Salta, Stuttgart, Sting and Beveridges

How did we make the decision to add Stuttgart, Germany to an itinerary that is focused on South America, Central Europe and Africa? 

It starts in Salta, Argentina of course. 

Little did we know that chewing coca leaves, riding in an open air bus at 13,000+ feet and eating “goat” (most probably rabbit) stew would lead us to Stuttgart.  Reading that Sting was going to be in concert there, right when we were going to be in the area, sealed the deal.  Stuttgart was added.  We could see our new coca chewing friends, the Beveridges, yes the Beveridges (you gotta like people with that name) and see one of the most talented musicians around.    

We met Philip and Gisela Beveridge on a day tour to a high altitude area outside Salta.  We sucked on coca leaves together, stuck our head out the top of our bus to take in the unbelievable geography and then, fast forward a few months, ate Gisela’s home cooking.

It was a fantastic time reminiscing about our day together in Argentina, discussing local politics, learning about their lives and meeting their daughter.  We were surprised when this talented young woman showed us a huge American flag hanging above her bed.  It was moving and a bit weird to see our stars and strips in a Stuttgart bedroom.  But she had a great experience in Wisconsin as a foreign exchange student.  Yet another great German young person!  Their son is too by the way.

The next night was the Sting concert!  At the Posche Arena!  He was touring with the London Symphony Orchestra and the show an amazing display of musicality.  It was one of the best we have ever seen.  But the crowd was really different then we’re used to.  Even with Sting’s divine vocals they were quiet and they showed only a little excitement over his fabulous songs.  We were wowed by the strings, horns and antics of the orchestra but the Stuttgart audience was a bit stoic.  For us it was an unforgettable evening.  We were alone in our seat dancing and yoo hooing but we didn’t care.  We showed our enthusiasm as only a couple of middle aged Americans can. 

From being high on coca leaves to enjoying the home and company of our friends from Stuttgart it was great journey.  A couple of Beveridges with Sting as the cherry on top made for a worthwhile worldly detour.   

Family Tree

When you were a kid, would you have hung around with a couple of strangers who called themselves family,   chatting for hours in a foreign language?  Or would you have, like we would have, spent the obligatory few minutes saying hello then left it to your parents to entertain the couple from the United States?

These German young people, Amy’s cousins, not only didn’t make excuses and leave, they hung out, told stories, listened to our stories, asked and answered questions and seemed genuinely interested in us.  Such good kids.  All eight of them, from 14 to 26 years of age.  Well there was one exception.  But he had a good excuse….he had to moderate a Social Democratic meeting.  If memory serves us right, the topic was raising taxes.  He’s for it.  We were impressed with all the kids, to say the least.

We spent two fabulous evenings with these distant relatives in and near Munich.  On the family tree, Amy is the same generation as these awesome kids.  Our great grandpas were brothers.  Amy’s great grandpa migrated to the US in the late 1800's.  Maybe the German cousins got all the polite behavior genes??  From musicians to a PhD student to a Prima Ballerina in the making to a future community leader all of the “kids” were not only pleasant conversationalists but also intelligent and self motivated. 
Their parents (and grandma Eva) are equally as incredible.  Our hats are off to them, even though they are humble about their kids, we know the influence they have over these rising stars. 

And they are generous hosts….treating us to Bavarian food, luscious desserts and wonderful conversation.

 
It was a real honor to see them again and have Steve get to know them.  We wish we didn’t live so far apart.  
It was another local encounter, this time of the family kind, that is making our journey better then we ever anticipated.  And, Hildegard gets special mention as she is keeping the entire clan straight by documenting the family tree. Great job and Thanks!

The Romantic Road

Leaving Munich, we headed into the Bavarian countryside to see the quaint homes decorated with frescoes and fresh flower boxes.  You know, the kind that Heidi lives in.  The land bordering the German and Austrian Alps is famous for it’s picturesque towns as well as for all of it’s castles.  Although we have been here before we both felt compelled to return and wanted to satisfy the deep need for bratwurst, sour kraut, beer, and to jump in a pair of tight lederhosen and dance a jig with a good oompa band.  First stop - Garmisch.

 

We wondered….would it be weird to add this type of decoration to our house in Portland?   And is it a full time job to dead head and water this many flowers?

Next stop Fussen and the very nice houses of Mad King Ludwig.  We spent a day exploring Germany’s most famous kings’ childhood vacation home and the home on which he spent much of the country’s wealth; Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. 
 
After squandering his kingdom’s money to build his most outrageous home, he was declared mad and the next day he mysteriously drowned, along with his personal physician.  Rumor has it that his subjects were fed up with his decorating and spending habits and had to put a swift end to it.  He lived in Neuschwanstein for only 17 months, and it was only 1/3 decorated at the time of his departure. 
Interesting side note - The family’s heirs still own the land around the castles.  The castles have been sold to the state as the family needed the money and couldn’t afford the upkeep.  But the lands are now used by vendors, hotels and restaurants.  The family has a clause in the contract that forces the tourists to arrive at the castle one hour before their assigned castle tour time.  Of course, they are hoping that each and every tourist will spend their Euros while waiting.  Nice business model!
After touring the famous castles, we hiked the grounds above them to get the best view of these huge homes. As you can tell from the photos we ran into all types of weather.  We felt very lucky to have many layers of clothing with us!  Teehee…. Some of the scenery reminded us of an Oregon hike we take regularly…..To our Oregonian friends, does this look kind of familar?  Multnomah Falls? (ish)Check out this trail….would the US Park Service allow this?  There is not a bit of solid ground underneath this elevated trail.  We then had to have a rich,  smooth Bavarian beer and a juicy
brat while watching all types of swans (Ludwig’s favorite animal) and contemplating kings, kingdoms, castles and romantic Bavaria.

Munich, errands, and a few good beers

Lots to do before starting the European leg of our adventure.   We landed in Munich primarily because it is the eastern-most city that we could pick up our leased automobile.  How exciting!  Freedom from buses, taxis and metros.  90 plus days of touring around the Eastern European country side with our own wheels!   We also thought Munich would be the perfect place for a few errands and a few purchases (we just wish the US Dollar went farther then it does).

-          New hiking hiking boots for Steve – already wore out the tread on one pair while in S. America!

-          A new GPS with all the Central and Eastern European city maps included.  A Must for where we were going.  We've named her Beatrice.  She is our best friend most of the time, but when she insists that we make a U turn over and over again, we want to throw her out the window.

-          Some clothing additions for Amy – hey you can't expect a woman to wear the same thing month after month.

After  completing our errands, we had some time for a bit of Munich touring.  We walked around the Marianplatz area (old city) and marveled at the architecture and the contrast of what we had just seen in our last days of Ecuador. 

 

 

We also ran into Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz!  Yes, really.  While walking through this area, there was a big setup for the Munich premiere of their latest movie  - Knight and Day.  Low and behold, they both showed up to sign autographs and promote the new film.  We saw both of them doing their best fan appreciation saunter around the stage area.  Did not expect this one, but we stayed to see them both and even felt a bit star struck.  They are very handsome people.

 We also had the opportunity to REALLY ENJOY our first great German beers.  Nothing against South America, but the beers just can’t compare with the fine barley and malt offered in Germany.  I think I will take another please!

We used the efficient and quiet German public transportation system, and picked up our new Renault vehicle after a few days….plugged in our GPS……we are ready for the road.   First stop – Bavaria and the Alps.

 

We're Not in Kansas Anymore!

We now know how Dorothy felt when she landed in Oz.  Except in our story, Oz is Munich, Kansas is Ecuador, the tornado is a long plane ride, the yellow brick road is the German public transportation, and the good witch is Fatima and Jan (our B&B owners).  After the countryside of Ecuador, it seemed we had landed in the perfect place - no litter (very little anyway), quiet subway trains, buses that were as smooth as butter, toilets that could accommodate TP, drinkable tap water, pampered dogs, smooth dark beer, edible raw vegetables; it was by far the largest cultural difference we've experienced, to date, including traveling from Portland to Buenos Aires.  All of this Ozness comes at a cost though - exorbitant prices, traffic sounds instead of nature sounds, and lots of smoking.  The worst part of being whisked away to Germany is all of the tall, thin, light haired people.  Where are all the munchkins?   Even though we very much miss our friends and family we're not trying on the magic red shoes in hopes for a way home yet.