Tuesday in Worms
today I take you to Worms (pronounced "Vorms"), also know as "Little Jerusalem."
"Today Miriam began printing out the train schedule for me. Having the Bahn schedule with times and platform numbers gave me a bit of confidence. If I needed help and had difficulty communicating, I could at least share this sheet with my home station on it- Ludwigshafen Hbf ."
"As I walked down Wilh-Leuschner-StraBe, I paused at a tailor shop and street vendor. The flowers for sale made me think of Christine and Miriam, my kind young friends at the hotel. For without them, I fear my entire trip would have been spent walking around Ludwigshafen. The flowers would be a great gift for them. And at 1,00 euro, they were a great price. I hoped the shop would be open on my return trip to the train station. It was, and the shopkeeper (who didn't speak English) and I were able to communicate enough to complete the sale."
It was here in Worms, where Emperor Charles the Fifth brought Dr. Martin Luther on April 17/18, 1521 to recant his writings. He refused. The monument shows Dr. Martin Luther in the center along with other earlier reformers, electors, and friends.
:: Imperial Cathedral of St. Peter ::
"St. Peter's Cathedral...oh my goodness...the massive size of it! I was overwhelmed with emotion. It was cold inside. An older man sat inside a glass cubical. I smiled at him and gently waved my camera asking, "can I take pictures?" he shook his head "yes." this was just one more example of the many "conversations" I'm having."
:: Holy Sands ::
this is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe, approximately 2000 graves, dating back to 1076. mark and I think the papers and rocks are prayers left by family members or visitors. (maybe you can help us with that Larissa?)
"Before heading back to the station, I stopped by Vannini for an ice cream. I chose a pink flavor hoping it was fruity. It tasted like raspberry. The young man who served me understood my order:
"One, very small, .80 euro."
"Cone or dish?"
"Cone, please."
I paid.
He said "thank you" with a smile.
I smiled and said "danke."
another clock for my collection...this one my mom will appreciate!
I hope you'll visit Koln with me tomorrow.
13 comments:
your post today has answered the question, "how does one's soul smile?" i can't describe the look of it to you, but i can feel it. i only had a glimpse of your journal, but i am rushing home tonight to study it. your hand-drawn map of the rhein and the cities you visited is awesome! and again, i love your inclusion of your jounal comments as they were written then, and not interpreted later. the honesty is inspiring, and the the words themselves are like a direct invitation to everyone that reads into the very essence of who you are. so deep, and kind, and youthful, and thoughtful, and ...
count me in for the trip to Koln tomorrow!
LOL...you know I love my Raymond Weil...thanks for the pictures and narrative about your time in Germany. Perhaps one day I'll get to experience it myself.
so far, this has been my favorite stop....I would have loved the history lesson involving Martin Luther. And raspberry ice cream...perfect!
I am loving this recap! I see Heidelberg in your journal--did you get there? I lived there for almost four months with an American family when I was just out of college.
Beautiful views here today...:) Thank you for sharing your trip with us. My husband and I love clocks, it is great to see so many were there. I would have been very inspired by the amazing churches as well. They are gorgeous!!
Enjoy your day!
xoxo Gloria
So much history! Everything is so beautiful and your words really help me to feel it ;)
This is fun. Can't wait to see Koln.
i just can't stop smiling.
you did an amazing job maneuvering your way around... thinking of others (as usual), learning, learning, learning. you must have felt great at the end of the day.
i actually just teared up when i read mark's comment. i get it, mark. i can't describes how it looks either, but my soul is smiling, too. and that photo of the map is so perfect. so perfectly kristyn. i LOVE it.
Loving your posts so far, what a great trip! Although I can't imagine being somewhere where not many people speak english. That alone would make me very nervous, but it sounds like you did great! Can't wait to see more.
It is my understanding that they leave rocks on the grave because they do not want to kill the flowers.
I love the Old World feel of your pictures. My grandparents were all from Germany and I was fortunate enough to go there during college. But, I would love to go back and see it all over again and try to find some relatives.
We're just returning from break and i have missed so much! Love this post and love all that you saw and learned and experienced on your travels. You are a wonderful story teller. The stones are what Jews place on graves to show that they are visited and that the person is loved and through of - stones are thought to be more permanent than flowers. Thank you so much for the beautiful photos - feel like i was there (actually wish I was there with you).
I must say this post was quite moving...for the magnificence of the stained glass windows, the poignancy of the papers and rocks left on the gravestones to your kind gesture of buying flowers for the young women helping with your trip and many more.
Each day of this journey shall be one to live on for a very long time.
xo...Ana
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