29 Aug 2010 Beautiful Braunfels

Slept in


Had Wonderful time with the Senior Missionary couples at the temple last night and then went to Mei Kings for dinner. It is the best Chinese Restaurant I have been to. Gene and I shared a huge feast of combination fried duck and pork with lots of veggies and of course sticky rice. We shared a table with one of the Church's legal council for the European Area. He told us he was flying to Salt Lake City to attend the Conference on World Religious Freedom. Gene asked him if he thought the Arab countries would ever participate and he replied that they have already shown an interest. We predict that this council will be the beginning of the church being allowed to proselyte in those countries. He is a paid employee of the Church and he is here for three years. They left 9 children at home, their youngest going into the MTC in a few months. One of their daughters and her husband were there visiting. I guess the deal they made with their children was, that they would pay the way for each family (husband & wife only) to come to Germany once during those three years. This particular daughter and her husband flew to France and then they came to Germany for two weeks. Sounds like a lot of fun to me.

After wards we sat with the new couple who just came here on their mission from Burley, Idaho. He reminded me so much of my Dad, his mannerisms and the way he talked. He is also a farmer. He and his wife are so much fun to be around, I can tell we will be doing a lot of things together.

Well, on to the day. I made breakfast, which doesn't happen very often, and we packed our backpack for a day in Braunfels. This city is about 1 hour North West of our home. We decided, or our GPS decided, that we would take the back roads instead of the autobahn and we are so glad that we did. We went through Unsigen, Dietenhausen and Unleitung all small Dorfs. They were mainly farming communities with huge forests in between. Hope you like the pictures of that. Gene said it looked like a patchwork quilt. I think he has an artistic eye. As we approached Braunfels we saw the Berg which is really beautiful. It is very magical, had a Disneyland sort of look.

I have to tell you about the town of Braunfelds before I get into the Berg. It is famous for its spa gardens, which of course we could not afford but it sounds good anyway. It is the most prominent place of touristic interest. It is part of a Lahn Valley Holiday route tour. It is a city of cultural activities, concerts, theatre, festivals, markets, hiking and of course the Castle which is still being used as a home by the original family.

Braunfels Castle is situated on the top of a mountain of basalt rock. It has been family owned for 800 years. It is a cultural monument filled with exceptional art and furnishings of the original family. We got in on a tour but it was in German so we sort of had to find out about the family for ourselves. We did see the inside, but were not allowed to take pictures. The tour started with a room full of Suits of Armour and weapons from the Medieval period. The next room took us through the 14 & 15th century with paintings of the original land lords as well as other valuable works of art. Artists such as the Dutch- Van Eyck, the German- Tischben and a few hunting paintings by Johannes Deiker. The third room took us through the Renaissance and finally the 18th & 19th Centuries. Most of what we saw were original paintings with some hand made clothes from some of those periods. The stitches were so small and fine. There were also lace pieces. We really enjoyed the tour but we want to come back again to hear it in English.

We went home by way of Limberg, one of my favorite villages. We enjoy eating at a place called Tonne's and we always get the Rumpsteak with fried potatoes. I wanted to look in the all German clothing shop but it had already closed so no luck with that. We got home at 8:00 which is a miracle for us. Need our rest for sunday. Tschuss

27 Aug Fairy Tale City Dilsberg

Today we took off work to go to the Doctor's in Heidlesberg. It is almost a 2 hour trip from Frankfurt. I was bitten by some funky spider and it looks really bad, so I needed a doctor to tell me if it was a brown recluse spider bite. You know they have Socialized medicine here in Europe and some people really love it, but I am not use to having a doctor that just herds you through like cattle. They never took my temperature, never checked my blood pressure and when they dispensed the medicine, it was over the counter stuff, but guess what? The over the counter stuff costs more here than our actual medications cost from the doctor. Oh by the way the docotor said they don't have any poisonous spiders in Germany, so I guess it was just a bad spider bite, nothing to worry about. I was also told that the Doctors here do not give antibiotics unless you are dying of an infection, because people here have built up an immunity to them. No whining, just not use to the German way yet.

The last time we were in Heidleberg I took a lot of pictures but I did find a few subjects that I liked photographing. There was the cutest old man all dressed up to go to town, I guess. Didn't get a front shot but I got a back shot and you can tell from his coat that he is a dapper Dan. After our appointment we had some free time and decided to drive along the Neckar River, This is where all the rich people live. It is a very beautiful drive. Miracles really do happen because it was a miracle that we found this out of the way Dorf called Dilsberg. up on a hill outside of Heidleberg. The houses and businesses are 500 years old. Just walking into the town had the most beutiful view of the River and Valley.

We looked around the shops a while and came upon a business called ANNETT DESIGNS. It was run by a lady about my age (no telling) who had her daughter and granddaughter visiting from up North. This lady has made everything in her shop, nothing is on consignment. I would call her an all around artistic gal. There are dresses that she has designed and sewn, pottery, jewelry, paintings, photography, anything crafty, handmade shoes and she makes her own preserves from the Kiwi's that are growing on a vine up her house. (She gave Gene a few slips off of her Kiwi tree, we are going to try to get them to grow.) This gracious lady invited us into her home and showed us the view of the River and Castle from her balcony. It was just like what you would expect to see. I took a picture of her kitchen but I wish I had taken a picture of the family and her front room furniture, which was given to her by her grandmother. One wall was a floor to ceiling library. It was a very enjoyable day. The granddaughter took me around and named every flower for me in German. I had my German lesson for the day. I was smelling the lavendar and I said, "that is my favorite smell." Then we looked at a sun flower which she called Sohn Blummen. I bought some of her Kiwi preserves and the best Vanilla tea. I'll wait to share. When Gene told her that he had a daughter that designed clothes the lady was so thrilled. She wants Rachel to come to visit, such a fun family. The German people are so loving. The family was very interested in our Church and why we were there is Germany. Here is another contact to send info to. We are blessed.

We found a great little restaurant that specialized in crepes. We both shared a pizza type crepe. It was filled with vegetables, cheese, herbs and creme sauce and then it was deep fried. I never tasted anything so good. For dessert, Gene had an apple with cream sauce crepe and I had a cream and erdberry (strawberry) with hazelnuts. It was yummy. This place is a must for all of our company. After lunch Gene spotted an old berg that was about 1200 AD. I rested while he and another man took a tour. They hiked up a long stairway and then climbed under old tunnels. I was perfectly content to sit in the sun which I did. Notice the two cat pictures. They really know how to relax. Gene took pictures of the castle in and out, along with the view that he had from the top of it.

We had to hurry home as we had tickets with the group to see "Fiddler On The Roof" at the English Theater. We loved it. Dad has always loved the music but he had never put the story line with it before. It was a great story about TRADITIONS. Most of the people acting and playing in the orchestra were teenagers or young adults. Not at all professional but they were darn good. Here in Germany, kids do not take sports as an elective in school. They may play soccer during their lunch hour but their time is for school. They love fusball but they have to join a league to play. They do however have music programs, which I feel are very beneficial to a growing mind. In any case, these kids were very good. Home at 11:30 and tired today. lOVE EVERYONE. The Walters