Koblenz - Deutsches Eck

Several years ago I was invited to participate in a Data Exchange Agreement, which took me to the delightful little German city of Koblenz, twice. Overseas travel has never been one of my favorite pastimes, but the two times that I visited Koblenz were notably pleasant affairs. Of course, the trip over to Germany was and always shall be a mental nightmare for me. My first trip was remarkably painful because I had to fly from Indy to Minneapolis to Frankfurt and I was tortured with a five hour lay over in Minneapolis. I was meeting a colleague from Sandia National Laboratory, who also was flying into Minneapolis and had agreed to share a vehicle for the drive from Frankfurt to Koblenz. Unfortunately, she was not arriving in Minneapolis until just minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave for Frankfurt. So I wandered around the Minneapolis Airport until I found Cheers. At the end of the bar were two robotic figures, named Hank and Bob, not Norm and Cliff, but very similar in appearance. These gentlemen sat and talked and, of course, sipped some of the fake Norm's Giant Brewskis. What a wonderful place to spend five hours, drinking real Norm's Giant Brewskis and talking to robots, just prior to an eleven hour flight.

Flying, is this not a wonderful experience? Eleven hours of sitting in a cramped seat with an occasional sojourn up the aisle to stand in line for your allotted time in the limited restroom facilities. My colleague, MC, and I agreed that I would drive the Autobahn and she would navigate, consequently, I felt it wise not to participate in the free alcoholic beverages for the remainder of the trip. As a matter of fact, MC insisted that my good behavior was mandatory. You might say; that was a bummer. So I worked crosswords and tried, quite unsuccessfully, to get some shut-eye. Other than having the bumpiest ride in an airplane that I've ever been on for eleven hours, the flight was uneventful. (Which reminds me of a return trip back from Sydney, when a fellow passenger suffered a heart attack approximately three hours into the flight to LA and we had to turn back to Sydney to get him proper medical attention. I'm not sure whether he made it or not, but I do know that I wasn't feeling very well about the whole situation.)

Our trip down the Autobahn was a hoot, to say the least. Shortly after entering the famed German race track and getting up to speed, which was about 80 mph for an "old man" type of driver like me, a motorcycle, at least we thought it was a motorcycle, went by us like a bullet shot from a gun. "Zoom-zoom" would have been too many syllables to describe that move, more like "Boom" and he was gone. For a second, I think MC thought she was shot and I was seriously afraid that she might have suffered a heart attack from the shock. Just what I needed, a dead scientist beside me, while I'm trying to maneuver amongst phrenetic Formula 1 freaks on a frenzied freeway. However, she quickly recovered and we made it undisturbed the rest of our way to our destination of Koblenz. I do think that I managed to ease on up to a respectable 90 mph on a couple of rare occasions, and yet everyone continued passing us like we were some stationary object. It was obvious to us that Einstein developed his Special Theory of Relativity while driving on the Autobahn. MC and I even discussed the idea of the clocks ticking slower, in those cars passing us, relative to our stationary clock. Maybe I should save Einstein for another time (and space).

Nothing like arriving on a Sunday morning, the day after you left home and finding that your hotel rooms will not be ready for another 3 hours. So, MC and I walked (maybe staggered is a better word) through the streets of Koblenz in order to while away the hours. Nothing is open in Koblenz on Sunday mornings, but the sights are beautiful. Next to Adelaide, this has to be my favorite city in the world. Koblenz is situated at the confluence of two rivers, the Rhine and the Moselle. They have constructed some extraordinarily fine walking paths all along both rivers and they all meet at a point called Deutsches Eck. I really don't remember what that means, but it is such a resplendent locale with a towering statute of Wilhelm I on horseback. Wilhelm and his Prime Minister, Bismarck, were famous for their unification of Germany, back in the 19th century. From here you can look up and down both rivers and across the Rhine you can see magnificent old castles. I had purchased a new camera for this trip and was frantically trying to capture the beauty of it all. You just cannot do it; the pictures are nice, but not even close to the pure essence of it all as you see the panoramic views in person. MC and I got caught up in the sightseeing, plus a couple of glasses of wine and never realized how easily we had passed those 3 hours.

I had several stateside friends from various locations throughout the US who attended this event and I appreciated the fortuity of this occasion to be able to spend some time, dine with them and visit the sights of Koblenz. We were joined by several of our German hosts on most evenings. I found that just walking down the cobblestone streets, which meander through this city and enjoying the impressive Romanesque architecture of the churches and the old Renaissance design of the quaint little shops, was a pleasant way to spend an evening. Cruising both of the rivers, visiting the Marksburg Castle, http://www.marksburg.de/english/frame.htm , tasting the wines at a regional winery and sampling (large samples for me, I should add) the local cuisine, convinced me that I genuinely loved this place. There is a fountain statute of a small boy in Koblenz, who spits out water every so often. If you are unaware and walk past him, he can spit right upon you as you pass. It is an excellent spot to have your more naive friends pose momentarily for a picture. Everywhere we ventured during this week, we were greeted with warmth and extremely good cheer by everyone we met.

Participation in the Data Exchange was a fascinating experience, not just because of the interesting research which was presented, but due in part to the seemingly effortless ability of the hosts to eliminate any language barriers right from the beginning. Many of the Germans spoke very good English; however several of the technical papers were presented in the host language. The conference set-up had the interpreters located in a sound-proof room, relaying the information, German to English and English to German, via our own personal headphones. (I remember an International Waterjet Conference at Berkeley several years ago when a young Chinese scientist presented a research paper and I didn't have a clue what he was trying to convey.) The hospitality of our hosts throughout the entirety of the trip was so sincere that it made you feel right at home.

However, like all good things, this trip had to come to an end, but not before making the long journey back home. My consistently nitpicking airline company, who like all airline companies, has a tendency to be extremely finicky about all aspects of ticketing, boarding, flight procedures and every other facet of my travel, managed to lose my baggage on the return flight. I was the only person from that flight who showed up at the Lost Baggage area, so I am positive, without a doubt, that someone working for that particular airline has something personal against me. For some unknown reason paranoia consumes me when I have to deal with airline companies. Although the officials with this airline were nice enough to reimburse me for the cost of my new camera and substantially expensive wardrobe, they were incapable of compensating me for the many scenic pictures of Germany, Hank and Bob, as well as, my other friends from Koblenz.