Our trip actually began in Zurich, Switzerland where we spent two days with my English cousin, Rob Walsh. Suffering from jet lag and having been to Zurich before, I was very content to spend our visit talking and eating with a bit of walking around town.
Proud genealogical researcher that I am, I was humbled to find that Rob has learned more about my English grandfather than I have ever been able to do. His name was Robert Leslie Smith and he was the older brother of Rob's grandfather, Alfred Edward Smith. "Alf" was the younger by 14 years and apparently had had little contact with "Leslie." My grandfather left his wife and family in Turner's Falls, Massachusetts when my own father was young and was not seen again. I was told by an English military "expert" at an NGS conference that there were no available records for British solders unless they had died. Because he eventually went back to England, I had given up on researching him. Imagine my surprise when Rob showed me the complete military file for Robert Leslie and other bits of information as well. The information therein, mostly about his health (or lack thereof) will be treated in a separate blog post.
After two nights with Rob and two delicious and healthful dinners with Rob and Peter, we were off to Munsingen, Germany, a small village near Freiburg where our friends Ingrid and Bill have a home. We traveled in style, Rob having graciously offered to drive us and still sleepy, I missed most of the ride. Upon arrival I was immediately mystified and intrigued by the little parking garage of which one space is theirs.
Turns out that each of the space holders has a key that raises or lowers the spaces as necessary. Extraordinary but not uncommon in German villages where space is very limited.
Bill and Ingrid have four bicycles and refreshed by my nap, I was ready for our first ride. Munsingen is in a grape growing and agricultural area with a hill called the Tuniberg rising up from the flatter lowlands. We rode first through fields of asparagus and up into the vineyards laced with an intricate network of roads that serve double duty as bicycle paths. What a great ride-- and not on my tough little road bike but upright on a bike with a big cushy seat, wide comfortable handlebars and comfy fat tires. True, we did need to walk up several hills but all the better to observe the scenery, I always say!
The next day we took a longer ride, part of our route being along the Rhine with France on the opposite bank. The picture is of John and Ingrid resting-- it was a hot day-- the first of what would turn out to be a period of unseasonably hot and dry weather in Germany.
Our destination was a medieval village perched on a hill with a ruined castle and narrow twisted cobblestone streets. The village had several photographic murals illustrating what the village looked like a century ago-- each was placed so that one could view the picture and the real present at the same time. They were extremely informative of the contrast between the beflowered and freshly painted houses of today and the ungentrified scenes of yesteryear.
On our third day in Munsingham we rode bicycles to Freiburg, a city about 15 kilometers distant.
We climbed the Munster-- it is in a constant state of restoration being sandstone-- and had lunch in the marketplace before the ride back.
Freiburg is famous for the gargoyles and the most famous of all is this one-- I couldn't get a picture myself but easily found one on the internet. Someone in the 15th century had a point to make or a childish sense of humor. I wanted to buy a postcard for my grandson but John's delicate sensibilities would not permit it.
On a more somber note it was in Freiburg that we first saw these small street memorials embedded in the sidewalk. Three hundred Jews were taken from the city during the holocaust, most of whom died in concentration camps. There is a plaque in the city that reads Too many people looked away back then, too few resisted. This must not and will not happen again.
Continue to Part 2
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