Palm Sunday

Sunday 17th April Palm Sunday
We were blessed with yet Another sunny day which warmed up well. Sunday in the Kolbe household is rather different from what we’re used to. It’s a day for sleeping in and having a substantial breakfast (brunch?) mid-morning! I was feeling a bit sad that we hadn't seen any churches in the neighbourhood that we might have attended (although Bruce wouldn't have understood any of the German), and started thinking about how much people who don't have faith in Christ miss out on in life. Reading the prophecy in Isaiah 42 about Christ's ministry and how people would respond to Him and His message - many act as if they are both blind and deaf and refuse to believe. Just a few of my thoughts on Palm Sunday leading up to Easter!
After breakfast, the computer was back in use again to check the train details for going to Holland. We had only booked the journey back from Haarlem to Düsseldorf the night before as it was a cheaper fare that day. The other ticket would be purchased at Dorsten station.
We sent a text to the Weavers to let them know our arrival details then managed to coax the misbehaving printer into printing off some tickets for us. Jeremy was busy packing up a bag for us to take back to NZ as we had so little luggage ourselves (one bag weighing under 15 kg plus our two small cabin bags!). He and Judith were planning to move to NZ in May and didn't want to have to pay too much excess. Anthony was also going to bring some luggage back with him. The suitcase was quite heavy when finished, but at 22kgs wouldn't exceed our baggage allowance.
It was soon time to go to the station by car, as it is a few kilometres from where the Kolbes live. Most railway stations in Germany have automatic ticket machines which can even print you a rather useful overview of your journey as well as the ticket.
The train was very short and had a diesel engine. We were amazed at wide carriages with fold-up seats. It stopped many times on the way to Cologne, where we had to change trains. We bought some peanut bars from a platform vending machine whilst we waited and coffee on the way to keep us going as there was no time for lunch.
Our first impressions of Holland were good - despite the flatness of most of the land, it is still interesting. There are so many new things to see, from the numerous ditches and canals with their barges and longboats, to the different types of housing.
It was quite cloudy from Arnhem to Utrecht, which seemed a very interesting place to visit. As we passed by a large canal, we saw what looked like floating houses, and an import/export building that had loading doors opening directly onto the water
At Amsterdam, we had to change to a small local train which went from a rather isolated platform that was a very long way for poor Bruce to carry that heavy suitcase! It wasn't very well signposted so it took us a while to find it.
On arriving at Haarlem, no-one was waiting to pick us up, so we sent some more texts, and were picked up after a shortish wait. No-one had picked up our earlier text with our train details!





After dropping off our bags at the Weavers', we were taken on a bit of a tour of the area as the evening was so fine and warm. So we drove to a local windmill, to the statue commemorating what is apparently an English legend about the boy and the dyke and the North Sea Canal where we watched the progress of a ferry boat, which apparently used to be free.
It's so different in Holland from NZ, there are so many, to us, unusual things - the almost omnipresence of bicycles, the narrow, bricked streets with many speed humps (it must be excruciating if you have to go to hospital by ambulance!), the canals with so many different types of bridges, the different types of housing..... Fascinating!

The Weavers spent many years as missionaries in a former Communist country and are now based in Holland running Kairos courses in Europe. It was delightful to see them again, and we had fun having a bit of a catch up on news since it was probably a couple of years since we'd last seen them. After a late tea around 8pm of soup, rolls, and cake we watched Bourne Supremacy before going to bed.

An amazing day

Sunday 10th April
As there was no church service today, the Meschenmosers’ gave us a choice of either visiting Säntis in Switzerland or going on a boat trip on Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Europe. We decided that visiting the Alps would be more exciting, especially as it meant travelling into Switzerland AND a boat trip!

First we drove to Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance and briefly visited the Zeppelin Museum as the ferry wasn’t due to leave for some time. We looked at the displays in the foyer. Zeppelins are still made in various sizes, some are used for tourist flights. If you look closely at the LH photo, you may be able to see a model being played on by children outside the museum.
Walking by the side of the lake, we saw a nesting swan so close to the pathway. What a brave bird to nest so close to humans in such an exposed spot!
It was a lovely calm day on the lake and we could see the Säntis in the distance. It is the highest of the Appenzell Alps at 2502 m above sea level. We had even been able to see it (just) from the Meschenmosers’ house as the sky was so clear that morning. It was fun looking back to the German side – there was a castle on the outskirts of Friedrichshafen (pic top R) - and ahead to misty Switzerland. You can see the other ferry boat heading away from the Swiss side in the photo below left. Eventually we reached Switzerland at Romanshorn, a very attractive-looking place (centre pic).
We were soon driving off the boat, and then proceeded on our way. At first we passed many orchards. The grass was full of dandelions and other flowers. We had noticed the rather (to our eyes) unkempt-looking lawns in Germany and were told that while some people have ‘English' lawns (that’s to say they keep them short!) many prefer a more natural look and enjoy the wildflowers that come up. There were certainly plenty of them! We also passed many cyclists - what hard work to climb those hills!
We passed through many towns and villages on the way to the Alps - Rorschach seemed quite large, and the houses were timbered and had shuttered windows. We saw a Zeppelin in the sky! I didn’t like St Gallen very much, it seemed quite ugly – there were lots of ultra-modern multi-storeyed buildings. Even in the older part of town, the buildings towered up 6 or 7 storeys, but at least they were more attractive to look at. It's the largest city in Eastern Switzerland.

As we drew closer to the mountains, the scenery became more and more interesting. Smaller towns and villages such as Urnäsch, Herisau and Appenzell led us closer and closer to our destination. It was so lovely to see the little mountain chalets, Brown Swiss cattle, small farms dotted all over the plentiful green grass, with dark pine forests and the snowy peaks providing a pleasing contrast.

When we arrived at the foot of the Säntis it was so awe-inspiring to stand in the road near the cable car depot and to look up the mountain (LH pic). What would it be like to go all the way up there? We were soon to find out.







It was simply amazing! From time to time we’d cross over a sheer rockface, and on all sides you could see mountains. The snow soon covered everything and we had the most incredible views in the clear air. The car park soon looked really tiny and the people like little ants. The cable car was really large and can hold up to 60 people, but it wasn’t too full that day. It was a great way to travel and not at all scary. LH picture is the view back down to the car park near the top. Centre - view from top, RH sheer face at terminal.
The terminal building has several stories and includes conference rooms, restaurants, viewing platforms and a rock and mineral collection from around the world. Unfortunately there were no examples from New Zealand.

Once we went outside, the views were absolutely stunning. In one spot a large panoramic view engraved into a metal plaque showed the peaks that are visible in six countries: Italy, Austria, France, Germany, Lichtenstein and of course Switzerland. The land slopes down towards France and Germany but we could see some of the high alps in the others. Way over in the distance we could just make out Lake Constance (LH pic). One interesting mountain with a distinctive shape was the Altmann (centre), 2,435 m above sea level, and further north is the Churfirsten group (RH pic), a range of mountains whose beautifully scalloped peaks rise up into the sky.
As the day went on, it started to cloud up a little but we had a great time. It had been a lovely warm temperature of about 20-21 deg down by the lake but was only 5 degrees up on the mountain, 2007 m above sea level. Once the clouds started to thicken, a cold wind sprung up and we soon started wanting to seek shelter.
From one side of the complex you can descend through a partial tunnel in the rock - part of the outer wall is of glass so you can see outside – or into the snow that was covering it. It was really cold in there. On the inside wall were placed various pieces of equipment used over 50 years ago by alpine guides. The tunnel leads to the mountain guide quarters. Guides have been active on the mountain for well over a century. There is are tables set out on a small terrace where you can enjoy a cup of coffee or light meal. We did just that and it was most welcome.
You could just sit back and relax, gazing at the tremendous views. Leading down from the buildings were paths leading to various places, with signposts telling you how many hours it’d take you to get to the other mountains and villages. If you want to walk/climb up or down the Säntis, it is supposed to take you 4 hours. It takes about 1/2 hour by cable car!

The complex also has an important weather station with a huge tower that was too difficult to photograph adequately (LH pic). it was interesting to look at however.
We also enjoyed watching the Alpine Jackdaws (centre) that liked visiting the outdoor restaurants and were having an amazing time soaring on the thermals up the side of the main building (RH pic).
We decided to leave around 4pm as we were starting to feel quite cold. We returned by a different route, driving around the side of the lake passing through a small section of Austria before reaching Germany again.







It was amazing how the countryside suddenly opened out into a broad, flat valley, bordered by snow-capped mountains – the Rhine. In one place we saw a cog railway that went up a steep hillside in a little gorge. I was quite surprised to see a vineyard or two in Switzerland, I'd always imagined it to be too cold! Pics: Urnäsch, Rhine valley scene, Altstadt.
It was interesting to find out that the Swiss still prefer to use their francs rather than the Euro. There is a hefty annual fee of E100 if you want to use the motorways there! It you don’t buy the ticket, it might cost you 2-300 Euros just to make one trip.
It’s often quite difficult to tell just when you cross the borders in Europe - unless your cellphone decides to tell you you've just joined a new exchange. Ours did this when we crossed from Belgium to Germany. We did notice that there were a lot of curved tops on the chimneys in Austria which was different from the Swiss architecture. Of course, place names change too, so if you know your languages, it does help. At some borders there is a police check-point but they usually only stop trucks. There was one between Austria and Germany.
We stopped to fill the car with petrol once we'd crossed into Austria. It was quite interesting to see the different prices between the diffent countries. It's cheaper to buy in Austria so many people make a special trip across the border just to fill up the car! The differences in price are caused by the way petrol is taxed in each country.hough sometimes you see a police-stop at the border (there was one at St Margrethen between Switzerland and Austria). They don’t usually check the cars, just the trucks.

We decided to stop for a break in Bregenz, an Austrian town at the side of the lake. It has an ancient history dating back to Celtic settlements over 3,000 years ago. We had a good walk around the waterfront, visiting a rather unusual-looking unfinished lakeside open-air theatre. Performances will cost €100 a seat! Ouch! Nearby was a marina where the Stadt Bregenz was moored (centre), and just past there, the town hall (RH).
We were feeling a bit hungry as we hadn't had much to eat since breakfast, so we bought some butter Bretzels – huge, butter-filled pretzels. Really nice but a bit too much butter! It gets injected into the roll in long strips about 5 mm thick! It was very welcome though as I was starting to feel quite weak and tired after all the walking an fresh air!
As it was getting on a bit and we were all rather tired, we went back to Friedrichshafen via a more inland route, and from there back to Horgenzell. We crossed into Bavaria in Germany over a river at Lindau. We had Spätzle for tea, a Swabian speciality.

Return to Luka's via a fancy house and Maasai medicine

Monday July 6th We were up just after six, and after a big farewell, we had breakfast with Moses before walking for over an hour to his deceased eldest brother's manyatta. We went with John and a young teacher (another Moses).
We were most surprised to see a large city-style stone house with solar panels on the roof (to run a light), a generator (for a small TV), and an outdoor kitchen sporting a chimney! It was strange to see iron-grilled windows, plastered internal walls, and even ceilings out in the bush! Most African homes don’t have ceilings so you have to be very quiet at night! We were impressed to see a larger rainwater tank by the kitchen.
It was nice to bathe in a concrete-floored bathroom, easier to keep the feet clean than on a dirt floor, although you still wear. We were asked at Paulo’s why we don’t splash water everywhere like they do – an advantage of using flannels!
We spoke afterwards with four women: Rebekah, the widowed 2nd wife - Moses' brother died 14 years ago (9 children), Esther (5 children), Helen (3 children) and Grace (2 children). Helen & Grace are Rebekah’s eldest daughters. She has had to do the work of a man on the shamba, even going to the markets to buy and sell stock. The first wife has now died & the third wife lives with her eldest son.
They are struggling to get enough food, they only have 30 cows left and a few sheep/goats. The relief food helped for a while. They can’t send the children to school, so they just stay around at home or go out with the stock. They'd like to start a small business selling sugar & oil to locals. Another idea is to rent a field in an area with better rainfall to grow maize; they’d just take the flour home. Their nine acres of beans all died.
One of the little boys had to have a heart operation in Nairobi, a serious problem was discovered after he collapsed during a soccer match. The hospital has their title deeds because they haven't been able to pay the bill! One little girl has a deformed, contracted hand from severe burns, she’s learning to write left-handed.
After having some refreshments, we were given some gifts, then walked around the compound talking to teacher Moses, waiting for John to finish talking to the womem. Some signs of property damage: one small building had lost its iron roof in a gale; the old outside toilet is now unusable, it started collapsing into the pit in an earthquake! They just use the bush again! We were surprised to see that even 6-month hoggets had been left behind in the pens instead of being taken out to graze. There were even a couple of cats there – an unusual sight.
Moses has been teaching at Enkiloriti school for 6 years, one of 5 teaching 6 classes of what should be an 8-standard school. Only two are paid by the government, two by CCS Australia, & Moses by the parents. Kenyan schools only go up to Form Four (O-levels), for F5-6 you have to go to Uganda, or else go to College in Kenya. Government teachers earn 32,000 Ksh/month (~$800), NGO’s pay about 6,000 Ksh, Moses has no guaranteed salary.
Poor Bruce found it a bit hot walking back to Luka’s. On the way, we met an old man in the bush who tried greeting us in English, laughing to hear himself speak! He laughed even more when we replied, congratulating him on his excellent English!
Another old man arrived just after we got back, thanking us for the relief food. It was hard to persuade him not to slaughter a goat for us!
We wanted to wash our clothes, but were told to wait for clean water from the church water tank! I had a bit of an audience at first, the mamas kept advising me to add more water – but I was soaping up the collars/cuffs well before washing properly. I was glad when they left!
My turn to milk tonight, Bruce had already milked various animals, including a reluctant goat and a sheep. The grey cow in the picture is very quiet, I filled my cup from just one quarter – most are only giving half that! The young suckle one side while you milk the other, the yield is so low that you milk 1 cow, 2 goats or 3 sheep for a cupful. We never knew what kind of milk was in the chai!
Afterwards, I spent some time chatting with the mamas, who thought we must have been very tired after walking. I was then called to our hut, Bruce had been taken ill, I'd wondered why Bruce suddenly disappeared after milking a goat. He vomited for over 2 hours until he took some Maasai medicine (powdered bark mixed with water). It tasted vile apparently but worked really well until the early hours. We had to postpone our dinner engagement with Susannah.
In the morning, I gave him Gastrolyte + charcoal tablets, but I actually had an excellent sleep, wasn't disturbed by his early promenade at all!

Last day in Germany

Monday 29th June  After checking out of our hotel, we took our bags to Jeremy's (left) then went to the North Duisburg Industrial Park.  This factory was closed 20 years ago, but used to make iron using coke from the Essen plant. 
Interesting sights: small fish in a ground-level storage bunker - how did they get there? trees and shrubs taking over the buildings and old railway tracks; a large wind sail near two cooling ponds (right); gas pipes stretching for kilometres over the countryside!  We climbed 253 stairs to the top of the furnace structure.  Our souvenir - a €5 flattened and embossed with the plant name by turning a handle!
After a brief rest at Jeremy’s, we went out to let Judith work uninterrupted.  It was SO hot, over 30°, that I got a really bad headache.  I wanted to get my hair cut before landing in Africa, but it turned out that but Monday is hairdressers' day off in Duisburg.
We took some books to the Botanic Gardens to read in the shade, but had to move off the grass when Jeremy got bitten by ants to some semi-reclining seats.
After repacking our bags and wrapping gifts, we caught the U-bahn to Düsseldorf. It was fun riding high above the pavements and roads in the free twin-carriage Sky Train, suspended below a curved concrete span, from the station to our terminal!After a search to find the right check-in desk, we enjoyed a good coffee and doughnuts with chocolate & hazelnuts inside before wandering around an interesting photographic display about immigrants living in various parts of the world.  It took a long time to pass through security, but we were happy to use some €2 vouchers to buy sweets for the Maasai children.

Essen to Barkenfeld

Saturday 27th June Humid, partly sunny.  Lots of people at breakfast today, but it's a busy weekend in Duisburg.  It was a day of missed connections!
We missed the first u-bahn to the main station so had to catch a later train to Essen to visit a former coal/coke works.  It was strange using a former coal elevator near Tower 12 (an old mine shaft, pictured above left) to enter the building which is now an information centre and shop, but still complete with all the old machinery (above right).
After having a browse around, we walked alongside the old railway tracks to the coke plant.  The windows of a most unusual-looking school (right) in the distance proved a real eye-teaser.


I loved the Sonnenrad ride (left), which completed two revolutions!  It was a little like sitting in a cable-car except it was attached to a huge wheel which slowly revolved, giving lovely views from the top.  Even Judith enjoyed it, although she hates heights!
We missed the next tram from Zollverein Süd by only two minutes - pictured right: some interesting old houses across the road - but it was enough to make us too late for our train to Barkenfeld, so Judith had to phone her parents re our new arrival time. 
Her father drove us to their home where we had a very late lunch of strawberry cake, strawberries and cream, and coffee at 4 p.m.
We enjoyed our walk around the neighbourhood with their small dog, passing the remains of Judith’s old primary school - not enough children!  We also passed the Green School where Judith’s mum teaches & the Blue School where her father teaches.  He’s due to retire after another half school year, but during the summer holidays, they are going to Mongolia to stay in a yurt!
The town was deliberately designed to be child-friendly - vehicle access is limited to the perimeter of the housing area, and there are lots of paved walkways which are good enough for cycling.  The population is only 10-15,000, not the expected 40-50,000.
We had our BBQ indoors as it started to rain: speck, Bratwurst and salads.  Particularly nice was one of Greek yoghurt, garlic and cucumbers.  We sat outside later on for a couple of hours, it was only just getting dark when we went to bed at 11!

Köln

 Friday 26th June Hot, humid, a little cloudy.  We were surprised to be met by both Jeremy & Judith, she’d caught a late train from Heidelburg the night before.  Unfortunately we had to leave her behind so she could work on her thesis.
We travelled to Köln by train, amazed to see the cathedral right in front of us as we exited the station!  It's got some lovely features - stained glass windows, mosaic floors, soaring arches and treasures including a 12th century golden Polish chest (below). 




However, Bruce felt it was a bit like a mausoleum with so many tombs and monuments to long-dead bishops. 

We walked to the Rhine and sat under a tree to watch the barges and boats go by before visiting the Chocolate Museum.
It's in an interesting setting on a small island that you reach by crossing a bridge some metres above the river, a bit disturbing to realise that during one massive flood, it had been under water!
The museum has some really interesting displays about the whole process of producing chocolate from the seed pods of the cacao plant, and about world trade. You can enjoy the warmth of a small tropical hothouse before proceeding through a miniature factory where you can view the whole process and get a couple of tastes of the results. We were really impressed by the robot that puts solidified chocolates onto a belt which takes them to the wrapping machine. 
Upstairs are displays on moulds, packaging and advertising over the years, also a special display of artifacts from South American civilisations that used cacao.We were more than ready for lunch after that! Then all that remained was to shop for gifts for our African hosts. I was a bit cross that the Deutsche Bank ATM refused our VISA card, they're supposed to be linked to Westpac!
The train back was so crowded it was standing room only, we were on the stairs between the 1st and 2nd class compartments.  Two ladies found that it's cheaper to buy a 1st class ticket than to pay the fine for sitting up there with a 2nd class one! It was obvious why they preferred to be seated though, one had crutches.
Judith had had an eventful day in the flat!  The police had arrested a guy on the ground floor, and the council had sent staff round over complaints about the rubbish that had been put outside. It was the upstairs tenants' turn, but the refuse collectors had deemed some of it not suitable to pick up!  Everyone was very glad when it disappeared a couple of days later!
Our return to the hotel was delayed by a thunderstorm. We went back when it was still lightly raining, and I got pretty wet accidentally walking under a spout of water off the roof - right down my back - brrr!

Xanten

Tuesday June 25th Had a very nice buffet breakfast before meeting up with Jeremy, went to Xanten by train, a place with an interesting history. It's a cathedral city with walls & towers that date from the 16th century.
After climbing up inside the Kriemhildmühle (top right), a working windmill, we walked to the partial reconstruction of the Roman colony, which was founded in the time of Emperor Trajan around 200 A.D.








No one knows which god was worshipped at the Hafenstempel (above left). Other buildings include a Romanesque inn and herb garden (above right) and a large amphitheatre (below left).








Above right: an amazing example of Roman technology - a crane that could lift 9t blocks of stone.
After a cheap €5 lunch at an outdoor restaurant, we visited the Cathedral (left), which has been wonderfully restored since the Second World War. We especially admired the amazing life-size sculptures of the crucifixion outside (above right).
A grassed quadrangle containing an interesting monument is surrounded by beautiful vaulted cloisters behind the cathedral.