Driving to Frankfurt took a couple of hours (I think 5 or 6 because of traffic. It was a long drive). We were coming from the Neuschwanstein Castle so that's why it took so long. We arrived at night and the city looked absolutely gorgeous. I wish I'd gotten my own picture of it. But here's a picture I got off of Bing:
We made it to our hotel and had a late dinner in the restaurant there. Then we went to sleep! The next day was the Frankfurt Botanical Gardens and the Frankfurt Temple! The day was rainy so it seemed kind of strange to go to a garden but the pictures I got....oh man I was loving it. I hope you enjoy them too!
Aren't the flowers there gorgeous!
Next came the temple. What a fun experience! We made it there and the people spoke limited English. We had a little bit of a time figuring out the clothing rental but that turned out ok. Then we went into the dressing rooms. I met a girl in there who was Canadian but living in Bremen. She spoke English and German fluently so I stuck to her. She was super friendly which I was thankful for. We walk into the room for our session and I found my husband. But he was sitting in the chair reserved for the couple that helps out during the sessions. They're called the Witness Couple. The couple is required to speak at times during the session so I was kinda freaking out haha! I told James, Um, they know we can't speak German right?? He was laughing about it to but the temple worker had said it would be fine if we were the couple. For most of the session we wore headphones that translated the German to English but when it came to the speaking part, which ended up being repetitions really, I had a hard time. I'm just thankful that Heavenly Father knows we were trying and I'm sure everything is good. What a neat experience though to be so involved like that. It was really cool. When we finished our session we walked along the grounds and took pictures. The Canadian woman I met had her husband outside watching their sons. He was to take the next session while she watched the boys. We chatted with them a little bit. He and James were both engineers so they had some common things to talk about. It was fun. All in all a wonderful trip to the temple.
I was so excited to talk about the temple I forgot to mention that we walked around town a little bit before. James wanted so bad to have me try a Doner (doo-ner) Kabob. Its a type of sandwich that is really popular there. I think it had shredded pork, purple cabage, tomato and a special dressing on it. You could put onions and other nasty things like that on it but I politely declined. *wink* So I was hesitant to try but man oh man was a glad I did! I could've eaten two had I really wanted to. They were super yummy! But they were pretty big too so I just had one :)
On our way back to the hotel we passed some pretty neat towns off the highway. We passed by a couple before we decided Hey, we'd like to see those. So we finally pulled off the highway and drove around a small town. I can't think of the name...The streets were pretty hard to navigate (and not just there, all over Germany it's not the easiest thing to do if you're a foreigner). We did get a little turned around and lost and couldn't find our way to the tower that we were wanting to go look at. Anyway, we finally found a place to park and we started walking toward the tower. It ended up being part of an old castle, Schloss Homburg. They gave tours there but it had closed right before we got there. It was a bummer. If we hadn't gotten lost or turned around we might've been able to see it. Oh well, the grounds were still open so we walked around. It was weird with no one else there though.
Well, that was our last stop in Germany! We went back to the hotel and ate dinner and then the next day we were at the airport flying home. I did not want to leave. I told James that I would be fine if his work transferred him out there for a little time. It was so pretty! And the people are friendly and there is so many neat and beautiful places to visit. If we ever go back I want to do the Romantic Road. Its a trail that stretches almost the length of the country but you get to see famous castles all the way down ending with Neuschwanstein. Sounds like a blast :) I feel so lucky that I was able to go on this trip. If it weren't for a kind soul that James works with, I probably wouldn't have! So here's a shout out to Sam! Thanks so very much! I enjoyed every minute of my time there and it was relaxing throughout the whole thing. I would do it over in a heart beat. Well, auf wiedersehen! Until next post :)
