Six Degrees of Separation

How small is this world?  Just prior to leaving Victoria we were introduced to a young lady from Salt Spring Island who was heading to adidas Group in Herzogenaurach, Germany to become an intern.  I must report she is doing well, and seems to be enjoying touring Europe whenever she can. During my second week here, I received an email from an adidas employee while she was at a BBQ (Nicole and Tony) in Victoria.  Turns out she is related to Tony via marriage or something to that effect?  I have since been to a meeting last week where I met Zsuzzane who is in Operations here at adidas in Herzo.

Just to confuse all of you, there is a bit of a family connection with adidas.  Jayne’s parents have been friends with Irmgard and Ray Sheile (spelling may be wrong, sorry?) for many years. Irm and Ena played tennis together for years.  There is a group of lady’s that are still playing together in Barrie, and let’s just say that they are in their 80’s.  This could be the secret as to why the group of ladies is still going strong!  Irm’s husband Ray was responsible for bringing adidas to Canada back in the 50’s.  He was from Herzogenaurach and as a young man in Edmonton playing soccer; he realized that they needed good shoes.  Being a boy from Herzo, he contacted his friend Adi, and the relationship grew into what is now adidas Canada, and Ray was back in Herzo in the 70’s where he was CEO for adidas for a bit.  Loving Canada, they choose Barrie to retire too with their daughter Monica in tow.  Ray junior chose to stay in Herzo.  Fast forward, and I have included a couple of pictures on Monica, Irm, and Jayne enjoying coffee (Irm is having a beerJ) here in Herzogenaurach.  Erm and Monica are here visiting family and friends, and although they have no interest in adidas, they sure have a love for the company, the brand, and a healthy dislike for the competition. Irm would “not be caught dead wearing Puma”.   It was a wonderful visit, and I am sure that no one ever thought that of all the places in the world, Jayne and Irm would catch up over lunch in Herzo!

Monica and Irm

BEER (German Tea?)

And for all of you who wonder if that is how I landed at adidas.  This is not the case, but it sure makes it a little bit closer to home and weaves a bit more interest into the family history book!

The weather held out this past weekend, so we headed to the Bavarian Forest for a drive.  The countryside is just spectacular and it seemed that with each and every bend in the road there was yet another postcard photo to be taken.  The rolling hills with perfectly manicured farms and villages dotting the countryside was very unbelievable, but more so was the fact that we put 500kms on the car and the scenery remained near perfect every kilometer along the way.  We did find that there is a very large artist community that specializes in blown glass.  We toured the shops with tens of thousands of pieces.  We hopefully made a “Wise” purchase, and will be coming home with our newly treasured “Eule”.

Now that is a green thumb.  It is mid October!!!

 

We stopped to follow the smoke signals to find the glass factory!

Glass Fountain

They do not allow photo's inside, so you will have to come and see for yourself!



Eule



I think that man is hitting on my wife? 

German Reunification Long Weekend

Last weekend was the German Holiday that celebrates the joining of the east and the west back into the motherland!

I had to take a business trip to Cologne on the Friday, so Jayne came along.  We had the opportunity to explore the Cathedral, which is one of the worlds largest during our lunch time.  The gothic architecture is stunning and can be seen from several miles away due to its immense size.  It is one of Germany’s most visited sites, which has an average daily visit of nearly 20 thousand tourists.

The stained glass is just amazing, and must average about 100 feet in height.  The detail work is stunning!

Apparently there is still an angel or two in town, as they made sure I did not choke on a chicken bone while I enjoyed my lunch in the 30 degree sun.

Walking back to the adidas Store required a little detour for a “Berliner” donut.  It is a good thing we packed a couple of sweets for the ride home, as the drive up was 3.5hrs, but the trip home was over 6 with the holiday weekend traffic.

We decided to reward ourselves with a 45 km bike ride to Bamberg on Saturday, as we had spent so much time in the car the day before.  It was another 30 degree day, but the terrain is mostly flat and either hard packed gravel or paved bike path.  We enjoyed watching the barges chug past us on the Danube Canal as we cycled along side them literally 20 feet away.

Bamberg is a UNESCO Heritage Site, and as the weather was so wonderful, apparently every other tourist in Germany decided that it would be a good idea to visit as well.  We cycled thru the crowds and eventually found the most amazing little Italian Restaurant where we packed our bellies full of fresh pasta.  Having cycled for nearly 4 hours, and a bit of beer and pasta, we felt that maybe the train would have more steam than us for the return journey home.  Train wins at 6 Euro!

The following day we took a drive into the Franconia Switzerland region and had the most delicious lunch to celebrate Jayne’s Birthday.  I had the deep fried duck with dumplings and Jayne had the traditional schnitzel dinner.  Apparently low fat is not words that can be converted into German. A sunny couple of hours on the patio, a drive thru the rolling hills, and home in time for an afternoon nap!  I wonder what the rest of the world was doing.

We have now finished most of the odd jobs in the apartment and really enjoyed a couple of days off!  We will now start to get to explore the local region a bit.  We have hiked the forest in our area, and traveled around the countryside a bit.  We will share some of the highlights with you at another time, as “Tim” seems to have trouble remembering to bring the camera.  I think it is because my mind is on the next sensational meal J

A walk thru the Cologne Cathederal ensures that the angels are on your side :)

We will need to walk a lot more Cathederal's if we keep stoping at the sweet shop!

Cycling down the Danube to Bamberg

Now this is a Cathedral that I can handle.  Drive by religion??

Cycling down the Danube to Bamberg, and the train back!

Sorry for the picture organization but trying to post during lunch at work due to no internet at home yet and so time is of the essence.     :(