June 27, 2010
After doing some much needed cleaning of the car, we headed north to Germany. It was strange to see places like Munich, Stuttgart, and Nurnberg on road signs. We have driven quite a bit on the autobahn. Several people told us to avoid driving on the autobahn. It really has not been too bad. I would not like to do it alone – but Phil is a terrific and safe driver. The speed limit is around 130 km (~80 mph), but some people drive MUCH faster! You just need to be aware of your surroundings and not get distracted!

We got off the autobahn around Stuttgart and drove to a small town called Bad Rappenau. It seems to be the county seat.

We found a church and inquired about the cemetery. A woman told us where it was – but also told us that the traffic would be bad because there was a “public showing”. We assumed that she meant a funeral. Not quite.

Soon the town square was flooded with cars donning German flags, people beeping their horns, wearing yellow, red, and black body paint, blowing air horns, and groups of youth singing, “Ich liebe Deutschland!” Apparently, Germany had won their World Cup soccer match against England. It was very exciting and we stood back and watched the show! We were just glad that they had won – and not France (if they indeed had been playing France – because we are driving a car from France). Traveling in Europe during the world cup is a great idea – it always gives you something to talk about with limited vocabulary.

We eventually walked to the cemetery – because our car was blocked in by the throngs of those celebrating the victory. The cemeteries are beautiful. Many flowers, varied head stones, and very well attended. We found some more family names – like Grimm, Bauer, and Klingmann. We also found the Jewish cemetery which was separated some distance from the main cemetery – and not well cared for at all.

By this time we were starving. We looked for a restaurant – and tried to decipher the menu. Bill Bryson, in his book Neither From Here Nor There, says to be careful ordering random things off menus in Germany. You are likely to order various internal organs and other things not generally consumed in the US. Dishes with names of Unterorgans und other Grosserstuff should be avoided at all cost. We laughed because we had passed a Chinese place and decided if we ordered Moo Goo Gai Pan – they would understand what we wanted. We gave it a try – nope, it is not the same in German. We did learn how to say vegetables, chicken, etc in German and got a lovely meal all the same. Funny – they name of the owner is Ming – just like at our favorite restaurant in Orrville.

If we were just to take pictures of the farmland and scenery – one might believe we were in Wayne or Holmes Co. Ohio – or perhaps Pennsylvania. It is easy to see why Phil’s family ended up where they did when leaving Europe – There’s No Place Like Home.

We are staying at an older hotel in Bad Rappenau called the Hotel Alder – nice accommodations with breakfast. Tomorrow we will do some more genealogy and then head for Brussels.