They close down the office for Christmas so we went to Southern Bavaria where I had served as a young missionary in the early 1960's. Here we are in Ramsau on the bridge enjoying the Alps.

Here is Marilynn standing by a marker of the favorite place of Prince Luipold of Bavaria.

This is the sunset on Hintersee in Bavaria. 

 This is St. Bartholomä on Konigsee in winter.

 Here is Marilynn sitting on a stump in the forest.

Here is Marilynn again at a marker of Prince Luitpold. 

 This is the Enchanted Forest next to Hintersee

 This is the commemorative chapel of the Church in Oberndorf where Silent Night was first performed (the original church burned down and was never rebuilt).

 This is the Austrian town of Hallstatt. This city is wedged between the lake and the Alps.

This is the Main Street--and basically the only street--in Hallstatt. 

 This shows how the homes in Hallstatt are built into the mountain side.

In the very back of Hallstatt in the Cemetery by the Church is this unusual display of human bones. 

 Looking over Hallstatt.

 We bought some things to eat at this bakery in Saint Wolfgang. It was yummy!

 This is one of the altars in the "Sound of Music Wedding Church" in Mondsee,Austria

 And here we have Jim and Rona Jurgens with Marilynn and David Madsen having breakfast at Pension Meisl on the the Austrian border. Note the Semel on the table. They are Austrian Rolls and I love them.

Last night we went out to dinner at a Spanish restaurant in Oberursel named El Gallo Borracho. Jim and Rona Jurgens are visiting--you may have noticed by now. Here we are waiting for our food.

And here we are eating our food. This was really a good experience. Anahil Sanchez, the Spanish returned missionary from Washington DC, recommended this place as an authentic one for a taste of real spanish food. 

Yesterday we celebrated Carolin Spinden's birthday (which is right after Christmas). She was very surprised but happy.

After Carolin's birthday celebration the office turned its attention to Christmas. Jeanclaude Von Tonder put on the traditional Santa Claus outfit. 

 The MSR department lined up and took a group photo.

 That night Jim and Rona Jurgens went with Marilynn and I to visit the home of Peter and Silke Meiser in Lich, Germany. Jim and Rona gave them a hand-painted native American artwork.

 Then we all enjoyed a splendid crepe meal. It was delicious and the conversation was delightful.

 Today the weather was cold, foggy and wet. Fearlessly, we decided to travel to Rudesheim to visit the Christmas Market there. Once again the narrow streets offer a wonderful outdoor shopping adventure.

 We paused on the cold afternoon to have some Pomes (French fries). On a cold day, they really hit the spot!

Today we went to downtown Frankfurt in the late afternoon. They have a large Christmas market there that we wanted to visit. Here you see some of the restored (after WWII) buildings on Roman Platz with the Christmas market below.

Below you see Jim Jurgens, Marilynn, Sister and Elder Eyre, and Rona Jurgens in front of the many outdoor shops that sell almost anything to do with Christmas, plus a bunch of other stuff.

 Here is Marilynn and Rona Jurgens looking at some of the stuff they have to sell.

 Downtown Frankfurt has a new shopping center that is quite modern and attractive. This is quite the escalator that hangs in the main area and is about 5 stories high.

We went to a multi-culture Christmas Party tonight at the home of Gilles Francois. It involved people of all walks of life that have somehow found their way to Frankfurt. Below is just some of the good things people brought to eat.

 The singing was done in several languages. English, French, German, Russian, Latin and Italian. Every one had to try their best in all of the languages.

 Here we are trying our best.

 As we left their home we just had to take a picture of the street with the Christmas lights.

It has been a while since we last posted. The picture below is Jim and Rona Jurgens arriving at the Frankfurt Airport. We will spend Christmas together. They were the Area Auditors before we came (the first time in 2007) -- their son Adam also married our Daughter, Kirsten

Marilynn was singing in a German Church group in Rosbach. This is the sister missionaries with Rona and Jim before the concert.

Here is what you can see of sweet Marilynn, singing.

 This is a picture of David, Elder Holzer, and Jim Jurgens. Elder Holzer is the Nephew of Herb and Jane Holzer--who were friends when we served our first mission.

 Here is Rona and Jim Jurgens with Marilynn enjoying a quiet moment at the end of the day in our apartment.

Here is my dessert plate at the ward Christmas party. It included a taste of everything I could find except mom's dessert. I can get her stuff any time. Just think--there are absolutely no calories in any of the food over here... Oh well, we can loose weight when we get home.

Yesterday it snowed quite a bit for Frankfurt. Today was cold and clear. Marilynn wanted to go to Dreieich (Three oak) to see their Christmas market. The picture below is the sight that greeted us as we came close to where the market was.

 Here is sweet Marilynn standing by a stone marker--and she is starting to get cold already!

 Here is sweet Marilynn standing by a stand that features wooden bowls, spoons, etc. We thought Adam would enjoy this one.

 A Christmas market is best when it is in a narrow, old German town with the old wooden houses displaying their unique style.

 Here is David talking to one of his little buddies. This is what he does when the grandkids are not around.

 More Christmas market--people eating, drinking and shopping. It is quite the thing to get people to shop in the open air on a cold winter day. Food clearly tastes better when you are really hungry and cold.

 We thought this was a cool idea. What looked to me to be rusty tools, horse shoes, and nuts and bolts were really all made out of chocolate.

 This part of the market is right next to the medieval city wall.

 Here is our sweet Marilynn, freezing and looking at the Christmas decorations. Do you think she is having fun?

Tonight I thought I would share some fun. There was a funny story written in 1911 about a Bavarian train conductor. I have this on DVD at home, but it is all in German--actually a form of German with a very thick Bavarian dialect. I was looking on the internet and found this version that has English subtitles. It take about 9 minutes but offers a unique journey into Bavaria. Here is the link, so enjoy the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3IfXiNqGkI

Early in the morning in Butzbach. The Christmas market has not opened but the houses always look like this.

 Another shot of Butzback in the morning.

 This lady was talking out the window so I took her picture.

This is the last shot of Butzbach city square. 

 This is not a prop. This is an actual house in Idstein. We stopped here in the evening. I could not resist taking this picture.

 This is another wooden house in Idstein at night.

 This is also Idstein at night. The band is playing out the window of the Rathaus. The Christmas market is in the square below.