03-12-2011 Idar Oberstein & Bernkastle Kues-A Castle Double Hitter

This is the Felsenkirche built in the Mountain and the Schloss on top.








































This is a Jewish monument to families that were deported from 1933-1945












This was a very interesting day. Last night, Bro. Whirthlin, the Director of Physical Facilities in Europe and our boss, invited us to go with him and his beautiful wife plus two other couples, the Gerratts and the Boones on an outing. We were going to the Gem capitol of Germany. Every store in Idar Oberstein sold gems and jewelry in one form or another. The town was interesting, built in 1320, it lies within a deep narrow valley which is cut through volcanic rock. The backdrop for Idar Oberstein is a huge mountain with a church carved into the side of it. There is a very interesting story attached to this church.

In the 1400's two brothers who were Earls and Knights lived in the castle(Schloss Oberstein) which is located on the top of that mountain. One of them found out his brother was in love with Bertha, the same girl he was in love with. To get rid of his competition he pushed his brother out a window and he fell on a cliff below killing him instantly. To make a long story short, he married Bertha, she took off and he was left to grieve the loss of his brother. To repent of his sins, he built a memorial or a church which he called the Felsenkirche on the side of the mountain at the very point where his brother's body landed. They say he knew when God had forgiven him, because a new spring appeared near the church. That is a real Grimm's Fairytale if you ask me. It does make a beautiful backdrop for the town however. I have included a few pictures. I could not hike up this one, it was 240 steps, so me and Sister Gerratt sat at a cafe and had chocolat, which was the best I ever had, lots of whipped cream and cinnamon on top. After sitting for quite a while we decided on pommes frites (French fries). By the time everyone got back we were not hungry for lunch but we went anyway. After lunch we had a spaghetti ice. I don't know if they have them in the states or not but they are outrageous. Shaved ice cream to look like spaghetti, strawberry topping to look like sauce and grated white chocolate to look like cheese. We shared, and it was even better that way. Off to another Castle adventure.















This is a picture of cloths hanging on a line outside the Castle
















After leaving Idar Oberstein we traveled 27 miles to a place called Bernkastle Kues. Now that was a truly beautiful ride along the Mossell River which Elder Walters says originates in France. It is known for its many vineyards. It is also a well known health resort. It is actually Germany's largest town in land mass. It has a very wet climate which makes it an ideal place for growing grapes. The earliest human habitation here was in 3000 BC. The Romans controlled it for a while and then the town of Bernkastle was built in the 1100's.

The castle itself has never been renovated so you see it as it actually was. In the courtyard they have a quaint little restaurant which overlooks the Mossell River and the town of Bernkastle. The vineyards go on and on forever. I could only walk up to the castle, which was a nice little hike but let Elder Walters and part of the group hike the rest of the way up into the tower where he took additional pictures from the top. I can't believe I made it all the way back which was actually going up hill and that was on a cobblestone path. You can't believe how hard it is to walk on cobblestones. Everything is so uneven. Your feet and ankles get tired. Just doing a little griping I guess. Elder Walters does fine however. He makes up for what I can not do.

This town is a must see at Christmas time. On December 4th of this next year, there will be a celebration where swimmers will carry a torch along the Mossell River and pass it to one another until they reach the Marktplatz. I have to see someone crazy enough to dive into the icy waters. We will be going here next Christmas. This town has 41 half timbered houses which are all decorated up and they have things to eat and buy for Christmas. Another interesting fact is that on May 9-11, 2008 Bernkastle hosted the Boy Scouts Intercamp Camporee for Scouting Counsels from the U.S., Canada, Czech Rep, Germany France and other European countries, interesting, as I thought Germany did not have a scouting program. On our way back we stopped for some treats while we traveled for 2 plus hours home. Oh and don't miss seeing the statue of the boy getting his proper spanking. I guess they don't believe in sparing the rod and spoiling the child at this place of business. Early to bed to be ready to teach our class on Sunday.

04-05 Mar 2011 Date Night & Jessica's Birthday

The following pictures were taken during the last two days. The blog will follow.




These are of Jessica's back yard. House next door has moss on the roof. Elder Walters wanted you to be aware of that.













They had a great spread. Picture of the Swedish fish casserole. That included eggs, shrimp, cucumbers, lochs and tuna salad.











These are all pictures of Jessica the birthday girl.

























These are pictures of the group. They all work at the Distribution Center for the church. The little girl is Jessica's sister and the other children are from the couples who came to the party.





























These are pics of the new furnaces and copper pipes that have been installed at the fix up house. Picture of the food storage room and the remnants of the old fireplace that Elder Walters tore down so they could install the pipes for heating. In Germany they heat with hot water.




























Not much going on this week end except a couple of social events. I finally got a date night with my companion. I have to admit, before I came on the mission, I was addicted to movies at a real theater with buttery popcorn and a drink in my hand. It was so bad, I even did three in one day, by myself. Since being on my mission I find that movies are just a diversion not the end all of everything. But I have to admit this last Friday was a pleasant surprise when Elder Walters said he would go see "True Grit" with me. They have one theater in Frankfurt that runs original movies which means they are in English. I was surprised. It took us 15 minutes of walking up three flights of stars, then back down and finally finding the theater. No name of show being played, just a number. And yes, we did get our popcorn, only minus the butter and salt. Tasted all right since that was the first time we had popcorn here too. For those who have not seen True Grit, It was a pretty good movie, I see why Jeff Bridges and his leading lady were up for awards at the Oscars. I guess this is going to be the first of many to come, since I do love movies but I will limit myself to a couple a month.

Speaking of movies, this Wednesday the girls from work plus Gene and another husband will be going first, to Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner and then over to the Cinestar in Frankfurt to see "The Kings Speach". I know that got Best Picture so we are looking forward to that. Also we received an email from Salt Lake that on April 8th they will be showing the new movie, "Joseph Smith and the Gold Plates". They will have one showing in English with German subtitles. I had no idea there was such a movie and I am doubly surprised that it is being played in Germany at a real theater. Look for it, I am sure it will being playing in your neck of the woods. We are looking forward to that.

Saturday was a full day. We spent the first part at the fix up house. I took a few pictures to show that they have been putting the heat in the upstairs. Had another great meal of rice, carrots and fish along with great German Rye bread for lunch. Then we went to Friedberg to shop for a good bakery cake and some cute scarves for Jessica, the birthday girl. Jessica is a co worker at the Distribution Center. She is 22 years old and has already received her Mission Call to the Visitors center in Washington DC. Since she already knows how to speak German, English and French, I hope they will let her learn Spanish. She is a very loving girl, she reminds me of my own daughters. She will be leaving in April. Tonight she had a birthday party at her house. We were able to meet her parents who are great people. Her father was a Bishop at one time and served his mission to the Toronto, Canada Mission. Her mother is French and served her mission in the Alberta, Calgary Mission. We really enjoyed talking to them. Another co-worker Ruth Fahl brought her husband Axle nd children and another couple Thomas and Anika were from Sweden. It was just a really enjoyable evening just talking to one another. The food was also great. I have to interject that Anika brought a traditional dish that she said came from Sweden. They do eat a lot of fish there so that was the mainstay. Basically you cut the crusts off the bread layer it in a pan with tuna salad that you make before hand with onions, dill, mayonaise pickles and small cut up tomatoes. On the top of that you cover with a small amount of mayonaise all over so that you can stack the following foods all around it. Cut up veggies of your choice and hard boiled eggs cut in long ways slices, lochs and shrimp. It stood about 4-5 inches high. Great dish to take to a luncheon. We left about 2200 hours and felt we had made some really good friends.