A Busy and Fun Week! Butzbach! Münzenberg!

We had a long and busy week with work, teaching, and preparing for upcoming events. I have a darling little class of German students eager to learn English. They can now sing "The Wheels on the Bus."

 

Friday night we attended the temple and did initiatory work. That was a very sweet experience. On Sunday, we attended the German Branch, and Monika Lippert bore her testimony. She received her Baptismal Certificate while we were there, and she was so thrilled that it had Bob's name on the certificate too.

Then we came back to our ward, and I enjoyed teaching Relief Society. This Tuesday, I have organized a Relief Society Enrichment Evening called “Alive and Awake.” Sister Jill Derr, co-author of Eliza R. Snow: The Complete Poetry, will speak on how Eliza R. Snow inspired others to "Wake up" and use their talents. After she speaks, we will break into four workshops: writing poetry, writing songs, writing group resolutions, and discovering our talents and abilities.

I had a big surprise this week! The Bishop called a new Relief Society President, Sister Karen Maynes, who has only been here a week. She lives in Oakley and is friends with Jim an Shauna Bradley. Can you imagine only being in Germany one week, barely getting over jet lag, having not yet even received your household items you packed to set up house, not speaking the language, not knowing anyone, and being called to be the Relief Society President? I was set apart as her first counselor. There is not yet a new second counselor, so I still get to do that too. 

Now, back to Saturday! We had such a fun day!  I went off early to the Flohmarkt. In the afternoon we drove with the Dearings to a delightful German town, Butzbach, with half-timbered houses from the early 14^th and 15^th century. This was once an old walled city and now only partial walls stand to remind us of knights protecting the castle from marauding soldiers.

 

  

We always love the churches with their beautiful stained glass windows. This is the Markuskirche, and some women were decorating for a wedding when we arrived by putting irises end to end along the path.

 

 

 

 We don't think this guy was too popular with his family.

We went down the winding street into town and were delighted to see that there was an Altstadtfest with live music, and cute shops lined the streets. 

 

We love the half-timbered houses that lean against each other with their sagging roof lines.

There happened to be two South American vendors.

This woman demonstrated the old way to cook Raclette. This machine melts the cheese, and then she scrapes the cheese off on a piece of bread.

Loved the hand-painted display of rock jewelry.
 

These are two old clockworks.

These little cars are actually bicycles.

We enjoyed a couple of tasting stands—one for jellies, and another for appetizers inside this charming store. Of course we bought something delicious from both vendors.

 We think it is awesome that they strip down this old houses and reface them and redo them inside. This town was particularly nicely remodeled and well taken care of.

We sat on the square and listened to the great American oldies from the sixties as we ate perfectly ripened fresh raspberries. We enjoyed hearing a young man play the saxophone and the melodica.

Next we were off to Münzenberg Castle, dating from the 12th century! It is so fun to go to these ruins. Our imaginations run wild trying to piece together in our minds how the castles must have looked in their day.

 

These ruins were unique  as they had grass and trees inside.

The well.

My room!

Yet another wedding!

 A peak inside the tower.

 A view from the top! We could see the beautiful countryside for miles.  

After visiting the castle, we meandered through the town of Münzenberg.

An artist enjoyed painting scenes on the houses.

We crossed this old rock bridge and then headed for home through the beautiful countryside. Along the way we saw horses, a rose garden out in the middle of nowhere, and a geese farm. 

It was another day in Germany that we will never forget!