Although slightly cooler than the previous 10 days or so the sun shines again
today. At Heitzmannshof (where Wivica lives) the cows have been let into a fresh pasture today, located immediately
underneath Frau Heitzmann's vegetable garden. Pastures are fenced (by electric
"shock wires") as much as possible into horizontal slices which follow the
slope's contours, requiring minimum efforts of the animals to stroll around.
I am starting to feel very comfortable here. The landscape exudes a
tranquility and peace which it transfers across to me.
Let me tell you about my second notion since coming
to Germany I referred to on April 26.
Upon arriving in Germany I have taken off immediately not to where my
ancestors actually came from (as my strong initial intention was back in
Australia), but instead to where they have moved to. As soon as I arrived in
Sankt Peter I felt (and still feel) an emotional reluctance to go East, into
Bavaria and Austria. Why is this so ? These, I feel, are very much self
contained regions. Every road, like in a maze, leads to nowhere, or back onto
itself. Within it you are a prisoner of the region, there is no way out !
How can I say this, I who have never been there before ? I strongly
suspect that what I feel now is only the emotional echo which drove my
ancestors out off these regions, to escape the sense of imprisonment, of
staleness, of not being able to develop and grow, almost of claustrophobic
proportions. How elated must they have been to reach the area where Wivica lives
right now (on the edge of the Black Forest), looking down onto the valley of the
Rhine, the gateway to freedom.
Successive Furstner generations (Förster > becoming > Furstner) gradually traveled North following the Rhine valley, until they eventually (in 1775) arrived at
the Rhine delta, the Netherlands, the undisputed focal point in Europe of
tolerance and moral and philosophical progressiveness and freedom.
It is only here and now, visiting Germany, that I see my own life in this
broader historical perspective. And I marvel at the fact that my own
individual longing and decision to migrate, are an extension of, and represents
the latest (but who knows, perhaps not last) leg of this multi
generational journey which started at least 400 years ago and now finally has
arrived at the ultimate country of freedom Australia.
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Saturday May 17, 2008
(diary, travel)
It is overcast today, but not too cold. Wivica is expecting a client from
Switzerland in the afternoon to pick up her painting. A 1-2 hour explanation of
the Soul- or Dual-portrait is always part of the over handing
process, so I decide to be out off the way and do my regular walk to Sankt
Peter. On the way back I stop at the Wald Cafe, and sit on their terrace
admiring the view, reading my book ("Emma" by Jane Austen, brilliantly written)
and enjoying a couple of Fürstenberg Pils. Germany is an absolute heaven for beer drinkers. I am delighted
with the many local breweries they have, all with their own subtle varieties in
taste. In the Black Forest I have so far tasted three brands :
Fürstenberg, Rothaus, and Ganter, which I only yesterday
tasted for the first time, a lovely beer. Like in the Netherlands each
Restaurant, Pub or Hotel in Germany has only one single brand of beer on
tap.
Upon my return home I start work on a photo collection of Wivica in her studio
and of some of her ceramics which most of the family are not very
familiar with.
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Sunday May 18, 2008
(diary, travel)
It is again overcast this morning and rather cool. I complete my photo work on
Wivica's ceramics and upload it all on
the Blog. In the afternoon we go for a drive around the country, quite nice but
I do like the St.Peter region best. In the evening dinner at the Burgerstüble where we get into conversation with three gentlemen (Hermann,
Wolfgang and Jürgen) who are doing a 5 day walking trail through the Black
Forest.
We end up sitting together at one table and having a wide ranging
discussion about beer (Rothaus definitely rated the best Schwarzwald beer
by all three), skart (card game, declining in popularity because men don't visit
Pubs any more in the evening), life styles and philosophy. Wolfgang tells us that Pangasius
(which Wivica again has for dinner) is an aqua culture produced fish. I have to
Google this up, having been given three different origins, Asia, the Atlantic
and now a fish farm. Two of the answers are in fact correct, the Pangasius is a type of catfish living in the Mekong
Delta of Vietnam. It is now been bred and produced in fish farms in Vietnam
and exported worldwide in ever increasing quantities.
Hermann takes a video
of our get together. We will feature in his story of their Schwarzwald track he
assures me. A most pleasant evening to round off the day.
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Monday & Tuesday May 19 & 20, 2008
(diary, travel)
Two cold and overcast days. I don't feel like doing much in this weather but
manage to do my walk to St.Peter and read in a small Cafe in town, the Zähringer Eck Cafe.
I still
don't feel inclined to go East into the mountains, don't like all this
zigzagging up and down mountains without making much progress. So I am redirecting
my attention to France and Spain.
After some reading through my Lonely Planet
Guide I decide on a route :
Beaune ("Côte d'Or") - Orange (Provence,
37 km NE of Avignon) - Perpignan - NE Coast of Spain
Beaune is at the Southern end of the famous wine region the Côte
d'Or, which runs from Beaune 50 km North to Dijon. Orange is the place
where the ancestors of the Dutch Royal family (van Oranje Nassau) come from and is
by all accounts a lovely small town. Then onto NE Spain. There is just across the border, North of Barcelona the small town of Figueres, which was the birtplace and residence of Salvador
Dali.
On my way back I may stop at Arle (Vincent van Gogh country) and
Avignon ("Sur le pond d'Avignon") before returning to St. Peter. If I have time and feel so
inclined I may also check out Auxerre (Bourgogne), one of the canal boat
centers in the region.
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Copyright © 2008 Michael Furstner
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