With Mom & Dad to Altenahr, Germany

It was on Tuesday, July 21 of 1981 that my late husband Frans and I drove with Mom & Dad to Altenahr in Germany.
Again, during my 3-week summer vacation and helping Mom & Dad out with picking gherkins in the greenhouse. 

A landmark in Altenahr is Hotel Zum Schwarzen Kreuz just click on link.

Early rising for departure at 6:00 AM for our journey to Altenahr in Germany.

Yes, this very rose pattern curtain I have crocheted for all the homes I've lived!

This was on the door of our garage in Horst, The Netherlands. See link below post.

Here we are in the Eifel mountains of Germany.

As I post these day-trips, made in July, I notice how cloudy it most times was!

For this trip we used Dad's Ford Fiesta.

Me in the Eifel mountains, Germany.

Here we are in Altenahr, Germany on a bridge over the river Ahr which flows through the Eifel mountains.
This is a very short video about the Ahr Valley - Das Ahrtal just click it for seeing its true beauty.
Already the Romans liked it there! Now it is well known for its vineyards.

We had lunch at Hotel Restaurant Ruland just click the link.

My choice then was: Tomato soup, Kalbsgeschnetzeltes in Sahnesauce mit Pilze - sliced veal in a cream sauce with mushrooms, rice and mixed salat. Chocolate with ice-cream for dessert...

To the right you see Ruland Hotel Restaurant where we had lunch.
The top photo from this post was taken in front of Hotel & Restaurant Zum Schwarzen Kreuz, seen in the center. The river Ahr is also visible and the bridge where we took one photo. 

While we had lunch, it rained...

I'm also wearing my hand knitted cardigan as it was rather chilly!

This is our walk in Reckerscheid in the Eifel.

We did stop by a dear friend for a visit before we went home.

By the way, my late husband's Mom was from this region as well.

A lovely area that I've visited for the biggest part of my life and also with husband Pieter together we have been there frequently.

Even our foster-daughter Anita has been there once with us, all the way from Indonesia.

We got home by 20:15 and in bed by 23:00.

Mauzie my dachshund had been fed and let out by my youngest sister as she did not travel with us this time.

Thanks for your visit and comment!

Related links:

Taking Mom & Dad to Bad Münstereifel in Germany | previous post by me
Day-Trip to Paris & Versailles with Mom & Dad | previous post by me
Mom & Dad Often Talked About Siegerland in Germany so we Went Back! | previous post by me
{Mom Did Wear Many Hats} | previous post by me
{My French DMC Rose Filet Lace Crocheted Curtains} | previous post by me

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Taking Mom & Dad to Bad Münstereifel in Germany

During my final period of July 1983, I helped out in the greenhouse picking gherkins and French beans. Pieter made breakfast every morning before going to work.

This was the period after we sold our home and our belongings were on the Ocean, on their way to Georgia/USA.

Early August, I took Mom & Dad on a day-trip, while Pieter was for two weeks at the site of the new Campbell mushroom plant in Dublin, Georgia.

We visited the medieval city of Bad Münsereifel, even an old Roman city!

Nestled in the Eifel Mountains in Germany, a beautiful area.
Münstereifel got started in the year 830!

Here you see my sweet Mauzie girl with Dad and Mom after we climbed to the top of the old medieval city walls. 

Overlooking the quaint little city, to the left of my Dad you see Stiftskirche Church of St. Chrysanthus and Daria from Bad Münstereifel. Also the remains of the old Castle are above Dad's head and more to the left.
Top right you see one of the 4 Towers that were build inside the city wall.

The former collegiate church of the Benedictine order, today the Catholic parish church, received the relics of Saint Chyrsanthus and Daria in 844. Building was begun in the mid-11th century and completed in the 12th century. It is a romanesque, three-nave buttressed basilica without a transept, with west work and long chancel, as well as an important crypt. Restoration work has been carried out from 1876 to 1893 and since 1957. The interior of the church is well worth seeing.

You can see more here on this short video: Stiftskirche | Bad Münstereifel | Rhein-Eiffel. TV

Mauzie sure enjoyed the walk, as long as she could be near me, she was happy!
Those medieval city walls have protected the city in earlier centuries and they still make for a very special attraction of the little city.
To view the old Burg Münstereifel | Stadtmauer | Rhein-Eifel. TV click on link to see the old Castle and City Wall from 1.6 km length with its 4 Towers, before the word Bad got added for their Kneipp Kurort function (Spa Resort)
Sebastian Kneipp (1821-1897), German priest and hydrotherapist who introduced hydrotherapy.

Mom with Mauzie and Dad taking a rest from climbing and walking those city walls.
Such a perfect day with most pleasant weather!

Here you see Dad with Mauzie and Mom from the other side of Bad Münstereifel.
In the back you can see the old city wall were we walked in the above photos!
Also the Stiftskirche, Church of Saint Chyrsanthus and Daria is visible again to the right of Mom, but from the other side now.

Dad being happy and relaxed for enjoying one day of vacation and being a tourist!

Here we are in the gardens of the Kurhaus with its fountains.
This Kurhaus or Spa Resort in English got started in 1926 and drew lots of tourists and visitors.
It is a famous Spa Resort for which the word Bad (Bath), got added in 1967.

Dad, with his huge garden at home where many couples had their bridal photos taken, always was interested in trees!
Remarkable how much he resembles here my youngest brother Jan...

Inside the city, Dad had to walk up close to inspect this huge tree...
Some very stylish homes to be admired!

Before driving the 1.5 hour back home, I took Mom & Dad to my favorite Hotel-Restaurant-Café "TANNENHOF' (Tanne means Fir in English and Hof is Garden...
Bad Münstereifel Hotel Restaurant Tannenhof (click on link) has changed over the years and this is the only thing I found on the Internet.

Happily back home in  their own garden with pond...
So glad I did take them on this day-trip and for being able now to look back at fond memories with some photos.

Thanks for your visit and comment!

Related links:
Day-Trip to Paris & Versailles with Mom & Dad | previous post by me
Mom & Dad Often Talked About Siegerland in Germany so we Went Back! | previous post by me
{Mom Did Wear Many Hats} | previous post by me

Mom & Dad Often Talked About Siegerland in Germany so we Went Back!

Summer months were always peak season. But during my vacation time, when I still lived in The Netherlands, I helped them always out, by picking gherkins in the greenhouse.
Only in the summer of 1971 and in 1979, I did go with my late first husband to Germany and the South of France...
ALL other vacations, we helped Mom and Dad for several weeks managing their peak season.

By picking the gherkins a bit tighter we could skip a day and manage to make a one-day-trip to Germany with Mom &  Dad and my Dachshund Mauzie. This was on July 14, 1977 at the Biggesee (lake) in Germany.

Smoking a sigar on his special day off, together with Mom.
They always worked so hard!

Mom is here picking gherkins inside the greenhouse.
We always did start very early, at 5:00 AM because around noon it would get very hot, around 120ºF or 49ºC and that was no FUN! 
Even when Dad placed a big running fan in the isle...

Here you see Mom picking gherkins. 
Two wooden boxes on the special built cart by my Dad, on wheels for easy pushing it forward. 
Each box would contain 25 kg (55 lb) of gherkins.
We had to dump those boxes later on inside one giant wooden box for bulk delivery to the auction.
Yes, I could lift such a full box and lift it over the edge of said giant box to dump its contents.

From a distance, two rows under each pointed section of the greenhouse.
The leaves of the gherkins were very prickly!
I used to wear one of Dad's old long sleeve shirts to protect me from it.
Okay but now back to the subject!
Mom & Dad had been to Siegen/Weidenau in Germany by bus, with Dad's choir, to perform in the Bismarckhalle, also called Siegerlandhalle.

Here in October of 1965, Mom admiring the hills around Hilchenbach, Germany of beautiful Siegerland.

Mom standing in front of Hotel Deutscher Hof in Hilchenbach, Germany.
A beautiful centuries old building it was in traditional German Fachwerk.
Yes, it literally was as it burned down in December of 2016...
Photo quality is poor, this is what I received as scanned material from my youngest sister...
As for myself, I love to scan in higher DPI - takes longer but with far better results.
Nevertheless, they are very meaningful to me!

Here it was, photo from Tripmondo, as it did burn down in December of 2016...

Mom standing in front of the sign 'Zum Süssen Konrad' pointing to a German Konditorei, Bakery!
They always talked about how beautiful that region was and thus, my late husband and I said, let's take them back one more time!

So we went to pick Mom & Dad up in Horst aan de Maas, we lived in Panningen, a municipality of Helden, in the Province of Limburg/The Netherlands.

At that time we still had to cross the border of Germany, now it is open within the European Union.
To the right you see Hilchenbach, where Mom's photos got taken.

We passed through Helden in Germany - from Helden to Helden but not close to home!

You also see Biggesee.
The photo at the very top got taken there!
A big lake with beautiful surroundings, belonging to Attendorn.

My late first husband standing here at the Biggesee, Attendorn with the bridge behind him.

We also did visit Burg Schnellenberg in Attendorn, a 13th-century castle that now has become a hotel, just click link as it is in English.

Thursday July 14, 1977 was a rather cloudy day!
Taking a break on this medieval stone bench...
Yes, that was a lot of driving in one day; some 9 hours and we'd risen at 4:00 AM and will have to do the very same for next day, picking gherkins again...

Here Dad, Frans with dachshund Mauzie on the leash standing in front of Mom's feet...
So happy to know now that this 13th-century castle has been converted into a hotel!

All of us enjoyed Siegerland and Mom & Dad especially for being able to go back one day in their own footsteps...

Dad always loved singing in the choir and such trips were so special.

Now the journey home and early rising next morning!
We had an Opel Kadett Special at the time...

Hope you enjoyed this little journey back in time with me.
Meaningful to me, fond memories of Mom's happy days!
Thanks for your visit and comment.

Related posts:
Burg Schnellenberg in Attendorn/Luftbilder Videos/Drohne/4K | short Youtube video from the Castle
My Sewing Creation - My Bridal Gown with Damsel Sleeves | previous post by me + late husband
{Fond Memories of Mom with us in the Eifel, Germany} | previous post by me
{Mom Did Wear Many Hats} | previous post by me

{Papa is 90 today!} | previous post by me

{Fond Memories of Mom with us in the Eifel, Germany}

Mom & Dad always have worked really hard together in their greenhouses.

Most crops needed harvesting during the peak of summer, so needless to say that they never could have a real VACATION...

Dad was even pulling back from his Sunday visits to his Mother's place, as all his brothers and sisters only talked about their recent vacation trips...

So during my 12.5 years of marriage to my late 1st husband, I've helped Mom & Dad out during my vacation weeks; harvesting gherkins or tomatoes in the greenhouses with them.

We also did plan every summer a day-trip to the beautiful Michelsberg area in the Eiffel, Germany.

Mom looking oh so happy here on October 2, 1976, together with Dad.

Having been just back to The Netherlands, for the 65th time, not having Mom around did feel a bit odd.

Also being once more in the beautiful Eifel, Germany area, did bring back lots of fond memories of time shared with Mom & Dad.

So happy for having still some photos, not good quality but they did capture the joy of the moment very well!

This is from the summer of 1975 near the Michelsberg (Eifel) and also called the Ahr Hills.

You can click on the hyperlinks in pink for finding out more about this beautiful low mountain range and volcanic plateau, where even Julias Cesar left his marks in 54 B.C.

Lots of Roman artifacts are still to be seen in the Bad Münstereifel area.

Well, my connection with this beautiful area is because my late husband's Mother came from there, so I've been visiting it now for almost half a century and still love it very much!

Hope you enjoyed my sentiments of going back into the footsteps of my dear Mom...

1060 times her footsteps have been viewed...

Thanks for your visit!

{Epiphany and our visits to the Shrine of the Three Magi in Cologne, Germany}

January 6 is the Feast of Epiphany and I thought let me share with you our visits to the Cathedral of Cologne, Germany where the Shrine of the Three Kings is inside gilded and decorated triple sarcophagus. The remains of the Three 'Magi' (Persian) are in there: Merlchior middle aged from Persia, Caspar young European, Balthasar an elderly from Ethiopia. There is a lot of information out there about these biblical figures and millions of people have visited this Shrine in Cologne, Germany.

Here you see the triple gilded sarcophagus with the remains of the Three Magi.

This is the largest reliquary of the Western World.

Because of the value of he gold, pearls and intaglia + the relics it is well protected as you can see. 

This visit was in 2005, with our German 'son' as our guide (r) and our Dublin, Georgia friend (l) and me in the center. Husband Pieter took both photos. Here we are standing outside of the Cathedral of Cologne.

It is impossible for capturing this mighty building. The foundation was laid in 1248 and it took over 600 years to complete. Below this post, you find a video about Cologne Cathedral, Germany.

Cologne Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This photo from November 2008, shows more of the LARGEST CHURCH FACADE IN THE WORLD!

To the left is our German 'daughter-in-law', me with little 'granddaughter' and our foster-daughter Anita from Indonesia.

Cologne Cathedral is also the world's tallest Gothic building!

When it got completed in 1880 it was the world's tallest building for 4 years till the Washington Monument in DC, USA did beat it by 4 meters .

Inside of the Cathedral with 'daughter-in-law', 'grandson' and me to the right...

The space inside compares to over 600 houses. 

It also houses the world's largest free-swinging Church bell; the Saint Peter's bell weighing a massive 24 tons.

There are a total of 11 bells. You can hear the big Saint Peter's bell and 8 of the 11 bells ringing in two Youtube videos, linked below post.

When I was still in my early 20s I actually did CLIMB up the stairs and here I took this photo by standing on my toes and holding my camera out of the tower. You see the famous bridge over the River Rhine.

They now seem to have a platform at the south tower for standing on and you can reach that with 533 steps. Not at that time...

The Cathedral of Cologne got mostly spared during WWII but it still got damaged.

Dad told me when I returned from climbing its tower that Grandpa, my Godfather and Dad's Father had worked on the renovations after WWII

Yep, I had to rest before moving on.

Wearing my Salzburger rose Dirndl here...

Did you ever visit the Cathedral in Cologne, Germany?

Guess what? Living here in the USA, in the Southeast we MISS those majestic Church bells that always would ring when a wedding is going on, for festivities or for sad days like a funeral... 

It was kind of hard adjusting to, when we moved from Europe.

May many more visit here...

Just an example of how vast the Persian Empire used to be during biblical times...

From biblemapper.com

Red Sea ←click link to WorldAtlas showing Ethiopia

Related links:

Cologne Cathedral, Germany Youtube vide

Cologne Cathedral, largest swinging bell of the world | Sound of Saint Peter's Bell
The Bells of Cologne Cathedral, Germany Here you hear 8 bells of the South Tower with spectacular view of Cathedral by night
Magi in Iran Information on the Magi
Where Do the Biblical Magi Rest? How the Shrine of the Three Kings Made it to Cologne Cathedral |  History and information
Christians in Persia video about Churches in Iran where one of the three Magi were buried

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{Papa is 90 today!}

Today is a special day and a kind of tough one for me for being far away; as usual. Of the total 27+ years that we're immigrants, only one time I was on Papa's birthday; his 66th...

We made 62 trips home to The Netherlands in total but not always birthday trips!

A young Papa; good 30 years old with me on his bike.

 Papa showing me his chicken...
Both photos are taken by my late uncle Jan, Papa's younger brother.

 When I was 10 years old I did write poems for the regional Saturday newspaper.

This one hit home hard as I'd written it for my Dad's 40th birthday and the last two sentences say:

Even if you are getting old... I know for sure that you still love me. Well, that love got a little bit dented (his ego actually...) after this! He took revenge, when I had my 40th birthday, by citing the very poem to ME, over the phone.

 Here is Papa at one of his favorite nature spots: 'Het Schuitwater' a former river arm from the Meuse in The Netherlands. Photo is taken in the late 60s on a Sunday. Papa did instill in all of us an appreciation for nature. He did pass this passion down to most of his seven children!

This is in the early 70s with the yield of cauliflower heads that Mom & Dad had cut early morning. Dad used to be called the Cauliflower King in our region for having superior quality cauliflower heads!

He was a market gardener with greenhouses as well.

Summer months were always peak season. But during my vacation time, when I still lived in The Netherlands, I helped them always out, by picking gherkins in the greenhouse. By picking them a bit tighter we could skip a day and manage to make a one-day-trip to Germany with Mom &  Dad and my Dachshund Mauzie. This was on July 14, 1977 at the Biggetalsperre in Germany.

Smoking a sigar on his special day off, together with Mom. They always worked so hard!

On Tuesday July 19, 1977 we even made it to Paris in France in a day-trip. 

In the mid 80s visiting with Mauzie our dachshund, from the U.S. Dad created a kind of botanical garden with a pond, where often wedding pictures were taken. In the back is the greenhouse of a neighbor.

On Papa's 65th birthday we made a phone call to The Netherlands, as usual. It is for now almost unbelievable to see that we paid for 10 minutes $ 11.73 at 6:21 AM. We called them on New Year's Eve as well and also Liz Vedder, Pieter's adopted daughter who has her birthday on the 31st. At that time phone calls were reserved for special days like Christmas, New Year and birthdays. The rest went via snail mail... What a different world we live in now. Now we manage for only $ 0.02 per minute instead of $ 1.17, back than in 1986!

Papa 65 years old, in the summer of 1986 with his beloved Bruno, a Dachshund.
Photo taken by my brother Martin.

Pieter took this photo of me on Dad's 66th birthday when we had a stop-over of a couple of days in The Netherlands, coming back from Indonesia. That is the ONLY time I was there on Papa's birthday...

Meanwhile Mom & Dad did come several times to the US. First time in April of 1987. Dad also joined us in November of 1990 to lend us a hand moving into the new build home when we had our one-month off period from work in Indonesia. Dad also came in March of 1993 by himself and he got from me a ticket to fly with me to San Francisco. I had to do consulting for two days at the Pescadero plant for Campbell's Soup for which they also did take us a day sight seeing to Monterey etc. I took Dad to Santa Cruz and to San Francisco and to the Redwoods as well. Pieter was doing a seminar for Campbell's in Chicago at that time.

On the image you can see where I've outlined in red where Mom & Dad's home, wood garden and across the street, their greenhouses were. One of the greenhouses is already taken down here. The stretch of soil to the right across the street, outlined within the red, that was a greenhouse too. The neighbor had huge greenhouses for plant propagation for selling to market gardeners. 

Dad got honored on 19 November of 1988 for being 50 years active in the choir. Papa sang often solos as a first tenor.
He always dreamed of being a professional singer but no time for doing so!

April of 1992 when we got back from Indonesia, with a stop for a couple of days in The Netherlands for a visit. Dad is going to sing with the choir. Tulips are blooming.

Mom always so happy when she saw us!
Mom & Dad also had several brown dachshunds.

My youngest brother Jan Van den Munckhof, made this 'frosty' winter photo on 16 January, 2005 from Mom & Dad's home.

 That was the same year that Mom & Dad last came to Dublin in the U.S. with us in October.

View from a hot air balloon taken on 6 September 2007 from the home where I was born.

Summer 2007, Dad between different hibiscus that all came from our Dublin property. They did far better in Horst, The Netherlands than in Dublin, Georgia!
Photo taken by brother Martin Van den Munckhof.

The area across the street where the greenhouses used to be. Now it is a meadow that Dad rents out to someone with ponies. Just a couple of weeks ago they have started to cut down the tall trees as the land in the back has been sold to a real estate developer. 

This was three years ago from an interview after Dad got honored for his 60th anniversary as a singer. He still does, but not as intensive as before. The title in the newspaper reads that Dad caused many women to break out in tears when he sang e.g. as a first tenor his solo Avé Maria at weddings and such.

On Saturday the entire family will gather for a dinner to celebrate Papa's 90th birthday in a festive way. 

We'll toast one from Dublin, Georgia on his good health and make a call during the day today...
Because of husband Pieter's rehab, after his quadruple bypass, we were not able to travel to The Netherlands!