Coming home - final thoughts

Early this morning, I jogged out to the little stone bridge in the Japanisches Teehaus in the Englischen Garten, my perfect spot to do yoga in Munich.  I thought about the trip a little, but mostly about all that has gone on this year.  I've taken my lumps physically.  I broke my leg last July.  I had thyroid surgery in November.  It's clear I'm still struggling with energy levels after the latter.  While the will is there, it feels like I'm moving through some sort of viscous material.  Everything's difficult.  On this trip, I felt signs of this changing.  I had one of those beautiful moments this morning when everything felt good - the ducks were swimming on the water around me, the wind was whistling through the trees, and things seemed to be flowing pretty well.  I have Maddy, Delia and everybody else in my life.  Everything's transient.  Enjoy it while you can.

Munich - The Last Supper

We made it back to Munich, and took our last supper at the Augustiner Biergarten on Arnulfstrasse (just north-west of the train station).  Now, on the day after the last supper, I wonder whether Jesus ate breakfast the next day.  I definitely would have.  Best meal of the day.

Freiburg - drains and trains

Freiburg is a cool little city tucked down in the extreme south-west corner of Germany.  An old university town, a lot of stuff is crammed within the old city walls.

One very prominent feature is the system of stone drains incorporated into most of the cobbled streets in the old city.  It being reasonably wet right now, there is a lot of activity in said drains!  One must be careful not to twist an ankle in them, or on the numerous rail tracks.  The large army of bikers seems to do just fine (almost entirely sans helmet).

Drain and train in close juxtaposition.

Adorable scene of kids playing with boats in the drain.

Beware of alligators!

Schwartz Wald - land of mists

Having successfully traversed the German border, we decided to stay off the Autobahn (which was a parking lot the last time we were on it) and go to Freiburg by way of back roads through the Black Forest.  Good choice, for at least we moved the whole time.  One small problem was that the spectacular views we should have seen were largely obliterated by the rainy day and the fact that we were literally driving through a cloud for the first part of the journey*.

Things cleared up and we were treated to some great alpine vistas, the Schwartz Wald being somewhat similar to the Green Mountains in Vermont (except a lot more pine/fir).  Stopped in a town for some incongruous but tasty Indian food.

Ill-advised photo taken while driving.

There's a great view out there somewhere!

Here comes the sun.  It's alright.


*I thought we were supposed to be looking at all the light.  An sand and birds and rocks and things.  Extra points for those who know that song.

Strasbourg 4 - leaving town

We left Strasbourg heading due east, crossing again the German border.  As with most border crossings on our trips, we try to document them with photos, which is often challenging (see photos from Alabama and Mississippi borders last year).  It took us a while to find a place to pull off along the Rhine, then some time to get the photo right.  After all that, we continued east, only to find out that we had not crossed the Rhine yet and were still in France!  So, imagine the photos below are of the Rhine and not a tributary.  We weren't about to stop again.

Attempt #1.  Almost dropped the camera.  That little thing you see sticking up to the right of Maddy's head is Strasbourg Cathedral.

Attempt #2.  That's better.

Attempt #3.  Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien.

Strasbourg 3 - the cathedral

One of my great accomplishments, and great shames, while living in Strasbourg was to climb the cathedral.  At the time, it was just something one did after a party.  When I say "something one did", I'm not sure how many people actually did it.  I just know that I did it twice when, at around 2 AM, somebody said "hey let's climb the cathedral".  It's not like we saw anybody else doing it on either of those occasions.

Looking at it from the bottom, I can only guess at how we got started going up.  I know we started on the North-west corner.  It didn't seem that difficult, I was just following along.  Now, the thought of it makes me shudder.  I also shudder at the damage we could have done to this fantastic structure (started in 1176, and was the tallest building in Europe for a couple of centuries).  But mostly, truth be told, I think it's pretty cool and am happy I am still alive.  We went right to the very top, three or four people holding on way up there and looking at all the lights below.  On the way down the second time we climbed it, we found an open door and got into a cat walk and could look down at the interior of the church from way up high.  They don't do that on just any tour!

Cathedral from a distance.

Cathedral up close.

Cathedral straight up from the front.  We started on the left side of this image (seen from the side in the next picture).

Inside the cathedral.  From the last photo, you can see the catwalk, just below the upper stained glass.

Strasbourg 2 - Petite France

I lived in Strasbourg for 18 months, between October 1988 and April 1990.  Not a huge amount of time but a very formative one for me.  The first time I set foot here was earlier in 1988, when Kathy Dickinson and I went on an adventure through England and France with one of the destinations being to look at the lab in Strasbourg.  Still remembering that awesome trip, Kathy!

My apartment was in a part of the city called Petite France, a series of very small islands where the mills used to be.  In fact, I lived on Rue des Moulins, with my apartment spanning the water between two islands.  It all seemed pretty normal at the time but, looking at this now, I realize how amazing it was.

Strasbourg has changed a lot in almost 30 years.  It was somewhat down-at-the-mouth and sleepy at that time.  Now, the dingy and traffic-filled street where I used to do my laundry and get coffee is now a pedestrian way, and everything seems much fancier.  I jogged past the science institute where I worked, which moved out of town a few years after I left, and remembered all the characters who worked there.  Wow, a lot of time has passed.

My apartment building is behind the two orange buildings, and where the water is coming out.

Similar view at night.

OK, my actual apartment didn't really face the water.  It's on the 3rd floor of the pink building (the windows that don't have the shutters down).

Petite France from a different angle.  You can see the cathedral in the background.  I used to like to go to the park on the left to read.  Did some exercise there on this particular morning.

The institute where I worked, the LGME (Laboratoire de Genetique Moleculaire des Eucaryotes).  A little more run down now (most of the labs moved over 20 years ago) but some cutting edge science went on here (sans blague).  Pierre Chambon was a world leader in steroid hormone and retinoic acid research.