Europe

As some of you may know, I recently went on a 2.5 week wirlwind trip across Europe with Father Beaver. We left Seattle on May 21 and arrived back home on June 7th. We traveled to 13 countries and I drove about 3000 miles on our rental car. The trip was an incredible experience and I was blessed to have been able to travel with such an experienced and knowledgeable companion as Fr. Beaver. He wrote up a summary of our trip that is attached below, along with some pictures that we took throughout the trip.

-Kevin



Fr. and I in front of the Cathedral in Helsinki

Fr. and I bought some Cuban cigars for our three hour ocean ferry from Helsinki to Tallin, Estonia

Us in front of a Russian Orthdox church in Tallin, Estonia

We visited King Ludwig's Versailles model castle at Herrenchimse and then two days later visisted his famous "fairy tale" castle at Neuschwanstein


Thirteen Country European Adventure
Father Beaver and Kevin Roach
21 May to 7 June 2008

Hellen Keller said: “Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing.” I am not sure I can say that,
but she has a point. I travel a lot because I hate having my life disrupted by routine . . . and moreover, I want to live before I die. And I want to do it while I am still young because next
May I will be 80. Actually it is far easier to travel than to write about it. I always see more than
I can remember. Obviously, I haven’t been everywhere, but it is on my list.

Once again, I stress that more important than the itinerary, is the person who travels with you and
Kevin Roach (my cousin’s grandson) is an undeviating champ and an unsynthetic partner. We did
it all: planes, boat, bus, train, and automobile.
21 – 22 May We flew non stop from Seattle to Amsterdam and then on to Helsinki where we spent our first night. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (3d largest in Europe) was a challenging source of congestion and confusion with a tight interval and security stations making it difficult, but we made our connection and arrived mid afternoon in Finland’s capital. We walked the city and road the trolley until we felt we had seen the highlights. The Russian Orthodox Cathedral is the “space needle” of Helsinki and our pictures prove it. We crashed in the most expensive hotel of the trip at an early hour after dinner in a Chinese restaurant.
23 May We took the 11 am Superstar (new) Ferry across the Baltic Sea to Tallinn, Estonia arriving
arriving at 2 pm. On the ship we were able to pickup a box of Cuban cigars to enhance the quality
of our trip. Neither of us smoke, but no one is perfect. St Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral
dominates this small city and we spent time checking it inside and out. It was “Kevin first!” It
was here that we had our only Italian Dinner. We did spend about 5 hours walking the old city and
it is indeed a charming place. When you go stay in Hotel Central . . . very nice.
24 May 10 am we boarded a “luxury” bus in Tallinn destined for Riga the capital of Latvia arriving
at 3 pm. We had plenty of time to get to the Russian Cathedral (all a bit different) and the Opera
House (couldn’t get in) and enjoy the public market. Had dinner in a Mexican place. We decided since there was such limited commercial transportation, we had better take the overnight bus through Lithuania to Warsaw in Poland. We encountered two Canadians from B.C. who were coming from Mongolia and we learned a few things from them. We left Riga at 6 pm.
25 May We pulled into Warsaw at 7 am . We took a taxi from the bus station to the train station and a quick walk in the morning shadows of the Soviet style buildings and got the 9 am train destined for Prague. It was Sunday, we were alone in a compartment, so I celebrated Mass on the
train. We had a couple of hours to hit the hot spots in Prague, one of which was the celebrated clock in the central square. Our time was limited and Kevin, in front of one of the most famous clocks in the world asked me “what time is it?” and we rushed off to the train station. We took
an overnight train to Frankfurt.
26 May We arrived in Frankfurt at 6:30 am, picked up a Fiat Panda from Avis and headed for ULM
on the Danube River where Kevin climbed 510 feet through the tallest church steeple in the world.
Next stop was Ottobeuren where one finds the largest Barouke Church in existence. This has always
been a favorite place to introduce people to an atmosphere of devotion. We arrived in Munich and
stayed at the Hotel Asta (I always stay there.) We had plenty of daylight to see the major sites of
the Bavarian Capital. We had dinner and ended the evening at the Hoffbrau House.

27 May We departed “the silent capital of Germany” at 10 am and arrived at Hararon Chimsee,
the Versaile style, lakeside Castle of Ludwig. One has to take a 30 minute boat ride to get there.
Salzburg was our next stop and we enjoyed several hours visiting the scene of “The Sound of Music.” We then headed through the Bavarian Alps to Bercheshgaden to see the original stone
carving of the “Prodigal Son” (A miniature of it is over the altar in my chapel.) After dinner we
drove to an Alpine Gashthouse to spend the night.
28 May By noon, we reached the Military Guest House in Garmish (George Marshall Edelwise Inn) and enjoyed an American buffet. We spent the time visiting with other Americans and Kevin met some people who knew friends from Gonzaga.
29 May Departed for Oberramagaou (wood carving center of the world and scene of the Passion
Play every 10 years.) And then off to what could be the hightlight of any trip . . . the Fairy Tale Castle of Neuschwanstein. A few hours later found us in the Black Forest on our way to Frieburg.
We lodged at a Gashthous . and witnessed a mighty storm that hit the German and French press
the next day.
30 May We left driving again though the mountains to Nancy and Vitry le Francois (lunch) and
pulling into Paris at 5:30 pm. Stayed in the St Vincent district at Etap Hotel. We took the subway
into the city where I was “mugged” in the Moulin Rouge district. I had may hand on my wallet in
my front pocket, but it was a scarry encounter. Kevin was ahead of me so he did not see the whole
thing.
31 May Next day was Saturday and we experienced long lines at many of the popular sites, but we
still saw everything to include: Opera House, Arch of Triumph, the Grand Arch (new section of Paris) Eifel Tower, Tomb of Nepolian, Notre Dame, Pantheon, Sacr Coer and Lovre. We saw it
all as we enjoyed the salubrious climate of “Paris in the springtime.”
1 June Left Paris at 7:15 am arriving at the Bascilica of St Threse in Liseaux at 10 am. It was Sunday and I celebrated Mass for Kevin at table in the park in the shadow of this great shrine.
We were ahead of our schedule, so we drove north to Amsterdam arriving at 6:30. When you
go stay where we did . . . .Hotel Falcon Plaza on the edge of the city center. We met friends
of Kevin’s ( Sean Evans and Ryan Shelddon) in Rembrant Square from Gonzaga and spent the evening with them.
2 June We spent 2 hours at the VanGogh Gallery and visited the home of Ann Frank (I am just
23 days older than Ann.) In the afternoon we watched some very talented street performers.
3 June We left for Germany and picked up Mathias (family member Kevin’s age) and we
headed north where we spent the night at an excellent Bed and Breakfast on the Mosel River.
4 June After breakfast we started driving to Colone to see one of the major Cathedrals of Europe
on the banks of the Rhine River. We had plenty of time to visit the Cathedral Treasury and walk
around the city. We headed south following the road that passed the Castles on the Rhine and spent the night near Koblens.
5 June By mid-afternoon we reached our family’s home in Wiesbach where we spent the evening
visiting with Peter, Ingrid and Mathias. Great dinner Ingrid fixed.
6 June Peter took Kevin and me (Kevin drove our Avis car) to Strassberg and the concentration
camp on the French border called Struthof. This place did not take in the Jews, but concentrated
on the dissidants, resistence and POW. They were brutal in so far as the did “medical research”
in a barbarically bloody manner. We returned to Peter’s house where the family (about 19) gathered
for dinner. It was pleasant event for all. Lots of German food and wine from Peter’s well-known

celler. As always the German hospitality of our family goes unsurpassed. Ane when we cannot
speak with a common language, we communicate with warm hearts. “Cor ad cor loquitor.”
Mathias gave Kevin and me shirts and everyone left about 11 pm.
7 June Kevin and I left Weisbach at 5 am and arrived at the Frankfurt airport in time to turn
in the car (3000 miles . . . gas $10 per gallon) and board the airplane for Detroit and Seattle at
5:30 pm.