Rathen

Today we took the the train to a small town in the Sachsische Schweiz.(Saxon, Switzerland).  Don't worry, we did not leave Germany.  This is a forest area very like some places in Switzerland. The town is called Rathen, (pronounced rotten).  It is located in a national park.  It consists of a couple of streets of businesses and homes.  It is a located at the base of the Bastei.  The train ride was 40 minutes and then we had to cross the Elbe River on a ferry.  As we walked around the quaint town cobblestone streets, we stumbled on to a path that led up to the Bastei.  This is a large area with rock formations similar to those in Bryce National Park, Utah only they are gray instead of pink.  We started hiking up the trail along a river, then turned up between high narrow rock canyons.  The trail then turned into steps, approximately 800-1000 of them to the top.  The country is beautiful.  The views spectacular.  We completed the hike going down the other side of the Bastei.  It would have been a much easier hike if we had come up that way instead of the many stairs but we would have missed so much of the experience of hiking in the steep canyon of rock. 

We decided to take the cruise boat back to Dresden.  It cruised up the Elbe River through county that looks a lot like Saxony.  It took longer, about 3 hours, but was very beautiful.  The ship was full and we had to stand up the 1st hour, but then were able to get seats the rest of the way.  It was relaxing and warm. 

When we arrived back in Dresden, it was dinner time.  We went to an Australian Restaurant.  We ordered something to drink and then started looking at the menu.  It was hard for us to find something that we would eat.  The menu had crocodile steaks, kangaroo steaks, ostrich steaks...   I was not interested in trying any of those things,  I finally found a chicken dish that sounded good(it was), and ordered that.  Dan found the 1 beef dish on the menu and ordered it.  He also enjoyed his meal. 

It was a long, fun day.  We would love to go back to Rathen someday and hike some more. 

Our last day in Dreesden was spent relaxing in the morning and then meeting with Elder Angerhofer, and Elder Riesen.  Elder Angerhofer was in Berlin with us for 4 months before being transfered to Dresden.  We took them to lunch and caught up on how he was doing.  It was great to see him again.  We then boarded the ICE train and sped back to Berlin to get ready to go to Hambug the next day.

Dresden is beautiful....

Monday, We boarded a train and went to Dresden.  It is a beautiful place, full of history.  We took a taxi to our hotel, the Bulow Residenz, dropped off our stuff and went out to see the sights.  We walked across the bridge to the center of old Dresden.  It is full of churches, museums, and history.  You will notice the buildings are all black.  After the fire bombing in 1945, most of the buildings were destroyed.  They have used the bricks  from the original buildings to rebuild when ever they could.  We tried to smell the kerosene in the brick, but it no longer smells.  History says that at least 50,000 people died the first night of fire bombing.  Many suffocated because they hid in basements and all the air was sucked out by the fires.  There were also "fire tornados" all over the city.

 One of the main churches we saw was the Frauen Kirche or Women's Church.  The inside is beautiful, decorated in blues and golds.  We went to the top of the church and had a great view of Dresden.  The church was first erected in about 1722.  We also visited the Dreikonigskirche.

  We went to the art museum, one of many museums in the area.  It  is internationally renown due to its holdings of Italian masterpieces including Raphael's "Sistine Madonna", Giorgione"s "Sleeping Venus", Titian's "The tribute Money",  and Correggio's "Holy Night".  The paintings are beautiful, with such detail.  Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed to be taken inside the building.

Glenike Parade

Yesterday we went to help out with the Glenike Parade and Celebration.  The city was celebrating it's founding 600 years ago. Glenike is pretty city.  Many of the houses we saw were big.  All were neat and tidy, no two looked alike.  There were many trees around the homes.  It would be like living in Mammoth with the forest all around.   It was simply beautiful!

  Many of our missionaries and YSA's went to help.  We had a great time.  The weather was partly cloudy and cool at times, but no rain.  I was assigned to help line up floats for the parade.  I also was assigned to pass out sandwiches to the "Helping Hands"  workers.  Lots of walking, and 1 hour later, the sandwiches were all passed out.  Dan was also assigned to positioning floats, though we were assigned to different groups.  I think that was because we so not speak very much German. Together it would have been difficult to communicate what we wanted people to do.  Everyone appeared to be having fun.  The pictures are of the workers and parade.

Charlottenburg Schloss

Schloss Charlottenburg is one of finest examples of baroque architecture in Germany. It was built by Sophie Charlotte.  She was a beautiful, intelligent women who loved the arts and philosophy.  She was also the wife of Friedrich III, elector of Brandenburg, who on January 18, 1701, crowned himself, Friedrich I, "King in Prussia".  He nearly bankrupted the state with his extravagant ways.  The residence was begun as a summer palace but got out of hand.  Sophie Charlotte never saw the palace completely furnished, she died at age 37.  The large formal garden look much as they did in the 18th century.  A grove of cypress trees leads to a lake with swans and other water fowl.  Much of the 2nd story of the castle was destroyed during WWII.  It has been rebuilt, but isn't decorated quite the same.  Much of the furnishings were also destroyed, so replicas of the era are used.  However, there is quite a lot of Sophie's porcelain collection still on display.  Some of the dishes, tea sets, and pottery are exquisite.  Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed inside the Schloss.  We went on a self guided radio tour of the Schloss.  It was very interesting.  The pictures are from the gardens. 

We've been busy....

Hi friends,
We have been busy the past couple of weeks.  I will try to fill you in.  On Saturday July 14th, we went to Eisenhuttenstadt to do a service project.  we were assigned to pull weeds in a field of small plants.   The field was full of plants and weeds, but we were to pull the weeds in the immediate area of each small plant.  We worked with the other missionaries, about 20  of us, for 3 1/2 hours pulling weeds.  we then had to walk about 1 km back to the train station.  The rain held off until the last 1/2 km and then it poured!   There was thunder, lightning, and hail.  We got soaked.  Twenty minutes later, the sun was shinning and it was beautiful again.  that is how it is in Northern Germany. 

Our next service project involved a family in our ward.  the Mathias family was moving to another apartment.  They had to paint the new apartment, and the old apartment.  went spent 4 days helping them paint and clean the new apartment.  On Saturday, July 21st we helped them move.  It was hard work but a lot of fun.  We had about 25 people show up to help.  You see, we needed a lot of people.  They moved from the 1st floor (2 flights of stairs down) to next door on the 4th floor (90 steps up, no elevator).  We formed a human chain, each person carrying their box of stuff to the next landing and handing it off to be carried up by someone else to the next hand off.  The Mathias family had about 350 12x12x3 inch foil packs  of wheat food storage.  We formed our human chain and began throwing each pack to the next person; down the stairs, out the door, down the sidewalk, in the door and up the 8 flights of stairs.  It was a strange sight.  People outside walking by stopped to stare.  We were having a lot of fun throwing the wheat around.  With so much help, we moved about 100 boxes of stuff and all the furniture by 1pm.  We were tired, but happy.  The next week, we again went to their old apartment to prep and clean so it could be painted.  In Germany, you have to leave the old apartment the way it was when you moved in, although the new apartment was not left that way.  It was dirty and needed to be painted.  We spent a total of 7 days helping the Mathias family move.  It was fun to get to know them better. 

We went to the Resistance Museum on Monday afternoon with the Elders and Sisters.  Tom Cruise starred in a movie based of the story of the resistance.  It was called Valkyrie.  It is interesting to note that a lot of the resistance wasn't against what was being done to the Jewish people, but the German's could see they were loosing the war and wanted to compromise with the opposition.  It occurred in late 1944-1945 before the war ended.  Many of those rounded up in the resistance were executed by firing squad or hung with piano wire in March of 1945, shortly before the war ended.

Summer in Berlin!?!

Hi everyone,
  It is Summer in Berlin!  The temperatures are a little warmer,(mid 70's), the humidity is high, (80-90%) and the sun comes out occasionally.  We had our best day a week ago when it was sunny all day.  We were stoked!  Most days start off with a little sun early, about 6:00am.  The clouds come in by mid morning most days, getting  cloudier and black.  By 5 pm  it starts to rain and then the thunder and lightning start.  A couple of days, the thunder and lightning has lasted30-45 minutes.  After the storm cell passes through, the skies clear to blue and the sun shines until 9 pm when the sun sets.  It gets dark about 10:30 pm.  We have had this weather pattern with slight variations in time, for the past 2 weeks.   Tonight, Dan and I went for a walk.  We had to wait for the thunder storm to pass.  We went out about 5:30 pm.  It was cloudy, gray, and misting.  By the time we got back to our apartment, at 6:30 pm, the sun was out, the jackets were off, and I was wishing for my sunglasses.

The pictures are of the hydrangeas in our courtyard.  They grow in abundance here.  If you go back and look at pictures from January of February, you can see quite a difference in the way the courtyard looks.

Things here have quieted down for the summer.  The BYU kids are gone, and many of our YSA's are on holiday.  We have barbecued twice for institute.  It has rained on us both times.  Hopefully the next time it won't rain.  I am not saying when that is because I don't want the rains Gods to know!