Holiday 2019, Sept. 9, Kircheim, Burg Herzberg, Alzfeld, Lauterbach, Fulda - Day 5

Day 5 was spent exploring the area around Kircheim. We were in the area to see and experience some of Martin Luthers surroundings and paths.  We were planning on making the trip educational yet interesting and studying some church history in this area.  To come home enriched by history and culture.  Close to where we were staying was part of the Luther Trail, which follows his footsteps thru Germany to get to the different places he had church functions and meetings as well as places he hid. 

First stop was Burg Herzberg, a secluded castle where restorations are on going.  The weather was beautiful and the views from the castle walls were amazing to our prairie eyes. 

Inside the castle there was small chapel which was restored.

We continued on to Alzfeld which is famous for its timber frame housing, which is the architecture from this area. We found some parking and went for a stoll thru the old city, also a part of the Luther Trail.  This area of Germany is also called the land of the brothers Grimm.  The towns are surrounded by deep dark forests, which was inspiration for many fairy tales, included Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel (a few pictures below). 

"Let down your golden hair!!"

There are many small bakeries and butchers throughout the towns and in the countryside. We let all the kids pick a fresh pastry to try some local food and ate it on the sidewalk. That's the way memories are made. 

  

These are the remains of a monastery that ceased to function during the Reformation. Also had significance tied to Martin Luther.

Another small town we stopped at was Lauterbach, similar style. 

This town has a nice little church we could go in.  It was the first of many crucifixes we were about to see. Marla had never seen one before and suddenly we found her crying at the front of the church being comforted by Abby.  After listening in to their conversation we were touched to find out that Marla was crying because the man on the cross must have been in alot of pain. Abby was telling Marla was it was ok, Jesus was not on the cross anymore and that he had done it because he loved us.  From the mouth of babes. 

Last town for the day was Fulda.  This town was built in the baroque style.  It had a cathedral with the tomb of St. Boniface, who is also on the picture below.  St Boniface is of interest because he was martyred in Friesland, in 754 A.D. near Dokum where we had been the first weekend. We had just driven that distance and could hardly imagine that he walked there thru the deep forests and rugged terrain. He was known as the apostle of the Germans, because he organized significant foundations of the church in Germany. 

The kids begged for a few coins for the wishing well.  They were mesmerized by the idea.

Inside the cathedral. 

Holiday 2019, Sept. 7 and 8, Bakkeveen - Kircheim - Day 3 and 4

We have very few pictures of Sunday as it was spent socializing and going to church - as it should be! 😀  We went to church in the morning in Maruum so we could visit with Andy's Uncle Frank and Tante Tiekje.   That was enjoyable.  Lunch was at the Ikeleane with Wobbe and Liesbeth and the kids. After lunch Wobbe and Andy went to church in Bakkeveen.  (I didn't go with the kids as they didn't understand the language anyways so the exercise was a bit futile). There they met Uncle Willem and Tante Geesje who were also visiting that church so they came back to the campground for coffee and cake. Later in the afternoon we went for a stroll around Bakkeveen and climbed the lookout tower.  The kids were so busy goofing off and running around that we couldn't get pictures of them. 

Monday morning on the way out of town we stopped at the Slotplaats to take a picture.  My Beppe Viersen used to know this place quite well when she still lived in Holland.

And a quick look at the canal Andy used to skate on, back in the day when Holland actually had ice😉.  All so picture perfect for these western Canadians :)

Once we made it across the German border we had a stop to have some lunch and realized that our SIM card did not work outside of Holland, which was very much to our dismay. It was also frustrating for our navigating, since the van did not have a GPS system.   Good thing we had the map loaded and made sure to not touch a thing till we could get wifi again or we would have had no way of getting to the next rental cottage.  That was a bit nerve wracking.  But thankfully we made it all the way to the Seepark in Kircheim, which was in central Germany. It took us approximately 6 hours to get to, even racing on the crazy German autobahns - new experience already!  We had a lot planned for the next few weeks and it was so great to finally be there.  We picked up some groceries, made dinner while the kids explored the area and then settled in for a cozy evening and good nights rest.

Holiday 2019, Sept 6 - Bakkeveen - Anjum - Lauwersoog - Wierum - Drachten - Day 2

The best way to recover from a time change, is to pretend it never happened.  And since we were only going to be in the north of Holland for the weekend, we had to hurry and see all that was on our list.  First thing in the morning we met up with our cousins, and Andy's brother (they had come to welcome us at the Ikeleane - so much happiness to see them!!) It was so special to be able to do this with them, even though the cousins could not talk to each other very much they all tried hard and had big smiles.
The first place we went to in the morning was a quick stop in Anjum, where my Pake was born, good thing Andy knows all that information, because I don't retain it. There is a well known windmill there which we wanted to see.  Normally we don't like doing all the touristy things, but this time we felt like seeing and doing all the things that made Holland Holland. And it gave us and the kids a real feel for what their heritage is.

Next stop was Lauwersoog to see some fishing harbours and boats and find some lekkerbekjes to eat.

Eise, Marla, Rowan, Abby, Seth, Mathijs, Marlies, Tristan and Auke

Even our bird-like eater Marla was willing to give it a try and wanted to finish the piece! Win!

Wierum came next. A tiny little fishing village close to the sea made famous by Miendert Dejong and his book Dirks Dog Bello, one of our family's favourite read alouds.   The local Bijlsma family hadn't heard about the book as it is an American book so I think they thought we were crazy to be interested in this sleepy little village. But it was just as described in the book, down to "Peppermunt Straat", and the sheep on the dykes.

We went for a walk along the dijks. Its called the Waddenzee here. It was fascinating because the tide empties all the water between the land and the islands further out. The water is salt.  

Seeing Andy and Wobbe together and having so much to catch up on was heartwarming. 💓

After all the touring around we went back to Drachten to get a SIM card for our cell phone.  Lots of food and fellowship followed.