GWAPA: Articles: Sean's Cryptocoryne Odyssey

Friday, October 27, 2006

I snap awake, leap up out of bed, and search for my iPod which I set to have clocks for the multiple time zones I'm living in. Bleary eyes almost focus to find it's 5 AM, but is that in relation to Daylight savings or not? I didn't know yet that Europe also does daylight savings time. I know Jan was going to get up at 5:15 so I wait for some noise in the house besides the muted clatter I'm causing. Nothing for 20 minutes so I assume it's actually 4 which is 11 PM at home (groan) but at least 8 hours after I went to bed. I think I may have switched my internal clock already. OK, I grab a shower, get myself and my stuff ready, and lay back down on my bed to watch the sky out the room's huge window. I am enamored by the large windows in Jan's house. About 6 AM I hear Jan getting ready. He knocks on my door and I surprise him, dressed, showered, packed, ready to roll. He tells me he was up later than he thought he'd be, packing up crypts, so he got a little more sleep. That's great in my mind since he's driving. I don't have an international drivers permit. I can't drive in Germany.

Quick breakfast, cornflakes, bread, cheese, luncheon meats, coffee. I'm going to find that everyone assumes my appetite matches my size. When I was still growing that assumption was less then accurate, at this point it's an overstatement, I don't eat quite as much. I won't go hungry this week. I do want to steal Jan's coffee maker though, it's a pod coffee brewer, small cup of coffee with the crema like espresso. Wow, great coffee! Jan asks if I find it to be stronger than American coffee, but I drink it without any "additives" which answers the question. That will be another conversation this weekend with the group, "do you like our stronger coffee?" Jan just has a bit of sugar in his.

Germany

We get the car packed up and about 7 AM we are on the road again. Emmen is situated on the border with Germany, it takes 15 minutes to be in Germany, and another 5 to be on an Autobahn cruising south at 120 km/h. The sky is still dark and starry. Jan says that if he needs to get to southern parts of Holland it is quicker to hop into Germany cruise down and jump back into Holland. (Holland is actually only the two provinces around Amsterdam on the Coast, but the name has become synonymous with the Netherlands back home.)

I'm watching road signs today. Yesterday I was too tired to try to puzzle out the foreign signs. So with a map in my lap I see an exit, Ausfahrt is the sign. I start looking for Ausfahrt on the map. I see a few more exits with Ausfahrt and as the sun comes up, light dawns on marble head. "Jan, does 'Ausfahrt' mean 'Exit'?" Jan confirms my conclusion, "well that explains why I can't find it on the map." He's laughing, it won't be the last time he laughs this trip.

Traveling the autobahn is not always fast. It is subject to traffic congestion and many sections are under construction slowing things down. There are places where the cars rip by you at excessive speeds, but those are not so common. Listening to the radio report of traffic in German is entertaining. Eventually you realize that English infects the language, "stop and go" is clearly stated in the middle of the broadcast. I just hope it's not our route. The highway cuts through mostly agricultural areas, fields harvested for the winter, vineyards turning colors with the season, small hamlets nestled in valleys between hills. The country is mostly rolling hills, I see why the Germans settled in Pennsylvania. I spot an IKEA store, but it's not pronounced the same as we say it in the States, in fact the pronunciation is so different that I find I can't replicate it now.

Koblenz

Driving along noticing German towns and cities that I remember from "Hogan's Heros", sad way to know geographic names, I agree. We pass Düesseldorf, Köeln, Bonn, when Jan decides to stop in Koblenz. Here is where the Mosel and Rhine Rivers flow together. There is a large castle straddling a hilltop on the other side of the Rhine from the mouth of the Mosel. I figure that a cannon shot could hit a ship in either river from up there. These must have been the toll takers at this point on the river. There is a very large statue to a local hero, "Which Wilhelm" is a joke Jan and I share. There are site seeing cruises leaving from here, and a few small trinket shops for tourists, like me, hope the kids like their trinkets. (they did)

We head back to the car to find that Jan got a parking ticket. Then we get lost trying to get back on the correct autobahn. We spend a few more minutes in Koblenz than was intended but emerge unscathed. Just outside of the city is a rest stop where we catch a bit of lunch. I wish they'd use softer bread if they really expect you to eat it with a knife and fork (the Continental way.) I hate the way the roll struggled when you try to cut it. The rest stop is next to a bridge that spans the Mosel river gorge. It must be 300 feet to the bottom. There is a vineyard planted next to the rest stop, the grapevines are dieing back for winter.

Of towards Stuttgart we go, over the bridge giving me a great view of the vineyards on the gorge walls. They say that mountain grown grapes give the best wine, I think they know here that canyon walls have the same effect on the vines. I remind Jan that I want to buy Eiswine before I go home. This highway doesn't take us very far before we encounter the bane of the autobahn, traffic. The traffic delays are crazy all the way from Stromberg to Mannheim, Heidelberg to Heilbronn, to Stuttgart. After Stuttgart the traffic lets up most of the way through Schwenningen to the border with Schweiz, I mean Switzerland, stuck in a German name groove there. There are several tunnels on this part of the highway, I picture a country cut off from the rest of the world in it's own little valley. Not quite, but it was a fun thought.

We are passed by the border guard with a wave, Switzerland is not part of the EU so the borders are not open. They also have their own currency still, francs, which the travel guide said was a strong currency. I assume that means it is worth more than a Euro. I'll find out later that it's worth less than a dollar. Hey if you have to budget this is the best way to trick yourself and save money.

In Switzerland we pass Schaffhausen, and then Winterthur. We are almost to Zürich so our "map" must be wrong. Rütlingen is west northwest of Winterthur and almost due North of Zürich. So we stop and ask directions, once, twice, the third set of directions comes with a "just follow me" which is much better than trying to find Rüdlingen in the dark. The follow me came from a gentleman in a car that had pulled up and asked if we were alright as we sat pondering road signs in relation to the directions we had received. Did I mention we are a little late for the meetings. Jan has called ahead and they are saving us some dinner. It was only another 15 minutes of driving through the countryside before we arrived at the meeting site. Our guardian angel got us there. I don't know who he was but it was not a short drive, I just hope it wasn't too far out of his way.

I ask Jan if he is going to tell everyone that it's my fault we are late. I explain that I am joking as he protests he would not do that. He relaxes and laughs, as a joke he actually thinks it's funny.

Rüdlingen Schweiz

We stagger our way into the meeting, stretching our legs and de-cramping our back muscles, everyone knows Jan and is glad to see him. I'm stuck as a wall flower for a minute while the greetings are passed in German. I'm nodding a lot and trying not to look uncomfortable. A tall slender German bounds forward, Kai whom I have exchanged emails with from Aquatic Plant Central steps up and says hello, I feel like we are instantly friends. He helps Herr Kettner orient Jan and myself as to where our rooms are and how the drinks are billed. Herr Kettner points to a list that has my name on top, for a second I thought that meant I would be speaking first that evening. Turns out it was a list of room assignments. Jan jokes and says that my room is usually reserved for newly married couples. When I see the room I tell him I'd hate to see the rooms they reserve for people who have been married a while. My room is obviously a single room, small bed with a comforter and pillow, table and chair, two closets, and a sink. It is about big enough to turn around in. I think they thought I'd say it was too small when they asked if it was big enough. Seriously, how much room do I need to sleep and dress anyways?

We drop our stuff in the rooms and head back to the dining / meeting room. Kai sits with Jan and I as we enjoy our late dinner. Steak and veggies, I select a bottle of Pinot Noir that is from the village, 15 francs. Very nice start to the meetings. People are coming over and introducing themselves, Stephan, Roland, Tom, and Romeo. I vow to learn the names of all the participants. The meeting starts as Jan and I are finishing up dinner. Kai volunteers to translate the German to English for me, this is good it lets Jan talk with many of the people he needs to discuss things with while not worrying that I'm getting anything from the meetings.

Herr Kettner is the first speaker. He talks about growing the black water crypts in small plastic containers using the beech tree leaf litter that Jan and Niels have made famous and about 2 inches of water. He reaches into a container and pulls out a very healthy looking C. elliptica mother plant. He has my attention, he shows a couple more examples, C. usteriana is the last one I remember, it was grown from seeds in the container.

I can feel the exhaustion setting in at this point, I'm not sure of the second speakers name, He also speaks in German, his slides show very healthy emersed grown crypts. The third speaker is Romeo, he begins to talk in English, Kai begins to translate for me. I whisper to Kai that the speaker is using English, everyone laughs even though I said it quietly, I appreciate how hard Kai is trying to help me understand the proceedings. The talk is a discussion about the effectiveness of different substrates to grow the black water crypts. Composting beech tree leaves from areas without limestone seems to be the best. They break for the night, and I know I'm going to sleep tonight. The overnight plane flight the night before, 14 hours in the car to day, a bottle of wine to myself tonight, I hope I hit the bed when I fall.
Thud!

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