Green letters

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The Necakar is, from the standpoint of beauty, even better than the Rhine valley. The thick fir and pine forests come right down the hillsides to the river's edge; occasionally there are small orchards and, with green grass growing between the trees, they look like well manicured parks among the forests, It is really beautiful countryside and we have a whole day of it tomorrow on the way to Heilbronn.

4/24/60

Hello, everyone-

George has been back from his bicycle trip for some time- has even spent a weekend in Paris- but we will start telling you about his trek and the rest will follow along soon.

March 16th.

First a little unpleasent business then the more pleasant news of our trip. I am writing this from the youth hostel in Hamburg. Last night we stayed here and left our bikes parked out in the rack outside. This AM mine was gone- STOLEN. Naturally I had to buy one to replace it which we did this morning after reporting the theft to the police. Our equipment was all inside so no problems there.

Our trip so far has been quite interesting although the best part (Holland) I think, is still to come. We got away Saturday about 3 PM after two days of finishing up Anthropology papers, packing etc. We went through Schorndorf then turned northward in the general direction of Schwabisch Hall. That was to be our destination for the night but we ran in to some pretty rough country- woods, creeks, steep hills- much like the Black Forest and very pretty. We had to push our bikes up each hill then ride down and push up the next. It was reallt [really] exhausting work, especially on our first day when we finally quit about 8 PM. Stopped at a gas station and got directions to a nearby farmhouse. Here they showed us a summer cabin with a covered porch, roof (n walls of course) where we spread our sleeping bags for the night. We have about four days food packed with us and will replenish as we go. Just about froze about morning and probably won't sleep outside again if we can avoid it. We need the rest to make the mileage we want to. Anyway, up at 6:30, load up and on the way- about a mile of pushing uphill and then the summit at last! From here mostly down or flat all the way to Schwabach Hall. We went through Althuate, Gaildorf, sometimes coasting at 30 miles per hour. Along the way we passed thru [through] farmland as well as forest. Saw many small villages much like Beutelsbach. This is the sort of thing that small roads and villages as well as the cities.

From Schwabach Hall we took a train to Rothenberg to save time and energy. There we took our gear to the youth hostel and set out for a few hours look at the town. It is a famous tourist center though not in this season, of course. Because it is an authentic mecieval city bounded by the high walls, standing on steep bluffs, overlooking the Tauber river. Must have been an impregnable fortress in those days.

Sitting on a bunk in the cool (unheated) youth hostel in Oldenberg, having jyst [just] finished a very pleasant leisurely meal in a nearby gastatte (small restaurant-beer hall).

Back to Rothenberg- It was a lovely sunny day and we strolled down the narrow streets. Saw the Rathaus (city hall), went in to one of the churches which had two beautiful wood carved altar pieces (about 1500) from the German Renaissance. Stopped by the walls to look out over the river and valley. Then at dusk we found a small woodpaneled gastatte, had dinner by candlelight.

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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

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Barges.

March 22nd.

Our full day in Amsterdam Saturday was very productive. We began by going to American Express for mail then we went for the morning to the Rijks Museum- paintings mainly from the 15th to 17th centuries including such greats as Franzhals, Rembrandt, Verneer, Rubens, Goya, El Greco and Van Dyke. The Rembrandt collection is particularly good. Then after eating lunch in a park behind the Museum on a bench beside a whole field of flowers, we went on to the municipal museum, mainly modern art. They have one of the best collections of Van Gogh anywhere which shows both the Dutch and Parisian influence in his work very well. Also several Picassos (who leaves me cold). They also had some current exhibit of sculpture and art by contemporary artists, interesting to see. One was rather abstract charcoals, many on the subject of jazz and very clever. The other sculptures from scraps of (iron bike chains, tin cans etc) of human like figures- mostly funny and also at times very clever but not to me expressive of much significant feeling.

After 2 hours in the modern art we rode across town to see a much acclaimed aqarium [aquarium] which was really nothing special after all. Then we went back to a spot near the hostel and took an hour tour of the canals and harbor of Amsterdam on a touring boat. This was very interesting- particularly in the harbor and gave us a beginning orientation so that Sunday morning we could ride around for an hour on our bikes and see some things again more thoroughly. After dinner in a standup cafe we went back to the hostel for the evening to read, talk, and write letters.

I really came to like Amsterdam very much. It is a very friendly, fascinating city. The canals are everywhere- almost every block- and often crowded with bargesm house boars, small boats of all sorts. Also it is a bicyclers city. There are more bikes than cars and the cars just have to make out for themselves because the bikes assume the right of way. So we were right at home as we moved around in the stream of traffic from place to place.

We left Amsterdam about 10 AM Sunday, planned to ride on to Haarlem for the night. But leaving Amsterdam we picked up a lovely tailwind and so covered the 20 kilometers in one hour- nonstop. Boy! Wish it was that easy sailing all the time. When we got to Harlem we located the Franzhals Museum in a very small building on a side street. But it was closed until 1 PM. So we ate lunch on a cold park bench nearby and then decided to go on to the Hague for the night. The stretch between the Hague and Leiden is the famous tulip section of Holland. We were about a month too early for the real season but we did see a few fields in bloom here and there- deep blue and purple, pale blur, white, yellow (gorgeous daffodils). With these few and the many many fields which are now small green plants, we could imagine how spectacular it will be in April and May. Also, every house in Holland seems to have a potted plant or blooming flowers on its windowsills so we saw many more lovely varieties this way.

We stopped off briefly in Leiden to locate the famous old universitynothing specially physically for all of its academic splendor. And then rode on to the Hague and about 9 kilometers to Loos duinen on the west side of town where the youth hostel is located. It is an old mansion on a gigantic estate with a tree lined front drive that reminded me of Stanford Palm Drive. On 3 sides of the house are great open fields of green lawns and in the surrounding woods. small canals with wooden bridges and narrow walkways.

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It is a beautiful spot in every way and I don't know how it ever became a hostel.

Yesterday morning before setting out to see the Hague, we took a short bike ride down to the beach. Rode along the path through huge sand dunes 20 or 30 feet high. It was a gray overcast morning and the sea and the horizon were one continuous mass, broken only by three small cargo ships steaming off to somewhere. It was my only look at the Atlantic (technically the North Sea) for this trip I don't mind that too much if it is always so gray and dreary.

In the city we went first to the Binnenhof, which is sort of a palaceadministration building. In the center court surrounded by an old bldg. filled with offices is a small building containing several large halls, the largest of these is a lovely hall on whose walls hang the flags of the Hollandish provinces, the shields of oast ruling princes, etc. At one end is a lovely round stained glass window (again the shields in the center). The roof is beamed hardwood, nailed with wooden pegs (re-built in 1904 though the building dates from 1280). Here are held special meetings of the legislature and large state receptions for visiting royalty or heads of state. And here in September each year the Queen marches in to officially open Parliament for the year.

After lunch we went to a small museum (the Mauritschuis) which contains several Rembrandts including the late self-portrait and "The Anatomy Lesson", Franshals, and a couple of good Vermeers. Then to find directions to the Peace Palce [Palace], built in 1918 by the US. We stopped in at the US information Service building which we happened to ride past. But here we found a small library and so sat down for a couple of hours to catch up on the news and relax. We bought the week's Time magazine in Amsterdam but a good reading of one day's New York Times aided a lot. After this interlude we arrived at the Peace Palace at 4:15 to find that the building closed at 4, so we had a tourist stylelook at the outside. Then the half hour ride back to the hostel and another relaxing evening. These easy evenings seem to be the best formula for the day's walking or biking and a 10 PM light's out in the hostels prevents concerts etc. anyway. So we just stay in after dinner and take it easy.

This morning, up as usual, and away about 9 to bike to Rotterdam, 30 kilo. It was against the wind all the way, some up and down, and we are getting stronger by now and did the distance in 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Went first off to the American Express and I found 6 letters waiting for me!

After a very short ride through Rotterdam to bought train tickets to Koln and got here about 6:30 this evening. On the way (Utrecht, Arnhem, Emmerick Oberhausen, and Deuseldorf) we came through the Ruhr, of course and saw endless smoke stacks and heavy factories. It is really industry saturated.

This does it for this installment. More to come real soon. Isn't it a pity we sold George bicycle so long ago. He probably would have more fun with it now.