Letter 03

July 31, 2005

Hello, again.

This is another installment of our trip and also describes a "typical" day. Although everyday is quite different when it comes to the scene on which it is played, there really is a typical day for a camper lucky enough to be in Europe.

Before we begin on the typical day, let’s talk about Mainz . We had been there in 2002 but were not successful in getting into the Gutenberg Museum. That’s why we wanted to return. After all, in 1450 this man invented a way of communicating information to greater masses of people than ever had been possible before. This time we didn’t move from our Frankfurt campground. It turned out that we could get on the inner city tram which stopped down the street, and transfer to an inter-city train to Mainz. The entire cost for the day for two people was 20 euros and change. The trip took an hour and a half in total, and left us in the middle of the city. We walked over to the museum, and found it fascinating. We watched a demonstration of a reconstructed copy of the original printing press (in German) and then were lucky enough to be around when a large group of people came in and asked for an English tour. We tagged along to watch another demonstration in English, complete with historical perspective. Then our guide took us upstairs to see the museum’s treasures. One and a half original Gutenberg Bibles.

For those of you who are interested, the Bibles we saw were in Latin. Even when they were new, they were quite difficult to read, because Gutenberg used lots of abbreviations to make sure that the pages came out even. He would print sixteen pages at a time, two columns on each page. Every group of 16 was consecutive. First 1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15. Then the back side of the pages, printing 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16. Then he collated them as pages 1-16 or 1216-1232! The entire Bible took 1282 pages of black print and the purchaser bought only the pages. If a more elegant Bible could be afforded, a monk was hired to decorate the text in red in particular places. Someone who was really rich might even have the pages illuminated (lots of colors and some pictures). In any case, the purchaser would put on a wooden front and back cover and have the pages attached to a rope down the spine by special string strung in a standard style.

It was a very interesting visit. When we left, we went to an internet café and sent out Letter No. 02. By the time we finished with the internet and lunch, it was time to return "home". So we did.

In the morning we left Frankfurt and began the long drive to Leipzig. Although we had discussed making it into a two-day trip, it turned out to be only a six hour trip—235 miles. We drove straight through. Somewhere between Frankfurt and Leipzig we crossed over from West Germany to East Germany. We thought that we detected slightly bumpier roads in the part of Germany formally controlled by the Russians. But that is probably unfair because we had to pass many areas in both the West and the East where roads were undergoing repair. Most of the roads we drove on were in very fine shape and pretty new judging by the lack of oil smudge in the center of the lanes. Autobahns in Germany seem to be of concrete rather than asphalt. Where the roads were being replaced, the dug up parts were at least 3-4 feet deeper than the lanes we were driving on. If they fill that with road material the new roads should last a long time.

The drive from Frankfurt took us north and then east. The landscape was quite different from what we saw in other parts of Europe—very large forested areas and when we saw cultivated fields, they were very large. And we noticed an absence of the many villages that turn up every few miles in France and the Netherlands. Of course we were on different roads here—six-lane autobahns, not two lane national roads and that could explain the difference in the landscape. But we used such roads in England and we still think that we encountered many more towns there than here.

There were two similarities to roads in other parts of Europe that we noticed with approval. There were virtually no billboards or advertising of any kind except every once in a while a small sign in the middle of a field would announce that there is a McDonalds in the next town. The second similarity was that the roadsides were very clean. I never noticed the clutter on American highways until we drove over here.

When we got to Leipzig, we found the campground easily. We didn’t try to go into the city because it was already getting late. Instead, we passed a very nice hour or so chatting with one of our campground neighbors – a couple from Nijmegen, Holland. First question to us was "Why are Americans so fat?" Not an auspicious beginning! But conversation soon turned to other subjects and we feel sort of flattered that she asked chubby old Ron and Adelle. Later that night we had a chat with another neighbor. They were from the south of Germany, near Basel. They had taken a bus tour of Liepzig that day. They mentioned their amazement that the tour guide said that unemployment in this former East German city was 20 percent. No wonder things are in some disrepair. And, incidentally, that explains why we saw more beggars in Leipzig than in any other European city.

Both the Dutch and the German couples thought that we could drive to Italy from Basel through Lake Lucerne in Switzerland and use the Goddard tunnel to get through the Alps because it is all pretty flat. We will consider that route because it will get us to Italy much sooner than going into France and then around the Mediterranean coast into Italy.

Which brings us to "A Day in the Life" of the Milavskys in Leipzig. By 9:15 we were out of the campground. The reception desk didn’t have the day pass for public transit. We opted to walk to the tram stop – which was a big mistake. It was far enough to tire us out. We could have taken the bus outside the campground since it goes to the tram, but it didn’t look far on the map and we walked it.

By the time we walked to the tram stop and then took the rather long trip into the center of the city, it was about 10:30. We did notice what we thought were signs of neglect in this East German city—many boarded up houses, and many where the stucco covering of brick walls have fallen off. And lots of graffiti.

We got out at the main railroad station and followed our fellow travelers into a huge building that looked like a train station. Actually, it turned out that we were following them into a mall – because there is a huge and kind of interesting mall in the train station. Since we aren’t into malls, we just found a mall information booth, and asked them where we would find the city information office. It was a short walk – across the street, across the construction site, etc. By the time we left the tourist office, it was about eleven. But we knew where we wanted to go, how to get there and where there was an internet place. Internet first since it was closest. We cleared out our mailboxes and it was noon. So next stop was lunch. Bratwurst brotches (short, crispy rolls from which the bratwurst sticks out a couple of inches on each end) from a tiny place that sold only a few lunch items but had outside tables.

Now we could go to the outdoor market, even though we really didn’t need or want anything. Except for some raspberries. (I never pass up raspberries.) Next stop, the Nickolaskirche – the oldest church in Leipzig and one of outstanding beauty on the inside. It isn’t as famous or as fancy as the beautiful cathedrals we’ve been seeing, but it was somehow more personal. Smaller in size with painted columns of green and pink/peach, it will be among our favorites. The church is also famous because it was the scene of the first protests against the East German government that ended in the destruction of the Wall. Luckily for us, there was to be a concert in the evening, so the organist was practicing on the organ.

Ron also took pictures of the Gasthaus (hotel) across the street because that building was originally the school where Wagner & Leibnitz both studied Latin. We started walking again, and soon came to a store that resembled the Job Lot stores we have in the U.S. We obviously could not pass it up, and indeed we bought a small assortment of things that we really do need.

A further walk brought us to a very old ratskeller (a basement bar). How old? Goethe had used it by name in a scene in his play, "Faustus". It took a long time to get pictures of the statues of the characters in the play that are outside the entrance because so many people come by for just that same purpose. In fact, the foot of one of the figures has been rubbed so often by passers-by that it was a bright brass color. We took lots of pictures of the outside, but we didn’t go in.

Instead, we set off for another church. Johann Sebatian Bach spent the last 27 years of his life as choirmaster in the Thomaskirk in Leipzig, so we went off to find it. It’s not far away, though construction made it harder to get to. It was a modest church, which has been rebuilt to reflect the way it looked when Bach was there – including putting in an organ which is like the one that Bach used. We enjoyed that visit, although it was somewhat spoiled by knowing that that church had treated Bach very badly during his whole tenure. Anyway, we decided against going to any other museums. We had been walking around since 9:15 a.m. and it was already 3 p.m.

Our next stop was an "Eis Café" where we ordered the least expensive and least complicated thing on the menu. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such ice cream creations. Ours was very modest by comparison but it was, of course, delicious. But certainly not fattening. After all, everyone need a 2,000 calorie dessert now and then.

We were both flagging. But we walked back to the internet shop because they had telephone service which cost 10 cents a minute to the U.S. We called both Jennifer and Joe and our bill was a little over 2 euros! Then it was time to go back to the campground. But first, we needed to buy some rolls from a bakerei in the mall – and then it turned out that there was a supermarket downstairs and ….You know the rest.

By now exhaustion was setting in, and two slightly cranky people went to the front of the train station to find the tram that goes to the campground. It was listed as being at tracks 5 and 6 – but there were only tracks 1-4 visible. Ron asked someone and she pointed at the side of the railroad station – another very long walk. A short wait and the right tram came. Unfortunately for my raspberries the tram driver made a sudden start and Ron fell backward on the seat next to me. It did the raspberries no good at all. But we got off the tram at the right stop and the bus came immediately after. We were back. It had been quite a day.

There’s no way to tell how much walking we do, but it is a lot. That was one of the answers to the question about fat Americans. In Europe, people walk and bike a lot more than most Americans ever do. All this walking may even cause us to lose weight. Now isn’t that a good reason all by itself to go to Europe this way? We think so. Bye for now. Adelle and Ron