This article, based on my chance encounter with retired Bavarian police superintendent Otto Oeder and subsequent invitation to the Stammtisch, appeared in the Mindener Tageblatt’s January 13/14, 2024 weekend edition. Captions to photos are in English so you can follow along even if you don’t read German! Leuchtende Berghänge: sattgelbes Eschenlaub, das Hellgelb frühherbstlicher Buchenblätter,… Read more Working through History over Beer
Since the coronavirus started to spread around the world earlier this year there have been countless stories of nature rebounding: bobcats and black bears venturing onto the roadways in Yosemite National Park, Venice canals so clear that schools of fish are visible again; seismologists finding that movements in the earth’s upper crust have slowed down… Read more At home on this earth?
If you missed this post in English, you can find it here. Mit dem Lernen von Sprachen habe ich früh angefangen. Mein erstes Wörterbuch war ein Bündel vergilbter Seiten mit Listen russischer Wörter die meine Großvater väterlicherseits gehört hatten. Sie waren bei seiner persönlichen Habe, die meiner Großmutter geschickt wurde, nachdem er in einem Lazarett… Read more Britta Kowalski: Heimat
Today’s post is in German, at the request of some German readers. If you missed this post in English, you can find it here. Während meiner Expedition entlang des Grünen Bandes (der ehemaligen deutsch-deutschen Grenze) folgte ich einer Strategie, für die ich mir die Bezeichnung “strukturiertes Umherwandern” (Englisch “sauntering”) überlegt habe. Die 1400 km lange… Read more Silke Kowalski on Heimat (in German)
The sight of the tiny village of Henneberg (population 613) in the light of the setting sun was lovely – a reward for the double distance I had covered that day. A bit like a Vermont scene, I thought, the way it sat there nestled between fields and pastures against a wooded hillside. But this… Read more “The bakery has closed forever”…but not the German Unity sculpture park
I had learned by this point in the expedition that I should not even attempt to ride more than 50 km a day. A 30 km day yielded enough impressions, encounters, and food for thought to last for several more days. And then there were the hills, which were more like the Green Mountains than… Read more Roaming the Rhön Mountains, and lunch at the Bay of Pigs
I’ve been off my bike (actually my father’s) for a bit now, but I haven’t been far from the border. In fact, I crossed it by bus just a little over a week ago, together with ten of the best travel companions you could imagine – a group of New Hampshire PBS members traveling in… Read more Small detour: Crossing paths with Bach and Luther
The weather forecast had said something about temperatures in the 30’s – Celsius, of course, which translates to high 80s and 90s in Fahrenheit. I know I have some good hills coming up, so I make sure both my water bottles are filled, and buy a bottle of Apfelschorle (apple spritz) at a small store.… Read more Phantom borders, phantom villages
I like traveling along rivers. During the first leg of my expedition farther north, I had spent two days along the river Elbe, some 60 miles of which served as the “inner-German border” during the time of the German division. Now I’ve arrived at the banks of the Werra, a river I had heard about… Read more Salt mountains, and a river in recovery
