Going To Hannover To Get There

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Early morning train to Hannover, Germany

Today, another window to a parallel universe was opened as Caroline’s and my paths diverged. She and Klaus are on a train traveling to Hannover, Germany, to deal with some family matters while I’m on a different train going somewhere else.

Caroline Wise on the way to Hannover, Germany

Is that quiet I hear the luxury of 1st class travel. Is the blur in these images the effect of traveling over the landscape at a high rate of speed due to being on an ICE? As I ventured into a new place I thought was new only to realize it wasn’t (read the blog entry following this one for details), Caroline and I remained in contact thanks to trusty old chat clients and the random photo or two shared with each other of where we were.

Hannover, Germany

This post will be brief as instead of Caroline writing it, I’m behind the keyboard adding the bones, but if a body is built out around it, that will be up to her while editing this to details I may not know of.

Caroline Wise and Klaus E. in Hannover, Germany

Walking across town, they passed the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) again, but with better sunlight available, they used the moment to snap a selfie celebrating their very first solo trip with each other, just as Klaus and I did back in June when we visited Husum up on the Wattenmeer.

Hannover, Germany

Hannover is one of the German cities Caroline and I have in consideration for where to retire, so besides dealing with other matters, she was there to consider the architectural feel of the city and maybe get a sense of the culture as much as one is able to do with only about 7 hours in town.

Hannover, Germany

Their lunch break was a traditional lentil stew with potatoes and sausage at the restaurant under the striped awnings in the photo above. It is situated on the Lister Meile, which is a pedestrian street with many shops and cafes.

Hannover, Germany

From their midday meal, Klaus and Caroline still had a few hours to explore Hannover before their train was scheduled to depart. They walked down Lister Meile, did some window shopping, and got some ice cream.

Hannover, Germany

While I would have preferred 100 photos to choose from, just as my wife is apt to do, she gets caught up with talking and just looking at stuff as I’m the one usually snapping away at everything, but on occasion; she remembered to whip the phone out and snap an image. As you can see, she very much enjoyed the North German style of architecture, which made heavy use of red bricks. The weather was fantastic, pleasantly warm, which was great because Caroline managed to forget her sweater on the train.

Hannover, Germany

So, if we are considering moving here in retirement, you might wonder why I didn’t accompany Klaus and Caroline. Well, I had that solo trip with my brother-in-law just a few months ago, and the entire few days we were out, we spoke English. If I had traveled with them, they would have deferred to me and spoken English and not been able to have an immersive day getting to know one another better, speaking German. Maybe you ask, how do we not know Klaus better if he’s our brother-in-law? While Klaus and Stephanie have played host to us more than a few times, we had busy schedules and always figured we’d have more opportunities to get to know im better in the future. I should add that Klaus and Stephanie didn’t marry until Caroline and I were living in the U.S. Finally, after returning to Germany for regular visits starting in 2013, we’ve been making a serious effort this year to spend more time with Caroline’s sister and her husband.

Hannover, Germany

So Caroline, might you have anything to add on your behalf as to how the day spent getting to know Klaus better passed by? Not really, John. After our ice cream, we headed back to the Hauptbahnhof area and got more steps in until our train’s departure back to Frankfurt, where we met up with you and had dinner at Kebab Han.

Jutta Zeit

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Caroline Wise and Jutta Engelhardt in Frankfurt, Germany

So many days on vacation and so many experiences potentially lost to the fog of being busy all the time. But here I am to write these posts letting us account for each day covering the important moments. Maybe, like Jutta, we all suffer from a kind of dementia where the new information coming in takes precedence as we try to figure out how to deal with the new day. If yesterday was packed with things relatively mundane, why put importance on them and elevate them into long-term memory? But when we can return to even a fragment of the minutiae, it often happens that a flood of impressions arrives with the hint. We’ve seen with Jutta how an old photograph or piece of music aloft forgotten memories, how will this work when blogs with hundreds or thousands of photographs along with the text accompanying them can bring context and intense reminders to people?

Caroline Wise and Jutta Engelhardt in Frankfurt, Germany

Our lunches with Jutta are never brief affairs, as we typically end up spending between two and three hours camping out at our table. This being Germany, nobody cares how long a customer occupies their place in the restaurant as it doesn’t affect a tip when everyone is earning an hourly wage that isn’t dependent on our largess. There are differences in service for sure, but one difference I don’t miss over here is the server absolutely ignoring you once you’ve settled your bill. So, we just sit in the sun, take our time, order more water, Coke, or coffee, and enjoy chatting. By the way, the talk rarely takes aim at the weather other than maybe the briefest of observations regarding the current moment. Sports and TV are also off the plate unless the ladies are talking about a documentary or something from the news. We do talk a lot about family, travel, and the people we are watching.

Caroline Wise and Jutta Engelhardt in Frankfurt, Germany

After three hours on the first course, it’s time for ice cream, more coffee, and mineral water over at a corner Eis Cafe (ice cream parlor). I think we only spent about 90 minutes here before starting the slow walk back to the assisted living center. While Jutta has greater mobility with a walker, she’s still nearly as slow as any sloth or snail, moving nearly imperceptibly, requiring nearly 30 minutes to get her somewhere that it would take anyone else maybe 5 minutes to walk. Writing this feels like an exaggeration, but I’ve made the walk of 100 meters (300 feet) to the Main River and 260 meters (850 feet) to the restaurant we visit so many times that I have a pretty good sense of the average to get between places.

Frankfurt, Germany

And with that, it’s time to make the walk back to the facility, passing this bear we pass nearly every day we’re in Frankfurt.

Frankfurt, Germany

That giant teddy bear has a friend nearby who, weather allowing, is blowing bubbles non-stop.

Frankfurt, Germany

We are dropping off Jutta back in her room, where, in one relatively small room, she’s hanging on to the mementos that bring her joy. From the photobooks I put together of some of her travels to the map of Indigenous peoples across America, including the Navajo rug, she wove herself on one of her many visits. There’s some furniture she cherishes, along with various photos of Stephanie, Klaus, and Katharina, just enough to warm her heart that her family is out there, hopefully doing well.

Frankfurt, Germany

With the portable toilet that’s been ever-present on the right side of the street now gone, I just had to take one more photo of this sight. We walk by so often, and both love how the old-fashioned bridge connects the two sides of government offices that occupy this area.

Frankfurt, Germany

Time for shopping now instead of waiting until the last day as we usually do. The first stop was at Blutsgeschwister for a bag to replace our worn toiletry bag and a new umbrella, both with the same gnome design.

Frankfurt, Germany

Well, this is embarrassing. It’s December 2023, and I’m moving through a bunch of old posts, rechecking them for grammar mistakes and links that have died, when I discovered something wrong with this post. That part of what’s wrong is that from the bag above, there was some missing text, and all of the subsequent photos and text from here down. The photos had been uploaded, meaning that there was text here at one time, but inexplicably, it’s all missing. I searched for cached versions and checked Archive.org, all to no avail. I do know that we were in MyZeil near Hauptwache with Caroline searching for a perfume that was beguiling her as she smelled it on the streets as people walked by.

Caroline Wise in Frankfurt, Germany

I’d know these clothes anywhere; we could only have been shopping at Gudrun Sjödén.

Frankfurt, Germany

The guy who worked here at Red Wing Shoes was incredibly helpful in doing a thorough measuring of Caroline’s feet, both of them. Unfortunately, they didn’t have her size of the Iron Ranger boot in stock and couldn’t have it in before we were to leave Germany, but the service was amazing nonetheless.

Frankfurt, Germany

My memory is thin here, but the photo was likely chosen as I  had something positive to say about the festive nature of this busker ensemble that was getting their groove on here in the main shopping area.

Frankfurt, Germany

No photos of dinner, family, or anything else followed this billboard in the subway advertising cigarettes. While it’s tragic that we apparently lost about six hours of a day on vacation in Germany, in the scheme of things, it’s nothing as our documenting of over a thousand other travel days is a treasure trove of otherwise forgotten moments.

Tante und Nichte

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Brot und Freunde Bakery in Frankfurt, Germany

Part 1 of this entry will be published shortly, but for now: here we are on the other side of the same day. Everything began as usual with breakfast; though with Klaus and Stephanie out of town spending some days in Konstanz with a side trip to Zurich, we had to walk over to Brot & Freunde to fetch our morning meal. With this being my first visit to this nearby shop, I was astonished at the variety of Brötchen as in 19 choices not counting pretzel variations. This, from a small shop away from all major shopping areas, is a non-descript tiny place, and this doesn’t even take into account the more than a dozen sweet pastries on offer too! If that weren’t enough, they have an espresso machine to make us hot drinks too, which we need to take advantage of as we don’t know how to operate the coffee machine at home.

Caroline Wise in Frankfurt, Germany

While Caroline’s smile suggests a staged photo, she was editing my entry about the Popel eater (boogers) and was having a laugh at my description and, of course, the use of the word Popel, which is probably the first-ever use here on my blog. We are taking things slow this morning as we’re waiting for our niece (Nichte) to arrive around 11:30. This also turned out to be a good opportunity to do laundry as even we need to stop on occasion in service of the mundane.

Jutta Engelhardt of Frankfurt, Germany

Between things, Caroline spotted a photo album that she was curious about and grabbed it. It turned out to be old photos of Jutta and classmates from the late 1940s to the early 1950s. My mother-in-law, at age 14, can be seen in the top left photo, front row, far left. From that, you might be able to identify her in the other three images.

Jutta Engelhardt of Frankfurt, Germany

As is typical with people with dementia, Jutta was able to identify nearly everybody in these images, including first and last names, without thinking twice. As for me, days later, I have zero recollection of who she mentioned, but I suppose that’s not all that important.

Jutta Engelhardt of Frankfurt, Germany

Here’s Jutta at age 17 in 1952.

Jutta Engelhardt of Frankfurt, Germany

From the 60 or so photos in the album, these were the ones we felt were a good representation to set aside for digital posterity.

Caroline Wise and Katharina E. in Frankfurt, Germany

Almost perfectly punctual, Katharina arrives to find these two strangers in the place she grew up in. Our niece is living in Darmstadt, where she attends university. Katharina and I had some time together back in June, so I’m leaving the Tante und Nichte (aunt and niece) for a day with each other. You can follow what I did in the blog entry A Walk Around Frankfurt.

Venus Fly Trap in Frankfurt, Germany

Katharina took a quick look at the potted plants in the kitchen and living room and applied water where needed. She clearly inherited Klaus’ green thumbs. Caroline sent this photo of the Venus fly trap to Klaus to assure him that it had survived his absence. The girls watched a fly hovering around the plant and even landing on one of the traps in suspense, but the fly was able to escape, maybe because the plant was not in need of fresh nourishment.

Caroline Wise and Katharina E. in Frankfurt, Germany

Shortly thereafter, after looking up the local vegan lunch options, niece and aunt were on the way for their own fresh nourishment at Dominion Food Revolution on Gruneburgweg.

Frankfurt, Germany

Not realizing that the vegan shawarma with hummus would be such a gargantuan portion, Caroline was happy that Katharina’s burger was small enough to allow her to share the dish.

Katharina E. in Frankfurt, Germany

Both took photos of the dishes and enjoyed their conversation in the warm sun. Afterward, dessert was in order.

Frankfurt, Germany

Katharina picked a brownie and Caroline a Middle Eastern pudding with rosewater, coconut, and pistachio crumbles. Since Katharina still had some time before her return train to Darmstadt, they decided to swing by “Oma Jutta” at Lebenshaus for a short visit. Criminally, Caroline missed the opportunity for a selfie of all three, but since my middle name is “forgiveness” (among others), I won’t hold it against her for long. When it was time for Jutta to head over to the dining room for supper, Caroline walked over to Eiserner Steg to meet me and pursue our own dinner plans.

Familie und Freunde

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Rüdesheim am Rhein in Germany

After moving out of our wine barrel from last night, we ended up in a room at the main hotel that offered us this view of Drosselgasse. What is this place I refer to? Drosselgasse is a famous cobblestone-lined narrow street that slices through the old town, so if you find yourself chilling one day on the Rhein River and are wondering where to stay in Rüdesheim, you too might consider Hotel Lindenwirt. By the way, a very nice breakfast buffet is included with Champagne or wine.

Rüdesheim am Rhein in Germany

Not certain I had enough images to give a great impression of Rüdesheim, we stepped out to grab a few more, but time was short as we had a train to catch back to Frankfurt at 1:00 p.m.

Rüdesheim am Rhein in Germany

Not sure I’ve pointed this out before but it’s a convenience I’m in love with: menus posted outside restaurants that make it easy to see what is on offer. There’s always something embarrassing about entering an American restaurant, asking to see the menu, and then walking out as though they aren’t good enough just because you didn’t see something that resonated with you at that moment. It feels like we often compromise and figure it’s good enough rather than turn our backs on a friendly host or hostess. Maybe that’s what is intended?

Caroline Wise in Rüdesheim am Rhein in Germany

We ain’t leaving Germany without some cheesy gifts after staying in a town many Germans consider declasse and only fit for “Spiesser” or typical commoners below contempt. Well, we’ll own that title, as life isn’t all about snobbery without laughter. Tea towels with prints of German landmarks and mini bottles of Asbach Uralt (the local brandy wine) are coming with us.

Rüdesheim am Rhein in Germany

We needed to make quick work of the walk along the Rhein back to Geisenheim as every lost moment lingering in the scenery was minutes not spent with family.

Hindenburg Bridge in Rüdesheim am Rhein in Germany

But I’m a photographer and this old Hindenburg bridge ruin is not failing to enchant me every time we pass it. This will certainly be the last image of it until the day we return to the area. The stairs on both sides of the part of the bridge that is still intact lead to a steel gate topped with barbed wire; a drone would have come in handy here.

Hanns Engelhardt in Geisenheim, Germany

We’ll only have a brief two hours here with Hanns and Vevie, but taking advantage of the opportunity to spend time over the course of three days with them lent a deeper quality than dipping in for a few hours and being gone again for a year or two.

Vevie Engelhardt and Caroline Wise in Geisenheim, Germany

And, of course, once more, a toast was raised to Our Lady of Geisenheim.

Geisenheim, Germany

How quickly two hours pass.

Hanns Engelhardt and Caroline Wise in Geisenheim, Germany

Father Hanns walked us back to the train station and expressed a superabundance of appreciation for our visit, as did Vevie before we left their apartment. There’s a sadness in leaving, knowing that we won’t be visiting again before the next year at the earliest. If the people we spent time with were less enthusiastic, it would be easy to recapture our time and spend it selfishly on ourselves, but with how warmly we are greeted, we can only wish to spend time with everyone weekly if it were possible.

Römer in Frankfurt, Germany

An hour later, we are back in Frankfurt, about to spend a brief hour with Jutta. Chasing through the day, I get sloppy with remembering to take photos, and somehow, I bungled snapping an image of my mother-in-law with Caroline, but I didn’t forget to take yet another shot of Römer.

Frankfurt, Germany

On to our next date, this one in the Bahnhofsviertel.

Sylvia S. and Caroline Wise in Frankfurt, Germany

Early in my previous stint of living in Germany, I met Olaf F. tonight; we are having dinner with him and his wife, Sylvia S. On previous visits, we caught Sylvia at inopportune times when we’d maybe have minutes with her, but that is not true this day. It turns out that Caroline and Sylvia have a load in common and hit it off, spending every second of the seven hours we’ll visit talking, talking, talking.

Olaf F. and Sylvia S. with family in Frankfurt, Germany

This is Olaf and Sylvia with their son and daughter, Johnny and Lucy, more than a dozen years ago. As I’d never seen it before, I asked to take a photo of it for our blog of scrapbook memories.

Olaf F. and John Wise in Frankfurt, Germany

Olaf F. and John Wise on the way to dinner in Sachsenhausen with our wives, who are quite effectively ignoring us as they are lost in gab.

Homeless in Sachsenhausen Frankfurt, Germany

This was our designated meeting place for the other two old friends we were supposed to meet up with, but they were drunk and passed out on the street. We tried rousing them, but they were nearly dead to the world. So the four of us had to eat alone.

On the Main River at night in Frankfurt, Germany

After dinner, the ladies wanted to walk back to Bahnhofsviertel while Olaf felt like the tram, so I accompanied Olaf and Sylvia and Caroline continued their conversation with a stroll along the Main River.

On the Main River at night in Frankfurt, Germany

Well, this was quite the surprise as neither Caroline nor I have ever seen a floating Döner Imbiss, but here it is satisfying the late-night munchies of those out on a walk. America may have created a food truck phenomenon, but maybe it’ll be Europe that creates the food boat wave.

On the Main River at night in Frankfurt, Germany

It’s almost impossible to fully appreciate how safe it is to walk through this city late at night, considering the conditioning that comes with living in the United States that there’s always an element of danger lurking in the back of one’s mind. America has fostered the conditions where people walk with trepidation in our big cities as there seems to be a constant threat to safety with every step. Untreated mental health issues, drugs, easy access to weapons, and a mostly broken, half-functional safety net make for a perfect breeding ground for those on the margin to act in desperate ways, thus putting everyone’s peace of mind into the toilet.

In The Rheingau

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

On the Rhein River in Rüdesheim, Germany

Our hotel is in the heart of all things in Rudesheim and just a minute or two walk from the Rhein River, yet it was an incredibly reasonable 109 Euros per night, and that included breakfast. We didn’t have even two minutes to walk around town as I had a lot of writing to catch up on, and the lighting from the overcast sky wasn’t as conducive as I might have hoped for to capture some images of this historic town. So, from shortly after 8:00 until nearly 10:00, we had a nice slow breakfast of various Brotchen and plenty of coffee. The only thing left to do was return the key for the wine barrel and check in to our other room.

On the Rhein River in Rüdesheim, Germany

I read Google Maps wrong, and instead of 3.2 kilometers to walk between Rudesheim and Geisenheim, it turns out that stupid Google gave me miles while I was here in Germany, so we had 5 kilometers or 3.2 miles.

Rüdesheim, Germany

We’re walking a slightly different route that took us by new photo opportunities, which only added to our travel time. The orchard on our right was full of pears, as far as we could tell.

Rüdesheim, Germany

But when we found an open gate, we took the opportunity to trespass so we could gain a closer look at things. Lo, and behold, apples; apples that said, pick me! Not that we stole anything, but there also were no signs that said it was verboten.

Rüdesheim, Germany

Oh, shall we help ourselves to a pear, too? We don’t mind if we do.

Rüdesheim, Germany

The walnuts we picked were still too green to enjoy, but as I picked one, we didn’t know yet what we were looking at until we peeled it open, exposing its brain.

Vevie, Caroline Wise, and Hanns Engelhardt in Geisenheim

We arrived relatively early to Haus Engelhardt, and as with yesterday’s festivities, things began with popping the cork on a fresh bottle of sparkling wine. We also took a moment to look at yesterday’s photos to ensure Vevie and Hanns were okay with the images of them that were going to appear here.

Vevie of Geisenheim, Germany

Vevie shared some old photos with us, with this one being from roughly 1948 around the time she would have been 13 years old.

Vevie of Geisenheim, Germany

This photo is from about a dozen years later, around the time she was an extra in the movie, “The Burning Court.”

Hanns Engelhardt of Karlsruhe, Germany

Reminiscing about old photos, Hanns brought out his driver’s license from 1958 when he was finishing his formal studies.

Vevie, Caroline Wise, and Hanns Engelhardt in Geisenheim

Of course, we talked our heads off until the point nothing immediately in town was open, including the pizza joints so it was off to Bootshaus (Boat House) restaurant that opens at 12:00 and closes at 10:00 p.m.

Vevie, Caroline Wise, and Hanns Engelhardt in Geisenheim

We were last here just a couple of years ago as Vevie invited us to this exact restaurant. This will be Hanns’ first visit.

Caroline Wise and Vevie in Geisenheim, Germany

And, of course, another bottle of sparkling wine was in order.

Rhein River in Geisenheim, Germany

With a heavy downpour, we just continued to sit riverside and enjoyed a coffee, waiting for a pause in the rain so we could hurry home before the next cloud burst.

Geisenheim, Germany

While the sky threatened us with thunder in the distance and heavy dark clouds, we continued forward.

Vevie, Caroline Wise, and Hanns Engelhardt in Geisenheim

While these few posts will be short on written details, the moments of the day were jam-packed. So much so that it’s been seriously difficult to find the time to write notes of the days; this here is being written on the train back to Frankfurt the next afternoon. The minutiae of things are not important; suffice to say, there were possibly hundreds if not thousands of smiles shared.

Rheingauer Dom Geisenheim, Germany

Sure, I shared a photo of the Rheingauer Dom yesterday, but it was in the sun while ominous heavy clouds loom overhead to offer a slightly different view of the same church.

Geisenheim, Germany

From the front door of the apartment, this is the view heading towards the Rhein River we’ve now walked on many times; well, at least more than a few.

Hanns Engelhardt in Geisenheim, Germany

While Father Hanns offers goodbyes from the Engelhardt balcony, we’ve moved downstairs to start our walk back to Rudesheim.

Caroline Wise and Vevie in Geisenheim, Germany

It’s been quite touching to see and feel how much Vevie is appreciating Caroline’s company. Sure, she enjoys my company, too, but those two have a bond that is so obviously special that it has become charming. I only wish we could visit with Hanns, Vevie, and Jutta weekly, while Helga would be too busy for such a frequency.

Caroline Wise in Geisenheim, Germany

We thought we’d be gone in a second until it occurred to us that we could have a Spaghetti Eis right here in Geisenheim before dinner and not spend a penny at one of the Eis Cafes in Rudesheim. So, a short dessert break was taken. I’d like to point out the tragic, awful even, thing about eating outdoors at cafes and restaurants in Germany: the ever-present cigarette smokers who give little concern to those around them who might be eating. We didn’t escape a couple of smokers here at Eiscafe Pillot.

Geisenheim, Germany

Now, with the biggest obligations of the day finished, we can resume our meandering.

Geisenheim, Germany

As we already noted the pears, apples, and walnuts on our way to town, we were now looking for other things, such as weeds.

Rüdesheim, Germany

Then there was this slug I might have stepped on had I not known better about watching where to walk.

Hindenburg Bridge in Rüdesheim, Germany

Another view of the Hindenburg Bridge with a bit of the old roadway visible.

Rüdesheim, Germany

How strange this is to us Americans where very little of the indigenous people’s history of North America still exists and of the religious fundamentalists who populated and erased the Native American’s presence, their mark only really starts to show up on the landscape after the Civil War. But here in Rudesheim, you have a people celebrating the founding of their town that was established back in 1074.

Rüdesheim, Germany

This is Drosselgasse, which slices through the old town and is the focal point where many visitors head for the famous local libations, including a popular coffee with a kick and the region’s wine. Our dinner was taken around the corner and up the street where Caroline was hoping to try a specialty of pig stomach stuffed with various ingredients that were supposed to be featured at the Stadt Frankfurt, but it wasn’t to be as it wasn’t on tonight’s menu. The best we can figure is that this is a seasonal item.

Caroline Wise and John Wise in Rüdesheim, Germany

Here we are in the Eispfad (Ice Lane), which is the narrowest street Caroline and I have been on. Walking shoulder to shoulder is not possible unless you are 5 or 6 years old. After getting to our room, nothing is possible aside from sleep; we are exhausted, although even in that state, I think our smiles betray the level of exhaustion we are operating at. Tomorrow, we have a stop to make before heading back to Geisenheim for a last short visit.

Father Hanns and Our Lady of Geisenheim

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt, Germany

I can see it coming: after weeks of traveling by foot, bike, and train, we’ll be getting in a car after we arrive back in the U.S. in a couple of weeks, and in those first moments of speeding down a road, there will be a frightful sense of danger. If you think there’s also a similar sense of danger in riding bikes here in Europe, you’d be wrong. Europeans have rigorous guidelines for acquiring a driver’s license along with strict rules for how you operate a car, which create a [relatively – Caroline] non-threatening environment for bicyclists that must share the road with 2-ton cars.

Enough of that, we have arrived at the Hauptbahnhof as we are leaving town for a couple of days.

On the way to Geisenheim, Germany

This map found overhead on our train shows the stops we’ll be making on our way to Geisenheim in the Rheingau, translating to Rhein District. Wine grapes are this region’s claim to fame along the Rhein River, and we’re on our way to the 11th stop, Geisenheim.

On the way to Geisenheim, Germany

While wine and, specifically, Riesling is a great reason to visit, we are traveling west along the river to visit family.

Father Hanns Engelhardt, Caroline Wise, and Vievie in Geisenheim, Germany

His Honorable Bundesrichter A.D. Herr Dr. Father Hanns Engelhardt and his wife, Our Lady of Geisenheim Vevie, have an apartment here in the town center. It’s been two years since Caroline has been able to visit while I had just seen Hanns down in Karlsruhe back in June. To celebrate our arrival, a bottle of Sekt (German sparkling wine) was opened.

John Wise and Father Hanns Engelhardt in Geisenheim, Germany

If I’m not mistaken, this is the first photo ever of Hanns and me. Yes, you see that right; I had a glass of water because alcohol in any form and I are incompatible.

Caroline Wise and Vievie in Geisenheim, Germany

I’ll probably overshare the following, but I want to write this early in the post: Caroline and I could not have been welcomed with more enthusiasm and heartfelt gratitude from Hanns and Vevie than we were. Seeing these two together is turning out to be a special treat.

In Geisenheim, Germany

When I say “together,” I’m referring to the situation that we’ve most often seen Hanns down in Karlsruhe, where he was a judge and for many years, he also served the Lord as a priest in the Anglican church for a local parish. Vevie meanwhile maintained the apartment in Geisenheim.

Father Hanns Engelhardt, Caroline Wise, and Vievie in Geisenheim, Germany

Originally, we were scheduled to arrive at 10:00, but as is apt to happen, we can’t squeeze as much as we would like to into day after day without paying with some small level of exhaustion that requires course corrections during our vacations. And so it was today that we had to delay our departure with us arriving at noon. After the sparkling wine, we needed to beat feet over to a local restaurant (there are not many in Geisenheim) which closes at 2:00.

In Geisenheim, Germany

With some obvious reluctance, our server sat us at 1:4o, knowing there wasn’t a chance we’d be gone by the time they closed. Somewhere around 3:30, Hanns paid the woman who took over for the man who headed out, and with that, we started our walk back to their place.

In Geisenheim, Germany

On our way to lunch, we passed the Rheingauer Dom as we were already late, but as we had to walk right by on our way back, I made my way over for a quick photo inside. Everyone else followed.

Father Hanns Engelhardt, Caroline Wise, and Vievie in Geisenheim, Germany

At the front of the church, Hanns shared some of his knowledge of procedures as they happen when service is taking place while the ladies continued their chat. On our way out, we stopped to light a few candles and offer a donation to the church.

Caroline Wise and Vievie in Geisenheim, Germany

The conversation flowed faster than the wine, but only barely. Yes, the warmth in Caroline’s cheeks is from the sense of joy we shared with family today, though there’s a certain amount that arrived with the libations.

Father Hanns Engelhardt and Vievie in Geisenheim, Germany

After five hours of reminiscing and sharing, it was time for us to go check into our wine barrel, I mean hotel, while there was still daylight so I could capture some photos of our unique lodging arrangements.

On the Rhein River in Geisenheim, Germany

From previous experience, we knew that there was a river trail that would take us to Rüdesheim, and that was the path we opted for.

Campground in Rüdesheim, Germany

No, these are not the wine barrels we’ll be staying at tonight. This photo was taken as a note to our future selves, reminding us that we might want to stay here at Rheingau 524.

Hindenburg Bridge in Rüdesheim, Germany

Wow, was my exclamation as we approached this collapsed bridge. It is the Hindenburg Bridge in Rüdesheim and has been left as a relic of World War II when it was intentionally destroyed in the closing days of the war to slow the United States’ advancement. My photo does NO justice to the scale of elements; I’ll try to share another tomorrow if we walk by.

On the Rhein River in Rüdesheim, Germany

Weather is moving into the region with rain forecast to begin tonight, but in the case of this sunset photo, these clouds are a welcome addition adding drama to the sky.

On the Rhein River in Rüdesheim, Germany

Sorry, Mr. or Mrs. Swan, but we have no snacks that you’ve obviously been conditioned to expect when humans pass.

Lindenwirt Hotel in Rüdesheim, Germany

Time to check into Hotel Lindenwirt here in Rüdesheim.

Caroline Wise in a wine barrel at Lindenwirt Hotel in Rüdesheim, Germany

Did you think I was joking about staying in a wine barrel? In the list of unique lodgings, this is certainly one of our most interesting.

Caroline Wise in a wine barrel at Lindenwirt Hotel in Rüdesheim, Germany

How often do you walk into your hotel room and need to laugh out loud at your good fortune that you’ve snagged something that few people will find as enchanting as you do?

Into the old town, trying to spot something for dinner. Many establishments close at 8:00, which doesn’t leave many options.

I found the one corner that was scruffy enough to lend character to all the shiny new Disneyland-like points in this famous wine-drinking village by the Rhein River.

After dinner, we took a walk looking for a Spaghetti Eis (spaghetti-shaped ice cream I’ve described on many other occasions), and while all four shops we stopped in proclaimed to offer this frozen treat, all of them had already started their closing procedures at 8:30, and the first thing cleaned is apparently the whipped cream dispenser. First of all, good German ice cream shops do not spray fake whipped cream from a can with bright red words on it; they make real whipped cream that tastes like the real thing. Second, Spaghetti Eis without a bed of whipped cream is ice cream with strawberry sauce. Third, I was angry, not because I wasn’t willing to compromise but because these shops close at 9:00, and people visiting from other countries or are on Rhein cruises might forego dessert on their cruise ship or at a local restaurant in order to sit in a cafe and enjoy a parfait are going to be limited in their options to a scoop of ice cream or two.

When I came to Germany earlier this year, I talked with many a restaurant worker or owner who lamented their industry being closed for seven months due to the pandemic. Now here, with the tourism industry open again, the business owners who should be enthusiastic to welcome visitors back appear to only be concerned with their convenience, not my luxury.

Hey Rüdesheim ice cream shops, just shut your operations and leave dessert to the restaurants as you’ve left a blemish on this town. True that many come for the wine, but in such a small town as yours that supports nearly a dozen ice cream shops, it seems that tourism is integral to your economy. Either operate your business honorably for those of us visiting or go away.

And with that lament out of the way, we head into our Winkeler Hasensprung (rabbit jump) wine barrel. The name originates from a local vineyard’s hillside near the town of Winkel. As for the experience of sleeping in a barrel? The bed was inches too short for me, but that didn’t matter one bit as I made it work. Sure, sleep was a bit restless as I had to adjust my contorting position, but who cares? I slept in a wine barrel.