Getting through Europe...

Dateline: October 8th:
Advancing through Germany into Luxembourg, the Moselle Valley
and the Grand Duchy are in the bag. See June 2nd and 3rd posts

May 2007 is now complete with the posting of Romrod and Wetzlar. Click
on the May link to the left to see these. Next up - a few June posts!

Buchenwald - posted September 30th

Jena, Germany - posted September 28th

September 26th: Dresden is posted - see below at May 29th. Like Phoenix risen from the Ashes, Dresden is working hard to shake off it's near annihilation at the end of WWII



September 22nd: Prague, Capital of the Czech Republic posted. Check below at May 28th for all the details









Into the Czech Republic and trip to fairyland. Posted September 1st, 2007. Check below at May 27th

This followed by a trip to Budweiser Land










August 31, 2007: Melk, Austria, with its astonishing Abbey posted. See May 26th for details

We're all going to the zoo... (With video)

Fort Wayne sometimes bills itself as the City of Attractions although I often wonder whether the "s" on Attractions is really justified since the entire list of attraction is pretty much the Children's Zoo. The Zoo, however, certainly qualifies as an attraction. Designed specifically to entertain children it does a great job and seems to entertain a large number of adults as well, judging by the number of non-parents that buy season tickets each year. Anyway, the local Photographic Club had it's annual pilgrimage there last weekend, with entry permitted an hour before official opening, and we went along to check out the beasties. At present, and up through 2009, the African Veldt area is under reconstruction but several of the associated exhibits are still accessible. Following are the year pictures of the more accommodating critters that we encountered, starting with the birdies. For a three minute video tour instead, click the arrow at the bottom of the first image.

Quick Video Tour

This irascible looking fellow came all the way from Australia...


...as did this good-looking guy


Also from down-under, this cuddly egret...


...and this embarrassed looking ugly duck


The Black Stork from eastern Europe can
have a wingspan of up to six feet


A Red Tailed Hawk from North America - or
so he says - I never did see his tail


A Canadian Goose (thought to be a day visitor himself)


One of numerous moth-eaten Peacocks


A Dingo from Australia


A HUGE farm horse out for breakfast


Lunch time! (Actually, it was only 10:00 AM)


This seductive little temptress probably
thought we were from Hollywood


These guys were excitedly chatting
about the days anticipated rides


Is there any such thing as a Wallaby Hymn Book?


What a Grumpy Monkey!


Not sure what this one is, but it was
spotted acting suspiciously on the Veldt


Another interloper! This guy had his entire family at the Zoo


My personal favorite - the dinosaur hatchings, where else?

White Rabbit Returns!

White Rabbit made it back to Indiana in early August following a nineteen week odyssey around the western US. The 12,000 mile trip is outlined on the map and includes most major National Parks as well as many key cities. The English visitors, Paul and June, appeared to have had an enjoyable trip and the little Navion had proved to be amazingly reliable with no significant issues.

Click to enlarge

Here is the hardy little worker at 12,000' in the Rockies

Cleaned up, packed and ready to fly back to England,
Paul and June seemed none the worse for wear either

Back from the Dark Ages

Thirteen countries, four thousand miles and five thousand photographs later, we arrived back in the US, land of good food, relaxed living and Internet. Of the thirteen countries, the combined land area and the combined population of three of them are less than the land area and population respectively of little old Rhode Island! As for European cuisine, forget it! Despite numerous forays into indicated restaurant districts, we managed no more than three or four enjoyable meals during the entire trip. The remainder of the offerings, while not good, were certainly not cheap!
The map below gives a rough outline of where serendipity took us - just click on it for more detail.In addition to weight restrictions, width restrictions and height restrictions we traversed grades as steep as 25% and climbed hairpin roads so tight that we had to perform three-point-turns at some of the corners. Overall, the little wagon took all of this in her stride and produced a useful 23 MPG to boot - just as well with diesel prices at around $5.50 per gallon. Other posts will be dated as they happened and will appear below this post. More to follow...

Charleville, France

More accurately, Charleville is now named Charleville-Mézières after half-a-dozen local communities, including Mézières, were rolled together in the mid-nineties to form the present 100,000 plus urban area. The actual city Charleville was built between 1606 and 1627 under the direction of Charles de Gonzague, the local head honcho, and was the manifestation of his Utopian vision of the future. At that time, the River Meuse that runs through town, served as the border with Germany making the area of significant commercial importance. Since then, Germany has "moved away", so to speak, and is currently separated from Charleville by, among other things, miles of French territory and the country of Belgium. The Place Ducale (Ducal Square) is a major feature of the town which is otherwise famous as a world center for marionettes and the birthplace of the French poet and celebrated shirt-lifter, Arthur Rimbaud. The Institute of Marionettes is actually in Place Winston Churchill and sports an entertaining clock that puts on a different automated puppet show on the hour, every hour from 10 am until 9 pm. A jolly place for an impromptu overnight stay.

The Ducal Square is HUGE, well kept, symmetrical
and hosts a market every Saturday


Pleasant arcades run along the front of the building facing the square


Clock tower from an arcade


This is Charles de Gonzague (actually, it's a statue of him)


The fanciful Town Hall


A detail of the Town Hall


War Memorial to French dead in Place Winston Churchill


Another massive church near the Town Hall


Interior of church


Ferry across the Meuse from the campground

Bouillon, Belgium

Everyone is probably familiar with bouillon cubes, those 50% plus chunks of salt and pan scrapings used to add some zing to insipid, but otherwise nourishing meals. Well, as you might have guessed, those malodorous morsels are in no way connected with Bouillon in Belgium. The most popular local urban myth, in fact, suggests that the name is from Godfrey of Bouillon who sold the castle back in 1096 and went off to fight the Crusades. It transpires that he won the fight, because in 1099 he was offered the job of King of Jerusalem but turned it down in favor of becoming the Warden of the Holy Sepulcher. Too bad for him though, for he died the next year, in 1100 aged 39, and was buried in the St. Sepulcher's church, close to the Calvary. In hindsight, he might have done better to have continued Duking in Belgium. About the size of Maryland, Belgium has a population of 10 million or so and has remained organized as a constitutional monarchy since it was established in its present form in 1830. One is left with the impression however, that having being tromped over several times by invaders and liberators alike in WWI, with their flotilla of tanks and other armaments, and then several times more in WWII, the national psyche is also quite trampled. One inconvenient legacy of the tumultuous history of the country is the official recognition of three national languages - French, German and Dutch - with English making an unofficial, but widely spoken fourth. Our route took us through southern Belgium and, apart from Bouillon which seemed to be prospering as a tourist resort, northern Luxembourg and everywhere we visited in Belgium seemed to be in pretty poor shape. This general aura of impoverishment, we were to discover, remained with us for several days as we crossed the war ravaged and somewhat forgotten areas of northeastern France. Bouillon however, was delightful. The huge rock on which the castle is built is almost encircled by a broad meander of the Semois river and the town is built along both river banks below. Across the river, behind the narrow strip of buildings, the Ardenne forest rises steeply on the hillsides.

View from the castle


View to the west behind the castle showing the river meander


Tourist Central - area of hotels, tat stores and restaurants


Like so many towns and cities through this area, the
churches is disproportionately large for the community


Interior of the church