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I have been delayed in posting because I hit the ground running in Switzerland. My train trip from Boppard to Basel was uneventful except for a suicide attempt. While still in southern Germany the train came to a screeching halt, and I nervously looked around my train car. No one else seemed concerned so I thought it was a brake check or something. But then we just sat. Finally an announcement came on that there were "people on the tracks" and we had to wait for them to be moved. I wondered if a car had gotten stuck on the tracks. A little later another announcement was made that someone was trying to commit suicide by laying on the tracks, and they had to wait for the police to come. I guess the person went willingly because we were soon on our way again. All this delayed my arrival time in Basel where Rolf, as promised, was waiting at the top of the escalator with a Swiss flag. I waved my own American flag at him, and we quickly bought my ticket to Laufen. Back down the escalator we went only to see our train pulling out. Back up the escalator we headed with me dragging all my luggage once again. We went into a coffee shop for some coffee and tea. Rolf brought me up to date in the plans for the rest of that day, which was Thursday.

Gasthaus where Joseph Kubler sold his land

We caught the next train 30 minutes later and then got into his car which was parked at the Laufen train station. From there we drove directly to my hotel in Breitenbach, which I believe I have mentioned is the same hotel where my ancestor Joseph Kubler sold his house and land in February of 1854 to finance passage to America for his family. We barely made it in the door to drop my bag with the hotel owner and grab a key before Rolf whisked me off to Busserach, a short distance away. There we went to to the Catholic Church office to look at the old birth, death and marriage records. The office is only open on Thursdays so we needed to take advantage of that.

With the parish record books in Busserach

A Kubler entry

The secretary had laid out three books for us to look through. We photographed every Kubler entry that we found. We did not have too much time to dissect what we came across as there were many Kubler entries. We got short on time, so Rolf suggested we go through two additional books at a later time. From the office we went to Rolf's house where I had a chance to meet his two sons, but not his wife as she was away on holiday. Then Josef Kubler (call Sep in Switzerland for short, but never Joe) came to pick us up to take us to his sister Susanne's house for dinner. The two of them speak no English and I don't speak German so Rolf was kept busy translating the conversation. Susanne prepared raclette, a traditional Swiss dish. It was so good! I may have to see if I can find the machine in the U.S.

Joseph on the left with Rolf

Raclette

I got back to the hotel about 10:30 that evening to prepare for a big day at the Solothurn archives on Friday.

Train to Trier

We rode the train to Trier today. The last hour of the trip was on a double decker train, and the sites from the second level were pretty amazing. Trier may be the oldest city in Germany (around 16 BC), and the entry gate is a UNESCO world heritage site. There used to be four entry gates, but the rest were destroyed. The only reason this one survived is because it was used as a church.

Porta Nigra

Speaking of churches, the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Peter is the oldest cathedral in Germany. It has held services for over 1,700 years and is also a UNESCO site. In places it is 86 feet tall!

Cathedral of St. Peter

 

Side altar

Main altar

 

View from front to back of the church

 

Entry doors

Our Roman tour guide

Elephant Parade

 

Another of the 40 elephants

Metal worker

 

Some of his wares

Street performer?

Unfortunately the day was cool, windy and rainy so we did not spend as much time exploring this historic city as we probably would have normally. Instead we found a place to grab a hot drink to warm up before getting back on the train to Boppard. On the first leg of the journey I met a couple of nice young men from Iowa, who are here on vacation. Not only do they live in Ames, but they also graduated from Iowa State. Small world, and that hour passed quite quickly while I chatted with them. Wednesday is a free day as half of our group will travel to their home towns for a visit. Depending on the weather, the rest of us will decide if we want to go to a different town. It will be nice to have a little down time.

After a delicious breakfast yesterday at our hotel our tour group boarded the Loreley on a four hour Rhine River cruise. The day was a bit gloomy at first, but the sun eventually made an appearance. While the tour was filled with quaint town after quaint town along the banks of the Rhine, the true stars of the show were all the fabulous castles perched on the rocky hillsides above the river.

The Loreley

We got off the boat at Rudesheim. This pretty little town begins at the river and then makes its way up the hillside towards the grape orchards. Since it was already 1:00 our minds immediately turned towards food. Kathy had selected a cafe off one of the narrow side streets called Quetsch Kommod, so named I believe, for all the accordions hanging in the place. It was a great choice. Then we were free to shop for awhile before heading back to the river where we caught a ferry to take us across to board a train back to Boppard.

My genealogy vacation tour has officially begun. The flight from St. Louis to Charlotte was uneventful, and we had a nice flight from Charlotte to Frankfurt, Germany. I never sleep on international flights, so the time does not pass too quickly for me. The woman sitting next to me had a cough, so every time I would start to dose off her cough would startle me awake. I just hope it wasn't contagious. Going through customs was a non-event. The agent barely glanced at me and asked no questions. From there we collected our luggage. There were seven of us from the tour group on the flight, so we all met up at the luggage carousel. Once we secured our bags we headed to the train area to meet up with the rest of our tour group. That consists of Kathy and Matthias and three additional travelers. Once our train tickets were validated we boarded our first train.

We had to change trains once, and I don't know what the station was called.

Once at the Boppard station we took cabs to the hotel, not because it is far but because we had all of our luggage to deal with. Kathy was not lying when she told us to try and keep our bags light, because schlepping them on and off the trains, and up and down the stairs is a chore. Because I have books as gift items, my bag is nearly 45 pounds. Dealing with it myself to and from Switzerland later this week should prove interesting!

Our hotel is the Baudobriga Rheinhotel, and it is located right along the Rhein River. The staff is extremely nice, and I am enjoying my view of the river. The room is small but has everything I need. Except a way to make hot tea, which I would really appreciate as I woke up at 5:00 this morning. Breakfast is not until 8:00 so I will have to wait a bit yet. Following check-in I emailed home to let folks know I arrived safely, unpacked a few things and then headed out for a nice, long walk along the river. Even though it was cloudy, with a light sweater on I was comfortable. Back at the hotel I found some of our group on the veranda going over the packets Matthias has put together for our home town visits. Then it was time to eat dinner, which was wonderful. I was in bed by 9:00 after being awake for 31 hours. Following breakfast this morning we are boarding a boat for a cruise on the Rhine River. I am eager to see all the castles along the hillsides.

 

View from my room

House built in 1787

 

Not sure if this is a house or what

 

 

 

 

 

Today is the first time in 2013 that the 13th day of the month falls on a Friday. (Not the last though, as we'll have another one in December.) Where did the superstition about Friday the 13th begin? I was reading online about the different theories, and none of them strikes me as being too accurate. Nevertheless, many people fear the day. Did you know that a fear of Friday the 13th is called Paraskevidekatriaphobia? I had no idea. Nor can I pronounce it. Who comes up with these words?

Regardless, I am throwing caution to the wind and flying to Germany on Friday the 13th. Maybe the plane will be less crowded because all the Paraskevidekatriaphobes will be staying home. Ha! All I have left to do is change over my purse to my curse and I will be set. Here's to a flight free of screaming children! Auf Wiedersehen!

As discussed in the previous post, I decided to rent a phone while I am in Germany and Switzerland and avoid outrageous charges from my U.S. carrier. My PlanetFone arrived today as promised. Delivered by UPS, the package includes a return envelope for me to send the phone back once I get back home.

Planetfone

what you get

I took one look at the case the phone came in and thought, holy crap - where am I going to put this now? My suitcase is jam packed and my carry on is already quite heavy. Oh my... Contained in the case with the phone is the power cord, adapters for both Germany and Switzerland and a plug for a car. That, at least, is staying behind as I will have no need for it. There is also a brief instruction card that hopefully contains enough information that I can receive and make calls. They have their phone number programmed in, so if I get in a bind I can always call them. Maybe. The phone is pretty basic, but that is fine for my purposes. I don't intend to use it for anything other than the occasional phone call. Assuming that wifi is available and I will be able to blog, I will post on how the phone is working on my travels. Just one more day!

cell phone

TripAdvisor - don't leave home without it

It seems hard to believe that in just a few more days I will be boarding the flight that will take me on my Family Tree Tours to Germany and Switzerland. I have a few gift items left to buy for the people who have been gracious enough to volunteer their time looking for the missing branches on my family tree, but I am actually in pretty good shape at this point. While we were encouraged to try and make due with only a carry on bag, there is just no way I could make that happen. Not only will I be gone 13 days, I have the gift items to transport in addition to my genealogy materials, and I need to bring a special outfit for my family gathering in Switzerland. And that necessitates bringing a second pair of shoes. I was able to get everything into a smaller bag than I anticipated however. I have to be able to get my bag on and off multiple trains, and I have no idea if the hotels I am staying at have elevators. I suspect not. So I am pleased that I was able to scale back enough to use a suitcase that I am actually capable of carrying up and down stairs. Since my husband is not accompanying me, I cannot rely on his help. I offer up a heart felt thanks to my personal trainer for pushing me every Tuesday. (And she will be pleased to know that I packed a couple of fitness aids into the suitcase as well.) My strong arms will certainly pay off on this trip!

One of the big things that had been hanging over my head was what to do about a phone while I am gone. I have read horror stories from reputable sources about people getting hammered by their American phone carriers while abroad, even if they purchased the international plan ahead of time and thought they were covered. I decided to err on the side of caution and rent a phone. After reviewing multiple companies I decided to go with the one recommended by AAA, which is planetfone.com. The gal at AAA had just used the service in multiple countries recently and had no problem with the phone at all. Because I am going to two different countries, I did not want to worry about changing SIM cards or anything else. PlanetFone's minute rates for talking and texting were a little higher than my second choice, but because I have a Citi Bank credit card, they waived the rental fee. A special promotion added free insurance on the phone, so that sealed the deal for me. The phone will be mailed to me in a couple of days, and I will receive a postage paid envelope to return the phone when I get back home. Sounds easy enough, so I hope that ends up to be the case. Obviously I will use free wifi on my iPad whenever possible, but my researching contacts may need to call me so I need to have a phone for them or in case of an emergency.

I picked up a travel hair dryer that folds compactly and is designed for multiple currencies. Because all of my other devices are as well, that eliminated the need to purchase a converter. I secured an adapter for Germany and one for Switzerland, because of course they are different. I also bought a power strip so that I can charge multiple devices at once since I will have my camera, phone, iPad and camcorder to charge. Hotels are usually a little stingy on the number of outlets, and this way I only need one adapter to plug into the power strip to handle all my charging needs.

The other thing I really wanted for the trip was a packable rain jacket. I remember my mom had a wonderful windbreaker that folded into its own pocket that she kept in her golf bag. I wondered if there was a similar design in a coat that would provide a little more protection from the rain. Sure enough there are dozens out there, with some of them being stored into a separate little bag as opposed to the pocket of the coat. I read many reviews and decided that the sizing was all over the place and ordering online would not be wise. So I went to REI so that I could try the jackets on for size. Har, har. I narrowed my choices down to the North Face and the REI brand. While I think the North Face probably looked a little better on me, I tried it on with a fleece underneath and it was too snug across the shoulders. Going up a size just looked ridiculous. The REI jacket looks fine and can handle a fleece underneath as well. Unfortunately the forecast for my trip looks a little cool and rainy, so I may need to layer. There are many features I like on this coat. I can put an iPod or my phone in a designated pocket so I can listen to music yet the device is secure; it has the zipped vents under the arms if you get too hot; the hood is designed in a way to really protect your face in a downpour and is also detachable; it folds into its own pocket so no extra bag to worry about; and it has nice, deep zippered pockets. The only negative is that when it is tucked into its pocket, the pouch is probably a little too big to put into my Curse (see previous post for the Curse) along with the camera and iPad. I am looking into fitting it with a clasp that could attach to my bag.

jacket tucked into pocket

REI rain jacket

I downloaded a language app onto my iPhone, but of course that will only work if I am in a free wifi zone since I will the cellular data turned off. I also put a currency app on the phone so that I can convert the pricing on items. Germany uses euros while Switzerland has francs. Again, that is only helpful in a wifi area, but at least I can use it part of the time.

Because I have a pretty full itinerary I created a calendar in Microsoft Word, listing my flights and daily activities. Not only will it be a useful tool for me, it will allow my husband to virtually travel along with me.

my travel calendar

So overall I feel really good about where I am at right now. I have a small list of things to do each day this week for the trip, but nothing overwhelming. I have already contacted my credit card company about my travels, but my bank insists it only needs 48 hours for my debit card. I will call them tomorrow anyway because waiting until Wednesday makes me nervous. And I have a few little gift items to pick up. I am so ready to do this!