Even with the pictures to prove it happened, I’m still a little amazed that I actually participated in a book tour in Germany from May 28-June 7. What a fabulous experience! The picture above is from the author festival that took place in Marburg, the home of my German publisher, Francke.
The Publishing House
Me and the lady who has translated my books, Rebekka Jilg.
Can you believe that at 5″4″ I’m the tallest???
I had the honor of traveling through Germany with two other authors: Lisa Wingate and Irma Joubert. Lisa and I already knew each other from the States, having met at various writer events in Texas over the years, but neither of us knew Irma Joubert, an author from South Africa. She is the author of The Girl from the Train, the first book ever nominated for a Christy award that was not written in English. It was translated from Afrikaans. Irma is a vivacious 60-something pensioner who made me feel like I was traveling with Mary Poppins. She was always ready with a funny story to tell to make the long, daily car trips a joy. We laughed together like the best of friends all week long.
Every day we traveled to a new bookshop (often one in the afternoon and another in the evening) where we each would speak about writing and books through a local interpreter. Our program lasted about 1 1/2 hours followed by book signings. Sometimes we presented our program in the bookshops themselves, sometimes in schools, and sometimes in churches. The readers were always so warm and friendly, and the staff from the bookshops were delightful. Some of them even had us into their homes for a quick supper before we presented our talks.
We had very little time for sight-seeing, but we did sneak in a short visit to Heidelberg one morning and stopped for lunch at the quaint town of Goslar. Here are some of the photo highlights:
Castle at Heidelberg
Inside the church where we parked. (The public lot was full, but the pastor to this church happened to see the Francke logo on the back of our car and offered to let us park in his church lot. God took care of everything for us!)
Lisa and Christian (Marketing Director and our driver for the tour) by the Heidelberg Gate. Note the umbrellas. It rained every day except during the festival on Saturday. It became a joke as we drove that if the rain started falling, we must be getting close to our speaking destination.
Irma and I selecting a scrumptious apple pastry. It paired perfectly with our tea.
One of these days, I’d love to return to Germany when there is time to visit all the castles. My fairy tale loving heart fluttered with excitement every time Christian pointed one out to us from the car window. Germany must surely be the land of castles. What more could a romance author ask for?
Well . . . perhaps a sweet from the local bakery.
The Francke team: Top row, left to right: Lisa, Anne-Ruth (our German publisher and tour manager), Sven (cover designer, social media guru, and writer of children’s books), me, Kathrin (chief editor). Front row: Sabine (our translator for the festival and tour guide on day one of the visit), and Christian (our driver and the man behind the marketing of Francke). Did we ever have fun together!
And just because I was thinking of Tammy (our resident door collector) as we walked through the old town of Goslar, here are my two favorite doors . . .
Which door do you like best?
What European country would you choose to visit if you could have your choice?
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I liked the red door best. If I could have my choice I’d like to visit England. I have relatives living there.
Knowing someone there makes the best trips. You would have a free place to stay and a built-in tour guide. Fabulous. I hope you get to go sometime soon, Shirley.
I love all of your pictures, Karen!!!!
And personally, I love the blue door!!! But, the red door is very beautiful!
Hmm, if I could visit any European country, I would want to visit…All of them! 😉 but if I could only do one….I have always thought that Italy would be cool to see!
My daughter and I got to visit Italy last March. (I rarely travel, but in the past year, I’ve made 3 European trips. Crazy!) It was wonderful! Walking the streets in Rome and visiting the catacombs where the Christians met and buried their dead in secret gave me chills. Such an ancient place with so much religious history. I would highly recommend it.
I would love to visit Europe. Europe, especially England and Ireland, has always held an fascination to me. I am into Castles also and would love to visit the Castles and old churches in Europe. Those doors you posted are awesome and the castle would be a dream come true to visit.
Leann
I think you and I would have fun scouting out all the castles, Leann. I adore old churches as well. There was a delightful old church in Marburg where we stayed named for St. Elizabeth. She was a Hungarian princess who married the local ruler of Thuringia (central Germany), Landgrave Louis IV, at the age of 14 in the year 1221. The marriage was a happy one but ended far too quickly. Her husband left to join the Crusades and died on the journey from a fever. Elizabeth was 20 years old.
Greatly influenced by the teaching of Francis of Assisi, Elizabeth was passionate about charity work and ministering to the poor and afflicted in Marburg. After her husband’s death, Louis’s family kicked her out of the palace, but that didn’t stop her from her ministry. Beloved by the people, she found ways to build hospitals and continue her charity work even at the cost of her own comfort and daily needs. She is said to have often refused food if the farmers who grew it were not paid an honest wage.
She died at the age of 24, catching a disease from one of the dying people she served so tirelessly in the hospice centers she established. After her death, the family that had scorned her petitioned the church to canonize her as a saint. The church in Marburg is one of the earliest Gothic cathedrals built in Europe and it became one of the main pilgrimage locations in Germany during the 14th and 15th centuries.
Such an inspiring young woman who accomplished so much good in such a short life. Some of the ruins from her hospitals are still standing in Marburg today.
Karen, your trip sounds like a teaser. Just enough to know you need to go back and really spend time exploring. I’m so glad you got to go.
I guess I would take the red door and hope that on the other side I would walk into Sicily. I wonder if anyone would recognize me since I am told repeatedly that I look just like my grandmother.
I agree, Rosie. I would LOVE to go back and really explore the area. Especially the castles. 🙂
How fun to imagine walking through the door to another place. I love how your mind works. 🙂
Hi Karen,
Except for singing together in an ACFW choir two years ago, we’ve never met but I’m just so happy for you! It sounds like it was a delightful experience. When I traveled through Ireland I focused on taking photos of doors. Such fun!
Hi, Leslie! Singing together is a bond that never disappears. 🙂
I adore all the old architecture found in Europe. My history-loving soul just drinks it in. And those doors are wonderful! I bet you have a great collection of Irish doors. I’d love to see some samples sometime.
Karen, thank you for sharing your Germany trip! The photos are amazing! I love the red door. 🙂
Isn’t it fun? I love the vivid colors. It just stirs the imagination. 🙂
How exciting for you! The pictures are lovely. I’m sure the experience has lasting impressions.
Definitely! This will be a trip to remember for so many reasons. The scenery. The fairy-tale feel. But mostly the people. What a wonderful opportunity to meet readers from a different culture and to work closely with our Germany publishers. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything!
Looks like you had a wonderful day. My dad was stationed in Heidelberg when he was in the army. He loved it and the people, but said it rained all the time.
I really like the red door..which is kind of funny since I’m not a fan of red. So glad you had a great experience :). I love castles and old churches. Italy has some beautiful churches!
How fun! We only spent an hour or two in Heidelberg, but it was such a beautiful, charming city, I would love to go back. They have one of the oldest university libraries in Europe there. All of us as book lovers really appreciated seeing that. And the public restroom inside. Ha!
Thank you for the fun recap of our trip, Karen! What a great time we had. I can’t remember when I’ve laughed so much on a road trip. Thanks for the memories, sweet friend!
Hugs!
Lisa
Yes, I will never look at black pants the same. LOL! I hope we get to do it again sometime. 🙂
Well, I have already been to France. I am of German descent but I think I’d pick the UK (more specifically England or Scotland) to go visit on a chance to go any European country.
I would love to spend time in England. Whenever Julie Klassen posts pictures of her research trips I grow a tad green. I’d love to spend some time there, too.
I love the blue door and I love your pictures. Sounds like you had a wonderful time.
We got to go to England when our son was working over there. The Queen Mum died on the Good Friday we arrived in London so we got to see all the Pomp and Circumstance surrounding her funeral. That was quite amazing. The lines were five miles long waiting to pass by her casket in the Westminster Hall. We opted not to wait in line. We did get to go to Bath to see the ruins of the old city and toured Blenham Palace in Woodstock where Winston Churchill was born. The old churches are wonderful, so old. It was an amazing trip.
If I got to go back I would love to visit France. My father’s family came from France and we have some family still there.
I love the old churches. So beautiful and stately. It sounds like you had a wonderful trip, Joyce. I would love to see some of those places you visited. And how wonderful it would be to renew family ties in France? What fun. I hope you get the chance to go someday soon.
Great post, Karen. Also great pics, except on my computer many were sideways or too small. It must be a cool feeling to have your books translated to another language and know that people in that country are enjoying them. The doors in your post reminded me so much of the beautiful doors I saw in Bergen Norway, which is where my husband is from. I took many pics of just doors. I’d love to visit places like Germany [I’d love to see the Rhine] and France and see the cathedrals. Thanks for sharing your great descriptions here and your pics. Oh, and I choose the blue door, but I do like the red one too. I bet the red one is older.
Thanks, Diana. Sorry you had trouble with some of the pics. Sometimes the formatting is odd when I’m trying to get them to fit in the blog. I’m glad you liked the doors. They are just so pretty and old-fashioned. I’m a little partial to the blue door myself. 🙂
Beautiful pictures! I like the blue door.
Your trip sounds wonderful. I would like to go to England, Scotland, or Ireland.
Me, too, Betty. I’d love to visit all those quaint villages and wild heaths. Tromp through some rugged ruins and visit ancient castes. Sigh. Lovely!
Karen – What fabulous pictures! I’m so glad you had a good time. I’m really liking the blue door. My husband and I have spent time in Germany, France, the Netherlands and England but we haven’t been to Italy. I’d love to see Tuscany at some point. If you ever have a chance to go back to Germany I hope you get to visit Cologne. The cathedral there is amazing plus there is a fabulous chocolate museum along the Rhine. 🙂
Ooo a chocolate museum. Definitely worth a return trip. LOL.
I’ve been lucky enough to go to England, Scotland, Wales, Sweden, Portugal, parts of Spain, southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and a small bit of France. We’ve seen several castles, cathedrals, and palaces. When we were in Switzerland, I got to see the house where my grandfather grew up near Interlochen. My daughter spent 18 months in Scotland and kept in touch with a lot of people she met there and in England. She asked me and my husband to go with her and her husband on a trip back there. All of her friends wanted us to stay with them, so we were gone almost two weeks and didn’t have to stay in a hotel at all! It was so much fun getting to see how they actually live there. I would love to go back over again, especially to Switzerland, Germany and Scotland. In England we visited Lyme Park where part of Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth version) was filmed. We had a picnic on the lawn at the spot where Mr. Darcy met Elizabeth as he emerged from the pond. So fun!
I enjoyed your pictures! It sounds like you had a great time!
How wonderful! It’s definably better when you can stay with locals. And you got to picnic by the Darcy pond???? I’m so jealous! 🙂
It was so much fun! The grounds were beautiful, and the house (that’s an understatement) was impressive–the largest in Cheshire!We also went to Belton House, which was the setting for Rosing Park, Lady Catherine’s house.
Thank you for this fun post,Karen! I would choose the blue door and as for the country I would visit my first choice would be Germany. (followed by Ireland and Austria) Germany is the first choice because some of my heritage is from there. Thank you so much for the pictures and sharing your tour with us . It looks like a great place to visit and that you had a great time !
You would love Germany, Lynne. I hope you get the chance to visit. On a choir trip many years ago, I got the chance to visit Vienna, Austria and see the opera house and walk through the composer graveyard. Being a lover of classical music, that was an experience I will never forget. Loved it!
Thanks a lot for sharing your memories,Karen!:) About St. Elisabeth, I found about her from a German musical recommended by a friend, she must have been a really loving person.:) Even though I’m European( from Romania), I never got to travel abroad because of the expenses, but in my dreams I’d go to see Finland( they have some amazing landscapes), Austria ( I would love to walk in the footsteps of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, queen of Hungary( knows as Sisi to family and friends), hailed as one of the most beautiful women of Europe back then ( in the XIXth century) have you heard of her? Plus my maternal great-great-grandfather was an Austrian) and Germany, France…Any place is beautiful, you just have to keep your eyes open to see that.:) And what could be better than enjoying these gorgeous sights alongside great people and good Christian books? 🙂 Such a heaven on earth.:)
I couldn’t agree more, Faby. Beautiful sights, good people, and good books. Nothing can top that. 🙂
Dear Karen,
I have heard of your trip to Germany from a friend who met you in Volmarstein. She even sent me a picture of you and Lisa and she asked me if I know who is in the picture. Well… I guessed correctly that the women could be authors, but I didn’t recognize you! Sorry!! 😉 I am also sorry that I didn’t have the opportunity to meet you. 🙁
But I am glad that you had a good time here in Germany and I hope you will visit again. 🙂
Yes, Germany is full of beautiful old castles, rich of history and there is so much to see. I would be happy to be your guide 😉
Maybe you can tell me what you think is different between the German and American culture. That would be nice. I am curious about that.
Good bless you and your books!
I LOVE THOSE DOORS! And love that you thought of me, Karen. I prayed for y’all as you traveled—so wishing I could have gone with you this year!—and know full well that you blessed our German readers! Isn’t everyone at Francke just the best? So kind and fun!