Don't Pinch your Finger

This tanker barge probably only has 15 feet (from front to back) space in the lock and about 6-8 inches on each side. It is a tight fit. It takes the tanker about 5 minutes to inch its way into the lock.

An Old House

This was a typical old House in Hirschhorn on the Neckar. We were coming back down from he Castle.

Starting to Fill the Lock

The little boat in front of us had plastic pipes to form an arch and a plastic sheet spread over the top to protect them from the rain and sun. They have to wait until another ship comes before the are able to go into the locks and continue their journey.

A Bridge on the Neckar River

ON of the shots on the Neckar River. You can see another Cruise Ship. On the Rhine they have ships about 300-400 feet long with cabins for overnights or cruises taking a week to cruise the Rhine River.

Locks being Filled

Here we are on the Neckar River and the locks are being filled so we can go upstream. This was a river cruise on our 42 Anniversary.

Having Fun with Jacob

The girls are really making Jacob work for his life during the Maze Game. They were giggling and laughin and Jacob was laughing like crazy. They were going to have him crawl under a table. It was a fun night.

The Good and the Evil

Here is Carol, blindfolded listening to the Holy Ghost and all the evil voices telling her how to go through the maze to get to her goal. This was a family home evening activity.

Funny Statues In Bad Homborg

These are statues of animals all carrying their loads. These are in the gardens surrounding the Palace in Bad Homborg near Frankfurt. We were coming back from the temple and stopped to tour this castle. They won't let you take pictures of the inside.

Schwetzingen Palace Gardens

These are trees which have been shapped to form these beautiful arches. This was the hunting palace for the Kings and Queens.

Cable

Here is a shot of the cable in the Mountain Train tunnels. You can see how steep it is. Anywhere from 21% - 48% grade.

Königstuhl Elevation Chart

Here you can see how high we are above Sea Level. We took one car up to Molkenkür and then transferred to the Funicular Train for the rest of the trip. By clicking on the picture you can also see the elevevation above Sea Level, around 1700 ft.

Funicular Railroad

This is the cable rail car takng us up to König Stuhl above Heidelberg. The car coming towards us is comng down. We are at he split for passing. The cable pulling us up (and letting the other car come down) is about the thickness of my forearm where it meets the wrist. Very slow and methodical. König Stuhl is about 1700 feet above See Level.

Waiting for Tao

This is Bishop Tillet of the American ward entertaining some of the members while we wait for the Sister Missionaries to arrive for the baptism. The girl in the front row with the white skirt is a member from Albania. Her husband has the red tie. The Hoopers are in the back. Sister Tillet is in the back next to their daughter in the red blouse. The sister in front is one of the Relief Society Presidency there to welcome Tao. She gave a very wonderful presentation to Tao welcoming her into the Relief Society. This is in the Relief Society Room.

In front of the Baptismal Font

This is Elder Sessions from Pleasantview Utah, Elder Squires from Meridian, Idaho (parents moved from Buena Vista, Virginnia after he left), Tao, Elder Hewitt from England, Carol and Me in front of the baptismal font.

Kicking Back

This is Elder Squires (left) and Elder Hewitt waiting in the Center for Tao to arrive for her baptism. Elder Hewitt is currenty serving in Dusseldorf and was given permission to come back for the baptism. The office is on the left, the library and video library is behind them and the computer lab is to the right. Carol's afghan she crocheted is on the back of the couch between them.

Tao's Baptism

This is Elder Squires from Idaho via Virginnia (going home 12/August) Elder Hewitt from England and Tao Wang waiting for her baptism to start. Tao is here working on her doctorate in Biochemistry. She is from a town 100 miles outside of Bejing. She is a special spirit. She will be one of the many who go back to China and will part of the conversion story of many people through her actions. They are standing just inside the entrance to the Center for Young Adults. This is Elder Squires second baptism. He confirmed Tao the next day. She will attend the American Military ward.

I know it is in there somewhere

This is a picture of the bike rack at the Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station) in Heidelberg. There are probably 1000-2000 bikes. Yes I said 1000-2000 bikes. This is the same picture every day of the year. Trying to find your bike in the middle is absolutely impossible. There is no way to get to it because the bikes are jammed so close together. One of our YSA put his bike there last year when he went to Stuttgart to visit his parents and when he got back he had no idea where his bike was. It is probably still there. There is another area further to the right and it has about 300 bikes, but is far better organized and one can get to the bike. They also have lockers you can put your bike it. Because Heidelberg City is basically a flat area you see thousands of people riding their bikes. Yesterday a 73 year old woman rode her bike from Waldorf (8 miles to the south) to say goodbye to one of the missionaries who is going home today. It is not uncommon seeing women and men in their 70's or 80's tooling down the street on a bike. You also get to see women in skirts and dresses and high heels riding along on their bikes, as well as men in suits and an occasional tuxedo.

I think I see it

Can you find your bike in this sea of bikes?

Another Angle

More and more bikes.

University of Heidelberg Library

This is the library at the University, which is the oldest University in Germany. It is considered the Harvard of Germany. All of their doctoral degrees are in English as is most of their master's degrees. One of our youth had perfect grades, which would be equivalent to a 4.0 and he was sweating whether he would be admitted to study medicine. He was successful. Even thugh the University or Uni is old this library was built in the beginning of he 20th century. It is a very International Student population. Our missionaries have taught students from this university from the Ukraine, Spain, China, the USA, Estonia. Pakistan, Sierre Leone. Georgia, Taiwan and Turkey.

St Michail's Burg

This is in Mettlach and is an old fortress from the early 1th century. It was up a 2 mile 30% incline. Got a work out with the legs.

St. Linius Church

This is in Mettlach, Germany in the Saarland, next to France. We were here visiting the outlet store for Villaroyal & Boch fine china. The factory is not too far away and was a former Abbey. The China is very wonderful. Would have loved to bring home a set, but could not figure out a way to get a complete set of 12 home.

Panoramic Views of Trier

This is the first of 6 panoramic views of Trier, going from left to right (North to South) looking out across Trier. The pictures were taken from atop the Markusberg. The Mosel River winds through the countryside. It is a very beautiful river. Trier was founded in 2050 BC, 1,300 years before Rome. It is the oldest city in Germany, which can be documented. The architecture is amazing. We simply did not have enough time to see all of it. It will require another visit. One of the churches, The St. Peter's Dom or Trier Dom contains what is claimed to be the robe Christ wore during his terrible ordeal before Crucifixion. Helen, the mother of Constantine brought it to Trier in the 4th Century. She also brought one of the nails claimed to be used to crucify Christ. They are not on display very often. The last time being in 1996. There is also a Church called St. Mathias which is supposed to have some of the skeletal remains of Matthias, the apostle who was called to replace Judas Iscariot. Trier was one of the residences of Constantin for a short period of time.

More of Trier

Continue beautiful view of the Valley in which Trier lies. We are about 40 miles from France and Belgium. (behind us)

3rd of 6 Panoramic Views of Trier

If you double click you can see some of the beautiful downtown sites in Trier.

Continuing Panorama

More of Trier.

Panoramic Views of Trier

Continuation from left to right.

Trier Panoramic View

Looking south towards France.

Trier Downtown Plaza

Such beautiful and interesting architecture.

Ornate Windows

This is some of the typical windows you see in downtown Trier. The original picture shows it as being correct, but when I download it into this blog it keeps turning it sideways.

The Steipe House

This is a remarkable building on the Town Square. It is named after the portals at the bottom, which are called Steipe in local dialect. You see two Knights of Roland on the second floor on each side of the building. On the lower levels you will be able to see the 4 city saints, Peter, Paul, Helen the mother of Constantine and (can't remember the other person). It is truly beautiful as you will see when you double click on it to enlarge it. The orginal figures were removed during WWII and hidden away to keep them from being destroyed. The original are now in the Simeon Museum next to the Porta Nigra. These are replicas.

St Peter's Fountain

This is in the Town Square. Peter is the Patron Saint of Trier. He is atop the fountain and on the lower level are statutes of 4 women depicting the four virtues. Knowledge, Equality, (Can't remember the other two) These are copies of the originals The originals are on display in the Simeon Museum to preserve them deterioration due to weather. Carol and Elder and Sister Miller are in front. The Millers are from Logan and serve in the Darmstadt Center.

Porta Nigra Interior

You can still see the intricate friezes on the interior walls. most of which are still intact. Amazing stone work for that time.

Porta Nigra

This is the remains of the Northern Gate entrance to Trier. It was built in the last part of the 2nd Century. It was originally white sandstone, but over the years has become blackened and is now called the Porta Nigra, or Black Gate. It is 36 meters wide (about 110 feet) and the west tower is 30 meters (about 93 feet) tall. Sometime after 1035 the top two floors were converted to a church. In the first part of the 1800's the church modernizations were removed. The wall which extended around the city was 6.5 Kilometers long or about 4 miles. There was so much to see and we didn't have enough time to see it all, so we were not able to get a picture what he original wall looked like.