Please stand by...

The blog will be going on hiatis for a week or so. Delynn and I have both been quite ill this week with high fevers and the accompanying unpleasentness of being sick. For the last several days, just getting up to get water/juice or make a cup of tea is about all we have been good for. We are spending all of our energy to get better so that we can be strong to finish out our last week of school before the Christmas break. We are still planning to take our trip to München on Thursday and when I return, we will update everyone. Thank you in advance for your prayers for our health so that we may truly enjoy the celebration of God incarnate.

If we don't have a chance to say it before, may you have a blessed, authentic Christmas.

Thanksgiving trip to Bodensee

As promised, here are our pictures from our weekend to the Bodensee (a.k.a. Lake Constance in the States). We arrived in Meersburg on the Friday after Thanksgiving because Thanksgiving day itself was a work day. The Bodensee is a huge lake (570 sq-km) situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the base of the Alps. It is a really beautiful area (not many places we have been to aren't...) that caters primarily to the warm-weather tourists. Probably 70% of the local resturants in Meersburg were closed for the season. The tourist traffic made the streets easy to walk and the majority of the people on the street actually lived there.





Due to the late fall conditions (fr-fr-fr-freeeeezzzzing cold and low hanging clouds on the lake) we never did get to see any of the Alps. I don't think we even got a clear view of Switzerland which is just the other side of the lake. Undaunted, our first task in any new town is to get a map and take a walk around. Here we are at the end of the town's pier (you can tell by the empty benches just how many other folks were out and about). We got lucky that one other young couple were out for a stroll so we could get our picture taken together.

Meersburg has TWO castles. One (pictured above), which most of us would rightly call a castle was first built in the 7th century. The second castle (seen below), which is more of a grand residence, was an 18th century Schloß for the Bishop of Konstanz. I actually took the picture of the new castle through a window in the old castle... Actually, it was a newer part of the old castle, but never mind.

The old castle had a mill just outside the front gates, it must have been fed by a stream that ran through the moat-y area, because the mill would have been flooded if an actual moat were filled with water. Anyway, the mill was all decked out with Christmas wreaths and such, so I thought Delynn would look nice in front of it.

Here is the old castle looking out over the Bodensee. The land you can see off in the distance is the pennisula of land that belongs to Germany where the city of Konstanz is found. More about Konstanz in a little bit, but it is a much larger city compared to Meersburg and interestingly enough, both places started up their Christmas markets (Weihnachtsmärkte) the weekend we visited (They must have known we were coming...)

This is the center of the old town in Meersburg. They are just setting up the Weihnachtsmarkt for the weekend. Our hotel was perfectly situated, being the big red building right on the market square. We had a great view of the market...

and we were serenaded day and night by local bands and singers. They are however, very German, meaning very polite and correct, so the music and market closed down before 22.00 (10pm) so we could sleep.

Here is an evening shot out of our hotel window looking down on the Weihnachtsmarkt in Meersburg.

Saturday was much clearer (still darn cold) so we trekked out across the lake to the city of Konstanz. I don't know much about the history of this old town gate and building but they look so, I don't know, so German! Beautiful, don't you think?

The Weihnachtsmarkt in Konstanz down one long major street in the old town -the market ran down the street onto a peer and even onto a ship moored on the dock. Delynn and I enjoyed nibbling our way down the street (there is such great food at these markets - I can't even begin to describe the smells and tastes but let's just say: Yum!)

We grabbed the ferry back to Meersburg in the afternoon so that we could get a good view of Meersburg from the lake.

It starts getting dark by 17.00 at this time of year, so the shadows of Meersburg were just perfect for a nice picture of the town.

What a beautiful sunset overlooking the Bodensee. I'm sure this place is just crushing with visitors in the summer, but it seemed like God was giving just the two of us something to dazzle our eyes and give us a time to pause and give thanks.

The next day, Sunday, we took the train back home. The trip to Meersburg by train and bus is just a little over two hours. When we arrived, the weather was again crisp and clear so we decided to walk to the Alt Stadt of Weil where our Weihnachtsmarkt was taking place. Weil, like Meersburg, holds their market just over a single weekend and it is attended by mostly local folks, which is just alright with us.
So, for you that are counting, this was our third Christmas Market in three days! We love this time of year here in Europe because it seems very authentic to us - these gatherings have been taking place for a long time to celebrate the birth of the son of God. The commercialism, which at times seems overwhelming back in the States is pushed back somewhat (plus it helps if you don't understand the language...) and the focus seems to be more on spending quality time with our family and good friends. We hope that you will be able to do the same.