our last two stops have been two of isabelle’s areas she served in.
bremen & kassel!
bremen was filled with farmers markets, the best italian food and lots of castles.
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| vapiano’s is the best italian! |
hahahahahahahhaa
touching the donkeys foot for good luck…
and laughing because it looks like we are dating.
this is a real pirate ship that they serve pancakes out of now!!!
how fun is that!
during our drives, we loved reading Fitz’s journal (my great-grandpa).
he wrote about their everyday life, their experiences with the church, his work life, his kids and everything else about the war while they were living in west germany.
on our first day in germany, my dad called my grandpa and said,
“you have got to get over here.. this is a trip you don’t want to miss.”
so what did they do?
booked the next flight out.
after church on sunday my grandpa took us to the street he grew up on and showed us the bomb shelter he stayed in.
90% of the city of Kassel was ruined in the war by bombs so this is the door step to his newly built apartments. his house was completely bombed.
those holes you see in the bomb shelter were the only breathing holes for all of the residents staying in the bomb house.
this is where my grandpa developed his lung disease from being in such tight corridors with so many other people carrying various diseases.
the first night my grandpa slept in kassel on this trip, my grandpa woke up in the middle of the night crying because he thought he heard bombs dropping and felt like he was in the war again.
how heartbreaking is that!!
his stories touched me so deeply.
i loved hearing how his family handled everything handed to them and how strong they are because of it.
they were able to get visas and journey to america in 1950.
one night he remembers rushing from his apartment to the bomb shelter and forgot his shoes.
he ran across complete shards of glass and got into the bomb shelter to see that his feet weren’t sliced an inch.
he knew that was one of the many miracles that happened to him and his family.
each of his 5 siblings are all alive today with families in utah and still strong in the church!
my family is starting to REALLY make fun of me because every time i see these fields of flowers i scream.
they are SO pretty!!!
my grandpa finally made my dad pull over the car so he could get a picture of me in them.
and probably in hopes i would shut up every time i saw them.
off to Köln, Germany!
