Heidelberg

We spent the next day touring the city we were staying in - Heidelberg. This is a beautiful, old city. In the morning, we went up the side of the mountain and toured the castle that overlooks the city:

There were a lot of tourists up at the castle, viewing the remnants of a one-time stronghold of a now fallen empire, a major artifact and landmark laden with history and culture. But when these Asian tourists saw Beck, all they wanted to do was follow him around and wait for him to do something cute.

In the afternoon, we toured through Heidelberg's long pedestrian zone and old town, grabbed some Gelato and then a meal at the Schnitzelhaus, that was delicious German food.

Frankfurt and Neustadt

We left St. Goar and made our way to Frankfurt to our mutual former companion and we got there around 5:00 p.m.

We walked through old town Frankfurt, which looks like this:

And then we got together for dinner and had a good time catching up and laughing about experiences from our mission. (from left to right, Ben, me, Jan)



Jan stayed with Ben and we took off for Heidelberg where we would stay for the next couple of nights. And we got to our place around 9:00 p.m.

We woke up on Tuesday, Sept. 2, and drove about 45 minutes west to the first town I served in - Kaiserslautern. We drove through it and saw some familiar sights. A lot of memories come back as you see places around town, apartment houses, streets, or buildings where you had experiences. I remembered this city fondly as it is where I was first exposed to Germany, was taken in by a friendly ward, had great mission experiences and struggled to learn the language.

We then drove about a half hour east through a forest valley to the next city I served in, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. Neustadt is a hidden gem of a city. It doesn't have a lot of tourism except possibly among Germans who know it as a wine retreat town. It sits at the entrance of a green valley and its old town is well-maintained and quiet.



 



We hiked up a path along the mountain-side vineyard terraces and we looked out over the city.



We met this family I had taught while I was serving there. They never joined the Church, but we've stayed in touch over the years and we remain good friends. The Book of Mormon we gave them sits on their bookshelf. We took this picture on the corner where I contacted Herr Pletsch for the first time as a missionary. They enjoyed meeting Melanie and Beck and having Beck play with their grandson who is close to Beck's age (pictured below).



We really enjoyed walking around the peaceful and well-kept town. And I was glad to be back. Here is  Neustadt an der Weinstrasse city square at dusk:



We drove back that evening to Heidelberg where our apartment rental was and where we would tour the next day.

St. Goar

On Monday, September 1, we woke up at drove from Dusseldorf to Cologne to pick up my mission companion we had met the previous day for lunch. From there, we drove south along the Rhein River to Frankfurt to meet another companion that we both served with.

The drive along the Rhein featured a lot of green vistas, old towns, and castle ruins perched on the slopes of the Rhein river valley. Like this:

We stopped in Sankt Goar, an old town with a fortress called Burg Rheinfels that used to be a point of tactical control along the Rhein. We toured the castle ruins and had lunch there. You could climb all over the ruins and in stony, dark hallways. The ruins covered a very large area and, in its heyday, the fortress was like a small city. 

This is a view from the top of Burg Rheinfels, looking down over the town St. Goar:

And here's our group in the town with the castle in the background:

Duesseldorf and Cologne

Dear Family,

I am finally getting to report on our trip to Europe. We were there from August 31 to September 15. We spent the first five days in Germany, then five in France, and then four in Rome, Italy. I don't know how many hours I had into planning the trip, but planning it was a major undertaking. I will break the posts into chronological chunks, hitting the highlights and skipping over details as there would be a lot to tell.

We arrived in Dusseldorf, Germany at about 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday after a long series of flights. Beck did not do well on the long flight to Germany. We picked up our rental car, an Audi hatchback that I enjoyed driving except I didn't know how to put it in reverse. I believed the gear shifter was broken because I would have to jam the stick down and to the left in order to get it in reverse. It wasn't until a few days later that we were driving with one of my former mission companions, a German, who showed me that one need only easily press the head of the stick down and then into position. Anyway, the car was powerful and fast and the highways in Germany are well-marked and enjoyable to drive.

That morning we drove to Duisburg, a city north of Dusseldorf, that I served in for six months. Not an attractive city, but it means a great deal to me. We saw my old apartment and the meeting house that is still there. We went inside as the family history center was open and I talked with an older sister who was in the ward when I served there. We talked about the ward. The language felt clumsy, but I could understand it pretty much as I used to. By the last couple of days we were there, the language began to come easier.

We drove back to Dusseldorf and toured around the center of the city and got some good German food.  German food is meat and potatoes. It was heavy and delicious and made my eyes feel heavier than they already were from lack of sleep. From there, we got to our apartment rental and crashed for 15 hours or so. We woke up the next morning and didn't have many jet lag issues on our trip.

That morning we took the train 20 minutes south to Cologne to meet a former mission companion for lunch in the large, old Pedestrian Zone in the middle of the city. You come out of the train station in Cologne and immediately run into this:

This is the Cologne Cathedral. A gothic monstrosity. I had been there before for mission conferences and had participated in street preaches out in this square, but it was shocking to see the size and complex ornamentation of this structure again. It was great to meet my old friend and catch up. We would be picking him up the next day to drive south together to Frankfurt to meet another mutual mission companion of ours. We walked back towards the cathedral and toured inside:









We took the train back to Dusseldorf and toured around its old Pedestrian Zone and along the Rhein river. I served in Dusseldorf for 4.5 months and have a lot of great memories there. The city felt very familiar and, though these pictures don't really do it justice, it has a beautiful and well-preserved old town area that we walked around.








We fell asleep in Dusseldorf. The next post will include our drive south along the Rhein river, tour of the Rheinfels Castle, coming together with old companions in Frankfurt, and touring of Neustadt, another city I served in.

I tried to send these to mom's email but it wasn't working. So this is for mother.

Evelyn Singing

Evelyn singing.

Christmas List Names Secret Santa

Here's the list of names for secret santa this year. Hopefully you're all ok with this.

Jen-Amy
Ron-Jon
Janelle-Mike B.
Michael- Jen
Mike B. - Ryan
Ryan-Michael H.
Melanie- Ron
Jon- Riley
Amy-Janelle
Riley- Melanie


The grandchildren are included:

Christian and Audrey will exchange
Claire and Sadie will exchange
Joseph and Reese will exchange
Grace and Jane will exchange
Anna and Faye will exchange
Evelyn and Beck will exchange


IF anyone has a problem with this, take it up with Amy.