Two Kids in Europe...
Come Along!
TIROL/GERMANY
Today, our cousin Elmar from Munich will take us to visit our relatives in Germany and Austria. Our tour schedule gives us the free time to do special things like this. We'll follow the route shown on the map: from our hotel on the border of Austria (A) to Neuschwanstein Castle (B) to have lunch with our cousins in Marktoberdorf, Germany (C) to learn about our earliest ancestors in Rauth and Tannheim, Austria (D) then back to our hotel (E).
It's a round trip of 75 miles.
We're excited and ready to go!
We think you'll like this trip, too.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hop in!
We get an early start.
After greeting the horses - one is named Ellie - we board our carriage.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
After lunch, we visit St. Martin's Church, gleaming white with a tall bell tower. We think it is very beautiful. We go inside and up to the choir loft. It's fun looking at the church from high up and looking at the people far below!
We gather together downtown for a round of gelato. We are sorry that we have to leave, but we do it on a sweet note. We do not say good bye but Auf Wiedersehen - til we meet again!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
It's a 30 mile trip from Marktoberdorf to Rauth, Austria where our family started.
When we get there, Elmar tells us that this was the home of our 10th great grandfather, Georg, who was born in 1560 and his four brothers, Caspar, Urban, Conrad and Wolfgang.
Elmar knows a lot of our family history. He was a teacher - we think you can tell that from this picture - and tells great stories.
We are in the Alps in Austria and feel like running and sing
the hills are alive with the sound of music...........
We walk around the fields and look out over a summer Alpine scene just as our 10th Great Grandfather Georg and his brothers must have done - over 400 years ago.
Perhaps, when they were 11 years old, they also caught grasshoppers on their hands.
It's time to get in the car and drive the two miles to Tannheim for dinner with our relatives. We've been told that they have something very precious to show us.
After dinner, Reinhold spreads out this document on the table.
Everyone is very quiet. What is this special thing?
It is an original document from 1591.
It is a Coat of Arms or Crest that was given to Georg and his brothers by
Archduke Ferdinand II, the ruler of Tirol, Austria, to reward them for their service.
It's been a day filled with unique experiences: castles, cousins, churches and crests.
We'll sleep well tonight and look forward to a restful bus trip to Switzerland tomorrow.
It's a magical ride up a steep
Alpine slope to the fairy tale Neuschwanstein Castle.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Then we drive to Marktoberdorf where our great grandfather grew up as a boy and lived as a young man until he came to the United States . When we get there we meet our cousins for the first time. We're a little nervous and they probably are, too; but everyone smiles and talks and hugs. Some of them have driven 70 miles to meet us!
There are fourteen of us for lunch. Before we start to eat,
we wish each other Guten Appetit!
It's really neat to know that our grandfather sat in these same pews over 100 years ago!