Week 04 June to 10 June
When in the States and Canada, most of the motels we stayed at had a microwave and a fridge, so we could do some cooking. In the UK, this was not the case, with most having just a kettle so we could cook/heat very little in our rooms. This chalet we were staying in had a kitchen, and Karen took advantage of the oven and cooked a roast chicken meal, and also made shortbread. The shortbread, although very nice lacked something, and she found that the butter was unsalted – apparently normal butter in Germany is like this.
Our chalet was central to many of the sights to be seen in Southern Germany. We took the opportunity to visit the Linderhof Palace (Castle), the shortest distance taking us through Austria. The chalet was within 15 km by road from the Austrian border, and moving from one country to the other was no different from driving on any other road.
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| Austrian countryside |
Along the way we did get to see some of the Austrian scenery, lakes and mountains, essentially the same as Southern Germany. Even the houses looked similar, and one could be easily excused in thinking that they were in the same country.
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| Plansee, Austria |
The Linderhof Castle was built by a Bavarian king, Ludwig II, patterned on Versailles, and the French influence was very evident. It was only ever used as a holiday home, and we could not get over the amount of money and man hours that must have gone into building such a place for the benefit of one person for such a short period of time. The place oozed with extravagance.
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| Outside the Entrance to Linderhof Castle (Palace) |
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| The Water Fountain, that went about every 15 minutes |
The last two nights of our time in Germany were spent at Hurlach Castle, a YWAM base. We had a precious time of fellowship there, experienced the warmth of their lovely hospitality.
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| Hurlach Castle |
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| Outside the Castle |
A big treat from the Lord , which we were not expecting was a meeting at Gebetshaus, a place that we had earlier visited in Augsburg. There would probably have been 250-300 people, mostly younger people, packed upstairs, to hear Wes Hall from Kansas City IHOP University. Even though the desire was there to go to IHOP when we were in the States, it was as though the Lord was bringing IHOP to us! Even though Wes was able to speak fluent German, for the most part of what he shared, He spoke in English with an interpreter for the German, which was a real treat in that we were able to understand him.
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| The Meeting at Gebetshaus |
On Friday morning, we left Hurlach for Munich Airport at 6.45 in the morning. We were pleasantly surprised with the lack of traffic, and had a very smooth run. Our concerns about how to return the rental car were unfounded. It was very straight forward and very quick.
After several hours wait at Munich airport, we flew to Amsterdam. Upon arriving in Amsterdam we boarded the train to a city called Enschede. This is where we stayed with Jetty (pronouced Yetty), another one whom we had earlier met in Toronto. She picked us up from the train station, and took us to her place which is part of a Christian community.
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| With Jetty |
We spent a couple of days with Jetty, enjoying her wonderful hospitality and a great time with her. On Sunday evening we had time in the community complex’s chapel with a couple of other people who live in the complex.
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| The poppy is real! |
