August 15, 2007

• Home Again

  It’s taken a few days to regroup and recover from jet lag, and to think before I write.  We had a wonderful trip and a wonderful time visiting my brother and Germany, and even Austria.  It’s good to be home but I miss my brother, and we both hope we can get together next year here or there.

  My brother and Dennis hit it off, and so we had a really good time.  Frank (my brother) and his wife Sabine had to work most days, so we rented a car and took a couple of little trips on our own.  Sabine loaned us her GPS navigator and we switched it to English — wow, what a lifesaver!  Sabine loves to cook and is wonderful at it.

  They live on the outskirts of a town called Langenzenn, and Sabine took us around one afternoon after she got home from work.  One afternoon Dennis and I drove to a town called Rotenburg on the Tauber, which is a small town surrounded by a medieval wall and guard towers.

  On Saturday my brother took the day off and we went to Nuremburg, where they showed us around the main part of the city.  On Sunday we went to a town called Keilheim, to ride a boat on the Danube River.  The Strauss waltz “the Blue Danube” comes to mind?  It’s not blue, it’s green!  But it’s beautiful.  Near Keilheim is one of the oldest monastery-breweries in Germany, from the 6th century A.D.
  

  It’s really beautiful, not dirty, and lots of people were along the shoreline, and children were playing in the water.  After the boatride Dennis and I went down and touched the water just for fun.

  Keilheim is a very quaint town
  

  There is even a building with David and Goliath on its side:

  

  Then after half the boat ride we ate outside at the monastery restaurant:

  

  Here is a picture of Dennis & me on the boat:

  

  Then on Sunday we went to Munich.  We had a wonderful time and met with Sabine’s cousin and her husband.  They are very nice people!  For brunch we had my favorite, weisswurst (white sausage) and pretzels!  Soft pretzels are originally from Germany and many restaurants serve them instead of bread or biscuits.  When they’re fresh they’re out of this world.  After that, Dennis and I left the family and drove down to Salzburg, Austria.

  Saltzburg is known for being Mozart’s birthplace, the annual Music Festival, and for the Sound of Music (because the outside shots were filmed in and around it).  We had planned to stay one day but fell in love with it so we stayed for two.  We took two tours, the “Sound of Music tour” (4 hours) and the city tour by van and boat.  Then we walked around Old Salzburg and took a cable car up to the fortress.

  

  This above is an area of old Saltzburg.  The music festival and Mozart’s house are there, as well as extraordinary churches and fountains.

  

  This above is a man-made lake with the back view of the house where some of the Sound of Music was filmed.  Remember the children falling out of the boat as they got close to the back of the house?  This is the lake they were in, and the house you see was used for the “back” of the Von Trapp house.

  There are more photos in my photo blog, so I’ll just show you one more here:

  

  Of course McDonald’s is everywhere, and of course they have an old-world sign out front!  We also found a Starbuck’s in Nuremburg:)  there are none in Salzburg but we hear Vienna has several!

  We had a wonderful time, Dennis was always kind and considerate, and we had a GREAT time with my brother’s family.  He isn’t a Christian, but he’s a very sweet, wonderful guy.  My niece is studying for her confirmation in the Lutheran church and likes religion classes.  So who knows what the Lord will do in their lives?

  My job is still up in the air, and hopefully I’ll know something tomorrow.

  Love and blessings to all, Gerrie

  • 11:43 pm
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