Nothing Important

[Diane]

Hey everyone,
Not many posts lately so I thought I would bore you with nothing. Well my daughter, grand daughter, and son-in-law have now been stationed in Germany at a base in Grafenwohr. Still can't pronounce it but I am trying. Haha. They have my heart with them but I know I can Skype and Facebook them. On the plus side, I get to see the pictures of the landscape, markets, and hear my daughter's descriptions of the people and culture in general. That is how I travel, especially other countries. They want to visit other places while they are there and I mentioned Scotland, however my son-in-law is Irish from both sides and I think that is where they will visit. My daughter keeps saying she is txting me from the future. Haha. I still have my son and daughter-in-law 10 minutes away, so that is great. Well I will sign off now before you fall asleep. Hope y'all are doing good.

[Ranald]

Re: Nothing Important

Hi Diane, I used Google Earth, to have a look round Grafenwohr. It seems to be a large 'base', and because of that, there are road cameras.

There a few links which gives a 'picture' of the general area but no real detail.

It is not an area of Germany I have ever been.

Nice for you to be able in touch with the family.

Will you be paying a visit ?

Thanks for your information on the family.

Regards

Ranald

[Alastair]

Re: Nothing Important

I've just posted up an old book where a Scottish family is having an extended holiday in Germany and the mother is detailing the holiday in a lot of detail. You can get to the book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ny/history.htm

The title is "Our Summer in the Harz Forest" and published in 1865.

The Knights Templar held there International convention in Germany just a few weeks ago and my friend Nola said she really wasn't very impressed with the Germans as she found them very unhelpful but with a couple of exceptions.

Alastair

[Diane]

Re: Nothing Important

Hey,
Ranald thanks for reminding me about Google Earth. I will check it out as I would love to see the base like you said. Didn't think about that. Alastair I have started reading the book you suggested. I didn't know if I would like it, however, now that I started I love it. Written so many years ago is so intriguing. Too bad I can't read it all at once. My dogs won't let me as they are spoiled and want attention. Haha. Thank you both.

[Ranald]

Re: Nothing Important

Diane, sorry but I left out the word 'NO' in the first message.....'NO street cameras.

But do get an aerial view of the base and surrounding area.

It might be my version of Google Earth that is it is at fault , although my home gives full pictures?

I also loved the book that Alastair put up on the site.

Ranald

[Diane]

Re: Nothing Important

I just now went on Google Earth. It was great. Loved seeing the base and area around it. Thanks so much for your suggestion.

[Glesgalass]

Re: Nothing Important

It's pronounced just the way its spelled Diane

Elda

[Hugh]

Re: Nothing Important

Isn't the 'w' pronounced like a 'v' in English Elda?

Cheers,

Hugh

[Glesgalass]

Re: Nothing Important

That's what I was taught in school Hugh but my late husband was from Stuttgart and he said that was wrong. It's actually somewhere in between the 2 pronounciations. Even if you pronounce it like the English W they will understand.

Elda

[FriedaKateM]

Re: Nothing Important

Hey All!!!... Just a quick note, as I am in my newish home in Ohio. When I was 19, I went to the University of Maryland on an Army post in Munich (Munchen) as the natives call it. It was a fun experience in my life, & I met some of the locals, but had to have my "nose to the grindstone" in studying, so only visited the Octoberfest, then we also traveled up into the "Romantic Road" which included Rothenberg, Nuremberg, etc. One of my favorite weekends was during our Thanksgiving...we traveled down to Vienna, where I stayed with a friend of mine in the Prinz Eugen hotel. Loved that the very best. Must have traveled the trains up & down many times as well. It was my impression having lived there in Germany, that for instance, the W is pronounced V. Vienna was Wien in their language. Volkswagen is pronounced VolksVagen. (PS: can't put in the "oomlauts" (bad spelling) as supposed to!!! Ha.

Still working on my genealogy, & discovered now, that I'm also related to Irish ancestors who had titles such as Baroness Margaret Talbot O' Reilly of Malahide, near to Dublin. My relatives are Talbots. Here's a quote from some of my ancestors' history: Col. Nicholas Wogan of Rathcoffey, Co. Kildare was the son of John Wogan, Chief Governor of Ireland in 1295 & 1310. Col. Wogan's sister Judith married Stephen Fitzwilliam Browne, of Castle Browne. Col. Wogan married Rose, daughter & heir of Sir Neill O' Neill, Baronet. Left issue: i.e. 1. Frances married John Talbot of Malahide & was grandmother of Richard Wogan Talbot, 2nd Baron Talbot de Malahide. 2. Catherine married her cousin Col. Michael Browne of Castle Browne. My great, great grandfather on my dad's side was a fellow named Joseph Tolbert. In a picture I have, he is NOT looking as though he's come down from titled folk!!! I do know that Joe was a farmer, & that's about all. He was father to my great grandmother Flora Tolbert, who was married to a Civil War veteran, who came home & died after. Of course, I did know my paternal grandmother, & my dad. Lots of interesting stuff!!! Joan (of Ohio!) tee hee

[albalad]

Re: Nothing Important

Hi Joan, glad all is going well with you in your new home.
When I learnt German many years ago, we were taught to pronounce 'v' as 'f' - so it would be 'Folksvagen', but there may be regional variations.
Incidentally, if you need to use umlauts (diaeresis) or any other special characters in text, you can find them here: Start menu > all programmes > accessories > system tools > character map. This brings you up a handy wee box you can leave sitting in the corner of your screen and pick from it when you want, i.e. ä ö ü etc - at least that's the way it works on my old XP setup.

- Cheers, John.