Trip to Heidelberg

Recently I made a short vacation trip to Heidelberg, Germany.  It is a worthwhile trip but if you are interested in going there you should plan to do so in the next twelve months.  HQS USAREUR, and all the associated support activities, will move out of Heidelberg during the next 12-18 months.  Facilities will start to close as the population dwindles.  

As far as old European (German in particular) cities go, Heidelberg is nothing out of the ordinary.  It has both a modern area and a smaller, old city center.  Heidelberg is a tourist destination so everything is a little more expensive.  While the US facilities are still there you can save some money by using them. Because it is a tourist destination many of the restaurant and shop people speak English.  Look for restaurants and shops with younger clientele and workers and English is probably spoken.  The older people generally do not (or will not) speak English.  But give it a try, everyone can probably understand you to some extent.

We stayed on Patrick Henry Village in the guest quarters.  I will have to say that I think the guest quarters are very disappointing. Other than being convenient, being on a US military facility, I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.  I have stayed there twice in the past six months (once TDY and once on vacation).  The rooms cost $75 a night for one person.  You must pay an additional $7.50 for EVERY additional person in your room.  The rooms are old and run down; early to mid-1990s decor. The first time I stayed there in August I had to request the house keeping staff to scrub the fecal material off the bathroom walls.  The second time I stayed there in September, the bathroom had again not been well cleaned.  There was a used wash cloth hanging in the back of the shower, a used cotton swab (Q-Tip) on the floor under the sink, and the wall tiles along the floor were black with dirt from mopping.  The walls in the bedroom area were dirty and tiles were chipped and broken in the bathroom. There is no way for the occupant to adjust the room temperature; it appears to be centrally controlled and of course there is no air conditioning for the warmer months though there is a small fan in the closet.

Included with the room price is an adequate continental breakfast.  You have a choice of three cold cereals, bagels, milk, apple or orange juice (boxed), mini-muffins, fruit cups (only peaches), yogurt, and coffee/tea.  You can eat there or use a tray to take it back to your room.  There are no tables in the rooms for dining though.  In your room is a good-sized mini-refrigerator with a small freezer box.  

Patrick Henry Village has a good-sized Shoppette and a full commissary but no PX.  There is one central PX complex for all of the Heidelberg Kaserns but it is very difficult to find (it's on Czernyring).  No one at the reception desk could give me directions to the PX.  If you need a fuel ration card you will have to find the PX complex. There are no Aafes gas stations so even after you get your ration card you will have to hunt for an ESSO station on the economy.  I carried an extra five gallons of gas in my car to cover my fuel needs.  In August when I was there TDY I put 25 miles on my car doing all the paperwork at the MP Station, then finding the PX, then finding an ESSO station.

There are places to eat on Patrick Henry Village but the whole point of driving to Germany is to eat good German food!  Food prices in the old town center ranged from very reasonable to very over-priced.  Start looking for a place to eat before you are starving.  You can find almost any type of food you can think of; German (of course) Thai, Korean, Italian, Greek, Turkish, etc.  There are plenty of ice cream and pastry shops as well.  The old town center is a pedestrian zone and Europeans like to walk, eat, drink coffee, and walk some more so there is no shortage of food and drink choices.

The castle is the focal point of the tourist trade and is a bit of an uphill hike but well worth the trip.  If you take some snacks and drinks with you, you could easily spend 2-3 hours in, at, and around the castle. They do conduct English language tours so make sure you ask for one.  My wife and I were fortunate to have an excellent tour guide.  She was knowledgeable and her English was very clear. At the castle is the castle tour itself and there is also a German Pharmacy Museum located there.  Unfortunately most of the individual exhibit items only have German language explanations but there is a very good English story board describing the history of pharmacies.  It is more interesting than you might think and it is included in the price of the castle tour. Oh, yes, you will pay twice at two different places to do the castle tour.  You pay €5 to get in the castle courtyard and then another €4 for the guided tour of the castle.

In the basement of the castle is the world's largest wooden wine cask; 55,000 gallons. You can go up the steps and stand on top of it.  When the castle was in use the occupants drank 500 gallons of wine a day and there was a hand pump in the castle kitchen area to pump wine up from the cask to pitchers. According to our guide, the wine was of low quality and low alcohol content but it was deadly to drink water back then due to contamination. In the same area of this cask is a place where you can buy a snack and coffee or modern wines.  My wife and I each had a slice of apple tort (very delicious) and a cappuccino. The price wasn't too bad but the man behind the counter had such an attitude.  My wife always says, "If you hate the job that much, go find another job."  He was downright rude.

We also took one of the Neckar River cruises.  Unfortunately, we had the last cruise of the day, departing at 1500 hrs, and so it was an hour shorter and we had to change boats at the turn-around point.  Normally it is a three hour cruise up river passing in front of the castle for great photo opportunities. There are dinner cruises but maybe only on the weekends or during the summer. I can't remember the price of the river cruise but it was reasonable.  Of course Europeans smoke heavily so you'll have to deal with that.  It was a warm, sunny day so we sat up on the top deck for the views and fresh air.

Parking is always an issue.  If you are going to drive into the old town I recommend you use parking garage:

P 8 - Kongresshaus (Convention Centre)

Enter the following address in your GPS

Unter Neckarstraße 44

69117 Heidelberg

It is right down by the cruise boats and a very short walk to the old town area.  Prices per hour are half what I normally pay in The Netherlands. Go to this site to look at all your parking options: Heidelberg Parking

There is plenty else to do in and around Heidelberg but we only had the two days and they were long, tiring days.  Find a good guide book and see it while you can.

APK - Vehicle Inspection

Most states in the US require annual vehicle inspections to ensure the cars and trucks are road worthy and safe to drive. The Netherlands also requires these inspections once a vehicle is over three years old. The periodic motor vehicle inspection is known in The Netherlands as APK, (algemene periodieke keuring). A car needs its first APK when its 3 years old and then annually after that. You will need to show proof of APK when you register and re-register your POV at AFNORTH.  Also, failure to have a valid APK can cost you a hefty fine if you are stopped at a random vehicle inspection checkpoint in The Netherlands.

 

The APK checks the vehicle's technical standards and helps to keep the roads safe. Prices of the APK vary, so it is wise to check several APK checking stations. If you develop a relationship with a particular garage you should check to see if they perform APK services; not all garages can do the inspection.  Otherwise, just look for an APK sign outside of a garage.  Look for "Zonder Afspraak" on their sign.  This means you can get an inspection "without an appointment". In the Schinnen area there are several garages that do APK inspections zonder afspraak for €39.  Strangely, and it certainly is a huge loss of income for them, the garage at Schinnen does not do APK inspections. 

 What they check:

• Braking systems
• Steering and steering wheel
• Visibility of the vehicle (all glass and required mirrors)
• Lamps/lights
• Reflectors and electrical equipment
• Tires
• Axles
• Wheels and suspension
• Chassis and chassis attachments
• Safety Equipment

It is your personal responsibility to arrange the APK on time. Nobody is going to tell you that it is time for your APK. If your car or truck is in good shape and everything works as it is supposed to, the APK inspection will take twenty minutes more or less.  It has been my experience that not everyone that works at a car garage speaks English.  Because of the tiered education system, people going into the vocational-technical fields do not spend as much time studying languages and other more "academic" subjects.  Be patient.  If they want your business they will find someone in the shop that can speak enough English to help you out.

Schinnen Car Care Center (Garage)

There is a garage of sorts at Schinnen, attached to the gas station.  The gas at Schinnen is the most expensive in the area.  Aafes fuel products are significantly cheaper in Germany and in Belgium for some reason.  I never understood this since I am fairly sure Aafes buys their fuel products from the same source. Regular gas was $4.67 in The Netherlands Aafes stations but only $3.93 in Germany and $4.05 in Belgium.  Motor oil is also more expensive in The Netherlands.

Last week I ordered new tires for my compact car at the garage at Schinnen.  My tires were getting worn enough that I wanted fresh tires for the coming winter.  Of course I knew tires would be more expensive here than in the states, everything is.  But I had no idea how much more expensive.  I have been driving since 1977 and these were the most expensive tires I have ever purchased.  The garage, or Tire Center at Schinnen only offers one brand of tire, Cooper.  I had never heard of Cooper Tires but I did an Internet search and they appear to be a fairly well known and good quality tire company.  But they certainly are not one of the lower priced tire lines out there.

This is only a guess but I would estimate I paid about 30-40 percent more for these tires than I did for the four tires I put on my Ford Explorer three years ago (and they were much larger, heavier duty tires). But the price of the tires themselves is only part of what you pay.  At the Aafes garage at Schinnen you will have all sorts of charges and fees added to the price of your tires.  At most tires stores, and stateside Aafes garages, these fees are included in the price of your tires (except maybe the fee to discard your old tires).

At Schinnen you will pay an additional $8.95 per tire for them to balance the tire.  You cannot drive with unbalanced tires so this should be included in the price as it is a normal part of mounting tires on the rims. Then you are hit with a $4.50 per tire charge for tire disposal.  Again, unless you have your own landfill this is a charge you cannot escape but $4.50 per tire is an excessive charge; I never paid more than $1.00 per tire anywhere else.  Most garages now actually get paid for their old tires by retreading companies or rubber recycling companies.  Next charge is a $1.00 "Environmental" fee.  Normally that is what the tire disposal fee is for so this is an excess made up fee in this case. In total you will add a minimum of $57.80 to the already higher tire prices you can expect to pay in The Netherlands.  Aafes offers a good "Road Hazard" plan for $18.75 per tire (again, that is a bit excessive).  It pays for tire repair and free rotation and balance for the life of the tire to include the initial balancing of your new tires.  I will only be here or near an Aafes facility for one more year so it wasn't cost effective for me.

How to reduce these costs? My recommendation is to have new tires put on your car or truck right before you PCS to The Netherlands.  You will save a considerable amount of money and effort and have a wider selection of tire types and companies.  Store your original tires until you come back to the states.  If you are going to drive in Germany you MUST have real snow tires mounted on your car in the winter.  You will be fined if you are driving on "All Season" tires if there is snow on the ground.  Switching tires on your car twice a year will get expensive but it is cheaper than buying four more rims and swapping winter tires for summer tires. I just just avoid Germany in the winter.

I do not think you can get tires cheaper on the economy so you are stuck with Aafes price gouging.  I guess they figure that is what your overseas COLA is for; to increase Aafes profits.  But in any case it is something you need to factor into your budget while you are here.

While I am on the subject of the Aafes garage in Schinnen... You should be aware that they have only a very limited supply of oil filters and absolutely no air filters for your vehicle. I always bring back filters when I go to the states on leave. Buying them online is an option but then you have to add the cost of shipping to the price. If you haven't yet left the states be sure to buy a couple of each filter that you need and bring them with you. Motor oil is about 50% more expensive here and the types and weights are limited. Oil changes at the Schinnen garage are very expensive and the quoted price does not include the oil or the filter; just the labor. They charge $85.00 an hour with a minimum labor charge of $17.00. Learn how to change your own oil and you will save hundreds of dollars in a three year tour here. You can dispose of your oil on Saturdays at the recycling center on Schinnen.

There is a "Car Craft" center on AFNORTH in Brunssum that is supposed to be cheaper for almost everything.  I haven't used it so I do not know the details.  Check them out before paying for work at Schinnen.

Netherlands National Plowing Championship.

It was being held on the property of Kasteel Rivieren. Rivieren, like Eijsden, was a "Landgoed". A Landgoed loosely translates to estate or plantation. Generally it was the country property of a wealthly family. The center of a Landgoed was the fortified house, which was more often than not called a kasteel. If you look in a Dutch-English dictionary kasteel translates to "Castle" but these were not castles as we generally think of castles. They were more like manor houses but they did need to offer protection to the family, their workers, and the property.

There are many such "Kasteel" type properties in and around southern Netherlands and Belgium.  This book highlights some.

Kasteel Rivieren originated as a klooster (convent) in 1364. It was transformed into a Landgoed in the 1700's. It is still a working farm and there is also a small restaurant operating in one of the outbuildings. The kasteel is not that impressive from the outside. It looks quite run down. But then it is several hundred years old.

The plowing competition took place across the street in the open fields. As it was explained to me, each province can send three competitors to the nationals. There are 16 provinces and I think that there were about 48 tractors out there. I walked around and checked out each tractor and came to the conclusion that Massey Ferguson was the tractor of choice. Most of the tractors were older, smaller tractors from the 1940's and 50's but there were some exceptions. There were no large, modern tractors like at the Limburg Province level championship.

The rules were a little different at this meet. Each driver had to plow a wide lane from outside in. This is more like how a real field would be plowed. There was no one meter strip down the center as at the provincial contests. The lanes were odd shaped and so they had to cut short furrows to straighten out their lane so the last couple of runs were full length and straight.

This competition was not nearly as fun for the few spectators that were there (and there were very few). First off it was really hot and the sun was punishing. Secondly, this was the national championship and the drivers were super serious. There was very little down time when you could walk up to them and talk about their equipment.

This John Deere was amazing. The driver showed great experience and control over his equipment. The length of the set-up should have been a disadvantage, because of control issues, but he cut perfectly straight furrows. This model John Deere has a tiny engine and yet he did all his plowing at barely above idle. Low gearing and the large rear wheels transfer high torque and power to the ground.

Legendary John Deere Tractors: A Photographic History

 

This unknown tractor must be the oldest there. I could not find any name on the machine so I don't know what it is. It rolled on steel wheels. This was common in the 1920's and 30's. Steel wheels have great traction and they last for ever out in the fields. But they are really rough on roads so they stayed on dirt as much as possible. This driver was also really good. His furrows were perfect and considering the age and simplicity of the tractor and plow it was very impressive. In my opinion he had the best results in the field.

One driver had an oil soaked Swedish rig. I'm surprised they let it in the field it had so many oil leaks. I saw it sitting still and there was no oil on the ground underneath but the whole tractor was coated in oil or fuel. Seemed strange. I would guess it is a mid-1930's tractor but the plow looks to be even older. I can't really remember his results so they must have been average. Of course average, at this level of competition, is a high level of perfection.

 

The last tractor I'll highlight (I know, I know, seen one seen them all...) is this International Harvestor H model. I used this very same model on our farm and at our family's campground for many years. I learned to "drive" on an H. He had a trip-type pulled plow, which is very similar in function to the plow we had on the farm. You pull on a rope, which engages gearing driven by one of the wheels, to raise and lower the plow. The tricycle type row-cropper tractors have a big disadvantage in these competitions because the front wheels do not follow the furrow like regular tractors do. The driver has to pay much closer attention to steering and keeping his line straight. This guy was intense and constantly squinting and talking to himself. But he could plow very straight. When he was sitting still idling the tow pin rattled in the pintle and I immediately flashed back to that sound from our tractors. I guess it is peculiar to the H but it is a very distinctive sound.

Vintage International Harvester Tractors (Town Square Books)

I didn't stay too long at this. There really wasn't much to do once I walked and looked at each set-up and the driver's work. I did lay down for 15 minutes at the far end of the field area on a bench. It was that 3:00 o'clock dip that kicks my butt. Fifteen minutes with my feet up and my eyes closed and I was good to go.  I did like looking at some of the older, unusual tractors and plows but in general I think the Province level contest was more interesting and fun.

Search Amazon.com for antique tractors

Kasteel Eijsden

I reviewed my plan for the day and my first stop would be the Kasteel at Eijsden. According to Google Maps it was a 25 minute drive from my house

Well, as often happens here a 25 minute drive turned into a bit over an hour's drive. There is often congestion where A2 goes along the edge of Maastricht. Two lanes go down to one before A79 merges into A2. Of course, the normal cheaters want to drive past everyone (down the soon to end lane) sitting patiently in the file and the Dutch drivers typically don't seem to care.  I find it extremely annoying.

By the time I got to Eijsden (pronounced "Eyes-den" with the emphasis on the Z sound) I was hungry so I decided to eat first even though it was only a little past 1100. A few people riding by on their bike gave me the "eet smakelijk" greeting, which basically means "enjoy your meal". And I did; everything tastes better when eaten outdoors I find.  I also brought a couple extra drinks and snacks in a cooler since I find the Dutch prices ridiculously high.

I took a picture of the kasteel over top of the hedge before I went in and quite like it. This kasteel was built in 1636 so it is enjoying its 375th anniversary this year. It is built in what is called the Maasland Renaissance style. In later pictures I'll explain aspects of that style. Maasland is the region, in both Belgium and The Netherlands, that lies along the River Maas (Meuse in French). It is culturally distinct from the rest of The Netherlands. The Maas lies just behind the kasteel and I am sure that at one time there would have been a boat dock along the river since the Maas is one of the prime transportation nodes in France, Belgium, and The Netherlands.

The kasteel has been owned by only fours families in the past 375 years. The current owner is Graaf (Baron)Marcel de Liedekerke de Pailhe (he is Belgian). He is the second generation of the Liedekerke family to own the property. His father, Pierre, married the last daughter of the Geloes family (who owned the kasteel for many generations) and thus the kasteel transferred to the Liedekerke de Pailhe family. Pierre was executed by the NAZIs on 16 September 1943 when it was discovered that he had been hiding refugees in the basement of the kasteel.

I found the interior to be one of the prettiest and interesting interiors of a period building that I have ever seen. I have no training in such things but if I had to describe it I would say it is a blending of Tudor and German Hunting Lodge styles. The Baron still lives here (not full time I don't think but he does personally tend to the many rose gardens on the property so he must be there a lot) so we were only able to see the first floor. Each room was very unique from the others. The wood work was ornate without being ostentatious. It had clean, masculine lines except for the music room, which had a French or Italian flavor. The various families had collected antiques during the years to include a large mantle clock that once belonged to Marie Antoinette. There were other objects from other notable historic figures but I can't remember the details (a big problem when you are struggling with listening in a foreign language is you can't catch all the details). Unfortunately, because the owner still lives there we were not allowed to take pictures inside. In one room the tile floor created the illusion of three dimensions, which was actually un-nerving if you looked too hard. I found I had to ignore it to walk on it.

No battles were ever fought here but Napolean's troops did ransack the house and steal almost everything. The owner during that time was able to arrange to buy everything back. The soldiers were more interested in having some money to carry instead of large objects so the trade went pretty well. This southern area that is now part of The Netherlands was not exactly a safe place to live in the earlier years. So when this kasteel was built it was built with defense against marauders and criminal gangs in mind. Pictured here is one of the many firing ports, or loopholes, built into the kasteel and the outbuildings. Most of them are oriented to protect the small bridge that crosses the moat and the main poort or gateway into the protected area.

This picture is taken from just off the bridge and you can see the moat and the many loopholes on the tower. At one time it appears that the bridge was just a wooden gangway over the moat and the current brick bridge is relatively recent after life in this area became a little safer. There are some huge carp in this moat as well as koi.

The main gate to the property was rennovated in the mid-1800's and it was designed to close off the protected property every night for security. All the farm animals and equipment would have been brought inside every evening. Today, the gatehouse holds a couple apartments, which help to fund the property. The building to the far right, from where I took the picture, was probably home to the higher level workers and it was also studded with loopholes aimed at the main gate and the bridge over the moat.

The kasteel sits just off the River Maas and this picture was taken from that angle. On this side of the house was the "Gentlemen's Room" and the "Ladies' Room", both of which had large windows and stepout landings to get fresh air off the river as well as provide beautiful views. Just across the Maas is Belgium. It was a nice view from the house but they no longer keep the trees along the Maas cut back so the view is obstructed somewhat.

Maasland Renaissance (sometimes called "Mosan"), is a regional architectural style dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. The style is only remotely related to Renaissance architecture. The style has been applied predominantly in the Principality of Liège in present-day Belgium and the Netherlands, mainly in the city of Liège, the Land of Herve, and the regions of Belgian Limburg and Dutch South Limburg. The style is manifested in townhouses, castles, farms, manor houses, and sometimes in monasteries.

The Mosan Renaissance style developed in Liège in the 16th century during the reign of Erard de la Marck. The style is a take on earlier used methods of timber framing into which a new material (stone) has been incorporated. Stone-framed windows, decorated architraves and alternating layers of brick and stone are characteristic of the style. Most utilised materials that were endemic to the regions where the style prevailed, namely blue limestone (also known as Namur stone), brick and mergel (a type of chalk). The incorporation of as many windows as possible was to indicate wealth.

This building was built with central heating, which is pretty amazing for its time. There was a large wood "furnace" in the basement and air ducts cleverly distributed warm air throughout the building. There were fireplaces in some of the rooms but they were more for ambiance than function.

At some time in the 1800's several of the widows in the front of this view were enlarged to bring in more light. During a rennovation in the 1920's they were taken out and the windows were brought back into the proper scale. You can see the "new" materials used for this rennovation when you are up close.

In an earlier picture I show a rose. As I said growing roses is a hobby of the Baron. I am not a huge fan of roses mostly because they take so much work and are attacked by so many pests and diseases. But I do love the smell of some roses. There were probably a hundred different varieties of roses here. The one in this picture must be the same type (or closely related) to a rose I scavaged and was growing at our home at Fort Meade. The bugs would kill it back constantly but when it did manage to bloom the flower smelled like an orange or tangerine. This rose at Kasteel Eijsden smelled exactly like my rose at Meade.

I spent about two and a half hours wandering about the property to see the "gardens". At one time there were two garden themes here. One was the formal French garden with its rigid geometric patterns and the other was the open, naturalistic English garden designed around trees and landscape views. All that is really left is the English park-like theme and even that is pretty vague. But it was still nice to stroll the grounds and imagine what it was like in times past.