Monday, August 22, 2011

Grimma - town tour in 30 minutes








1 Soviet Army
OBMO 20th mechanized infantry division

2 train station
has taxi-stand, green park

3 tank monument
Soviet

4 Leipziger Straße 39
typical house

5 city dispatch center
built in 1996 on land from neighboring residences, it includes a helicopter landing pad.

6 city park
has pond with swans, rowboats and a suspension footbridge.

7 Frauen Kirche
family church

8 Goldene Schiff
family business, food and lodging a third of the way from Leipzig and Dresden.

9 St. Augustin School
700 year-old prep school

10 city hall and market

11 nice view
an empty lot with a good view of Grimma across the river ( such as #9 above)

This map is available in Google Maps:  link

Grimma news:

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Schloß Dhaun - going to town



10 trail-head
A staircase beside the school leads to the trail back to Hotel Zur Burg

11 train station
unmanned

12 post office
behind a gift-shop

13 Bäckerei Fickinger
Gerbergasse 1
55606 Kirn, Germany
14 Eiscafé Venezia
Marktplatz 15, 55606 Kirn/Nahe
9.30 -10pm Feb-October

15 Kyrburg
A castle similar to Schloß Dhaun
with views of the town of Kirn





16 Deer Park

17 trail mid-point

18 Pizzeria Ristorante Costa-Verde
Waldeck 1, 55606 Hochstetten-Dhaun, Germany
( no credit cards)
+49 6752/912246

19 Geology Lehrfahrt
boulders with placards

The Google map of these places is here:  Kirn place-map




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Saturday, August 20, 2011

Schloß Dhaun - touring nearby


1 Gasthof

2 Dungeon
winding stairs, chambers, windows, mystery.
3 echo bluff
shriek, and you hear the echo from the valley.
4 area of historic well
like a long, sloping driveway leading to a stone thingie.
5 Sternwerter telescope
nobody goes inside, its always closed but it has a nice bench out in front.

6 picnic table reached by staircase
perfect on a sunny afternoon.
7 trail hut
Easy trail, great views, nice destination for a short stroll.
8 area of ruined watchtower
an aerobic hike, slippery when wet.





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Monday, June 20, 2011

Breakfast !

Hotel zur Burg breakfast

B R E A D :  The world's best!  Brotchen are baked fresh every morning.  The pretzels are like real bagels, they come in a dozen varieties, none of them available in America, crunchy on the outside, soft and "pull-apart-as-strands" on the inside.  Croissants are filled with Nutella!


from München http://www.rischart.de/


Quark is good.  It isn't yogurt, it isn't sour cream, its in between.  Grandma didn't use yogurt or sour cream but she kept several kinds of Quark in the fridge all the time.  Besides breakfast with soaked muesli, she used it for afternoon dessert with cherry compote.  A bakery favorite is "Töpfenkuchen", using the Austrian word for Quark in a cheesecake that usually includes fruit.


New York City has Quark at Fairway from a family farm north of Seattle:




Pflaumenmus is delicious on toast.  Its the plum equivalent of apple-butter, a sticky sweet tar.  Heidi says that its exhausting to make it in the kitchen.  A very happy memory is loading several containers of it into the carry-on luggage at the airport supermarket.  A very sad memory is having to discard them at airport security, which considers Pflaumenmus "a potent, high-energy liquid".

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Sunday, June 19, 2011

So Many Solar Cells!



Germany has a serious energy policy.  Government credits have encouraged every business and every home to put solar cells on their roof.  The view from the train is that they'll soon run out of roof space.  Germany has 212 watts of solar power per person, America has 1.    If America had what Germany has, America wouldn't depend on Mid-East oil.

The view of the horizon from Schloß Dhaun has wind turbines in every direction, and Germany wind power is six times larger than its solar power.  Germany has 300 watts of wind power per person while America has 100.

So far, Germany is losing money, paying extra for locally generated energy from local employment.  But Germany has built resiliance, protection against world problems such as another oil shock.  With Germany's solar capacity much greater than Japan's entire 6 reactor Fukushima nuclear plant, Germany has a valuable reserve.



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Nordic Craze



New!  All the hiking trails have new "N" labels.  Why?  "Nordic Walking"!  Its Germany's new thing for Wanderwegs and sport shops.

A friend picked me up in the family car, but getting inside required first moving the Nordic Poles off the passenger seat.

On slow days at The Hotel zur Burg, half the guests carry their Nordic Poles as they set out for their 10am expedition.

The Wall Street Journal has an article on it:

No snow?  No problem.  Nordic walking -- think cross-country skiing without the skis -- is a full body workout that burns more calories than regular walking and with less stress on your hips and knees, say companies that sell the poles.

After explaining that popular poles cost $150 a pair, the article quote research studies that confirm more calories, at least 20%, but the same joint stress.

However, the comments for this article have a few people who like Nordic Walking and believe that the benefits, with quality poles, add up as a worthwhile improvement.


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Zur Alten Post

America's Post Office continues to change.  Home delivery didn't start until 1863, mailboxes weren't required until 1910, deliveries were 7 days a week until 1912.  But postal volume is declining, the U.S. service is losing 8 billion dollars a year and cutbacks of Saturday deliveries are inevitable.  It has half a million employees, more than Walmart, and literally cannot afford their healthcare.  The 30,000 offices are more than Walmart, Starbucks and McDonald's combined and many will relocate to Walmart and other supermarkets and convenience stores.

Germany has similar problems but has taken action much more quickly. 

Bernbach had two post offices, now it has none.  The noble Bad Herrenalb brownstone post office building is now a cocktail-bar/restaurant on the park.

The post office for the town of Kirn is now the back room of a gift shop.  The parking lot at Schloß Dhaun had a pay phone and a mailbox, both are gone.  But the Hotel zur Burg mail is still picked up and delivered by hand with a daily in-house visit by a cheerful and chatty mail carrier.



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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

the Schloß Dhaun internet footprint

Where does Schloß Dhaun appear on the internet?  Here is a list, English first:

Warwick UK college: "Easter Vacation School", Schloss Dhaun 2011 [took] place from Thursday April 14 to Sunday April 17.
  • to further understanding of the Standort Deutschland und Europa
  • to encourage analysis of the Year Abroad experience
  • to work on material and topics that might not be encountered otherwise

five photos of Warwick students "studying" at Hotel zur Burg

ranting after a 7 month German visit by a Warwick German-Language major


*********** GERMAN LANGUAGE:

Hunsruck tourism

Hunsruck tourism, but the Burg w/o zur Hotel!

Schloß

the Schloß seminar/guest room administration, includes neighborhood but w/o zur Hotel!

the ruined tower down the hill

regional goverment tourism site

hiking routes which almost reach the Schloß

"geocache" treasure-hunt at Schloß-Dhaun

wedding photography at Schloß-Dhaun, June 2010

search for "Schloss Dhaun".  
dozens of Schloß Dhaun postcards, many duplicates but includes several of the early Hotel
( This site also has many for "Grimma", "Trebson", "Porschdorf" and "Herrenalb" )

two Schloß postcards, many more of Kirn

Historical postcards

a prolific, abstract painter of many places has one of the park within the Schloß

"Nippon Classic" motorcycle club, details a meet-up next August that strangely promotes sleeping-bags in the castle hall, camping within the castle grounds but omits any mention of Hotel zur Burg!

5. to 7 August 2011
55 606 Hochstetten-Dhaun, part castle Dhaun

The meeting will take place in and around the house comfortable citizens of the community. The house has a very nice facility. Helmut Tressel, his wife, Uschi, and a hardworking group of volunteers provide food, drink and a pleasant stay. The spacious grounds offer camping facilities. In the Hall "you can sleep with a sleeping bag, sleeping pad and ear plugs. If you prefer a simple but decent hotel room, it will lock in Dhaun. It is advisable to make your booking early because the hotel is well utilized by the folk high school at the castle and other events.

The venue with its spacious grounds and sufficient distance from the village is situated on a hill with stunning panoramic views.
The streets are small, curvaceous and very little traffic. Helmut Tressel knows the Hunsrück of his hand and likes to take the lead in exits. In the evening we meet at the fire with gasoline talks.

"Summer School on Amplifier Glasses with Prof. Tanabe at Schloss Dhaun"
[ However, the outdoor pictures are not recognizable, and neither is the restaurant or wine cellar ]



*********** JAPANESE LANGUAGE:

Japanese blog that survey's Google satellite images
"The original Burg (fortress), and has now become a hotel."

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Friday, June 10, 2011

Celle and the Lüneburg Heath



Anna's Father loved sketching and painting, but almost all of his works were abandoned in the rush leaving the DDR.  However, 70 items survive, from a solo bicycle holiday that he took through the Lüneburg Heath in July 1913 ( 12 months before The Great War).  Instead of signing his name, he added the date and the place and this tells us exactly where he went and where he stayed and what he saw.

Fifteen years later, Anna's older brother graduated college and the two of them celebrated by bicycling the same route, to Lübeck to visit family and sample Marzipan.

In June 1997, the oldest grandchild bicycled the route and was glad to find the same houses and meet many generous people.  

The same roads and the same trees await anyone who appreciates nature and art, fresh-air and exercise as much as they.





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Swabia

Ludwigsburg
~1942 - September 24, 1945 Karlheinz hospitalized in the Lazarette
He started Sunday Bible Study and made life-long friends.
"Guide to the Stars for Friends of Nature" was made by them.
the nearest city is Stuttgart, 16km south

Stuttgart
had nursing school, although the original hospital is now gone
Karlheinz urged exploration of Stuttgart's music and Opera

Englesbrand
1950 - 1959
12km north to Pforzheim ( post-war, most commuted by walking) 

Pforzheim
place to shop
1954, Christine's business school

Bad Herrenalb & Bernbach
1959 - 1973 in town
1973 - 2008 in Bernbach

Swabia
land of noodles


etching made by a close friend in the Ludwigsburg Lazarette
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Thursday, June 9, 2011

Benzin

Gasoline is more expensive in Germany because it is more heavily taxed in Germany.

American mogas tax is about US$0.50/gallon (total $4/gal), while Germany's Benzin tax is roughly US$6.50/gallon (total $10/gal).  The pre-tax fuel price in both countries is nearly equal.

The most obvious difference is that Germany has much better roads and more small cars and motorcycles.  The biggest surprise is that Germany still has traffic jams!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_tax

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Saxony

Grimma
  • several generations of Anna's family
  • college-prep school where Johannes & Karlheinz became best friends

Trebson
Karlheinz' family moved here from Silesia ~1915

Leipzig

  • Johannes & Karlheinz shared a top-floor apartment while attending Leipzig University ~1927
  • Karlheinz tutored but also played the piano for silent pictures

Erzgebirge Mountains & Sieffen
Anna's family had a vacation home in these mountains


1932 Anna lived here while teaching Physical Education
1998 Anna toured here with her sister Krista, "but all the Santas were sold out!"
Dresden
  • Anna & Johannes had frequent visits from a Dresden Aunt & Uncle
  • Anna's first post-grad work was a kindergarten/nurse internship in Hellerau
  • Willi Jr. toured expos in Dresden
  • during the war, Anna took her children to several Dresden concerts and opera

Meissen
the Grimma house had Meissen porcelain

Porschdorf
Karlheinz was Pastor here for 15 years,
all their children were born here and stayed until 1949

Bad Schandau
  • on the Elbe beside Porschdorf with boat dock, train station, telegraph office
  • primary film location for "Inglorious Basterds"

The Switzerland of Saxony
Christine says "my whole life, I've lived in vacation areas"

Hohnstein
friends of Dorothea live here
1933 SA camp for 5,600 political dissenters for torture and forced labor

Konigstein
hilltop castle 3 miles from Porschdorf

Hinterheemsdorf
motorcycle tour destination for Tante Lena

Saxony
the land of potato cuisine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxony

Hinterheemsdorf, May 18, 1937

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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

iPhone overseas

Having eMail, Google Maps, wikipedia and even the weather report is a game changer for getting value for money whenever traveling to places strange to you.

However, if you aren't careful, the data bill can be larger than your airfare! In any case, a month overseas is easily triple the usual bill.

Here is an outline:

The day before you leave, subscribe to

  • subscribe to the "AT&T World Traveler", for a small, 30% discount for voice calls ( prorated $0.20/day)
  • the 200MB/month "Data Global Add-on" ( pro-rated at $7/day for 6 MB/day )
  • in "Settings", "Mail,...", turn off "Fetch New Data" and "Load Remote Images"
  • in "Settings", "General", "Usage", push upon "Reset Statistics". This will total your billable amount. If you log in to a hotspot ( such as Hotel Ibis), that WiFi traffic is NOT accumulated to the "Sent/Received" total, which is what we need.
Return to "Settings", "General", "Usage" to watch your data usage! This 6MB/day is 95% smaller than typical usage.
  • 0.1 Meg for a simple text eMail
  • 1 Meg every time you update Google Maps
  • 2 Meg to browse a monetized web-page with advertising, such as restaurants
  • 3 Meg for actually downloading or uploading a cell-phone photo attached to an eMail.
  • 3 Meg to catch-up with facebook ( and all those little pictures )
The problem is that, at the end of the journey, the sur-charge is US$5 for every megabyte over the budget. An iPhone can use 10 megabytes every five minutes. Sending an eMail with five pictures might be one megabyte, but sending it from an area with poor cell-phone coverage can might require several retries to transmit, but each attempt still accumulates to the usage and usage-charges, perhaps 25 additional dollars.

I had a problem that one of the apps used up my daily budget every five minutes, transmitting 1 Meg per minute of unknown data to an unknown destination. This happened while I was NOT using the iPhone! The Apple consultant pointed out that every APP I've ever stated continues to run in the background, and that one of the previously executed APPs was running up my bill. It is possible to terminate these bacground jobs and this can save hundreds and thousands of dollars.

I had a problem that my online iPhone was adding 3 "sent" megabytes every five minutes while idle, no email, no activity from me. This was a disaster. After the trip, an Apple Shop consultant in a blue t-shirt suggested that it was an "app" executing in the background. The old iPhone software ran apps one at a time. With todays version 4, the apps never stop! The Apple system is not careful enough with control to sub-total the data usage app by app, so the suggested remedy is to kill them all, by double clicking the "home button" to reveal the dozens of out-of-control apps, and then holding one them down for two seconds to make them all wiggle with red "x"s, then clicking each app to kill it. ( By the way, this suggested remedy has NOT been confirmed )

When returning, check your usage for each phone against the 6 Meg/day budget. If under budget, unsubscribe immediately. If over budget, keep the subscription one extra day for every 6 meg over budget.



UPDATE: careful study of the actual 20pp AT&T iPhone bill shows:
  • voice calls from inside Germany cost $1.20 per minute, equal for both calls from Germany to Germany and calls from Germany to America.
  • even after keeping calls short, one needs about 10 voice minutes for every person contacted ( such as each person visited).
  • data, (eMail, Google maps and the weather report), costs $1.50 per Megabyte (when purchased at the maximum rate, "200MB/month"), but this price quadruples if the final average (within a billing period) exceeds 6 Megabytes per day.
  • it appears that text messages, and even texted photos, have no surcharges for overseas traffic!
Another note is that iPhones occasionally become confused and disoriented after a few days of travel and retreat offline with an incorrect "no service" display (in the upper-left signal corner, where it says "vodaphone.de" in the screen-shot above).  We fixed this with a power-off and on again to reboot.



UPDATE #2: a CNET columnist mentions that the average iPhone subscriber uses 400MB/month, and  names some data-tracking apps which give reports every 10 minutes:

  • DataManPro
  • Onavo
  • WiFiMan tracks hot-spot, non-cell data usage
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tipping

Its difficult for me to switch between Japan ( always zero percent tip, everyone has honor) and New York City ( 15 - 25% tip, everyone seems corrupt) and Germany ( 5-10%, tip spoken in advance and then pre-printed in the bill, never left on the table )



Typical restaurant receipts, they both award themselves a 19% tip.  The bright red lettering, "Bitte zahlen Sie nur den maschinell ausgewiesenen Betrag" translates to "Please only pay the amount shown by the machine".  Despite that, the separate credit card charge slips arrive with "TIP" lines that are blank!  The waiters at both restaurants were pleasantly surprised when we mis-understood this and filled in an ADDITIONAL 10% (on top of 19%).

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Where to stay

The easy way: Hotel "ibis". There are 800 of them, they're all as close to the train station as possible for a bargain rate of 60 -80 € per night. They have a good website, good service and free internet for the dozen times that Shoko and I have stayed with them. But I'm not impressed with their breakfast, 10€ for Kellogs cereal and white bread.



Sample overnight rates in late May 2011:

  • 59 € München
  • 59 € 15 minutes from Frankfurt Airport by shuttle bus ( 240€ at the airport Sheraton)
  • 79 € Stuttgart ( +2x10 taxi € taxi )

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€


CAUTION ! Most places in Germany do not accept American credit cards. This includes restaurants, large hotels and machines for train tickets.

American Express skims 3-4% via the exchange rate and a line-item fee.

There are many ATM machines that allow credit cards to withdraw cash, but the credit card account must have a pre-arranged PIN code.  Some debit cards can use their PIN overseas, but only with a written consent form submitted in advance.  Our credit union only charged 1%, our best rate.

Every airport and large train stations have "ReiseBank AG" Exchange Counters, bright and convenient; they change a hundred dollars cash for a 16% fee.

Typical pocket-money items for 2011:
  • 3€ sandwich or pastry
  • 3.40€ Albtal Bahn from Karlsruhe to Bad Herrenalb (incl Bernbach bus)
  • 7.5€ sheet of 10 stamps for international postcards or letters
  • 10€ "S" Bahn from Munich airport to Munich
  • 12€ taxi fare from Kirn train station to Hotel zur Burg
  • 12€ in the airport for soup and sausage and OJ
  • 20€ for a modest meal in a nice restaurant ( 17 before tip )
  • 21€ for RB (RegionalBahn) from Frankfurt Airport to Kirn
  • 33.4€ for RB (RegionalBahn) from Kirn to Karlsruhe 
  • 60€ at a hotel that doesn't take credit cards ( vs. 90€ w/Amex next door, Bad Herrenalb Adrion vs Treff )
DETAIL for train ticket machines:  (A) Regional trains (cheap) reject American credit cards but Intercity IC trains (dear) accept them.  (B) the machines reject 50€ notes but accept 20€ notes, yet splash you with change as handfuls of shiny 0.50€ metal weights.
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Hotel zur Burg

This hotel is operated by Johannes, Heidi & Martin.


They have rooms for 90 people, an event hall for 150.

eMail address:

griessdorf@t-online.de

Schloss-Dhaun, Historic Guest-house since 1738
Hotel zur Burg
Neuweg 13
55606 Hochstetten-Dhaun

Telefon: +49 (6752) 963126
Telefax: +49 (6752) 8106



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