One last country-or two, or three

I think I am going to have to do this last part in stages...I am a little overwhelmed about writing about everything, and remembering all the great stuff and finding the pictures to go with it...so this is Day 1 of our driving in Germany.  (We actually spent day 1 in Germany just relaxing at Miranda & Ian's apartment.  We slept in really late, the boys visited Eli's Kindergarten, we walked along the river, Ian made us a great dinner, and we went to the Eis Cafe--yum!)

So really the 1st day of our driving  is this...

We went to East Germany.  My kids didn't grasp how amazing it is that we could actually go to East Germany.  Since Jon and I were both old enough to remember the events when the wall came down, this was especially interesting to us.  East Germany still has a different look to it, a little more run down, less progression, less developed, maybe a little more weary.  You can see a difference.

Our first stop was Buchenwald Concentration Camp.  It was so cold up there--so sad to imagine the people and the conditions that they lived in--we were cold in the springtime sun, so I can't fathom what it would have been like in the middle of winter.  This photo shows the main gate--it says, "to each his own", figuratively it means "you get what you deserve"  This is especially meaningful because this camp housed Nazi political prisoners after it was liberated. We were careful what the kids got to see, but we did want to expose them to something so full of history.  We were especially careful with Josh, so he didn't see the crematorium, or the hanging room, but Jake was interested.  As I talked about it with him, I did know when to stop, when he told me, "Mom, this is disturbing."  This week was Holocaust Remembrance Week, and we've talked about it with the kids again.  Jon and I both believe that we learn about history, so we can prevent bad things from happening again.  And I think they learned, and when they study the events more as they get older in school, I know it will make an impression again, since they were there.

This is Weimar, voted the cultural center of Europe.  A lot of famous writers, Goethe, & Schilling, and composers, Bach & Liszt, lived in this city.  Hard to believe you can walk in the same roads that people who lived so long ago walked too.  This little town was so, so, neat.  There were horse drawn carriages, and the sound of the horse's hooves on the cobblestones just made me smile.  We tried Bratwurst, and had the most delicious ice cream cones, and the vanilla crepes--Oh Yum!  Notice the bikes--everybody walks or rides bikes--makes me want to park my car more often.

Every town we went in, the people were planting their spring flowers.  The pansies and primroses were so pretty with such bright colors.  Loved it!!  (I actually bought pansies this week to plant in a pot--just to help me remember)

Jon offered a Euro to anyone who could spot some missionaries--these were the only ones we saw during our whole trip--and this Elder just happened to be from Idaho Falls! Crazy!.  We went and showed up on his parents doorstep this week--it was so fun.  By the way--I saw them first, and Jon didn't give me the promised Euro.

This is outside Ian's favorite fossil shop. When he was here with his class, he learned a lot of Goethe, who is known for his writing (think German Shakespeare), but he was also a geologist among other things.  My boys loved this place, and I will admit it was pretty cool.  My boys both came home with a fossil and some crystals. The shop owner was a cute little lady, and she was so cute with Josh, and so excited to show him what his fossil was--and they figured it out even though Josh doesn't speak German, and she didn't speak English.  

After Weimar, we drove to Bad Kissingen and went to Kissalis--a "sauna, fitness, and wellness pavilion" (I got that off the website).  Basically it is similar to a spa.  The Germans are big into circulation, and their health care is such that you could get a prescription to stay at the spa for a week instead of getting an antibiotic.  It was intriguing to see the different pools,--the warm water, then the cold water, and the different jets for use on different body parts.  There was the salt water pool, and mud baths, and what my kids called the "lazy river".  It was a good time for all, and when our time was up, we wished we could stay longer. 

But...we had to drive to Rothenburg where we were to stay the night--and that is Day #2...