Strange Picture

As we walked up the hill the the castle in Cochem (that you can read about below), we stopped to take this picture of a quaint, little house on the opposite hill. The minute Alice took the picture, she screamed. You can see it looks a little scary. It was very cold, so we have decided that the flash caught her breath. Thought you would enjoy the picture. Let me know what you think.

Cochem

Cochem (pop. 5,000) is a small town situated in a curve of the valley of the Moselle (Mosel in German). It is capital of the district Cochem-Zell, and the smallest district capital in Germany. The most compelling attraction is the romantic castle (Reichsburg Cochem), perched on a steep elevation dominating the town. Built in 1051, it was destroyed with most of the town by the troops of Louis XIV of France in 1689. The castle wasn't reconstructed until the 19th century.

After Cochem, we stopped at a neat little restaurant that is run by a Turkish family. You know we had to get pictures!

Cologne

Cologne (Köln in German; pop. 986,000, metropolitan area of around 2 million inhabitants) is Germany's fourth-largest city. It is one of the oldest cities in Germany, having been founded by the Romans in the year 38 BCE.

The sight we spent time in and you will see in the pictures is the Cathedral known in German as the Kölner Dom. This marvel of Gothic architecture took over 600 years to complete. The construction began in 1248 on the site of older buildings, including a Roman-era church, and a Carolingian cathedral. Most of the edifice was built by 1473, apart from the towers. Some work proceeded intermittently until 1560, then all work stopped until the 19th century due to lack of funds. Driven by a romantic enthusiasm for the Middle Ages, the Prussian Court decided to complete the cathedral in 1842. At enormous expenses (over US$ 1 billion in today's money), the completion of Germany's largest cathedral was eventually celebrated under the patronage of Kaiser Wilhelm I.

The Treasury of the Cathedral (Domschatzkamer) is exceptional. The masterpiece is the 12th-century Shrine of the Three Kings, said to contain the bones of the Magi. Parts of the shrine were designed by the famous medieval goldsmith, Nicholas of Verdun. It is acclaimed as one of the best example of Mosan art, and is said to be the largest reliquary in the western world. Near the sacristy is the 10th-century Gero-Kreuz is the oldest large crucifix north of the Alps.

The cathedral suffered fourteen hits by aerial bombs during World War II but did not collapse, and everything was repaired by the end of 1956. It has been listed as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO since 1996. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne, founded in 88 C.E.

Sunday morning greetings from Pastor Jason

Dear Friends,

I wanted you all to know how much I have appreciated this opportunity to see so many wonderful sights in Europe. However, I have missed you all so much and look forward to sharing my adventures with you in person. Amy, Lily and Anna are having a great time too.

I pray that you will experience the presence of the Holy Spirit in worship today. I wish I was with you. However, I know the preaching will be good and the music even better. Please greet everyone for me and share my love and heart felt affection for our wonderful church. I am so proud to be your pastor and look forward to many, many years of ministry together. May God continue to bless you richly!

Love to all,


Jason

Bernkastel

On te 29th, we ventured out to Bernkastel. Bernkastel-Kues (pop. 8,000) is a delightful little twin town in the Moselle Valley, halfway between Trier and Cochem.
The first settlements date back to the time of the Linear Pottery culture, some 5000 years ago. The present town developed in the Middles Ages. Bernkastel was granted town status by King Rudolph of Habsburg in 1291. Bernkastel literally means "bear castle". The colourful medieval Market Square is one of the most beautiful in the Moselle Valley. It is surrounded by many well preserved half-timbered houses, as well as the Renaissance Town Hall built in 1608. Ruin of the 13th-century Castle of Landshut overlook Bernkastel in the vineyards on the slopes of the valley. The castle was originally built 1277, but was accidentally ravaged by a fire in 1692.

Adventures in Dining

On the 29th, we had a relaxing day after all the adventure in Paris. We all slept in late. When we got up we had a leisurely breakfast of fresh German breads, salami and cheeses. We also had fresh eggs and liverwurst that Alice bought off the truck that came around that morning. Alice insisted that the girls try liverwurst and when Alice insist that you do something, you better do it if you value your life. Well, Lily spread hers on German bread thinking that would kill the taste. Poor thing, I thought she was going to be sick. Well, you all know Anna. She had a left over deviled egg on her plate. She took the liverwurst, hid it inside her deviled egg. We all wondered why she wasn't eating the egg. I think that would fit the old saying, "Where there is a will - there is a way!"

We went that afternoon to some discount shops. The girls bought a cute pair of boots at their version of "Payless." Afterward, we went out to dinner at a German restaurant. The girls ordered steak which they bring to you raw along with a hot stone. You grill it yourself. They had a blast doing that!

Our "Chevy Chase" Moments

Well, we enjoyed our four historic stops in Paris. However, we had several "Chevy Chase European Vacation" moments as well.

There was the moment when our luggage straps broke. Mike stopped in the middle the busy Paris streets and he and Jason try to rig the straps. Of course, we had to get pictures.

Lily had more fun chasing the pigeons than seeing the sights. Although, Anna was mad because she thought Lily was torturing the pigeons.

I think we spent more time "sightseeing" the Paris map than the historical sights.

Lily and Anna gawking at the teeny tiny "Smart" cars!

Of course, we had to be typical tourist and get pictures with the restaurant owners.

You can check these and more moments out below. There are a few just candid shots taken in the city. It was a wonderful trip. We are back in Germany now, ready for the next adventure.

Paris - Notre Dame

Notre-Dame is the Paris Catholic cathedral and has been since the Middle Ages. Maurice de Sully, the Paris bishop at the time, started its construction in 1163. Its building went on for two centuries! Most of the craftsmen (architects, sculptors) are anonymous.

What do you see when you look up to the top of the great cathedral of Notre Dame? You see monsters, half-man and half-beast. These demon looking creatures carved out of stone are called "gargoyles". They are one of the many eerie stone figures that adorn the gutters of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. "Gargoyle" comes from a Latin word, meaning "gullet" or "drain". That's what the strange looking creatures are, they're drainpipes. Each grotesque figure has a passageway inside that carries rainwater from the roof and out through the gargoyle's mouth.

Why would the drain pipes need to look like demons? Some believe the claim that theses grotesque figures frighten away evil spirits while with serving its practical duty.

We had told the girls we were going to the Notre Dame, which was the church in the Hunchback cartoon they watched when they were little. For two days we tried to think of the hunchback's name but couldn't remember it. Then, just as we rounded the corner and saw the cathedral, Mike said, "Quasimodo!"

Paris - The Louvre

Our first stop on Thursday morning was the Louvre. We enjoyed touring the museum. However, Jason and I felt a lot like we did when we visited the Smithsonian. We would love to go back one day (without the girls) and spend a week. The girls just are not at the point yet of appreciating such museums.

Again, for those of you who like history, here are a few facts I pulled off the internet. If you're not into history, just scroll on down to the bottom and enjoy the slideshow.

The Louvre in Paris, France, is the most visited and one of the oldest, largest, and most famous art galleries and museums in the world.

It has a long history of artistic and historic conservation, inaugurated in the Capetian dynasty and continuing to this day. The building was previously a royal palace and holds some of the world's most famous works of art, such as Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, Madonna of the Rocks, Jacques Louis David's Oath of the Horatii, Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People and Alexandros of Antioch's Venus de Milo.

With 8.3 million visitors in 2006, the Louvre is the most visited art museum in the world.

After the French Revolution, the royal Louvre collection became the "Muséum central des Arts" and opened as such in 1793. From 1794 onwards, France's victorious revolutionary armies brought back increasing numbers of artworks from across Europe, aiming to establish it as a major European museum. Particularly significant additions to the collection were the masterpieces from Italy which arrived in Paris in July 1798 with much pomp and ceremony.

The sheer number of these statues forced the museum's curators into reorganising the displays. The building was redecorated and inaugurated in 1800, and renamed the "Musée Napoléon" in 1803. It continued to grow through purchases and became a universal museum of art. Most of the art Napoleon directed his commissioners to take was sculpture rather than old-master paintings. For a short period, this allowed north Europeans to see the finest of classical sculpture without organising an expensive Grand Tour to Italy itself.

The collections shrank, however, when almost all wartime acquisitions had to be returned after Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo in 1815.

Originally, the Louvre was the first royal "Castle of the Louvre" and was founded in what was then the western edge of Paris by Philip Augustus in 1190. It was a fortified royal palace built to defend Paris on its west against attacks. The first building in the existing Louvre was begun in 1535, after demolition of the old Castle.

Paris - The Eiffel Tower

The second site we enjoyed was the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel tower was designed by Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923), a French engineer specialized in metallic buildings.

It took a 13 months to build the Eiffel Tower (April 1888 - May 1889) and was built by 132 workers and 50 engineers. It took a team of 25 painters to paint it. It was the tallest building in the world at that time and was completed just in time for the Paris world exhibition. It demonstrated that iron could be as strong as stone while being infinitely lighter.

Unbelievably, the Eiffel Tower was nearly demolished in 1909 but was saved by its use as a telecommunication tower!

The Eiffel tower is now one of the most famous buildings in the world and welcomes 5.5 million visitors each year. Thankfully, there was an elevator that went up the tower, so we didn't have to hike stairs again!

Paris - The Arc de Triomphe

On the morning of December 26, we got up very early and headed out for Paris. It was sleeting and the roads were icy so the trip took about six hours to drive. However, we arrived safely around 3:00 p.m. After we checked into the hotel, we ventured out into the city. It was overwhelming! Our first sight to see was the Arc de Triomphe.

The construction of the Arc was ordered in 1806 by Napoléon, the French emperor, to honor the Grande Armée, the then invicible Napoléon's army. After his Austerlitz victory in 1805, Napoléon had said to his soldiers : "You will return home through archs of triumph".

However, the construction was stopped after Napoleon was overthrown in 1814 but was finally completed after his death in 1821. The Arc de Triomphe cost 9.3 millions French francs, a gigantic amount of money for that time.

We decided to go up to the top. They say it is 234steps, but I know this is a misprint. It has to be 2,340 steps! I thought I was about to have a heart attack once about two thirds of the way up. I kept thinking, "And I payed money to do this?" But, once we got to the top, it was worth every step. The view of the city was amazing! Thankfully, going down the Arc was not as exhausting as going up!

We are off to Paris!

We trust that you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas day. We stayed here with our friends and didn't step out the door. They invited several of their friends over. We had a lot of fun, however, we did miss our families VERY much. It is the first time in our entire lives that we have not been with our families at Christmas. But, it was good to spend Christmas day with 3 families who have dedicated their lives to serving our country. They have all spent many Christmases away from families! Tyree and Natalie were here, along with their son, Alex and his fiance, Jackie. And then there was Tuey (pronounced Twee). Her husband, Greg, is deployed to Iraq. She was a hoot! You will be able to see that in the pictures. The girls enjoyed her so much.

Well, in Germany, Anna is 13 today. Actually, since it is 7:15 a.m. here now, it is just after midnight there. So, I guess she is 13 in Pensacola as well. We are heading out to Paris now to celebrate her birthday. We will spend the night there. If we have computer access, I will update tonight. Otherwise, it will be a couple of days.

We love you all!

Our visit with the Bohlens!

On Christmas Eve night, we went over to visit the neighbors, Anna Margarite and Clemens Bohlens. It was a hoot. They speak no English, so it is really interesting trying to communicate with them. Alice has learned a few words, so she could help translate a little.

One thing that you had no problem understanding is that Ms. Anna Margarite wanted us to eat - a lot. We had already had dinner, but that did not matter. Alice had taught us to say, "Nien, danka" which is no thank you in German. It did not matter. You could say that ten times to her and she would still try to get you to eat. Poor Jason - he ate potatoes, bratwurst and several homemade cookies. She was still trying to get him to eat more.

After we ate, we all went into the living room. They had a typical German Christmas tree. It was very simple, but very pretty. We sang Christmas Carols to each other. Then we sang Silent Night together. That was so much fun. They were singing in German and we were singing in English.

We are celebrating Christmas today. As I write this, it is about noon. Back home, it is about 5:00 a.m. I bet many of you are being awakened right now by excited children who cannot wait another minute to go and see if Santa came. There is nothing like the wonder of Christmas.

We did our gifts before we left, so it has really been nice to spend Christmas day only focusing on the true meaning of Christmas - celebrating the birth of our Saviour with good friends.

Love to all!

Our trip to Trier!

After two exhausting but wonderful days of skiing, we took it easy today. We all slept in and then got up and went to Trier - the oldest city in Germany. It was Rome's second capital and one of the most magnificent gates to the city. The village was built in 17 BC. We walked around and Jason was telling the girls, "Just think, most of these buildings were here before the time of Christ." The Roman Catholic cathedral of the city is called "Der Trierer Dom". This church is the one in the photo. Where the "dome" stands now, was once the sight of Empress Helena's 4th century palace. She was the mother of Constantine, who by the way, was the first Roman to lead his people toward Christianity. The the enormous foot in the slideshow was seen many places around the city. It was know as "Constantine's foot", a constant reminder of Roman rule.

The LONG trip to the Veros home!

We left the ski resort this afternoon. It was only supposed to take about four hours to get home, but it ended up taking almost eight. The crazy GPS kept "recalculating our route!" We would have 192 miles left on the trip, then she would recalculate and say that we had 242 miles left. We are all convinced that Ross Shirer hacked into the satellite computer system and was messing with us all day! When she finally stopped recalculating, we all figured that Ms. Leigh finally walked in and caught the "evil genius" at his scheme.

We just kiddin' with you Ross. You know we love you!

2nd Day Skiing

Well, Anna and I had a great and comfortable day. My feet thanked me for not putting them into those horrid boots. We sledded a little and then walked into the village and window shopped. (The shops are all closed on Sunday!) But, today was Lily's day for adventure. She, along with Jason, Mike and Alice skied all morning. When they decided to quit, Mike had the great idea of skiing down the mountain instead of taking the ski car down. Jason had the most common sense and said, "No way!" He took the ski car down. Lily wants to tell you about her trek down the mountain, so I will let her take it from here!

Lily writes:

hey yall! so, we were starting down the trail, and it was beautiful! it was this little narrow trail through the woods. all of the sudden, we get to this slope that had little rocks all over it! i tripped over them about twice, then decided to take my skis off and walk down the rest of the little hill. well, i got to the bottom and put my skis back on. we skied around the corner and there was a huge hill (or shall i say cliff)down the mountain!!! let me tell you, it was VERTICAL. i looked at mrs. alice and said "there is no way i'm gonna make it down that in one piece!!!" that slope was a double black diamond! i said from the beginning i was just gonna slide down on my butt! mr. mike said we should just try to ski down really, really slowly. needless to say, that didnt work. so me and mrs. alice are sliding on our butts down the first slope and all of the sudden, we see mr. mike sliding down with us. well, somehow we lost track of him and decided just to go on and try to get to the bottom. i found a soft spot of snow and started sliding down that. mrs. alice was a few yards away from me and i looked over and she was on ice! but a few seconds later, i didnt really care, because this HOT german guy came up to me! he said something in german. i think he figured out that i had no clue what he was saying. and he said in english with his cute german accent "are you okay?" i said, "i'm fine!" and he skied away. gradually, 3 or 4 more cute german guys came up to me and asked me the same thing. then, one of them sat down beside me and asked me what was wrong. i told him of how we ended up here, and he just laughed. he slid down beside me for a while and we carried on a conversation of how i ended up on this dang mountain. then i told him i was fine, and he left down the mountain on his snowboard. a few minutes later, another german guy came, and he was determined to help me. this is where the story gets interesting. of course he had a german accent, and he told me to "clip on one of my skis to my boot so i wouldnt fall." well, i thought he said "clip your sheet to your boot so you wont fall." i sat there for a minute trying to figure out what he meant by "sheet." then i thought maybe he meant my scarf. so i sat there in the snow on the middle of a huge hill, and pulled my foot to my neck and started tying the scarf around my boot. i thought "now why in the world would it help me to have my neck attached to my boot? if anything,that would make things 10 times worse!" but if you're sitting there on the side of a mountain and a hot german guy tells you to do something...you do it. he was really nice because he didn't laugh at me, but he kinda looked at me funny. then, i knew i had done something wrong. i untied the scarf from my boot, and pointed him in mrs. alices direction. so he went over and told her to "clip the SKI to her boot." i felt so dumb. when he finally saw that i had everything straight (my scarf on my neck, and my ski clipped on my boot) he skied down the mountain. it took about 2 hours to get the rest of the way down without killing ourselves!!! and on top of that, we had to carry our skis. i am so sore! but we finally made it down, and in one piece!

Well, that is Lily's story and she is stickin' to it! We will definately post pictures tomorrow. It is about midnight here, so we are going to try to get some sleep.

Love to all!

We are out of the airport and on to "better" things!

Well, thankfully our friends finally arrived! Delta told them that our flight came in three hours later and they thought they were getting there an hour early. We left the airport and headed over to Edelweiss, a US government resort over in southern Germany, boardering Switzerland and Austria. We were so amazed at all the sights. It was like being in one continuous postcard. We got up about 8:00 this morning (which keep in mind is actually 1:00 a.m. Florida time.) We all drug ourselves over to the ski resort. It was absolutely breathtaking! And then the fun began. Now, none of us have ever skied. I knew that Jason would be fine, because of his natural athelitic ability. I knew the girls would be fine, because children always catch on fast. But, me....that is another story. You see, when God handed out coordination, I must have been overlooked!!! Our friends insisted that they could teach even me. Well, I put the skis on took two steps and fell. This nice little five year old German girl tried to help me. In her sweet German accent, she came up to me and said, "Maam, all you have to do is make a pizza." I think she wanted me to make a slice of pizza with me skis. I tried. I fell again. Jason and Alice got on either side of me and helped me to the ski lift. Mike insisted that there were no bunny slopes and that we would be fine going down the "blue" slope. IT WAS BAD!!! I fell getting off the ski lift causing them to shut it down. I would try to step my way along - only to fall again and again and again. I finally decided to walk down the slope after sliding on my behind didn't work. So, my friend Alice skied along with me while I walked in those torturous boots. At one point, she told me just to sit on the front of her skis and she would ski us down. That worked great, until we realized she couldn't steer or turn with me sitting on the front of her skis. (I guess it is just not the same as sitting someone on the handlebars of your bicycle.) Well, we finally figured out that I could sit on my skis and slide down that way. Again, that worked great except for the fact that I could not steer. I just went wherever the skies carried me. Finally, after about an hour, we made it to the bottom. I was utterly exhausted. Everyone was being so kind. No one in our group laughed at me. They all felt too sorry for me.

At this point, our friend Mike realizes that there is a bunny slope. Oh, now we find that out!!! So, here we go. Let me just tell you, when I fell just trying to grab the rope that pulls you up, I should have known just to quit. But, no!!! I am going to do this. Well, no one told me what to do when you get to the top of the big scary bunny slope!! When I got up there, I could not get out of the way fast enough. Again, I fell! Only this time, I caused a major pile up! Anna was right behind me, followed by Jason and several children. I was trying as hard as I could to get out of the way, but that rope just kept moving faster and faster. Needless to say, Anna, Jason and about three children "piled up" before I finally got out of the way. At that point, I had had it.

I told the group, "Go have fun! You have just wasted three hours with me and you have all been so sweet about it." I sent them on their way, and I went back and happily turned in my ski equipment. I rented a sled for tomorrow and that is what I am going to do! Just have fun sledding down the little hills. (Although, you still need to keep me in your prayers. If there is a way to fall sledding, I will probably find it!!!)

While I was turning in my ski equipment, Alice and Mike skied with Jason and the girls. Just as I imagined, within 30 minutes Jason and Lily were skiing down the slopes like pros! Anna did good too, but I think she was a little distracted by her concern for her mother. She said that tomorrow she just wants to sled with me!

I met them back at the slopes and it was time to go. We all piled in the ski lift to go back down. They were all bragging about how well Jason and the girls did. I looked at them and said, "Well, I can do Calculus." The lift fell silent and no one said another word.

That is all for now. Stay tuned for tomorrows adventure! We will have pictures of these great events in a couple of days.

We love you all. We will miss being in church with you tomorrow. - The Adams

P.S. Gordon - about that church wide family ski trip. You can keep on planning it. Just mark me down as Connor's babysitter. He and I will have great fun on the sleds!

Stuck in Frankfurt Airport

Well, our flight made it in just on time....but our friends are not here!!! We sure do hope they show up and didn't have the wrong day. This time change thing is a little crazy. Well, on the bright side, everyone is very friendly in the airport. A very nice man just showed me how to convert this keyboard to English. On the down side, if they don't show up soon, we will probably spend over a hundred dollars just on lunch and dinner at McDonalds!!! Oh well, you just gotta laugh and enjoy the ride. Miss you all. We sure enough need your prayers now!!!

Amy and Baylee

Amy and Baylee (the Agerton's granddaughter) have fun doing makeovers!

Jason and Charles

First Stop - Montgomery, Alabama

Our first stop was in Montgomery, Alabama.  When we planned our trip to Germany, we were in Slapout and did not know at that time that we would be moving.  Hence, our tickets were purchased to fly out of Montgomery.  So we came up the night before the trip and used the opportunity to see some good friends, Charles and Mary Charles Agerton and their granddaughter, Beth Ann.  It was so good to see them.  Please keep us in your prayers as we fly out tomorrow around 1:50 p.m.  We will go to Atlanta and then on to Frankfurt.  We should arrive in Frankfurt around 11:00 a.m. on Friday (that is Germany time) which will be about 5:00 a.m. our time.  Then we will head out for a couple of days in Switzerland.  As soon as we get back to our friends home in Bittburg, we will post more pictures.  We love you all and miss you already! We will miss you in worship on Sunday and will have you in our prayers.