Rieden am Forggensee

After a perfect evening walk we ate dinner at our hotel (Landhotel Schwarzenbach) restaurant and had a fabulous German dish.  Tom had turkey steak with fresh fruit in a curry sauce that was exceptional.  Then a pancake with cranberries for dessert.  The hotel is on a busy road, but the view and the restaurant make up for it. 

The 'temple' looking building on the mountain is Schloss Neuschwanstein:  built for Kind Ludwig to escape the public, there are 1.4 million people who visit each year: 6,000/day.

The colors were a perfect blend.  We are just north of Fussen, the drive only 7 1/2 hours from Brussels.  We are wondering why we haven't vacationed in this area in the summer before?  It's gorgeous.  We have a 4 hour drive tomorrow to Cortina.

THE MISSION CALL: ROME ITALY

We have been called to the Rome Italy Mission.  Our primary responsibility will be to open the Italy Country Welfare Office (Refugee Assistance)  We report to the Provo MTC on Feb 20th and we will serve for 18 months.  This is so exciting!  Seth got the letter in the mail on Saturday, and we had just come home from a long day in Florence.  Today we went to church here in Ravenna.  Tom said his Italian is starting to flood back.  I'm picking up a word here and there, but I learned in Brussels that a few key phrases can really help!  Now that we have a timeframe to work with, I did book flights to Hawaii so we can celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary there!