My work is finally completed, my suitcases are packed and I'm out of here - yeah! I vow each and every year that I will not fly out of here exhausted, but haven't gotten there yet! I am beat!

I flew Northwest/KLM out of Minneapolis and sat next to a man from New Richmond, WI. He was visiting some acquaintances in Moscow and would be traveling in Siberia and Russia for two weeks - wow! We talked for a couple of hours and then I put on my sleep mask, ear plugs and went to sleep for about three hours until a baby across the aisle started to cry. That baby cried for several hours while the parents slept. Someone asked the father if they could walk the baby and the dad said, no, he will fall asleep very soon. Hours later, the mother awoke and took the baby in her lap and then he slept. Some people are not to be understood, I guess.

Day 1 — Wednesday

I arrived in Amsterdam at 6:30 in the morning and was very tired. I do like more sleep than just a couple of hours! I like looking out the window on my way in to Amsterdam - it is like coming home! The architecture is enough like Ostfriesland that I feel I am almost there. I met a lady also traveling to Bremen, but she stopped at a coffee and smoke lounge and I went to the gate area with three hours to wait for the flight. Nobody was around and I could rearrange my suitcase and carry-on luggage. I met two French ladies who were traveling home from Chicago. They really liked America, but thought our bread and coffee were unspeakably bad - something I have hear all the time. The only good coffee was bought in coffee houses, they added. And they said our bread is like white paste - I agreed!

I boarded the very small Cityhopper plane at 9:30 a.m. and as it was quiet, I slept! I was in Bremen one hour later. I picked up my bag and box with food and gifts and was stopped at the door by customs. They wanted to know what was in my box! I explained that I have a lot of allergies and I had brought some of my own food and some small gifts for cousins, toys, etc. As long as the value was minimal, they did not open up anything. What I like is that all the luggage carts in European airports are free!

I walked across the street to pick up my car at EuropeCar. It was 11 a.m. and my car was supposed to be picked up at 12. When I inquired, the lady at the desk asked where I was going. When I said I was going to my cousin in Rysum, she told me her father lived there and wrote a note to my cousin with greetings and let me have the car early! It is a small world.

Every time I come to Ostfriesland, it's like coming home. All the small homes constructed with brick, each with a clay tile roof. Each window has a lace curtain with flowers in almost all of the windows. I wonder if green thumbs are genetic? There is something about that sameness that is so right for this area. I have tried to explain quaint to my cousins, but the meaning is somehow lost and no one understands. Maybe if you live there you cannot truly appreciate how great this area is. They tell me that I only think it is so wonderful because I haven't seen the rest of Germany - we will see! I will also have a week in southern Germany with my cousin Gisela.

Honking the horn, I surprised my cousins who were not yet out looking for me. My Dad's first cousin, Martha, is 92 and came to have the noon meal with her daughter and husband. She does not leave home so often anymore and it is such a treat to visit with her. She's very well read and always questions me on US politics and knows exactly what is going on. She looks so much like my grandmother did, the first time I saw her in 1993, I cried!

After lunch and tea, I could not sit there without dozing off so I took a brisk walk around Rysum. Rysum is known as the most beautiful village in Ostfriesland - and it really is. We brought Martha home to Loquard, another charming village less than 2 KM away. Then Ihno and I took a drive to the dike by Campen and walked along the dike for a couple of miles - all that cool fresh air is enough to wake anyone up. Then to my cousin Gisela's home in Emden for Abend Brot (evening meal) and working on my speech for the Upstalsboom-Gesellschaft. How in the world am I going to say all of those multi-syllable words right by Saturday? Yikes! By the time I went to bed at 10:30 p.m., I was almost comatose.

Day 2 — Thursday

Thursday morning I reacquainted myself with Emden visiting my favorite bookstores and ordering books, maps and other goodies that OGSA members want ! Including a Beanie Baby "Rot Bar" for Jeanee, the sweetie who does all the OGSA mailing. Home for lunch and some errands in the afternoon. I stopped at my cousin Ilse's in Emden and her parents were also there. So Ilse's Mom, Alma, and Mona and Jonas (Ilse's kids) went to the Moormuseum with me. I need slides for picture presentations and the Moormuseum is always interesting. Mona was a 3 year old in 1993 when I visited the Moormuseum the first time with Ilse's family - I've been there three times since then!

We visited Gisela's sister Hiltraut and her husband Erwin Schoneboom in the evening. They have a beautiful daughter Amalie who can now ride her bicycle and a new two week old son named Dirk. Yes, a good Ostfriesen name! Always a treat to visit family and to see how much the children are growing.

Day 3 — Friday

Friday morning I traveled to Aurich to the Upstalsboom-Gesellschaft library. I first stopped by Hilda Bruns to see if she could come along, but instead she gave me a list of items that she needed and I copied several pages for her in Aurich. I spent several hours drooling over copies of Ostfriesische Ahnenlisten that I do not have and copying pages from many books. It's always a treat to do some of my own genealogy, OGSA seems to take all my time now. I got a list of villages which will eventually have OSB's. There are a lot of wonderful people working on these books that our members want so badly! Left after talking to some friends and other researchers and other UG members. After I left, I walked through the Aurich business district and market place, it is very nice and I love the flower shops. Flowers are so reasonable here and I picked up some flowers for Gisela. Lots of businesses want our Euro's.

The first thing that my cousins told me was that the new currency should not be called an Euro (pronounced OI ROW), it should be called the Teuro! Tueur is the German word for expensive - so they make a play on words. I heard that expression all over German. They feel the change from the DM to the Euro was a good excuse for shopkeepers to raise prices.

Day 4 — Saturday

Saturday, I picked Hilda Bruns up early and we headed on the autobahn for Holterfehn. As I was speaking at the Upstalsboom-Gesellschaft meeting and we didn't want to be late, we took the autobahn. Hilda does not drive, so she came along for the ride. We got off at Filsum and headed south toward Potshausen. Took a wrong turn and ended up on one of the many "Scenic Routes" better known as one lane roads between towns, but arrived in Holterfehn anyway. You cannot really get lost for too long. The country is not so large that you will not eventually find the place you are looking for. Hilda said "Lin knows Ostfriesland better than I do!"

The Upstalsboom-Gesellschaft is the genealogical society for Ostfriesland. April 20th is their annual meeting and this is the second year I have attended, so I know a few more people than last year. The featured speaker is Dr. M. Font, a native of Tennessee who now lives in Leer. He speaks fluent Low German, Saterland Frisische and many other local dialects as well as German. He is well know all over Ostfriesland as he is a black man and they think this is so unusual for him to have learned Low German. Maybe there is hope for Michelle and I yet - we, too, can learn Platt! His speech and the meeting are both interesting. I am always interested in what they UG will publish during the coming year and what other projects are in the works. I especially love meeting new people.

Day 5 — Sunday

Sunday, we drove to Upleward to the church where my Grandmother was baptized and where Gisela and her family regularly attend church. It's always a treat to go to church there. I enjoy it even though I understand about half of what the pastor says. I could understand more if he could speak slower, but the rest of the congregation might object. A great meal as always from Cousin Lene whose Rote Grüte recipe so many of you have enjoyed. Then a quick trip to Greetsiel for a couple of hours (shopping for me) and then back for tea and torte's with Gisela's brother Reiner, wife Silke and cute daughter's Mirja and Fenna and her sister Hiltraut, husband Erwin, beautiful Amalie and newborn Dirk. After tea, it is a long (four mile) walk to the dike. There is a children's park there and the kids had a great time. We pile into two cars and drive back home for Abend Brot (evening meal of bread, cheese and luncheon meats) and then everyone goes home and Lene and Arno have some peace and quiet.

Day 6 — Monday

Monday I traveled to Simonswolde to order more DorfChronik books. This OSB is so popular and it is easier to order it and ship it to the US than to have them send it to us. The last time the books came, the package was held together by one lone piece of string. No tape and a box that was not very strong.

Then I traveled into downtown Leer. If you have never traveled in Leer - it is an experience. Use Leer Nord exit and keep on going straight and you will reach the downtown area. Shopping in Leer is excellent. My nice cousin, Vi, had purchased some Ostfriesen is filigree jewelry last year and it was so gorgeous, I had to see if I could afford a ring. The jewelry is fantastic and the lady in the jewelry store was happy to help me spend my money. I purchased a ring and could have purchased a lot more! I spent $225 for a 14k gold ring that is larger than typical and was very pleased with my purchase. I thought their prices were very reasonable. I got a receipt so I can get the value added tax (16%) back when I get to the airport. And we think we pay high taxes. The gas tax is also extremely high here. Driving into Leer, it is easier to find the business district from the Leer Nord exit and then travel straight south. Getting out is always a trick!

I then went to Weener where I visited the book store and purchased some more Rheiderland church books and went across the street to the Heimat Museum. There I met Hinrich Kuper, a reporter for the local newspaper. He and I met many years ago in Minneapolis and it was great to renew his acquaintance. He could not stay for long, but he introduced me to the people who run this fine museum. I had a personal tour and enjoyed it immensely. He did a mini interview and to my surprise a picture of me and some of my remarks was on the front page of the Rheiderland newspaper on May 8th, the day I returned to the USA.

I then was privileged to visit the archives that I had not known existed. I got out my ever present family history charts and Frau Popkes and Herr Kramer were good enough to look up my family names. They found information on three of my ancestors and made my day! This was information that could not be found in church books and I will ask a friend to translate it. They read the information in the entries and informed me that some of these ancestors were very rich if they would have these large amounts of money to spend on purchasing property. Too bad none of that lasted to the present day.

I then traveled to Tergast and visited with Pastor Faßbender and his family. His wife is also a pastor, although she is currently employed by a pharmaceutical company. I ate the evening meal with them, a traditional German style meal of egg salad wrapped in ham or bacon, boiled potatoes and white asparagus. It was very tasty. They are very interesting people and we visited on many topics. He and his wife are very interested in coming to the Ostfriesen conference next summer and they hope to bring 20 people from Ostfriesland. Hopefully, he can give a slide presentation about Ostfriesland.

Day 7 — Tuesday

Tuesday I traveled to Aurich for a meeting at the Ostfriesische Landschaft. However, after arriving, one of the gentlemen I needed to see was not available until late afternoon. I traveled to Uttum to take a picture of the church and see a few sights and villages I had not seen before. After lunch, I visited with my cousin Hannah in Loquard before I had to return to Aurich. There are some crazy drivers on the road between Aurich and Emden. Where the road widens to the width of most American highways, the drivers take the liberty to pass - whenever! Even when someone else is coming, they expect you to pull over to the far side of the road so they can speed on their merry way - a bit scary at times!

In Aurich I received permission to translate from German to English three books originally published by the Ostfriesische Landschaft. Needless to say, I was smiling all the way back to the car. A few people might have thought I had a liquid lunch, I smiled so broadly and greeted everyone with a cheery "Moin."

After a nice meal at a Gaststatte, I visited with Rudolph and Antje Meinen in Aurich. They have a Penzion which many American tourists visit. Herr Meinen is now retired and was once employed by the Stadt Archiv and is very interested in all phases of genealogy. He was very interested in our organization and I gave him a newsletter to browse at his convenience.

Day 8 — Wednesday

Wednesday morning I traveled to Simonswolde to pickup the DorfChronik books. Simonswolde is a bit out of the way, but charming. Then I headed via Autobahn to Leer and a visit with the Wiemann family. Johann Wiemann is the brother of OGSA member Rudy Wiemann from St. Paul and they have been in Minnesota several times. It is always a treat to meet them. I drove around and around trying to find the street on which they lived. I knew where it was, but could not find it! So I parked by the Bunting Tea Museum and walked the couple of blocks to their home. After tea, we drove to the home of a friend who loaned me older copies of the Quellen und Forshungen that I had coveted! He wants information on Lutheran's who immigrated to the USA. He has a special interest in Nokomis, Illinois. After he looked at my ancestry charts, he decided that both he and his wife are researching similar lines to mine.J I know everyone will be surprised to learn of this as I seem to be related to most everyone researching in Ostfriesland.

We walked to Wein Haus Wolf and had a tour of them museum on the second and third floors. I would never have found this without the Wiemann's. There was no cost and it was most interesting. This was not, however, how the poor people lived. While the building itself is very old and highly interesting, the furnishings on the upper floors are wonderful. There is a rather steep stairway to the second floor and a very steep stairway to the third floor.

After lunch at the Watte Restaurant, which I can highly recommend, we walked through Leer and visited Shuster book store. Only with a native, could I find where the used book section of the store is! I've been there several times and did not know this existed. Gene Janssen (OGSA Board Director) will be green with envy as he loves old books as much as I do.

The weather is wonderful, a light jacket is all that is needed. The grass is very green and there are flowers blooming everywhere. And there seems to be flowers in every window in the homes that you pass. I do think they are all born with a green thumbs. I love the lace curtains that you see in every window. It always makes me want to go home and redecorate.

I spent a few hours with Lisa and Silke Buß in Großefehn. Lisa is a teacher at the school and Silke is her daughter - very, very nice people. Silke will travel to Minnesota in August and study English as a second language at U of MN. They made Updrogtbohnen (spelling?) a type of bean that is mashed with potatoes and fresh home-cured ham. With my allergies, they worried that I could eat it, but I had no reaction. The chemicals in American food is much tougher for me! They also made Rote Grütze for dessert - yummmmmmm!

I then traveled to Emden where I had an appointment with a physiotherapist for my TMJ. She is a neighbor of my cousin and really knows her stuff. I have a lot of pain with this and although it hurts when she works on me, she is good! I have another appointment on Friday.

Day 9 — Thursday

Thursday the weather was wonderful, beautiful and sunny. I traveled to Jürgen and Andrea Hoogstraat's home in Victorbur. They are both supposed to be part-time pastors in this very large congregation. There are several services each Sunday and they confirmed over 60 students! Most churches in Ostfriesland have only a few old people who attend. What does that tell you? It tells me that they are very good and active pastors.

At the current time there is not another pastor, so they both work many hours. Jurgen is teaching the children in the kindergarten some low German. He has a small animal puppet called "poor Carl" who can only understand platt (Low German). It is very popular with the children and a good idea in my mind. It bothers me that the small children are not being taught Low German. Soon, this too, will be a language no longer used.

Pastor Hoogstraat had some additional information on our distant family line and he allowed me to take it along to copy the pages. He also agreed to come to America in August of 2003 and speak to the OGSA conference. He and his wife are extremely knowledgeable about life in early Ostfriesland and they are both interesting people. I smiled all the way to Emden I'm doing a lot of that lately!

I traveled to Langholt in the afternoon. Much fresh "landes Luft" on the way. To those of you who have never heard the term, it is manure! I spent the afternoon with Michael Heinze and his lovely wife. They live in an older home that is largely original and charming. They have more books in their home than I do and that is saying something! There is even a large book shelf over the toilet. Don't know if my husband would agree with that. Any home that has that many books is near and dear to my heart. We worked out ideas on several projects and caught up with news - they have been friends for many years. It was 20 degrees centigrade and very, very warm. I left about 4 p.m. and headed to Emden for my physiotherapie session. When I arrived it was 16 degrees and cool enough for a jacket - this is the weather in Ostfriesland.

The session went much better and my pain is less. I will have another session the day before I leave for America. I think I should take her along with me.

Day 10 — Friday

On Friday morning, I met my cousin's wife Barb, her sister Deann (both OGSA members) and their siblings. They enjoy life so much and at the end of the day I hurt from laughing. Don is never without some quip or joke - some of them in low German. This was a good thing as the day was cold and rainy. It rained for most of the day. We traveled to Weener to the Heimat Museum with a personal tour from Herr Bock, a man who speaks good English and made the history of the area come alive. He is a former teacher and very knowledgeable. There will be a tour of the Heimat Museum on our website as I took a lot of pictures. The ladies found the curtain store across the streeet and had a great time there. The store were closing for lunch, so we headed to Weinberg Restaurant where we had a great meal! None of them spoke or read German, so I got to order for all of them. Everyone seemed to enjoy their lunch and we would recommend this place to all.

We then, amid much laughter, headed for Bunde and the Reformiert Kirche. This is the church of their ancestors and mine. We walked through the cemetery in the rain. This cemetery always tugs at my heart because is not well maintained. There are tombstones amid groups of trees, overgrown shrubbery and other signs of disrepair. At least this time the grass was mowed, even though it was a rough job and there was no trimming! One time the grass was so long I didn't see how a lawn mower could cut it.

One of the guys in our party came running up and said a lady gave us permission to go inside the church. We were all glad to get out of the rain. They started questioning the two caretakers about family names, one of which was Siefkes. The lady left suddenly and came back with a small footstool on which was written J. Siefkes. Grown men and ladies do cry I think we all had tears in our eyes. We could not believe that this was found. They gave it to the family! The church was built in the 1200's and is very old. Largely un-restored, however, all the paintings from pre-reformation times have been painted over. It is huge! We could hardly make ourselves leave. We all felt like this was some type of an awesome experience. The church also benefited from some donationsJ

Riding high on this experience, we drove through Bunderhee and on to Ditzumerverlaat. Bunderhee is wonderful, a long narrow street with the homes of the rich farmers lining the street/

There were no old graves in Ditzumerverlaat, but many names that all of us with Ostfriesen ancestry know. Then it was on the autobahn and on to Emden. It was too cold and wet to do anything more and hot chocolate and I think I remember mention of Schnapps and beer were mentioned more than once. They dropped me off at my cousin's home and on they went, laughing all the way. I enjoyed this day and my new best friends enormously!

Day 11 — Saturday

Saturday was a family day after spending a lot of money at the Post Office. Shipping books is very expensive. Twice as expensive as last year! But good maps and books are on their way to America, even as this is written.

I spent the morning with my cousin Heink and his wife Dena. Heink and I had a tour of the Loquard church which will also be on our website. This is an old charming Lutheran church, but few people attend. A local boy gave us a tour and knew all of the history by heart. He is no slouch when it comes to playing the organ either. He could give all of us lessons! Then back to their home to have lunch. These are such warm, loving people and it is so hard to leave. While my German is not good, they are kind and we can understand each other. Their home is lovely with so many flowers both inside and out.

After lunch a visit with friends Adelbert and Janette in Pilsum. My parents met this couple in Buffalo Center several years ago and we have maintained the acquaintance. Adelbert is distantly related to me on one of my Poppinga lines (I know, so surprising!). They had also invited my second cousin Enno who is the Burgermeister in Greetsiel. I had a family history book on our Cornelius family for him. He was amazed at the amount of work that went into a history book - I am, too! That is the book that was a test of my sanity. I swore if I didn't have nervous breakdown over that book, I never would - guess time will tell.

After several enjoyable hours, I headed to Woltzeten for a short visit with another cousin of mine. As his wife was just out of the hospital, I did not stay long. Everyone is always so polite and hospitable. Then back to Emden and a quiet evening at home. Had to pack as Gisela and I are leaving for our trip to southern Germany in the morning.

Day 12 — Sunday

We left about 9 a.m. after a hearty breakfast and were on our way. The little Volkswagon Golf was packed with suitcases, camera's and snacks. Gisela said we would only travel on autobahn's if there was no other way to where we were going, or if speed was important. On most of the days, we didn't use them. We took smaller scenic routes and enjoyed them very much. You really don't see much countryside on the autobahn.

We meandered our way through the countryside with a destination of Westerstede. Westerstede has a huge Rhododendron (azalea) garden that is open to the public. The azalea's bloom the middle of May and this is a multi-acre park. The only other park similar to this is the one at Luttetsburg and that one is free. This one is worth the trip, even though we were a bit early, the flowers were beautiful - and of course, it rained! It seemed like every other business in this area is a nursery with greenhouses and the most fantastic plants. They must grow plants for all of Germany.

You cannot believe the small narrow roads that we traveled! I had purchased a Grosse Shell Atlas and Gisela pored over it finding the small out of the way places. When she says scenic routes, that is what she means! We were traveling on a concrete one lane roadway and there were thousands of acres of land that is being excavated - many thousands of acres. There are mounds of dirt everywhere and no rhyme or reason for the excavation. Zipping along on this one lane road we rounded a corner and up ahead were the flashing lights on a police car! Slowing down to a crawl, we saw what the problem was, the two cars passed to close to one another and it took off the driver side mirrors. We sedately bypassed the accident and went merrily on our way, glad it was someone else who had to deal with that problem. We ate lunch in a bank parking lot, watching cars go by in the pouring rain. There are not a lot of restaurants open on Sundays and it was easier to bring lunch along - and faster!

Die Westfählische Mühlenstraße Tour was along the way and we stopped to visit a couple of them. It would have been interesting to see all of them, but time did not allow. This is a guide to historic windmills in the Westphalia area and well worth taking time to see them all. There are 42 windmills of different types and uses along the area between Helmsen and Levern, portions along the Wester River. Look for Minden on your map and you are in the right vicinity. If you find one windmill, you will find brochures for the rest of them. For anyone, like me, who adores windmills - it is a must!

We drove into mountains and stopped at a Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial. It could be seen from miles away and was high on a mountain. When we wound our way up the mountain, it was an enormous open structure. We walked through the woods and came up to the rear of the monument and it overlooked an entire valley. There is evidence of restoration on the front side. The statue inside the structure must be more than 50 feet tall! We stopped at the elegant café and had tea (not Ostfriesen) and tortes - YUM!

We drove into Hamlyn and found our hotel on a side street. After we checked in we parked in the hotel garage and started walking through the city. We were a couple of blocks off the main pedestrian zone of the city and it is definitely worth a visit. Everyone has heard of the Pied Piper of Hamlyn, haven't they? Gisela said that the city hired him to get rid of the rats, only to find that the city would not pay him after he had completed his chore. One tale stated that he then played his pipe and the children of the town followed him, never to return. What actually happened will probably never be known. The city, however, really capitalizes on the story! There are rat stencils traveling over the cobblestone walkways throughout the city - kind of gruesome! In the bakery window, there are rolls shaped like rats, you get the picture? We wandered through the city like hundreds of others and as it was Sunday all the shops were closed. Met a man from California and his Dutch companion and visited a church which had open doors (Gisela knows I have a thing for churches ) and started looking for food. A guy recommended a Lebanese restaurant, but I did not come to Germany for Lebanese food - sorry!

We found the Ratskeller Restaurant on the main pedestrian zone and took a chance on the food and entered. Real table cloths and napkins must mean the food should be reasonably good, right? We ordered - ham and fresh asparagus for Gisela and fish (of course) and boiled potatoes for me. After a few minutes four ladies came in and sat at their reserved table and were served spirits as they consulted with the waitress. The waitress came back pulling a tray with a small two burner stove. The side table was filled with condiments and the waitress proceeded to make a sauce of butter, onions, red pepper, meat drippings, wine, ketchup, mustard and several other ingredients. She then put butter in the pan and added long, very thin strips of meat which she informed the guests were rat tails! I think both Gisela's and my eyebrows met our hairlines and our eyes must have bulged out! We discussed it and decided it must be beef, but it kind of gave us a start - you can imagine She poured the sauce over the rat tails and wine was poured over that and flambéed. The cart was then removed and the waitress brought the rest of the meal - a salad, rice and plenty of wine. As none of them keeled over and died, we decided that we must have been right - it actually looked like beef stroganoff. What an experience, I accused Gisela of going out of her way to make sure I remembered Hamlyn - we laughed for days about that meal. There were many larger hand carved statues in the restaurant depicting the Pied Piper with rats and with children. The waitress said they were all very old, and I believe extremely valuable.

Day 13 — Monday

The next day we headed out and planned to visit a porcelain factory - unfortunately it is closed on Mondays. A passerby told us we should visit Covey Castle in a neighboring village and off we went. It's a good thing this little Volkswagen Golf was small and you could turn on a dime - we tested out those capabilities a lot during the week. We'd be off searching, decide we were going the wrong way, turned around only to find out we were on the right track and had to turn again! Covey Castle turned out to be out of town a bit and is a very large former monastery that is now privately owned. It was very interesting and the chapel showed incredible wealth. The enormous wealth evidenced in these structures bothered me more than I thought it would. I could envision the thousands of poor starving people that lived in the surrounding community while these monks lived in high style. The church got rich and the poor got poorer. There was a reason for the Reformation!

On our way again, going through mountains up and down hair pin turns. With a stick shift car, this does get interesting at times, but I do love the stick shift! We headed down south to the Romantic Road toward Rothenburg ob der Tauber. What an interesting part of the country. Very, very old villages with wonderful architecture. This area should not be rushed through like we did - it is charming! Rothenburg ob der Tauber is an ancient walled village with a newer village surrounding it - and a destination for tourists from all over the world. You will see people of every nationality in this village! We walked up 13 flights of stairs and I could not make the last one to the top. Gisela walked, make that crawled, up the last flight and took pictures for me. They let you climb up and up and then there is a charge to climb the last flight. Gisela had been there before so she was not as interested in the museums as I always am - I love the history. I went through the crime museum - ancient methods of torture and lots of other good stuff, too - Gisela really thought I had lost my mind going through this museum, but it was one of the most interesting ones I visited. It really was very interesting. Then I went to the village museum which was also worth the visit. We ate lunch and I purchased a beer stein before we left town. The town is really set up for tourists and there are gift shops, Christmas shops and every other kind of shop to take your money. Probably the most interesting tour we took was through the St. Jakob's church - the pictures and carvings were out of this world.

I am skipping many details about some of the smaller villages that we visited. Each one had it's own special charm and each area had wonderful and old architecture, museums and shops. We stayed out of the larger cities and concentrated on the small, older villages. We traveled so many small, rural roads and saw hundreds of acres of crops of Rape (yellow grain used to make canola oil). It was quite spectacular, the green trees and fields along with the bright yellow.

Day 14 — Wednesday

The day we traveled through the Black Forest, it was May Day which meant that it was a holiday for Germans. It also rained (hard) and was so foggy that the Black Forest was white! We traveled many miles up, down and around the mountains and some day I would like to see them in the sunshine, what we could see was spectacular. We had a problem finding a place to eat, the one place we stopped at had hundreds of cars and a waiting line for a meal - so on we traveled. There are not a lot of restaurants in this area so when we found what looked like a small restaurant - we stopped. Another experience! Their menu was very limited and there were a lot of motorcyclists who stopped to get out of the rain - lots of wet leather and other equipment! We had a bowl of split pea soup and got out of there - I kept asking Gisela if she didn't want to join one of these motorcycle guys, but she wasn't really keen on that idea

Day 15 — Thursday

We spent one day traveling through the Mosel River Valley (Bernkastel-Kues) - unless you have been there you cannot imagine the thousands and thousands of acres of grape vines planted on the mountains that surround the river valley. I wondered more than once how on earth people picked the grapes as the grade that the plants were planted on was so steep. Once in a while you saw the ruins of a castle in the distance. How many of our ancestors ever traveled in those regions and saw those beautiful sites. The villages are all very old, some of the walkways between the buildings were only wide enough for a single person to walk. The architecture is awesome! We ate in one of the many restaurant/bars that line the main street of these villages. Each village has enough gift shops and tourist information stuff to keep any shopper very happy. And they all want your moneyJ We stopped later for tea and torte in another village, Cochem. They were doing a huge business! This is another area where you could easily spend a week and we didn't even get to the Rhine River Valley!

We drove through the mountains and valleys and stayed one evening in Idar-Oberstein. Known for the mines and the beautiful rocks that come out of them - this area is a haven for jewelers and if you have the money and want beautiful gems - this is where you need to go! We spent a morning in the gem museum and there had to be at least four floors of gems of every kind, shape and size. After about two floors, I think we went into gem overload! It was hard to fathom that there were so many types of gems in so many fantastic hues. And not just gems from Germany, they collect gems from all over the world.

One other fantastic thing about the village is that half of the church is built into the mountain. You really do have to see that to believe it. When we drove into town we saw a sign for a hotel, so we drove over and stopped. The front wasn't really very neat, so Gisela went in to enquire as to whether they had rooms. We both went up to see the rooms and after we saw the interior with the mound (or was it a mountain?) of laundry in the hallway, we opted out! I'm allergic to feather which proved good in this case as that is all they had was feather pillows and comforters. The lady was not pleased with us!

We did find a really nice small hotel and the owners were so pleasant. We visited with them over the meal in their small restaurant/bar downstairs and then went for a long walk through town. We did that in many of the villages where we stopped. After driving for so many hours, it was great to get out and stretch our legs and view each community from a different angle.

We visited one smaller charming castle - Schloss Favorite, summer house of the Margravine Sibulla Augusta of Baden-Baden. It is half way between Baden-Baden and Rastatt It is beautifully and richly decorated. Each room was more beautiful than the last one along with unique and expensive porcelain and furnishings. I could highly recommend this for your next visit - along with tea and dessert in the restaurant.

After some of our experiences with hotel rooms, we tried to look at the rooms before we decided to stay the night. The last night we were just tired and stayed in the room anyway - even though there was a very dusty wild boar head (gross!) in the hallway and walls paper thin! At least the bathroom was new and very clean! That was the night when we decided it was time to head home and sleep in our own bed! We had traveled so very many miles and had seen so many fantastic scenes that we were beat!

Day 16 — Friday

We spent the next day traveling north. We spent the morning visiting the Attahöhle Cave in Attendorn. WOW! There are curtain ice formations that are about three million years old. It takes about 100 years to form one inch of the ice and these were more than 14 feet in length - can your imagine how old they are? The look just like curtains hung in any living room. This cave was absolutely breathtaking. The temperature is about 48 degrees Fahrenheit. Of course, I really like caves, and this was one of the best I have ever toured anywhere.

We then went to Gisela's great uncle's home and had tea with him and his wife, very charming people. It is always interesting to visit German people in their homes. After that we got stuck in traffic on one of the autobahn's and after listening to the radio and hearing how long the delay was, we exited and took our "scenic routes" around the area. We hadn't had lunch, so searched in vain for a restaurant that was open - most of them do not open for the evening meal before 6 p.m. We found a grocery and purchased some fruit to tide us over and when we finally stopped, we ate heartily!

Day 17 — Saturday

Then it was home again! Emden never looked so good. A good night's sleep was had by both of us. Saturday morning, Gisela and I went to the Post Office for our annual marathon postal experience. If you wonder how I get all those hundreds of books, maps and other goodies home, this is it! We weigh and pack and tape four boxes packed full of all the things you order. Postage is VERY expensive and I leave several hundred dollars with the Deutsche Post - again!

I then went back to Leer to pick up a few more gift items. I really do know the best shops by now. After lunch, I met with Günter Tholen and his lovely wife for tea. Gunter and I share several lines, among them Grunewald (many pastors in this line) and Swyter (only a few generations back). We found each other on the internet and corresponded and visited several times. Günter showed me several books he knew I would be interested in and one of them was a history of Oldersum. I really wanted that book as I knew OGSA member, Ann Gilligan, would like to see it. That was a problem as this was a private printing, but as he knew the lady we went to meet with her. He dropped me off and I had a lovely hour visiting with Frau Kannegeiter. She knew of the George, IA society. I will visit her again next year when I don't have to leave so early.

We attended a concert on Saturday evening at the Johannes a Lasco Bibiothek, the old church that was so badly bombed and restored. This was a concert where they used some of the older instruments and the artists were from all over the Netherlands and Germany. I do love music and adore the concerts that I have attended at this hall. The hall is a library for the Reformed church during the week and used for special events like this many times during the year.

Day 18 — Sunday

The next day is Sunday and time for church. I wanted to attend the church in Campen as that is the church where my grandfather and several aunts and uncles were baptized in and I had never had a chance to attend there. When we were there in 1997, it was under renovation and it truly is a great example of a pre-Reformation church. The décor is still original, in most churches in this area the older paintings and architecture was painted white - what a shame! There was a baptism in the church - another new experience! I told the Pastor who I was and added I would like to pay for some postcards of the church. He referred me to a lady and when I told her where my grandparents had lived by the canal - she gave me a very funny look and asked me to follow her. When we arrived at the house, she said her parents-in-law lived there. They were, unfortunately, not at home. But she knew where they were, so we took off again at a good fast gait to a farm home in Campen. Her brother and sister-in-law lived lived there and I got to visit a real farm home! To say that we surprised them was a gross understatement. They were a bit wary of me, not knowing what I wanted. But after we talked awhile and I explained what my grandparents did in the USA after they left Germany and brought them up to date, they got friendlier. It turned out that the lady's parents had purchased the cottage directly from my grandparents. Small world.

Then it was time for family again, goodbye visits are always tough. Cousin Martha is ill so we stop only for a few minutes. Went for a long walk with Ihno and Alma along paths to the North Sea. They take the sea for granted, but it is always there and affects their lives more than they know. The weather comes directly from there, so hot or cold or windy - it's the North Sea. Then on to Lena's for Abend Brot and back to Gisela's to start packing.

Day 19 — Monday

Monday morning it is off to the Ostfriesische Landschaft again to meet with the lady in the photo department. We picked out all the pictures for the Churches of Ostfriesland book and that took hours! They have thousands of pictures there and could I stay there - wow!

After that a short visit with Edo Müller who lives near Aurich. Edo is the author of the Ardorf OSB and is working on the new OSB for Dunum. We had tea and then it was back to Emden and packing to get ready to go home. There is never enough time to see everyone I need to see.

Day 20 — Tuesday

Tuesday a.m. it is off to Bremen to catch a plane to Amsterdam and then home. I don't want to leave! It is always so hard to leave and now that I saw more of Germany, harder than ever. Germany is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful from Norden to the southern part of Germany - if you have never gone - go, soon!