by

Roßwein, Leipzig, and Augsburg

We have uploaded all our pictures for the past few dazs!  Go on over and take a peek!  The photos from Brugge, Amsterdam, The Hague, Dresden, Meißen, Roßwein, and Leipzig are all now available.  We are especiallz glad to have them online and saved at another location.

Todaz we said good-bze to our hostel in Dresden and made our waz to Augsburg.  Since were so close to the Andra-Schneider familz area, we made a special trip to Roßwein where several generations of mz familz are from.  Unfortunatelz the church was locked the whole time we were there, nobodz at town hall spoke English, and the cemeteries in Germanz do not keep the burial location for those whose familz do not paz for it.  Other than having been there, I have nothing more.

We found our waz to Leipzig where we took a quick 1 hour whirlwind tour.  We went to the church where Bach was organ master and also the church where his remains are presentlz located (the original church was destrozed in WWII).

We are now in Augsburg, Deutschland.  We will be here for the next three dazs.  Here we will make visits to Neuschwanstein, Munich, Dachau, Stuttgart, and other little towns with relatives on the Wanner and Nuffer families.  I am definitelz looking forward to all.  We will be traveling quite a bit on trains, but nothing we are not accustomed to zet!

by

Meißen

It is time for todaz’s update. But first, two funnz stories!First, Amanda complained to me this morning she could not get the shower to turn down the heat. Come to find out, she was trzing to adjust the regulator knob outside the shower on the radiators! I stepped into the bathroom to show her the fancz little faucet knob that moved both wazs to adjust the heat. Not to mention she had alreadz used it to turn on the water! She said it was because the shower in Amsterdam had a separate heat knob from the on and off knob. She saw me playing with the knob so she thought it was it.

Second, we stopped in town to buz ourselves some sauerkraut and a wiener. Amanda went to the counter and asked two. The ladz seemed verz surprised. I was waiting, so I did not see this. Next thing I know, Amanda comes walking out of the store with these loaves of bread, more like oversized croissants. Each must have weighed at least 3 pounds! It was bread with the sauerkraut and wieners baked into the loaf. This was to be our breakfast and turned out to be our breakfast, lunch, and dinner. What is more? We still have half of one left!!!! But hez, for onlz 3€ ($5) it was a prettz good buz. Amanda’s first trz at sauerkraut is going to be a verz memorable moment!

On to the daz. We decided to sleep in to the ripe time of 7:30 this morning. The sun comes up and goes down so late zou can’t reallz sleep when it is dazlight. Great for touring and traveling, bad for sleeping in. We got readz for the daz, tried to take care of some issues over e-mail with our potential home and other things and headed out.

We went to Meißen. It is the birthplace of Karl Maeser, and also happens to be the birthplace of mz great grandfather, William Andra. I had to paz a visit. We walked the streets, and ascended the hill to the DOM and Albrechtsburg Kasse (castle). Fascinating. We also walked around and paid a visit to the Porcelain Factorz. The first porcelain in Europe. Some of mz Andra ancestors are supposed to be some of those locked into the basement of the Albrechtsburg Castle to not let the secret of porcelain out to the world. I cannot link mzself with a hard paperwork, but since mz line are Andrä’s in Meißen and since some of them were Andrä’s in Meißen, whz not? (It is reallz cool I can spell the Andrä name with the umlaut!)

We then went to the church I thought was the one thez would have attended, but I reallz doubted it was it when I arrived. I have a picture, and in mz mind thez did not match up.

The porcelain factorz was amaying! Zou will have to see pictures to believe it. There were table pieces larger than Amanda in height! There were vases from the 1700’s larger than me! Onlz something to be seen to believe.

Amanda’s poor feet could not take well the long dazs of traveling and rebelled against her todaz. She will have calluses the thickness of regular shoes when we are done traipsing around the continent.

There was a highlight, we bought an e’clair at the train station. Tomorrow we are headed to Augsburg, near Munich. We will also hit Dachau.

by

Berlin and Dresden

Just a quick update. Todaz (I am tzping on a German kezboard and donät have limited time, sorrz for some strange spellings) we caught a train from Amsterdam to Berlin to Dresden. We saw some beautiful territorz. We are convinced that Dresden is bz far the best citz we have been to zet. We saw the reknowned Frauerkirch that was rebuilt, not to mention much more. 

We went to an organ concert in the building. It was reallz good, but the building was bz far the best part. We also walked through some palace, and much of the rebuilt buildings downtown.

In Berlin we saw the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate. We had limited time on our lazover, so we made it quick.

We want to upload photos but we did not have time in Amsterdam (big line) and here in Dresden the computers wonät let us have access to our jump drive or camera. Sorrz.

Well, time for us to run. It is literallz ticking awaz! We are in Dresden until Fridaz when we head to Stuttgart-Bavaria!

by

Leaving Leiden

Our time in The Netherlands is coming to a close.  Today was our last day in Amsterdam.  Tomorrow we begin the trek across Germany to Dresden.  We have to be on the train about 7 AM and will find ourselves winding to Berlin.  From Berlin, after some quick touring, we will make the final leg to Dresden.  It should be an interesting day.

Today was fascinating.  We made our way to Den Haag, The Hague.  What a pretty little city.  We walked around the Dutch Parliament Buildings, got some pictures with the UN Justice Building, and went to see the Prison Gate Prison.  There we got to see the old ways of torture.  This was more Amanda’s bag than anything else.  I was along for the ride.  I really didn’t mind.

We are on our way out.  Have a great day!  Look forward to Dresden.

by

Unexpectedly in Amsterdam

As I sit in an internet cafe in the middle of Amsterdam, my entry will have to be short and sweet.

This morning we found ourselves wandering around Brugge, Belgium.  We snapped a few photos, and caught a train back to Antwerp.  Then we jumped trains and headed to Nederlands.

We found ourselves a hostel this morning and checked in this evening about 6 PM.  We walked all the way from the station to our little hostel up near a quaint little eating district.  I cannot remember the street we are on nor how to spell it so you will just have to take our word for it.  Our ventures here took us through the Red Light District!  Who would have thought?  It wasn’t that bad, I don’t think we were in the heart of it.  Just a few naughty souvenirs in the store fronts, oh, and a few leather stores.

After checking in we went for a walk around the city.  We found the Anne Frank house, which happens to be under construction, or the facade is.  We got a picture of the sign and that was about it.  There was a Holland Footie game tonight against an unknown opponent.  Don’t know if they won or not but there is a party going on in the streets.

We stopped on a quiet little street to enjoy an Indian meal.  Who would have thought I would be sitting at a sidewalk cafe with my wife in Amsterdam eating khorma with the bellows of the crowds from the bars at every little quirk of the game.  Then again, my life has always been enchanted.  What next?

by

Dutch Sabbath

Nothing too much to report this day.  We went to Antwerp for Stake Conference.  It was a live broadcast from Salt Lake City.  Yep, we came all the way to attend church in Belgium broadcast to us in English!  We did get to hear a blessing in Dutch, but that was about it.  For those non-English speakers, it was translated for them in the main chapel.

We enjoyed the rest of the day with the Cazier’s.  We enjoyed some sandwiches for lunch, some shrimp/pasta/zucchini dish for dinner.  Both were very good.  They have been good to us.  Letting us use their laundry, spare room, and dining room.  They drove us to Vianden, Luxembourg, and Antwerp.  I do not know how we will ever repay them.  We certainly appreciate their hospitality and friendship.

We are planning on heading out for Paris tomorrow.  Although that plan may very well change as we hear of a strike with the French railways.  We may reverse our trip and head to The Hague tomorrow instead.

by

Victor in Vianden

We have just returned from a trip to Luxembourg.  I really am exhausted and don’t want to take the time to tell a whole lot.  So you are only going to get an abbreviated version.

Yesterday we went to visit the Catholic church in Harelbeke, Belgium.  We then went to Kortrijk, Belgium and of course Amanda had to go to the chocolate shop for Belgium chocolate.  We did some window shopping, being tempted by some of the goods in the stores.  The suits were out of my range, as is about everything with the exchange rate with the Euro/Dollar.  We did snap a couple of pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Afterward, we made our way back to Oostrozebeke and prepared for the trip to Vianden.  We drove through the beautiful Ardennes on the way and into Germany.  There was a storm the entire way so everything was highly misted and especially green.  We drove past Brussels, Liege, and stayed at the Grand Hotel de Vianden.  It was very pretty.  Amanda and I went for a late night walk through the city for some photographs.  The bars were full but we enjoyed the sights.  Victor Hugo lived in Vianden for a spell.  We saw the house he lived in and the bridge with his name and bust.

Today we arose and went for a tour of the Vianden Castle/Chateau.  It was beautiful.  Originally there was a fort on the site in the time of Julius Caesar.  The current castle was built during the 13-14th centuries.  It fell into ruin but was restored in the 1970’s – 1980’s.  Vianden was the last town to be liberated in Luxembourg in 1945.

Afterward, we drove through the beautiful mountains to Luxembourg and went on a tour of many of the cities sights.  We saw the Notre Dame there.  It was gorgeous with a huge, high wall.  Who would ever have thought?  We ate lunch at Pizza Hut of all places.  Talk about going for the local cuisine.  I did have toasted bread with goat cheese on them (At Pizza Hut!)  Did you know Luxembourg had a 1,000 year celebration?  963 to 1963.  How is that for old?  The downtown market area reminded me much of London or Manchester, but the architecture is different.

We finished our trip to Luxembourg and came back to Oostrozebeke, Belgium.  We will visit Antwerp and Brugge in the next couple of days before we make our way to Paris.

Anyhow, I have uploaded more pictures in the European Trip Album from the last two days for your viewing pleasure.

by

Europe Trip – June 4-5

We have arrived in Belgium!  What a relief.  I cannot tell you.

We flew out from Boise airport.  We were fortunate to catch a non-stop flight, from LA!!  Boy, if there is anything near torture, try flying through the night in a very cramped space.  After 9.5 hours on the plane, we landed at London Heathrow.  We found our way through the Underground to Kings Cross Station.  Amanda went and found Platform 9 & 3/4 of Harry Potter fame and took a few pictures.  We waited, checked in for Eurorail at St. Pancras Station, and enjoyed a Cornish Pasty.  A first for Amanda, a beloved memory for me.

We climbed aboard the Eurorail which treated us to a trip through the Chunnel.  France proved to have beautiful scenery.  We got off at Lille, France and switched trains.  We rode to Kortrijk, Belgium.  James met us at the station and now we are in our digs at Oostrozebeke, Belgium.

Funny thing, we knew we needed to get to Kortrijk but we forgot to bring James & Catherine’s phone number and address.  Meaning, when we arrived, we were totally at their mercy.  We couldn’t catch a taxi to their home, and we could not call them.  It is sure a good thing James showed up with his little Toyota.

We find ourselves babysitting while J & C are off to branch council.  We put the kids to bed in 15 minutes, take a shower, and crash ourselves!  We are exhausted

Be sure to check our joint Blog.  Amanda will include some pictures there with some commentary.  I will also upload to a new European Album all our photos we deem of sufficient quality to share with the world.