Monday, April 16, 2007

The Adventures of Heather and Sarah in Germany

This is Heather.

Heather in Speyer, Germany

She has a good friend named Sarah. This is Sarah.

Sarah in Speyer, Germany

Sarah and Heather have known each other a long time. They use to live a few blocks from each other, but now Sarah lives in Utah and Heather lives in Germany. But on April 2nd, Sarah came to visit Heather! It was Sarah's first time to come to Germany. In fact, it was Sarah's first time to leave the US!

Sarah was suppose to arrive on April 1st, but she got bumped from her plane and couldn't arrive until the next day. So they wasted no time seeing Germany!

On the way home from the airport they stopped at the city of Speyer to see a thousand year old Romanesque cathedral and quaint streets. And Sarah ate her first dönner! "I can't believe I'm in Germany!" said Sarah.

Sarah eating a doenner in Speyer

Then they stopped in the city of Karlsruhe and walked around the gardens of the palace. "Wow!" said Sarah, "This is just somethin'!"

Karlsruhe Palace

Heather and Sarah finished the day by walking around Bühl and then going home for a dinner of Abendbrot. But Sarah was very tired and went to bed early to get rested for the next day of adventure!

On the next day of adventure, Sarah and Heather got in the car and drove 2 1/2 hours through the beautiful Rhine landscape to the Mosel River to see Burg Eltz. Sarah was impressed: "This is just somethin'!"

Sarah at Burg Eltz Burg Eltz Courtyard

Then they saw Burg Thurant. Sarah and Heather enjoyed wandering through the castle on their own and imaginine what it may be like to be thrown down in the dungeon and left for dead.

Burg Thurant Burg Thurant

They were hungry and tired when they got home so they walked down the street with Heather's husband, Karl, to the Biergarten in their little village of Oberweier for Schnitzel. Sarah liked the hearty German meal and the cozy German Biergarten!

Sarah in the Biergarten

But jet lag and having her three children so far away were a little overwhelming for Sarah. So the next day Heather and Sarah stayed at home resting, watching movies and listening to the chickens outside the balcony.

The following day they were ready for more adventures! So they explored the nearby resort city of Baden-Baden. It was a beautiful city but didn't quite fit Sarah. So, that evening, Heather took Sarah to the Black Forest.

Sarah in Baden-Baden Baden-Baden, Germany

They explored the ruined castle of Windeck so that Sarah could see up close what she had been admiring from her bedroom window all week. Then they drove through the forest itself, admiring the beautiful views. The Forest fit Sarah much better...she felt quite at home!

Sarah at Burg Windeck Bühl Valley from Windeck

Before Sarah came to Europe, she found out that a lot of her anscestors came from Germany! They moved from beautiful, forested, hilly parts of the Black Forest, the Neckar region, Alsace, and Basel to beautiful, forested, hilly parts of Pennsylvania, Prince Edward Island, and Indiana. Sarah was anxious to see where her family had begun. So Heather and Sarah drove up to the Neckar river to visit some of the towns her family originated from.

They explored the small but quaint towns of Neckargemund, Bummeltal and Wiesenbach and then the large, beautiful city of Heidelberg.

Sarah in Neckargemünd, Germany

Heidelberg was covered with tourists, but Heather and Sarah was able to see past all the souviner booths to the beautiful, ancient city underneath. Sarah was so proud that her family came from such a beautiful place, "This is just somethin'!"

The Castle Above Heidelberg Heiliggeistkirche, Heidelberg

When the souviner booths got too distracting, they hid out in a beautiful museum about that region of Germany. There were wonderful works of art, Roman ruins and mideval skeletons. The museum was so lovely, they wished they could have stayed all day. But Heather and Sarah needed to get home and pack...beacause they were headed for Paris, France the very next day!

Kurpfaelzisches Museum, Heidelberg

(See all their photos from Germany here.)