Martinshof Story - Happiness - Awareness - Black Forest walks - Camino - Dolmen Tour - Travel

Fortunately Australia now has a strong and competent leader in Tony Abbott, supported by a team including several outstanding Ministers. Hopefully they will eventually be able to turn this country around on a positive course.

Thursday 21 - Wednesday 27 August, 2014 (diary)

I had a smooth and uneventful flight to Germany. Having to wait about 12 hours in Singapore for my connection to Frankfurt, I decided to stay in the Ambassador Transit Hotel located within the Singapore Terminal.
For about US$ 64 you get a nice clean room with shower, toilet and flat screen TV for 6 hours. A good deal.
Singapore Airport is a delight. There are lots of eateries, Restaurants and Pubs, some with live music, a good place to relax.
The food here too is great, just as well as the meals you receive in-flight are rather tasteless, only designed to keep you alive and give you something to do during the flight.
So I had a Mee Rebus (noodle soup with boiled egg, cut in half, tiny lime, croutons), no idea what the soup was made of but it is delicious and I have it every time I am here (good stall in Terminal 1).
After my sleep and shower in the Ambassador I tried some of the Sushi on offer which was also great.

Arriving at Frankfurt Airport I suddenly felt that I had flown from Heaven (Singapore) right into Hell.
Singapore Airport is a delight to stay with its colorful carpets throughout, rest areas with palm trees, tropical vegetation and ponds.
Frankfurt Airport, on the other hand, feels like the coldest uninviting place on earth. Stone floors throughout in dull gray or black, escalators going up and down, no friendly touch anywhere in sight. This is a place you want to get out off as soon as possible.

It is quite amazing really, as the Germans are so very serious and good at making their homes comfortable and looking good with numerous nick-nacks, plants, flowers, etc.
So I quickly got onto my train to Altenahr where Mr. Mannsteadt (the owner of Hotel Zum Schwarzen Kreuz) greeted me with a smile on his face, glad to see me again after 4 years. Once at the lovely hotel I felt really at home and happy again.
Although the weather was cool, the sun making only occasional appearances, it was generally dry and I was able to make a couple of morning walks along the magnificent Ahr river.

After three days in Altenahr I went on to Boppard, also a favorite spot of mine on the "Romantic Rhine".

This time I had booked a room at the Hotel Baudobriga, instead of Hotel Rebstock where I had stayed previously a couple of times. The Hotel is very comfortable with modern bathroom facilities, flat-screen TV and free Wifi. The Hotel is part of Weingut Königshof and their wines are therefor a prominent feature of the Hotels attractions.

A conversation I had with a fellow traveler on the train reminded me suddenly of the most original dish I have ever tasted in Germany. It is Mainzer Handkäse mit Muzik" : a small cheese floating in a bowl filled with oil, vinegar, kummel and onions. I had it some 30 years ago in a Pub in Mainz.

As Boppard is not far from Mainz I asked Frau Elisabeth, the Manager of Hotel Baudobriga, whether she knew of any restaurant in town that offered this dish.
"Oh," she replied "I will try to make that myself for you.". And she did. With a great smile on her face Frau Elisabeth presented me last night with her version of Handkäse mit Muzik.
And I must say it was absolutely delicious, not to speak of the wonderful gesture, which will forever be a part of my memories of Boppard.

Thursday 28 August, 2014 (diary)

Thursday morning in Boppard I wake up to a blue sky and sunny day. After breakfast and saying my goodbye to Hotel Manager Elisabeth, I wander to the train station to start my rail journey to Holland.
After an uneventful, relaxed journey, effortlessly riding through the German and Dutch rail network requiring 3 transfers, I arrive in my town of birth, Zutphen at midday.
I leave my bag at the Hotel (my room is not ready yet) and head straight for the Market square, to fulfill my very first objective here : eating bitterballen.
I remember the Pub (also the local Beer Brewery) where I enjoyed them last time (2 years ago) and find out that their bitterballen are still very good.
In case you had as yet not perceived this, my priorities when visiting Europe are : eating, speaking the languages and visiting family (my sister Wivica) and some old friends.

Being able to speak Dutch and German is especially important to me, for it opens up different dimensions of my identity as a humn being, which in Australia rarely have the chance to get out.
Charlemagne put it so well : "To speak another language is to possess another soul." I feel that very strongly.

I am sitting here on the square, not 200 meters from the very place where I was born, and suddenly the thought strikes me : "How did I ever manage to escape from here ??".
To most (if not all) Australians, used to the wide open places, their freedom in every sense of the word, Europe, the countries and their peoples, appear small. And to me in Zutphen this is particularly so.
Now, in hindsight, our decision (my wife Antien's and mine) to migrate to Australia 50 years ago (in 1965), looks like an enormous step we had to take.
Yet at the time we hardly gave it a thought at all. We both wanted to expand our horizon, learn more, explore, grow. For us it was the most natural thing to do, even as we then envissionned never to be able (financially) to see our home country, family and friends ever again.
But this is exactly what sets us in Australia apart from those who stayed behind in Europe and other countries.
Allesandro del Pierro (the Italian soccer star who played for Sydney United the past 2 years) put it so eloquently : "Australia is not just another country, it is a different set of mind". This is what I immediately feel with literally every person I talk to here.

Friday 28 to Sunday 31 August, 2014 (diary)

These past two days I have managed to see all those I wanted to see here in Holland. Friday morning I had a cup of coffee and a pleasant chat with my old school friend Dick Matthes. I usually stay with him in Gorssel for a few days but unfortunately his wife is not well so we meet at my hotel instead.

As Dick leaves I am being picked up by Sandra, a former Martinshof employee, to go to our reunion lunch in the Bos Restaurant near Gorssel.
We have a small group this year, as three of our old timers are unable to come. However it is great to have Sandra and Diny with us for the first time since we started this regular Martinshof event.

After our lunch (I had delicious mussels) Sandra drops me of at Betsy, the widow of my former father in law Jan Garvelink. Betsy is still quick on her feet and has sparking intelligent eyes, but a failing memory.

A keen equestrian, although now well in her 80s, she still has her horse (now around 25 years old), grazing outside in the field, of which she is incredibly fond.
I am pleased I managed to see her this time, the last time was 32 years ago.

Friday morning I catch up with Harrie, the former diamond setter of our family business Martinshof.
We talk extensively about the former business and Harrie's present work. He has set himself up as an independent diamond setter, working now only for the top jewelers in the country. Business is going well and he reached the point of having to be very selective of the work he takes on. He is after all one of the top setters in this country.

Harrie also tells me that the Martinshof name has been purchased (from the bankrupted Aurum group) by the Siebel company, a group of 40 top jewelers in the country.
The name "Martinshof" still has the image of being the "Rolls Royce" of the wedding and eternity ring market, and Siebel supports this image with a quality product.

Finally this day I manage to catch up with two of my dearest friends from the past, Gerrit and Benny. We used to be regulars of Cafe Beuse and also keen billiard players there. Years ago the pub was sold and transformed into the China Town Restaurant at Quatre Bras a stone throw away from our former family home Martinshof, and it has become tradition now that every time I visit the area we share a meal there. We have a great time together. I even tried the frog legs, Chinese style which were on the menu and enjoyed them very much.
Gerrit invited me to his 80th birthday in 2 years time on June 27, 2016. And that is when we hope to meet again.