Sunday, June 28, 2009
Well I left you yesterday in Steinheim, which is near my grandfather C.W. Schmickle's birth place. Had a good breakfast at the hotel, and headed a few miles up the road to Kleinaspach, had no idea of where my grandfathers home was, however we found the church he would have been baptized in. Went a bit further up the road and there was a cemetary and some folks working around graves, so Dan inquired of them if they knew of any Schmickle's. They showed us several graves of Schmuckle's (German spelling) and said their was a Schmuckle living in the town. We were able to locate the street and went by the house that Eugen and Esther Schmuckle live in.
No one home, however the garage door was open so we surmised that they wouldn't be gone long. Went back to the church and took some pictures and when we returned to the house the garage door was closed, so we knocked on the door of the house. A wonderful man answered and Dan explained who we were and he invited all in. He put glasses on the tables and brought out water for us to drink and proceeded to show us family history. After about a hour, he drove us out to meet his wife who was working the vineyards about a mile away. She came out in her farmer work clothes, apologized for the way she looked and was sorry she couldn't offer us lunch. Micah had a good time getting into the dirt of the vineyard which was on the hillside at about a 45 degree slope.
Before we had left his home, he called someone from the church who met us there when we returned to town. However, before returning he took us to a very old building which housed the oldest wine press in Germany, one my great grandparents would have used on their grapes. He shared that the Schmuckle's all worked together on their hectars (acres) he had 26 hectars which figures out to about 65 American acres. That is a lot of vines to keep dressed.
Returning to town Eugene drove us to the house that Grandpa Schmickle was born in, I'd insert pictures of the house and barn, but I'm having trouble remembering how to do it, its been so long since I uploaded pictures. We returned to the church and a very nice lady opened the doors for us and we again took plenty of pictures. The baptisimal fount was still there that would have been used for grandpa's baptism. The church was fairly large with a balcony in the back, however I suppose it served several nearby villages as well as the town of Kleinaspach.
Well, we had another important stop for the day, so hurried on down the highways to the Hohner harmonica factory in Trossingen. Our tour was to start at 2:00 and when we pulled into the parking lot the other folks on the tour were there. This was Sharon, Scott, Lavern and Rita, the Godsoe's who originally lived in Alberta, and now two of them live in Germany. We had a great tour guide who was on his first tour, and had to refer to his notes but overall did a great job. I had no ideal how much hand work went into the building of a harmonica. Each cover is carefully stamped with the name and the numbers as well as which key its in. Each reed is individually tuned. If the pitch is too high, its filed off, if too low, the reed (brass) is bent till its in tune. On my harmonica that I play the most their would be 40 reeds, and a total of 89 parts to it, counting the screws that hold the cover plates on.
I had hoped to buy another harmonica while there but found no opportunity to do so. We were by this time also running late for our next B & B which was Gites and Chambres d'hotes which was in Nothalten (near Kayersberg) France. Wonderful host who was excited to have us there for 2 nights. A traditional European breakfast of hard rolls, cereal, scrambled eggs, bacon and toast (so my notes say). Accomodation was very good, and I'd gladly go back there for another couple nights stay, even if we were on the 3rd floor with lots of steps up. That night for dinner I had Jaeggersnizle with brown gravey and french fries and pop for a drink.
Took a great scenic route up the the Castle Haut-Koenigsberg. Donna and I enjoyed a ice cream bar and sat while Julie, Dan & Micah climbed the hill which went to the castle. They did not go inside but walked around its perimeter which was very large. My lunch one of those days was a ham and cheese sandwich, To my surprise the ham was 3 skuces if bologna ham and a hunk of cheese, and a big bowl of fried potatoes and a bowl of white creamy cheese. We weren't sure how to eat the creamy cheese, so dunked the potatoes into it.
Friday after another good breakfast we headed to Basel and a lunch with Michael and Delynn Walz who were getting packed up for their move back to the USA. They have been teaching for the last 2 years at Weil am Rhein, in Germany. They can walk from Germany into France or Switzerland in just a few minutes time from their apartment. A good lunch with rolls, lots of meats, great fruit salad, pickles and of course many choices of cheese. They loaded us into one of the school's vans and took us to the school to show us where they have been spending most of their time these last 2 years. Then a trip up into the hills where you can look out over these 3 countries. Michael and Micah had a good time running down a lane to look at a model helicopter which was flying around the hillside.
We left them and headed for a several hour drive to Geneva and the Holliday Inn hotel. We had trouble finding Vreni Hahling's house but after making inquiries we arrived and were feasted with ham, scalloped potatoes, ice cream and rolls. More than enough for a late night dinner. A good nights sleep and a breakfast of cereal, rolls, and coffee. We found our way back to Vreni's and were soon joined by Hanna and Wolfgang Otto who were longtime friends of Julie & Dan's. A wonderful lunch at a lakeside restaurant of 17 pieces of perch with potato chips, salad, rolls and ice cream for dessert. Some more visiting and back to the hotel for another good nights sleep. Had another similar breakfast as yesterday and we were off through the Italian Alps on our way to Marantz, Italy for our next 3 nights. Will catch up on that on my next blog. Gotta get some info together before I go further
Howard
Well I left you yesterday in Steinheim, which is near my grandfather C.W. Schmickle's birth place. Had a good breakfast at the hotel, and headed a few miles up the road to Kleinaspach, had no idea of where my grandfathers home was, however we found the church he would have been baptized in. Went a bit further up the road and there was a cemetary and some folks working around graves, so Dan inquired of them if they knew of any Schmickle's. They showed us several graves of Schmuckle's (German spelling) and said their was a Schmuckle living in the town. We were able to locate the street and went by the house that Eugen and Esther Schmuckle live in.
No one home, however the garage door was open so we surmised that they wouldn't be gone long. Went back to the church and took some pictures and when we returned to the house the garage door was closed, so we knocked on the door of the house. A wonderful man answered and Dan explained who we were and he invited all in. He put glasses on the tables and brought out water for us to drink and proceeded to show us family history. After about a hour, he drove us out to meet his wife who was working the vineyards about a mile away. She came out in her farmer work clothes, apologized for the way she looked and was sorry she couldn't offer us lunch. Micah had a good time getting into the dirt of the vineyard which was on the hillside at about a 45 degree slope.
Before we had left his home, he called someone from the church who met us there when we returned to town. However, before returning he took us to a very old building which housed the oldest wine press in Germany, one my great grandparents would have used on their grapes. He shared that the Schmuckle's all worked together on their hectars (acres) he had 26 hectars which figures out to about 65 American acres. That is a lot of vines to keep dressed.
Returning to town Eugene drove us to the house that Grandpa Schmickle was born in, I'd insert pictures of the house and barn, but I'm having trouble remembering how to do it, its been so long since I uploaded pictures. We returned to the church and a very nice lady opened the doors for us and we again took plenty of pictures. The baptisimal fount was still there that would have been used for grandpa's baptism. The church was fairly large with a balcony in the back, however I suppose it served several nearby villages as well as the town of Kleinaspach.
Well, we had another important stop for the day, so hurried on down the highways to the Hohner harmonica factory in Trossingen. Our tour was to start at 2:00 and when we pulled into the parking lot the other folks on the tour were there. This was Sharon, Scott, Lavern and Rita, the Godsoe's who originally lived in Alberta, and now two of them live in Germany. We had a great tour guide who was on his first tour, and had to refer to his notes but overall did a great job. I had no ideal how much hand work went into the building of a harmonica. Each cover is carefully stamped with the name and the numbers as well as which key its in. Each reed is individually tuned. If the pitch is too high, its filed off, if too low, the reed (brass) is bent till its in tune. On my harmonica that I play the most their would be 40 reeds, and a total of 89 parts to it, counting the screws that hold the cover plates on.
I had hoped to buy another harmonica while there but found no opportunity to do so. We were by this time also running late for our next B & B which was Gites and Chambres d'hotes which was in Nothalten (near Kayersberg) France. Wonderful host who was excited to have us there for 2 nights. A traditional European breakfast of hard rolls, cereal, scrambled eggs, bacon and toast (so my notes say). Accomodation was very good, and I'd gladly go back there for another couple nights stay, even if we were on the 3rd floor with lots of steps up. That night for dinner I had Jaeggersnizle with brown gravey and french fries and pop for a drink.
Took a great scenic route up the the Castle Haut-Koenigsberg. Donna and I enjoyed a ice cream bar and sat while Julie, Dan & Micah climbed the hill which went to the castle. They did not go inside but walked around its perimeter which was very large. My lunch one of those days was a ham and cheese sandwich, To my surprise the ham was 3 skuces if bologna ham and a hunk of cheese, and a big bowl of fried potatoes and a bowl of white creamy cheese. We weren't sure how to eat the creamy cheese, so dunked the potatoes into it.
Friday after another good breakfast we headed to Basel and a lunch with Michael and Delynn Walz who were getting packed up for their move back to the USA. They have been teaching for the last 2 years at Weil am Rhein, in Germany. They can walk from Germany into France or Switzerland in just a few minutes time from their apartment. A good lunch with rolls, lots of meats, great fruit salad, pickles and of course many choices of cheese. They loaded us into one of the school's vans and took us to the school to show us where they have been spending most of their time these last 2 years. Then a trip up into the hills where you can look out over these 3 countries. Michael and Micah had a good time running down a lane to look at a model helicopter which was flying around the hillside.
We left them and headed for a several hour drive to Geneva and the Holliday Inn hotel. We had trouble finding Vreni Hahling's house but after making inquiries we arrived and were feasted with ham, scalloped potatoes, ice cream and rolls. More than enough for a late night dinner. A good nights sleep and a breakfast of cereal, rolls, and coffee. We found our way back to Vreni's and were soon joined by Hanna and Wolfgang Otto who were longtime friends of Julie & Dan's. A wonderful lunch at a lakeside restaurant of 17 pieces of perch with potato chips, salad, rolls and ice cream for dessert. Some more visiting and back to the hotel for another good nights sleep. Had another similar breakfast as yesterday and we were off through the Italian Alps on our way to Marantz, Italy for our next 3 nights. Will catch up on that on my next blog. Gotta get some info together before I go further
Howard
posted by GRANDPAHOWARD at 5:57 PM
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