I’m writing about my 60th birthday trip back to Germany after 18 years away. I’m up to Day 7, which was Monday, June 17.

It began with a yummy and leisurely breakfast at Waldhotel Heller. I was the only guest that first morning, and I remember I had plenty of wonderful Brötchen, just like old times, plus some yogurt. Then I still had time to plan out my route.

The night before, I’d looked up my favorite restaurants, especially castle restaurants, but they all seemed to be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. (I later learned – when it was too late – that one of my favorites, Altenbaumburg, was closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Oh well! Next time!) So I decided to start Monday with enjoying the Pfälzerwald by doing some hiking through the forest. On the Pfälzerwald website I found what was supposed to be one of the prettiest trails, to the Karlstalschlucht. And it passed two castles! So I could add to my castle count as well as going on a beautiful hike through the woods.

The drive was half the fun! I was on the edge of the village, so I drove through the whole village of Iggelbach, then on a very narrow forest road, then to good old B48 (which heads north all the way to two of the places we’d lived in Germany), then to the village of Trippstadt.

And the path began at my Castle #171, the Trippstadter Schloß. (To count as a castle, it must have a name, be over 100 years old, be a castle or a palace or a fortification, and I have to touch it. I’d never touched this one before, so it was number 171.)

I had a little trouble finding the trailhead, but that was a nice excuse for roaming the grounds.

You can see it was a cloudy day, but it was nice and cool, which I appreciated after we’d had some heat in Virginia.

At last I found markers for the Spazierwanderweg Karlstalschlucht, which basically means Fun-hiking-trail Karl’s-Valley-Gorge, and is 5.1 km long in a loop trail. A longer loop was marked in green for the Rundwanderweg Karlstalschlucht.

It took me a little wandering around at the back of the property of the Trippstadter Schloß.

Here was confirmation that, yes, I was to go through the gate.

The start of the trail went along a wide meadow, downhill toward a forested area.

I passed a few sculptures by the trail.

And it was just lovely to absorb that I was back in beautiful Germany, walking through the countryside.

I came to a small village, or maybe just an Ort.

These guys were interested in me walking by.

And then I started going a little deeper into the woods.

Then, much to my delight, I found Castle #172, Burg Wilenstein!

I couldn’t go inside, but I could roam all over the grounds.

According to the brochure, you can use the castle for classes and seminars, and it’s even got lodging inside. But it was all closed up that day and I just enjoyed exploring the outside.

One of my favorite things about castles is the shapes juxtaposed against their backdrops. I love doors leading to nowhere like this.

Looking off the edge in the back, you can see there’s thick forest.

And more wonderful shapes.

So that was the beginning of my hike. From there, it was on to the Karlstalschlucht – which I’ll cover in the next post.

I’m still blogging about my epic 60th birthday trip to Germany last June. Day 6, Sunday, June 16, was the halfway point, and the day I’d chosen to drive across Germany from Leipzig to the Kaiserslautern area – to at last revisit the places I’d lived with my family eighteen years before.

I decided to take the southern route, slightly longer, but that way I wouldn’t have to drive through Frankfurt and wouldn’t be driving the same route I’d taken to get to Leipzig – and see more of Germany.

Alas! I couldn’t take pictures while I was driving, but it was an amazing and wonderful drive. I felt very much the savvy traveler, because I’d planned to do that on a Sunday when I knew there wouldn’t be trucks on the road. I believe it’s a law in Germany – and sure enough, in the six hour drive, I only passed about a dozen trucks, instead of the constant stream of them the other days. Also, most of the Autobahns along the way had three lanes, unlike the two-lane ones between Kaiserslautern and Frankfurt, so that was a little less stressful driving. On the two-lane Autobahns, when you pass, you have to look way back for approaching BMWs, but if there are three lanes, I do most of my passing in the middle lane and stay out of their way anyway.

Another plus was that I saw how Dave had set up his GPS and tried it on my rental car and sure enough! I could put the GPS map on the car screen and that was much much better than hearing the directions but having to check the little phone to look at the map. (It wasn’t until the 9th day of my trip, however, that I discovered the display also included the current speed limit in the bottom right corner, which was very helpful. Anyway, I managed not to get a ticket.) [Yes, large sections of the Autobahn do not have speed limits, but many sections do – if it’s within city limits, for example. And often there are speed cameras soon after the speed limit goes down. The only tickets I ever got in Germany happened that way on the Autobahn.]

I was a little concerned about getting to my “Waldhotel” by a reasonable time. I’d booked it through Travelocity, which said the hotel management would send instructions for checking in, but never got any such. Well, it turned out to be an old hotel with the owners living on the premises, so I needn’t have worried.

I’d picked a place in the Pfälzerwald south of where we used to live, essentially a national forest with lots and lots of unspoiled forest and hiking and lots of castles.

Somewhere around Heilbronn, as I was coming down the mountains toward the Rhein Valley, I got a big deja vu moment, sure that we’d driven that exact road coming home from family vacations many years before. Of course, I’d gotten the same feeling at the rest stops where I’d stopped.

But then driving into the forest – it felt like coming home! The little villages felt so familiar, and then the Pfälzerwald forest.

Waldhotel Heller was on the far end of the Village of Iggelsbach – or at least I had to drive through the whole village to get to it.

When I first moved to Germany, driving in villages stressed me out because with the narrow roads, you need to be ready to pull over to one side if someone’s coming the other way. Now it filled me with nostalgia and happiness that I know how to drive in German villages. At last, I found my hotel.

The decor could have used some updating, but it was run by a friendly couple with their dog, the breakfasts were wonderful, the price was excellent, and I absolutely loved the balcony.

After putting my stuff in the room, I tried to find a restaurant and gas – and failed utterly. (Although the hotel had signs for a restaurant, the owners had retired their restaurant and limited it to serving breakfast.) I passed what looked like a restaurant, but didn’t really see a place to park (remember those narrow roads?) and no cars parked in front of it, so I wasn’t sure it was open. And then I found a gas station that was self-service and couldn’t get it to work. So I decided to drive into Kaiserslautern the next day where I could get gas for sure. And I’d had enough driving, so I went back to my hotel room and had a Kind bar for dinner. I decided for the rest of the week, I’d set off in the morning and have lunch and dinner out and about and come back to my hotel room for some balcony time. Since the sun didn’t go down until about 10 pm, that plan ended up working perfectly.

And so I started off that night with some wonderful balcony time, reading and journaling. I took a short video, and it still amazes me how completely quiet it was at 8 pm on a Sunday night. Some birds were chirping, and then I heard some church bells ringing across the valley. It was so beautiful and so peaceful, and I was ready for the Remembering and Savoring part of my trip.

This past June, I took a trip back to Germany in honor of my 60th birthday, and I’m slowly blogging about the wonderful trip.

Day 5 was Saturday, June 15, and Kate’s husband Dave drove Kate and me to another castle, Burg Mildenstein, my personal Castle #170. This post will be mainly pictures. Once again, I was completely delighted to get to roam around a castle.

These castles in the Schlösserland had been renovated wonderfully to appeal to visitors, with plenty of museum-like exhibits, and lots of kid-friendly features.

Here’s a outline of the history of the castle. Funny how there’s an English heading, but the main text is in German. Makes me wonder if I just didn’t see the part that had it translated into English. Still, you can see that this castle’s history goes back to 1046.

One of those kid-friendly features:

Detail on the ceiling was beautiful.

The rooms were definitely fun to roam through.

I always get a kick out of old doorways that make me feel tall.

And the view from a castle is always special.

One of the special things going on that day was an exhibit of work by an East German photographer, who took portraits of people in East German villages during the Communist regime. They had his pictures displayed in a few different places in the castle, and they were breathtaking.

Castle doorways can be so inviting.

We climbed the castle tower.

Of course the view from the top was wonderful.

But sometime we had to come down.

The inside was essentially a well-curated medieval museum. (We followed a numbered self-guided tour for all of this.)

Have I mentioned that weather in Germany in June is wonderful? We had a breezy, sunshiny, beautiful day.

So perhaps that gives an idea of why I love going to castles so much!

After that, we tried to find another castle that wasn’t too far away, but Google Maps let us down when there was a road closed. We couldn’t figure out where to park or where the castle actually was. But we had fun driving around the countryside, regardless.

And we got back in the afternoon in time for Kate to walk Riley the Wonder Dog, the sweetest dog ever. (He has since passed away. He was getting old, but his heart was devoted always to Kate.)

That night, I had the privilege of going along with Kate and Dave to a dinner party with a delightful group of English-speaking expats, from various countries. They’ve got a wonderful international community there. (Plus the food was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever had a pavlova before, but it turns out they’re an exquisite dessert.)

One funny thing was that after eating, the ladies were talking at one end of the table and the men at another. They got to talking about a horror story of someone whose rental car broke down in another European country on vacation and fighting about payment. Which led to another story… and eventually someone declared that as a woman, you should never travel alone in Europe.

Well, when I heard that, I bit my tongue and smiled to myself. Whenever I’d gotten nervous about my German vacation and jaunting all around the country on my own, I reminded myself that Germany was home for ten years. It’s not a scary place! It’s somewhere where I’m very used to adventuring. If I were ever in trouble, almost all Germans speak English, but even if not, I can get by with my rudimentary German. Germans are invariably helpful – and I just reminded myself – this place has been my home.

[I also keep forgetting to pass on to Kate and Dave the tip we were given early on: Sign up for ADAC, the German Auto Club. It’s good all over Europe. One time, our car broke down a good hour from home, and it covered a tow truck to get us back. And they have discounts like the American Auto Club, and it’s one more way to feel peace of mind wherever you travel in Europe.]

Though I have to admit, I did envy Kate and Dave their wonderful international friends. (There were some lovely accents among them.) Yes, we had friends from the military base, but those were mostly American, and I loved the international perspectives in this group.

So – that rounded out the first part of my trip, in Leipzig with Kate. It was a truly wonderful way to start my German adventure and ease back into Europe. The next day, I was ready to set out on my solo adventure!

June 14, 2024, my 60th birthday, began with a trip to a castle (my 169th!), and then Kate and I went back to her apartment in Leipzig for a bit of a rest and time for Kate to walk Riley the Wonder Dog.

That evening, as part of the International Bachfest, I had gotten tickets for Kate and me to attend a Bach Choral Cantatas Concert in the Nikolaikirche, one of the churches where Bach served.

So we walked into the city center. I was still taking pictures of the wonderful old buildings.

Kate took me to a nice place for my birthday dinner. I was taken with the Cherry Blossom Tonic.

After dinner, the evening light on the buildings was even more lovely.

And we arrived at the Nikolaikirche with the October 1989 monument out front.

Inside, well, we didn’t have the greatest seats as far as seeing the performers.

And I’m very glad there wasn’t a fire while we were there.

But what a beautiful church!

Here’s the similar balcony across from us.

But despite the seats, Oh! The music!

The performers were the Amsterdam Baroque Choir and Orchestra. All the words of the cantatas were listed in the program, in German – but translated into English as well.

Something I didn’t realize would happen was that each cantata begins and ends with congregational singing. I saw several people with big song books with the music and words and the program referenced that book. However, it turned out there was a pattern, and the congregational part matched the words of the stanzas printed in the program, so I could sing in German – or in one case, in English.

The first cantata was Christ Lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4.2, “Christ lay in the snares of death.” This cantata is mainly about Christ’s resurrection, and was full of joyful praise – and amazing singing.

The second cantata was Nun Danket Alle Gott, BWV 192 – “Now Thank We All Our God”! Yes, this is exactly my favorite Thanksgiving hymn that I sing every year at Thanksgiving. It was funny – the English translation in the program didn’t match the hymn as we English speakers actually sing it – but I sang the hymn I know when it was time for the congregational singing.

This cantata was a bit shorter, and the congregational singing didn’t cover all the verses, but I did love hearing a soaring soprano voice singing in German what I knew to mean, “O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us. With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us. And keep us in his grace, and guide us when perplexed, and keep us from all ills, in this world and the next.”

The third cantata was Was Gott Tut, Das Ist Wohlgetan, BWV 100, “Whatever God deals is dealt bountifully.” I thought all the words of this one were especially perfect for my 60th birthday and not being quite sure what life is going to hold for me next. Some of the lines that really touched me (and remember, they’re sung to amazingly beautiful music):

Whatever God deals is dealt bountifully:
his will remains just;
however he runs my affairs,
I will hold still before him.
He is my God,
who in time of trouble
well knows how to uphold me;
therefore I will just let him rule.

Whatever God deals is dealt bountifully:
he is my light, my life
who can grant me nothing evil;
I will surrender myself to him
in joy and sorrow!
The time will come
when it shall openly appear
how faithful is his intent.

And the fourth and final cantata was Sleepers Awake! Well, actually, it was Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns die Stimme, BWV 140, “Awake! We Are Called by the Voice.” I don’t know the words to this cantata, but I am very familiar with the tune, as the brass quintet my ex-husband performed with had an arrangement of the piece. I love its haunting melody, and hearing that melody with the words simply wrenched my heart.

This cantata is about the parable of the Ten Virgins, telling the listener to be ready, because the bridegroom (Jesus) is coming. There are a couple of astonishingly beautiful duets with a soprano and a bass as a conversation between “the soul” and Jesus. Here’s one such exchange:

Soul: When are you coming, my salvation?
Jesus: I am coming, your portion.
Soul: I am waiting with burning oil.
Soul and Jesus: Open/ I open the hall for the heavenly feast.
Soul: Come, Jesus!
Jesus: Come, lovely soul!

And the cantata goes on to joy and praise.

No eye has ever seen,
no ear has ever heard
such joy.

And I left the concert with songs in my heart. Such a beautiful day!

For 18 years, ever since I moved away from Germany, I was always a little wistful on my birthday that I couldn’t visit a castle. You see, I was the one person in the family who never got tired of castles, so on Mother’s Day and on my birthday, I could always get them to go with me to dinner at one of our favorite castle restaurants or explore a new castle we hadn’t seen before.

On June 14, 2024, my 60th birthday, I got to go to a castle again!

I’d checked out some castles not far from Leipzig before I left. Nowadays, they have a website called Schloesserland Sachsen! In fact, the region of Saxony has made their castles and palaces family-oriented tourist attractions. This is very different from the castles in the Rheinland-Pfalz, as you’ll see in the later part of my trip. But when I went to these, I was envious for the sake of my kids. Not that they were exactly bored with the castles we visited when they were small, but the ones we saw in Saxony had activities and fun things especially for kids to enjoy. And there were historical displays for everyone, with English captions as well as German.

Anyway, on the morning of my birthday, I drove Kate (who still doesn’t drive on the Autobahn. It’s so much fun, Kate!) to one of the closest castles, Schloss Rochlitz, my personal Castle #169.

Much to my dismay, I forgot to bring my good camera, so I took far fewer pictures than usual, but maybe that helped me take in the fact that I was at a castle again.

I love the way castles always have a beautiful view.

And we got to climb the tower.

We did get rained on a tiny bit. But I love these passages either way.

And remember how I said there were fun things for kids? I had to try the jousting video game.

These lit-up ghosts were positioned around the castle for kids to find. A fun way to look a an old dungeon!

And I always have to show how BIG and tall I am by posing in a castle doorway.

After roaming the castle to my heart’s content, we had lunch at a little restaurant just outside the castle. Altogether, it was exactly what my heart desired to start off my 60th birthday!

I’m blogging about my 60th birthday trip to Germany, and I’m up to Day 3, June 13. I was staying with my friend Kate, and she suggested giving me a walking tour of Leipzig for the morning through early afternoon. That sounded absolutely perfect after so much driving the day before. They live a short walk from the Altstadt, and we saw all sorts of wonderful things. I love German cities with so many old buildings mixed with modern ones, which is what I love about the roofline in the picture above.

The weather was perfect, as it so often is in June in Germany, bright and sunny, not too hot, not too cold. We walked all over the city. Let’s see if I can remember what most of these buildings in the pictures are.

We went inside the University Library:

Here’s the Neues Rathaus:

Love those towers!

I was excited to see the Bachfest booth, because catching the Bachfest was why I went to Leipzig first.

And there’s a statue of Johann Sebastian Bach outside the Thomaskirche, one of the churches where he served for most of his life.

More sobering, here’s the Holocaust Memorial. Each chair represents 100 Jews who once prayed in the synagogue on this spot and were killed in the Holocaust.

And here’s the Altes Rathaus:

We also went inside some “Passages” – beautiful enclosed walkways.

Some of the passages have cool art.

We had lunch (later) at the restaurant on the left. It has a cellar where reportedly Goethe used to hang out as a student.

Here’s a statue of Faust being tempted.

And a statue of Goethe outside:

At the Nikolaikirche, which I didn’t get a picture of that day, we got to go inside and sit in on a bit of a rehearsal for a concert that was part of the Bachfest. The soloist had a crystal-clear voice that filled the large space. We didn’t stay long, because we still hadn’t had lunch.

The Nikolaikirche was the site of meetings that ended up toppling Soviet domination of East Germany, and there’s a monument outside, with a pillar similar to the ones inside the church.

I still love that skyline!

And I’m always a sucker for faces on buildings.

Here’s the Hauptbahnhof:

And inside, there was more about the Bachfest.

Here’s a statue in front of the GDR Museum.

I insisted on getting a picture with the statue of the great mathematician Leibniz:

And there’s the Neues Rathaus again:

I’m afraid after all our walking, I took a nap, while Kate walked Riley and then prepared a wonderful dinner. We had fascinating guests that night. I mentioned that Kate’s husband worked at the U.S. Consulate in Leipzig? Well, the U.S. Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues, Abby Finkenauer, was in town, and she and her aide came over and we had completely fascinating dinner conversation.

I mean, did you even know the U.S. has a Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues? Here’s a description she posted today of what she does: “Since her appointment, Special Envoy Finkenauer has traveled the globe, consulting with young leaders and sharing their insights with colleagues across the U.S. government, to ensure that our policies and programs are thoughtful, impactful, and youth-informed.” That day (or at least some time recently), she’d met with young entrepreneurs. She was going to be traveling the next day to Chemnitz, where they were having “America Day” with a group from the USAFE Band participating. This was significant to me, because the reason I lived in Germany for ten years was that my then-husband was in the USAFE Band. I was glad I had other plans for Friday and wasn’t tempted to go to Chemnitz because that would have been a little too much. My husband had played in Chemnitz (and Leipzig) many times, though I had never attended one of those concerts – but I had attended many others.

Anyway, look at the website of the Office of Global Youth Issues. I was proud that our government is doing this kind of diplomacy. Abby Finkenauer was the youngest person in history to flip a Congressional seat, and she’s clearly an excellent person for this job. It was a beautiful evening, leaving me with lots to think about on my last day of being in my fifties.

I’m telling the story of my 60th birthday trip back to Germany, 18 years after living there for 10 years. Wednesday, June 12, started in Fulda, and then took me to the Bachhaus in Eisenach, through the village of Sondra, and then two hours on to Leipzig to stay with my friend Kate for a few days! I worked with Kate for years at the City of Fairfax Library, and she left to move with her husband, who works for the State department, to Istanbul. And last summer, they moved to Leipzig. Since I was already hoping to visit Germany for my 60th birthday, I made plans to visit her. She could not have been more wonderful and welcoming!

It was two hours from Sondra to Leipzig, so I got there early evening, settled in, saw their beautiful apartment with a balcony all the way around it, and had a wonderful dinner. After dinner, we walked to the nearby giant park in the middle of Leipzig. Here’s the lovely street right at the edge of the park:

Something I love about Germany in June is the long, long twilights, with the sun not going down until about 10 pm. We took a leisurely walk, for the sake of the amazing Riley the Wonder Dog. We got ice cream at a shop in the middle of the park. Riley knew that he gets a small cone of his own, though he was very interested in getting more (and that’s what Dave’s hiding in this picture).

We walked through the park and then along the river, taking a big circle back.

It was such a lovely finish to an absolutely beautiful day! I was back in Germany, and my heart was so full.

I confess, my next stop was one of things I’d most been looking forward to about my trip.

I’m blogging about my 60th birthday trip back to Germany. On June 12, my first full day in Germany, I was traveling from Fulda to see my friend in Leipzig, about a four-hour drive. But I’d noticed that smack in the middle of that trip was Eisenach (where I visited the Bachhaus), and I knew that Eisenach was near the village of Sondra.

Let me back up. My name is unusual. My Mom says her own mother had a piano student named Sondra, but I thought she’d made the name up because she didn’t want me to have a name that rhymed with Randy, her planned boy’s name. (And yes, my next brother is named Randy.) All my life, I’ve gotten mistaken for Sandy or Sandra, even when the name is written out in front of them. I’ve never ever found my name on a mug or a keychain. (Though as an adult, I’ve had those exact things specially engraved.)

So — when my family and I moved to Germany in late 1996, I was super happy to discover that Sonder is a German prefix meaning “special.” You can still find that fact on every page of my website. So one day I was looking at my road atlas, which I loved to peruse to find castles to visit, and I saw a nearby town called Sonderhausen, which of course means “special houses.” I was tickled by this, and then I got to wondering if there might be more German towns with the same prefix. So I flipped back to the index in the back. Well, my eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw a village with the name “Sondra”!

Sondra was 3 hours away from where we lived, in the former East Germany, but one weekend in August 1998, I dragged my whole family there to get pictures with the sign. We went to the nearby Wartburg castle as well, to add value to the trip, but the highlight for me was Sondra! A lady in an actual kerchief was out working in a nearby field, and who knows what she thought of us. Later, I went to a t-shirt shop at the BX and had a t-shirt and sweatshirt made from the image.

Here’s a picture from 1998:

And with my kids:

Now, before I tell more about the story, let me backtrack to a couple weeks before the 2024 trip. My much anticipated return to Germany was fast approaching, and I was beginning to freak out. This time, I was going all by myself, and there was a lot that needed to work out. I was planning a couple long days driving, including that day from Fulda to Leipzig, and I was really counting on my GPS working. I’d ordered via Amazon a chip that was supposed to work in Germany, but what if something went wrong? What if I was too jet lagged and wasn’t safe to drive so far? What if the timing was wrong and I was too late to check in that first night? And then there was worry about getting packed in time and catching my flights and all going well. What if I caught Covid on the plane, like I did going to Maui a year and a half before? (Note that I wore a mask on the way there and did not catch Covid. I did not wear a mask on the way back and did catch Covid.)

That gives you the idea — I was just plain fretting about my upcoming trip, worried about everything going smoothly. So one day, when I was walking by my lake, praying (I like to use my walks that way), I wanted to stop fretting and trust that God would look after me on my trip. And I prayed for that — and then I asked to see the great blue heron who often frequents my lake. I hadn’t seen it in weeks, and I did ask, just as a reminder that God is watching over me and God is listening, and I’d take it as a sign that I didn’t need to worry about my trip. I prayed this on my first pass by the lake — on my way back, sure enough, a great blue heron popped up and flew to the other side of the lake. I saw it again on each one of the three or four more walks I took before my trip. And yes, it helped with my fretting.

And when I got to Germany, my GPS worked! I’d had a little difficulty finding the right turn to the monastery in Fulda the night before, but by Wednesday I had it going well, and my ten years of driving in Germany – with stick shift – all came back, and I still felt so exhilarated to be there. That morning, I checked out around ten, got to the Bachhaus in Eisenach with no trouble, had lunch after enjoying it, and then was ready to drive about twenty minutes to the village of Sondra.

The day was beautiful! Blue skies, white puffy clouds, cool breezes, and my heart was light. I got to the village and found a place to park near the sign on the far side of the village. Sondra! I was really back!

I took pictures, happy to see they’d taken better care of the sign. They’d made some changes since 1998, probably having to do with how the town is incorporated. Comparing pictures later, there was a house closer to the sign and no evidence of a farm where there’d been one before.

Looking back at the village:

Looking at the field on the edge of town:

So I took lots of pictures. Both sides of the sign. Selfies.

Finally, I went back to my car. I stood outside it for a bit, just soaking up this beautiful place. To me, there was something so symbolic about being back in Sondra. It tells me that, yes, I am special. My life matters. Despite all that happened to me and my lost marriage, God has been with me. And I was just soaking all that up, looking across this field:

And in the distance, I saw a big bird approaching, with another behind it. I wondered what kind of raptor it was, though it wasn’t exactly shaped like a raptor, and I tried and failed to take its picture. But I put down the camera to get a better look. And, I kid you not – when it got close, I could clearly see – it was a great blue heron!

It flew right past, with another behind it. I didn’t manage to get a picture, but I had gotten a clear view.

That’s right, at the start of my Germany trip, in the village of Sondra, God sent me a great blue heron.

Yes, I’m taking all the symbolism I can muster out of that one.

I drove away marveling, even laughing out loud with delight. Remember, I was alone in my car. I did some shouting out loud, “Really God? IN THE VILLAGE OF SONDRA????!!!! Could you even be more obvious?!!!”

Let’s just say it was a wonderful moment, which I’m treasuring in my heart to this day.

In June, I took a wonderful trip back to Germany after 18 years away. On Wednesday, June 12, I began the day at Tagungskloster Frauenberg in Fulda and was planning to end the day a four-hour drive away at my friend Kate’s home in Leipzig. Right in the middle of my route was Eisenach, which is near the village of Sondra.

More about the village later. When I dragged my family to Sondra in 1998, we visited the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, but for this trip I had something of a Bach theme going, so I decided to visit the Bachhaus there. They don’t think it’s actually where Bach was born any more, but he was probably born in a home around the corner, and they’ve made a wonderful interactive museum out of this home where he definitely spent some time.

As planned, it took me a couple of hours to get to Eisenach and find the Bachhaus. A German man helped me figure out the parking system. (You could pay with a credit card!) And I thought to take a picture of the cute little Fiat that was carrying me around Deutschland.

I am not crazy about driving in cities. But Eisenach’s city center was simple enough and had a parking lot right in front of the Bachhaus. I love the old buildings.

Then it was on to the Bachhaus!

There was a whole lot to explore inside. Old instruments, rooms furnished as they would have been in Bach’s time, and even a back garden. Pretty much everything had a description in English as well as German and the many things set up for audio had narration in English with the push of a button.

I liked this room, very much set up for listening. You’d sit in one of these hanging chairs and hear a piece by Bach and get information about it. And there was even a view out the window to the castle on the hill.

After an hour of exploring, I had a ticket to attend a half-hour concert where a musician played about a half-dozen different keyboard instruments from Bach’s time.

After the lovely concert, I spent a little more time in the garden.

Then I had a delicious lunch at the Bach Restaurant out front and was ready for my next destination – the village of Sondra, where I was going to take a new picture of the sign, as I had done with my family 27 years before.