A brief overview of our trip with Lindsey, May 7 to 11 (Part One)

We picked up Lindsey, our youngest daughter, in Berlin Wednesday afternoon, May 7th, and saw the Berlin aquarium that evening.  She took about a thousand pictures but I won't include any here because we saw so many other things driving from Berlin south through Germany to the Swiss temple and then returning to fly home from Frankfurt.

After visiting with the Kunz family we drove to the area where we lived in Berlin in 1966.  It is in Zehlendorf at Berlinerstrasse 14a.  We were there for the first year or so of our marriage before we moved to military housing on the main Berlin Brigade area. 



We also accidentally found Andrews Barracks where Dave had lived before we were married.  He was excited to know it was still in existence.  It is now serving as an archive for historic artifacts in Berlin and is being renovated as a museum.  It has a long history of barracks for the Kaisers cavalry cadets, the SS troops and then the American military during the cold war.

Not too far from the apartment in the Zehlendorf city offices where we were married on August 30, 1966.  This event took place during Dave's lunch hour.




After returning to our hotel Dave chose to rest while Lindsey and I rode the bus to the famous museum island.  In the 1800's many Germans were active in archeology and brought lots of incredible stuff back to Berlin such as the ancient Babylonian Ishtar Gate.  I could spend a week alone in these museums.  We wore our feet out and then took a pedicab four blocks to the Brandenburg gate and took more pictures before taking the bus back to our hotel.

On Friday we left Berlin early and arrived in Dresden and were able to see only one of their fabulous museums, the Green Vault or something like that.  It houses all the very expensive knick knacks the ruling kings collected.  It is room after room of gold and silver and pearls and other precious jewels made into beautiful non functional things.  I always think about the poor people who were starving while the aristocracy collected this stuff.  We did see part of a parade of costumed men marching singing and paying music.  You can see Dave trying to get in front to take a picture. 

They were also having a Spring Festival in a town square and we enjoyed the booths there before we went to see  the Frauenkircke

 



Later in the day we stopped at a castle near Mittweida called Kriebstein.  They were preparing for the weekend Middle Ages Fair but we passed the workers and saw the castle exhibits of armor (not nearly as much as in Dresden which we didn't see) and other  things, including a picture of an event in 1415. The castle fell to an invading army.  The leader of the army said the women could leave but the men would be killed.  The lady of the castle was allowed to take whatever she could carry on her back.  She chose to carry her wounded husband.  If you have seen Ever After this story is part of the plot.

For our evening meal we took Lindsey to a restaurant which has been in business since 1738 and introduced her to the local fare of kloesse, rot kohl, and sauerbraten.  Like me, she wasn't especially fond of the potato balls.

We stayed in Schwarzenburg that evening and walked around the town the next morning.  Lindsey loved the Glockenspiel and even saw the costumed player. We stopped at little town called Moedlereuth near Hof.  This town is often called Little Berlin because, like Berlin it was divided

right down the middle by the Communist East Germany wall.  It now houses quite a good museum about the 40 year history of the German wall.  As we were leaving we were passed by about 100 or more motorcycles..all styes and ages.  Another accidental parade.

 Then we got to Hof and walked up through Thereseinstein Park to the Middle Ages Fair we knew they were having.  Lindsey said it was very like Rendezvous but different costuming.

 We enjoyed the jousting (kids knocking puppets off a prop while riding stick horses)  the music, the costuming, people in hanging cages, and  Lindsey throwing the hawk.  She stuck two out of five so we bought her a new hawk as a souvenir.


We had dinner that evening with the Merkel family and enjoyed Racklett.  They had also invited the new missionary couple so we visited with the Kunz family again.