Harvey Travel Arts

Okay, so Trier, Germany is a little further away than our own backyard. But this place is only about an hour and a half or so away from where we live. I love the little town with it's ancient history, it is one of the oldest settlements that we know of in Germany. The happy Roman ruins are dotted all over the city and the example above reminds me a bit of Rome. We enjoyed taking Isaac there on his visit, and he exclaimed that the ruins were some of the best part of the trip for him. I could imagine so...I felt much the same way the first time I visited many years ago.

The Maginot Line was built along the French border (largely only where the French bordered Germany) after WWI in an effort to prevent the Germans from invading. Unfortunately for the French, the Germans knew about this and went around the protected border area just in time for World War II. Brian and I thought this would be a great history lesson for Isaac, so we took him to see this part of French military history. There's an entire underground system that took us a couple of hours to walk through, and more pictures to come soon.

Brian and I have been playing tour guide to my cousin Isaac, who is visiting from Texas. He has recently graduated from high school and wanted to see Germany. We are happy to have him here, and took him to Bavaria for a couple of days. The view up top is Hitler's Eagle's Nest. This structure was built to be a conference center or meeting place of sorts; it was never meant for sleeping. His house, which was later destroyed, was a little way down the mountains. Our tour guide told us that the only reason they allowed Eagle's Nest to stay open for tours was if absolutely no memorial or museum to Hitler was put in place. Because it is at the top of a mountain and has but one way to get to it through an elevator, or perhaps very brave and successful mountain climbers, there was no fear of the site becoming a "shrine" for someone who created such horror with his actions. It is now a restaurant and merely a stop on a tour, and otherwise a very beautiful mountain ...

Sometimes my posts are very serious, and hopefully thought provoking. We need to take time in life to reflect and listen to lessons being taught. And then, there's times like today, when I needed a smile and a laugh! Thank you, God, for giving us humans a sense of humour, some of us more than others, I'll admit. Sometimes Brian and I like to window shop when traveling. Seldom to I have a reason to go into any stores, but usually as tourists one has to wander through a shopping district to get to the museums and monuments. The little wigged dog caught my eye and made me smile. Oddly enough, I remembered the dog but not the merchandise, so I'm not really sure how effective of an advertising technique he was. But he was cute and photo worthy. Enjoy!

How fitting that we spent time on Memorial Day at Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam. We left for the weekend trip on the Friday before, which is when these pictures were taken. However, the line was so long that afternoon, and we were so very tired, that we decided to take a boat ride instead and return later. I've never read Anne Frank's Diary, but in school I did read Corrie ten Boom's The Hiding Place. I've read other books about the horrors of WWII, as well. This house brought a sense of connectedness more than any other exhibit I think I've seen. Anne's father, Otto, was the only survivor from her family. It stuns me to realize that Anne and her sister Margot only missed freedom by a mere few months; dying instead of typhus. Anne wanted to be a journalist, and write someday of the "secret annex". Her wish came true, albeit posthumously. Otto Frank returned and had Anne's diary published. He also prepared the way for the museum, ...