September 1

One time we played a concert in Antwerp, Belgium.  At least I thought it was Antwerp, Belgium.  Turns out it was a Stop ‘n Shop in Wisconsin somewhere, but it was fun man.  ~  Slash *

*  OK, we didn’t actually make it to Antwerp this trip – we would a couple years later.  I just wanted to us this quote about Antwerp.   Besides, Antwerp is the location of our current favorite TV show (on PBS), Professor T.  This was the last full day in the neighborhood, so we took the road west out of Brussels . . .

[The Grand Place in Brussels . . . ]

[Out past the Atomium . . . ]

[The Atomium is a landmark building in Brussels, originally constructed for the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair (Expo 58).  It is located on the Heysel Plateau, where the exhibition took place.  It is now a museum.  it stands 102 m (335 ft) tall.  Its nine 18 m (60 ft) diameter stainless steel clad spheres are connected, so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an α-iron (ferrite) crystal magnified 165 billion times.  Tubes of 3 m (10 ft) diameter connect the spheres along the 12 edges of the cube and all eight vertices to the centre.  They enclose stairs, escalators and a lift (in the central, vertical tube) to allow access to the five habitable spheres, which contain exhibit halls and other public spaces. The top sphere includes a restaurant which has a panoramic view of Brussels (Wikipedia).]

Ninety-five percent of all Brussels sprouts come from California.  ~  Danny Meyer

[No, we didn’t enter . . . ]

[The Brussels International Exposition of 1935 was a World’s fair held between 27 April and 6 November 1935 on the Heysel Plateau (Wikipedia).  This is the Palais des Expositions built for the exhibition .]

[Ghent is a city in the Flemish Region of Belgium.  It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in size only by Brussels and Antwerp.  It is a port and university city.  The city originally started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Leie and in the Late Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of northern Europe, with some 50,000 people in 1300 (263,000 currently) (Wikipedia).]

[While it’s less “Disney world/honeymoon-paradise” than its neighbour Bruges, Ghent is no less beautiful, and no less short on canals. A simple boat trip will take you on a relaxing trip around the city’s watery arteries, providing a new perspective of the beautiful buildings lining the canals (themostbeautifulplacesineurope.wordpress.com).]

[Main square of Ghent . . . ]

[Gravensteen Castle . . . ]

[Spire on the Town Hall . . . ]

[Appears to be a street of fine dining . . . ]

[The Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries are an ensemble of glazed shopping arcades in central Brussels (and here, Ghent).  Designed and built between 1846 and 1847, they precede other famous 19th-century European shopping arcades.  Like them, they have twin regular facades with distant origins in a long narrow street-like courtyard, with glazed arched shopfronts separated by pilasters and two upper floors, under an arched glass-paned roof with a delicate cast-iron framework (Wikipedia).]

[And then on to The Netherlands (it says so on the sign).  As previously noted, going between countries at that time was like crossing a street . . . ]

[Then we walked over a dune to take a look at the North Sea . . . ]

[Another reason why we knew we were in The Netherlands . . . ]

[Well, that was enough of the Dutch.  Here we are back in Ghent again . . . ]

[I think we were in search of a fine dining venue, which became my sole major remembrance of the city.  I can’t remember where we ate, but we were well distanced another couple eating there.  As they left, they stopped at our table and asked if we were Americans.  We said yes, how did you know (I doubt they could have heard us talking).  They said by the way we eat.  Only Americans cut their meat, then move the fork from the left hand to the right hand before eating the morsel.  I’d never thought of that before, but it’s true . . . ]

[Belfry of Ghent . . . ]

[No, this is not Central Illinois – we’re on the road to Bruges . . . ]

[Back to Bruges (I think) . . . ]

[The Smedenpoort, a historical gateway to the city of Bruges from the 13th-14th century, is in its current state to narrow to organize a fluid traffic of cars, pedestrians and cyclists. The city of Bruges decided in concertation with the Commission of Monuments and Landscapes to add new footbridges on the both sides of the existing building (10.aeccafe.com).]

[“Belgium” is the rudest word in the universe, which is “completely banned in all parts of the Galaxy, except in one part, where they could not possibly know what it means.  ~  The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

[The Super with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the city’s Central Square . . . ]

[Back home to Arlington, Virginia, where we discovered . . .  The Newseum opened at its first location in Rosslyn, Virginia (about a half mile down the hill from where we lived), on April 18, 1997, and on April 11, 2008, it opened at its last location.  As of December 31, 2019, the Newseum closed its doors (at its downtown D.C. location) and is seeking a new site, while many exhibits and artifacts went into storage or were returned to their owners (Wikipedia).]

[The above photo is of a section of the Berlin Wall; below is the entire section of the Super, I believe with a fallen, beheaded statue of Lenin . . . ]

[A history of news . . . ]

[I’ve already forgotten the significance of the dome . . . ]

[We were basically just across the street from the USA Today headquarters, with all their news gathering satellite antennas . . . ]

[Women’s suffrage – of major significance this year . . . ]

[Again, I believe, the headless Lenin . . . ]

[And from there it was just a couple of blocks to Arlington National Cemetery . . . ]

[And the Netherlands Carillon . . . ]

[Overlooking the nation’s capital . . . ]

[And the Iwo Jima Memorial . . . ]

He didn’t really like travel, of course. He liked the idea of travel, and the memory of travel, but not travel itself.  ~  Julian Barnes

Modern traveling is not traveling at all; it is merely being sent to a place, and very little different from becoming a parcel.  ~  John Ruskin

Up Next:  Finishing Europe 1997 . . .

August 30

Switzerland’s been weird since they unplugged the clocks.  ~  Carly Simon

As we had to the finish line, I’m finding the order of the photos on the discs often did not match the order, or place, where they were taken.  Bear with me while I try to muddle through with 23-year old memories . . . 

[Whoa, another shot of the Matterhorn . . . ]

[Still in the Matterhorn vicinity . . . ]

[And Roy-san waving from the Gornergrat observatories . . . ]

[And heading back down in the cable car . . . ]

[Must be a view of Zermatt, our end destination . . . ]

[And here we are in Zermatt . . . ]

[I believe I still have a Zermatt tee shirt somewhere . . . ]

[I have no idea, but it may be at the Swiss-French border.  In the good old days of the EU crossing from one country into another was like crossing from Nebraska into Iowa . . . ]

[Why Luneville?  Will be discussed in more detail in the last Europe 1997 blog post . . . ]

[The sign says it’s a museum.  Based on the next photo, it may be of crystal . . . ]

[Why yes, we’re in Baccarat . . . ]

[Baccarat is a French commune in the district of Luneville in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France.   Louis VI authorized the creation of a glassworks in 1764 at the instigation of the Bishop of Metz who was anxious to sell the important local production of firewood.  A glassworks named Antoine Renaut responded to the authorisation.  The works became a crystal glassworks in 1817 and was sold to the Compagnie des Cristalleries in 1881 subsequently achieving worldwide fame under the name of Baccarat  (Wikipedia).]

[Shop till you drop.  I don’t recall whether anybody bought any crystal . . . ]

[And then it was on to Bruges (Dutch: Brugge; German: Brügge) is the capital and largest city of the provence of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the seventh largest city of the country by population.  The historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO.  The city’s total population is 117,073 (1 January 2008).  The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, has a total of 255,844 inhabitants as of 1 January 2008 (Wikipedia).]

[Bruges has most of its medieval architecture intact, making it one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe.  The historic centre of Bruges has been a UNESCO site since 2000.   Many of its medieval buildings are notable, including the Church of Our Lady, whose brick spire reaches 115.6 m (379.27 ft), making it the world’s second highest brick tower/building.  The sculpture ‘Madonna and Child’, which can be seen in the transept, is believed to be the only of Michelangelo’s sculptures to have left Italy within his lifetime. Bruges’ most famous landmark is its 13th-century belfry, housing a municipal carillon comprising 47 bells.  The city still employs a full-time carillonneur, who gives free concerts on a regular basis (Wikipedia).]

[Bruges became then, and remains now, one of our all-time favorite cities.  That’s the City Hall above, and a canal (obviously) below . . . ]

[Church of Our Lady . . . ]

[The Belfry of Bruges (Dutch: Belfort van Brugge) is a medieval bell tower in the centre of Bruges.  One of the city’s most prominent symbols, the belfry formerly housed a treasury and the municipal archives, and served as an observation post for spotting fires and other dangers (Wikipedia).]

[The historic City Center . . . ]

[Having a nosh in the historic City Centre . . . ]

Belgium is the best remedy against patriotism.  ~  Geert Van Istendael [Discuss?]

[I think these final four photos will wrap up Bruges . . . ]

[But who knows what will be found on the final CD’s . . . ]

[BTW, In Bruges is a 2008 British-American black comedy crime film written and directed by Martin McDonagh (Wikipedia).  I would recommend except it has a lot of really naughty language (in English) – but the film does end with a marvelous travelogue of the city itself . . . ]

[An overly crowded pedestrian way, so we decided to head for Ghent (next) . . . ]

Au revoir, Switzerland . . .

And even before the current president, from In Bruges (a reviewer’s favorite quotes):

Ray: Bruges is a s***hole.

Ken: Bruges is not a s***hole.

Ray: Bruges is a s***hole.

Ken: Ray, we’ve only just got off the f***ing train. Could we reserve judgement on Bruges until we’ve seen the f***ing place?

Ray: I know it’s gonna be a s***hole.

Up Next:  Winding down Europe . . .

August 29

We were anxious for an afternoon out of the house.  And I needed relief from the Europe 1997 blogs.  So, out we ventured to the winery, joining fellow wino music fans, Karin and Dave Berg, and Deb and Paul Trumm, for the music stylings of Erik Schultz.  And away we go  . . . 

[The sanguineness of the cirrus . . . ]

In the end we are all just clouds wandering around without fighting off the winds.  ~  Sijdah Hussain

Behind every cloud is another cloud.  ~  Judy Garland

[And then Erik offered an afternoon of shelter from the pandemic . . . ]

[Even though he was wearing a Boogaloo boys shirt . . . ]

[His last performance before going into a 14-day quarantine so he and Kathy can pay their first visit to their first grandchild . . . ]

All music is folk music. I ain’t never heard a horse sing a song.  ~  Louis Armstrong

All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff.  ~  Frank Zappa

Erik with “Pancho & Lefty” from 3 years ago . . .

[The Fan Club . . . ]

[Just back from the Duluth music festival that never was this year . . . ]

Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.  ~  Frank Zappa

[The Fan Club, part deux . . . ]

[Everybody but Karin . . . ]

[Since she was lost in the crowd in the previous pic, here she is on a different day at the same venue . . . ]

[Now going for the artsy shots . . . ]

[If not the fartsy . . . ]

[The grape vines covering the pergola we’re sitting under . . . ]

[Appear to have a bumper crop of grapes this year . . . ]

[Bye-bye, buy bonds!]

Who knew that Frank Zappa was such a bard he was quoted twice here?  ~  Me

There are two kinds of artists left: those who endorse Pepsi and those who simply won’t.  ~  Annie Lennox

Up Next:  Likely Europe again . . .

August 28

OK, here comes your highlight reel of outdoor scenery, the Swiss Lakes, the Jungfrau region, and the Matterhorn . . . 

Switzerland is a place where they don’t like to fight, so they get people to do their fighting for them while they ski and eat chocolate.  ~  Larry David

[The Jungfrau (“maiden, virgin”), at 4,158 meters (13,642 ft) is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesc. Together with the Eiger and Monch, the Jungfrau forms a massive wall of mountains overlooking the Bernese Oberland and the Swiss Plateau, one of the most distinctive sights of the Swiss Alps.  The construction of the Jungfrau railway in the early 20th century, the saddle between the Mönch and the Jungfrau, made the area one of the most-visited places in the Alps.  Along with the Aletsch Glacier to the south, the Jungfrau is part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 2001 (Wikipedia).]

[The Jungfrau region is part of the canton of Bern and it encompasses a portion of the Swiss Alps, including the Jungfrau massif, Lauterbrunnen Valley, Interlaken, Lake Brienz and Lake Thun, and extends west to Adelboden and Gstaad (earthtrekkers.com).]

[The Grindelwald–Männlichen gondola cableway is the third longest passenger-carrying gondola cableway in the world.  Each gondola carries up to four passengers, and cableway can transport 900 persons per hour at a speed of 4 m/s (13 ft/s).  The journey time from Grindelwald to Mannlichen is 30 minutes (Wikipedia).]

[I’m so ecstatic to be riding the GGM!]

[Meanwhile, back on the ground, I always remember this photo of Thun as one of my all-time favorites . . . ]

[The Super and Thun . . . ]

[And now back to the mountains (?) . . . ]

[The cable car has landed.  The Männlichen is a 2,343-metre (7,687 ft) mountain in the Swiss Alps located within the Canton of Berne.  It can be reached from the new (December 2019) Grindelwald Terminal station using the Grindelwald–Männlichen gondola cableway (GM).  It then takes 15 minutes to walk to the summit.  It is a popular viewpoint over the Lauterbrunnen valley and a popular start location for hikers and skiers  (Wikipedia).]

[The aforementioned view of the Lauterbrunnen valley below.  I get acrophobia just looking at the photo . . . ]

[‘Twas a lovely day, obviously!  So lovely I seem to recall folks taking in the sun on the lounge chairs in their swimsuits (unfortunately, no photographic proof).  Based on the map above, I think we have the Eiger and the Monch as the lead characters in the background.  Remember Clint Eastwood’s movie, “The Eiger Sanction”?]

I’ve always wanted to go to Switzerland to see what the army does with those wee red knives.  ~  Billy Connolly

[The Mannlichen summit, surprisingly (I guess) snow free . . . ]

[The Super’s lovin’ it – she was a skier back in the days . . . ]

[Ain’t we got fun??]

[Heading back down . . . ]

Switzerland is only bearable covered with snow…like some people are only bearable under a sheet.  ~  Graham Greene

[Another favorite photo with view of altitudes above and below . . . ]

[Interlaken (between lakes) is a Swiss town and municipality in the canton of Bern.  It is an important and well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Highlands, and the main transport gateway to the mountains and lakes of that region.  The town is located on the flat alluvial land called Bodeli between two lakes, Brienz to the east and Thun to the west, and alongside the river Aare, which flows between them.  Interlaken is the central town of a Small Agglomeration with the same name of 23,300 inhabitants.  The official language of Interlaken is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect (Wikipedia).]

[It’s too bad that a lot of the photos from this trip got “shuffled” on the disc, and after all this time I’m not sure of their proper order.  Anyway, this appears to still be in the Jungfrau?]

[My first parachute jump.  I heard I was doing great until I hit the Matterhorn . . . ]

[Again, Jungfrau?]

[Or on the way up to . . . ]

[The Matterhorn]

[The Matterhorn is a mountain in the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy.  It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, whose summit is 4,478 metres (14,692 ft) high, making it on of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe.  The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points and are split by ridges.  The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt, in the canton of Valais, in the Aosta Valley to the south (Wikipedia).]

[I was told how lucky I was to have such a clear day for photos (so I took lots), that usually the summit is hidden by clouds

I don’t like Switzerland; it has produced nothing but theologians and waiters.  ~  Oscar Wilde

[The Gornergrat train goes from the village centre in Zermatt to Gornergrat (3,089 m) in 33 minutes.  From this vantage point, one of the most beautiful mountain panoramas in the world opens up – with a view of the Matterhorn (4,478 m) (zermatt.ch).]

[Zermatt is a municipality in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland.  It has a population of about 5,800 inhabitants.  It lies at the upper end of Mattertal at an elevation of 1,620 m (5,310 ft), at the foot of Switzerland’s highest peaks (Wikipedia).]

Switzerland is a curst, selfish, swinish country of brutes, placed in the most romantic region of the world.  ~  Lord Byron

[Roy and . . . ]

[Company . . . ]

[At the Matterhorn viewpoint . . . ]

[Time for our 2-miles high bag lunch . . . ]

[The building sign tells all . . . ]

[We’re at Gornergrat at 3,100m . . . ]

[In the late 1960s two astronomical observatories were installed in the two towers of the Kulmhotel Gornergrat. The project ‘Stellarium Gornergrat’ is hosted in the Gornergrat South Observatory (Wikipedia).]

[The Gornergrat Railway is a mountain rack railway.  It links the resort village of Zermatt, situated at 1,604 m (5,262 ft) above mean sea level, to the summit of the Gornergrat.  The Gornergrat railway station is situated at an altitude of 3,089 m (10,135 ft), which makes the Gornergrat Railway the second highest railway in Europe after the Jungfrau, and the highest open-air railway of the continent.  The line opened in 1898, and was the first electric rack railway to be built in Switzerland (Wikipedia).]

[The above photo was actually the last.  But I made this the last because it will be the display photo for Facebook, featuring the three stars of the day: The Super, The Matterhorn, and Roy!]

Switzerland is simply a large, lumpy, solid rock with a thin skin of grass stretched over it.  ~  Mark Twain

Up Next:  Nearing the end of Europe . . .

August 27

France has neither winter nor summer nor morals.  Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country.  France has usually been governed by prostitutes.  ~  Mark Twain

France has a new president who lives with a woman that he is not married to. Their relationship is described as French.  ~  Conan O’Brien

[Roy with . . . his “French relationship”?]

[The Super at the Evian water source (1789).  Évian is a brand of mineral water coming from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva.  In popular culture, Évian is portrayed as a luxury and expensive bottled water.  It was named in Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express.”  It is popular among Hollywood celebrities (Wikipedia).]

[On the way to meet Carine . . . ]

[And here’s Carine, the Steiner kids au pair (and, handily, an interpreter for we older kids).  She would be with us for our remaining adventures . . . ]

[Evian gave the name to the famous mineral water, whose story started when some local noble (a baron?) was sick and started to heal only when he started to drink only water from Evian’s springs. Today there is a big palace – the Buvette Cachat, of the finest Art Nouveau style, and IMO the nicest palace in Evian, where all sort of information about the mineral water is on display, and it makes for a nice and interesting visit; moreover, few meters from the Buvette Cachat, just along the road on the back, there are two places where one can get free Evian water form a tap. Locals come there with crates of bottles to fill… so don’t be shy, bring your empty bottles and top them up. The water is really delicious and refreshing (tripadvisor.com).]

[And then we were off to Yvoire, 17 miles from Evian . . . ]

[Yvoire is a small medieval town in the department of Haute-Savoie, in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes.  It is located 15 miles northeast of Geneva (Wikipedia).]  This building the Château d’Yvoire . . . ]

[Walt and Eric venture out to the end of the jetty (a jetty is not a small jet . . . ]

[The Super ventures out into Yvoire . . . ]

[Yvoire’s position, on the only promontory of Lake Geneva, aroused the interest of the Counts of Savoy, “the gatekeepers of the Alps”.  In the 14th century, Amédée V le Grand rebuilt the castle and surrounded the village with ramparts.  Only the keep remains.  In the well-preserved ramparts, two gates allow passage only for pedestrians.  The old town offers a bend of narrow streets surprising views of the lake crisscrossed by boats (notrebellefrance.com).]

[Remember:  Medieval is the key word in describing Yvoire . . . ]

[Apparently simply known as the church spire of Yvoire . . . ]

[More medievalty . . . ]

[Apparently simply known as a couple of winos (Roy, with the 1,000-year old winery owner – see further) . . . ]

[Medieval cave of the Chateau La Tour de Marignan with the cellar beams dating to the 11th century . . . ]

[Wandering amidst the grapes . . . ]

[Originally monastic, the winery was sold during the Reformation, when Chablais was occupied by Swiss Calvinists . . . ]

[Whether they had appropriate liquor licenses is unknown . . . ]

[Vineyard equipment and direction signs . . . ]

How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?  ~  Charles de Gaulle  

[Meanwhile, back in Yvoire . . . ]

[Michelle and Ruthie are quite obviously fashionably French . . . ]

The next day . . . 

[Well, by gosh and by golly, here we are in Thun, Switzerland . . . ]

[Thun is a town and a municipality in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.  It is located where the Aare flows out of Lake Thun (Thunersee), 30 kilometres (19 miles) southeast of Bern.  As of December 2018 the municipality has almost about 45,000 inhabitants and around 80,000 live in the agglomeration.  The official language of Thun is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect (Wikipedia).]

[As you may be able to tell from these final four photos . . . ]

[Thun is one of my most favoritest and prettiest cities on the planet!]

I wanted to get far away from those who believed in cruelty, so then I went to France, a land of true freedom, democracy, equality and fraternity.  ~  Josephine Baker            [Editor’s note:  When we were in Paris a few years ago, we stayed in a small downtown hotel not far from the Eiffel Tower.  The proprietor was an obvious patron of the arts (well, it was Paris) and had several framed black and white photographs of stars from a bygone era on the lobby/dining room walls.  He asked if I recognized any of them.  A few I did, including Josephine Baker.  He was impressed, but I was hoping for a drink on the house . . . ]

Up Next:  Still in Europe . . .

 

August 25

It’s the change of rhythm which I think is what keeps me alive. In Spain, I hear so much noise from my window that I can’t stand it. In Switzerland, it’s the lack of noise that drives me crazy.   ~  Geraldine Chaplin

Switzerland is my favorite place now, because it’s so – nothing. There is absolutely nothing to do.  ~  Andy Warhol

[Chamonix, France, exotic as it sounds, at the west end of the Mont Blanc tunnel.  Chamonix was host to the first Winter Olympics in 1924 . . . ]

[The Chamonix Valley is considered by many to be the best freeride resort in the world. With its 5 ski resorts (Grands Montets, Les Houches, Le Tour/Balme, La Flegere and Le Brevent) Chamonix Mont-Blanc offers the perfect ski holiday.  Anything you would ever want to know about skiing in Chamonix Mont-Blanc is here (chamonix.net).]

[Mont Blanc . . . ]

If you’re looking for a vacation concept that combines the element of outdoor fun with the element of potentially knocking down a tree with your face, you can’t do better than skiing.  ~  Dave Barry

Cross-country skiing is great, if you live in small country.  ~  Steven Wright

[Saint Michel Church, and a car that dates the photo . . . ]

[I could have sat in the town square all day just thinking about skiing.  And I think we did, enjoying the beverage of choice, orange beer . . . ]

[The rest of the “team” took the cable car to the top of Mont Blanc.  Some reported altitude sickness (which is common at the top) – thus explaining why our preference was the town square . . . ]

The next day

[The Super and I drove around Lake Geneva (Lac Leman).  A spur of the moment decision to give the family some space.  Worked out great . . . ]

[Lake Geneva (or le Léman) is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France.  It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhone (Wikipedia).  The lake is 45 miles long and 9 miles wide, it averages over 500 feet deep and is over 1,000 deep at its deepest.  You can drive around it in a couple of hours, depending on how much touristing you do.  We did the touristing thing so it probably took all afternoon . . . ]

[View of Lake Geneva about between Vevey in front, Lausanne in the back behind Mont Pelerin on the right and Evian-les-Bains on the left, shot from a place between Caux and Glion above Montreux (Wikipedia).]

[From the map above, we began at Chatel, drove the 34 miles to Geneva, and began our trip around the lake.  I took this shot from the far side of Geneva . . . ]

[Geneva, above and below, with Jet d’Eau, literally meaning ‘water jet’, the huge fountain on the lake, one of the tallest fountains in the world shooting water up 460 feet . . . ]

[The Alps as seen from the lake . . . ]

[Flower gardens along the lake . . . ]

[The city circles around the west end of the lake.  Here we’re wandering along the promenade and the gardens . . . ]

[Quite lovely waterfront, n’est-ce pas?]

[Le Richemond, a 109-room luxury hotel . . . ]

[Commercial streets that I believe the Super would have loved to have shopped . . . ]

[But we were on a mission to circle the lake . . . ]

[Nice unidentified garden . . . ]

But before I die, I want to visit heaven on Earth: Switzerland.   ~  Govind Maheshwari

[For those visitors who’d like to taste what the Swiss are keeping to themselves, the guidebook recommends the Lavaux region, whose “vineyards, enclosed within low stone walls, slope so steeply that all the work has to be done by hand.” That’s made the area a UNESCO World Heritage site: “10,000 terraces of Chasselas, Gamay, and Pinot Noir vines spread over 40 levels.” Strung prettily along the north shore of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva), it runs 24 kilometres east from Lausanne to Montreux (culturelocker.com).]

[One would think this would be a significant enough piece of art to at least get a mention on the world wide web . . . ]

[But it didn’t – an impermanent structure?]

[St. Peter’s Cathedral (english), or Saint Pierre Cathedral (french), is over 850 years old Geneva’s main church is located in the center of Geneva’s Old Town, slightly on the hill overseeing the city, combining various architectural styles from Gothic to Ancient, as it was being rebuilt over the centuries.  Since 16th century Cathedral belongs the Reformed Church (geneva.info).]

[My guess, Old Town (?) . . . ]

Switzerland is a country where very few things begin, but many things end.  ~  F. Scott Fitzgerald

[Pollarded plane trees (beats me?) along the boulevard . . . ]

[Pollarding is a pruning system involving the removal of the upper branches of a tree, which promotes the growth of a dense head of foliage and branches.  The practice occurred commonly in Europe since medieval times, and takes place today in urban areas worldwide, primarily to maintain trees at a determined height.  Examples of trees that do well as pollards include broadleaves such as beeches, oaks, maples, planes (Platanus) . . . (Wikipedia).]

[On the road again, by Lausanne (where I apparently didn’t get any photos), home of the International Olympic Committee . . . ]

[Through Vevey, with the along-the-lake journey ending at Montreux . . . ]

[Somehow (?) the numbering of the photos appears out of order because . . . ]

[This is the Chateau de Chillon (Chillon Castle) in Montreux (see again further down) . . . ]

[Sculpture in the form of a girl with a seashell on the seahorse by Edouard-Marcel Sandoz, Vevey, Lake Geneva, Switzerland (dreamstime.com).]

[Vevey is a town in the canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne.   It is part of the French-speaking area of Switzerand.  Vevey is home to the world headquarters of the international food and beverage company Nestle, founded here in 1867.  Milk chocolate was invented in Vevey by Daniel Peter in 1875, with the aid of Henri Nestle.  The residence of British American actor and comedian Charlie Chaplin was in Vevey, where he lived from 1952 until his death in 1977 (Wikipedia).]

[The Super with Charlie . . . ]

[On the road between Vevey and Montreux . . . ]

[Roy in his Chateau de Chillon sweatshirt . . . ]

[Chillon Castle (Château de Chillon) is an island castle located on Lake Geneva (Lac Léman), south of Veytaux (Vevey) in the canton of Vaud.  It is situated at the eastern end of the lake, on the narrow shore between Montreux and Villeneuve, which gives access to the Alpine valley of the Rhone.  Chillon is amongst the most visited castles in Switzerland and Europe.  Successively occupied by the house of Savoy then by the Bernese from 1536 until 1798, it now belongs to the State of Vaud and is classified as a Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance.  The Fort de Chillon, its modern counterpart, is hidden in the steep side of the mountain (Wikipedia).]

[A mechanical automaton representing the Chillon Castle illustrates the capture of the castle and the liberation of Francois Bonivard by the Bernese in 1536.  Barred windows also show the interior of the castle, including scenes of torture in prisons. After having disappeared for decades and being found in various homes, the automaton was eventually acquired by the Association of Friends of Chillon, the Cantonal Museum of Archeology and History (MCAH) and the Castle Foundation, in March 2016.  Having been inspired by the story of Francois Bonivard after a visit to the castle, Lord Byron wrote a poem on The Prisoner of Chillon in 1816 (Wikipedia).]

Since Peter the Great, Russia had been expanding at the rate of one Belgium per year.  ~ Henry Kissinger

Up Next:  Still in Europe . . .

August 24

A country like Belgium, or socialist countries in central Europe spend more money on art education than the United States, which is a really puzzling thought.  ~  Mikhail Baryshnikov

[Châtel is a commune in the Upper Savoy department in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region in south-eastern France.  It is situated in the northern French Alps on the French/Swiss border and is a popular ski resort.  Despite its development into a major ski resort, the village still retains many of its traditional alpine characteristics (Wikipedia).]

[But it was early April and there wasn’t much snow left.  I don’t think anybody in our group skied . . . ]

[And on to the nightlife . . . ]

[Not that I have any remembrances of it . . . ]

[I suppose that could be good or bad . . . ]

[A hotel/restaurant, in English that means it’s a place to stay and/or eat . . . ]

[A mountain and a church . . . ]

I can’t understand why men make all this fuss about Everest — it’s only a mountain.  ~ Junko Tabei, first woman to climb Everest

[Located in the center of the village, the Super-Châtel gondola takes you at an altitude of 1650m.  I have no recollection of this . . . ]

[Meanwhile, back on the slopes . . . ]

[Nope, just doesn’t look good for skiing . . . ]

[Walter and Roel and the fountain pond in Chatel . . . ]

[Wrapping up the wind around pond walk . . . ]

The only mountain that I would still like to climb: I’d like to break 85.  ~  Peter Falk

[Himself . . . ]

Nature never hurries. Atom by atom, little by little she achieves her work.  ~  Ralph Waldo Emerson

[The Château de la Bâtiaz was built in 1260 and is the only remaining witness to the medieval era (www.valais.ch/).  I think I’m correct, but I have no personal remembrance of this . . . ]

[The covered highway, a defense against avalanches . . . ]

[Dire fromage!]

[The very definition of “tourist” . . . ]

There is probably no pleasure equal to the pleasure of climbing a dangerous Alp; but it is a pleasure which is confined strictly to people who can find pleasure in it.  ~  Mark Twain

[The monument at the entrance to the Mont Blanc Tunnel from the French side.  The Mont Blanc Tunnel is a highway tunnel between France and Italy.  It links Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France with Courmayeur, Aosta Valley, Italy.  The passageway is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes, particularly for Italy, which relies on this tunnel for transporting as much as one-third of its freight to northern Europe (Wikipedia).]

[Mont Blanc (“White Mountain”) is the second-highest mountain in Europe after Mount Elbrus. It is the highest mountain in the Alps, rising 4,808 m (15,774 ft) above sea level. It is the eleventh-most prominent peak in the world.  The mountain stands in a range called the Graian Alps, between the regions of Aosta Valley, Italy, and Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France (Wikipedia).]

August 24

If it’s Tuesday, it must be Belgium . . . 

A main feature you may have noticed in Part 1 was a dearth of photos?  That is true.  Remember, this was back in the day of film.  And Kodachrome (see Paul Simon’s song) came in rolls of 24 shots.  So if you shot a roll of film a day on a 2-week trip, you needed to take 14 rolls of film along.  It could become logistically difficult.  On this trip, therefore, I took about 300 photographs for the entire trip.  As you may have noticed in latter day trips, I often take up to 200 digital photographs . . . per day!  Live long and prosper . . . 

[Here we are now in Grand Place (“ploss”, recognizing this is a foreign language) with Michelle, Roy, and Ruthie.  The Grand Place or Grote Markt is the central square of Brussels.  It is surrounded by opulent guildhalls and two larger edifices, the city’s Town Hall, and the ‘King’s House’ or ‘Breadhouse’ building containing the Brussels City Museum. The square measures 68 by 110 metres (223 by 361 ft).  The Grand Place is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels.  It is also considered as one of the most beautiful squares in Europe, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998 (Wikipedia).]

[Lots of lovely outdoor cafes for your wining and dining pleasures . . . ]

[Renovations were unfortunately the order of the day when we were there . . . ]

[The oldest part of the present Town Hall is its east wing (to the left when facing the front).  This wing, together with a shorter belfry, was built and completed in 1420.  [A] second, somewhat longer wing was built on to the existing structure, with laying its first stone in 1444.  The facade is decorated with numerous statues representing nobles, saints, and allegorical figures. The present sculptures are reproductions; the older ones are in the city museum in the ‘King’s House’ across the Grand Place.  The 96-metre-high (315 ft) tower in Brabantine Gothic style . . . by 1454, this tower, replacing the older belfry, was complete.  Atop the spire, stands a 5-metre-high gilt metal statue of the archangel Michael, patron saint of Brussels, slaying a dragon or devil (Wikipedia).]

[King’s House, on the left; Guild building cafes, on the right (best guess) . . . ]

[Walter, allegedly master of his domain . . . ]

[Remember the thing about Belgian lace in Part 1?]

[Shopping for them; sightseeing for me . . . ]

[To know him is to love him . . . ]

[Manneken Pis (“Little Pissing Man”‘) is a landmark 61 cm (24 in) bronze fountain sculpture in the centre of Brussels, depicting a naked little boy urinating into the fountain’s basin.  It was put in place in 1618 or 1619.  The current statue is a replica which dates from 1965.  The original is kept in the Brussels City Museum.  Manneken Pis is the best-known symbol of the people of Brussels.  It also embodies their sense of humour (called zwanze in the dialect of Brussels) and their independence of mind.  Manneken Pis is located only five minutes’ walk from the Grand Place (Wikipedia).]

[Friends Rose & Dick joined us on our next trip to Brussels 4 years later – we had to take Rose here . . . ]

[Everard t’Serclaes (c. 1320 – 31 March 1388), lord of Kruikenburg , was a citizen of Brussels, who was made famous by his recovery of that city from the Flemings.  Everard is commemorated by a monument located on Charles Buls street in Brussels, just off the Grand Place.  It is said among locals that the statue of Everard t’Serclaes brings luck and grants the wishes of all who touch it.  Many tourists touch (or rather rub) the statue, particularly the arm, because legend has it that rubbing the arm will ensure one’s return to Brussels.  Other parts are also touched frequently by the tourists such as the face of an angel, a dog, and one of the shields.  This constant polishing keeps the body shining compared to the rest of the sculpture (Wikipedia).]

[On the road to Chatel . . . ]

[At our chalet in Chatel (love the alliteration) . . . ]

[Eric and D’Arcy, now completely full-blown multi-degreed adults . . . ]

[Walter providing perspective for the chalet.  Cute, eh?]

[The backyard with Walter and Brandon . . . ]

[The kids, being kids . . . ]

[A ski hill behind (did I mention everybody but me skied), “The Box,” and our 5-speed diesel automobile . . . ]

[The Alps all around . . . ]

[An idea of where we were:  Montreux is a Swiss town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps.  It and has a population of approximately 26,433, and about 85,000 in the agglomeration Vevey-Montreux as 2019 (Wikipedia).]

[Home, sweet, home . . . ]

[For the 8 of us . . . ]

[Just back from shopping for groceries . . . ]

And hoping this doesn’t piss you off?

Belgium is a country invented by the British to annoy the French.  ~  Charles de Gaulle

Up Next:  More Europe

August 23

As our summer of discontent continues, a venture back to a time when Europe still adored (tolerated) Americans.  A friend just posted photos from a trip to Ely, the substitute for the previously scheduled trip to Alaska.  Canoeing in the boundary waters is still very nice.  This is my substitute . . .

In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.  ~  Mark Twain  [Editor’s note:  The Kingdom of Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French, and German.]

[The trip diary, done in the days before computers yet shortly after the advent of the typewriter . . . ]

[OK, this is not Europe.  It’s Indianapolis.  The Super is back in her home state.  We had not planned this trip.  We were soon on our way to Europe.  Because of that, unlike most years, we had not even applied for tickets to the Final Four.  But our Gophers made it that year (yes, that is the University of Minnesota band walking up the sidewalk)!  How could I not go?  So, we drove to Indianapolis from Arlington, Virginia – no game tickets, no lodging reservations – just because . . . ]

[Most years you have to score tickets through a lottery that begins the moment the previous Final Four ends.  And if you get tickets, you’d better make lodging reservations at the next venue immediately.  So, we were bucking the odds . . . ]

[Fortunately, we knew Basketball Dan would be there.  His knowledge would be invaluable.  He would often go to Final Fours without tickets and buy them on the street, hoping to get them at reasonable scalper rates.  We could not have been luckier.  The Gophers were playing Kentucky, the team with the most avid fans and just across the state border from Indy.  Nevertheless, we ran across a young couple from Kentucky who couldn’t use their tickets – and they sold them to us at face value!  And Ruthie’s sister Rita lives just a little over an hour from Indy, so we had lodging . . . ]

[Not believing the sign, we did walk to the other side of the building – and the road did continue . . . ]

[The Gopher fans had overrun San Antonio the previous week in the regional finals . . . ]

[And they arrived en masse again . . . ]

[The aforementioned Basketball Dan with the Super and the state capitol building.  We have always thought Indianapolis to be the best host city for the Final Four – the NCAA is headquartered here, and everything as far as lodging, restaurants, and entertainment is self-contained easily within walking distance . . . ]

[One of the things we always did for “fun” was to pay visits to the hotels where the teams and coaches stayed – the major spendier ones near the arena.  Here I spotted the old lefthander, Lefty Driesell, the Maryland coach, from a walkway likely at the Hyatt . . . ]

[The Gophers lost the close semi-final game to Kentucky.  We left for home after the game to ready for European trip and sold our championship game tickets to Kentucky fans – at face value . . . ]

[Brussels, we are here!  Here’s Roy-san in the Steiner house in Kraainem, on the outskirts of Brussels.  The Steiner offspring, Brandon, Eric, and D’Arcy, hang on the wall behind him, all in fashionable white . . . ]

[Big house, on 3 levels . . . ]

[And from another angle . . . ]

[Pretty much looks like downtown Brussels . . . ]

[The Royal Palace of Brussels is the official palace of the King and Queen of the Belgians in the centre of the nation’s capital Brussels.  However it is not used as a royal residence, as the king and his family live in the Royal Palace of Laeken on the outskirts of Brussels. The website of the Belgian Monarchy describes the function of the palace as follows:  The Palace is where His Majesty the King exercises his prerogatives as Head of State, grants audiences and deals with affairs of state.  Apart from the offices of the King and the Queen, the Royal Palace houses the services of the Grand Marshal of the Court, the King’s Head of Cabinet, the Head of the King’s Military Household and the Intendant of the King’s Civil List. The Palace also includes the State Rooms where large receptions are held, as well as the apartments provided for foreign Heads of State during official visits (Wikipedia).]

[The Parc de Bruxelles  is the largest urban public park in the centre of Brussels.  The area of the rectangular park is 13.1 ha (32 acres).  The main entrance is on the north side, opposite the Belgian House of Parliament (Palace of the Nation).  An avenue leads to the main pond, from which three other avenues offer views of three important places in Brussels: the Palace of Justice, the Royal Palace and the Place du Trône/Troonplein (Wikipedia)].

[The Super, Michelle, and Roy . . . ]

[It could be the Town Hall of the City of Brussels is a Gothic building from the Middle Ages. It is located on the famous Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, opposite the Brussels City Museum. It is the only remaining medieval building of the Grand Place and is considered a masterpiece of civil Gothic architecture and more particularly of Brabantine Gothic (Wikipedia).]

[Brussels is famous for lace (Roy in a St. Olaf cap?) . . . ]

[A street looking ahead into the Grand Place (coming in Part 2) . . . ]

[Shopping along the way . . . ]

What is it about maps? I could look at them all day, earnestly studying the names of towns and villages I have never heard of and will never visit…   ~  Bill Bryson (And seconded by the Supervisor)

Up Next:  Europe

August 22

*  As with Black Lives Matter (don’t get me started!), this doesn’t mean that other things shouldn’t be saved as well!  Please, save the whales, save public schools, save food stamps, save Ferris Bueller, but for purposes of this blog post it’s save Theatre L’Homme Dieu . . .

This is Paulina Sirota.  This was at Camp Brosius in 2013.  I had never seen this before.  I liked it.  Now it’s a common meme, of course.  And this is why this post . . . 

The Event

Join us ~ along with special guests

KEVIN KLING, DAN CHOUINARD, & JACK REULER as we celebrate 60 years of Theatre L’Homme Dieu

When: Thursday, August 20, 2020
Where: Theatre L’Homme Dieu ~ on our Field of Dreams!
Time: 7 pm – 9:15 pm
Attire: Resort-Elegant

Tickets: $100 per person ~ Includes a personalized bar, dessert, and entertainment

Activities: Entertainment and fundraising efforts including a live auction and an exciting fund a mission event where we’ll raise our paddles in support of Theatre L’Homme Dieu ~ Minnesota’s Summer Theatre!

Comfort + Safety + VIP Treatment! We’ve designed the Summer Soirée with comfort and safety in mind, and, as always – VIP treatment! Keep scrolling to learn more about what to expect.

We’ve designed the Summer Soirée with comfort and safety in mind, and, as always – VIP treatment!

The Summer Soiree will be an outdoor event with a limited number of tickets available.
Rather than one large tent, guests will be escorted to your special space – your Home
Base on the lawn of our Field of Dreams!
Guests will arrive to live music and we encourage a listening room setting until we’re
ready to start the program.
Guests will receive an email prior to the event to customize your personal, pre-set, Home Base Bar.
We honor you and your time and we are notorious for keeping a tight timeline. You will be kept busy during the duration of the event; there won’t be time for mingling! But just in case we respectfully request- for the safety, security, and in the spirit of courtesy for our friends and neighbors – please do not encroach on others’ personal spaces and seating areas.
We will have a live auction and fund a mission, however, no payment will be collected
that evening; guests will be invoiced the week following.
Masks are required until you are seated, and required anytime you are not in your Home Base.
Restrooms will be available.
Our commitment to you: You and your safety is our #1 concern.

[We arrive.  Because of COVID protocols, the number of guests was limited to 60, each couple with individual tables (made on-site during the week by Jorge) and umbrellas (purchased for the event, cheaper than renting) . . . ]

[Another beautiful evening in Vacationland USA . . . ]

[Three of the fundraising stars, Glen Fladeboe, Phil Eidsvold, and Janet Baker . . . ]

[Prepping the stage (no novocaine required) . . . ]

[Performers Kevin Kling and Dan Chouinard, center cut . . . ]

[The smiling faces of Jan and Jim . . . ]

I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.  ~  Oscar Wilde (and Jan & Jim)

[Six familiar faces, hopefully not from USPS wanted posters . . . ]

I believe that in a great city, or even in a small city or a village, a great theatre is the outward and visible sign of an inward and probable culture.  ~  Laurence Olivier

[Mr. Chouinard warms up his nimble fingers . . . ]

It’s time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap!  ~  Wicked (For a leap of faith, see also:  The Cape  ~  Guy Clark)

[Judy and John . . . ]

[We believe they were purposefully seated behind us to keep us out of trouble . . . ]

[The right (or west) wing of the audience . . . ]

Actors are all about entrances, but writers are all about exits.  ~  Vincent H. O’Neil

[Those in the middle . . . ]

[And those on the left (east) . . . ]

[And the anticipation builds . . . ]

[A perusing stroll of the audience unearthed Marianne and Tim . . . ]

[I hadn’t seen them since the days of our joint enrollment in Senior College, so we had a lot of catching up to do . . . ]

[As the program then began, my perusing stroll days were over . . . ]

[Emeritus theater president Fred Bursch took the stage with TLHD executive director, Nicole Mulder, to welcome all with a brief history of TLHD and the soiree . . . ]

[I crashed the stage for photos from their vantage . . . ]

[And this is what they saw . . . ]

The theatre is so endlessly fascinating because it’s so accidental. It’s so much like life.  ~ Arthur Miller

As a panorama . . . 

[Self-ushered back to my seat, Nicole began as the event host . . . ]

[We lost our entire season to COVID, though Nicole was magically able to bring in two single night performances that we all enjoyed seated in or in front of our cars . . . ]

[Among the important news relayed:  Because of past successful fundraising soirees, we have been able to begin necessary “adjustments” to the campus with such as new gutters on the theater building, and land recontouring and tiling to drain water away from the building . . . ]

[Nicole noted that the recent 7″ rainfall, which in the past would created a swimming pool between rows 1 – 4 in the theater, did not breach the building!]

[Nicole always tells me I take too many pictures of her . . . ]

[So, of course, I continue to do so . . . ]

And now, ladies and gentleman, Kevin Kling and Dan Chouinard . . .

Minnesota’s storyteller . . . 

[He noted that this was first time since March that he and Dan had appeared before a live audience (I heard that!) . . . ]

Of course, we laughed and laughed!

[The VIP treatment . . . ]

Take it away, Dan!

[And he featured mostly music from the Greatest Generation . . . ]

[Which was perfectly lovely for the evening . . . ]

[And then Jack Reuler took to the stage . . . ]

[Jack is the artistic director of Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis.  He has been with Mixed Blood since the very beginning. He founded the theatre at the age of 22, continuing work that began as a summer social-justice project, and has been the Artistic Director ever since. As artistic director, Jack works to realize Mixed Blood’s mission by providing vision, building financial stability, and ensuring quality programming (mixedblood.com).]

[He has also been involved with TLHD for over 40 years, in various capacities . . . ]

[So he regaled us with tales from those over 40 years . . . ]

[Which was great, as I was unaware of most of the history.  Thank you, Jack . . . ]

[Our table was lucky number 13 . . . ]

The theater is a great equalizer: it is the only place where the poor can look down on the rich.  ~  Will Rogers

[Time to raise some money!!  Phil stepped up to introduce . . . ]

[Glen as the evening’s auctioneer . . . ]

[We raised almost $140,000 . . . ]

[And you gotta follow Phil for his expressions . . . ]

[He loves doing this for TLHD . . . ]

[Oh, he broke some toes mountain climbing in Bhutan . . . ]

[Or he slipped on a dock – it was one of those two . . . ]

[Preparing to bring the first item up for auction . . . ]

[Can you guess?]

[Yessssss . . . ]

[A tub of sterile wipes . . . ]

[I believe it went for over $1,000 . . . ]

[And we were off and running . . . ]

[The excitement was palpable . . . ]

Bring it on!  ~  The Super

[Here are your menu options . . . ]

[The Super’s bid card . . . ]

[As darkness falls, the wrap up . . . ]

Drama – what literature does at night.  ~  George Jean Nathan

[A really fun evening, with accomplishments . . . ]

Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I’ll understand.  ~ Chinese Proverb

[A mellow sing along to the setting sun . . . ]

Heavenly shades of night are falling, it’s twilight time –

Out of the mist your voice is calling, it’s twilight time  ~  The Platters

Exit, pursued by a bear.   ~  William Shakespeare

Then everyone leaves, and you are left, each night, to your own devices with a crowd of interesting people – most of whom you don’t know – sitting in the dark.  ~  Anna Deavere Smith

[Many thanks to the performers, the setter-uppers, the cleaner- uppers, the participants, and the donors.  See you again next year!]

All the world’s a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.  ~  Seán O’Casey

Up Next:  Well, I think the 1st football game was s’posed to have been last night?