engines.

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After the museum, we hit the highways, and stopped at a roadside rest, and witnessed mayhem.  The woman next to the dark car, apparently hit the gas instead of the brakes (or so we guessed).  There were plenty of people around who she fortunately missed, but she took out what looked like a telecommunications box lifting the car into the air in the process, and then she seemed to hit every available pedal racing the engine as well as stopping.  The policewoman showed up within 10-15 minutes.

We continued on towards meeting the Valentines, near Ramstein Air Base.  But first we took an early dinner with Rocky (Sonja Orth), another German lady we'd met on the Pacific Crest Trail.

And finally the sun sets on our 4 month European tour.  The final act is hanging out with Dave Valentine and his family as we attempt to fly space available (USAF hop) out of Ramstein Air Base.

On the way to Dachau, just outside of Munich - another nice Summer day in Bavaria.

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(Wiki:)
Dachau concentration camp was the first of the Nazi concentration camps opened in Germany, intended to hold political prisoners. It is located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory northeast of the medieval town of Dachau, about 16 km (10 mi) northwest of Munich in the state of Bavaria, in southern Germany.  Opened in 1933 by Heinrich Himmler, its purpose was enlarged to include forced labor, and eventually, the imprisonment of Jews, German and Austrian criminals, and eventually foreign nationals from countries that Germany occupied or invaded. The Dachau camp system grew to include nearly 100 sub-camps, which were mostly work camps or Arbeitskommandos, and were located throughout southern Germany and Austria.  The camps were liberated by U.S. forces on 29 April 1945.

Prisoners lived in constant fear of brutal treatment and terror detention including standing cells, floggings, the so-called tree or pole hanging, and standing at attention for extremely long periods.  There were 32,000 documented deaths at the camp, and thousands that are undocumented.

Approximately 10,000 of the 30,000 prisoners were sick at the time of liberation.  In the postwar years the Dachau facility served to hold SS soldiers awaiting trial. After 1948, it held ethnic Germans who had been expelled from eastern Europe and were awaiting resettlement, and also was used for a time as a United States military base during the occupation.  It was finally closed in 1960.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a town in the district of Ansbach of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. It is well known for its well-preserved medieval old town, a destination for tourists from around the world.

The name "Rothenburg ob der Tauber" means, in German, "Red fortress above the Tauber" as the town is located on a plateau overlooking the Tauber River.  Settlement began from around the year 1,000.

Allies performed aerial bombing of the town in WWII, causing a fair amount of damage.  But in the end, the allies negotiated a surrender of the city defenses to save it from obliteration in April 1945.
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We found a very convenient family hotel just outside one of the city gates (the white dot at far right).  From here the entire old town was very walk able.  There was even a beer garden just outside the gate.

Entering one of the city gates, complete with medieval moat.

Storming the town interior.  Everywhere within, immaculately maintained, best to attract all those tourists from near and far.

Hanna shopping for a practical warm hat, or not.  Gerri checking out the town length standards, used way back when for fair merchandising.

As this 4-month European tour gets near it's end, Summer as fully set in, and greenery is everywhere.

A rare miss on culinary delights, or did the pooch just perform some aerial bombing of his own, I can't remember the story as I type this on Feb 10, 2018.

An interesting way to see this town - walking the defensive walls - some is original, while some was rebuilt after the devastation of WWII.

21-22 Jun 2017

We arrived in Nuremberg in time for some evening sights, and more pub and grub.

Another local beer.  I-Phone screenshot - or, how not to get lost walking in a strange city, while not holding a paper map and looking like a tourist (hmmm, I think there's no not looking like a tourist most of the time).

The next morning we took the metro train to the south to see some historical sights.

Because of the city's relevance to the Holy Roman Empire and its position in the center of Germany, the Nazi Party chose the city to be the site of huge Nazi Party conventions — the Nuremberg rallies.

The Documentation Center Nazi Party Rallying Grounds is a museum in the north wing of the unfinished remains of the Congress Hall of the former Nazi party rallies.  The permanent exhibition "Fascination and Terror" is concerned with the causes, connections, and consequences of Nazi Germany.

The Nazi party rally grounds covered about 11 square kilometers in the southeast of Nuremberg.  Six Nazi party rallies were held there between 1933 and 1938.

Wide view shot taken from the web:

The U.S. Army blew the swastika installation from the top of the Zeppelintribüne on 25 April 1945.

Remnants of the party rally grounds still exist throughout the space, but the area today is largely used for sporting events - see here the setting up (or taking down?) of an auto racing circuit:

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A very convenient public restroom - really a rarity in most tourist's travels we've experienced - Tim made excellent use of this particular one for final processing of German cuisine.

Now off to see some much older history of Nuremberg, into the evening.

We toured the part of Nuremberg where:

Christkindlesmarkt is a Christmas market that is held annually during Advent in the Hauptmarkt, the central square in Nuremberg’s old town, and in adjoining squares and streets. With about two million visitors a year the Nürnberger Christkindlesmarkt is one of the largest Christmas markets in Germany and one of the most famous in the world.

Nuremberg is known for Nürnberger Bratwurst (grilled sausage), which is shorter and thinner than other bratwurst sausages.

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"Post-Script"   -  On departure we did a drive by the city's courthouse, the site of:

The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals held by the Allied forces under international law and the laws of war after World War II. The trials were most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, judicial and economic leadership of Nazi Germany, who planned, carried out, or otherwise participated in the Holocaust and other war crimes.

The Zwinger was a palace of the monarchy from 1728 in the eastern German city of Dresden, built in Baroque style. It contained a small orange grove, an exhibition gallery and a festival arena of the Dresden Court.

The building was mostly destroyed by Allied carpet bombing raids of 13–15 February 1945. The art collection had been previously evacuated. Reconstruction, supported by the Soviet military administration, began in 1945; parts of the restored complex were opened to the public in 1951. By 1963 the Zwinger had largely been restored to its pre-war state.

A beautiful day to visit Dresden.

Our photo from the visit, just as the bells began a mini-concert; contrast this with a post-bombing shot.

Picturesque city - great floods have swollen this river many times.

Golden statue - the darkening of the masonry is very evident here - the result of the type of quarried stone and the weathering (not the fire bombing of WWII).

Our grub and ale at another beer garden to end our evening in Dresden.  We walked a few miles and took urban transit to get out to this spot.

Hanna continues with us, as she will do back into Munich.

From 1949 to 1990, Berlin was split into an East and a West.  From the close of WWII, the Western Allies administered/occupied the sections as shown, and Soviet Union the East.  In 1949, the German Democratic Republic formed (East Germany), and East Berlin became its capitol.  In October 1990, all of Germany, including Berlin, became one unified country again.

We drove into the city and arrived in the area which was formerly East Berlin.  Below is the Fernsehturm (English: Television Tower), built by the Communists.  We stayed within former East Berlin, as it had many choices of apartment styled lodging, and is close to all the best sights.

Berlin is rich in tourist sights, especially reminders of the extreme history of 20th century events.  We saw much of it, but am sure missed a lot of it having only stayed 3 days.

At the center of Berlin, we visit the River Spree.  We wondered at first if there was something about to happen along the river bank, but apparently these people were just enjoying the Sun and view at riverside.

Left photo below is Berlin Hauptbahnhof, the largest train station in Europe, the city's main railway station and came into full operation 28 May 2006.  Other photo - more modern buildings nearby.

The Reichstag building, finished in 1894, was Germany's capitol building until 1933, when it was set fire under dubious circumstances.  It was restored by 1999, and once again became Germany's capitol building.

Nearby are memorials to those who died (really murdered) under oppression of first Nazi Germany (to the left) and still others killed during Communist rule.  The left is for those of the German political opposition who were simply eliminated by the Nazis.  The white crosses represent those who died attempting to flee East Germany during the period 1949-1989.

The Brandenburg Gate, the site where thousands of people gathered at the wall to celebrate its fall on 9 November 1989.

(Wikipedia:)
Located one block south of the Brandenburg Gate, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.  It consists of a 4.7-acre) site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs or "stelae", arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. The stelae are 2.38 m (7 ft 10 in) long, 0.95 m (3 ft 1 in) wide and vary in height from 0.2 to 4.7 m (7.9 in to 15 ft 5.0 in).  An attached underground "Place of Information"  holds the names of approximately 3 million Jewish Holocaust victims.  It was completed on December 15, 2004.

Our tour guidebook explained the creators leave it up to the visitor as to what the form of this memorial represents - nothing on site is explanatory.  According to the designer's project text, the stelae are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason.

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Also nearby was this primitive parking area.  This is the site of Hitler's last days, his bunker, where he committed suicide as the allies took Berlin.

More sights from today's Berlin.  While many things from the Communist era have disappeared, or are memorialized (the Wall), these crossing signal graphics, from Communist days, are considered "loved" and remain.

Wiki:  The Neue Synagoge ("New Synagogue") was built 1859–1866 as the main synagogue of the Berlin Jewish community, on Oranienburger Straße. Because of its splendid eastern Moorish style and resemblance to the Alhambra, it is an important architectural monument of the second half of the 19th century in Berlin. It was badly damaged prior to and during World War II and subsequently much was demolished; the present building on the site is a reconstruction of the ruined street frontage with its entrance, dome and towers, and only a few rooms behind. It is truncated before the point where the main hall of the synagogue began.

Dining with our friend "Rainbow", who we first met along the Pacific Crest Trail the year prior.  She took us to a hip restaurant district  and to this Thai restaurant.  After the trail, she relocated here from Barcelona to be close to her parents again.

The Berlin Wall

Remnants and reminders remain at its original location throughout downtown.

(left below)  Former Luftwaffe Building from WWII (HQ Nazi German Air Air Force)

A tale of three cars - Volkswagen (People's Car), Smart Car about to get squashed (we hope not), Trabants (Soviet cars)

Checkpoint Charlie - border crossing at the boundary of West and East Berlin; the soldiers in short sleeves are actually actors for the tourists.

Berlin is done - we float off to Dresden next:

Okay, this balloon was tethered to the ground, so we drove to Dresden instead.

Our entry into Hamburg - escorted by a $200,000 McLaren.

A sobering view of total war - after a 1943 bombing.  Of course we only saw modernness and restoration.

Hamburg City Hall - a shiny new building from 1897.  Even shinier - more of that modern eclectic architecture - a condominium.

Our tour book suggested we take the ferry on the River Elbe - Hamburg is about 60 miles inland from the North Sea, but this mighty river allows operation of a major seaport.

An Airbus A-380 (double decker) sighting - the company paints and furnishes these new airplanes in Hamburg.

The Dockland Office Building - mega yacht shaped, but we thought of the Star Wars Sandcrawler.
https://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/dockland/
The other building is the Elbphilharmonie - a concert hall in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany, on the the Elbe River.  We were able to get on the list for visiting the patio portion. 

A matching set of Moto Morini's straight out of the 1980's.

Our calorie break before our tour of the concert hall building.

Going up a super friggin big escalator to the mezzanine level.  And another sighting of an Airbus, this time the Beluga, a version of the standard A300-600 wide-body airliner modified to carry aircraft parts and oversized cargo.

The view from the patio deck.  What looks like ugly buildings is a renovated section of warehouses containing housing, shops, and business space.

Continuing our tour of modern Hamburg - some of us became a bit thirsty.  This "angly" building would not be built in Los Angeles - they don't need any earthquake inspired architecture.

Moving along to Hamburg's red-light district - a highlight being the location (the club is gone now) where the Beatles honed their craft as a group in the early years before they became world wide figures.  Outside this alley location, on the main street, is an artsy tribute to the Fab Four.

Hamburg, unlike Amsterdam, attempts to shield the wider public from their actual street of prostitution - a barricade asks that only males over 18 enter (along of course with the "staff").   In this photo, you can almost guess at the conversation:  fellows:  "I don't need to remind everyone - what happens in Hamburg, stays in Hamburg"  , the gals "this sign is killing me, we need to go inside and check it out".

Enough of that, time for another German brewpub.

We could have got really crazy at this point and joined this group of vintage (25-40 yr old cars) car rallyers running this circuit; they had a get together at this open courtyard beer garden.

Other photo is Gerri's dinner - Tex-Mex Deutchland style - a burrito with pickled jalapenos and Mole sauce.

Winding down in Hamburg - a look at the metro terminal.

On the morning of our 3rd full day in Amsterdam we rented 3 bicycles and hit the town.  It seemed daunting at first, but this city has really figured out how to safely integrate the use of 500,000 bicycles in a town of one million people.  Each day, when people are on the move in the city, over 60% of the means of travel is by bicycle (the rest walking, riding public transportation or scooters/motorbikes, very few by auto, and some numbers by boat in the extensive canals).  Most of the bicycle travel is done in dedicated lanes, even with their own traffic signals.  Hanna with her strong legs was our package hauler.

Our first major sight was the Anne Frank House.  Anne Frank with her sister, father and mother, and 4 other Jews hid from the Nazi's for 2 years, before they were unfortunately found and taken to concentration camps.  Friends and business partners supported them during their hiding, as they never left the building.  Anne  maintained a daily diary while hiding, with which after the war her father, the only survivor, published into the book.  This museum opened in 1960 and now sees over a million visitors each year.

At the left side in this drawing is the main facade facing the street/canal - this cutaway is exposing the inner structure sideways into the buildings. Anne Frank's family were hidden in the rear annex - the taller narrow building at the right, which was essentially hidden from streets as it was surrounded on all sides by other buildings.  The family occupied the top three floors of this annex (the gray/yellow and green floored spaces), plus the attic portion - the total usable space was about 500 sq. ft. for Anne Frank's family of four, plus four others also taking refuge.

As Anne's story and this house has done for decades, we really felt the reaching back through history to some  personal experiences of people who bore direct witness to the tragedies of those times.

We then continued our bicycle touring of the city and had great weather today for it.

Pretty canals, and great city greenscaping (Hanna approves).

Here's a good view of the city lanes with the draw bridge drawn - each way here, two lanes of auto, one lane (red) of bicycle, and one pedestrian lane.  The other photo - small commercial food markets are the norm all around Europe, much food continues to be bought in daily street markets.

For the inner town walking tour we parked here in the midst of thousands of bicycles.

Holland, Holland, and more Holland, we were surrounded by it all.

At the flower market, dominated by tulips - bulbs and buds.

Package delivery by boat in the canals - no traffic hassles, and ample parking, seemed to be a good idea.
To the right, looking up the canal, with the backside of the flower market stalls stretching into the distance.

Amsterdam is world famous for its availability of ma-ra-jua-na - the shops are all licensed under the moniker "coffeeshop".  It's as if the architects smoke it extensively and turn out business centers like this space-ship looking thing ("...commencing count-down Major Tom...").

To the left a monument "Belle -- Respect Sex Workers All Over the World"  - a photo from Amsterdam's Red Light District.  Yeah, prostitutes here, but yet not a seedy area in any respect - cafes and canal locks.

You could almost mistake some views for Venice.  To the right, rowing lake built for the 1928 Summer Olympics - 2500 meters long (around 1.7 miles).

Thatched roof homes.                                                          Hangin out.

Hangin out at the lake.

A traditional canal boat, with not so traditional apartments.  A child's custom bicycle - don't know the story here, but certainly some youngster is proud of their bike.

A mosque built just a few years ago - for the most part the architecture tries to blend in with the neighborhood.
To the right, urban paradise.

Day trip outside Amsterdam:  Hoorn to Medemblik to Eckhuizen

The next day the mission was to drive just outside of Amsterdam and do "trains, ships, and automobiles".

Gerri drove us about 40 minutes north of Amsterdam to Hoorn.  We boarded a steam train departing Hoorn and rolled through the Dutch country side for about an hour to the harbor town of Medemblik. We had a pleasant 45 minutes here before boarding the steamer Freisland which sailed to Eckhuizen, where we had more time to check out another amazing coastal town. And then we boarded a modern train back to Hoorn to our car for the return to Amsterdam.

Silver dollar pancakes fried up fresh aboard the train.  To the right, ahhh!, it's a Squatch -- no just Gerri enjoying the breeze behind the steam engine and bicycle flatbed.

Scenes from a train - scroll down to see some excitement, unplanned, of course.

"Mom,  Dad,  I'm okay, but I borrowed Grandma's car, and I think she left some doobies smoldering in the ashtray, and now Grandma doesn't have a car anymore..."

I call this one "Air Commerce, and Cows".                           Cool reflection as we pull into the station.

Our steam engine at the end of the line with our ship awaiting to the other side of the dike (and of course, since it's Holland, there are bicycles in the scene).  Our boat up close, just kidding, I wish.

Actually, this boat is really neat also, our actual boat we board shortly.

More mysteries abound - is this a child's playhouse on the harbor?  Now I know that other object is a fishing boat - great color scheme.

Finally, the town of Eckhuizen and the end of our day trip, except for the car ride back to Amsterdam.

We made it back to our apartment in Amsterdam.  The next day we are on our way to Hamburg Germany.  That next morning we took in one last city in the Netherlands - Utrecht.

More neat old buildings, and canals of course - this time a little different with cafes and such right down at canal level.  Nice boat - dude.

And more churches - neat effect with lamps in front of the stained glass.  We're done with the Netherlands - so one last windmill is posted here.