Bernhards Random Ramblings BACKUP

I didn't make it to the Little Mermaid , but they have a replica in the transit hall at the airport. Not quite the surroundings of the real thing, but better than nothing... As we boarded, they were still fueling the plane. Row 30 seat F on flight SK 935. Not quite as generous as seat A in the same row on the inbound flight . There is also an aisle offset as the seating transitions from SAS Plus to SAS Economy, which creates awkward navigating challenges for the food cars, and I was always a bit worried about people walking by when I had drinks on my table. Overall, while this seat still has a lot of space, it's not quite as nice as the window seats in the same row. Food also fell off a bit compared to the inbound flight. The main meal after take-off was good on both flights (love the fresh buns!), though I enjoyed the breakfast much more than the heated tomato/red peppers/dough thingy we got today. I picked up the car at the airport and made it home alive in Silicon Valley com...

Super-pretty wooden arrival hall at main station  I have a layover of almost 5 hours, so I planned for taking the train from the airport the city center and have breakfast in Copenhagen. The train ride takes about 15 minutes. Trains run every 20 minutes. The train from the airport. There are no longer direct trains to Sweden/Malmo due to the refugee situation. For travel to Sweden passports are being checked at the airport station. I grabbed some danish (hah!) at Andersen's Bakery next to Tivoli across from the main station and walked towards the city center. Town Hall  Helligandskirken Morning sun at Christiansborg Slotsplatz  Borsen (the old stock exchange) Nyhavn is an inlet with lots of pretty, colorful houses. This is as far as I got on my walk.  I misestimated how far away the Little Mermaid is from the main station, so I took the metro from Kongens Nytorv to Norreport Station and headed back to the main station. Several trains ran late, so I got to take a few ...

Yawn. It's way too early. Alarm went off at 3:15, by 3:45 we where on the road. Flight departing at 6:00am. 1.5 hours and a short nap later I'm back in Copenhagen.

I almost went into conniptions at the exit of Breuninger Garage in Stuttgart. The madness is spreading. Not surprising, really. The same manufacturer  Scheidt&Bachman makes the payment machines at Stuttgart Hbf. Too bad that a German company doesn't speak proper German.

Farmers Market at Marktplatz in Stuttgart It's the last day of this trip. We headed to Stuttgart for some shopping, including a visit to Modellbahn Center Schueler , where I spent almost as much time chatting as I did browsing the store. Very nice people, great selection. Lots of inspiration. I will be back. Stiftskirche Flower Market at Schiller Platz The lunch at Alte Kanzlei was excellent. Angebratene Maultauschen mit Ei, gruener Salat, und Kartoffelsalat. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo. ... Still salivating when thinking about it, though. On the way back to the car we took a quick peek inside Markthalle. Lots of booths with fancy foods in an architecturally interesting setting.   Another place I haven't been to before --- even though it is really close to where we live --- is Eisenbahntreffpunkt Schweikhardt in Waiblingen. The store is well known in the Stuttgart area and beyond, for good reason. I didn't remember to take a photo inside. Think of a small super ...

Marbach am Neckar is known as "Schillerstadt". Friedrich Schiller , the famous German poet, was born 1759 in the house above. Schiller wasn't the only famous son of this town. Tobias Mayer 's birth house also still stands, and has been lovingly restored. Walking up and down the hills in the Altstadt is fun. I had forgotten how pretty Marbach is. Well worth a visit.

Uslar station is located on a secondary rail line between Northeim and Ottbergen, known as the "Sollingbahn", since it traverses the mountainous area of the Solling in southern Lower Saxony. Like so many stations all over Germany, the station building in Uslar is no longer used to support railroad operations, and the tracks have been "optimized" for years. Pretty much everything railroad related that used to be here has been ripped out over the last 50 years. At least so far there is still a passing track in place. The rail line touches the town of Uslar only tangentially. A long time ago there was a branch from here to a station closer to the town center ("Stadtbahnhof") and on to Schoenhagen, which fell into disuse for passenger service in the late 1950's and freight service in the early 1970's. Ever since there was bus service from the station on the outskirts of town. Today, passenger trains run only every 2 hours or so in each direction, so mo...

Old Town Hall It's always nice to return to the home town of my parents. The plan was to visit my aunt, whom I haven't seen for years. I picked up some cake, and took a few minutes to look for photogenic opportunities. There were many to choose from ... Fountain at Old Town Hall The old school house. Now a museum. Church and the New Town Hall Lange Strasse and Hotel Menzhausen My digs for the night: Gasthaus Johanning in Eschershausen. I've been coming here for family parties ever since I can remember. Morning in Eschershausen. Aunt Barbara and me in the morning sun before I head back south.

Continuing with the general theme of the last week, today's excursion took us to the Schwaebische Waldbahn (Swabian Forest Railway) between Schorndorf and Welzheim. Trains run 3 times on Sundays alternating between steam and Diesel operation. Today was a Diesel day. Today's 2nd train has left Schorndorf 10 minutes ago, and is running on the Wieslauf Valley floor near Miedelsbach towards Rudersberg. This is a typical train for this line from the end of the steam era to the end of operation by Deutsche Bahn in the 1990's: A class 212 pulling a baggage car Pwghs-54 and one or more Bn "Silberlinge" 2nd class passenger cars for local service. 45 Minutes later 212 084 is pulling hard on the mountain section between Rudersberg and Welzheim. After crossing the road from Schorndorf to Welzheim at Breitenfuerst, the train has only 2.5 km left to its final destination Welzheim. As we caught up with the train at Welzheim, the crew had set out benches and a beer table for lun...