Grimm Brothers, Soccer, and Church

As an old university town, Goettingen has had many famous residents. There is a plaque on the buildings downtown noting the name of the person who and how long they lived there. This is where the Grimm Brothers lived:

During the Germany/US soccer match. Lots of energy and buzz downtown:

On an afternoon out and about, Ethan found this academic book store:

And we saw this amazing duo:

The pastor of the baptist church here recognized the Williams family and the Jones family (a different Jones family) and sent them off with prayers. The Jones family just returned home to the states this week and the Williams family leaves next week. They both have clearly made an impact here.

A street downtown that I've always liked:

Wilhelm Palace and Hercules Monument

In neighboring Kassel, you can explore the Wilhelm Palace, the palace grounds, and the Hercules Monument. There is a water feature that is only displayed for 1 hour on Sundays and Wednesdays. The Williams family wanted to see the water feature and so did we.

The bus/trolley stop at the base of the palace grounds.

Trees along the path to the palace.

These two talk the entire day long. We have been so thankful to spend so much time with the Williams family, as we do love them so much.

First glimpse of the Wilhelm Palace. Inside is a museum, which we did not go through.

Panoramic of the grounds. If you know where to look, you can see the castle ruins in the dark hills and the Hercules Monument.

Main entrance of the Wilhelm Palace. Very grand.

Outside the palace, with the grounds behind us and the Hercules Monument at the top.

The end of the aqueduct. We had no idea at the time that the water feature came all the way this far down. We thought it was cool on its own.

Seth is my buddy and we were having a lot of fun hiking up the path.

These kids are the best and so fun and sweet. Exploring Germany with them has been entertaining and such a joy.

We all thought this bridge was so beautiful, so obviously we stopped for photos, not knowing that later we would see it with the water turned on.

The base of the Hercules Monument, the Neptune Fountain.

We were not the only ones with the plan to see the water feature. The amount of people up at the top by the monument was enormous. Also, this guy makes me laugh.

The Hercules Monument, with the water turned on. From where I'm standing to the top of the statue is 1.5 kilometers.

So very thankful for Johnita all the time, but her kindness and thoughtfulness here in Germany has been such a blessing to me. Plus she is fun to hang out with. I look up to her so much.

After the water came all the way down the Hercules Monument, people started walking back down the path and we had no idea what was going on. We stayed up at the fountain to watch the water and then the water stopped. Since we figured we were missing out on something, we followed the people down the path to the bridge. We are glad we caught on.

The bridge again, with the water on.

After the bridge, we followed the masses down to the aqueduct. We had a great view. When the water came over the edge, the whole crowd gasped and cheered. The water was loud and gorgeous.

We thought it was over, but followed the crowd back down to the palace grounds. We rounded a corner and saw this and all started laughing because we had no clue we were going to see the largest fountain we've ever seen.

Sweet, beautiful Brooke. Smart and funny and kind, there's hardly an (almost) 10 year old I'd rather hang out with.

Pretty clouds over the palace.

We had such a lovely time! We took the train home and got some ice cream before dinner to celebrate a successful adventure day.

Bismark Tower

The Bismark Tower is a monument in the forest, one of over 200 built across Germany to commemorate Chancellor Bismark in the successful unification of Germany. We asked the Williams family to hike up with us, since it is near their apartment. It was beautiful, from the hike up to the view from the top.

The beginning of the forest path to the tower.

Looking up the tower.

 The plaque for Pluto on the Planet Path is here. Two birds with one stone.

Although it was cold and starting to rain, the view was gorgeous. And windy.

Watching the rain come in.

Chancellor Bismark.

Guard at the door.

My hiking buddies.

The walk down.

I have to remind myself to look up while walking around through town or in the forest. It is so lovely.