During my time in Germany (see Heidelberg, Darmstadt, & Koln ), I knew I had family just south of me. But, the whole time there I didn’t phone them once. Finally, in my last weekend there I phoned them, and took the train down to meet them. I am so very happy I met them. Some of you know I’m very interested in family history, genealogy, and to connect some of the dots, for me, is hard to describe the happy feeling.
They picked me up from the Neustadt Hauptbahnhof (main train station), drove me to downtown Neustadt, then to Sankt Martin, a small but very historic city in the area known primarily for their wines and a big dom (church), and then took me to their home for dinner. It was a very nice afternoon, and they fed me ice cream. Force fed me ice cream!
There were three legends I’m trying to remember, that my uncle told me about.
The first is of the two statues (one has all the people crowded around it). The story goes that the man, who was the Duke of the town, was a sailor and fell in love with a foreign princess. As usual fathers didn’t approve of this. I think there was also something about him the Duke going off to sea, and the princess waited for him for a very long time, which is why their statues are facing each other, and there is a line from one to the other.
The other legend is of the bird-ish fountain. You’ll notice all the bird like creatures are different. Some have 8 legs, some have big beaks… all different. It’s a legend somewhat similar to the Sasquatch. So, they say that the only way to catch one of them, is by a special bag, that you put some special liquor in. That’s how you lure them.
I wish I could remember those legends, I just did a horrible job of telling them. I think I was feeling off that day..
The third legend had to do with the lion and the two mice at it’s feet. That’s all I got, I’m sorry.
