Cobblestones

I had no idea that the street and sidewalk pavers would be so interesting! (if this doesn't sound exciting to you, you might want to skip this post)

  

They are also VERY German.  Just as many German words are 'built' by putting simple words together (Einfamilienhaus = ein+familien+haus=single family dwelling), so a sidewalk or road is made of individual pavers rather than by pouring and smoothing a big slab of concrete.  One cool thing about it is if you need to work on a conduit pipe under the street, you pull up the pavers, put them in a pile, dig down to the pipes, fix them, then put the dirt back and RE-LAY the same paving stones.

Another cool thing is that they make them out of different colors of concrete and then use them to mark different areas:  bike lanes are grey/green (on the right above), walking paths are red (on the left). 

White or grey pavers mark parking places.  Very handy.

The pavers look neat where different patterns meet 

In the center of town (der Romer Platz) there is a plaque surrounded by pavers, marking the spot where the Nazis burned the books in 1933.

a sea serpent

And they use them creatively on playgrounds and in gardens.

These are parking lots only when needed

Even the Japanese garden gets in on the act.

All of these newly added cobblestones below are from the temple.

Our Apartment : better late than never

One of my kids mentioned that I hadn't posted any photos of our apartment.  

So, here they are.

Elder John and Sister Susan Leonard : our trainers.  We were at the church financial offices up in Bad Homburg

This is the street where we live

This "Smart" store is right by the front door of our apt. building: very convenient for buying milk, eggs, bananas and fresh bread and rolls.

Elder Stay passing our mailbox and going in

You can take an elevator : our apartment is on the 10th floor: we would call it the 11th in the US.  Here, the bottom floor is the Ground floor, the 1st floor is one flight up.

We take the stairs at least once a day for exercise.  At first, I could only make it up about 5 floors without having to stop and catch my breath.  I am getting better at it.

Ten floors is a long way

Windows in the stairwell : this is where people put their window box flowers to winter over.

View eastward out from the stairs : a HUGE fire / police / EMT station next door

Inside the front door is this handy chest of drawers and a mirror, along with a miniature deer head on which Elder Stay hangs his keys.  The Germans seem to love using antlers in all of their decorating.

Our tiny but well stocked kitchen.  Sister Leonard had access to the UD PX in Wiesbaden and  left us a LOT of hard to obtain American foods (like brown sugar and corn meal).

Front room / Dining room with a painting of Italy

Window by the dining table.  You can see our bikes out on the balcony and the geraniums waiting to be planted in the windowboxes.

Another view of the front room : this lovely big chest was left by a previous renter because it was too big to move.  It is one of my favorite pieces of furniture.  We keep the breakfast cereal and the ultrapasteurized milk in the right-hand cabinet; soup, oriental foods and cans and jars on the left.

Bathroom and laundry room.  That is a washer and dryer :  each load is about  one fourth the size I can do in Utah.  BUT we can do laundry at home, while we sleep or work, which is very convenient.  Made one laundry mistake: I bought a BIG bottle of what I thought was hypoallergenic laundry soap for sensitive skin : only after the first two loads did I realize it was just fabric softener. . . .

This is the office and spare bedroom.  That desk is where I sit to  Skype or do this blog.  If you come to visit, that couch is the hide-a-bed.  We hear it is comfortable.  We haven't tried it.  Guess you can ask Steve and Rachel, who are coming next week.

The hallway looking toward the frontroom.  On the right are some much-used storage closets.

The closet doors are the family photo gallery.  

The bedroom : those are two separate twin mattresses, with twin sized duvets and huge pillows.  We downsized the pillows, finally got a topsheet, and I am REALLY glad I brought along my own down comforter.  It has been a bit cold.

The view westward from the balcony : that is the LDS chapel to the right in the mid distance.  Two wards meet here on Sunday.  We attend the Frankfurt 2nd ward - the international ward.  The Young Adult Center is the  two-story addition on the left of the chapel : 50 to 90 YSAs come to Institute on Thursdays : they have 4 classes in three languages.  We used to own the land where that highrise apartment building is.  Everyone regrets having sold it now.

This is the Church office building.  Our office is on the top floor:  our windows are the farthest left (in the center of the building).  The bottom floor is Public Affairs, the FM group, mail room, tech guys, lots of misc. offices.  The first floor houses the Area Presidency and the seminary and institutes.  The third floor is the DTA and OGC : director of temporal affairs and the office of general counsel (lawyers).  On the fourth floor are HR, medical, mental health, YSA, and welfare/family services.  Accounting, Auditing, Family and Church History are all up in Bad Homburg near the temple.

Here we all are at our Frankfurt Germany Senior Missionary Zone Conference.

Looking northwest toward the Tannus 'mountains' on the horizon.