We arrived in Poznan, Poland on 22 May. We decided to take a detour on our way to Berlin and thought this little town of Poznan would be a good place to spend the day and night. We found Poznan on the Map and thought would be a good stopping place so checked it out. We found a nice little boutique hotel that had rooms for a night at the last minute. Poznan was once the capital of Poland and is still the capital of the Wielkopolska region. Badly damaged in World war 11 the city has been beautifully restored. The Basilica of Satints Peter and Paul is Poland's oldest Chathedray. The architecture and design is so colorful and festive to walk around. We found the Croissant Museum was in this town in one of the oldest buildings. The building had the original interior it had 500 years ago. It also had a clock that on the hour , two fighting goats would appear on the hour. We went to the Live Show at the Poznan Museum and were volunteered to talk part in the fun performance. Pat and I were given aprons and bakers hats in Pink to put on for our part in kneading the dough. We looked like Lucy and Ethel!!! George was also selected to take part in making their chrossiants. Tom took the pictures. We were given one of the St. Martin's Crosissants to taste! What a fun time we had and were so glad that we decided to take a side trip to Poznan! We also had a lovely day of sun and blue sky so decided to sit in the square to people watch and have dinner. There was a young boy about 7 playing an accordion and going around to the eating establishments playing for money but he was being asked to leave by the wait staff. It was sad to see one so young begging for money. The next morning we had a nice breakfast at the hotel before we left for Berlin.
Arrived in Berlin from Poland and needed to do some wash. We checked into our hotel in East Berlin and then went to the neighborhood Waschsalon. Of course we had to have some nourishment while we waited so went next door to the bakery and sat outside. Fun doing people watching. Took us awhile to figure out how to get the washers and dryers to work!! There were some young girls in the Washsalon that gave us instruction. Once again, everyone is always so happy to help us. I guess we always look like we need assistance!!! Later we walked form our hotel to a local restaurant. What a lovely evening to sit outside. Of course George and Tom had their usual "different beer in each place we stopped". The appetizer was "sausage wrapped with rabbit meat". Pat and Maryann were glad to pass and give theirs to George and Tom! Tom will try any type of food, he even had pigeon on this trip. George did have the 'sausage wrapped with rabbit meat" too! We had a nice walk back to the hotel thru the local streets. There is so much graffiti all over...does not seem to be an attempt to clean up the graffiti...even in the tourist districts. In Berlin we went to the Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Memorial to murdered Jews of Europe, Check Point Charlie and saw parts of the original Berlin Wall. Architecture of the buildings are amazing. Toured the Berlin Dom the biggest church in Berlin. It was just such an amazing church. It also had a Tomb below it where kings , clergy and family members were entombed in various styles of stone caskets. We walked from East Berlin to West Berlin. There is construction of new buildings or remodeling of old buildings happening in both East and West Berlin. It seemed on every street there were major building projects happening. We stopped for lunch at a street cafe down by the canal where we had Bratwrust and Curreywrust with Pommesfrits (french fries). There is just so much graffiti all over West Berlin too. The graffiti is not only on the walls but on the roofs of some very tall buildings. It was a rainy day in Berlin so we also took the Tram that stopped right outside our hotel for a couple of our adventures.
We left Berlin, and just drove about an hour or so away to Weimar, Germany . This is where a National Assembly was convened and a new constitution for the German Reich was written and adopted on 11 August 1919. We stayed in a hotel just out side the city that had beautiful grounds. It had been built 300 years ago but had several renovations. We ate in the dining area that was part of the original hotel. The area we had dinner in used to be part of the vegetable cellar.
George had traced his Mom and Dad's ancestors back to two towns in Germany, Langenselbold and Huttengasse. We traveled to the small town of Langenselbold where we actually met a Mohn family there and George connected with them just like they were long lost family (which they may have been.) They told us there were still several Mohn families living In the area. The Cannode side came from a village 5 km away call Huttengasse. Isn't it odd that back in the 1600/1700s that these two families lived about 3 miles from each other in Germany and in the 1930s they would be united in marriage in Ohio? This trip has been amazing for all of us....Pat ancestral home in England, Maryann's ancestral hometown in Solvakia, and George's family in Langenselbold in Germany.
We then headed to Spangdalem, Germany again to spend a few days. Drove though the Grape Fields near the town of Wittlich where we used to go to the wine and pig festivals. During our time in Bitburg, we drove to the town where Pat and George used to live when we met them at Bitburg 30 years ago. We also took a trip to Irrel where we lived for several months before we moved to the base at Bitburg. We then stopped in Trier where the Roman Porta Nigra gate is on the square. It is the largest Roman City gate north of the Alps and is a World Heritage site. We stayed at the base and since we had a TLF with a washer and dryer, once again caught up on our laundry!
We spent Saturday afternoon at the American Cemetery in Luxembourg at the Memorial Day Ceremony. What a tribute to our fallen heroes. 5076 American Soldiers lie here at Luxembourg along with Gerneral George S. Patten and a memorial for 371 that are missing in action. We also went to the German Cemetery that is just a couple miles down the road. The German Cemetery is called "Sandweller German War Cemetery. It contains the graves of 10,913 German servicemen from the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944. The bodies were moved here from 150 different cemeteries throughout Luxembourg. They had mostly lain in mass graves for which only incomplete records were available. The German war Graves Commission were able to identify 4,014 of the 4,829 that were in the communal graves. Felt so privileged to be able to attend this day of ceremony. WE MUST NEVER EVER FORGET all those who gave their lives and their families for the United States of America!
"Greater Love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his country!"~~
We are off to France....
Sending loves and hugs. Keeping all in our prayers
God Bless,
Tom and Maryann
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