Week 2 and a trip to Germany's oldest city

The second week here, we are getting more settled and today decided to try to locate a Vodafone store since the cell phone options I had checked out online seemed to be better than the ones at O2 and T-Mobile. We had been praying that God would lead us to find the right cell phone provider. Seemingly, a trivial prayer but we were running into walls and getting local phone service set up is one of our essential needs. I found a Vodafone location in the Hagen city center, so after picking up Paul from work we headed over to see what we might find. I think we were both feeling discouraged and the thought of going in and trying to communicate and understand the plans in english was daunting and the last thing either of us felt like doing. I thought to myself, "here we go...." as we walked into the store. I was determined this time to leave with something in hand. Thankfully, the associate we walked up to spoke good english and he was very patient to show us all of our options. We finally decided on two low-end Android smart phones that were reasonably priced, with a low monthly rate, and without contract. We left feeling absolutely elated and thankful that we were led to the right place, had an english-speaking associate, enough cash on hand to pay (the credit card machine had just stopped working), and were able to make it into the store before they closed for the night. SO, we now have German cell phones and can communicate with each other. Thank you Jesus!

We are still figuring our where we will live for the next 6 months. Paul has been communicating back and forth with Katrin, the young lady whose apartment we saw in Hagen this past weekend. We let her know we are interested in the apartment but still have concerns about the storage space, etc. Frau Bohmer (owner of our current residence) also had mentioned we could stay on her property if we would like but would have to move to her daughter's old apartment on the property and it wouldn't be ready until March or April. We had been asking if we could see the apartment so we could compare it with Katrin's but they needed to get it cleaned up first. Finally, the apartment was ready for viewing and we made it back in time to see it after purchasing the cell phones. The apartment was very spacious but dark and not as charming as the house we are in now. We would not have a private entrance but would use the entrance everyone else uses to access the apartments in the main house. They told us the apartment would be partially refurbished with brand new floors and the washer and dryer would be in the apartment as opposed to having to use the one in the garage as I do now. After seeing this flat, we were definitely leaning towards the flat in Hagen.

We decided to pray about it of course. Skip forward a day. Katrin has been communicating back and forth with Paul quite a bit. She wanted us to move in on February 1st and if we could not, she wanted like to charge us 70 euros more per month for the use of a small room off of the bedroom which apparently contains wardrobes and places to store our things. The small room was not shown to us when we viewed the apartment because she was storing her personal things in there. She had originally planned to keep her things there while she rented the flat to us and this is why, obviously, there was no wardrobe/closet space available to us. We were happy to hear she was going to move her things out to make the space available to use, but paying extra per month for this was ridiculous. Paul and I basically said we would prefer to live in the flat in Hagen but, we could not move in on February 1st since we were obligated to stay with the Bohmer's until February 14th and we could not afford to pay 70 euro extra per month for the rent. We both went to sleep saying that we weren't worried about it, but that God was in control and we trusted that everything was going to work out the way it was meant to. :)

Paul wrote Katrin an email the next day letting her know that we were interested in renting her flat but we couldn't move in by February 1st and that we also couldn't afford to pay more per month. He told her that we didn't have to use the extra closet room but that we would like her to provide a wardrobe or something for us to hang and store our clothes. I think we were both a bit nervous about possibly losing the apartment by giving her this bottom line, but it is what we had to do. Katrin replied the next day and said that while she would be taking a loss, she liked us and didn't have any other potential renters lined up so she would accept our condition as well as still clear out her things so we have closet/storage space. Yay!

It has taken some time to work things out but, we are so thankful for the way God has provided. We will now have a new residence in Hagen starting on February 14th! I cannot wait to show you pictures of the place!

On Thursday evening after work, we left for Trier so Paul could work in Mandern on Friday. Mandern is where the Bilstein manufacturing plant is located. It is about two hours from Ennepetal. We had a bit of an adventure getting there. Our GPS kept directing us off the main highways to backroads through small towns which doubled our travel time. We figured out some of the settings were off and had to use the GPS from our phones but finally made it around 9pm.

On Friday morning, I was not feeling well so while Paul went off to work I was able to stay in the hotel room until 2pm to rest. After checking out of the hotel, the plan was to walk around the town until Paul could pick me up after work. Thankfully, the hotel where we stay is conveniently centrally located. I have been to Trier before on a previous trip but this time was able to explore the old town a little more. I'm loving my android phone and am so glad we spent a little extra for it. While walking around, I was able to use google maps to find a Vodafone store (phone problems) and google translate saves me on countless occasions.

Below, I am posting some pictures of Trier which is the oldest city in Germany. The city houses the world's largest intact Roman city gate north of the Alps, the Porta Nigra, as well as other Roman ruins. For more info on Trier: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trier#Main_sights. I did go into the Church of our Lady (no pictures allowed inside) and it was beautiful. The stained glass windows were quite interesting to me in style. Unfortunately, I found out more info on the church after I visited that day. Everything inside was in German. "The Liebfrauenkirche was constructed over the southern section of the Roman double church by Archbishop Theoderich von Wied. Completed in 1260, it was one of the first Gothic churches in Germany (its only competitor for the title is the Elisabethkirche in Marburg). In 1951, the Pope designated the church a Minor Basilica, and in 1986 it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List."

"The Liebfrauenkirche is in the shape of a Greek cross, creating a circular effect with all points equidistant from the central high altar. The structure is supported by 12 circular columns, rather than the typical open buttresses. The floor plan resembles a twelve-petaled rose, a symbol of the Virgin Mary, the rosa mystica, as well as the twelve tribes of Israel and the Twelve Apostles. The apostles and the twelve articles of the Apostle's Creed are painted on the twelve supporting columns, completely visible only from one spot, marked by a black stone. The intriguing optics are matched by splendid acoustics. The interior is bathed in sunlight, which streams through the high windows. Although its restoration after the war changed some of the effect of the central construction, it's still unique among German churches." I walked all around the inside of the church but would have loved to have known about the view from the black stone. :) I also would have loved to show you pictures of the inside! The Cathedral St. Peter is the oldest cathedral in the country.

Cathedral St. Peter/Dom

Church of our Lady/Liebfrauenkirche

front of church

Close-up of sculptures to the left of the front door

roof-top sculpture near church

St. Gangolf Church



Trier's market square

This is one view of Trier's market square. Many of the streets look similar to this. You can see the tower of St. Gangolf church behind the row of houses. The entrance to the courtyard of the church was kind of hidden but I was nosy and wandered into it and is how I took the picture above the market square shot. You cannot see the entrance but it was just to the left of the yellow timbered building in the market square. Apparently, St. Gangolf was the church that rivalled the Trier Cathedral.