Homework and Würzburg

 You can skip straight to the pictures if you want to.  Also, for more detail and much better writing, look for Nancy's weekly email.  If you're not on her email list and want to be, let us know and we'll put you on.

This week was a little different because we worked from the apartment.  They are installing air conditioning at the office for the next two weeks, so we have chosen to work from home.  It's been really nice in a way because we were able to take walks and do other errand type things when we had slow periods.  We went to lunch near the Palmgarten which is on the West Side of Frandfurt with some friends who were also working from home (The Renchers).  Of course, we played pickleball on Tuesday and Friday evenings.  We took a couple of morning walks this week to explore our neighborhood.   We discovered and learned about "community gardens."

This week, we were able to visit, over Zoom, with each of the missionary couples, except one, who we have stewardship over.  We visited for about an hour with each one of them.  It was fun to hear their stories and some of the experiences they are having.  These couples are serving in several different countries throughout Europe.  A couple are even serving from their homes in the United States while they wait for visas to Spain.  We have one couple in the Czech/Slovak Mission; one couple in the England Birmingham Mission, one couple in the England London Mission; two couples in the England Manchester Mission; two couples in the France Paris Mission; two couples in the Germany Frankfurt Mission; one couple in the Italy Rome Mission; one couple in the Portugal Lisbon Mission; one couple in the Spain Barcelona Mission; one couple in the Spain Madrid Mission; and two couples in the Sweden Stockholm Mission.  The different countries and cultures make for unique experiences, and great learning opportunities.  We were also able to visit with Clive Jolliffe, who is over the Just Serve movement in the United Kingdom.  We brainstormed together about ways to move Just Serve forward in Europe.

We enjoyed studying about Abraham, Sarah, Isacc, Hagar, Ishmael, Lot, and others this week in Come Follow Me.  The big take away for us was that the Lord will provide.  There were also great lessons about patience, faithfullness, obedience, and trusting the Lord's promises.  Nancy and I are also studying together about the characteristics of Christ.  It's been fun and we're learning a lot.

On Saturday, our friend Eric Smart, took us to Würzburg.  He is the mission medical doctor.  First, we went to the Palace and Court Garden.  This place was bombed out in 1945, but has been restored.  It is magnificent.  I loved the grand staircase.  It reminded me of the grand staircases in all of the disney princess movies.  The palace was full of religious art and furniture.  Then, we strolled through the Court Gardens.  They were amazing.  Then we walked through the historic part of town visiting different churches on the way.  We ended up on the Old Main Bridge where the tradition is to drink a glass of wine.  There were lots of people drinking wine, but we skipped that part of the tradition.  Würzburg is in the middle of German wine country.  It reminded me a little of Sonoma in California.  We ate at a little cafe' which is always one of our favorite things to do.  We just took our time.  Then, we drove over to the castle, which is called the Marienberg Fortress.  It was built in 1200 and then extended during the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.  It was impressive.  

We drove home in time to have dinner with two other couples.  The Sextons and the Haroldsens.  There was a lot of good visiting and laughter at dinner.  

Here are some pictures:

Overlooking Würzburg and the Old Main Bridge from the Marienberg Fortress.  Notice how some burgs are spelled with a "u" and some are spelled with an "e".  The "e" bergs are "mountains" and the "u" burgs are cities.  That's the German lesson for the day.

The Würzburg Palace from the gardens.

Eric and me in front of one of the churches we visited.

These look like houses for homeless people, but in reality they are garden plots that people rent, and the little shack looking things are garden houses.  We discovered these on our morning walk one day.

Würzburg and the Old Main Bridge from the Marienberg Fortress (Castle)

Downtown Würzburg.  We love the cobblestone walks and the colorful buildings.

These recycling bins are everywhere.  These are for different kinds of glass.  Clear glass, green glass, and brown glass.





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