Friday, January 17, 2014

Our trip to Germany - Christmas 2013

Last year, we had the pleasure of a visit from our son Chris and his wife Abigail over the Christmas holidays.  This year, they invited us to spend the holidays with them in their new home in Stuttgart, Germany.  After two Christmases away from home, we felt it would be great to experience a cold Christmas.  As some of you may know, Christmas with palm trees and hot weather is hard to understand when you are from the Philadelphia area.

We were sad to leave the children, staff and students at Irente Children’s Home.  Since the second year students would be on holiday at the same time, we did not need to worry about missing classes.  With half of the students away, the remaining ones would be busy caring for the children.

Sunrise over Stuttgart at 8:05 AM!


We flew to Frankfurt, Germany by way of Doha on Qatar Airlines.  Both of our flights were great.  Chris met us at the airport early on the morning of the 18th of December and drove us to Stuttgart. We were so glad to be with him and Abigail.  They moved to Germany last summer when Chris had an opportunity to work there.  They live in a residential area of South Stuttgart in a beautiful apartment.  Other than the six flights of steps (120 to be exact), it is perfect.  They have the top two floors in an old apartment building, along with a rooftop terrace.  The apartment is completely renovated and looks like it is brand new.


Stuttgart is a city meant for walking or public transportation.  There are buses, trains and an underground to get you all around the area.  Tom walked every day and went in a new direction each time.  He must have walked 50 miles while there.  When we arrived the Christmas market was in full swing, with small shops selling everything imaginable.  The big thing to drink was Gluhwein, a hot spiced wine, with many kinds of wurst to eat. 

Medieval Ferris wheel, Esslingen


We also visited a Christmas market in the town of Esslingen, which has a medieval theme complete with a hand turned, wooden Ferris wheel.  We spent a morning and lunch at Hohenzollern Castle.  It was reconstructed in the mid-1800’s on the site of the original, which was home to King Frederick the Great.  Some parts of the castle are from the previous castle.  It is situated on top of a high hill and the view is spectacular. 




Christmas dinner
On Christmas Eve, we went to an English speaking Anglican church.  The children were dressed in beautiful costumes for the Nativity pageant, but their joy was no greater than the children at Irente Church in their simple ones.  Tom and I cooked roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding (to Grandmom Mac’s recipe).  Using an
oven was different enough, but they have a convection oven, which took some figuring out.

On Christmas Day, Abigail and Chris did the cooking.  They had several families from the base join them and one couple brought two deep-fried turkeys!  There was so much food it was hard to know what to choose.


Chris, Abigail & Tom on Alpspitz
overlooking Garmisch
The weekend after Christmas, we stayed at Edelweiss Resort in Garmisch, in the Bavarian Alps.  This is a resort for military families on a base named for General George C Marshall (of the Marshall Plan, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize).  From the window of our room, we could see the majestic mountains covered in snow.  On Saturday, we traveled by gondola up the Alpspitz to 2050 meters, where we watched skiers and drank hot chocolate in a small restaurant.  It was incredible and incredibly cold!  I spent that afternoon shoulder deep in an outdoor hot tub at the resort and read.  Chris, Abigail and Tom all went to do their own things.  We also walked through the town, which is mostly known for the Winter Olympics back in the 30’s with Hitler presiding.  Looking out our window and watching a train pass across the fields and hearing the high whistle, Tom said it was like spending a weekend on a train platform.  So true!
Ulm Minster Lutheran Church

On our way back to Stuttgart we visited the town of Ulm and saw Ulm Minster Lutheran Church.  It is the tallest church in the world.  

 On New Year’s Eve day, our assignment was to go to a store nearby the apartment to buy fireworks.  They are sold everywhere.  We picked up some bottle rockets, sparklers and some other types we did not know.  One package had 30 tubes, and the other 86.   Before we left for some friends’ apartments, Chris set off some of the bottle rockets from their rooftop.  We were well prepared with buckets of water in case of an accident. set off some more of the fireworks from a sand box on her complex’s roof. 

After visiting some of Chris and Abigail’s friends, we walked down the pedestrian area in the center of Stuttgart.  In the square near the palace, there was the most tremendous display of fireworks we have ever scene.  The remarkable thing about it was that ordinary people set them off.  This was no roped-off, safety-hazard concerned display.  No, it was just thousands of fireworks, which shot into the air and occasionally bounced off buildings.  We have never seen anything like it.  They were still going off after we were in bed at 1:30 am.

Prague from the Moldau River
Our visit to Prague, Czech Republic was wonderful.  It is a place that we would highly recommend to anyone with a desire for travel.  Most of the buildings in the Old Town are original and very ornate.  There are churches everywhere and palaces.  We even saw a hall in one palace where indoor jousting took place.  They had a special stairway to accommodate the horses.  The Czech people were very friendly and the food was good.  Chris, Abigail, and I went to the National Theater and saw the opera Carmen one night.  Tom decided to pass on that. 



Christmas tree in Old Town Square, Prague


Our time came to an end too quickly.  We were sorry to leave, but also looking forward to our return to Tanzania and the home.  We landed at Kilimanjaro Airport to warm weather and bright sunshine.  We were thankful for our safe return.  We thank God for the ability to travel and see new places and people.  We are truly blessed. 

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a perfectly wonderful Christmas! Thanks for sharing news and photos from it.

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