Girl's Trip to Germany and the Netherlands 2017! Part 3

Welcome to the conclusion of my Girl's Trip to Germany and the Netherlands post Part 3.  I think this will be the last post for the trip.  It was a wonderful trip.  I'm still tired and definitely have a much "lighter" wallet then when we left.  But I guess that is part of vacation.  Monday it's back to work and the old routine!

So after we got back from the Netherlands, we stayed one more night at Regina's home before we headed back to Steinheim.

Here is the old ship, the Batavia, a ship of the British East India Company

Then as we traveled, Jamie asked to go to the Koelner Dom (Cologne, Germany).  So since we had most of the day unscheduled, we took a little detour.  And we were glad we did.  It was a real beautiful site!  An enormous place and an unforgettable one!

Cöln

 Then we crossed the street and went to McDonald's.  We each got a free Coke glass.

 And of course, we bought some cologne in Cologne!

 Street artists were drawing chalk drawings all over the plaza area in front of the Dom.  (Cathedral)

Steinheim

And then back to Steinheim. My aunt Ruth

showed me two photo albums that she let me photograph and here are a few of the pictures that I took.

 Above I am standing with my grandmother, Ottilie Gralla, who is in the middle.

 Then we, Ruth and I walked a short ways down her street to the cemetery, where my grandmother was buried and whose grave was turned over suddenly without her knowledge.  That is a sad thing that happens in German cemeteries.  But that is the way that it is.  Above is a photo of the repair work on the end of her street.

 Looking up her street.

 The Steinheim cemetery.

 The grave of Hugo Jahn, husband of Ruth.

 In Germany it is customary to have plants on the grave, living and growing, not just cut flowers as we generally see in the US.  Below is Ruth watering and tending the plant on Hugo's grave.

Dachau

 Hendrik accompanied us down to Dachau.  He hadn't been there before, either.

 The famous sign on the door.  "Arbeit Macht Frei".

 And here is where we first got a glimpse of Tyson.

 Their sleeping quarters.

 In the ground below there were many barracks which are no longer standing.  But you can see where they were.

 Several buildings had displays and historical information to view and read.

 These appear to be lockers.

 Bathing facilities.

 Communal toilets.

 Below the list of the people whose lives were lost at Dachau.  Not all were Jewish.

 The Iconic symbol of Dachau camp.

 Our little group.  Of course, Grandma taking the picture.  I need to take more selfies, I think....

 Below are candles in remembrance of those lost.

 The Catholic Parish in Dachau.

 The crematory.

 The gas chamber.  

 Waiting with Tyson, having ice cream until time to meet the bus.

 Meeting the bus at 12:50 pm

Ty's Bus

 Bus hauling equipment.

All in all, it was a solemn experience, makes you wonder how things like this could have ever happened.  As a little side note:  just before we went on our trips, we discovered, quite accidentally that a branch of the 442nd Infantry Regiment were the ones that liberated the Dachau prisoners at the end of the War.  We found this out on a DVD Spencer purchased regarding Heart Mountain Japanese Internment Camp in Wyoming.  His relatives had been there.And his father, had been in the 442nd Infantry Regiment.  Made the visit even more meaningful, especially for Tyson, I think.

 I think this was the Italian Pizzaria in Dachau.  Boy did we have to wait a LONG time to get our food.  And we were quite hungry, too.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber--The Reason for the trip!

Below are a lot of pictures of Rothenburg.  Yes, it's the reason we came.  To see and hear Tyson and the Utah Ambassadors of Music perform.  They also have a band with their group.  Some are in both the band and the choir.  Pretty amazing!  Before the performance, Tyson had some free time and was able to sight-see with us.

 This is the town square where the band had their performance, which was unfortunately in the rain!

 The ice cream shop was very close!  There was usually a line at the window!

 This is George, the night Watchman.  At this time, it was really hot.  A rare thing for our trip.  But I felt sorry for him in his warm/hot attire!  So he gave us a tour of the city and everyone followed him around, like the pied piper as he spoke.  There is a fee to pay at the end.  Just so you know!

 Food, glorious food!

 The fish were in a pond at the store with the knives and other weapons of Knights and so forth!

 And here we see the Sword in the Stone!

 Having lunch with Tyson before he leaves for the band performance.  

 As I mentioned, it rained in Rothenburg just in time to dampen the spirits of the band, just a bit.

 Here we are watching the band.  This is Ty in the UAM uniform.

 We stopped at a bakery for a little Caffee und Kuchen break! Jamie's fave time of the day!

 Inside the church where the performance was held.

 The loft where a part of the band performed with the choir.

 Here is part of the choir.  Couldn't quite fit them all in from where I sat.

I tried to include a video here, but they were too large and wouldn't load.  So sad.  Wanted to have you hear them!

 Afterwards, the friends gathered for a picture.

 Tyson and Hayden, both from Lone Peak High School.

Just a little note about Tyson's tour.  The visited seven countries.  Their concert in Paris had to be cancelled for safety reasons.  I wanted to share that there actually was a type of incident that occurred in Paris while they were getting ready to leave.   They were all on a particular street, shopping, and having fun and it came till to return to the buses.  As they all began to depart, they were diverted and told that they had to go in another direction.  As they were walking, they heard a loud explosion.  They were told that it was an unusual package left the the authorities had to explode.  Kind of scary, to say the least!

This is what I would have to call Brecklyn's iconic look.  Why?  Because in Germany there are still lots of smokers and the rules aren't very strict about where to smoke or not to smoke.  Breck hated the smell and was often seen covering up her nose.

Ronneburg Interactive Castle (Burg or fortress style)

 A maiden in armor!

 A young woman in the stocks.  Unfortunately, her daughter must have committed a similar crime!

 This tower had a million and a half stairs to climb.  I would never have guessed there were so many!

 A medieval door from 1572.

 The enemy is just beyond the gate!

 The maiden is ready to serve the hungry knights of the not-so round table!

 This looks like the courting benches that I saw in the old Gralla castle in Spain?  What do you think?

 Looking down from above!

 A selfie, just for the fun of it!

 These stairs don't look like they could be too safe....

 Now it's time to eat!

Kneipp Anlage

So if you want to be healthy in your 80's, this is where you are to go.  An old Octogenarian comes here every day and says it's the reason for her good health.  The water is ice cold and you are supposed to step through the water to improve your circulation.  I was really cold.  Didn't help that the day wasn't too warm, either.  Brecklyn absolutely loved it though!

 There was also an exercise part as shown below and a stepping stone type walk to strengthen the feet.  I'm not quite sure about that one, they hurt!

Seligenstadt

 Seligenstadt has an old Benedictine monastery.  This monastery has a beautiful garden with miniature fruit trees, herbs, etc.  Really nice!

 If it wasn't for selfies, you'd not see me at all!

Alte Fasanerie in Steinheim

I have been here quite a few times.  It was Brecklyn's first time.  This outdoor park lets you feed the animals and enjoy a pleasant walk through the woods.

 This little guy was perched on the fence.  Too cute!

 These guys followed Brecklyn down the road.  Too funny.

We were pretty far into the woods when the thunder, lightning and rain began.  We had no umbrellas as it didn't look as though we needed them today.  However, we were very drenched by the time we got back to the car.  At which time the rain stopped, naturally, right?

Church in Hanau

The church closest to our home base was in Hanau.  I love going to church, even on vacations, because I feel that is where I need to be on Sundays.  I loved how the Gospel is the same in every LDS Church around the world.  There are no different doctrines in any of the locations.  Brecklyn actually saw a missionary from Highland, who was the brother of her friend.  It's always fun to make those connections.  I have always had wonderful experiences going to church around the US and Europe.  

 And that is the last of our adventures.  Below you can see the Frankfurt airport.  Got a little lost trying to follow the signs pointing us to the rental return area.  We ended up in the underground parking lot.  Glad we didn't have to pay to get out of there!  I need those "parking pills" that I mentioned in Part 1.

 Here we are waiting for the gates to open!  I guess we were way too early!

 On the plane, I saw this guys shirt and had to snap a shot.  Can you read it?  It says COACHELLA, California on it!  It's written in a Gothic type font, so that might make it a bit harder.  Thought that was a funny sight to see.

And I am happy to have been able to visit relatives, have fun with 3 members of my family and visit some fun and new places.  So thanks for joining me!