Stanford Student Letters and Memoirs

March 26, 1960

Hi, folks-

Dave and I have finally found some spare time to do a bit of the typing for George that has truly stacked up in the past few weeks.

We thought these two subjects particularly interesting in a general way and only hope we can talk further with him about all of this when he gets home.

Meanwhile, he has spent a lovely long weekend in the Black Forest area of Germany and, at the present time, is bicycling through Germany- up to Bremen- over into The Netherlands (The Hague, Amsterdam etc) and then bak [back] into western Germany and along the Rhineriver (including a stop at Heidelberg) and back to the Burg by April 4th. They are loving every bit of it- even going uphill hasn't been too much for them I gather- and feel that they are getting a wonderful close-up view of the countryside they are covering. Later the group goes to East Berlin on a tour and to Luxembourg.

In a few days- maybe even tomorrow- I will be here at the typewriter again and will have some specific news of this trip for all of you.

I know there are probably more than the usual number of errors in this typing job- blame it on my lack of German, or just industrial fatigue. Just hope that you can guess what I could have written had I not made these typographical errors.

Dave and Lo

-2-

The next morning we took off about 8 AM on our bikes, rode along the Tauber to Creglingen. This was a particularly beautiful stretch with the river in the base of a valley, cultivated hills arising on both sides, little villages every couple of miles. We stopped about 9:30 on the bank to eat breakfast (sandwich, two eggs, slice of meat, piece of raisin cake given us by Frau Krauter, orange and water). Watched a flock of ducks swim by (the river was about 20-30 feet wide) moved very smoothly and slowly. About this time the sun broke through the morning fog and it was quite peaceful and lovely. On the hills behind us farmers followed their horses or walked about spreading fertilizer- farming much as they had for centuries before.

In Creglingen, we caught a train for Wurzburg- a little old one with ancient cars with wood seats. Almost empty of people so that the conduc- tor had time to drop by and chat with us, find out where we were from etc. He said we were the first bike travelers of the season and most people say it is too early in the year but so far our luck has been pretty good. Almost all sunny weather- only cold since Hanover.

We had a couple of hours to ride around Warzburg- too bad because it is a very interesting old city- University and former Bishop's seat. We spent most of our time at the Marienburg Castle on a high bluff with a fine view of the town and its many church steeples. Then on the train again- on to Hanover for the night in a youth hostel.

Up yesterday morning and right off to the railroad station to go to Hamburg. We are trying mostly in these few days to cover mileage in moving northward so sight seeing took a second seat in the large cities especially. In Hamburg I had time to wander around for the afternoon but chose instead to write a letter, take a shower, wash a few clothes etc.- sort of a day off from tra- veling. The hostel there is very large (400 beds) and new. On a hill above the harbor. This is a fine location for the Hamburg harbor is huge- much larger than any other I have ever seen and bustles with activity day and night. The great dock cranes are as thick as TV antennas on Los Angeles rooftops and there are ships of all sizes loading, unloading or moving on. The city itself is sort of sooty, industrial, with a smoke haze even under blur [blue] skies. This seems to be true of most north German cities (Hanover, Bremen, Oldenberg). In sharp contrast to Stuttgart or Munchen in the south.

Well we are rising early in the morning for a long day of biking- hope to make over 100 kilometers which is far more than we have done on any previous day. The time we save now will come in very handy going up the Rhine or wandering in Holland so it is worth the effort.

March 21st

Well here I am in our second night in the Hague and I will try and fill you in somewhat on the last few days. We did manage to cover the 104 kilometers from Oldenberg to Winschoten and without being completely worn out. We left Oldenberg about 9 AM, arrived at the border between Germany and Holland at 4:30 and in Winschoten about 6 and we took about 10 minutes of each hour to rest and an hour for a hot lunch so we didn't really press too hard. The country was very flat yet we saw many thick pine forests- at almost sea level, this is quite unexpected- between the green farmlands. As we moved westward past Leer and into Holland, the forests gradually disappeared and canals became increasing- some little more than irrigation ditches through the fields every 15 or 20 yards- others large enough by

Itinerary--three weeks vacation

March 12 Beutelsbach--Schwab Hall--Rothenburg 109 kilometers

13 Rothenburg--Stuppach--Mergentheim--Wurzburg 103 kilometers

14-17 Wurzburg--Hamburg--Bremen--Oldenburg (by train)

18 Oldenburg--Winschoten (Netherlands) 104 kilometers

19 Winschoten--Harlingen 114 kilometers

20 Harlingen--Alkmaar 92 kilometers

21-23 Alkmaar--Haarlem--Amsterdam 57 kilometers

24-25 Amsterdam--Leiden--The Hague 60 kilometers

26 The Hague--Rotterdam--Utrecht 79 kilometers

27 Utrecht--Emmerich (Germany) 92 kilometers

28 Emmerich--Düsseldorf 98 kilometers

29 Düsseldorf--Köln 48 kilometers

30 Köln--Bonn--Coblenz 90 kilometers

31 Coblenz--Mainz 90 kilometers

April 1 Mainz--Worms--Benstein--Heidelburg 102 kilometers

2 Heidelburg--Heilbronn 84 kilometers

3 Heilbronn--Ludwigsburg--Beutelsbach 60 kilometers

Mail until 3/19 to Amsterdam, Netherlands

3/20-3/25 to Köln, Germany

3/26 on - back here at Landgut Burg

dates are obviously your mailing dates, not dates of arrival of letters

Write to: me American Express Agency the above dates

They forward automatically etc. so that's no worry.

No time now for a real letter - music final in 2 hours! I'll write a good one before I leave.

Love, George

Continued in Oldenburg - the evening of 16.3.60

Sitting on a bunk bed in a cool (unheated) youth hostel, having just finished a very pleasant, leisurely meal in a nearby Gastätte (small restaurant - beer hall).

Anyway - back to Rothenburg. It was a lovely sunny day, and we strolled down the narrow streets, saw the Rathaus (city hall), went into one of the churches (which had two beautiful wood carved altar pieces - about 1500, in the German renaissance), stopped by the walls to look out over the river and valley. Then at dusk we found a small wood paneled gastette, had dinner by candlelight.

The next morning we took off about 8AM on our bikes, rode along the Tauber to Creglingen. This was a particularly beautiful stretch, with the river in the base of a valley, clutivated hills rising on both sides, little villages every couple of miles, etc. We stopped about 9:30 on the bank to eat breakfast (a sandwich, 2 eggs, slice of meat, piece of raisin cake given us by Frau Krauter, orange and water), watched a flock of ducks swim by (the river was about 20-30 ft wide, moved very slow and glassy smooth). About this time the sun broke through the morning fog and it was quite peaceful and lovely; and on the hills behind us farmers followed their horses, or walked about spreading fertilizer, farming much as they have for centuries before.

In Creglingen we caught a train for Wurzburg - a little old one with ancient cars with wood seats, almost empty of people so that the conductor had time to drop by and chat with us, find out where we were from, etc. He said we were the first bike travelers of the season, and most people say it's too early in the year; but so far our luck has been pretty good - almost all sunny weather, only cold since Hannover. We had only a couple of hours to ride around in Würzburg - too bad because it is a very interesting old city - university and former bishop's seat. We spent most of our time at the Marienburg castle, on a high bluff, with a fine view of the town and its many church steeples. Then on the train again, on to Hannover for the night in the youth hostel.

Up yesterday morning and right off to the railroad station to go to Hamburg. [We're?] trying mostly in these few days to cover mileage in moving northward, so sightseeing took a second seat in the large cities especially. In Hamburg I had time to wander around for the afternoon, but chose instead to write a letter, take a shower, wash a few clothes, etc, sort of a day off from traveling. The hostel there is very large (400 beds) and new, on a hill above the harbor. This is a fine location, for the Hamburg harbor is huge, much larger than any other I've ever seen, and bustles with activity, day and night. The great dock cranes are as thick as TV antennae on Los Angeles rooftops, and there are ships of all sizes loading, unloading or moving on. The city itself is sort of sooty, industrial, with a sort of smoky haze even under blue skies. This seems to be true of most north German cities. (Hannover, Bremen, Oldenburg too), in sharp contrast to Stuttgart or München in the south.

Well, we're rising early in the morning for a long day of biking - hope to make over 100 km., which is far more than we've done on any previously. The time we save now will come in very handy going up the Rhine or wandering in Holland, so it's worth the effort. Hope everybody's well and happy, and I'm eager to get to Amsterdam and the "mail box".

Love, George

hike around the lake - along icy roads [patches?] (and occasional drifts) of snow, the open meadowland by old farms with [illegible?] buildings - barns with waterwheels powered by passing streams, etc. The lake [illegible?] about 2 miles long and 1/2 mile wide - was completely frozen over; in fact we [illegible?] men ski across it, using their poles to push off against the ice. In spite of the ice and snow the air was very warm and mild, as in spring.

Freiburg was a striking contrast to the [illegible?] restful beauty of the Schwarzwald (oops - Black Forest). The minute we stepped [illegible?] the railroad station we were swept up by the pressing crowds out on the street [illegible?] celebrate or watch others celebrate or to go somewhere to celebrate. Every restaurant and cafe was packed and noisy - we even had trouble finding anywhere to eat dinner. We had time for several hours of window shopping and sightseeing Monday [illegible?] and Tuesday morning. The most interesting by far is the "Munster" - old Gothic cathedral with its classic spire reaching skywards. The inside is worthy mainly because of some excellent stained glass windows, which have be reinstalled since the war (probably buried underground outside of town for safe keeping).

This coming week is cram time - I have an anthropology and a music paper to do and finals in German and Music to study for, all in 7 days. So I shall be a little busy, I guess! Also we've had daily chorus rehearsals this week, in preparation for our concert in Beutelsbach tomorrow night at 8 pm! We're singing a set of 6 Brahms Waltzes, two German [illegible?] English folk songs, and a beautiful finale - Randall Thompson's "The Last Words of David." Also on the program are our Madrigal group, a piano solo, and clarinet sonata, and a cello performance by a local physician who practices with Mr. Nanney. Should be an entertaining, and only a little amateur performance.

Our 3 week vacation will begin next Saturday - we're allowing Friday for final errands and preparations before leaving, and also hope to attend a concert in Stuttgart that evening (Jehudi Menuhin playing Brahm's violin concerto for one thing!) We'll bicycle from here to Nürnburg, then take the train to Hamburg. From here our route is not yet definitely set, but may be Bremen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, perhaps Brussels, Köln (Cologne in English, I think), then down the Rhine to Heidelberg and back to Stuttgart. We have 23 days and will be trying to cover a lot of country, but it will be fun, I think, in a way that travel by car could never be. We hope to usually make 100 kilometers (60 miles) a day, sometimes perhaps up to 120 or even 140 if it's possible; plan to spend whole days in some of the most interesting cities. The ride down the Rhine should be especially beautiful! Plan to get mail through American Express - will check on arrangements and give you exact itinerary when I get time. Meanwhile, back to the books!

Love, George

Mom- Your letters come through fine and seem to be coming more often too! I really appreciate them, and all the clippings too! But Dads seem to be getting lost on the way! Just teasing - I know he's busy, but it's nice to hear from him sometimes! More love - me