Reflections on Germany: Family connections make foreign land feel ...

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  • Bryan and Beth enjoy an al fresco supper in the garden of sister's Heidi's apartment in Munich.

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MUNICH, Germany ? The sight of intricately tiled rooftops. The sound of barking seals drifting up from the zoo. The taste of a freshly baked pretzel smothered with homemade preserves. The smell of beer being brewed in gigantic copper kettles. The touch of being hugged by a sister I haven?t seen in more than 30 years.

Those are the sensory memories that still linger a month after returning from 10 days spent in Germany ? mostly Munich with brief sojourns to Worthington?s sister city of Crailsheim and across the border to Salzburg, Austria. Ten days may seem like a long vacation by American standards, but it really isn?t time to travel very far abroad. But that?s just a reason to go back again.

Hubby Bryan and I had talked about going to Germany for years. I had been once before, as a high school student on the first Worthington-Crailsheim choir exchange more than 30 years ago. Bryan had never been, but as a home brewer has a great interest in German culture. For both of us, Germany is the land of our ancestors ? we each claim three grandparents of German heritage. And a few years ago, we hosted a member of Crailsheim?s Burgewache Band and became fast friends with our guest Andy, a trumpet player.

But the trip might have been a bit more personal for me because of my family?s previous connections with Crailsheim. When I was just 6 years old, an exchange student came to live with my family. Heidi became my second big sister and forged a strong connection with our family. There have been long stretches of time over the years when we haven?t been in touch, but she?s still always been my sister. Additionally, my family has ties to Crailsheim through friends made during the choir exchange and because my parents were actively involved in the Worthington-Crailsheim partnership since the early days of their marriage.

When we finally resolved to buy the trans-Atlantic plane tickets, we first contacted sister Heidi, who offered a place to stay in Munich as well as her much-appreciated guide services. Since she lives in a one-bedroom apartment, Heidi turned it over to us and moved to the home of a friend who lives nearby. The apartment, located on the bluff above the Isar River and the Munich Zoo (the source of the barking seals), is in a lovely residential area, but not far from restaurants and shopping. Walking and biking paths are located out the back door, meandering along the riverside.

Heidi and I had not seen each other or talked for more than three decades, but we immediately recognized each other as Bryan and I emerged from customs and wasted little time in catching up. She and Bryan also hit it off, so we were a congenial threesome for the duration of our stay.

?I felt like I?ve known her for years, too,? remarked Bryan upon our return home.

As a journalist who has interviewed a number of travelers over the years, I often ask people about their favorite part of their trip, or favorite food, or favorite sight. But I can?t begin to pinpoint such highlights from this particular journey, because it was so much more about people than it was about places.

Yes, we did a bit of sightseeing. Heidi dropped us off in Munich city center, where we stood in the Marienplatz to witness the Rathaus-Glockenspiel, did a bit of shopping and ate lunch in the courtyard of the famed Hofbrauhaus. We took a guided day trip, via train, to Salzburg, Austria, and visited locations made famous in ?The Sound of Music? and the birthplace of Mozart. With Andy and his wife, Heidi, we strolled the streets of Rothenburg and purchased a Christmas ornament in the famed Kathe Wohlfahrt store.

Because of our beer interests, we toured the Paulaner brewery, although due to a stomach bug that I had passed along, Bryan unfortunately wasn?t up to sampling any beers. On one of our final days ? a beautiful, warm day ? sister Heidi drove us to Tergernsee, a lake resort area in the Bavarian Alps south of Munich.

But it will be the non-touristy moments that I will cherish the most. We spent three days in the Crailsheim vicinity, first one night at the Post Faber Hotel with Heidi before going to stay with Andy and his family in a nearby village.

While in Crailsheim, we visited places I recalled from 30 years prior, such as Heidi?s family home and the Johanneskirche (the church that was one of the few buildings to survive World War II bombing), where our high school choir sang. We briefly reconnected with friends Ulrike and Coco from the choir exchange, who brought along newspaper clippings of our previous time together. With Heidi, we also stopped at the cemeteries where her grandparents, father and brother are buried, and tasted the wares at her hometown butcher and bakery.

Then Heidi returned to Munich and left us in Andy?s care. He and wife Heidi and their three children, Friederike ?Freddy? (11), Henriette ?Jette? (5) and Justus (4) share a home with Andy?s parents, Siegfried and Hella, in the village of Rot Am See. His sister and family live next door, so we were welcomed into a truly multigenerational extended family.

For our first meal there, Hella made rouladen (stuffed meat rolls) in a spicy gravy and spatzle, noodles cut by hand from a wooden board into the simmering water. Unfortunately, although it was probably the best meal we had on the trip, I wasn?t able to truly appreciate it due to the aforementioned stomach flu. We would enjoy many fine meals and good conversation around their big table during our stay, even though the youngest children and grandparents spoke no English. But we managed to communicate in many other ways.

Although our time there was short, by the time we departed Rot Am See, we had become dearly attached to our German family, especially the children, who supplied us with photographs and drawings to hang on our Worthington refrigerator.

Departing from Nurnberg, we took the ICE train, which reached a speed of 300 kph ? 186 miles per hour! ? to Munich and were impressed by the efficiency of the European train system and the bustle of the stations. Once again in Heidi?s care, Bryan and I spent our last few days trying to cram in as many experiences as possible. We dined on wonderful Bavarian fare in restaurants off the beaten tourist path, bought up bags of chocolate in a neighborhood grocery store and spent evenings sipping wine or beer in the garden.

And all too soon, we were boarding a plane bound for the United States. But Bryan and I left small parts of our hearts in Germany, and know we will have to go back to retrieve them.

Daily Globe Features Editor Beth Rickers can be reached at 376-7327

Tags: rot am see,?lifestyle,?travel,?germany,?munich,?crailsheim,?bavaria

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Apple releases updated iOS 5.1.1 build for GSM/AT&T iPhone 4

Apple has released an updated version iOS 5.1.1, build 9B208, for the iPhone 4 GSM/AT&T model. There doesn't appear to be any information from Apple on what triggered the new build, though it's possible some very specific bug or glitch was identified and fixed. If it was incredibly minor, Apple would likely just have filed it away for next time. If it was incredibly major, Apple would likely have pushed it out as new update to ensure every user got it.

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Chen Guangfu, Chinese Activist Chen Guangcheng's Brother, Flees Guarded China Village

BEIJING -- The brother of Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has fled his closely guarded village to seek legal advice Thursday in Beijing on how to protect his son from what their supporters call retaliation by local officials, an attorney said.

Chen sought protection of U.S. diplomats last month after escaping virtual house arrest in his hometown, sparking a standoff between Beijing and Washington and highlighting the extralegal measures taken by local Chinese officials to suppress dissent.

The two countries resolved the standoff by agreeing to let Chen and his immediate family travel to the U.S. so that he could attend a university, but his supporters say the legal activist's extended family in Shandong province faces a continued crackdown.

His nephew, Chen Kegui, has been arrested and accused of attempted murder during a clash last month with local officials who burst into his home looking for Chen after his escape.

Chen Guangfu ? the activist's brother and the father of Chen Kegui ? met Thursday in Beijing with attorney Ding Xikui to discuss his son's case, the lawyer said.

Ding says he and another attorney were authorized by Chen Kegui's wife to defend him. However, police at the Yinan detention center where Chen Kegui is being have told the lawyers that government-appointed attorneys will be representing him instead.

Ding said Chen Guangfu wanted to meet with him to affirm that he, too, wanted Ding to represent his son, not the government-appointed lawyers.

"We are still in negotiations with the local authorities" on Chen Kegui's case, Ding said, adding that Chen Guangfu also wanted to meet his daughter-in-law who is staying in Beijing.

Two other rights lawyers said that Chen Guangfu called them once he left the village. One of them, Jiang Tianyong, said Chen Guangfu described the security situation in his hometown as having become tighter since Chen Guangcheng escaped the village a month ago.

"There are more people, many more people. They are stationed at the entrance of the village and at major intersections, they are spread even farther and wider," Jiang said.

Chen Guangcheng is a self-taught legal activist who gained recognition for crusading for the disabled and fighting against forced abortions in his rural community. But he angered local officials and was convicted in 2006 on what his supporters say were fabricated charges. After serving four years in prison, he then faced an abusive and illegal house arrest.

Chen made a daring escape from his village in April and wound up in the protection of U.S. diplomats, triggering a diplomatic standoff over his fate. Officials struck a deal that let Chen walk free, only to see him have second thoughts. That forced new negotiations that led to an agreement to send him to the U.S. to study law, a goal of his, at New York University.

The departure of Chen, his wife and two children to the United States on Saturday marked the conclusion of nearly a month of uncertainty and years of mistreatment by local authorities for the activist.

Earlier on HuffPost:

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Signs of Tunisia recovery; Europe weighs: IMF

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Janet Carroll Dead: 'Risky Business' Actress Dies In New York At 71

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    A file picture taken on June 8, 1989 in Paris shows British band Bee Gees singer, Robin Gibb, during a concert at Paris Bercy. Gibb, 62, died on May 21, 2012 after a lengthy battle with cancer. (Patrick Kovarik/AFP/GettyImages)

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    Who was just named the "Hottest Woman in the World" by Zoo Magazine? The one and only Kim Kardashian, who poses on the UK mag's new cover. (Zoo Magazine)

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    Marc Anthony and his new girlfriend, Shannon De Lima, stepped out May 20 at the 27th Annual Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Sports Spectacular. Thought they haven't made too made public outings yet, they confirmed they were dating earlier this year. (Getty)

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    Pregnant Kristin Cavallari showed off her growing baby on May 19 before heading out to her co-ed baby shower in West Hollywood. So cute! (Kristin Cavallari, Twitter)

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    Ashton Kutcher may no longer be with Demi Moore, but it looks like he's staying in touch with his former stepdaughter, Rumer Willis. The pair was spotted hanging out together on May 19. (X17Online.com)

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    They might have tried to hide their relationship, but there's no denying it now! "Glee" co-stars Lea Michele and Cory Monteith hit up a New York Rangers game on May 16, and played a little tonsil hockey of their own. (Getty)

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    The world lost another amazing singer when Donna Summer -- known as the Queen of Disco -- passed away May 17 after battling lung cancer. (Getty File)

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    Looking good, Hayden Panettiere! The actress sizzled on the red carpet at the<em> Entertainment Weekly</em> and ABC-TV Upfront VIP party on May 15, where she was promoting her upcoming TV show, "Nashville." (Getty)

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    A very pregnant Alyson Hannigan was all smiles on May 15 as she headed out to grab some lunch in Los Angeles. The "How I Met Your Mother" star, whose character on the show was also pregnant this season, is due to give birth in June. (Pacific Coast News)

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  • Cows crash backyard party, help themselves to beer

    Cows on the loose in Boxford, Mass., crashed a backyard party and helped themselves to beer. WHDH-TV's Tim Caputo reports.

    By WHDH.com

    Cows on the loose in Boxford, Mass., crashed a backyard party last weekend, and went right for the beer.

    ?They enjoyed it. There?s no doubt about it. They went right for the beer and then when one was done, they?d knock another one over and take care of that beer,? Lt. James Riter of the Boxford Police Department told NBC affiliate WHDH.com.


    Police said they heard reports of screams from a group of women as five or six cows stumbled into the yard, eagerly hurtling toward the beers.

    ?They got up as the cows went toward the table. They stepped back and the cows took over the table, knocking over the beers with their noses, drinking the beer off the table. They went to the recycling bin to find any leftovers,? Riter told the TV station.

    A caller told the 911 dispatcher: ?We thought they were deer, but they're huge, huge, huge cows. There's got to be five or six of them.?

    Andrea Poritzky also called 911 after spotting "about six cows" in her yard.

    "I don't own cows,? she said.

    ?I was initially a little nervous. And then after I found it very comical and not very surprising due to the fact that we live in the country here,? Poritzky said.

    A police escort rounded up the cows and returned them to a farm about a mile away.

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    Sony ST26i benchmarks reveal Android 4.0, 4-inch FWVGA display and lackluster performance

    Sony ST26i benchmarks reveal Android 4.0, 4-inch FWVGA display and lackluster performance

    Rumors of the Sony ST26i smartphone have been swirling for a while now, but up until recently, we've had nothing to sink our teeth into. Thankfully, we've now come across an OpenGL benchmark test and system profile for the yet-to-be-announced handset, and while this one seems destined for emerging markets and budget-minded consumers, the ST26i will come with just enough niceties to hold its head high. First and foremost, the system profile reveals Ice Cream Sandwich on the handset, and even better, it'll include a 4-inch, 854 x 480 display -- none of that HVGA crap here. To keep costs low, sacrifices had to be made: the phone will include a Qualcomm MSM7627A SoC, which includes a pedestrian 800MHz CPU and an Adreno 200 GPU. Curiously, the ST26i was previously rumored to contain an ST-Ericsson U8500 chip with a dual-core 1GHz CPU, which leaves open the possibility that we may see different configurations based on markets. Still, if Sony is able to exercise some restraint with its custom skin, the ST26i could shape up to be a very nice handset.

    Sony ST26i benchmarks reveal Android 4.0, 4-inch FWVGA display and lackluster performance originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 May 2012 01:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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    Iran, world powers agree Moscow meet, little else

    Iran and six world powers closed two days of "very intense" nuclear talks Thursday with little to show except an agreement to meet again next month in Moscow after sharp disagreements over the way forward.

    "We have met with our Iranian counterparts over the last two days in very intense and detailed discussions," said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, representing six world powers at the talks in Baghdad.

    She added that it was "clear that we both want to make progress, and that there is some common ground. However, significant differences remain."

    The parties would meet again in Moscow on June 18-19, Ashton announced.

    "We remain determined to resolve this problem in the near term through negotiations, and will continue to make every effort to that end," she said.

    "What we have now is some common ground and a meeting in place where we can take that further forward."

    Ashton had on behalf of the P5+1 -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany -- laid out a new package of proposals that appeared to alarm the Iranians.

    These reportedly included Iran suspending enrichment of uranium to 20-percent purities -- for the P5+1, the most worrying part of Tehran's activity and the crunch issue, since it shortens the theoretical time needed to develop the bomb.

    But the P5+1 offer went down badly with Tehran since in return it did not offer the relief from crippling sanctions sought by Iran.

    Reflecting official thinking in Tehran, state media ran reports slamming the package, with the IRNA news agency calling it "outdated, not comprehensive, and unbalanced."

    Ashton said in her closing news conference that Iran had "declared its readiness to address 20-percent enrichment" but she did not elaborate.

    She made no direct mention of sanctions, saying: "What we set out to do is to put forward very clear ideas of what we thought could be done around the 20 percent, and very clear ideas of what we thought could be offered."

    Iran's negotiator, however, insisted Tehran has the "absolute right" to uranium enrichment.

    "This is a peaceful activity under the supervision of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency -- the UN watchdog), and it is the inalienable right of Iran and they (the P5+1) confirmed this in the meeting," Saeed Jalili said.

    He added, however, that "it can be an issue of discussion for cooperation."

    Britain warned Iran on Thursday that it would intensify sanctions unless Tehran took "urgent, concrete" steps after what Foreign Secretary William Hague called "limited progress" in Baghdad.

    The P5+1 reportedly proposed a pledge not to impose any new sanctions, as well as easing Iranian access to aircraft parts and a possible suspension of an EU insurance ban on ships carrying Iranian oil.

    The proposals also reportedly included a revival of previous attempts to have Iran ship abroad its stockpiles of enriched uranium in return for fuel for a reactor producing medical isotopes.

    But Iran announced on Tuesday that it was loading domestically produced, 20-percent enriched uranium fuel into the reactor, and the Iranian official in Baghdad was dismissive of reviving the idea of a swap.

    The Baghdad talks were always going to be tough, as to make progress the two sides would have to tackle some of the thorny issues that have divided them -- and the P5+1 themselves -- for years.

    "We are the beginning of this process. We are not in the middle of it and we are certainly not at the end of it," said a senior US official, portraying the "fair amount of disagreement" as a sign that the talks were at least serious.

    In Moscow, "the trick for the P5+1 is to make sure Iran understands that sanctions will go forward unless Iran cooperates, while assuring Iran that if Iran cooperates, sanctions will be lifted," said Mark Hibbs, proliferation specialist at the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace.

    The cost of failure in Moscow could barely be higher.

    Iran is threatened with an EU oil embargo due to take full effect from July 1 that will also bar EU firms from insuring crude tankers heading to India, South Korea and Japan.

    Israel, which is widely considered to have the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, sees itself as Tehran's number-one target if Iran acquires the bomb and is highly sceptical diplomacy can help it.

    Like the United States, it has refused to rule out military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities to prevent it developing a weapons capability.

    Oil prices have risen higher as a result, hurting global growth just as the eurozone crisis threatens to return with a vengeance and as US President Barack Obama seeks re-election in November on the back of an improving economy.

    Obama, who campaigned in 2008 for his first term promising to reach out to Tehran, is also wary of his Iran policy being branded as soft and a failure by his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

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    Barbados holds consultation on international business | Antigua ...

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    Prime Minister Freundel Stuart

    BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, May 23, CMC ? Prime Minister Freundel Stuart will deliver the feature address at the one-day International Business Stakeholders? Consultation on Friday.

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    The consultation will address the challenges being encountered by the international business sector, and ideas to chart the way forward and to ensure Barbados is positioned as the jurisdiction of choice.

    It is being hosted by the Ministry of International Business and International Transport, which said that the aim is to obtain valuable input from key stakeholders on the challenges facing the sector, and develop a plan of action to ensure that Barbados is strategically positioned as the regional jurisdiction of choice for doing international business.

    In addition, the forum will also seek to develop policy recommendations and associated action plans for the future direction of the local international business sector, the organisers said.

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    10 Million Translations Later, SayHi Translate Rolls Out Major Update

    SayHi Translate logoOne of the hot companies at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York this week was the real-time people-powered translation service Babelverse. Quite often, though, Google Translate-style machine translation is good enough and there is clearly a huge market for all kinds of translation services. SayHi Translate, a $0.99 iOS app that focuses on machine translation, just announced that it has now translated over 10 million phrases since its launch just four weeks ago. To celebrate this milestone, SayHi is releasing version 2.0 of its app today, which features a redesigned and easier to use interface, as well as new controls over how its spoken translations sound.

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