It turned out that the Gothenburg Mall was fairly large, but we only spent an hour there, as visiting a mall marked in a completely foreign language and more expensive than American malls can only be so entertaining. There was a Gamestop, though, and a Bokia, which was a bookstore I maintain is owned by Borders, judging by the font format, color schemes, etc. After this hour, we went to meet a representative of our church conference, who lives in Sweden, for lunch at a cafe. Before visiting the cafe, we stepped into the Christian church of Gothenburg, which was a quite beautiful church building during the 19th century and modeled after the general style of a Catholic cathedral. Until about 20 years ago, the official Lutheran Church of Sweden was the only church allowed in the country, and this church belongs to that denomination. They currently hold some fairly liberal beliefs. After our lunch in the cafe, we did a little more shopping, including at a little candy store in Gothenburg, and then took the rest of the evening off.
The next day was set aside to pack for our flight to Germany and to visit that expanding furniture store that originated in Sweden: IKEA. There's not much to say about the actual visit itself, other than it was rather enlightening to know that it is Swedish in origin, and that it is fairly obvious now that its space-saving methods and utilitarianism develop from necessity. However, the biggest point to take away is that Europe, and the Swedes in particular, are far ahead of America when it comes to being more environmentally conscious and waste conservative. For example, all the concentration on space and energy-saving devices in IKEA, including lamps that had solar cells mounted in them. Germany is also experience a surge in the popularity of outfitting roofs with a large number of solar cells, so as to offset their own energy use.
That evening, we had a uneventful and successful flight into the Frankfurt airport, the third busiest in Europe. We had a rental car already paid for and ready for pickup in the airport, and when we actually picked it up it turns out it was a brand-new 2010 Volvo V70 Diesel 6-speed. It looks like an updated version of what we in the states would call a "station wagon", which is way more standard here in Europe; its like their version of the SUV. It had literally 10 kilometers on it when my dad pulled it out of the rental car garage. I'm looking forward to riding in it on our way to Salzburg. We got settled into our accommodations with my great-aunt and great-uncle in Rothenbergen-Gründau. They have a fantastic house, and gave myself and my two siblings the third floor all to ourselves. The best part of this is that the third floor has a balcony with a beautiful view, just absolutely stunning. We then had a late abendessen (dinner) that consisted of wurst, real frankfurters, potato salad und brot (bread).
The next day, Thursday, we visited several of the little villages around Gründau. First, we went to Büdingen, which dates back hundreds of years. In the Altstadt, or Old City, the streets were narrow and paved with brick, and looked pretty much like you see in pictures, with the plaster-and-woodbeam houses lining the streets. In a lot of the houses, each increasing story would branch further and further out from the main structure; this was because while there were regulations specifying how close together two buildings could be and how narrow the street could be, these regulations did not apply to upper floors. We were able to get some tourist information in English about the Altstadt, and we went on a self-guided tour of the entire town and its various historical sites. The unique features of Büdingen were the castle, which was still inhabited by a prince of some sort, and the large dog-sized frogs located on the sides of various buildings located around the city. The frogs have some relation to a story centered around Büdingen. Like most German towns, the huge cathedrals tower over the rest of the town, and Büdingen was no exception. Another notable about Büdingen: the entire town was surrounded by an old wall that was still completely standing, including several different gates that lead to the outer city. Once we had seen a good portion of the city, we headed out of one of these gates and to an authentic Italian gelato place just outside the walls that Tante Ingrid suggested.
After immensely enjoying our gelato, we got in the car and headed in the opposite direction to the town of Gelnhausen. Unlike Büdingen, the wall that once surrounded Gelnhausen was mostly broken down, and the castle was in ruins. This was to our benefit as far as the castle was concerned though, as we were able to actually get into some of the walls and towers and climb up to some of the higher parts for good pictures. The castle in the other city wasn't explorable because it was still occupied.
Gelnhausen was also the site of two beautiful cathedrals, Marienkirche and St. Paul's Cathedral. Marienkirche was host to some replicas of very old copies of the Bible, some dating back to the 12th century. It also held a Bible complete with illustrations by Salvador Dali. This same church also had many relief sculptures on the walls, and some beautiful stained glass windows. It towered over the rest of the city, viewable from miles away.
After visiting both these small towns, we headed back to Gründau for an abendessen of Aunt Ingrid's special spaghetti with meat sauce that was just absolutely fantastic. Tomorrow, we plan on taking a boat tour down the Rhine river if the weather cooperates, and hopefully many pictures will be taken.
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