2002
Barbara
in New York and Denver
Rolf's Baroque Tour
Rolf
and Barbara in Tuscany
Barbara at Marga's in Tübingen
Jutta
on Southwest Tour with Barbara
Barbara becomes Docent at the
Weisman Foundation
Ulysse born in New York
Cornelius finds a
job at EMBL in Monterotondo
Cornelius, AC, and Ulysse for
Christmas
Barbara in
New York and Denver
Feb 21-Mar 3, 2002
A
pregnant Anne Cecile and her husband at the baptism of his
goddaughter in New York
April 2002
Rolf's
Baroque Tour
18-25 May
I
guess it had been my and Susannes's idea to take Anne-Cecile and
Cornelius on a two-weeks trip to our beloved Bavarian Baroque
churches. We invited Marc and Monique, and Suschen would bring Kelly
along. With such a large group you couldn't just hope to find a hotel
upon arrival. I worked all Winter on the plan, finding an affordable
hotel, “Hotel am Markt” right on the Viktualienmarkt in
München, a cheap van for all of us, and accomodations on our
way.
The route I came up with went from München via Rottenbuch and the Wies to Innsbruck, back north again to Ottobeuren, and from there to Zwiefalten and Tübingen.: five easy days and only one overwhelming church a day.... Before we left München we went one day to Andechs and a second day to Dietramszell and the Chiemsee – Frauenchiemsee and Herrenchiemsee. Susanne did all the driving and Cornelius took all photographs with his new 2-Mpix digital camera.
We met at the Hotel am Markt in München, Susanne, Kelly, and I arrived first, then Marc and Monique by train. Susanne rented bicycles and showed Kelly all her Munich memories. Finally Cornelius appeared with a buch of flowers for me - but without Anne-Cecile.... The excuse was not that she was five-months pregnant, but that she had to be at a conference and had too much work stacked up. A great disappointment for me – and Cornelius too was not in his best mood. One evening we gave a large supper party for our Munich friends and relatives at a real Gasthaus across from the hotel.
Then on the trip to the Chiemsee the car lost its
brakes. Susanne was furious, took the van back and finished off the
manager of the rental office. We took off in a smaller American
Chrysler model with new tires, but much smaller windows. Kelly and
Monique sat in the back and became great friends. Marc and Cornelius
sat in the second row and I next Suschen.
The group less Cornelius in Andechs: Rolf, Susanne, Kelly, Monique, and Marc behind her
Andechs: Monique, Susanne, and Kelly enjoying the Beer and a Bavarian Brotzeit
Andechs, Rolf had an authentic Kalbshaxe
Dietramszell
The Asam altar in Rottenbuch
In Innsbruck we saw the fabulous tomb of Maximilian l, and stayed in a desolate, completely empty hotel. On the way back from Innsbruck to Füssen Cornelius suggested an excursion by cable car the Austrian side to the top of the Zugspitze, the only time I hav been up there. We skipped Neuschwanstein instead.
Her memories of the Wies overwhelmed Susanne, as had the ringing of the bells in Munich every evening
The Wies: Kelly and Susanne with tears in her eyes
The Wies
The Wies inside
Zwiefalten on the way to Tübingen
In Zwiefalten Marc had seen enough of the Southern German Baroque. We hurried to Tübingen.
Tübingen, Susanne with Marga
We picked up an elegant Marga and had Mittagessen with her in her favorite country restaurant
Tübingen, Cornelius stayed for a few days longer with Marga
Susanne took the train with Marc and Monique to Essen to visit Gisela. I paid a vsitit to Regine and drove the car back to München, paid the bill and fell asleep for 3 days in the empty house of the Grosskreutzes. - I was exhausted.
Rolf and
Barbara in Tuscany
30 May-18
June
Barbara flew into München a few days later and together we took the lousy international sleeper-train to Florence. After staying a week in Florence in a walk-up apartment under the roof, we rented another lemon from the same agency (Europe-Rent a-Car) in Pistoia, which was cheaper than in Florence. This one blew one of its radial tires on the way to Siena. - Well, after much running around on the spare, we got another car. Since I have rented only from Hertz in Europe.
The vagaries of our itinerary crossing Tuscany and Umbria in every direction possible would exceed this space. It became a most beautiful journey. We even became sufficiently jaded that I picked out only recently renovated places. Wonderful frescoes everywhere and a few surprises. Even Assisi became a unexpected experience.
For more photos and a map of Tuscany see:
Tuscany
on my Website
Barbara's Landscape, Monticiello near Pienza
Florence,
Palazzo Ricardi, Gozzoli, Procession of the Middle King, 1460
Barbara's Lieblinge
Florence,
Santa Felicitá, Jacopo Potormo, The Deposition framed
by his Annunciation, 1528
My discovery: All women! - and I
maintain all the same woman – including Christ....
Years
later I made a second webpage dedicated to the Tuscan painters, which
you find here
The
Frescoes of Tuscany
Barbara
with Marga
20
June–4 July
Following our Tuscany trip I flew home, and
Barbara spent two difficult weeks with Marga.
Jutta
and Barbara tour the Southwest
1-25
Aug 2001
Yutta's
Story
We met Jutta from Austria in Amorgos in
1985. A couple of years later she stayed with us for 9 months in
Pacific Palisades while she waited for an openeing at theUniverity in
Graz. Barbara taught her to drive. Sometime in the late 1990s she
fell into a deep depression. We tried to rescue her from a vicious
downward spiral by telephone, sent her to a friend, Noemi Kempe, an
alternative healer in Graz, her doctor filled her with
psycho-pharmaka - all to no avail. She became a persona non grata in
the houses of her 3 brothers. Eventually she had to be admitted to a
psychiatric hospital in Innsbruck. Somewhat stabilized she begged to
come and stay with us for 3 weeks. We weighed this request for a
while, and then Barbara conceived of the idea to take her by car on a
tour of the Southwest: wild landscapes she didn't know, lonely hikes,
few people – mabe it would be good for her.
The trip was difficult for Barbara, but a success with Jutta. - During the following years she managed to retain a teaching job in the primary schools in Austria. She had even become an accredited councillor for learning-disabled children. In 2005 she found a new doctor who took her off all medications. Her spirits rebounded, and in 2007 she got married to Fredie, a Swiss pilot. They now live near Basel, she teaches German as a “second” language, and works with several dyslexic children.
Jutta among the rocks in Canyon Lands
Barbara on a hike in Canyon Lands
Jutta in Monument Valley
Barbara
becomes a docent at the Fredrick Weisman Foundation
13
Sep 2002
In
2001 Barbara quit escorting German tourist groups around the West.
The physical effort of caring during 3 weeks for every need of 30
people had become too much, and the escort business was in a
depression. For a while she tried to train to be a “docent”,
an interpretative guide at the LA County Museum – without pay.
Somehow she heard that the Fredrick Weisman Foundation was looking
for docents for their private house-museum in Beverly Hills. An
interview with Billie Weisman, the widow of Fredrick and the owner of
the foundation, turned into a quick friendship. Billie even paid her
for the tours she gave. Barbara threw herself into an intense study
of the art of the last 50 years at their house library. The
atmosphere at the museum proved congenial beyond all
expectations.
During the six years she worked for Billie, Barbara
turned into an expert on contemporary art, and with her tourist
experience she soon became their best docent. I have profited from
Barbara's experience immensely. She opened an entirely new way of
seeing
to me with more than just
my eyes.
A garden sculpture by Ida Kohlmeyer under the Gingko Tree in the Weisman's park
More
photos of Barbara's 6 years at the Weisman (2002-2008):
The
Weisman Picture Page
Ulysse
born in New York
13
September
2002
The birth of Ulysse – his name had been kept a secret by his parents – was, of course, the joyous event of the year. Now we had three birthdays in the same week in September: mine on the tenth, Ulysse's on the thirteenth, and Cornelius' on the fifteenth! Barbara would have liked to fly to New York, but his parents wanted to handle the situation by themselves.
The newborn Ulysse
Cornelius,
AC, and Ulysse in Monterotondo
Cornelius accepts the job at
EMBL
9-12
Nov
Now that they were a full-fledged family, Cornelius
needed a real job. The post-doctoral position with Prof. Hen at
Columbia had to come to an end. He finished a survey paper with Hen
on Anxiety Syndrome in Mice and began searching the internet. Among
several positions in the US he found an ad for a group leader in
mouse biology at the European Molecular Biology Lab (EMBL) in
Monterotondo outside of Rome, Italy.
Out of curiosity he flew to
Rome and gave a seminar there. Nadia Rosenthal, the director of the
Monterotondo Lab, was sufficiently impressed (I always tease him that
she fell in love with him!) that she offered him the position next
day: a new lab, a 9-year contract, support for 3 post-doctorals, and
another 4 PhD students – and a post-doctoral position for
Anne-Cecile.... Such an opportunity would have been unheard of in the
US for a scientist with only 3 years of post-doctoral work to his
credit. - He had 2 months to accept the offer. He flew home in an
excited daze, and when nothing comparable came his way accepted
Nadia's offer. - Once again we would be spread around the world
Christmas:
Cornelius and AC visit us with Ulysse on their way to Rome
21-26
Dec 2001
They moved to Rome after New Year and on their way
stopped by in the Palisades for Christmas.
AC playing with Ulysse...
...but Cornelius took care of his son – he diapered him etc.!
Ulysse in grandpa's chair
Pacific
Palisades,