Friends, Heidelberg, Winefest, biking and golf

A catch up of our activities over the last couple of weeks: We were so excited to meet our good friends, Curtis and Mary Wildung from Madison, MN, in Heidelberg on Thursday, August 12. We caught up on family and mutual friends while walking around Heidelberg with them and Curtis' cousins (who live and teach in Heidelberg), and then had a delicious German meal in an off-the-beaten-path restaurant. We haven't explored Heidelberg yet, so it was an opportunity for us to get a personal tour from people who live there. We must go back, though. We also took the opportunity to meet up with a member of our church who is in the military in Heidelberg, and he gave us a tour of the American areas - they are spread out in several different locations, most of which will be moving to Wiesbaden in a couple of years.
                            


Wildungs and us in Heidelberg                                                                                                                        



              

Yummy German meal in Heidelberg

On Friday, August 13, we attended a barbecue dinner put on by the USO in Wiesbaden for volunteers, workers and those who advertise in their magazine/newspaper (the area we fell under). What fun to have an American picnic - grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and steaks, potato salad and baked beans! Bob and I have decided we are going to do some volunteer work with the USO organization as part of our committment to do something outside of the church.

After the BBQ we met up with some people from our congregation and went to the huge Wiesbaden Winefest,  where there were over 100 different booths set up by different wineries in the Rhein-Main region. Bob's favorite wine is Riesling and that's what most of these wineries make, so he loved it. As for me, I drank some of the 3 different kinds of free water from the Wiesbaden city booth!! I had to pay 1 Euro for the deposit on the glass, but then I decided it was a cheap souvenir so I kept it as a juice glass!!!

Rita and bikes on bridge over the Main River                                                                          


We have enjoyed a couple of longer bicycle trips around the Frankfurt area lately. The first, on a Saturday afternoon, was down to the Main River, riding along the river for a couple of miles, then back through parts of Frankfurt we hadn't been yet. The second, a longer ride of over 16 miles, was last Friday when we rode through downtown and south of the Main River to the Frankfurter Golf Club where we stopped and watched teams teeing off for the club's version of the Ryder Cup. Looks like a wonderful course - but a little too expensive for our pocketbooks!! Riding home through town we ran onto the Bahnhofviertel Fest - a section of the town where they had set up a lot of eating and drinking booths, had music, etc. We stopped and ate at an Australian cafe - which wasn't much different than an American cafe except that they had kangaroo on the menu!!



                                                              Frankfurter Golf Club


This past Monday we had a great over-night visit from our good friends from Cottbus, Pastor Hinrich and Gaby Mueller. We have worked with them for several VBS-type things with the mission teams from Arizona since 2005. Cottbus was the city in Eastern Germany where we lived in 2008 for 4 months. Their daughter is getting married this week in a little town about an hour north of us and they invited us to the church wedding on Saturday so that we can see what a German wedding is like. Here in Germany, you must have a civil ceremony in a government building, but can also then have a church service. We won't be going to the reception at all, but from what they told us it is very similar to an American one with a meal, program and dancing, except that they usually go until at least 3 a.m., and many times all night. The Germans do like to party long!!!!  (Why do we forget to take pictures when people visit us at our home - only remember to take them when we are away from home - we bad!!!)


We are getting back into the fall schedule at church since school started earlier this month. Bob did not have a confirmation class last year, but will have one this year - 5-6 students. Since many of them live quite far away, they (he will have a rostered LCMS DCE helping him) will have most of the instruction on Sundays, either during the SS hour or after worship. Sunday School and Bible Class will start up again the first Sunday in September when we switch from 10 a.m. worship to 11 a.m. with SS and BC at 9:30. I have started up with handbells and choir again, and have volunteered to be choir librarian this year. Our goal is to get all of our  music entered into a computer program so the director can find available music by different categories.

Our choir director is also directing our choir with additions from other churches and the community in the full Messiah (in English) which will be presented next June. Quite an undertaking, with an almost-2-hour rehearsal every Thursday night after our regular Sanctuary Choir rehearsal. Call me crazy, but I have opted out of doing the Messiah - isn't the type of music I enjoy singing, or do well with.

We have lost some key people in our congregation this summer and will lose more the rest of the year - including our President, Worship/Music Deacon and Evangelism Deacon. We pray that God will lead people to step into these leadership roles for next year.

Well, that catches you up a bit on our doings both at and away from church. Keep watching this Blog as I am quite sporadic at posting news.

Bad Nauheim - Elvis and Health Spas

Bob in front of the Grunewald Hotel where Elvis lived

Friday August 6 saw us driving about 30 - 45 minutes north of Frankfurt to Bad Nauheim, a town of about 30,000 where Elvis Presley stayed during his stint in the U.S. Army from 1958-1960. Shortly after he arrived in Germany his father, grandmother, 2 friends and body guards joined him. They occupied an entire floor at the Grunewald Hotel in Bad Nauheim.

Sign denoting place where Elvis
stood for his picture.

We also visited the castle gateway, where the photograph for the LP cover of "A Big Hunk O’ Love" was taken. We were like many fans who flock to pose for the camera in the same place as Elvis!

Bob in the footsteps of Elvis

Rita at the Sprudelhof

Bad Nauheim is also famous for its salt springs, which are used to treat heart and nerve diseases. It is Bad Nauheim after which the Nauheim bath is named. A Nauheim or "effervescent" bath is a type of spa bath through which carbon dioxied is bubbled. We walked around the Sprudelhof therapeutic bath "resort" and also marveled at the water filtration system in places throughout the city.

Filtration

On our way we stopped at a fruit/vegetable stand and got some delicious cherries from local trees. Am looking forward to some local-grown apples real soon, too. And we got to have lunch in yet another little local market-grill. A family business where a month-old baby was there in her carriage and when she needed attention whoever was available at the moment took care of her! 

Visit to Trier and Moselle wine country

Last Friday, July 30 we took a day trip to the Moselle wine area and the oldest town in Germany - Trier - settled by the Romans in about 16 BC. The bridge pictured was built starting in 16 B.C. and still in use today - now that is solid construction!! The town gate pictured, called Porta Nigra, is built of colossal, weathered sandstone blocks. Trier is also the home of the founder of modern socialism, Karl Marx. Constantine's Basilica, whose interior is the largest single room to have survived since antiquity, sits unfinished; and the imperial baths which were part of the largest bathing complex in the Roman empire can also be explored below ground. We enjoyed food and entertainment in the Altstadt (old city) square, a bus tour, and then a drive through the Moselle wine country, with a stop in Ediger for a sample!!