The letters of our thoughts are the ideas present in our mind before they come to realization . . . Thoughts that are, yet not felt . . . The words of the subconscious . . . of the soul . . .

These are the LETTERS OF MY THOUGHTS.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Pesach in Germany IV -In the Land of the Lightstones


Through the trees.


From Dachau we went to Füssen, home of Schloss Neuschwanstein - the famed Bavarian castle near the Austrian border.

After intensity of our first stop, the time spent in the castle balanced out the day, letting it end on a brighter note.

Click on the link to see the last leg of the German Pesach experience.



Hohenschwangau -the castle where Ludwig II, builder of Neuschwanstein, grew up in -we did not buy a ticket to go inside.




On the walk up




The castle . . .



The view of the valley.



Inside.








Unfortunately, we could not take pictures of the interior of the castle . . .



A view out of the window onto the nearby lake and the majestic Austrian Alps.









From there on to . . . Liechtenstein!




As a child, I received an atlas for one of my earlier birthdays. I would spend hours looking through its pages at the various countries, and discovered, much to my joy, that there was a country that shared names with me . . . Liechtenstein!
(In truth the name Lightstone is an Anglicization of the name Eidelstein, not Liechtenstein, but why spoil the fun)

For years I had been trying to plan a trip to 'my' sovereign principality, but none of my plans had ever come to fruition. The proximity to Ulm, less then two hours by car, left no doubt in my mind though that this would be chance to go . . .

So from Füssen we drove to Austria, then to Switzerland, and then across the Rhine, into the Principality of Liechtenstein.









We went to the castle in Vaduz, the capital, but unfortunately could net get in -as the Prince lives there (he is in fact the functioning head of state)






No Entrance





Wanting a stamp in our passports from the country (Switzerland and Liechtenstein have an open border), we drove across its width, into Austria - taking a stop to daven Ma'ariv - and then back into Liechtenstein again (thus avoiding the Swiss border this time).

With a new stamp in our passports, we drove back across Liechtenstein, and returned to Germany (via Switzerland and Austria again).

A night in Ulm, an hour or two of rest, and we were off for Frankfort and our flights home.

After checking in, we began to divide our food for the flight, and found that between the four of us we only needed two boxes of Matzo, not the three we had brought.

"It's worth holding onto," I mused, "who knows who we'll bump into."

After we had settled our expenses, T and D left, the spare box of Matzo in hand.

No sooner had they walked out of sight, though, then a lady walking passed us and turning with a smile said,

"Chag Samech."

Leaving her in the care of my dear friend Mendel, I ran post haste after the other two . . .

The lady, a local Russian Jew, had not been able to get any Matzo before Pesach . . . Now, however, she had.

Thus ended the Pesach in Germany.

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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am touched that you trusted me!

A Simple Jew said...

I am so glad you get out on all these trip because it allows me to go on vacation with you and see the world outside of my cubicle.

Thank you for all your postings. I always like seeing your pictures!

Anonymous said...

I thought the whole Europe had open borders!! (since Lithuania's borders are open...)

P.S. in the group picture, the guy on the left looks (a bit) like Wilshansky...

Mottel said...

Chief -Betach . . . I spent a whole summer with you.

ASJ -I'm glad you like my photos, their making a difference for you gives them meaning to me.

MK -Open borders for members of the EU does not make universal open borders for Americans such as ourselves. Lithuania does not have an open border -the thirty odd stamps I have from every time I entered and left can attest to that.
They look alike because they are twins.

Mendel K. said...

They just opened Lithuania's borders in the winter...