Europe with My Parents and Siblings - 1980 - Liechtenstein & Switzerland

July 7 - Monday:  We started back to Switzerland for our two final days in Europe.  

Enroute we stopped in Liechtenstein, the tiny principality between Austria and Germany.  After returning to our bus, I realized I had left my small purse when I had exchanged some foreign currency.  Fortunately, when Jacob called back, the purse was found and was returned. 

Zurich was our next destination, which was the most important industrial and commercial center in Switzerland.  

Our sightseeing included Grossmunster Church, National Museum, and Art Gallery with some time for shopping along the famous Bahnhofstrasse.  That evening we had a cruise on a white steamer along Lake Zurich.

July 8 - Tuesday - Highlights from this day included going to Zollikofen and attending a session in the Bern Switzerland Temple and visiting Bern, Berens, and Lucerne.   

In the capital city, Bern, we enjoyed seeing the medieval and modern sites with its beautiful fountains and arcaded streets, which are covered walkways for pedestrians.  We visited the famous Clock Tower as well as the Bear Pit, a tourist attraction that houses bears.

Then we traveled to Lucerne, which is traditionally Swiss with its preserved medieval architecture and is situated on the shore of Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, connected by the charming city of Interlaken at the foot of the Swiss Alps.  (When we were in this area in 1973, we had enjoyed the aerial ride.)

We have had to deal with a lot of rainy weather on this trip, but that didn't dampen our enthusiasm for enjoying this memorable tour.

In addition to buying Swiss chocolate bars, tour members had time in Zurich to do some last minute souvenir shopping.  My mother always carried a nice handkerchief with her, and she bought a pretty embroidered one in a specialty shop.

For a souvenir to take home, I bought a goblet that passed the "ring" test:  If you tap the glass and hear a musical ring with a little bit of echo, then it is crystal as opposed to just plain glass; and the greater the lead content, the longer the tone.  And crystals with over 35% lead will actually sparkle.

One of our tour members laid down on the bed in their motel room at the end of a day of touring.  When his wife finished with her shower, she found he had died.  Our guide and tour director had to make arrangements for his body to be flown home.  The fellow travelers on our tour went together to buy his wife a beautiful crystal vase and signed a sympathy card.

On July 9, Wednesday, we flew home from Zurich.  

There were 48 people listed on our travel list for this sixteen-day Grand Europe tour.

 It's been nice remembering being with family on this special trip.   

Europe with My Parents and Siblings - 1980 - Salzburg, Austria

July 6, Sunday - Europe with My Parents and Siblings - 1980 - Salzburg, Austria

We went to church in Salzburg.

Of course, "The Sound of Music" has been a favorite movie of mine for many years, so there are some special photos we took in Salzburg.

In the movie, "The Sound of Music," this was where the               

Von Trapp family supposedly lived.  (Schloss Leopoldskron is about a 20-minute drive from the city center and provided the lakefront facade of the Von Trapp family home.)

We had our picture taken by the gazebo (Schloss Hellbrunn), which was featured in several numbers in the movie;

especially memorable was Liesl and Rolf's singing and dancing to Sixteen Going on Seventeen.

This is also where Captain von Trapp and Maria had their romantic duet, Something Good.

Here we are in the Mirabell Gardens where Maria and the              Von Trapp children sang Do, Re, Mi while dancing and skipping

around the gnome garden and Pegasus Fountain.

Mozart's Residence

Born in a small house originally, the family moved to what is now known as Mozarts Wohnhaus in Makartplatz.

The building was reconstructed as closely as possible to the original design after its destruction during World War II 

and is now a museum.

Getreidegasse, in the old town is a popular destination for shopping. Many passageways and courtyards spring from the Main Street and create areas to explore.  The wrought iron guild signs are interesting.

Mozartplatz Square

In the center of the Old Town is the square dominated by an ornate bronze statue of the square's namesake and several museums.

A beautiful city

Many pretzel stands to choose from.

I can't remember what was significant about this place,

but it apparently had a story also.

Gus, K. LeRoi, Ina, my dad and mother, Narene, Louise, and Sam

Photo taken at Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg

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This was a group photo of our tour members taken in Heidelberg,

but Sam and I were with our friend Dietrich at that time.

My parents are sitting on the front row (left),

Gus and Louise are standing in the 2nd row from the back (left),

K. is in the back row, 4th from the left,

and Ina is standing in front of K.

Our tour director,  Donworth Gubler, is sitting next to my dad.

Our tour guide, Jacob, is standing at the right, 3rd row from back.

Susan Easton (Black), BYU faculty, was also on this tour.

We stayed in the "Holiday Inn" in Zurich for our last two nights in Europe and arrived back in Salt Lake City on July 9, 1980.

  

Our visit in Zurich is in the next and final post for this trip.

Europe with My Parents and Siblings - 1980 - Munich & Rothenburg - July 4th

Europe with My Parents and Siblings - 1980 - Mannheim, Rothenburg, and Munich - July 4th

After our nice visit with Dietrich in Mannheim, we joined up again with our tour group. 

One of the postcards I sent to our children.

On the evening of July 3, we saw this castle in Heidelberg.

Heidelberg Castle

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We stayed in Munich for three nights:  July 4th, 5th, and 6th

Olympic Park in Munich

with cycle track, stadium, and tower

Here are some more photos taken in Munich:

Rothenburg Photos

July 4

We drove along Germany's "Romantic Road" with a stop in medieval Rothenburg where we had lunch.

This is a special photo of a member of our church in Rothenburg, 

and we were told she likes to wave to visitors who have

come to her city from Utah.

The next day, July 5, we took the train to Oberammergau, a picturesque woodcarving center of Germany, where we saw the Passion Play. Those photos are in the first blog entry I posted from our trip.

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The next blog entry has photos from our tour into Austria with memories of seeing where the "Sound of Music" was filmed.

Europe with My Parents and Siblings - 1980 - Mannheim, Germany and a Rhine River Cruise

July 2 & 3  - Mannheim, Germany and a Rhine River Cruise

On our way to Mannheim, we heard stories from members of our tour group and sang songs.  As we neared the battleground in Germany where Gus had been wounded, he shared some of these incidents with our group.  A United States military cemetery lay about three miles from the highway where we were traveling.  

We stayed at the Novotel Mannheim Hotel in Mannheim.  On July 3, our group went on a Rhine River Cruise, where we passed castle ruins, golden vineyards, and the romantic rocks of Lorelei. 

Loreley is a German legend of a beautiful maiden who threw herself into the Rhine River in despair over a faithless love and was transformed into a siren who lured fishermen to destruction.  The myth is associated with a large rock named Lorelei or German Loreley, which stands on the bank of the Rhine River near Sankt Goarshausen, Germany, and is known for producing an echo.  A ballad, "Song of the Loreley" became famous across the world.

 

At the end of our Rhine River Cruise, we were met by our dear friend Dietrich VonLoh and spent the day enjoying being with him in Mannheim (previous blog entry).  

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Salzburg, Austria - next blog entry.

Europe with My Parents and Siblings - 1980 - Visiting Dietrich VonLoh in Mannheim, Germany

July 3, Thursday - Our visit with Dietrich VonLoh in Mannheim, Germany

We became close friends with Dietrich and his wife Siegrun in Ann Arbor when we were at the University of Michigan living at 1941 McIntyre in Northwood Apartments, and they were doctors from Germany with an internship at the University also living near us.

Photo from about 1973 taken by our apartment in Ann Arbor         when Phyllis and Neil came for a visit.                                          Siegrun took the photo, and Dietrich is in the back on the right.         (back:  Narene, Sam, Phyllis, Neil, Dietrich;                                                                      front:  Ryan, Diane, Brent, Marla, Randy, and Scott)

We have fond memories of Dietrich and Siegrun going with us to the farm in South Dakota for Christmas in 1971.  Then in 1973, they flew to Salt Lake City and went with us to St. Johns when we were looking for a place to live prior to our moving there, and they had really enjoyed seeing the landscapes in the southwest.  We had continued to keep in touch for a time with Dietrich and Siegrun after we moved to Arizona.  

On this 1980 visit with Dietrich in Germany, it was sad to learn why we had not been hearing from them.  After they left the United States, Dietrich learned about a secret relationship Siegrun had with another doctor (who was also married) in Ann Arbor, which resulted in Dietrich and Siegrun getting divorced.  In spite of this sad news, we had a very good visit with Dietrich and appreciated renewing our friendship with him.

We found this online for "Seigrun Von Loh," (2014); and we think it is "our" Seigrun.  

Here are some photos from our 1980 visit with Dietrich in Mannheim, Germany:

Narene with Dietrich

We should have taken a picture of his "Triumph" car that only had a passenger seat in front for him and Sam, and I sat in a "jump seat" behind.  Traveling on the Autobahn with no speed limit was a different experience for us, but Dietrich assured us he was going slower than he normally would have out of consideration for me.

Dietrich

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Dietrich took us for a drive to Rudesheim, which are the next pictures posted here.

Me with Dietrich in Rudesheim

Monument to Unification of Germany

near Rudesheim on the Rhine River.

Built between 1871 and 1883,

now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Rhine River taken from the monument near Rudesheim. 

Dachau

A Nazi concentration camp opened on March 22, 1933, initially intended to hold political prisoners; however, it eventually evolved into a death camp where countless thousands of Jews died from malnutrition, disease and overwork or were executed.

The small Crematorium at Dachau Concentration Camp

The next day, July 5th, we took the train to the picturesque woodcarving center of Germany, Oberammergau, where we saw the world-renowned Passion Play.  It was all in German, but we had program notes in English to help us.  It was raining but our seats were partially covered overhead.  Seeing the Passion Play fulfilled a dream my mother had since she was 18 years old.  We, too, were glad we got to see this; and I began this series of blog entires for our 1980 trip with photos from Oberammergau.

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The next blog entry will be more of our tour in Germany. 

Europe with My Parents and Siblings - 1980 - Paris, France

 June 30 and July 1, Monday and Tuesday - Paris, France

The Paris Hotel was our home for two nights.  The first evening we saw the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower.  We had an elevator ride up into the tower to balcony type walkways which gave a good view of the city.  It was quite windy as we walked around.

Eiffel Tower 

The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World's Fair.  The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the climb from the first level to the second.  Although there is a staircase to the top level, it is usually accessible only by elevator.  When Sam was in Paris with the U.S. Wheat Commission, the elevator was not working and so they used the stairs but did not go to the top. 

 

Arc de Triomphe

An iconic symbol of French national identity and took 30 years to build.  The Tour de France bicycle race ends near it each year, and the annual military parade making July 14 - known both as French National Day and Bastille Day - begins its journey at the arch.

On that first evening in Paris, our tour group had a boat trip along the Seine River, which was nice in spite of the raindrops.  Many of our group gathered on deck and sang as the boat passed by many of the beautiful landmarks of Paris lighted at night.  

Before returning to our hotel, the bus took us to an area where many of the youth of Paris gathered on the church steps.  We wandered around seeing the night life and street vendors that were in the area.  This time, it was Sam and I who were the last ones to make it back to the bus; and since our family had remembered how we had gotten lost in Athens, Greece six years before, they were concerned we had gotten lost again; but we were back soon and off to the hotel.  

Back at the hotel we were given a message to call Roy back at the farm.  I immediately began to worry and was concerned that the only reason we might be getting this message to reply to an international call had something to do with our baby, Doug.  I listened as Sam returned the call to Roy with these fears mounting.  When I could tell from their conversation that Roy had merely called to share with Sam information about a new tractor Ireland Bros. would be buying, my tears began to flow from the release of my pent-up fears.  It is hard for a mom to leave her baby so many miles away even though we were experiencing some amazing things in Europe.

On our second day in Paris, it was my dad's 81st birthday; and that evening after we returned to the hotel, there was a birthday cake for him that Jacob had ordered for us at dinner.  

Notre Dame was closed on Tuesdays, so we missed seeing the famous "Rose Window."  The rain continued, but we enjoyed our two-hour visit to the Louvre seeing impressive works of art.  We saw the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and a series of huge paintings by Rembrandt.  We barely had time to run to see the Venus de Milo; but I ran, yes ran, with Gus and Louise to see it before we left.

Mona Lisa

Venus de Milo

Palace of Versailles

The palace and park were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979.

On our second day in Paris, we enjoyed our visit to the elaborate  Palace of Versailles including the gardens and grounds.  The original residence was primarily a hunting lodge and private retreat for Louis XIII (reigned 1610-43) and his family.  

There were huge crowds touring this attraction.  Jacob, our guide who knew several languages, impressed us on our tour as we stopped to wait for the tour group ahead of us from Japan with their guide speaking in Japanese.  Hearing the Japanese guide make a comment, Jacob shared that was something he had not known before (obviously having understood the Japanese narration).

Grounds of the Palace of Versailles

(This aerial photo is from the Internet. On the day of our visit, it was rainy and very chilly.)

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Our guide had not been successful in getting a tour of Notre Dame for our group due to chairs being set up for a special concert, so when we got to Reims the next day a stop was made to visit the Cathedral there, which Jacob said was very much like Notre Dame.

Cathedral in Reims, Germany

Sometimes known as "Rheims Cathedral."

It is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary.  It was the traditional location for the coronation of the kings of France.

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Our next destinations in Germany included Mannheim, with a Rhine River Cruise, before going to Munich.  See my next blog entry.