Aix en Provence

We did another Seminary & Institute audit in southern France in a charming town called Aix en Provence, which is 30k north of Marseille (on the Mediterranean).  The weather was a balmy 65 degrees by afternoon which was a welcome change for us. We visited the Family Home Evening there.  Most of the YSA's have it with their families but this was attended by 2 missionaries, the advisory couple, us and 4 kids (1 from Tahiti, 1 from China, 1 from The Congo, and 1 actually from France)  It was fun and very interesting to visit with them and see them interact.   

This city is known for its fountains.

We rented a car and drove to a nearby town called Arles 

which is famous for its Roman Ruins!

A museum showed what the structures looked like originally:

This amphitheater held 10,000 people.  All the citizens could attend plays for free 

but the rulers sat on the first rows and the poorest peasants were in the nosebleed section.  Here is how it looks today...it is still used for concerts.

Now comes the huge stadium which held 20,000 people. 

 Today there are bull fights held here:

This model  gives a vision of what it was really like!

The view of Arles from the stadium!  Beautiful!!!

There was also a Roman Cemetary...very interesting!

Our last day was a "market" day in Aix and every square 

of the city had a different market......so charming!

olives, cheeses, cookies, flowers, sausages!

What a great experience!  We loved Provence!!!

THE ROBERTS IN ROMANIA

We had the opportunity to travel to Bucharest, Romania to do an audit of a Regional Seminaries and Institute Director.  When we arrived on a Monday afternoon he suggested we go to his office and start the audit, finish it up on Tuesday and then Wednesday would be free for him to show us Romania.  We were thrilled.  The chapel in Bucharest is beautiful...

The government required a bomb shelter to be built under the chapel, which gives them an awesome room for activities for the youth and YSA's.

We put on our "YSA Hats" and attended a Family Home Evening and so enjoyed this small group of wonderful Young Adults and their adviser couple.
Tuesday we finished the audit in time to take the English tour of the Peoples' Palace, the 2nd largest building in the world.

This is view up the boulevard from the balcony of the Palace

On our tour of Romania we drove for 3 hours to Transylvania to see Bran's Castle (known as Dracula's Castle)

It was a simply decorated castle build in the 14th century.

I loved the courtyard!

The drive through the villages and forests of Romania was beautiful.  Then we visited one of the most beautiful castles in Europe: Peles!

This castle was built between 1875 and 1883 with 160 rooms! 

As you can see the most beautiful part was the woodwork--amazing!

 

The setting was gorgeous!

Although the countryside was gorgeous, the city of Bucharest

was full of once beautiful but now shabby and run-down buildings.  

This picture says it all!  Never thought we'd have the chance 

to see Romania...are grateful we did!!!

Marksburg and Burg Eltz

Another Saturday in our German experience led us to two unique castles.  The first was Marksburg, located above the Rhine River,  In fact it was the only hill castle on the Rhine that was never destroyed or seriously attacked.  It was built in the 12th century and gave a true glimpse into life in the middle ages.

This was one of my favorite castle tours!!!

This castle is very rustic and authentic!

This castle even has a  torture chamber!

The view of the Rhine from Marksburg...

Part of the kitchen:

Then it was on to Burg Eltz, Rick Steves favorite European castle.  It is on the left bank of the Rhine on the Moselle River.  It is one of three castles never destroyed.  It has been in the same family for 33 generations.  Originally, 3 families built their castles together with a shared courtyard on a 70 m rock spur.  It was built from 1157 to 1472 and still looks the same.  It was a long hike from the parking lot but when we first caught a glimpse it was WOW!!!

 The Interior courtyard

We took the English tour but were not allowed to take any interior pictures!

A few more exterior shots...love the pile of stone cannonballs!

Another fabulous day touring gorgeous Germany!!!!

Wurzburg and Rothenberg

Another weekend adventure took us to Wurzburg, about an hour away.  This city has one of the most important baroque palaces in Europe.  Construction began in 1720 and was completed in 1780 and was built by one of the prince bishops.  Originally it cost 1.5 million florins (1 florin was a week's wage).  The Residenz, as it is called, was 90% destroyed in 1945 but the country spent 20 million euros to rebuild it.  

Paul snapped this photo of the grand staircase before being informed that pictures were not allowed on the tour.

Paul did sneak this photo of a ballroom at the end of the tour.

The grounds were gorgeous!!!

From  the Residenz we could get a fabulous view of the 

Marienberg Fortress!

A fort was built on this hillside in the 8th century and the 

large castle in the 1200's.  The cars give an idea of just 

how large the wall is surrounding the fortress.

The interior of the fortress...

The view of the city and bridge from the fortress

The gardens and Handsome Paul

We then continued driving south another hour to the town of 

Rothenburg, considered the "most German town in Germany"

It is a perfectly preserved medieval town from the 

17th century...quaint and charming!

Here is the city hall:

There is a famous Christmas Shop in Rothenburg where 

every room looks like this one

The "thing to do" in Rothenburg is to take the 

"Night Watchman's Tour" at 8pm starting in the town square.

There were about 100 people gathered for the English tour but

we got a picture of me and our guide.  He led us through the town like 

a pied piper, telling us stories of life in the middle ages.

We finish our tour of Rothenburg with the setting sun on the city gate.

Next week it is a journey to Marksburg and Berg Eltz!!!