Travel to Busserach

I have been delayed in posting because I hit the ground running in Switzerland. My train trip from Boppard to Basel was uneventful except for a suicide attempt. While still in southern Germany the train came to a screeching halt, and I nervously looked around my train car. No one else seemed concerned so I thought it was a brake check or something. But then we just sat. Finally an announcement came on that there were "people on the tracks" and we had to wait for them to be moved. I wondered if a car had gotten stuck on the tracks. A little later another announcement was made that someone was trying to commit suicide by laying on the tracks, and they had to wait for the police to come. I guess the person went willingly because we were soon on our way again. All this delayed my arrival time in Basel where Rolf, as promised, was waiting at the top of the escalator with a Swiss flag. I waved my own American flag at him, and we quickly bought my ticket to Laufen. Back down the escalator we went only to see our train pulling out. Back up the escalator we headed with me dragging all my luggage once again. We went into a coffee shop for some coffee and tea. Rolf brought me up to date in the plans for the rest of that day, which was Thursday.

Gasthaus where Joseph Kubler sold his land

We caught the next train 30 minutes later and then got into his car which was parked at the Laufen train station. From there we drove directly to my hotel in Breitenbach, which I believe I have mentioned is the same hotel where my ancestor Joseph Kubler sold his house and land in February of 1854 to finance passage to America for his family. We barely made it in the door to drop my bag with the hotel owner and grab a key before Rolf whisked me off to Busserach, a short distance away. There we went to to the Catholic Church office to look at the old birth, death and marriage records. The office is only open on Thursdays so we needed to take advantage of that.

With the parish record books in Busserach

A Kubler entry

The secretary had laid out three books for us to look through. We photographed every Kubler entry that we found. We did not have too much time to dissect what we came across as there were many Kubler entries. We got short on time, so Rolf suggested we go through two additional books at a later time. From the office we went to Rolf's house where I had a chance to meet his two sons, but not his wife as she was away on holiday. Then Josef Kubler (call Sep in Switzerland for short, but never Joe) came to pick us up to take us to his sister Susanne's house for dinner. The two of them speak no English and I don't speak German so Rolf was kept busy translating the conversation. Susanne prepared raclette, a traditional Swiss dish. It was so good! I may have to see if I can find the machine in the U.S.

Joseph on the left with Rolf

Raclette

I got back to the hotel about 10:30 that evening to prepare for a big day at the Solothurn archives on Friday.

Train Travel to Trier

Train to Trier

We rode the train to Trier today. The last hour of the trip was on a double decker train, and the sites from the second level were pretty amazing. Trier may be the oldest city in Germany (around 16 BC), and the entry gate is a UNESCO world heritage site. There used to be four entry gates, but the rest were destroyed. The only reason this one survived is because it was used as a church.

Porta Nigra

Speaking of churches, the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Peter is the oldest cathedral in Germany. It has held services for over 1,700 years and is also a UNESCO site. In places it is 86 feet tall!

Cathedral of St. Peter

 

Side altar

Main altar

 

View from front to back of the church

 

Entry doors

Our Roman tour guide

Elephant Parade

 

Another of the 40 elephants

Metal worker

 

Some of his wares

Street performer?

Unfortunately the day was cool, windy and rainy so we did not spend as much time exploring this historic city as we probably would have normally. Instead we found a place to grab a hot drink to warm up before getting back on the train to Boppard. On the first leg of the journey I met a couple of nice young men from Iowa, who are here on vacation. Not only do they live in Ames, but they also graduated from Iowa State. Small world, and that hour passed quite quickly while I chatted with them. Wednesday is a free day as half of our group will travel to their home towns for a visit. Depending on the weather, the rest of us will decide if we want to go to a different town. It will be nice to have a little down time.

Cruising the Rhine River

After a delicious breakfast yesterday at our hotel our tour group boarded the Loreley on a four hour Rhine River cruise. The day was a bit gloomy at first, but the sun eventually made an appearance. While the tour was filled with quaint town after quaint town along the banks of the Rhine, the true stars of the show were all the fabulous castles perched on the rocky hillsides above the river.

The Loreley

We got off the boat at Rudesheim. This pretty little town begins at the river and then makes its way up the hillside towards the grape orchards. Since it was already 1:00 our minds immediately turned towards food. Kathy had selected a cafe off one of the narrow side streets called Quetsch Kommod, so named I believe, for all the accordions hanging in the place. It was a great choice. Then we were free to shop for awhile before heading back to the river where we caught a ferry to take us across to board a train back to Boppard.

We had about an hour after we got back to refresh ourselves before going out to dinner. A reporter with a German television station joined us. She has done stories about Germans researching their ancestors who left Germany, and she thought it would be interesting to interview Americans coming to Germany to look for the ones who didn't leave. She and a film crew with be with us part of today as we do a walking tour of Boppard and visit the archives here.

Boppard, Germany

My genealogy vacation tour has officially begun. The flight from St. Louis to Charlotte was uneventful, and we had a nice flight from Charlotte to Frankfurt, Germany. I never sleep on international flights, so the time does not pass too quickly for me. The woman sitting next to me had a cough, so every time I would start to dose off her cough would startle me awake. I just hope it wasn't contagious. Going through customs was a non-event. The agent barely glanced at me and asked no questions. From there we collected our luggage. There were seven of us from the tour group on the flight, so we all met up at the luggage carousel. Once we secured our bags we headed to the train area to meet up with the rest of our tour group. That consists of Kathy and Matthias and three additional travelers. Once our train tickets were validated we boarded our first train.

We had to change trains once, and I don't know what the station was called.

Once at the Boppard station we took cabs to the hotel, not because it is far but because we had all of our luggage to deal with. Kathy was not lying when she told us to try and keep our bags light, because schlepping them on and off the trains, and up and down the stairs is a chore. Because I have books as gift items, my bag is nearly 45 pounds. Dealing with it myself to and from Switzerland later this week should prove interesting!

Our hotel is the Baudobriga Rheinhotel, and it is located right along the Rhein River. The staff is extremely nice, and I am enjoying my view of the river. The room is small but has everything I need. Except a way to make hot tea, which I would really appreciate as I woke up at 5:00 this morning. Breakfast is not until 8:00 so I will have to wait a bit yet. Following check-in I emailed home to let folks know I arrived safely, unpacked a few things and then headed out for a nice, long walk along the river. Even though it was cloudy, with a light sweater on I was comfortable. Back at the hotel I found some of our group on the veranda going over the packets Matthias has put together for our home town visits. Then it was time to eat dinner, which was wonderful. I was in bed by 9:00 after being awake for 31 hours. Following breakfast this morning we are boarding a boat for a cruise on the Rhine River. I am eager to see all the castles along the hillsides.

 

View from my room

House built in 1787

 

Not sure if this is a house or what