Chronicle of other events in 2005


SchneeBlickSchneeSchaufler

This year we had a lot of snow that lasted until the middle of March. We could go cross-country skiing almost from our doorstep.

Demonstration against the Security Conference (11. & 12. February)

Invalide  
"Jubilation" demonstration on Feb.11th. "Frieden durch Dialog" (peace through dialog) was the insincere motto the "Security Conference". The "invalid" had already participated last year. But that year he was more on the red side and many people thought he was supposed to be Santa Claus.

MauerSambaHelmAufSperreÜberwachgNeinZKSZPuM

The wall of the Palestine support group. Departure from the Marienplatz. Marie in the Samba group. Shortly after departure the demonstration was blocked by the police. In a video surveillance van the videos were apparently analysed immediately. The last photo was published by the 'Süddeutsche Zeitung' on Feb.14th . Depending on who counted, 3500 to 10000 people took part. All the white spots along the procession correspond to the helmets of heavily padded police. This time "only" 60 arrests.

Bush visit in Germany (Mainz) on Feb. 23th; small demonstration at Marienplatz

NotWelcome  Peace activist Gerta did the moderation. She had just married this month.

Marie's 70th bithday

openingdanceMFswingingCaMabookgiftHerwCarogroupdanceKreuzpolka

We celebrated in the social rooms of the Methodist Church.  Erich (first picture on the right) was the dance master for the evening.  For many people the simple Bavarian folk dances were a new experience.  Helmut (first picture, only to be seen from the back) and one of his sons were our musicians, and everybody jointed in the dancing.  The fellow with the beard is Caroline's godfather Herwig.


In the middle of May, Marie travelled with a group of American and German peace friends to the US.  There will be a report on that in another place (sooner or later at www.mapc-web.de)

Rome and Naples

The beginning of June we went to Rome and Naples to meet with the Sweeneys, our relatives from Florida, who were about to embark on a cruise starting in Italy.  In Rome we visited areas that we had not yet seen, for example, the Coppede Quarter with many houses in a somewhat fairy tale style that is considered Art Nouveau or Art Deco in Italy.

Rome

FamilientreffenQCoppede2StPeterStPeter2
A walk through the city, Coppede Quarter and St. Peter's square in the evening

Naples and Herculaneum
CavourVesuvCavourMMNPompeiiHerculaneum
In Naples we had a room, really a suite, in the Hotel Cavour, not far from the train station.  It was a beautiful room with a roof terrace and a lovely panorama view of the city, Vesuvius and the sea, and it was not expensive. We wandered through the old city to the National Museum to see things found in Pompeii and Herculaneum, for example the incredibly fine mosaics from Pompeii. On the second day we travelled to Herculaneum, which was buried under 20 meters of hot mud and therefore remained very well preserved.

And in July another rafting trip

FlussAtt1Att2LeoMarieStromSchnPeTrockenSteinPeNass
In July we went on the annual rafting trip on the Isar River for the second time. This time we were 20 people, who fitted perfectly in two rubber boats. The weather report had predicted rain. That's why Leo brought Neoprene suits. Marie struggled her way into one and also had a matching hat. The weather turned out to be beautiful all day long. There was supposed to be more water in the Isar than last year, but there was actually less. Peter had again taken his camera along and wanted this time to take some pictures of the rapids. After lunch such a place appeared where for quite a long stretch there was fairly steep fall. Unfortunately about half way down there was a rock sticking out of the water. We noticed rather late that we were heading straight for it. Peter tried with the camera in one hand to help paddle. This however led to our boat hit the rock sideways and at the impact, Peter fell overboard.  The camera stayed dry, but Peter had to swim alongside for a while, before he could crawl back on board.  There was no time to think about whether the water was cold or warm, and in the boat it was warm enough not to freeze.


Visit, accident and rehabilitation

PetLucTandMarLucGips IsarHopfSeeMarBalkonHopfenBerge

Lucienne Frappier came to see us in August on her first visit to Germany. She was Marie's professor of French Literature at the University of Pennsylvania in 1963, and they have remained friends ever since. We did various sight-seeing tours with her, and she was not afraid to let Peter take her around on our tandem. In this way she had the occasion to see Munich's big park and other things, and also to see Marie immediately after her fall from her own bike as she attempted to avoid hitting a pedestrian who walked straight across in front of her. She broke her leg and also tore some ligaments, which wasn't clear at the beginning. The leg had to be operated on, but after three days she could come home. She had to use crutches for six weeks.
August is sometimes a very rainy month. The end of the month the Sylvenstein reservoir ran over its banks and in Munich the Isar River had a height of 5.25 meters above normal. Fortunately, in Munich there was very little damage done.
In October Marie went on a two-week rehab cure to Hopfen Lake near Füssen, where our friends Bea and Jeff Schevitz live. She rented an apartment there on the lakeside with a beautiful view of the mountains and the lake (the mountain picture is taken from Schevitz' house a little higher up the slope). Marie had wonderful Indian summer weather the whole time, but unfortunately also caught a bad head cold, which limited the success of the rehab somewhat.

Sailing trip

KarteApproachHydraKorosHydraHydraRestaurPetboatPorosAegBuchtAegSunsetNoWindAthen

In mid-October Peter went on another seven-day sailing trip with friends and new acquaintances. This time they left from Athens with a somewhat larger boat because there were seven people aboard. They had three experienced sailors along. Detlef, the youngest, was the captain. The (German) boat was only a few months old but nevertheless several things were defective. Most of these problems could be solved during the journey. Peter became the specialist for the maintenance of the toilet pumps. The journey went toward the south to the islands of Agina (1), Hydra, Dokos (2) and then back via Hydra (3) Poros (4) and a bay off Agina (5). The weather was pleasant, no rain, sometimes cooler with wind. When the sun came out the wind usually died down, so that some stretches could only be covered with the help of the engine. Occasionally they sailed under strong winds and other times it was totally calm. Hydra has only a small harbor and on the second day they had to sail rather unexpectedly but with favorable wind another hour on to Dokos, where they stayed overnight in a quiet bay. The next day they started their return journey. They arrived quite early in Hydra and therefore had plenty of time to look around. On Hydra there is practically no automotive traffic, except for the fire company and a few delivery trucks. In summer there are no doubt many tourists, but in October most of the restaurants were pretty empty.