Visit to Wiesbaden and Rudesheim

Another fun Friday of exploring - this week in Wiesbaden and Rudesheim, which is right on the Rhine River in the middle of wine country. We spent a night there on our 2nd trip to Germany in 2002 when we brought a group from church on a tour. Found the hotel we stayed at and the shops we all enjoyed. We are waiting for U.S. visitors to take on a boat ride on the Rhine!!

Our fondest memory of Wiesbaden is visiting the Wine Fest in August, 2008 - Bob was in Riesling heaven with over 100 booths set up by different wineries from the Rhine wine area. This time we visited the Evangelical (Protestant) church on the market, ate lunch at a very good Ratskeller and walked the streets and parks of Wiesbaden. Wiesbaden is also where there is a large U.S. military base. We have several people from there attend our church in Frankfurt.

Pictures are of us eating at the Ratskeller and the Protestant Church in Wiesbaden, pruned grape vine and vineyard along the Rhine, and the hotel in Rudesheim we stayed at with our group in 2002.

Our First Easter in Germany

Well, our first Easter in Germany was quite a bit different than our
past Easters - not saying better or worse, just different! Only one
service (instead of 3) for Bob; Rita only singing a couple songs with
choir, no handbells, but doing altar/communion duty, cooking a full
dinner myself (instead of family bringing most things), spending it with
2 little girls and their parents instead of 7 young boys and 4
generations of Flohrs. But the main thing was celebrating the Risen
Christ with our Germany family.

Pictures (in reverse order)show the sanctuary being used first for the buffet breakfast, then all the tables/benches were taken down and chairs set up for the worship service. The service started with the taking down of the black draping over the cross.

In Germany, Good Friday and Easter Monday are national holidays - stores and offices etc. closed, restaurants and gas stations the only thing open. So Monday we hopped on the underground train, took it to a new stop for us and then walked around for an hour or so. Got on a fast train to a destination we hadn't been to,walked around there for a couple of hours (sun/clouds, jacket open/jacket closed, hood up/hood down, gloves on/gloves off). Was a wonderful 4 1/2 hours of exploring new areas of Frankfurt! The first picture shows Rita and one of the beautiful blossoming trees in downtown Frankfurt. (I can't figure out how to get the pictures in the right order!!!)