Aachen / Family History Day

The last Thursday that the Weidmans were here visiting us, we decided to split up into two groups. Darren and Paul wanted to go south to visit some towns that the Weidman ancestors had lived in before moving to America, and Rosemary, Mikayla, and I decided to head west to Aachen for the day.

It was fun to get to go to Aachen again. It was a little rainy all day and we were glad that we had remembered to bring our umbrellas, but we had a good time. We saw the beautiful cathedral there, ate a yummy lunch of sandwiches at a bakery, and did a little shopping. We discovered a wonderful little toy store near the main square that sold very cool toys. They had a little display of toy trains set up and Mikayla sat there and played with it for the entire time we were in the store. She enjoyed it so much that her Nana Rose decided that she needed one of her very own and now we have a little toy train set up in our living room. It has been fun watching her play with it and enjoy it.

Mikayla all geared up for the rain

A stained glass window of the cathedral

Part of the cathedral

The interior of the cathedral. The entire ceiling was gilded with gold and the decorations jewel-encrusted. It was by far the most ornate cathedral I have been in.

Stained glass windows in the interior of the church

Mikayla and Nana Rose at lunch

Horse statue in Aachen

And now, here is Darren to talk about the trip to visit the old family towns.

Who am I? Most of the time I don't really wonder this, though often I have visions of who I want to be. On a summer day in the Pfalz region of Germany my Dad and I confronted this question head on as we searched for evidence of our forefathers (and mothers). We had information from my cousin that my Dad's Dad's family was from the towns of Minfield, Freckenfeld, and Nussdorf in the Pfalz region of Germany. This area had been part of France at least a couple of times, but when put to a vote the people chose beer over wine, Audi's over Peugots, and Schnitzel over Snails.

The first town we came to, Minfield, was a nice little village. The houses looked a little different from most of the villages we've seen in the North, but still beautiful. After a little driving around we parked so we could walk around. In every town we've been to in Germany there is always at least one church and the spire is usually the tallest structure. This is especially nice when you are trying to find evidence of your ancestors in the cemetery by the church. After a short walk we located the church and a rather large cemetery. Most of the graves were less than 100 years old, but we did find a few old gems. I never knew that there were so many German names! After 20 minutes of searching, my Dad decided to go talk to some people that he saw out in their front yard. They were very friendly to the talkative older foreigner as he brought them over to see me and my list of family names. They were a family with mother, father, and college age boy who spoke the best English, though even that was limited. They took us back over to their yard and I showed them our family tree. After discussing our family tree a little bit, the son ran into the house and brought back out a thick white book. It was a history of Minfield book that had recently been published. We found my Great-Grandpa in it as well as his Dad and some information about their life. It was really cool to see this verification of our family history. After chatting a little bit more we said goodbye and headed off to Freckenfeld all jazzed up to find more family history.

Freckenfeld was only about 2 km away and was similar to Minfield, but was beautiful in it's own right. After spending some time here we headed for our last destination - Nussdorf. To get there we had to go through a rather large city named Landau. I wasn't expecting much from Nussdorf, but it turned out to be a really pretty village on a hill. There were vineyards everywhere and the streets were nice and windy. It didn't take much to imagine the Weidman family strolling together amongst the vines and dreaming of the day their American kin would return home. My Dad and I drove away with memories we will cherish forever.

Köln

For a day trip with the Weidmans, we decided to head in to Cologne and see the sights of the city. Darren was working, so Paul, Rosemary, Mikayla, and I loaded into the car and drove to the Düren train station where we got on a train to head into Cologne.

Mikayla on the train.

Mikayla and Nana Rose on the train

When we got into the city, we bought a map to get acquainted with the city, took a few pictures of the outside of the beautiful cathedral there by the train station, and then decided to get something to eat. We walked a little ways from the cathedral and found a wonderful little restaurant tucked away in a corner of a building. The menu looked good, so we went in. It was a really good meal and the place had a great feel to it.

After the meal, we walked back to the cathedral and went inside. It is hard to describe how impressive it was in there, and even harder to capture it on camera. Here are a few of the shots we did take, although none of them do it justice.

The main entrance to the cathedral

Statues on the facade of the cathedral

The interior

We had heard that taking an hour long cruise on the Rhine river in Cologne was a fun and relaxing way to see some of the sights of the city. Unfortunately, the day was a bit overcast and rainy so we didn't think that it would be much fun to be on a boat. Also, Mikayla really needed to get a nap, so we thought it would be better to just head back to Embken.

It turned out that we were able to go on the river cruise a few days later, though, and this time Darren was able to come since it was on the weekend. On the last full day that the Weidmans were here, Sunday, we all hopped on the train and went back to Cologne for some more sightseeing. It was a beautiful, sunny day that day and perfect for being on the water.

Paul waiting for the train in Düren

Darren and Paul on the train platform in Düren

The train

Darren, Mikayla, and I on the boat

Paul and Rosemary on the boat

Another river cruise boat that we passed

Random building that we saw on the river cruise

View of the cathedral from the river

After the river cruise, we got back on the train and went back to Düren. We had had a good day, but were ready to be back. Since it was such a warm day, we got some Italian ice cream (yummy gelato).

Mikayla enjoying her strawberry ice cream

... I might have had to help her out with hers a little bit and eat mine, too.

Relaxing in Embken

After we got back from our trip down south to Heidelberg, Darren’s parents, Mikayla, and I took it easy for a couple of days back at our apartment while Darren had to go in to work. It was nice to be able to relax for a bit, get some laundry done, and just explore the area that we live in with them. We went on some walks and some bike rides, but mostly just relaxed.

Mikayla enjoying a toy at the park. She loves "scooters" and points them out whenever we pass one on the road, which happens a lot around here. She spent a lot of time riding this "scooter" in the park.

Nana Rose and Mikayla

Paul playing on the park structure

Mikayla loving the slide

Mikayla learning to climb up the slide. She made it all the way to the top by herself!

Mikayla smelling some wildflowers on a walk

Mikayla walking with Nana Rose

Mikayla getting ready to run with Nana Rose and Papa Paul

Bicycle Riding

It hasn't quite been a video a week, but here is the next installment. This one shows some of the places we have been able to ride our bicycles here in Germany.

Weekend in Heidelberg

The day after Paul and Rosemary got here in Germany, we packed them up again and drove a few hours south. They had managed to sleep a little, although the jet lag got to them some. They had heard from the son of an old family friend who is a major in the army and stationed in Heidelberg, so we went down to see him. Major Brad Carlson did an excellent job of showing us around Heidelberg and the surrounding area. We had a great time with him as our tour guide since he has lived in the area for several years and speaks German very well. For the first time we had someone with us who could translate for us all the signs that we saw and tell us some of the story of the area.

We got into Heidelberg at a little after 3 pm, after detouring to the Frankfurt airport to pick up Paul’s luggage, and Brad took us to the army base so that we could all get passes that would enable us to get on and off the base. He let Paul and Rosemary stay in a friend’s apartment on base and put Darren, Mikayla, and I up in a hotel on base. They were nice accommodations and we were very thankful that he would do that for us. Not to mention that he dropped all his plans for the weekend in order to show us around.

After getting our things situated, we picked up a friend of Brad’s, Anastasia, and then headed to the nearby town of Bad Wimpfen to look around and to eat dinner. Since there was so many of us, we took two cars on the drive to the town. Brad took Paul and Rosemary in his car, while Anastasia rode with Mikayla, Darren, and I. It was a beautiful drive along the river, and we enjoyed looking at the castles up on the sides of the hills as we drove by. We also enjoyed talking with Anastasia and learning a little bit about her along the way. She is from the Ukraine, and had just graduated from the university in Heidelberg the week before with a degree in German.

Brad pushing Mikayla up the hills in her stroller in Bad Wimpfen with Anastasia walking with them. Ignore the date on the picture... Paul's camera was accidentally set on the wrong date.

In Bad Wimpfen, we parked the cars and walked around the beautiful old city. It was fun walking around and looking at the wonderful buildings and taking pictures. The town was set up on a hill and looked out over a river and valley below.

A house in Bad Wimpfen

Another house in Bad Wimpfen

A street in Bad Wimpfen

Blauer Turm - The Blue Tower in Bad Wimpfen

The view down over the valley and river below

The Weidmans in Bad Wimpfen

There was even a lucky pig museum, although we were too late in the day to check it out

After we walked around for a bit and looked out over the valley, we walked back to a little restaurant in the town and had dinner. We had a local Schwabisch dish, which was very yummy, although we couldn't remember the name of it.

Our food

Darren was able to capture this picture of the moon as we walked back from dinner

The next morning we had breakfast at a little bakery in the old part of Heidelberg and then headed out to go see the walled city of Rothenberg ob der Tauber, which was about an hour and a half drive away. It was an amazing city and we were very glad that we got to see it. Darren took quite a few pictures while we were there, but Paul put us all to shame. He borrowed Brad's camera for the weekend since his camera had run through the batteries that he had brought and wasn't working, and over the course of the three days that he had use of Brad's camera he took right around 1000 pictures. We still haven't seen the pictures, though, since they hadn't finished downloading by the time we had to leave and head back to Embken. Brad has promised to mail Paul the pictures, so maybe we will see them once we get back home.

The main square in Rothenberg

The other side of the main square in Rothenberg

The glockenspiel in Rothenberg. A few times a day when the clock strikes the hour, the windows on either side of the clock open and two figures come out. One chugs a beer while the other watches in amazement.

Darren and I walking on the city walls while Mikayla takes a nap

One of the gates into the city. The "Castle Gate"

A view of the city from one end looking out over the valley below

The city walls

The city walls from the inside

Wonderful local pastries... we tried out a few different kinds...

Darren and I in the stocks at the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum... Mikayla was in the Ergo backpack sleeping.

More of the Crime and Punishment Museum

Paul in front of the bear in one of the many Christmas shops in the city. The city has some wonderful, lavishly decorated Christmas shops year round. We heard that the Christmas market during Christmas time is amazing, and from what we saw during the summer time, we believe it. It would be fun to go back during Christmas some time.

That night, Saturday night, we ate dinner at a little place down by the river in Heidelberg. They have on their menu over 100 different varieties of schnitzel. I think that we all had different kinds and we each enjoyed the kind that we had.

The menu

On our walk back to our car after dinner, we had a great view of Heidelberg Castle all lit up

The next morning, Sunday, we went to church with Brad at the chapel on base. It was the first time that we had been to church since we came to Germany, since we hadn't been able to locate any services in English in our area. The area of Germany that we are living in isn't a very touristy area and many people do not speak English at all. It was very nice to be able to go to a service again after so long.

After the church service, Mikayla got to play at the wonderful playground that they had on base while we waited for some friends of Brad's to come and eat lunch with us. She had a lot of fun on the slides and in the little tunnels that ran through the play structure.

After lunch, which was at the Taco Bell on base since that is where Brad's friends wanted to eat, we went on a hike through Heidelberg. It was a pretty warm day, although a little hazy, and it was nice for a hike. Our hike took us up the famous Philosphenweg and up the hill on one side of the river, down the hill again and across the river on the old bridge, up the hill on the other side to see the castle, around the castle grounds, back down the castle hill, then back through town and back to our car. I think that our hike took us about three hours, although some of that was spent waiting either for Paul to take pictures or Mikayla to catch up when she wasn't in the backpack. It was a wonderful and beautiful hike and was a great workout, too.

A view over Heidelberg from Philosophenweg with the old bridge and castle in the background

Brad, Darren, Mikayla and I, Rosemary, and Paul on Philosophenweg looking out over Heidelberg

Darren, Mikayla, and I on a different part of the hike, looking out over Heidelberg. The castle is in the background, although it is a bit hard to see because of the haze.

Darren posing in a statue on the end of the old bridge

Paul, in the blue shirt, taking pictures. This is how we saw him much of the weekend.

A fountain with a statue, with Heidelberg Castle in the background

Looking out over the city of Heidelberg from the castle. We had to climb 304 steps to get up to the castle. Mikayla wanted to walk most of the way up. It was nice to not have her on my back for that part of the hike, but that is sure a lot of work for a little girl.

A tower in the castle, damaged by long ago cannons.

We had a wonderful weekend with Brad as our tour guide. We saw much more than we would have if Darren and I were leading the way, so we were very glad to have met up with him.