Auf Wiedersehen, Grafenwohr!

Sitting in this Army hotel, on the base at Grafenwohr, for one last night, has been emotional to say the least.  This past year in Germany has been one of the best of my life.  Spending my first year of marriage in Europe, alone with my husband, has been such a blessing.  Justin and I have learned how to build a marriage based on trust in each other and a love for the Lord.  Had we not been "secluded" in Germany, I'm not sure that we would have learned those valuable lessons as beautifully as we did.  God knew we needed this time here, and His grace and sovereignty has been evident throughout our journey in Germany.  

Reflecting on my time here has been a cry-fest, but I am thankful to take away so many blessings.

Besides the blessing on our marriage, the blessing of friends is one that will always be treasured dearly in my heart.  During this past month, with all of our things floating on a boat heading towards America, proved just how loving our friendships here have been.  Several friends had us over for dinners, bar-be-ques, hang out times, they have offered to drive us places, loaned us kitchenware and whatever we needed (including a car), and have honestly made us feel like we will truly be missed.  It is in these moments that I wish we didn't have to leave.  That we could stay with these beautiful people and spend this precious time loving on each other and knowing each other better.  

This blessing also extends to our landlords.  This sweet German couple showered us with love, cooked us many wonderful German meals, and sent us on our way with lovely steins and German keepsakes.  Though we didn't always understand each other due to the language barrier, there was a mutual understanding of love.  A love that will always be dear to my heart.

Rosaline, me, Justin, and Wilhelm
The Hacker Family

Auf wiedersehen, first house we lived in together

Our blessing of travel in and of itself is unbelievable.  Looking back through all the places we have been, all the sights we have seen, and all the experiences we have gained has honestly been more than some people will have in a lifetime.  We did it all in a year.  One beautiful year blessed by God.  I am thankful for pictures and memories, especially in the form of this blog, to help us treasure those moments of discovery and inspiration.

Sadly, this blog, and our time in Germany must come to an end.  I am confident that God is leading us along this journey to the next place we are supposed to be.  Words of thankfulness and gratitude cannot even begin to be expressed properly, but all of the people, places, and experiences I have captured here will never be forgotten.  Just like when you eat your favorite piece of cake, trying your very best to savor each bite, knowing with the next bite it will be closer and closer to being gone, realizing you don't want the deliciousness to end, but accepting that alas, it must, is exactly where I am right now.  Savoring each memory, each person, each place...savoring Germany for as long as possible, because before I know it...

...it will be gone.

Last Saturday in Germany = Trip to Bayreuth

One last Saturday in Germany. What a sad, sad sentence. But, instead of crying because it's over, we're trying our best to smile because it happened, which is exactly why we headed to Bayreuth for one last adventure.

We have had countless shocked expressions when we have told our friends we have never been to Bayreuth. Everyone has remarked that it is so close (36 minute drive by car), it has so much shopping, it has a brewery, etc. etc. etc. WHY haven't we been there before now? Though I don't have a good answer to that question, I guess I can say better late (okay, very late) than never. So to Bayreuth we went, with a list of sights to see and places to go.

First stop: Erimitage. Our landlords, Rosaline and Wilhelm, who by the way we are going to miss SO much, highly recommended we visit this old garden. We went fairly early Saturday morning, so there weren't too many people around, so we could really enjoy walking around and exploring the garden.

Fountains

Orangery with Sun Temple

Justin pondering the statues

Enjoying the Erimitage

Old Hermitage Castle and Fountain

Gardens and view of Bayreuth

Justin being strong?

Lovely gazebo

Garden walkway

Old ruins

Justin in front of an old church

Lower Grotto

Handstand in the Lower Grotto

Next stop: Festspielhaus. This is an old opera house that mostly performed Richard Wagner's compositions. While walking through the garden of the opera house we learned that Wagner strongly disliked Jews. We also learned that many Jews were oppressed and not allowed to perform here or were denied parts simply because of their Jewish heritage.

Festpielhaus

Garden where the memorials were located

Richard Wagner memorial

Next stop: downtown. This area was a hopping place. People were walking around, shopping, eating, and there were booths set-up for the upcoming election. The weather was perfect for a day of exploring downtown.

Spitalkirche with election booths in front of it

Maypole

Lunch at Oskar's
Bratwurst, spatzle, and German beer :)

Maximillian Castle Church

Maximillian Castle Tower

The random dino in downtown Bayreuth is trying to step on me!

Margravial Opera House

Fountain across from the Opera House

Fountain at Neues Schloss

Neues Schloss

Enjoying the beautiful city of Bayreuth

Neues Schloss gardens

Hofgarten

Kisses on the bridge

Kirchplatz

Couldn't leave the town square without some yummy German gummies!

Final stop: Maisel's Brauerei & Buttnerei Museum (brewery and copper museum). Maisel's Weisse has been one of our favorite hefeweizen (wheat beer) since we have been in Germany, so touring the original brewery was quite an experience. Though our tour was in German, we were able to read an English pamphlet to understand what was going on. Maisel's is now brewed in a different building. However, the old brewery we toured has been kept in mint condition since beer stopped being brewed there in the 1950s. This brewery is one of the most visited in Bavaria. It was also listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. What a cool place!

Outside Maisel's Brewery Museum 

Old sign inside the gift shop

Old brewing equipment outside the gift shop

Nacelle was the power center of the brewery run by 2 steam engines

Inside the brew house

Hop room

Maisel's made all their own wooden beer kegs in this room

This is the room where the hot wort used to cool,
but now it holds Maisel's beer sign collection

There are over 400 signs in this room

Small brew house from 1900

With a giant stein inside the glass room where over 5,500 beer glasses,
mugs, and steins are kept. This is room 1 of 2 that houses all the glasses.

The cellar where the large barrels are stored and cleaned.
A person would squeeze through that hole in the barrel to clean the inside.

Old bottling room

Room 2 of the glass collection also housed tons of beer coasters

We liked the Christmas Maisel's collection

Goofing around at the end of the tour 

Random old phone booth

At the end of the tour we went to the "Alte bottling" room, another room where the beer used to be bottled. Today this room is where all the visitors are greeted with a freshly tapped half liter of Masiel's Weisse! Delicious! Justin was even given an extra half liter-such hospitality!

Old cash register behind the bar

Part of the old bottling system was in the center of our table

Our final prost in Bayreuth!

 Okay, so we only made it to Bayreuth once while living in Germany. And it happened to be our last Saturday in Germany. However, we definitely made the most of our trip and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the town! Better late than never!