Back home in La Crete, Alberta

You do not need to leave home to enjoy life!  We often believe that we need to do something great and different.  The more exotic and far away the place the greater the fulfilment.

 

Are these photos, taken during a walk to a local lake on our anniversary, proof of enjoyment right at home?

 



Wild mushrooms amid a bed of Fall leaves right by the walking trail.

 

 

A view of the moon, before sunset, overlooking the Fall leaves and grass by the lake shore.

 

A view of the setting sun, behind the lake, through the trees.

 

What a beautiful, relaxing view of the walking trail!

 

We thought that we would miss the Fall colours this year but returned just in time to see some gorgeous foliage.

 



Our flight, on September 27, back to Calgary, Alberta was long but uneventful and very tiring! We had a surprise reception at the airport by my brother and his wife and one of my sisters.  Spent an enjoyable evening and morning together and parted ways after breakfast.

The next day, Sunday, we drove the 10 hours back to La Crete with a stop at Spruce Grove to visit  another sister and her husband; thanks for the coffee and all the best to you both!

Monday it was back to work and we both had a full day and retired early to get back into the right time zone (the flight back covered 8 zones; stretching to say the least!).

Until next time!

Last dinner in Europe

Yesterday started with a beautiful sunrise!  The weather has been great. We used our jackets very little and umbrellas not at all though we had a few sprinkles.

We had a canal tour by boat in Amsterdam. Very relaxing and scenic!

Today we visited Noah's Ark. A full size ark build as described in the Bible. A wonderful reminder of the refuge that we can have in Jesus Christ just like Noah and his family had in the ark. The were saved from the flood by faith. A great experience.

In the afternoon we had a long walking tour of downtown Haarlem.  Again a lot of older buildings in very good repair.  The steeple against the dark sky was amazing.

We had the privilege of celerbrating Hienrich's (our driver) birthday to night after a delicious meal.

Much too soon we must say goodbye tomorrow morning and return to our homes but the memories of this experience will remain.

Thanks for following us on our vacation. We hope we can do something like this again sometime.

Goodnight!

Netherlands

The past two days were very full. We finished our tour of Germany and entered Netherlands yesterday. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Germany.

Below are some of the contrasting buildings we saw yesterday and today.

In Münster

On the way

In Netherlands 

Looks like a house attached to the barn

We have seen hundreds of this type of truck no matter what the trailer. Single axle truck and tridem trailer. 

This is a replica of the church building of Menno Simons. 

Sailboats on the canal by our hotel last night. 

Crossing a 30 kilometre dyke!  It was raining most of today but still a great day. 

You know you are in Holland when you see?

And?

The above two photos were taken at a museum near Amsterdam.

Two more days of touring Amsterdam and area and it is time to day goodbye to an amazing part of our beautiful world. The people have been very hospitable. 

Goodnight again at the end of a great day for us!

Weekend in Detmold

We arrived in Detmold, Germany in time for dinner. The arrangements were for the tour group to be hosted by serveral families for the weekend  this was a little streching for some of us!  There was no reason to fear, however.  All of us had a very enjoyable stay.

We stayed with a couple our close to our age and it required very little time to become acquainted and by the time we left on Monday morning we had become good friends.  Our langauge and culture was very similar eventhough they had only left Russia in 1988 and most of our people left there in the early 1870's.  What was a much greater blessing to us was that our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ was so very much the same that we chatted for hours on Saturday and again on Sunday after a wonderful church service.  The people at church were so friendly, from a young lady that I talked with to the older people in the congreagation.  They appeared so real and their faith and prayers also were very encouraging to us.

Today some of us in the group had the privilage to travel with one of our drivers to his home town to meet his wife, grandfather, mother and three of his siblings.  What an experience!  They had prepared a very tasty lunch for us.  The chicken wings were the best that we have every tasted.  The singing of a few hymns and the conversations was a great blessing as well.

Punpkins, anyone?  A roadside display.

Did we buy this house in Detmold? Not yet!

A Sunday afternoon stroll around downtown with our new friends.

All of the places we have visited have so many old buildings!

Still downtown....

Hard to get the ducks in a row! Not to mention the swans.

A small river as we enter the town of Höxter where our driver lives.

Also in Höxter - worth a google.  We did not have time to stop so our driver just treated us with a driveby

CORVEY – UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

I apologies for the quality of the photos, many of them are taken as we drive.

Tomorrow is our last day in Germany and we will spend our final few days in the Netherlands.

Last day in Switzerland.

Our first stop today was in Zurich. Lots of walking throughout the day. Our photos do not do justice to the wonder sights that are all around us all day long!

The Limmat River was where Felix Manz was drowned for his faith in the early 1500's.

By the same river the leaves are just starting to change colour.

We visited a reformed church.  Each square on the doors tell a story.

Our stop at the Rheinfall was exhilerating.

One of our stops was at the Schleitheim museum. A lot of old relics are displayed including the old school desks.

There are many areas of forest everywhere. The logging that is done appears to be very selective and carefull.

A stop at the caves that the early Anabaptists used for the their secret church meetings because of persecution involved a walk that climbed 700'.  Well worth the climb!

A view of the cave.

We have seen many small fields of corn; amazing!

Tonight we entered Germany and will continue here for the next number of days!

Switzerland continued.

Switzerland has been amazing!

On Tuseday we visited Bern for a few hours; far too short of course.  The senery while travelling has been gorgeous.

We left our hotel in Eggiwil where we stayed two nights.  The photos yesterday were from our visit to Jungfraujoch, the highest point in Europe. What an experience!

The cheese factory across the street from our hotel had a good fire going.  They were taking deliveries of milk by the can and tank.

On our way today we visited the Trachselwald castle. This was used as a prinson for many prisoners including many Anabaptists of whom many were totured and killed in various ways.

Henry trying to get the feeling of standing in a confined space.  I am sure my expression is nowhere near to the prisoners that actually went through these tortures.

On to the longest continuous Mennonite church in Langnau.

One mode of transport.

A cemetary is always a stark reminder of the brevity of our life on this earth.

Any bikers needing an excilerating challenge?  You could get that on so many of the smaller routes through the countryside!

We arrived in Einsiedeln and visited a Benedictine monastery a short walk from our hotel.

I am not sure if this is a Swiss chalet but it looks like one to me.

Hotel Allegro is our home for the night. What a contrast to the walk behind hay mover that is used by many of the small farmers.

 One of the many small farmyards; right next to our hotel.

And again one of the stunning landscapes.

Tommorow (not today) we travel to Zurich and then to Singen, Germany.

A good day to you all from both of us.