Splendid Southern Germany

We arrived in Karlsrhue, Germany train station to meet our friend Joni (pronounced yo knee), whom we met at Trinity Western when he came over for an exchange program the previous fall semester. The Lange family was kind enough to open up their home to us for one week. Our time with this beautiful family went by way too fast, but during these moments I can attest that I have experienced the love of Christ through them and their unfailing hospitality. 

Here is a short recap on our adventures:

Our first stop was in Baden-Baden.

Joni's sister, Katharina was kind enough to accompany us on our trip.

 The first day we went for a mini road trip through the black forest, and stopped in cute little towns.

Everything was so picturesque, I could not stop taking photos!

Found this amazingly ironic store, and we just had to take a photo :)

This photo was taken at the top of a mountain in the Black Forest. There is even a some small slopes to ski on here in the winter. Also, don't let the shorts fool you, the temperature change at this altitude was shocking to us all, so we snapped this quick photo than qucikly made our way back to the warm vehicle.

A very beautiful river!

Next stop on our journey was Bad Wildbad. Great name right?

We stopped and got some very tasty hot chocolate.

The second day we took a day trip to Heidelberg. " Heidelberg is a popular tourist destination due to its romantic and picturesque cityscape, including Heidelburg castle and the baroque style Old Town" (wiki).

After climbing 315 stairs, we finally made it up to the castle.

This place was magical.

Another view of the castle, with 'the gang'

Here is a view from inside the castle

There was something so endearing about this tree...

Ah Heidelberg...so picturesque

I blame this on my parents for my sense of humor. I do admit I instantly thought of my mom when I saw this poster that read, 'Aus Grosser Fahrt'.

An amazing Turkish creation in Germany, the Döner Kebab.

The third day we went to the Mercedes-Benz Museum located in Stuttgart.

The group on our way into the museum. Today we gained another in our group, Dominik, Joni's younger brother.

A really awesome old fire truck! The description is below.

This was the famous vehicle section of the museum. The SUV was the vehicle used in Jurassic Park, and the bus was driving the German national soccer team when they won the World Cup in 1974.

The group in the innovative section.

On our next outing we went to Maulbronn, an old Monastery built in the 1300’s.

We brought some life into this quiet place ;)

Lexi was eager to share her sermon.

In every room the ceilings had beautiful hand paintings.

An epic picture of an epic person. About this photo: our great friend Joni thought that it would be funny to drive off without us, so I took this photo while sitting on the fence waiting for our ride to return.

Some random photos:

The beautiful host family (minus the father who was at work). Pictured (left front to back & right back to front): Katharina, Jo, Heidi, Joni, Dominik, Lexi, Mom, Nico. We had a wonderful lunch out on the patio.

On one of our walks after dinner we came across this sign. It reads: They say the Wanderer is a sinner because he doesn't go to church. However,  standing in the field and raising his eyes to the sky, is better than an untrue prayer.

On a morning walk I was blessed with this amazing view.