Visting vicariously

The Mechanic Association went to Germany, vicariously, of course, in one of its series of travelogue lectures, delivered April 23 in the Catherine McAuley High School auditorium by Clint Denn. He is one of a group of roving presenters who make the rounds of many similar clubs across the U. S. and Canada.

Denn promised a tour of parts of Germany most tourists miss and he looped around most of the nation, including some parts of the former East Germany, which he says has been rebuilt in the short time since reunification from its once-shabby state. The traveler can no longer distinguish the difference, he said.

In Frankfurt, “an international city,” we saw the bridge across the Main, the Operaplatz and the stock exchange. A farmer’s market was bustling, and included the first of many stall-type “sausage kitchens” we saw. Sausages are big in Germany, in two ways, big, as a major part of the diet, and big in size. Plates of six, eight or 10 were being sold, per customer, and they looked almost twice as long as our hot dogs and bigger around.

Frankfurt had clock towers galore, an ancient city wall, and a local drink that supplants beer – apple wine, or hard cider.

From there it was to Wiesbaden, famous for its hot springs, attracting people since 1 B.C. The ancient Kurhaus has been turned into a casino. It served as a U.S. Officers’ Club during occupation days. There, the Denns enjoyed another German food favorite, tea and strawberry cake.

In Mainz we saw a statue of Johann Gutenberg, its famous son, and toured a museum of printing, the art he spawned, Then it was aboard ship for a Mainz-to-Cologne cruise on the Rhine. The river traffic was varied, with strings of barges and also pleasure craft, including one man tooling around in a comical, restoreldsteam launch, tooting its absurd whistle to the delight of cruise passengers and to his own evident delight as well. Meticulously kept vineyards lined the steep shores, and castle after castle appeared there to tax the boat traffic on the river in old times, we learned. The shores were also lined at river level with painted brick houses.

At Cologne, or Koln, as the Germans call it, we saw the great railroad bridge, over which as many as 700 trains a day pass, the average being 650. In a museum to Eau de Cologne, the famous perfume, is an ever-flowing fountain of the stuff, from which the tourist is welcome to splash a free sample.

In Trier, founded in 18 B.C. and calling itself second oldest city to Rome, are still-standing Roman baths, second biggest to those of Rome. There’s also an amphitheater where gladiators once fought. It’s on the Mosel River, and a Roman arched bridge from 144 A.D. still stands and is in regular use. Also there was what I think he called the Imperial Court room, a vast space of arched concrete vaults called the largest structure to survive from Roman times.

Heidelberg, ancient university town (since the 1500s) on the Neckar River, now hosts a student population of 33,000. Also on the Neckar we saw a town with walls and gate from 1182, and narrow streets lined with half-timbered houses, all bulging out above and with upper stories jutting out. That, we were told, is because taxes were based on the size of the ground floor.

Then to Triberg, in the Black Forest, classic tourist region. A waterfall or series of cataracts is Germany’s highest. A museum showed local crafts, and musical devices from music boxes up – a player organ, with paper roll, and various fancy music boxes of the sort called orchestrions, with all sorts of instruments and even animated figurines. The oldest, still working, dated from Napoleonic times and was a clock, with dancing couples and the orchestra as well rotating into view as it struck.

We also saw what was billed as the world’s largest cuckoo clock, a hut 14 feet square with wooden clockworks inside, presided over by its maker. And, of course, many small ones for sale, the ultimate tourist memento of the region. Then we got more, visiting a clock museum with over 5,000 on display.

Then to Valhalla, a kind of copy of the Parthenon, with 52 marble columns, built in 1842 by Ludwig I with 160 busts and statues of famous Germans inside, added to every five years.

At Regensburg on the Danube was an 850-year-old Roman bridge. It’s an ancient trade center and on display was a Roman marble plaque from 179 A.D. declaring the founding of the city. Then to Coburg near the Czech border, where the famous if kitschy Hummel figurines are made. We saw lots of ’em.

In Dresden, on the Elbe, in the former East Germany, most of the city has been restored from its terrible fire-bombing destruction on Feb. 13, 1945. One destroyed building is kept as a memorial. It’s known as the Florence of the north. Tourists swarm there. Nearby is Meissen, home of the famous Meissen Porzelanwerke, fine china makers. One table setting for 10 was offered at a special sale price, $10,000.

Berlin, like Los Angeles in size and sprawl, has been in a post-unification boom. The old Checkpoint Charlie gatehouse is kept as a tourist attraction, as are small sections of the hated wall.

In Friedrichshafen, home of Count Zeppelin, is a museum with a model of part of the Hindenburg, also an ongoing dirigible building and research center.

Neuschwanstein is home of the fairy-tale castle used as prototype for one built in the U.S. by Walt Disney.

At Munich we saw the still-beautiful parks and stadiums that were home to the 1972 Olympic games. Also, a glockenspiel, animated town clock with jousting knights, dancing footmen, even a crowing rooster.

In Berlin we saw the new “green” Scandinavian joint embassy building, with motorized blinds to let in just the right amount of sun. Berlin has over 100 miles of waterways and 1,700 bridges.

In Hamburg, 50 miles from the ocean, there is a great port, with inner and outer harbors. There’s even a Mississippi River-style paddlewheeler tour boat, the Louisiana Star. The city was devastated by an 1842 fire and by bombing in 1943, but rose both times to bustle again. Trams run everywhere.

Then to Bremen, by very efficient German train. In the Rathskeller restaurant there were also great ancient wine casks, 12 of them. There, a windmill museum. In nearby Vegesack, a famous boatyard that built a yacht for Bill Gates recently. A seaman’s choir singing outdoors. And, in an outdoor festival, a woman deftly making bobbin lace, passing groups of bobbins this way and that across each other at great speed.

Now to Hamelin and the “Fairy Tale Road.” We saw Sabelburg, the “Sleeping Beauty” castle, and Trendelberg, the Rapunzell tower, and tour boats on the Weser River. Hamelin is a famous glass-blowing center, and we watched as an artisan took a blob of glass from the fiery kiln, and shaped it into a bowl with wooden implements, dipped frequently in water. Also, glass horses and a little Pied Piper statuette. The locals put on a re-enactment of the Pied Piper fable, complete with rat costumes.

Trees down, blooms up

As you drive or walk around the coastal areas near Portland, you will see many tree limbs and branches by the side of the roads, waiting to be picked up.

Also, many of the large trees are still waiting to be cut up, after they fell. Among them is a pine, in the Brook Street, Westbrook, lawn of Jim and Vaun Born. Luckily, it was in the front yard and did not hit the house, but it landed on nearby smaller trees and they are destroyed, too. I saw Vaun at the Mechanics lecture last week, and she mentioned that I might like to see the huge pine tree in their yard. I did drive up the road to Blackstrap and then over Brook Road, and couldn’t believe the size of that tree and its mighty fall. I’m just glad that they were not hurt.

After that trip, I continued on and saw many handsome forsythias in full bloom, and also homes with daffodils and crocuses blooming in the front yards. They were welcome sights. I was delighted to see a few dandelions on our lawn, too, and am waiting to see the many violets that will appear soon.

Fish dinner

In my Gourmet Heritage Cookbook, put out by the Gourmet Cooking Group of the College Club of Portland, in 1973, I find some interesting recipes, many by friends of mine. This one was submitted by Marian Agazarian.

FISH PIQUANT

4 onion, sliced into rings

2 pounds fish filets (cod, sole, haddock, perch)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Slice onion. Cover with water and cook until tender, but crisp. Spread drained onions in a shallow, well-greased baking pan. Cut fish into individual serving pieces. Place fish pieces over onions. Combine remaining ingredients. Blend well. Spread mixture on fish pieces. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until the fish flakes. Serve with bread and cauliflower. Serves 6.