Wednesday, July 12:
We left Ruedesheim at 8 a.m., dropped our tour guide off at the Frankfurt airport at 9 and shortly thereafter were at the Intercity Hotel next to the Frankfurt main train station. As we were crossing the street from our hotel back to the train station, we noticed a woman on the pavement who had just had a seizure and fallen. Another woman immediately rushed to the train station to get help - before we had time to cross the street, a police officer had come to assist.
Five of us: Lyle, Ruth, Mabel , Celia and I used our rail and bus pass from the hotel to take the S-Bahn to Friedberg, then changed trains and took a train to Nidda. There we took a bus to Ulfa where the Holt family's ancestral church that Ruth had discovered and wanted to see is located.
We had learned by phone that the pastor would not be able to be at the church until after 5 p.m., so we started to walk around the streets of Ulfa. We found the church immediately, but found it locked. After strolling for about an hour through the virtually deserted streets, it became important to find public rest rooms or, alternatively, a restaurant, which would provide both food and rest rooms. All such businesses were apparently closed. We finally asked a man just coming out of his house about locating a restaurant. He indicated that on Wednesday afternoons, all places of businesses were closed. By then we had already told him of our reason for being there, of our waiting to see the pastor, of our coming by train and bus and thus not having a car. When we told him that what we really needed were "Toiletten", he and his wife invited us into their house to use their facilities. Then they offered us a variety of drinks; we sat around their dining table, drinking and visiting. Ruth brought out her genealogical charts and we chatted about families they knew whose names were on the charts. They told us about friends and relatives who either lived in the U.S. or who had visited there. He worked in the local bank.
After leaving them we continued walking down the virtually empty streets, occasionally greeting and speaking with the quite friendly people we met, sharing with them our reasons for being there.
Apparently at least one of them must have spread the word because as we were crossing an intersection, from a hundred feet away a couple of ladies were calling for us to come. One lady introduced us to her mother, an 89 year old lady who had some information to share with us and who invited us into the home she shared with her husband and with her daughter and son-in-law. A sharp lady at the age of 89, she shared what she knew of the genealogical information we were seeking., but she also shared her ideas of things important in life. At one point in our chat we talked about flags of the various German provinces. I wanted to be sure that they meant flags and not coats of arms, so I asked about that. The German word for coat of arms is "wappen" and the lady thought I had said, "Waffen", the word for military weapons. She said Oh No, that she had lived through two wars in Germany and she didn't want that to happen again. Her daughter let her know the word I had used, but we continued with her topic for a while. I mentioned that people from different countries getting to know each other would help avoid war. She said "Yes" and the we all have the same God. After covering a variety of topics we thanked them for their hospitality and moved on down the street.
Shortly after 5 p.m. and four hours after we had arrived in Ulfa and had these several remarkable experiences, the pastor of the Ulfa church arrived and opened the church for us. More picture taking followed as well as chatting - this time in English.
At a quarter to six we caught the bus to Nidda, then the train to Friedberg and then the S-bahn to the main Frankfurt train station.