I'm Ba-ack

4:30 am here. Been up since 3 . Never got on to a schedule in Swittzerland either. The earliest I ever awoke was @ 7:30 am. The whole Dam Fam never adjusted. 4500 miles of travel yesterday

We stayed in Switzerland but did most of our traveling into Germany. In Swiss-Land we went to Basel, Zurich & Lucerne. Went to the Zurich Zoo and walked the city. In Lucerne we went on a boat ride then caught a train to a mountaintop restaurant.

We were 10-15 mins. From Konstanz, Germany. Across the border from Krauzlingen, Switzerland My in-laws did their shopping there as Germany is much cheaper than Switzerland. Took a ferry to Meersburg across Lake Constance (The Bodensee) a midevil town w/ a fantastic castle w/ all of the trimmings (furnishings, weaponry, tools, etc) It dated from the 7th century near as I can tell.

Went to Colmar, France a 12th/ 13th century (?) town. They had a Cathedral there from that time frame (France BTW, seemed more American than any other place)

We dined AlFresco many nights,-- I think 5-—sitting outside at a Café’ --- drinking a few beers and eating very, very, well. The food was Supreme! One night we were at a restaurant on the Rhine River. Sat there and relaxed, ate & drank for about 3 hrs. The kids had plenty of room to ramble. Best shrimp I ever ate!

We were obviously in touristy areas--- I met an Aussie and a Japanese guy on one bathroom trip. Then continued dinner having a conversation w/ some Canadiens from BC. And you could here many American voices along w/ other cultures.

What impressed me was how clean and clear the water was in the Bodensee and Lake Lucerne. Joe and I were always looking for fish. They all seemed about 12-18” long. Too bad my BIL is not a sportsman. I’d a loved to have gone fishing.

The bikes!! OMG!! Thousands upon thousands of bicycles!! It was sure different to see hundreds of them parked together. Altho strangley enough when we hit Colmar, I saw a KFC billboard, and suddenly there were less bikes and less people walking.

I think we took about 600 pictures on our SD card. Roofs, family, buildings and curiosities. Disappointingly, the Camcorder did not work out…. Too much moving! It is better to be still. And if we weren’t moving, the kids were squirming

The common steep roofs were boring. Similar colors and only a few choices of tiles. And since they last so long, many roofs were very dirty. Added character to some, made others look shabby. And when they do an addition, they don’t re-roof it seems. Just tie-in new tile for the next millennium (?)

The details of the metal roofs I saw were un-impressive. Simply functional. Almost all flat roofs I saw were green roofs--- or had something growing on them! If they were like the steep roofs, it was from age and not design! All that said, there were indeed some roofs that were unique, exquisite and beautiful. We saw one in the mountains that was stone slab! About a 500 yr.old structure

If I could only post pics. If you’d like to see some, e-mail me

Tom, good to have you back. Nice pics.

Hey, we finished that "cold roof" and I have a lot of pictures of the whole process. I will be posting them soon with comments on each. Should be fun!

I saw hundreds of those cranes woody. W/ those and the scaffolding there might be one ladder on a jobsite. One. I don't think that they do a lot of lifting there. Since I did not watch anybody working I can't say for sure.

But even when building a small 2 story house, there was a portable crane there.

The one in the picture looked to be a tow behind unit. Pull it to the job, set the outriggers,level it and put a chain link fence around it.

Here's Twills picture of the tower cranes that are at almost every job.

The rest of your pictures are in the album, now Twill. I forgot to mention after posting them hit edit and change them to a bigger size than 100, this one is at 500.

Sure Twill. Send them, I'll put them in this same album. Once they're in the album if you want to post them directly, put your curser on the picture and it will give you an option for a direct link. Copy that and paste it on here, then highlight it and click image and you'll have the picture on here.

Thank you Woody!

Yes there was a difference in the upkeep of the buildings from Germany to France. Colmar's buildings were simply more untidy than the Germans.

In Germany one can look at a 600 yr old building and it would look like it was built much more recently. In Colmar, the building did look 600 yrs. old. Strangely enough, I preferred Colmar! I guess it had a better "feel" to it.

Just the vibe it gives maybe---Nothing wrong with either place. You caught it tho, good for you!

Lots and lots of modern skylights on Ye Olde Roofs everywhere

Can I send you 6 more pics?

Here's one of Twill's pics from Colmar, France. I like the mud bucket flashing job. Something tells me the skylights aren't origional.

Here's a link to an album of some of his other pics. http://s647.photobucket.com/albums/uu195/GWMiller/Twill/

Welcome back, Twill. I'd like to see some of your pics. My email is mtileroof@gmail.com Let me know of any you want posted here and I'll put on through my Photobucket.

I know what you mean about the bicycles. I particularly liked seeing all the women in dresses on them. That was different. And all the elderly riding bikes was unique, too. But other than kids, I never saw helmets. In fact if anyone had the uniform of the die-hard Portland bicyclist, bike shorts and helmet, they probably would be viewed as posers. Like the paunch-bellied middle-aged white guys wearing a jersey to an NBA game.

I also saw lots of enclosed scooters and motorcycles, especially in Paris.

I'll take a look if you don't mind. Still got my email? Sounds like a satisfying trip all-told. You and Woody and yer Europeen escapades.

It's the only kinda roofing to do Twill. I hate re-doing anything! Wish I could buy a lifetime car or truck! I only get 15-18 years out of mine.

I'll take a few Tom. Jedbr@bellsouth.net. Glad you had a wild time.