Penn State White Out

 This is a bonus post I am adding mostly so I can look at the content later.

We have been taking some trips to follow the Univ of Minnesota football team on the road. This year we flew with Cindy's brother Greg and Laura to see the Penn State game. The draw was the "white out" game. Once a year all Penn State fans dress in white and the effect in their stadium is dramatic. Here are a couple of photos and a video.

Before retirement we watched Fighting Hawk (Sioux) football. I think the attendance for games maxed out about 11,000. The University of Minnesota has a max capacity of 50,000 or so. Here is a list of football stadiums by size. 

Viking Herja

 

Our time on the Viking Herja has ended. The rest of the passengers did one last walk this morning and then will board a bus to take them to Zurich. We had a private ride in a fancy Mercedes town car to the same hotel. Until our quarantine ends we can parallel the rest of the group, but must pay for our own expenses. Cindy must have had a premonition because she paid for trip insurance. These costs should be covered. We can join those who extended their stay for the four extra days in Switzerland missing the first day (the glacier train). We will then have three days. 

Switzerland is interesting in that there are now no mask requirements. We are free to roam about unmasked on our own even though I am probably still communicative. Viking Tours has a stricter policy. Since we were fully vaccinated and both had a negative test the day before we left and I still got sick. I support the Vikings policy. We might walk about a bit tomorrow and see if we can find an outside location to have coffee and a meal, but I am still too tired today. We could have taken a flight home, but I can relax and read here as well as back in Minneapolis. I am not ready to face the long flight home for a few more days.

A few words about the ship (now that I am an expert). The ship really has two parts - a three story hotel on its side and a front section with dining area, kitchen, lounge, storage area, and front deck. The flat top has a very small walking track and plenty of nice chairs and tables. 

The boat is narrow and because it is so long the length gives it a strange appearance. As soon as you go through the first lock you understand the width issue. I have no ideas how the Captain gets the boat through the lock. The clearance was less than a foot (see Cindy touching side of the lock while we went through). All of the boats carrying materials other than people on the river look very similar - long and narrow. There are lots of boats. There are also lots of trains (our hotel now happens to be next to a set of tracks that probably has a train pass through at least every five minutes). The passenger trains have that sleek look and everything looks much newer than you would see in the U.S.  Europe obviously has worked out its transportation system in a different way. Perhaps the density plays a major role in the commitment to alternatives to autos and trucks.

Before we left I had visions of sitting on our little deck watching the boats and the houses and farms on the bans go by. We paid extra money for a room with these small decks rather than big windows. This was perhaps the one mistake our lack of experience at least relevant to this specific trip caused us to make. Most times the boat moved at night so there was little to actually see from the deck. When the boat did move during the day (e.g., the stretch with all of the castles), it turned out being more fun to watch from the upper deck. There was narration, food and beverages, and other folks with fancy cameras to compare notes.

Someone who reads my comments asked me for a recommendation regarding Viking Cruises. I will write something when I get home and feel a little more like sitting at the keyboard. I have the highest regard for the Vikings crew and system. Very professional and high quality. They were also very helpful in helping us arrange for our unique situation. We have to cover the additional costs, but they made the arrangements. I do think it important to understand what you will see. I wrote a rather capricious post earlier in this series titled Cathedrals and Castles. You may or may not find value in a stead diet of these visual experiences and the related narrations to but what interests you. We paid for one of the additional tours (Cindy visited a winery that took her into the fields) and that would have been more unique. I was starting to get ill and did not ago along. There is lots of history here dating back to the domination of the region by the Romans. Just understanding the length of history here in comparison to our U.S. perspective does make you think about cultural differences that may not hace crossed your mind. You either appreciate this perspective or you don’t. 

Hemingway’s Paris

 Being confined to quarters is kind of a bummer, but I am feeling pretty well. The view out the window can be great, but we mostly move at night. You can only watch so much International CNN. Still, all in all, we have decided this has to be labeled as a unique experience. We have travel insurance for this trip so there is no financial concern.

I have a few things I can write about and that seems a productive way to pass the time.

I have been trying to read a book targeting the area in which we are traveling. While we were last in Kauai, I tried to listen to Michener’s Hawaii. The audio version is 52 hours long. I usually listen to audiobooks before I go to sleep which often means I have to repeatedly back up because I fall asleep and lose track of the story. 

This trip I am reading Hemingway’s Paris. This book is the effort of a writer and a photographer attempted to capture Hemingway’s psyche and explain his writing method. The book is not uplifting as Hemingway while artistically gifted and driven had more than his share of demons. He married, had a child, and then divorced resulting in a melancholy that followed him throughout the rest of his life.

As I said earlier, the book combines text and black and white photos. I was able to take many similar photos. 

A favorite Hemingway haunt. 

These boxes line sections of the Seine. Individuals own these boxes and sell old books and posters. If you know. What you are doing you may find a valuable original. 

COVID got me

 Cindy and I have been able to avoid COVID until this morning. I have had a deep cough. I used a self test kit two days ago and generated a negative reading. Symptoms (the cough) have grown a little worse. I had already decided not to attend this morning’s outing because it is raining and I did think I would like walking in a cold rain. Cindy convinced me to take the test the boat makes available (the one with the deeper sinus swab) and this came back positive. 

Cindy is still negative. It would have worked out better if the self test had come out positive because we could just isolate while we were on the boat. We had extended our trip by four days to spend some time not on the boat in Switzerland. If all goes well, we now must stay one day in a hotel and the find a way to catch up and connect with the tour group. I want to delay the long plane flight until I feel better.

A short note. The Pfizer vaccine was developed in Mainz, Germany. This happens to be where we are. As part of the walking tour that included the museum, the guide identified famous residents past and present. We learned that the researchers working with BioNTech (Ozlem Tureci and Ugar Sahin) responsible for the Pfizer vaccine live and work here. Ironic. No complaints regard the vaccine. So far I am fairly comfortable. 

Gutenberg’s Revolution Updated

The Gutenberg Museum is located in Mainz, Germany. Folks recognize the name as associated with moveable type printing and the Gutenberg Bible. 

My own association is a little different. Because of my interest in social media, I associate Gutenberg with the history of a technology allowing more individuals access to knowledge. Internet access is often described as an updated historical opportunity. In addition, this new technology expands what was once a very limited opportunity to express oneself to the real chance to write something viewed by others in all corners of the world. This blog would be an example. Books I have read such as Gutenberg the Geek and From Gutenberg to Google draw this comparison in making the case that recent advances in technology offer opportunities of world changing significance.

The following images are from our visit to the Gutenberg Museum

Churches and castles - II

 We are moving through a 40 mile section on the Rhine which has 28 castles standing on the banks of the river. The river has always been active as a way to move goods and many of these castles once allowed medieval owners to require payment for passage up or down the river - something like a toll road. The following are some of the stills I took while I sat on the upper deck and before I got too cold to continue. I have some video, but my connection is too slow to upload and I will have to add at a later time.

Wine Country

 We spend the morning in Cochem, Germany. This is wine country. We have been traveling through wine country for several days now, but this is the first time we have visited a winery and had the opportunity to listen to the vintner talk about his craft. 

Cochem is located between the 50th and 51st parallel. The Canadian border  in North Dakota was the 49th parallel (I happen to know this because of the k.d. Lang album “Hymns of the 49th parallel.). Wines need heat. The secret is in the sun facing slopes and in the slate pieces that are common in the soil. The slate warms in the sun and then gradually releases this heat into the soil as the day cools into night.

The slopes are so steep most harvesting must be done by hand. We were in Cochem as the harvest was just beginning. The work must be very physically demanding because of steep incline and like harvesting of so many crops seasonal migrant workers play a significant role. Poland provides much of the labor. 

Riesling grapes are the main variety grown here and I can attest that the wine is very good. The vintner purposefully works to produce a wine that is about 10% alcohol which is low for wine. We were surprised that the price was as low as it was - about $12. I can’t imagine paying that in the U.S.. The vintner said that he could not ship wine to the U.S., but wine could be purchased to be taken home.

Churches and Castles - 1

What I know of the history of the United States didn’t prepare me for the scope of the history of the places we have visited in Europe. The guides describe locations with walls or parts of buildings dated to BC. Part of these lengthy histories are related to the different groups that have conquered and then been reconquered over the centuries sometimes leaving buildings and sometimes destroying and then rebuilding on the same locations time and time again.

Reims Cathedral

The Reims Cathedral [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reims_Cathedral ] in the City of Reims dates to approximately 1200. It was the church used as the location for coronation for the Kings of France. The cathedral is technically owned by France, but it is designated as Catholic. This separation of church and state allows the state to take on the responsibility of maintenance and I assume is the reason it is regarded as an official historical site and functions as a tourist attraction. 

A couple of things to notice in the following series of photos. The Cathedral bears the marks of the wars that have damaged it over the years. The pock marks in one of the images was from artillery shrapnel from WW1. There are several stained class windows that are very impressive. The one I selected was included here an interesting reason. In the middle toward the top of the window you may see a monk in what may look like a science lab. You will probably know the monk’s name.- Dom Perignon. This monk developed the process for champagne which remains so central to the prosperity of the region.

Bandwidth

 We are on our boat. I am encountering an issue I had not anticipated. While we do have Internet access, it is provided through a satellite connection. The upload speed is painfully slow. I am guessing it is phone modem slow. Text is not a problem, but images and movies are a big challenge. I have found ways to transfer images between devices, but there seems no easy way to quickly upload a photo to Blogger.

This is a test to determine if I can get anything to work and to let folks who expect me to post regularly to have an idea what is going on. I am trying to create a post with one photo to see if that will work and how long it takes. I am keeping notes on our daily experiences and if the worst case scenario proves to be what I am up against, I will post with text when there is something interesting I can convey in text and add photos and movies when we are again in a hotel. 

Here goes nothing.

Cafe Culture

Paris has a great cafe culture. There are Starbucks, but the local shops obviously have the advantage of ambiance and are preferred. Most cafes are small with ample outside seating. I did not see many folks writing or reading, but we are probably are in more of the tourist areas where the patrons intend to have an expresso and watch the locals walk by. We took a bus tour this morning and drove by what the guide described as the “intellectual district” located near the Sorbonne. The driver just kept going. 

One thing I have noticed is that the atmosphere of the cafes is very relaxed. There is no time limit or pressure to finish your coffee and free up a table. I have yet to figure out how to get the attention of a server so we can pay and leave. They don’t take your card here. They provide your bill and after you have time to examine it, they return with a mobile reader. I don’t need a lot of time to review a bill written in a language I don’t understand, but I have figured out that charges are printed with apostrophes and not decimal points. I just want to offer my card so we can move on.

Arch of Triumph

We just reached Paris. There were no intermediate stops between here and Minneapolis so it was an efficient trip but still a long time in the air. We took a short nap but just enough to get us to the end of the day so we could try to shift back to our traditional schedule. We are tired.

The Arch of Triumph was a 15 minute walk from our hotel so we decided we could make it that far to generate a photo for today. Most folks have seen photos of the arch, but if you visit everyone needs a photo of their own. 

Here is mine and for extra measure a closeup of one of magnificent stone carvings that decorate the pillars.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

 This is likely to final post for this trip. We have many miles to drive yet, but I expect little more that might be of general interest.

Our final outing was to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo located above the city of  Colorado Springs. It is a highly regarded zoo attempted to show the animals in a natural setting. 

Here a couple of the unique characteristics.

The entrance fee is a little pricey, but you are given tokens worth $5 for each ticket to allocate to different exhibits. Natasha is a big fan of the the giraffes.

The zoo is located at an elevation of 6000+ feet and is moderately hilly. With high temps and the walking the natural habitats require, it is evidently easy enough to become dehydrated. You are warned of this problem and there are opportunities to refill your water bottles..There also these large fans that are cooling and also direct a mist of water to cool you down.

Some animal photos follow:

We have seen many of these animals in the wilds of Africa and any zoo cannot match that experience. However, as far as zoos go, this one is spectacular.

Broodmoor

 We are nearly the end of this trip and spending a few days at the home of our friends Oleg and Natasha in Colorado Springs. We have spent some time meeting their new grandson in Denver and seeing the sights with Natasha. When here, we usually explore the Broodmoor which is resort near their home. We walk the beautiful grounds and take photos. A few of these images follow.