Family News

Savannah Revisited

Just as I did last year I picked October this year to visit my family in Savannah.  In October it's no longer hot but still very nice, as long as there is no hurricane on the horizon.   In fact, this year we had perfect weather, blue skies, fresh breezes and only the last day was much too hot.  The visit this year was a great improvement on last year in another way, Daddy was not in the hospital for almost the entire time with a hospital-induced infection that they had problems getting under control.  Quite the contrary, he was in good form and very sprite for his 86 years.

Luckily for me Frank was in town the day I left and was able to take me to the airport and help me until I got checked in and it was time to make my way to the gate.  It felt very luxurious not to have to do everything on my own. 

I flew through Washington, D.C. and for some reason I always seem to have problems there.  I think I've spent more time waiting on planes at the Washington airport than anywhere else in the world.  I was supposed to arrive in Savannah at 6:00 pm but didn't actually make it there until almost 10:00 pm.  There was bad weather in Cleveland and our plane was held up there for a long time.  The actual flight to Savannah was just a little over an hour, which I thought was very fast.  It used to take a lot longer, especially by Greyhound Bus!  (But of course that was back in the Dark Ages.)  Anyway, when I got to the airport Lanie and Gary, who had flown from Houston the day before, were there to meet me.  Unfortunately, they had been waiting the whole time but at least they had each other to keep themselves amused while I was alone and slowly dying of boredom in Washington. 

Did I mention how beautiful the weather was?  Yes, well it's worth  mentioning again I think.   Also, the tree limb in the background belongs to one of the climbing trees of our childhood and may not be with us much longer.  At least the Spanish moss is flourishing, an indication that the quality of air has improved greatly.

Gary and Suzanne go walking every day and both of them have lost a lot of weight and look very slim and trim.  Even though Suzanne wasn't with him, Gary wanted to continue walking and the first day we visited Daffin Park, also a scene from our childhood because the municipal pool is located there.  We spent many, many summer afternoons there, often until a looming thunderstorm caused the pool to be cleared and we had to call our Mom to come and pick us up.

As you can see the Spanish moss is everywhere  so that Savannah now looks more like it did  when we were little.   For a while it had almost disappeared.

Daddy  has never been an avid walker  but he enjoys getting out, especially when  he can "outrun" us  in his swift  motor chair.

Another  wish of Gary's was to visit our mother's grave.   Luckily Lanie knew approximately where it was because  it's not so easy to find  among the thousands of others.   It's not like there's a lot of difference in appearance.

Another day we went to Lake Mayer to walk.

Of course we had to be on the lookout for dangerous animals.  However, the alligators remained in hiding  and I'm grateful because I might have had a heart attack if one had actually made an appearance.

It must be nice to be a Pasha and have a slave at your beck and call.

The last day Gary was there the two of us took a walk around the old neighborhood and had a look at all the Halloween decorations.  Some people really get into it and this picture really doesn't do justice to this house of horror.

It was sad to say goodbye to Gary because we really had a great time together, but I was thankful that he could make it at the same time as me since he was between space missions.

There wasn't a lot of time to miss him though because the same day he left my cousin Diana and  her husband Bill  flew in  from California. It was Bill's first visit to Savannah but he only had two days before he had to fly out again so we were busy showing him around. 

One of the places I had never been was Wormsloe Plantation, probably best known as the location for parts of Forest Gump.   You may remember Tom Hanks sprinting down this road.  (As a matter of fact I saw the movie in Savannah and didn't enjoy it very much because the air conditioning in the movie theater was set at some sub zero temperature and I was afraid my feet, which had turned to ice, were going to shatter when it was time to leave.)

There isn't really a lot to see - just some remains of the old plantation that used to be situated here.

There is a walk you can take through the grounds and it was very nice except for the swarms of mosquitoes that eventually chased us away.

In the morning trying to beat the heat we also did a self guided walking tour around Savannah.  Lanie had given us each a book, Savannah's Little Crooked Houses, about the small wooden houses that were prevalent in the 18th century.  Of the original hundreds after centuries of fires and hurricanes there are only about a dozen left now.  We took our time and located most of them and managed to see parts of Savannah I had never been to before.

One of the houses was for sale and I managed to find the asking price on the internet - $279,000, one bedroom, one bath and 551 square feet.  It's really, really tiny but the location is beautiful.

No tour of Savannah is complete without a trip to the beach, so after our walking tour we picked Daddy up and drove out to Tybee.  It was really quite warm but while I didn't see any people in the water, there were a lot of kite-flyers on the beach.

Lanie's physiotherapist had recommended a place for lunch, the North Beach Grill, and when we arrived we were a little appalled because it was so much not what we were looking for - a hole in the wall serving food with paper plates and plastic knives and forks.  It was however so full that we couldn't get a table inside, which maybe was a good sign, so we sat outside on the terrace - we were too hungry by this time to look for somewhere else.  Actually, in spite of the complete lack of ambiance, the food was very good.  I had some excellent crab cakes and everyone else also seemed pleased with their choices.

Bill had to fly out the next morning but we had a little more time to spend with Di and the four of us went to lunch together to say good-bye. 

I then had one last day alone with Lanie and Daddy and I wanted to try the Firefy Cafe, which I thought was a vegetarian place.  It wasn't, but the food was very good.  (They did have a few vegetarian dishes, although in the end I chose something else.)  We sat outside and enjoyed the good weather and I had a delicious tuna salad sandwich. 

The cafe is right next to one of Savannah's squares and the view was very nice. 

As always it was hard to say goodbye to Daddy and Lanie, but I'm already looking forward to seeing them in 2008.  The flight home was completely uneventful and for the first time in my life I didn't have any jetlag whatsoever.  Unfortunately, I have no idea what was so different this time or I would patent it.

Learning to Ski

A little over a year ago Jenny and Ulf asked us if we would be interested in learning cross-country skiing, which they have been doing for several years now (although it was easier from Stuttgart than now from Berlin).  Jenny was so enthusiastic about the sport that she convinced us it was worth a try even though I had never in my entire (long) life stood on skis before.  Frank had at least taken a skiing course (Alpine) when the girls were young.  I was a little skeptical, especially after I read this in Wikipedia: "As a sport, cross-country skiing is one of the most difficult endurance sports, as its motions use every major muscle group and it (along with rowing and swimming) is one of the sports that burn the most calories per hour in execution."  However, true to my resolve to try new things, we agreed to join them in Austria for a trial week from January 14th to the 21st.

Our decision was made easier by their description of the hotel they liked to stay at.  Das Schiff  is a family owned and managed hotel with lovely rooms and an excellent kitchen (15 Gault Millau points).  Generally you can start skiing once you cross the street it's on.  (More on that in a minute.)  The staff is extremely friendly and helpful and we felt right at home immediately. 

                                                                              
                                                                              
We booked half board which meant a huge delicious buffet breakfast in the mornings and a five-course meal in the evenings.  The food was exceptionally good.  The only problem was that there was too much of it.  I didn't sleep well the first night, especially since we usually have our main meal in the middle of the day.  We tried several different methods of reducing the amount.  We left out some courses or asked for half portions.  We ate less at breakfast and lunch, but in the end I was almost relieved to leave and no longer be tempted to eat so much.  They served a lot of local specialties and on the last evening we had their "cheese menu", which was inspired by the local cheeses that the area is known for.  The only thing I didn't try (and no one else did either, not even Ulf who is usually the most adventuresome) was tripe.  Maybe if I hadn't known what it was.  But then I almost always ask.  I think I can live without having tried tripe in spite of my resolution to be open to new experiences.

When we booked our vacation last winter, we never for a minute thought we would have any problems with snow in the middle of January.  Unfortunately we managed to book the warmest January since 1969 and the snow that is usually a meter or two high at this time of year was hiding in other places.  The two pictures were taken the first and last day of our stay from our balcony and if you look closely you can see how much snow melted just in the few days we were there.  (Hittisau is almost 800 meters above sea level.)  Actually we had to drive back to Germany to take our skiing course, but the border and the little town Balderschwang was only 10 minutes down the road.  And there was just enough snow to learn the rudiments of cross-country skiing. 

                                                                              
                                                                              
Hubert was our ski instructor and we had him all to ourselves.  He was very friendly and seemed to know what he was doing so we followed his instructions as best we could.  It was a little scary at first, especially when he told us to stop using the poles.  We moved back and forth along a stretch of snow for about two hours until I thought my muscles were going to go on a general strike.  I fell twice, on icy patches, and discovered one of the hardest things for me is to get back up without taking off the skis.  Frank seemed to be a lot better at it.  After our time was up we met Jenny at the hotel across the street, aptly named "Hubertus", and heard about her adventures skiing alone and her several falls on ice, over a nice cup of cappuccino.  Ulf wasn't arriving until that evening because he had to attend an important meeting in Berlin on Monday morning. 

The snow wasn't very deep at all but it was okay to practice on.  The hardest part was getting over the icy areas, especially since we hadn't learned how to brake yet.

                                                                           
By the end of the morning we almost looked like we knew what we were doing and I felt fairly comfortable on my skis as long as there was not more than a decline of about 1%.

Jenny went to pick Ulf up from the nearest train station and we were a little worried because there was very thick fog rolling in.  The view from our window into the valley wasn't very comforting.  She reported later that it wasn't any fun driving in those conditions but she managed it in her sturdy Jeep and our little group was finally complete. 

                                                                              
The second day was another two hours of practicing what we had learned the day before.  For the first few minutes I felt like I had never been on skis before, especially since my muscles were sore and didn't really want to do any work.  The conditions were a little worse than the day before because it was pretty warm, but we found a stretch that we could use that went downhill a tiny bit because we had to learn how to brake.  It's a little scary because you have to ski on one foot, raise your other foot with the ski level, place it outside the track at an angle and then transfer your weight onto it.  It sounds much easier than it is, especially when you are sliding downhill faster than you really want to go.  Then there was the problem with the ice, because this method of braking doesn't work so well on ice.  At the end of the morning we were heading back and there was a huge area of ice.  I was already going faster than I wanted and I wasn't having much success at slowing down.  I fell sidewards and bumped my head but I didn't even feel like too much of an idiot.  Hubert had been muttering criminal under his breath all morning when assessing the conditions.  And he said if we could ski under these conditions, we should have no problems in real snow.

So we went back to the Hotel Hubertus and met Jenny and Ulf and it was so warm we sat outside for our aprés ski.

The third day was our reward for good behavior.  We met Hubert in Balderschwang and then we drove another 15 minutes to a place where we could ski along a stream.

                                                                        The first half of our journey was slightly and sometimes not so slightly downhill.  The snow was icy in patches and in other places twigs and roots made it difficult to ski.  Hubert helped us in the rough spots.

                                                                              
It was more fun than it sounds like because we were in a beautiful area with mountains around us and a stream flowing alongside us.  The sun even came out for a while and we got a taste of what it is like to really go skiing cross country.  When the course got really bad we turned around and skied back, uphill this time.  It was a lot easier and more fun, even if it was more work.  And by then we were into the rhythm of it all, which is essential for the enjoyment.

This was our last day of instruction and we thought we might be good enough to try some easy course somewhere on the next day.

                                                                              
Jenny wanted to drive to Davos in Switzerland on Thursday, but unfortunately there was a hurricane in Europe, Kyrill, one of the worst storms of the past decades and the weather forecast was NOT good.  At breakfast we convinced Jenny that it was not a good idea to drive an hour and a half through a hurricane to go skiing.  She wasn't really convinced but agreed to wait. 

In the morning Frank and I drove to Bregenz, which is the next larger town, to have a look around.  It's right on Lake Constance and we expected to find an attractive place, but we were disappointed.  The few nice buildings they had were ruined by the shops that had been put in on the ground floor.  We spent a little time in the book store and had a nice lunch in an Italian restaurant.  I had an excellent vegetarian pizza, which I managed to give about half of to Frank because I knew what was waiting for us that evening. 

                                                                           
                                                                           
After lunch we went to the art museum, which is the building on the left.  I'm not sure whether they have their own collection or not, but at this time the entire building was devoted to a retrospective of photography by a contemporary New York artist, Cindy Sherman.  We had never heard of her but that doesn't mean anything since we know little or nothing about contemporary art.  She has works in a great many of the top museums in the world.

Her photographs are always of herself in varying costumes with the help of make up and sometimes artificial face parts.  One series that I particularly liked was titled "Bus Riders" in which she portrayed all sorts of different people you can find on a public bus.  You really had to look twice and sometimes very closely to see that it was really always the same person in the picture.  Not all of her photos were very appealing to me, but it is an interesting body of work.  The exhibit will be in Berlin beginning in June in the Gropius-Bau.

After a coffee in the café in the black building next to the museum we returned to the hotel.  The weather had deteriorated and we wanted to be back before it got really nasty.  And we were all booked for massages in the late afternoon.  Frank and Ulf are massage freaks.  This was only the second massage I had ever had and it was fine but I'm not nearly as enthusiastic about them as Frank.  My muscles did feel looser afterward though. 

That night was a little scary.  The wind whistled through our room and we heard things thumping all through the night.  Everything was in one piece the next morning though and in general the area we were in didn't have a lot of damage.  Schools were closed in Bavaria - I thought that would make Max and Alex happy, but Max was home sick anyway and Alex was disappointed because normally he would have had two hours of sports.  They stopped the trains in ALL of Germany for the first time ever and if we hadn't been on vacation Frank would probably have been stranded somewhere overnight.

The next day, much to Jenny's disappointment, the weather was still bad and it was raining in Davos.  We didn't want to stay in the hotel all day so we drove to Dornbirn, a small town not too far away.  They had done the same things to their attractive buildings -  put in shops and large windows on the ground floor.  Such a shame.  The 17th century "red house" on the left got its color originally from ox blood.  I doubt they still use it now though.  I don't think it would smell very good.  There wasn't a lot to do in Dornbirn but there was a large sports shop where Jenny and Ulf bought a few things and enough shops to keep us busy for the morning.

That evening we had our "cheese menu" for dinner which had a lot of specialties from the region, for example "milk veal" from calves who had only had milk to drink.  Very tender and tasty.  It probably should have been called "dairy menu" because there was some form of milk used in each course, but I guess that doesn't sound as scrumptious.  This was our last evening since Frank and I had decided to leave on Saturday morning.  We spent the rest of the evening playing cards and digesting all the food we had eaten.

Jenny and Ulf made the trip to Davos on Saturday and reported that the skiing was fine there.  I'm glad they finally got the opportunity to do some serious skiing, even if it was on their last day.  We are talking about returning next year.  Let's hope for more snow - but not so much that we can't get there!