Old Retired Guy Blog
July 8 - 14, 2010
Click on any of the photos
Return to the
|
Eichstätt (Page 1 of 5)Note: This is part 6 of the authorized edition of The Anderson's European Vacation. * * * * * We interrupt this Old Retired Guy Blog page for some important background information. In 1992 our son Eric participated in the German American Partnership Program (GAPP). In April of that year a group of German High School students came to Portland for four weeks. Each German student was paired with an American student, lived with that student's family, and attended school with the student. Andi Müller was the German student who stayed with us and went to school with Eric. In June, the American students went to Germany and stayed with their respective German families. We kept in contact with Andi and his parents, Gerhard and Ursula Müller, ever since and have always wanted to visit them. In 2000, we met Andi's sister Simone when she came to Portland. (If you're curious, you can read some old web pages about Simone's visit.) When we received a wedding invitation earlier this year from Simone we decided we should make the trip to Germany while we had the chance. We now return you to the regularly-scheduled Old Retired Guy Blog page. * * * * * We had a great time in Munich but soon it was time for the main purpose of our trip to Europe. We were heading to Eichstätt to meet the Müller family and attend Simone Müller's wedding. After breakfast we walked to the train station, getting there just in time to squeeze into a very crowded car. Most of the people in that car were going to visit Dachau, which is quite close to Munich, so they soon exited and we had most of the car to ourselves. All of our connecting trains were on schedule and we we reached Eichstätt around 12:30.
St. Walburg is a little different from the other places we stayed; it's a convent with a church and a school as well as a place that rents rooms to travelers. Apparently that is a tradition of the Benedictine Order. So, when Hamlet told Ophelia to "Get thee to a nunnery" he may have been suggesting that she go on vacation to Germany and rent a room at St. Walburg. When we entered St. Walburg to check into our room we were met by a elderly nun. I asked if she spoke English and she said "Nein," so I had to use my meager German to explain that we had a room here. She handed me a piece of paper and asked me to write my name. When I wrote "Anderson" she checked her list and asked "Mike und Kathy Anderson?" I said "Ja" and she began to tell me in German that Frau Müller told her to call as soon as we arrived. The nun quickly stepped into a back room and made a phone call. Then she signaled for me to come to the phone. When I said "Hello" Ursula said a few things and then Simone got on the phone. I was glad to hear Simone's voice since she speaks English very well. She said she'd pick us up at 3:30 and take us to her parent's house for something to eat.
The rooms, the offices, and the school at St. Walburg all face a paved courtyard. During recess the children play in the courtyard. The main entrance to the church is just outside the courtyard at the top of a narrow winding uphill drive. Though relatively small, the church is, nonetheless, very ornate with many large and beautiful paintings and statues.
We had several different desserts and some cold drinks (at last!) and Gerhard gave us a tour of their yard. He's very creative and has fashioned many different unusual shaped pieces of wood into animals that are placed in the bushes and trees around the yard. Simone then look us on a walk to show us the church where the church wedding would take place on Saturday. Then we had dinner.
'Eichstätt' |
