Frankfurt

The train from Wiesbaden, Germany winds along the Rhine River where the enormous hills are covered with snow-laden trees and peppered with little towns, beautiful churches, and castle ruins.  Nicole, Melodie, and I spent last weekend with Everett and Cathy Hoekstra (parents of friends of ours from Dordt) at their home in Wiesbaden, near Frankfurt.

Cathy picked us up from the train station and, after showing us their beautiful home, brought us to Bacharach, an old walled city where we climbed a slippery path up to a church that had been bombed in the war (a common theme in Germany).  We drove along the Rhine and saw castles everywhere.  They used to force traders to stop and pay tribute in order to use the river.  That evening, we met up with Everett to eat schnitzel and apple wine at the Bäkkerbruinen before returning home to our first night of Dutch Blitz.

Everett and Cathy both took us around on Saturday after a wonderful breakfast of eggs, bacon, pancakes, and fruit.  We went first to Frankfurt.  There, we walked around to see many different, beautiful churches, had wurst and hot apple wine, and warmed up with some German Starbucks.

Despite enjoying Frankfurt, I was more excited for the afternoon's trip to Heidelberg.  We drove around a bit before heading up to the castle.  It was a beautiful view.  We took the tram down, visited two jaw-dropping churches, and shopped around some of the quaint stores below.

We ate that night at Eisgrub-Bräu, where we tried pretzels and cheese, their beer, and I ordered a camemburt, which was a delicious fried cheese with jam and pears.

Sunday, Cathy made quiche, blueberry muffins (yum!), fruit, etc. before we headed out.  We drove past some last sights in Wiesbaden and Mainz before they treated us to some donor kabobs - Turkish lamb sandwich things that were quite tasty.  We had a more than wonderful weekend with the Hoekstras and were sad to leave.