On Sunday, Werner, Ingrid and Maren took us on a journey to a nearby city called Esslingen. We walked around the old part of this town where most of the buildings are 300-500 years old.

One picture shows a building with a date on it of 1571. They can be renovated, but they cannot ever be torn down and replaced. As you can see, even the cities in Germany have bike shops, so Werner and I had to check out the merchandise from the window as all of the shops are closed on Sunday. We also visited a small private doll museum called Die Blaue Insel. The owner was very sweet and happy that Athena liked dolls and knew so much about them. Athena actually knew more than the lady. The churches were incredible works of architecture and construction. As you can see, they spent a lot of money on material things and that is probably where the loss of spiritual things began. The church pictured is actually Lutheran. I would never have guessed it based on the paintings and interior design which looked more like Catholic. The countryside with vineyards and orchards borders the city and makes a pictuesque backdrop. We finished the tour with lunch at their favorite Italian restaurant called La Gondola Ristorante and Pizzeria. The food was excellent. We spent the rest of the day enjoying Maren and her family. Athena showed and edited pictures and I went on a 1 1/2 hour bike ride with Werner. My body is mostly healed except for my ribs which are still giving me fits. Olaf and Veronica also had a birthday party at the church for their little boy today. Tomorrow we pack everything up and fly to Greece to begin 18 days that are basically nonstop ministry with the exception of one day in Xania, Crete so we appreciate your continued prayers.