Monday, 10 October
We left Cleveland nearly on time at 5:00 p.m. (EDT) and got into Chicago about 5:15 (CDT). There wasn’t a wheelchair to meet me—somehow it hadn’t been input right on the reservation. But we finally got one and made it all the way to the gate for the flight to Frankfurt—a long way. The plane in from Paris was late, so we were late leaving. But being in Business Class (on a 2-class plane) was worth the wait!

Not only did we have 2-2-2 seating and so much legroom that we had to get out of our seats to reach the seat pocket or our bags under the seats in front of us, but the service was wonderful. There were 3 flight attendants for 36 people. We had the usual juice or water before takeoff, but Steve was able to have champagne. After takeoff we had wine (Steve had German Riesling) and hot nuts. There was a movie for the whole cabin (it was an older 767 so didn’t have the video at each seat yet), but they also gave us individual DVD players and about 20 DVDs to choose from—with Bose noise-canceling headphones just like we have at home. There were even “real” pillows with fabric pillowcases and a bag of spa essentials (moisturizer, astringent, toothbrush and toothpaste, “eye duvet” (mask), and socks. We both got about 5 hours of sleep.

After freshening up with a hot towel, it was time for dinner. First came the appetizer of shrimp, lobster, and smoked salmon, then the salad, with a choice of two dressings. We had a choice of four entrees: filet mignon with risotto and vegetables (Steve’s choice), barbeque chicken, pasta duo (cheese ravioli and tortellini with two sauces), and cod in a butter sauce with mashed potatoes and vegetables (Judy’s surprise choice). It was all very good. But the best was dessert—a choice of a pear crumble, several cheeses, or (our choice) ice cream sundaes with raspberry (Judy), hot fudge (Steve), or butterscotch sauce and whipped cream and nuts. Such luxury. We only wish we could fly like this all the time.

Tuesday, 11 October
We arrived in Frankfurt a bit early at 10:15 a.m. Frankfurt time (4:15 am EDT). Arrival in Frankfurt was very simple and fast. There was no wheelchair again, but the distances were short. There was only a short line at immigration (no forms to fill out) and none at customs (still no forms). We walked a short way to the next terminal then over to the train station. It was all very modern looking. We had a snack and people watched until about 1:05 then went down to the train platform. The high-speed train was about 15 min. late, but it was very nice. There was a sign saying exactly where to wait for 1st or 2nd class. We rode in 1st class with reserved seats (not that we needed them). The car had some seats in private 5-seat compartments, some booth-style, and the rest like regular trains. But the seats reclined way back and were nice and large. The train was electric and very quiet and smooth. We rode through field and towns and hills. Stuttgart was the last stop, so we couldn’t miss our stop.

The Stuttgart train station is very large and impressive. There is a concourse with lots of shops and restaurants. We had to go down a long set of stairs to the street, where we found a taxi rank. We rode in a Mercedes station wagon (probably a C class). The driver put in a CD and input the address of our destination using the radio knobs and a voice navigation system told him each turn to make. Neat. That’s what WE need to keep from getting lost all the time.

Haus Birkach is, from what we can tell, a theological seminary. The guest rooms are not very fancy, but very adequate. There is a double bed (twin mattresses on a base, with cozy comforters), two huge desks, plenty of closet space, and a small bathroom with shower. Everything is very modern, neat, and clean. Also here are classrooms, offices, a chapel, a very nice, large library, and a cafeteria. Steve walked around the neighborhood while Judy napped. The shopping district is about 2 blocks away, with everything you might need. (He brought back a chocolate bar and a pastry, which were our dessert.) We had dinner with the other guests at 6:15. There was salad, ham, bacon, several noodle dishes (with and without cheese, sort of like kugel), and good rolls and excellent bread. No dessert (we were glad to have Steve’s snacks.)

No television or radio, so we used Judy’s computer to play some of the CDs we brought to use in the new car, then went to bed early.

Wednesday, 12 October
We slept almost 11 hours, then got up for breakfast (cheese, cold cuts, muesli with yogurt, bread, and canned fruit—okay, but not too filling). Then we called a taxi and took our free ride to the Mercedes plant (they provided us with a taxi voucher).

The customer center is very modern and expensive-looking (as well it should be). We met with a nice frau (lady) who spoke perfect English. First she told us that they had expected us on the 10th—I guess I forgot to tell them of our change in plans. She had Steve sign a lot of papers, and then arranged for our factory tour. It started with a movie—very flashy but not too informative. Then we boarded a small bus with 2 other couples, one from Scotland and the other from Hilton Head, SC. On the bus we went into two buildings. One was the stamping plant where they take huge rolls of steel and turn them into the body frame, doors, roof, etc. The giant presses exert many tons of pressure to mold the parts. Then we went through a building where they put the car’s shell together. They make 2000 cars a day at this plant: C-class, E-class, and the S-class. The A- and B- class cars and all trucks are made in one of their other plants. (The A-class is tiny and the brand-new B-class is not much bigger. Mercedes also owns Smarte Car, which is a very tiny 2-seater that we saw all over London and see a lot here. It is made in France.) The line we watched was making the C-class sedans and coupes. The welding and bolts and screws are all done by robotic machinery. Each car has a bar code that tells the robots and people exactly which options go on each car. The robots don’t forget to tighten a bolt or make a weld. But there are people to oversee the robots and do quality checks. Over 2000 people work here and the plant has its own fire station with 40 firemen and 20 fire trucks. There are also stores, workout areas, cafeterias, etc. It’s like a small town.

Then we got out of the bus and used the headsets that they provided so we could hear the guide talk, no matter how far away we were. This was very nice. We saw the assembly line where they put in the sunroofs (glued in after being lifted into the car through the windshield), the dashboard (assembled in the basement and installed as one piece—put in through the door), the seats, etc. Most of this work is done by people, with the help of robots for lifting heavy parts. The assembly lines move at different heights for different steps, so the workers can do most of the work standing up—for comfort. After the seats are in, they add the power train (engine and all the way back to the exhaust). It comes up from the basement and is married to the body—now it can be called a car, the guide said. We saw the test track where they check the horn (one horn blast is heard every 30 seconds—that’s how many cars are being tested) and check for water-tightness (the “rain test”). The whole process takes 3-1/2 to 4 days.

Next, we had lunch at the Mercedes restaurant. Steve had saddle of venison with cranberry sauce and spaetzle (German noodles) and Judy had a small portion of pork roast with lots of mushrooms. (The smaller portion cost 75 percent of the regular and was just right.) Steve also had some Riesling wine. We had dessert, of course. Judy’s strawberry ice cream was served in a martini glass with fresh strawberries on top. Steve had the special ice-cream parfait. It was a mix of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, with chocolate sauce drizzled over it, and a plum sauce, and some fresh fruits, and a chocolate “straw.” The huge plate was decorated with the Mercedes emblem (star) in powdered sugar. Even with all this, we didn’t use all of our allowed €65.00 (almost $85), so the waitress asked us if we wanted a bottle of the Riesling to go. Of course we said yes, and she added a small box of chocolates, too.

While Steve waited for our nice English-speaking frau to finish the paperwork, I bought a model of the car for Steve to have until his real car is delivered in Cleveland. The shop had Mercedes clothing, accessories, pins, models, bicycles, etc. Finally, we were taken to the waiting room for our new car. An English-speaking technician went over the car with us, showing how everything worked. Finally, we officially took possession of Steve’s beautiful new white E-350 sedan and drove off of the Mercedes grounds (about 2:00 p.m.).

The car rides wonderfully and is very quiet. We followed the instructions to downtown Stuttgart and found the tourist information office almost by accident. We parked the car in an underground parking facility. The tourist office gave us a map to get back to Haus Birkach—she had a program that did it all for her and printed out the map. Steve signed up for 2 tours on Friday, when Judy will be teaching: a walking tour from 11:00-12:30 and a bus tour from 1:30-4:00. He should know Stuttgart well by the end of the day.

It was still only 3:00 so we decided to walk around. We found the State Opera, the New Palace, the Old Castle or Palace, the Collegiate Church and Schillerplatz (a platz is a square). The New Palace was started in 1746 and is now government offices. It was rebuilt after the destruction of WW II. The Old Palace marks the site of the wall built in the 10th century around Duke Liudolf’s stud farm (Stuttgart). The castle was started in the last part of the 11th century and was the residence of the Counts of Wurttemburg until the New Palace was finished in the middle of the 18th century. It also was rebuilt after the war and now houses the State Museum with the Wurttemberg crown jewels, a 30,000-year-old ivory lion’s head, and burial objects from a Celtic tomb from 500 BC. The Collegiate (or State) Church was originally built in 1170 and added on to over the years. It was rebuilt after the war with a very modern interior. Inside are the tombs of over 100 members of the Wurttemberg royal house.

We stopped at a sidewalk café outside the King’s Building for coffee and apple strudel (with ice cream, of course), then walked down one of the streets to look for an alarm clock (Wenker) since Haus Birkat doesn’t have clocks or a wakeup service. We found one for €5. We walked around some more, looking at the beautiful buildings, until dinner. We ate at Wiener Wuld, a nice little chicken restaurant. Steve had a wrap filled with chicken, cucumber, lettuce and dressing and Judy had chicken soup with carrots and celery and noodles and a side dish of basmati rice. It was very good and only cost €15. Then we got the car out of the parking garage (€7) and drove back to Haus Birkach. The directions from the tourist office were wonderful and we got back safe and sound about 8:00 (after a quick stop at a grocery store to get some cookies for Judy to take with her evening pills). We got to bed about 11:00 p.m.

Thursday, 13 October
Steve slept through breakfast, thanks to a somewhat sleepless night because of Judy’s snoring (she’s allergic to feathers and the bed had feather pillows and a down comforter). Judy brought him a roll with salami and another meat on it and a banana, but no coffee—poor baby. We had a little adventure of asking for an iron from someone who spoke no English. With the help of another person, we made it and Judy’s suit coat was pressed. We took off for Stuttgart about 11 a.m. We found the place where Judy was to begin her workshop at 2:00 p.m. It is in a former orphanage (originally built to house prisoners), painted a bright yellow—easy to spot. The Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum/James-F.-Byrnes-Institute (German-American Center) was on the 3rd floor (that is, 3 flights up a winding staircase in one of the towers of the building). We met the director, Herr Doktor Ulrich Bachteler and left Judy’s things in his office. We were right across Kaiserplatz (named for Kaiser Wilhelm I and with a large statue of him in the middle) from the Markthalle—the indoor market—and next to the Old Palace. We decided to eat lunch first and chose an outdoor cafe right next to the Markthalle. Steve had roast pork and a potato roll and Judy had schnitzel (breaded, fried pork cutlet) and roasted potatoes. Both were delicious and with water (Evian) and coffee came to only €15 (about $20).

Then we walked around the area, spending some time in a toy store that had a large collection of Steiff stuffed animals. Judy showed up for her workshop at 2:00 and continued until 6:00. There were 27 people attending, from all over Germany: Martina Büsse-Voss, Bibliothek, Wipfler & Partner, Steuerberater-Sozietät (Tax Counsel), Walldorf; Lindsey Fairhurst, IntFort interne Fortbildung, Direktion, Universität bibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg, Frankfurt; Michael Fanning, Geschäftsfhrer, Online Consultants International GmbH, Karlsruhe; Regina Fleischmann, Bodenseebibliothek im Stadtarchiv Friedrichshafen, Friedrichshafen; Jochen Herrmann, Bibliothek & Archiv, KPMG, Stuttgart; Eva Hornung, Library/Resource Centre, Curriculum Development Unit, City of Dublin (Ireland) Vocational Education Committee; Miriam Jaster, Director, Information Resource Center (IRC), Public Affairs/ US Consulate General, Frankfurt; Andra Kekic, Anja Gimmler, David Greiner, Nadine Kerler, Gesa Krauss, Judith Leitz, Annette Meikis, and Kathrin Mörz, all students at the Hochschule der Medien (Stuttgart Media University); Heike Kotzurek, Bibliothek, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart; Bernhard Nonte, Gemeinschaftsbibliothek der Kath.-Theol. Fakultät der Westfällischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster; Dr. Irene Pill, Geschäftsführerin, Eisenbibliothek, Stiftung der Georg Fischer AG, Schlatt; Marion Remmel, Library Services, Dewey Ballantine LL, Frankfurt; Mag. (FH) Gabriele Schrüz, FH O? Studienbetriebs GmbH, Steyr; Kerstin Thoma, Bibliothek, Evang. Medienzenrale, Evang. Medienhaus GmbH, Stuttgart; Dr. Margit Unser, Bibliotheksmarketing, ETH-Bibliothek, Zurich, Switzerland; Ulrike Walter, Z/T-Bibliothek, Bilfinger-Berger AG, Mannheim; Silke Wedemeier, Bibliothek, Haus Birkach, Stuttgart; Monika Werner, Bibliothek, Institut für Werkstoffe im Bauwesen (Building Materials) und Otto-Graf-Institut, MPA, Universität Stuttgart; Christine Wiens, Bibliothek, Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung (Data Processing), Munchen (Munch); Petra Zimmermann, Leiterin Bibliothek ZKM und HfG Karlsruhe. A note about the participant from Ireland; she’s originally from Stuttgart and took the opportunity to come home for a visit. It was especially exciting to finally meet her—She and Judy have been corresponding by email for a couple of years. Eva is doing a Ph.D. at Sheffield University, England on the subject t of one-person libraries in Ireland. The workshop went well. We finished on time, people asked questions and laughed at Judy’s jokes.

While she was working, Steve walked up to a clock tower behind the rail station that has a big rotating Mercedes star on top. It was erected in 1927. He took the elevator to the 9th floor observation area and took pictures, then had an iced tea in the restaurant on the 8th floor. At night the star is lit and looks like a flying saucer. He walked to Karlsplatz and back to Schillerplatz and people watched. He did the same thing along Konigstrasse, a 110-meter long pedestrian mall on Stuttgart’s main shopping street. Then he walked by the Staatsopera and found a nice lake, then back to Schlossplatz and listened to a calliope player for a while. Then he bought postcards and back to where Judy was teaching, sat in the biergarten, had an iced tea.

At 6:00, Judy and Evelin joined him, intending to go back to Haus Birkach before dinner. However, we got lost (as usual) and wisely decided to just drive around town before meeting the rest of the group at the Stuttgarter Hofbrau, a small restaurant with typical Stuttgart (Swabian, after the region) food. There were 10 of us there. Steve had beef in a cognac gravy with spatzle and Judy had a steak and scalloped potatoes. As usual, everything was delicious. We finally let the restaurant people serve someone else about 9:30 and drove back to Birkach and went to bed. It was a wonderful day.

Friday, 14 October
After breakfast, we drove back to Stuttgart. Judy went back to the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum for the second day of the workshop. Steve walked about ten blocks to the tourist information office for the first of his tours of the day. This one was a walking tour. It started at the train station and the top of the Mercedes star building. He was able to see the vineyards surrounding Stuttgart. There are 480 hectares of vineyards, 30 percent of the city land, for air purity and pollution control. By law, ten percent of the wine made goes to the government. The only places in town that were not bombed in World War II were the Staatsopera, Markethall, and the Community Church. Mercedes—the largest industry in town—predated Porche, who came to the area after the war. They walked around the Schlossgarten in the middle of the city, then to Konigstrasse, where they saw the Arts Building with a golden stag at the top of it. Next was the Altes Schloss (Palace), parts of which are 700 years old. The chapel was Germany’s first Protestant church, but it is closed now because of deterioration and lack of money to fix it up.

After a quick lunch of pastry from a bakery along Kongistrasse, Steve was back at the tourist information office for his 2-1/2 hour bus tour. The tour guide was the same as for the morning tour. Because of all the automotive manufacturing, Stuttgart has the lowest unemployment rate in Germany, about 7 to 8 percent. Many of the parts are delivered by boat on the canal. They went by the new Mercedes museum, with more than 175 cars on display.

After Judy finished her workshop, about 4:30, we met at the Biergarten. We had some ice cream (delicious), we walked about a block to Brueninger’s, founded in 1881. The building is said to be the second largest department store in Europe (after Harrod’s in London) and was the first to have escalators and elevators. Unimpressive from the outside, the store is a big square with a round atrium in the middle. We rode the glass elevator to the second floor to see a sample of their wares. There are seven floors of what seemed to be very expensive merchandise. Next, we headed for an internet café to check our email. We then picked up our car from the parking garage and headed for dinner. A few words about parking in Stuttgart. First of all, there isn’t enough—actually, there’s not enough in all Germany. People park on sidewalks behind other cars—anywhere they can. Second, there are signs all over town, numbers in lights and a directional arrow. These tell where there are parking lots or street parking. The numbers are the number of available spaces. This would be great if all of the spaces were big enough for our new car—most are not. Mercedes’s smallest car sold in the USA is the C-class (for compact). Our car is an E-class; I think E stands for expensive, but it really just shows the larger size. Most people in Stuttgart (and most everywhere in Europe) drive very small cars: the Mercedes A-class, the new B-class, and the Smarte car. All are very tiny. The A-class and Smarte car “fortwo” have only two seats and a tiny storage area. The B-class and the Smarte car “forfour” have seating for four very friendly people and a tiny storage area. Also popular are the small VW models.

We wound up on Calverstrasse, a pedestrian street with expensive boutiques, bars, and restaurants. It didn’t look too busy for a Friday night, but it was only about 7:00 p.m., maybe it was considered too early for a night on the town. We ate at a nice little Italian restaurant, Ristorante Pizzeria da Vitale, where the waiters spoke German and Italian. Steve had a prosciutto and mushroom pizza, made in a wood-fired oven. The crust was nice and crisp, just like a pizza should be. Judy had spaghetti carbonara—it was the best she’s had since the first time she tried it in Mexico City in the 1960s. We told the host that everything was “perfetto.” Finally, we made our way back to Haus Birkach to rest up for the next day.

Saturday, 15 October
About 10:00 a.m., Jürgen Plienenger, the librarian at the Institute for Political Science, University of Tübingen, came to Haus Birkach and we drove the 29 miles to Tübingen, a university town in the Neckar valley. The University was founded in 1477 and there are half-timbered, gabled medieval houses everywhere. Schiller and Hegel both studied there. First we walked through the city, which lies alongside the narrow Neckar River. Students pole shallow boats long the river, just like punting on the Avon River in Cambridge, England or Christchurch, New Zealand. We walked through narrow streets to the Markplatz (market square) and saw the Rathaus (city hall) which dates from the 15th century (except for the painted design on the façade which are only from the 1800s). A small band was playing marches and Dixieland music—there were only 5 of them but they made a great noise. We saw the Stifskirche, a former monastery church now the collegiate or town church. It dates from before the 16th century. We had coffee before going to see Jürgen’s library.
Jürgen lives in Stuttgart because he said that feels trapped in a small town. He and his wife have three children, Daniel 11, Marta 8, and Simon 6. Her parents run a winery nearby and he brought us some grapes from their vineyard. By the way, he took his wife’s name when they had children because he wasn’t close to his family and they liked her last name better (his was Ahrens).

Jürgen’s library is on the top floor and attic of a building built in the 1920s for one of the Kaiser Wilhem (later Max Plank) Institutes. When they moved to the University’s new campus on the hill in the 1990s, the Political Science Department took it over. He has about 50,000 books and is out of room (whose library is not?). They have to cut purchases every three years and have dropped newspaper and journal subscriptions drastically. To make up for the budget decreases, they are doing more cooperative acquisitions with the main library. The University has a main library and over 80 institute and departmental libraries. They do not have a shared catalog, but there is an area-wide union catalog that most have input their holdings into. Most of Juergen’s collection is now on the online catalog. He does all the cataloging himself, using a unique national system. He wrote a chapter on OPLs for a German book on library management (get title) and has developed web portals and research guides in both political and social sciences. He showed Judy some of the many resources for librarians, especially OPLs, in Germany, including a couple of Weblogs.

While Jürgen and Judy were talking, Steve wandered around the university and took pictures: beautiful views, old homes, and cars that you are unlikely to see in the USA (and one US car, the Chrysler PT Cruiser, that has made its way to Germany). Afterwards we went for a light lunch at a Greek/Turkish café. Steve had pita bread filled with spinach and melted cheese, Judy had gyro meat with yogurt and dill dressing, and Juergen had a pizza.

We got back to Haus Birkach about 4:00 p.m. Juergen went on home to Stuttgart, while we purchased gas for the car (€1.32 per liter, or €4.98 per gallon, or $6.50 per gallon!!), picked up some cheese, wurst (like bologna), and beer for dinner, and packed up for the drive to Berlin the next day.

Monday, 16 October
We left Stuttgart at 8:00 a.m., bound for Berlin. Steve had a wonderful time driving on the Autobahn—for most of the way there was no speed limit, although the suggested maximum is 130 kph (about 80 mph). He occasionally went over that speed (once up to 100 mph) and still cars passed him like he was standing still. The car felt smooth even at high speeds. The fast roads helped, since there was a lot of construction and 40 mph construction zones. We stopped for coffee once and then for lunch, both time at rest areas. Our lunch was chosen from a buffet; Steve had bratwurst, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes while Judy had spaghetti carbonara (not as good as the other night, but definitely better than average) and salad. The shock was the cost: €25, or over $30!! And filling the gas tank was well over $60. Life is very expensive here.

We arrived at our hotel about 3:30 p.m., with surprisingly little trouble navigating our way through Berlin and to the hotel. Sorat Art’otel is described as chic, daring, unique. We’re not sure about all that, but it is different. Our deluxe room is a quarter circle, with an entry/hall/closet, a large bathroom with a tub, and a large bedroom with a television, mini-bar, radio, and modern table and chairs. The carpet looks like 1950s linoleum and the bedside tables and TV stand are covered in laminate. Everything is in a soft gray and white. There is modern art on the walls and some of it is quite strange.

We rested for a while, got directions from the desk—where everyone spoke good English—and drove to Evelin Morgenstern’s home for dinner. Her charming apartment is on the 2nd floor of a beautiful old home. Also invited to dinner were Holly Murten, Information Resource Officer, US Embassy; Nancy Rajczak, also of the Embassy; Leyla Schön, Librarian, Bibliothek, Behandlungszentrum für Folteropfer e.V. (Treatment Center for Torture Victims); Dr. Andrea Mehrländer, Executive Director, Checkpoint Charlie Foundation (set up by the US Government to promote Berlin-USA relations); Gaby Müller-Oerichs, Head of the Joseph Wulf Library, House of the Wannsee Conference, Memorial and Educational Site; and JJ Jackson, Dean of Students, Ronald Sharp, Dean of the College and his wife, Ines, and Ron Patkus, German Studies Librarian and Professor of German Studies at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, USA who were accompanying a group of exchange students on a tour of Holocaust/Jewish sites. Dinner was wonderful: carrot soup with avocado garnish, salad, rouladen (rolled stuffed beef) with roasted potatoes, and for dessert, the piece de resistance, a huge apple crumb cake with a large “OPL” on top. We had a lovely evening, getting back to the hotel about 11:00 a.m. When we arrived in our room, we found a vase with 2 extremely long-stemmed red roses on the table, along with a bottle of champagne in a festive wrapping. There was also a rose in the bathroom. We got our laundry ready and watched CNN for a bit, then went to bed.

Monday, 17 October
After delivering our laundry to the front desk, we had breakfast. There was a buffet of cheese, meats, breads, fruit salad, eggs, etc. We also were able to check our email using the hotel’s wireless connection. We then walked a few blocks to catch the Hop-On, Hop-Off bus that does a circle tour of all the important tourist sights. You can get off at any stop and get back on—the busses run every 15 minutes—and you can ride all day for the same price.

Many things were familiar to Judy from her visit 6 years ago, but there were some amazing changes. We saw the Kaiser Wilhem Memorial Church. It was destroyed in the war, and has been left as a ruin (the bell tower and the shell of the dome) as a memorial. There is a very modernistic new church next to it. We drove by the KaDeWe, the large department store, somewhat like Harrod’s in London. Our front was a five-foot tall decorated plastic bear. The bear is the symbol of Berlin and they have had them decorated just like Cleveland had guitars. We saw them all over town. Next we went down the street where many of the embassies are located. (The USA is building a new one, right next to the Brandenberg Gate in the center of town.) The next stop was at Potsdamer Platz. Six years ago it was just holes in the ground and large building cranes; now there are tall office buildings everywhere.

We saw part of the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie, the gate where foreigners could enter East Berlin. Next was the Gendarmenmarkt, a former barracks. It was set in a square with many beautifully restored buildings of Old Berlin, such as the Cathedral and Concert Hall. Alexanderplatz is at the point today that Potsdamer Platz was 6 years ago—rebuilding with cranes everywhere. They’ve even temporarily re-routed part of the River Spree to build an underpass. Here also are the old Town Hall (Rathaus) and a building that isn’t there. What looks to be a nicely restored building is just a photograph of what it will look like when finished painted on canvas that is erected over scaffolding. It is very realistic. Then they’ve used this technique several other places so passersby (and tourists) can see what is under the ever-present scaffolding.

The bus turned on to Unter den Linden, one of the most famous avenues in Germany. We passed by Museum Island, where 5 famous museums are located, including the Pergamon. We’ll have to save them for another visit. For security reasons, no vehicles can pass through the famous Brandenberg Gate, but we did see it. It is at the east end of the large city garden, the Tiergarten (animal garden). It used to be a forest where animals for hunting were kept (deer, for instance), but now functions like New York’s Central Park, as an oasis in the city. Here too are the restored Reichstag (parliament building), with its new glass dome, and the Mercedes bell tower. The bus’s last stop was Schloss Charlottenburg, named for Sophie Charlotte, the wife of Elector Frederick III. Since the presidential palace is being remodeled, the German president is living at Schloss Charlottenburg for now. The tour ended back on the Kufursterdamm, where it started.

After Judy left to go teach, Steve stayed on the bus for another tour of Berlin, taking lots of photographs. At Judy’s request, Steve visited the new Jewish museum. Many interesting images. There’s one room where you think you’re walking over cobblestones, but they are really bones. There’s an area with 40 concrete columns representing how alone you feel as a Jew. At the end is a tree of hope, where you can hang a message.

Judy’s workshop went very well. It was held at Amerika Haus, part of the US Foreign Service. We met in their light, bright library. There were 29 attendees. Sonja Benzer, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen; Thea Bose, US-Generalkonsulat Leipzig; Maren Busse, Manager, Chemical Technical Information Center, Continental AG, Hannover; Ghislaine Daudey, Information Resource Center, Amerika Haus, Berlin; Oliver Dienelt, Bibliothek, Institut für Baustoffe, Massivbau und Brandschutz der TU Braunschweig (Building Materials, Construction, and Fire Protection), Braunschweig; Fernando Frechauth, Library, European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium; Gabriele Freidank, Wissenschaftliches Zentrum für Berufs-und Hochschulforschung, Universität Kassel, (Scientific center for occupation and university research), Kassel; Maria Gockeritz, Thüringer Kiltusministerium, Erfurt; Michaela Jobb, Library, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin; Claudia Jung, Bibliothek, Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, University of Music and Performing Arts, Munchen; Eroica Kremer, Informationszentrale/Bibliothek, Merz Pharma GmbH & Co., Frankfurt; Ulrike Lampert, Information und Dokumentation, Institut für Qualität und Wirtschaftlichkeit im Gesundheitswesen (Institut for quality and economy in the health service), Koln; Christiane Massion, Auswärtiges Amt (German State Department), Berlin; Judith Mathes, Qualität management, Bibliotheksleitung, Industrie- und Handelskammer für München und Oberbayern, Munchen; Kalina Mühlfeld, Zweigbibliothek (Branch Library) Rechtswiss./Europ. Dokumentationszentrum (EDZ), Dresden; Holly Murten, Information Office, US Embassy, Berlin; Gabriele Naumann, OSZ Browirtschaft und Verwaltung, Abteilung, Berlin; Walburgis Otte, Hochschulbibliothek (University Library), Wilhelmshaven; Nancy Rajczak, US Embassy, Berlin; Elke Riemer, Bibliothek, QIAGEN GmbH, Hilden; Susanne Rohrberg, Graf von Westphalen Bappert & Modest, Hamburg; Irmela Roschmann-Steltenkamp, Bibliothek, Stiftung Topographie des Terrors, Berlin; Leyla Schön, Bibliothek, Behandlungszentrum für Folteropfer e.V., GSZ Moabit, (Treatment Center for Torture Victims), Berlin; Ralf Schulz, Bibliothek der Fachhochschule der BA, Mannheim; Anne Sieberns, Bibliothek/Library, Deutsches Institut für Menschenrechte/German Institute for Human Rights, Berlin; Anja Taylor, US Embassy, Berlin; Viviana Stockem, Bibliothek, Evangelisches Missionswerk in Deutschland, Hamburg; Ute Strack,US Embassy, IRC, Berlin; Dr. Cornelia Voss, Amerika Haus, Information Resource Center, Berlin, Elike Wijnheijmer, Wageningen University & Research Centre, Wageningen. Oliver, Leyla and Maria attended Judy’s seminar six years ago.

We met briefly at the hotel around 6:00, then Judy and about ten of the workshop participants went to dinner at Literaturhaus Berlin, a restaurant in an old home. Her weinerschnitzel was good but it was a huge portion, so she shared it with the others (one of the others ordered the kinderschnitzel—a children’s portion—but it was almost as much). Steve wandered around the area, checking out the various bars, having a meat pie and a hamburger for dinner.

Tuesday, 18 October
While Judy finished up her workshop, Steve rode the hop-on, hop-off bus again, stopping to take pictures of various sights. He went into the Berliner Dom, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Charlottenberg Palace. The lines at the television tower and the Reichstag were too long, so he didn’t go in them. Steve brought back a few souvenirs: a black Deutschland t-shirt for him and a blue Berlin one for Judy—and a small Steiff turtle for Judy. She bought him little bear from the hotel. Tonight was our “candlelight dinner,” part of our upgraded hotel package. We went a few blocks away to Die Eselin von A., a small restaurant and guest house run by two brothers. It was a special menu: pumpkin mousse with pesto, cauliflower soup with baby shrimp, weinerschnitzel for Judy and a small chicken for Steve, and lemon and passion fruit sorbets for dessert. It was very nice, but the leisurely Continental service took a bit too long for a very tired Judy. After packing, we went to bed, ready for our next adventure.

Wednesday, 19 October
We left Berlin and headed for Braunschweig, about 200 km. to the west. We took a little detour due to a missed exit on the autobahn and are we glad we did! We drove through some delightful little towns, through the woods, and saw an old windmill.

Thanks to his excellent directions, we arrived at the library of Oliver Dienelt almost exactly on time. Oliver attended the first workshop Judy gave in Germany in 1999 and attended a conference of SLA on an IBI-OPL scholarship. He has been the OPL at the Technical Institut für Baustoffe, Massivbau und Brandschutz der (Building Materials, Construction, and Fire Protection) at the Technical University in Braunschweig for 22 years. The Institute performs testing for outside clients as well as doing research and teaching as part of the University.

We were given a tour of the testing facilities for concrete, wood, metal, and glass by Sandra Hirschfeld, a young graduate civil engineer. She studied at the Institute and now works as a test engineer. She showed us her own project, testing the strength of a new configuration for interior walls. She studied at the University of Wyoming in Laramie so her English is excellent. She also speaks Spanish since she spent a semester studying in Madrid.

Sandra also joined us for lunch at the university cafeteria. The semester hadn’t started yet, so the campus was very quiet. Oliver then gave Judy a tour of his library—one large room filled with cases containing over 14,000 (!) books, reports, standards, and bound journals. He also edits a series of reports which the Institute sells to the public—he handles the sales and keeps the stock. He has compiled an index of the citations to works by Institute authors as well as a set of guidelines for finding civil engineering information at the University. (He studied indexing and thesaurus building as an undergraduate.) Both of these are on his web page, which is linked directly from the Institute’s home page.

We left Oliver to work and checked into our hotel, the Mercure Atrium. It was very nice and modern and comfortable. Oliver bicycled to the hotel (he does not own a car, a cell phone, or a television) about 5:00 p.m. and we took a taxi to the center of town, where we met Sandra. He showed us all over central Braunschweig, pointing out historic and architecturally interesting buildings, helped by several reference books he brought along (a typical librarian!). Then we had dinner at Mutter Habenicht, a favorite restaurant of his. It is much like a British pub. The other had a typical northern German dinner, Bregenwurts and bratkartoffeln (sausages, very fatty pork, and a kale-like green vegetable—with roasted potatoes), while Judy had “Toast Habenicht,” grilled pork fillets and sliced mushrooms in gravy over toast. All was wonderful. Dinner was also accompanied by several rounds of beer, of course. At the end of the meal, Oliver surprised Judy—and especially Sandra—with gifts. Judy’s was a beautiful book about Braunschweig showing most of the buildings we’d seen on our tour and an English-language brochure about the Institute. Sandra’s was a book on London and a photo of a street sign for “Sandra Close” that he’d taken on his recent holiday trip there. It was a wonderful day!

Thursday, 20 October
We finally got to sleep late—to 8:00 a.m.! After a nice breakfast at the hotel (including eggs, pork sausage, and well-done bacon), we got on the autobahn headed for Frankfurt. This was maybe Steve’s last chance to drive the car really fast, and he took advantage of it. We stopped again at a travel plaza for a good lunch (pasta and sandwiches). But the weather turned rainy and foggy and we didn’t see much of the countryside. In fact, it was so foggy that we went right by Frankfurt and had to turn around. But we finally made our way to our little Hotel Falkenstein. It is an old home made into hotel rooms. The innkeepers (The Duhr family, parents, daughter, and grandchildren) have been running it for 48 years! Our “double” room (for about €118 per night) is quite large, with a king size bed (two singles pushed together) and another small bed (nice for packing). There’s a large wardrobe, a combination suitcase stand and coat hooks, a small desk, a console table with a television, and a large bathroom—with a tub! It is very nice and with the book fair in town we are glad to have a place to stay.

We walked a couple of blocks to a grocery store and mini mall for dinner. We had chicken, meatballs and eggplant, rice, and olives from the Turkish vendor. It was great. Then we walked through the grocery store. We really like seeing what is available in other countries. We bought 2 small jars of white asparagus for €0.85 (would cost at least $3 back home) and some snacks. Then back to the hotel to get organized for tomorrow. We watched a German movie on television—thanks to Steve’s high school German, we were almost able to follow it—and went to bed.

Friday, 21 October
We reveled in sleeping late. We had breakfast downstairs: fruit salad, orange juice, assorted breads, yogurt, and scrambled boiled eggs. Then we walked a block or so and caught the bus (€1.80 each) for the Frankfurt Book Fair. It is billed as the largest book fair in the world and they aren’t kidding. It looks like the American Library Association exhibits on steroids. There are eight buildings, each with three or four floors of exhibits. Each floor is easily the size of the ALA exhibit hall. It was the third and last day for just the book trade; on Saturday and Sunday the fair is open to the public and it is supposed to be really crowded (as opposed to just crowded as it was today). We saw just a small part of the Fair. We took a shuttle bus from the entrance to Hall 4 (it was about a half-mile) and went to the International Booksellers and Trade Visitors Centre to put our coats into a locker. Then we went up one floor to one of the two floors of Fiction, Non-fiction, and Art books. We saw books from German, Austrian, Swiss, and other European publishers. The “international” publishers (including the USA and UK) were on 5 floors in three other halls. There were huge displays with elaborate graphics, many chairs and tables, and various kinds of food, as well as smaller exhibits with just a table, a few chairs, and a few books. Right at the front of the hall was a red double-decker bus from Peterson-books.com (get name right).

There were also food stands or cafes all over the place, serving sandwiches, salads, beer, wine, and soft drinks. These became very crowded around noon, so we went up one floor to the Scientific and Professional Publisher and Information Services. Here we found the International Library Centre, a meeting place just for librarians. (It’s nice that the book fair operators are finally discovering that librarians buy books too.) We had just sat down for lunch when Maria Göckeritz, one of the participants in the Berlin workshop, came over. She had said she might see me at the fair, but Judy never imagined that we would really find each other among all these people. A bit later we ran into Ute Strack of Amerika Haus in Berlin, who had also been at the workshop. Another miracle. Judy felt much more at home as we strolled around the STM area. There were many names she recognized: Swets, Ebsco, Thomson, West, LexisNexis, CSA, ACRL, Chemical Abstracts Service, Elsevier, and Springer Verlag. There was also more than books here: software, hardware, CDs, online, information for PDAs, etc.

Then we walked over to hall 3 to find the internet area. Surprisingly, there were only ten terminals—serving over 7,200 individual exhibitors from 101 countries and around 280,000 visitors. Even more surprising was that the wait wasn’t very long, only about ten minutes. (Steve amused himself with the comic book and children’s books exhibits nearby while Judy checked her email. After a stop for ice cream (vendors were everywhere!) we picked up our coats and took the shuttle back to the entrance, found the bus stop, and went back to our hotel. Steve again explored the area while Judy napped—she was tired after all that walking.

We ordered pizza from Pizza Hut (pan pizza with onion, peppers, and mushrooms and garlic bread--€15.00, tasted just like at home), looked at what we picked up at the Fair, watched some television, and went to bed.

Saturday, 22 October
We had the best of intentions of leaving early, but we started speaking to Walter Hildebrandt, one of the other guests at Hotel Falkenstein. Walter is the Director of the University of Calgary Press, Alberta, Canada and has been coming to the Frankfurt Book Fair for a number of years. He gave Steve his extra ticket to the Fair yesterday. It turns out that he is a poet and author and just happened to have one of his books of poetry with him. Where the Land Gets Broken won a major prize in Canadian poetry. He autographed a copy for me.

We finally took off for France about 11:00 a.m. We had a bit of trouble finding Lembach, Canton Wissembourg, where Judy’s great-great-great-grandmother lived in about 1850 with her second husband. We stopped for lunch at La Couronne (Crown) à Wissembourg, a lovely Alsatian hotel/restaurant. Steve had pork medallions in a pepper-cream sauce with mashed potatoes and autumn vegetables, a nice salad, and a chocolate flourless cake that tasted more like very rich frosting—it melted in his mouth (and in Judy’s too). Judy had poached salmon, boiled potatoes, and very tender spinach—all swimming in butter. Her starter/entrée (appetizer) was escargot (snails) in a wonderful garlic/parsley/oil mixture. Yummm.

From Wissembourg (population about 20,000) the road climbed up and up until we reached a pass at 423 m. (1388 ft.) Then the road went back down, past grape vines, corn fields, and forests. This area is in the Parc Naturel Régional des Vosges du Nord (Regional Natural Park of the Forests of the North). At last we arrived in Lembach. It is a beautiful little town of approximately 2000 people. (We couldn’t believe all the beautiful towns in the area! Like fairy tales come to life.) We stopped at the local bakery to buy a baguette for dinner and while asking for information about Judy’s family, met Daniel Lubrez and his son, Jonathan. Mr. Lubrez said that he would be happy to help us by calling other villagers to see if anyone remembered a street named Rue Bourg, where Minette Thalsheimer Siess Lehman lived at No. 124. He took us to his house, a few blocks away, and made several calls, but to no avail. He offered to check with the Lord Mayor on Monday to see if there was perhaps an old map or book that could help. He said that there were even some records of the old Jewish synagogue (no longer standing) at city hall. He said that Siess or Suess is not a Lembach name. It might have come from Mattstal, the next town to the south, but we didn’t have time to try there. We also found a town called Molshem about 25 km. west of Strasbourg. Perhaps this is the town on great-great-grandfather Leopold Siess’s gravestone as his birthplace

Jonathan scaned a copy of the information Judy had with her. We took their address and email address and will stay in touch. Mr. Lubrez (Daniel) teaches in a technical school in Hagenau, about 20 km. to the south. He used to teach German; he now is their librarian—small world! Jonathan, who just turned 25, works in Strasbourg, about 50 km. south, and is an engineer (even smaller world) who works with welding equipment.

Then Mr. Lubrez gave us a short walking tour of the town. We found the two churches (Catholic and Lutheran), the cemetery (divided the same way), several homes from the 18th century, and the home of the grandparents of Russell Schweickart, the astronaut. The home was built in 1722. We crossed over the Sauer River and saw where women used to wash clothes in the river. We saw a water fountain with a poem by H. Mertz, a poet whom Mr. Lubrez’s mother knew. The foundations of the Lutheran church were built in the 14th century and the pulpit is in the form of the biblical tree of knowledge, complete with apples and a serpent. It is very appropriate since one of the primary products of Lembach is apples and apple juice. (Mr. Lubrez served us some Jus de pomme de la Vallée de la Sauer (apple juice from the Sauer Valley)—very sweet, fresh, and delicious. (Now Judy understands her love of apples.) We stopped for a minute at the Auberge du Cheval Blanc (Inn of the White Horse). It is beautiful and we’ll have to stay there on the next visit. We also stopped into a tobacconist for directions and found lovely porcelain plates with scenes of Lembach that begged to be bought (also some postcards, a map of the area, and a Lembach bumper sticker for our car).

We again had a bit of trouble finding our way. The road to Landau (Germany) was blocked by construction, but after asking a few people we finally got around it and onto the autobahn to Frankfurt. Note: When we crossed from Germany to France and back, there one stopped us to ask for identification—imagine that! ) By now it was dark and raining, a great chance to see how the new car handled—and it handled great! We got back to Frankfurt, stopped at a grocery store to buy a roll and butter for Judy and yogurt for Steve for dinner, ate and packed, and went to bed—tired but happy about our day.

Sunday, 23 October
After a leisurely breakfast and checking out of our hotel, we drove through downtown Frankfurt to locate the place where we must leave the car tomorrow (sob!) to be shipped back to Cleveland. After our usual false starts and getting lost, we found it, in the industrial town of Waldorf. It appears that they will truck the car to a port.

We then headed to the Kempinski Hotel Gravenbruch, our location for the night, courtesy of Mercedes-Benz. It is a wonderful “country manor located in parklands with its own lake” in the suburbs of Frankfurt, near the airport. There are 283 rooms, 3 restaurants (including a Lebanese/Italian one), and spa with indoor and heated outdoor pools. Our room is huge, with nice period furniture, a Tempur-pedic mattress, and a bathroom with tub and two sinks. They took our car and delivered all our baggage to the room and we were escorted to our room by a nice young woman who spoke perfect English. We have a nice view of the lake.

We had lunch at the Törschanke & Schoppenhof (Gate Bar) restaurant. Judy had weinerschnitzel with mushroom sauce with pommes frites (French fries) and a small salad. Steve had a sausage salad with thin slices of sausage and marinated cabbage, carrots, and onions, and some of Judy’s fries. We were served by the owner of the bar herself, a nice young woman who spoke absolutely perfect English. They weren’t too busy because it was Sunday. After lunch we both took a nap, then Steve walked around the grounds for a while.

About 7:00 p.m. our complimentary bottle of wine arrived. It was a very nice Riesling (how they knew we liked white wines and especially Riesling, we don’t know) and we ordered a cheese plate to go with it. This was our dinner—and an elegant dinner it was. After a wonderful day, we went to bed.

Monday, 24 October
The buffet breakfast at the hotel was amazing: omelets, waffles, 15 kinds of bread with at least 8 choices of jam or honey or fruit, cereal or muesli with a choice of yogurts, assorted meats and cheeses, 5 kinds of juice, and miscellaneous fruits. We were almost the only ones in the room, so we took our time. After checking out, we drove to the drop-off point for shipping the car to the USA. The nice lady filled out a stack of papers and Steve signed his name multiple times, then said goodbye to his new car. It should appear in Cleveland in 6 to 8 weeks, in time for Christmas.

A cab took us to the airport, where we checked in, then made our way to the American Airlines Admirals Club to wait for our plane. It left on time at 2:20 p.m. Our seats were in the back of business class, but were nice nevertheless. We were served champagne before takeoff, a four-course dinner about an hour later, and lunch an hour or two before arrival in Chicago, again on time at 4:30 p.m. Dinner was an appetizer of grilled shrimp, smoked salmon and fish pate, followed by a salad with asparagus and greens. We both had the herb-crusted salmon for the main course, with a nice rice side dish. We both had ice cream sundaes for dessert, with berries for Steve and hot fudge for Steve. For lunch Steve had a smoked turkey sandwich, Judy passed.

Our flight to Cleveland wasn’t until 8:30 p.m., so we whiled away the time in the Admirals Club in Chicago. Fortunately, our flight was on time, but it was still nearly midnight by the time we got home, tired but glad to have had a wonderful trip.