Büdingen

We noticed right away that Büdingen had a frog theme. Frogs on buildings and a frog fountain?

In my search to find out more about the frog theme, I found a blog post from some senior missionaries who served in Frankfurt in 2017. Here is what they learned from a tour:

The legend of the frogs: A young woman was sent to Büdingen in an arranged marriage. She was a teenager and just wanted to go home. The people and the count loved her and wanted her to stay. Rather than say she was a homesick girl, she said that she couldn't stay because the frogs made too much noise at night. The citizens organized a massive frog hunt and eliminated the frogs, the noise, and her excuse. So as the story goes, she stayed, had a large family and served the people of Büdingen.

     

Bridge across the now dry moat, through the Jerusalem gate.

Jerusalem gate inside the old city.

The weather station.

          

Old town wall 1353.

In this Protestant church hangs a Moravian star (100 point Christmas star), but otherwise is unadorned.

Notice the frog on the side of the arch.

Imagine how beautiful this area would be in the Spring and Summer.

It was a very cold day and we were so grateful to find an Italian restaurant open. Take-out is our only option when we go out exploring these days. This pepperoni and mushroom pizza was the best we've had in a LONG time. We have ordered pepperoni in the past and gotten pepperoncinis instead.
This was a delicious lunch, even if we had to eat it in the car.

But we couldn't find any public toilets open. The restaurant wouldn't let us use theirs and even the toilets at two gas stations were not open to the public. So, we just decided to go home.