I adore Idar-Oberstein!

We have had a slow week.  Mike was happy to be done with a big exercise they had last week at work.  He had to work nights for 8 days in row and really didn't like that schedule at all.

I was happy to not have to drive to seminary this week.  Our houseguest, Chris headed back home on Monday, so Travis has been going through withdrawals.   He thought it was great to have a friend here 24/7.  We really enjoyed having Chris here, too!
The weather was yucky all week, so no bike riding or walking.  It's been rainy, windy or a combo of both unitl today.  Today the sun has been shining and I LOVE it!!

Our big event of the week was a day trip to
 Idar-Oberstein.   It is a neat village about an hour from here.  It is famous for two things: gemstones and the church in the rock.
The church, which is called "Die Felsenkirche" is located about halfway up a steep, rocky mountain with another amazing cute, charming village below. It is built right into a natural niche in the rock.


We followed the signs to the path up the hill to the church.  The plan was to hike up that far and check out the church.

It was a LOT of steps up to the church but it was soooo worth it!

The view was fantastic from the church!  We payed our 2 Euro and entered through a tunnel.  The church is not very big, but the history of it was interesting to me.   It was built from 1482-1484 by Wyrich IV of Daun-Oberstein.  According to legend, Wyrich was a prince who lived in the castle on the top of the cliff.  In a fit of jealousy over a women, he threw his brother off the cliff and to his death.  Wyrich felt so much remorse, he built the church where his brother died.  

The church's greatest treasure is the medieval winged altar.  It was created around 1400 by an unknown painter.  One thing that makes it so amazing is that it is still in place instead of in a museum.

This epitaph carved from stone is of Weyrich's father, Plillip ll of Daun-Oberstein in full knight's armor. (1432)

There is a lookout right next to the church, next to the bell tower.  To get to it, we had to go through a tunnel in the rock.  Creepy!  But the the view was....WOW!






After visiting the church, we decided to take the trail up to the caste on the top of the mountain.  It was a pretty steep trail but it went through a beautiful forest.  There are actually two castles up there on two different hills but they are connected by trails.  The first one we hiked to was the Schloss Oberstein.  It has been mostly rebuilt and they were busy setting up for some big event. 

 We only stayed a couple of minutes and then hiked down and took the other path up to the other castle ruins, The Burg Bosselstein.  All that is left of this schloss is the one tower.  This is where Prince Wyrich supposedly threw his brother off the cliff.
After hiking back down the mountain, we had lunch at this nice little restaurant in the town square, stopped for some ice cream and then did a little window shopping. 

We took the long way home, stopping at IKEA to look for some chairs for T.J.'s room.  It was a great family day.  Travis usually moans and groans about having to go exploring with us, but then once we get to where we are going, he has a good time.  I remember my parents dragging me around the battlefields of Virginia when I was his age and thinking the same thing, but when I was just a bit older I was so grateful they had exposed me to all that history.  I hope he gains an appreciation for it as well.

Well to cap off the week, we spent our Sunday in the emergency room of Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.  On our way to church, Mike was in a stairwell housing unit picking up a TV remote (notice the remote in the pic...he didn't know it was a megasized one!) and on his way out he slipped on the stairs and hurt his ankle.  He couldn't walk on it and it immediately swelled up, so we went to the emergency room for x-rays.  Three and half hours later....no broken bones but a very bad sprain.  Poor guy!!
 He will be on crutches for a week or so.  
That's it for this week.  Wishing you all lots of sunshine to brighten your days.
love and miss you all,
-corri