Visit to Vitra Haus

Tim and Luke went to see the famous Vitra Haus this week. Vitra is a famous furniture maker with many contemporary designs. The building itself is an incredible work. The design is stunning. This is just 15 minutes from our town of Kandern.

We thought this chair looked "precarious".

Tim is sitting in a famous "Eames" chair. This chair can be purchased for around 4000 euros.

Eames chairs everywhere!!

Tim really liked these wall clocks.

These next clocks reminded Tim of something from the movie "The Incredibles".



This stool, below, is made from corrugated cardboard.

Notice the band going around Luke's back and knees. This is also a chair! Vitra was a cool place to visit.

World Cup Fever

We have been faithfully watching the World Cup since we are big soccer fans. Luke has enjoyed watching with his friends from BFA days and also sharing the excitement of the sport with local die-hard German fans. Our town has been celebrating with gusto especially now that Germany is advancing to the quarter finals.

Six Countries in One Day

Luke's time with us is coming to a close. It has been wonderful having him here. He has also had a great time coming back to Germany one last time and hanging out with old BFA friends, one of them being his best friend since Grade 3 who happens to also be back visiting with his parents.
Billy and Luke along with another friend, Jonathan, did something a little bit crazy several Saturdays ago. They decided to visit 6 countries in one day. Jonathan rented a fast car and they proceeded with a whirlwind trip to Austria, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Italy, France, and then back to Germany - 800 kilometers later!! They had an awesome day together and won't soon forget these fun memories I'm sure. Luke was also able to go to Paris with Billy and Jonathan, so I have included several pictures from that adventure as well.
Thanks to Billy and Luke for providing these pictures. Several have my watermark on them but they are in fact Luke's photos.

A Sunday in Basel

The Basel Muenster. There is a real church fellowship that meets here every Sunday. Tim likes to go to the service every once in while.

Tim standing beside the grave of Desiderius Erasmus von Rotterdam. Tim likes this guy a lot. Erasmus had a lot to say about Christian schooling.

Tim and Luke went to Art Basel and were awe struck by this piece entitled "Michael" by Evan Penny. The detail was stunning right down to the nose hairs and stubble on his shaved head - so life like, yet so weird. The distortion added to the weirdness. It's about 8 feet tall.

Happy Birthday, Kandern!

Our beautiful town of Kandern is celebrating its 200th Birthday this year! We were able to experience some of the celebrating at the town's annual "Staedtlitag" the day before I went into hospital.
The celebrations will continue throughout the year with different events being planned.



The town mayor and his wife.


Villages surrounding Kandern each had a display from their town represented at Staedtlitag.





World Cup fever is evident everywhere here in Germany! Soccer is the country's #1 sport (and also BFA's strongest sport).

Recovering

After a 9 day stay in hospital I am happy to be home. Recovery is going slower than I would like, but I am trying to pace myself.
Following my operation, the surgeon presented me with 3 large kidney stones.We weren't able to keep them because they send them in to be analyzed. Tim took a picture of them, but you really don't want to see them, so I took a picture instead of my prize kidney stone from surgery 21 years ago. The stones this time round were not as big.
I received some beautiful bouquets of flowers and many encouraging notes. I am grateful to all of you!

These flowers were droopy after a few days but were still beautiful!