Klaus in Klausenburg

Klaus

When I bought my 1993 BMW 520i back in 2008, I named him Klaus.  There was no special reason, though the name may have been in my mind because years before I had met two of Herr Schmid's Fellbach friends, one named Klaus and one named Claus.  But the reason became clear when I learned that Cluj-Napoca, Romania has a German name: Klausenburg.  Clearly, a non-coincidence.

Twenty year-old engine compartment?

Since that September, Klaus has done faithful service for Shirley and me on our visits to Europe, and occasionally for the Schmid family while staying with them in Fellbach between our trips.  He has starred already in this blog, when he had a missing gas cap cover up in Ocna Sugatag.  But now he has also had a little body work done to remove incipient rust damage, and has fresh oil and a new oil filter, and he is altogether handsome, and feeling fine.

On Friday morning, just two days from now, Klaus and I will again be heading west, back to Fellbach via Timișoara, and Covasinț, Romania, Tatabanya, Hungary, and Krems, Austria.  Klaus has only 119,000 Km on the odometer, roughly one-quarter of the 284,000 miles that Fritz, his older cousin in America, has on him.  I hope to own Klaus for years to come, either here in Europe, or perhaps he will one day emigrate to America!

Reminiscence: A Week with Our Alex

It was the third week of May back in 2010.  Shirl, Alexander, and I had flown from Boston to Stuttgart via Zurich.  We planned on a six-week adventure in Klaus, so we'd come first to see Dietmar and Sabine in Fellbach, where Klaus stays when we are home in the U.S.A.  After a couple of pleasant days seeing our friends, their sons Max and Ferdi, and after meeting Chico, the canine addition to the family, we took Klaus south.  First we drove to Friedrichshafen, then rode by ferry across Lake Constance to Switzerland, where we shun-piked up through pastoral alpine valleys to Chur.  There, we spent our first night "on the road."  I have just come across pictures from the early part of that six-week trip, so while hardly news, these images will serve as visual memories. 

Shirl and Alex, a bit jet-lagged.

Our view from Hotel Alte Kelter, Fellbach

For this old aviator and model-builder, The Dornier Museum in Friedrichshafen proved a thrilling find.

In the early days of commercial aviation, the 1920s and 1930s,
Lufthansa was in the forefront. (And today, Alex2 (Mican) works
at the Silver Fox Inn in New Hampshire.)

Twelve-engined flying boat of 1929, the DoX.

The Dornier 217.  Thousands served the Luftwaffe in WWII.

Dornier's designs have long been innovative.
This Do31 V-STOL military transport is no exception.

Another example.  Why do it the same way as the other guys?

Swiss meadow, as we climb by GPS (shortest route) toward Chur.

Alex and Shirl in the Alps

Ain't Klaus and Shirl a stylish pair?

And from here, down the southern slopes into Italy.