GERMAN ADVENTURE – Day 9

            Yesterday was bright sun and in the 80’s – today is cloudy and very cool, as Bob said, “Like the end of October in Minnesota.”  Those reading this who were with us five years ago will know exactly what kind of weather we are experiencing today!  So we will try to find something indoors to look at – should be no problem!

            For two mornings in a row, we’ve had breakfast with Bob and a gentleman from Australia.  He has to be in his mid-60s, and has brought a group of 4 aborigine men over here for a festival they are having in Wittenberg.  On Saturday afternoon they will do a presentation of native songs and dances.  The problem is, they have been here for almost two weeks with nothing to do!  He is so worried that they will get in trouble.  His concern is that there is alcohol around, and the aborigines will do almost anything to get alcohol, and then the will do almost anything!  He’s been very interesting to talk to about the differences between Australia, Germany, and the USA.

            Part 2 – After looking at the rain and chilly temperature outside, we decided to look for an “indoor” place to go this morning.  We went to the Lutherhaus – the former Augustinian monastery where Martin and Katie lived after they were married.  As a WEM pastor, we have free admission.  Bob recommended, and it sounded good, that we spend a couple hours at a time there, rather than trying to see it all in one day.  One could really spend more than a whole day there, if you want to read all the signs and everything.  So we spent two hours there this morning – fascinating stuff!  Makes me want to go home and read Luther a whole lot more – which I may do when we get there.

            One of the things we could now see, which was being excavated the last time we were here, is Luther’s bathroom-latrine-outhouse!  A one-holer because he was a respected person – most other latrines  had more than one hole! 

            Part 3 – We did a little work and a little resting after we got back from the Lutherhaus, then headed for St. Mary’s, the Stadkirche.  I wanted to take lots of pictures inside, which I was able to do.  Also got to meet Kirchenmeister Bernard Naumann.  As close as I can figure out, a kirchenmeister is not a custodian, but the man who controls the scheduling in the church, has the keys, unlocks and locks the doors when necessary, etc.  He promised that next week he would take me up to the balcony of the church so I can at least look at the organ.  Can’t wait! 

            We had 7 people attend the devotion this afternoon.  One of them was a former (I think) LCMS pastor, but I think he is now ELCA.  Don’t even know if he is still a pastor – might be retired or something.    He graduated from St. Louis in 1970, two years before I did.  He’s going to be at the Stammtisch tonight, so I have to get some more information.  I’ll finish this after we get back.

            Part 4 – Had a lovely evening at the Stammtisch.  The food was wonderful, the beer was good, and the company was interesting.  It started out rather slow, with only a few people, but more drifted in as time went along.  There were 4 Americans who are German teachers in the USA, who were here for a couple weeks of study.  In the land of small worlds…  One of the gals is from Norwood-Young America, which is where my mom grew up.  When I asked her where she was from, she kept insisting that her home town was too small for anyone to hear of.  Finally she said NYA and my eyes got big.  She said “You’ve heard of it?”  And I said “Yes.  My mother grew up there.  I’ve been there many times.”  After talking a bit more, she said she actually goes to church at Emmanuel in Hamburg.  I said “Pastor Andrix?” and her eyes got big.  “You know him?”  I said “Yes, he was a classmate of mine at the seminary, and I gave his wife her first organ lessons.”  Then we also came up with the name of Gerry Thomas, who was from Hamburg and teaches at Mayer Lutheran High School – and I told her that Gerry was my high school roommate.  You could hear the music playing!  “It’s a small world…”

            We’re not sure exactly how this happened, but the restaurant brought out a rather large dessert and set it in front of Dea.  It had big sparklers and virtually two Roman candles that shot sparks everywhere.  We figured it must be because tomorrow is her birthday, but I didn’t tell anyone that, and we still don’t know who set this up.  It was quite a surprise, unless….      Half an hour later, they brought out another one for a couple sitting in a corner of the restaurant.  We wonder if they put it in front of the wrong lady?!?!?  Anyway, it brought about much laughter. 

            Most of the teachers and a couple others left early, because Germany was playing Nigeria in women’s “football” [translate soccer] tonight, and they wanted to see the game.  We stayed about 2 ½ hours, then decided to call it quits.  Devotions again tomorrow afternoon, and then there is an organ recital at the Stadtkirche.  Really excited to hear that.  Hope all is well with all of you.

GERMAN ADVENTURE – Day 8

Here we are, starting the second week already!  Not a lot to write about today, but here’s what happened.  Most importantly, WE DIDN’T GET LOST ANYWHERE! 

       Bob Lehmann met us at breakfast and we talked a bit about the next weeks.  He is very gregarious, and we enjoy his company a lot.   Bob is a retired Lutheran educator who once taught at Seward, and now lives in Topeka, KS.  He also told us that one of the people at last Saturday’s service had a relative in Rochester.  Turns out it was Karen Holtan’s neice.  Bob was blown away to discover that Dea and Karen taught together at RCLS.  Ready?  Together now:  “It’s a small world after all…” 

 One thing I forgot to mention yesterday.  Much of the area around the Schlosskirche (Castle Church) is dug up.  They are trying to fix some drainage problems.  While they were digging, they found some graves that no one knew about – graves from the time of Napolean.  The door with the95 Theses is also not visible at this time.  There is a lot of repair, destruction, and construction going on all over Germany, including Wittenberg.  Bob told us that after the Russians left in the late 90’s, people had 10 years to reclaim confiscated property and land.  If no one claimed it, the land/property reverted to the state.  There was no money to fix things up, so many people simply didn’t claim what had been theirs – and the state has no money to fix things up either.  So there are quite a few simply empty buildings.  Former East Germany is certainly different from former West Germany!

            Anyhow, since we didn’t have anything really scheduled, we went back up to the room and took naps after breakfast!  We met Bob again at 1, and he took us around the city and showed us what we should see, giving us some historical background along the way.  For example, I never realized that Kaiser Wilhelm II is buried in the Castle Church in Wittenberg.  I always thought it was just Luther and Melanchthon.

            Had my first devotional service this afternoon – the reason we came over in the first place.  We had been warned that attendance has not been good.  We had one couple from St. Louis.  Two ladies from Japan came in at the last minute.  A few others stuck there heads in the door for a few minutes, then left.  So the totals:  Full-time attendees at the devotion:  2.  Workers:  2.  Pastor’s wife:  1.  I’m happy to serve whoever shows up, but was hoping for a little more. 

            Afterwards, found a brat stand for supper, sat and had a beer, then walked back to the hotel.  Not much exciting.  Tomorrow, besides the devotion, we have stammtisch.  I’ll let you know what that was like after we experience it!  Stay well.

GERMAN ADVENTURE – Day 7

            Wow – we’ve been on this side of the pond for a full 7 days now.  What makes it a bit special is that 42 years ago, we were attending a wedding at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wilburt, MN.  Actually, we did more than attend – we were the bride and groom.  When I told the Deputy Director in Wittenberg that it was our anniversary, he said I should congratulate Dea for putting up with me for that long.  I agree!

            And yes, we are here in Wittenberg!  Home for the next two weeks.  I’m writing this in our room, but I will have to take the laptop down into the lobby to post it and to get internet access.

            It’s been quite a day.  Neither of us slept well last night.  I’m not sure what Dea’s problem was, but mine was being scared to death of getting lost somewhere between Berlin and Wittenberg, and driving around in circles for eternity, waiting for the Lord to rescue us!  Almost…

            As we checked out of the hotel this morning, we discovered that the desk staff had printed out mapquest maps (in German, of course!) guiding us to the San Soucci palace in Potsdam.  Well, to Potsdam anyway.  Ever since we have arrive here, I have completely lost my sense of direction.  East felt west, etc.  So we immediately turned the wrong direction, but quickly figured it out and with Dea navigating, we got to the palace with no problem at all.

            SanSoucci palace was built in Potsdam as a summer palace by Frederick the Great (not Nitschke, if anyone asks)  It is not huge, but very opulent.  The gardens are something else – huge, expansive, and gorgeous.  We walked around the gardens for an hour, then took the tour of the castle.  It was then time to head for Wittenberg. 

            Yeah, right!  We could find our way in to Potsdam, but we sure couldn’t find our way out!  We must have driven around for an hour or more, asking a number of people how to find the autobahn headed for Leipzig.  Finally a car dealer set us on the right path.

            Driving on the autobahn is quite an experience.  The right two lanes are for “sane” traffic – the speed limit is 75 mph or 130 km/h.  Our little Ford focus handled that really well.  The left hand lane is something else.  Cars blazed past us like we were standing still.  

            We got off the autobahn where mapquest told us to, and headed cross country to Wittenberg, only to discover that this dinky little 1 ½ lane road was closed for construction about 10 miles outside of town.  Dea found an alternate route that worked.  We had planned to hit town at 4:00 – which we did.  Finding our hotel was another story.  We almost got busted for driving in the historic part of the city – no cars allowed – until some pedestrians chased us out.  We asked a few people to help us find the Luther Hotel, and got blank looks for our trouble.  Finally I parked the car, left Dea to guard our stuff, and headed for the Wittenberg Information post.  I’d been there several times before, so I found that quickly, and there met Bob Lehmann, the Deputy Director.  He got on his bicycle (he’s in his 70’s) and led us to the hotel.  As he said when we got there, “Not bad riding for an old fart, don’t you think?”  Not bad at all!

            We are checked in, the car is parked in the underground garage, and we’re about to head out to find a nice place for an anniversary supper.  Dea did some laundry in the sink, so we will have something to wear for a few days.  Afterwards we’ll just crash, and I’ll take the laptop downstairs and see if I can get this posted. 

            Tomorrow I “start to work.”  Afternoon devotions at 4:30.  It is interesting to look at a few places in town and see posters advertising English language worship in the Castle Church this Saturday evening, Rev. William Otte from Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.A.  preaching.  Pretty nifty!

THE REST OF THE STORY

            So, Bob Lehmann recommended the Kartoffelhaus Restaurant for a nice anniversary dinner.  We walked from the hotel to the restaurant (I remember having stopped there 9 years ago, but didn’t eat there then).  We had an al fresco dinner.  We ordered dinner for 2, which included salad, potatoes, vegetables, and 3 kinds of meat (pork, turkey, and beef).  Sounded like a good anniversary dinner for two.  When they finished bring out the food, the table was FULL – we could have fed 8-10 people on what they brought out.  The food was excellent, but we could not do away with even half of it.  If I can, I’ll attach a picture.

            When we were done, we started to walk back to the hotel.  I insisted we take a stroll past the city church of St. Mary, just to scope out where things will happen tomorrow.  Nice.  We had no idea where the hotel was – walked for over an hour, asked directions 3 times…  This must be “lost day” for us.  Finally a gal from a Best Western Hotel took pity on us, marked a map for us, and walked us part way back just to make sure we didn’t get lost.

            Here we are.  The day is done, and I mean done!

GERMANY ADVENTURE  - Day 6

We learned some more things today:

1.         German people can be nice.  While walking along the KuDam (major exclusive shopping strip), Dea stumbled on a curb and went down to her hands and knees.  Almost before she touched the ground, three young men had picked her up again.  She was quite frightened, but not injured.  Little scrapes on her knees but no blood, no scuffs on her slacks.  All is well, but it was frightening.

2.         The 10-minute walk in the morning to catch the subway takes almost 20 minutes coming back in the evening when we are hot and tired.

3.         It is important to read menus and labels very carefully.  For example, don’t buy a brat from an Italian vender in Berlin – ick!  And read labels carefully.  Last night I thought I’d buy a couple bottles of beer to bring back to the hotel for the evenings.  Saw “Wahrsteiner” on the label.  I’ve had that beer before and enjoyed it.  When we got back to the room, I also discovered that Wahrsteiner makes a product like Mike’s hard lemonade.  Not bad, but not good when you’re expecting beer!

As for the rest of the day, it was a beautiful sunny and warm day – a perfect day for a Goldwing ride.  Too bad mine is at home!  This was intended to be primarily a shopping day, even though we didn’t really need anything.  Just wanted to walk the KuDam (Kuhrfurstendam = the elector’s street).  It is a very exclusive shopping district.  It’s also very close to the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachnis Kirche, which we visited.  This used to be a very large church built in memory of Kaiser Wilhelm I, right in downtown Berlin.  The allies bombed the daylights out of it in November 1943.  Virtually all that remained was a bombed out steeple.  They decided to leave that as a monument to the destructive power of war.  They  built a new, very beautiful and modern church right next door, that is virtually solid cement and stained glass on all four walls.  The “broken tooth” old steeple was in serious danger of collapse, so they built a shelter around it and are in the process of conserving and strengthening it.  That means we didn’t get to see the ruin, but we had seen it before.  It will be nice when the covering is removed next year when the project is finished.  There are some very moving displays and descriptions in the memorial room that is still open.

            We discovered on our actual shopping trip that the little shop in the Europa Center where I have bought many of the little carved angel musicians that Dea has, no longer exists.  I really wanted to visit the shop again and purchase a couple more.  Too late.

            We did stop in a drug store and bought some hair conditioner and soap for Dea, then stopped in a department store and bought a couple T-shirts for me – I thought I had plenty along, then discovered about two nights into our trip that several were long-sleeved t’s, and I wanted short sleeved!  That’s the extent of our purchases.  Not what you’d call a productive shopping trip, but the people watching was fun.

            While we were in the store buying my shirts, several (I think Russian) ladies crashed the checkout line in front of us.  The check out system was not good – three lines for the whole first floor of the store!

            We walked through part of the KaDeWe, which is second in size only to Harrod’s in London.  It is amazing what you can buy there – I think that if you can think of it, you can buy it there.  So we didn’t buy anything!

            We tried to close the day by visiting the rebuilt German Reichstag.  WE finally figured out how to get there, only to discover that you need a reservation to be admitted, which we of course didn’t have.  So we caught the subway back to the hotel.

            Tonight we pack.  Tomorrow we are going to Potsdam to visit another magnificent palace, then we will drive to Wittenberg, where we will be stationed for the next two weeks.  Love to all.

GERMANY ADVENTURE – Day 5

First, a couple of general observations about our time here. 

1.         We are getting to know the subway/bus system a little better by now.  Didn’t get lost at all today!  However, we really miss Minnesota Nice when riding the transportation system.  People don’t say excuse me or anything – they just barge right on through.  This morning there was a woman waiting for the subway.  She had her bicycle with her – which was going on the subway with her.  There was one place to sit down, and it had 4 distinct seats.  She was in number 2 with her bike in front of her, blocking access to all the rest of the seats.  The station was full – do you think she would at least move her bike so some old geezer could sit down? 

NOOOOO WAY

!

2.         Speaking of bikes, they are everywhere.  Special bike lanes marked out on the sidewalks, and if you happen to walk in the bike lane, you get pushed out of the way.  But I think people here are in better shape than people at home –at least some of them.

3.         We had forgotten, but we are back in the land of pay toilets.  Anywhere from the equivalent of 45 cents to $1.50.  You NEVER want to pass up a free bathroom!

Now the day.  Remember I started one of my other posts by quoting Robert Burns “The best-laid plans…”?  Happened again.  I was so excited to go to Leipzig to hear the Bach choir.  I double-checked the information online before we went down to breakfast, and it all looked right – sort of.  As we ate, I said I had to go and look one more time.  The day of the month just didn’t seem to match the day of the week.  It finally dawned on me that the “motette” was scheduled for  Sunday, June 25 at 3:00 p.m.   When I looked closer, they were displaying 2010 dates on the web page.  When I finally fixed that, I learned that the “motette” are always on Saturday, and the boys choir is already on vacation.  No concert.  Really, REALLY bummed!  Now we had a full day with nothing planned.  So we (I) took a bit of a nap to settle down.  We looked through the guide book many times, and finally decided that another museum might be nice.  We chose the Altes Museum, which contained Greek, Roman, and Etruscan items.  Interesting, but a bit of antiquity overload. 

      After that, we went back to the Lustgarden for a snack and a drink.  Walked through a craft show, tried to get a boat ride around the rivers, but they didn’t have English tour guides on the one we tried.  Walked back and forth on Unter den Linden (a street) and saw lots of neat buildings.  Finally had beer and brats, well, Coke and brats for one of us) for supper, and then headed to the Berliner Dom for a 6:00 evening service.  We had toured the church on Friday, but thought this might be a chance to hear the organ.  Heard them do change-ringing with the bells for 15 minutes before the service.  Probably 150 people there (interesting that many were young people!).  This is a Lutheran cathedral, and the service was all in German.  Sang some familiar hymns, prayed with the congregation, all in German, of course. 

            You may know that I know a little German, and can readily sing along with the German hymns.  What makes it difficult is that I keep trying to translate the words while I sing, and I either miss the meaning or get waaaay behind!

            After missing Bach in Leipzig, the best part of the day was hearing the magnificent organ played for the service.  I’m sure I’ll bore some of you at least with pictures of it.  But for those who might recognize this, the organist played Max Reger’s “Schmuecke dich” for a prelude, and the Bach Toccata in F major for a postlude.  A monumental piece on a monumental organ.  Literally brought tears to my eyes.

            We are safely back in the hotel.  One more full day in Berlin.  All the museums are closed on Mondays, so it’s shopping we will go, visiting the KuDam, KaDeWe, the Europa Market, and various and sundry places.  No pressure, not enough money left to get into a lot of trouble!   We are quite tired but doing well – missing all of you.

GERMANY ADVENTURE – Day 4

            And we had some adventures!  First of all, before we even left the room, Bill and Connie Natzke’s friend “Pommey” called and asked if he could come and meet us in the morning.  We had heard Bill and Connie talk about him, but didn’t expect he would call.  He came right after breakfast, a delightful man, but didn’t have much time to chat.  He was on his way north of Berlin to play with some of his friends in a bluegrass festival.  That was the biggest surprise.  We would have like to hear him, but it just didn’t fit into our schedule.

            So we headed for the Charlottenburg Schloss (palace).  We got one set of directions on what subway and bus routes to use to get there; we got a second set of directions from a man at the subway station, and a third set of directions from a man at a different tram station.  We actually sort of combined all three sets, and made a couple changes.  Lo and behold, we arrived at the Charlottenburg Schloss!

            This immense palace was built by the first King of Prussia, Frederick, for his wife Sophia Charlotte.  She died at the age of 39, and he named the Schloss after her, even though she had given it another name.  The original Schloss was greatly expanded by later kings of Prussia, all the way through the nineteenth century.  Much of the Schloss was destroyed by allied bombers during WW II, but it has been restored as nearly as possible to its original configuration. 

            The Schloss doesn’t end!!!    You walk and walk, aided by an audio presentation, and are awed by the gilt and glitz and opulence of the place.  When you think you’ve seen it all, you find some more.  Very little of the original furniture is there, but they have assembled period pieces and reproductions to good effect.  There is gilded this and gilded that.  One section contains the crown jewels and treasury of the Prussian court – you can’t imagine the silver plate, gold plate, china, and porcelain – thousands and thousands of pieces.  Finally you almost become immune to the opulence.  On the top floor is a ballroom that must be at least as big as a football field, with gilded ceilings and trim all over the place.  Unbelievable.  I think I have some pretty neat pictures of some of the stuff.

            Then, after touring through three sections of the Schloss (there’s much more to it, but not all of it is restored or open to the public), we went outside and walked through the beautiful formal Baroque garden, that filled an area about the size of four football fields.  It was absolutely overwhelming, and definitely worth a day of walking and getting lost trying to get there.

            But that’s not the end of the getting lost saga!  This was the day we were to pick up our rental car for the rest of the trip.  Since I forgot my passport in the room, we had to retrace our route from Charlottenburg back to the hotel, before we headed to the airport to pick up the car.  Naturally, we could not recreate the different subway and bus line numbers, having had so many given to us in the first place.  At the first stop at the Zoological Gardens, a nice man said “Where are you trying to get, finally?”  We showed him on the map, and he pointed out the easiest way of all on how to get back.  It all depends on who you ask!

            Picked up the passport, unloaded some gear, used the facilities, and headed to the airport.  Easy to get there – we knew just what bus line to use from right in front of the hotel.  That’s where the simplicity ended!  Because my brother and wife are joining us for a time, we had to arrange for a car size upgrade.  They had to search for a car that would hold all of us and our luggage, but finally found a nice Ford. Straight stick, which I think is really fun.  Air conditioned, which Dea thinks is much better.  Headed back to the hotel following the hotel’s driving directions from the airport.  After driving what seemed like half way to Hamburg (well, not half way, but quite a ways!) we decided we had missed the first turn.  I learned how to do lots of U-turns and on-and-off-the-autobahn turnarounds.  I frankly thought we’d spend the night driving around Berlin, hoping someone would know where our hotel is.  Finally we found the right directions, and got to the hotel about 7:00, frazzled but relieved.  Had a nice supper in the hotel, and now it is just down time.

            One of the things we decided is that this is not just a wonderful adventure; we came to the conclusion that we are spending our children’s inheritance!  Touring in Germany is not cheap!  But it’s a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so we are making the most of it.

            Tomorrow should be interesting.  We are leaving the expensive rental car in the hotel garage, and plan to take the train to Leipzig for a Bach concert.  Can’t wait.  Sleep will come soon – hope everyone who reads this is doing well.

P.S.  for all the Jan Bender fans out there.  We hear quite a few police and ambulance sirens at our hotel.  Guess what interval they use?  Right – the diminished fifth or augmented fourth.  Every time I hear one, I think of Bender’s “Begone Satan!”   Those who don’t know the

GERMAN ADVENTURE – Day 3  

            Amazing how long we slept in this morning.  Both of us were awake for a few hours during the night, but managed to go back to sleep.  I woke up finally at 8:15 a.m., grabbed the shower first, and then had to wake Dea at 8:45!!!  That’s the first time I’ve been awake before her in YEARS!!! 

            After getting ready to go, we went downstairs for German breakfast in the hotel.  Now I remember why I like Germany so much  All the different sausage, cold cuts, cheese, fruit, and BREAD you could ever hope for, plus bacon and eggs, juice, coffee – all you want.  It is worth coming to Germany just for the breakfast!  And the brotchen is to die for – hard on the outside, fluffy soft on the inside.  Can’t wait for tomorrow morning.

            After breakfast and another trip up to the room to get sweaters (a bit chilly today),

we walked about three blocks to catch the U-bahn, the Berlin subway.     Marvelous

transportation system they have in Berlin.  One pass and you can ride for three days on

anything – bus, trolley, or subway.  Took the subway and a bus to the Pergamon  Museum.  What a marvelous place!  Most impressive thing there is the Ishtar Gate from Babylon, built by Nebuchadnezzar II.  When the children of Israel were exiled from Jerusalem in 597 and 587 B.C., they would have been forced to enter Babylon through this impressive gate, designed to frighten the captors into submission.  I think it would work!  Pictures will follow after we get home.

            Stopped for a beer in the museum café, then went out to the Lustgarten park to have a lunchtime snack.   Then we headed for the Berlin Dom (cathedral), which is actually a huge Lutheran Church built in the 19^th century for the last time.  It was almost totally destroyed by Allied bombing during WW II, but has been completely restored and is absolutely gorgeous and opulent.  Again, pictures when we get home.  We did have the ambition to climb up to the dome walkway, from where we had a magnificent view of the surrounding area of Berlin.  Made us pretty tired, though, us old out-of-shape folks that we are.  But it was worth it.

            I had heard before we left that there were sometimes special organ events at the Marienkirche near the Berlin Dom, so we headed for that next.   As we walked in, there was a choir rehearsing.  8 wonderful singers, singing Bach, Mendelssohn, and some other things.  Then we realized that there was a service coming up at 6:00 for which they were practicing.  We decided to stay.  From the name of the church, I thought it was Roman Catholic, but the fact that it was going to be a Gottesdienst with hymns from the Evangelishes Gesangbuch, and was done in honor of John the Baptist day made me conclude that it was indeed a Lutheran Service.   Wonderful organ improvisation, full procession with incense and vestments, and a full house – unheard of in Europe.  The choir sang Bach (part of Motet II), Mendelssohn, Schuetz, Knystad, and more – 8 singers and it was marvelous.  But looking at the audience, and catching some phrases delivered by the Burgomaster of Berlin and the local pastor, I concluded that this was some kind of gay rally service, so we decided to sneak out after the sermon.

            Upon leaving the church, we walked through a park with a beautiful rose garden, and an elaborate fountain built around the mythological figure of Poseidon, and then walked all the way around the huge TV tower.  It appeared to be closed, but at least we walked around it!

            Then had to look for a place to eat.  After walking back and forth, we finally had, of all things, shrimp and chips in a restaurant at the subway station.  Caught the subway and finished walking back to the hotel, tired but satisfied from a busy day.

            It is really fun to sit and watch the people from another country and culture walking along the streets on a Friday evening.  You certainly see much different dress and behavior than one would see, say, in Rochester, Minnesota!

            Tomorrow the plan is to visit the Charlottenburg Palace, and then perhaps do a little shopping on the Kudam (short for Kuhrfurstendam Strasse), then out to the airport to pick up our rental car.

            Oops- almost forgot the good news!  The Kindle I thought I left on the airplane had crawled behind my laptop and hid there – wonder who let it do that?!?

            The other good news is that I discovered that the Thomannerchor (the boys choir that Bach used to direct – probably different boys by now) will be singing on Sunday afternoon in the Thomannerkirche (where Bach worked).   We’re going to explore taking the train to Leipzig just for that!  Talk to you tomorrow.

             

We took a brief nap this afternoon, then started using the wonder Berlin transportation system.  We bought a 3-day pass, which also gives us discounts at many museums and attractions, and we can ride as much as we want on the busses and subway.  So we took off and headed to the Hauptbahnhof (the main train station – the largest in Europe, if one is to believe the bragging.  BUT NOW I KNOW I’M IN GERMANY!!  We didn’t have lunch, so when we got off the bus, I bought a genuine Thuringian Bratwurst and a German bier!  Just as good as I remembered!

            Then we boarded a two-hour bus tour of Berlin.  It helped reacquaint ourselves with the many wonderful things to see, and to help us decide what to do next.  Really poured rain for a while, and since we were on the top deck of a double-decker OPEN bus, I was worried, until one of the guys pulled the “convertible top” across us, and we stayed dry.

            When we finished, lunch was so good that I had another beer and brat from the same stand.  What was strange about it was ordering German beer and a brat from a Chinese couple who couldn’t speak or understand English.  But I got what I wanted.  Dea wanted McDonalds, so we sat at an outdoor table and feasted.  We decided that we really need to catch up a bit on sleep, so we are back in our room by 7:00 Berlin time to charge Kindle, camera, and phone batteries, and recharge ourselves.  Tomorrow we plan to visit Museum Island, focusing on the Pergamon Museum.  All you Crossways! Folks, we’ll see the Ishtar Gate from Babylon again.  We’re feeling tired but good, and happy to be here. 

German Adventure Day 2

GERMANY ADVENTURE Day 2 Post 1

In some ways, this seems almost more like camping than traveling to Europe!  But we are here in our hotel. 

            Last night at JFK after I wrote the previous post, we ended up playing bag drag again as they changed departure gates.  I must say that when Delta bought out Northwest, it was not the best deal ever made.  Jammed planes, horrible food, occasionally rude service.  At least the plane took off and landed safely.  Oh yes, and bad movies too!

            Once we landed at Berlin Tegel, the fun began.  Our luggage made it safely, PTL.  But then we had to drag 4 bags of stuff each from the airport to the hotel – on the bus.  I showed the directions to the hotel via bus to three different people at the airport, and got three different explanations of how things worked.  At least when I showed the directions to the bus driver, he promised to let us know where to get off.  He did and we are here.  Now we are trying to decide what to do with the afternoon and how to go about getting there.  Should be fun!

GERMAN ADVENTURE – Day 1, Post 2  

            Can’t seem to access WiFi at JFK Airport in New York, but I’ll put some of this down anyway.

            At the Minneapolis airport – found our gate just fine.  Had a breakfast sandwich, then got to play “bag drag” – everyone for the flight was at gate 6, until the announcement came that they moved the flight to gate 3.  On your  mark, get set, drag all your bags to gate 3! 

            Once the plane was loaded (full plane, threatened to make us check some of our carry-ons, but we managed to keep our stuff together) and the door was closed, the stewardess asked if there was a physician on the plane!  A passenger had gone into the restroom and then got heart palpitations, so we had to wait for a paramedic crew to come and get him off the plane.  Then, because of questionable weather in New York, we sat on the runway for 20 minutes.  End result was that we were about an hour late getting into New York.  Made no difference to us, since we have a scheduled 5 hour layover here anyway.  We are at our gate, and will enjoy watching New York people for a while.  Brian suggested we go have fun in New York, but when we thought about 3 carry-ons for each of us (which we would have to drag along,) and go back through security again in New York this time, we decided to stay put.  So, this is where we are for now.

German Adventure, Day 1 - Post 1

GERMAN ADVENTURE – Day 1, Post 1

            Don’t know just how this will all work out, but…

            Someone once said “The best-laid plans of mice and men gang oft astray.”  The best­-laid plans of Bill and Dea work the same way!  Dea was up at 2:00 this morning; too excited to sleep.  The alarm woke me up at 3:30 and scared the daylights out of me – I was sound asleep! 

            We had planned to call a cab to take us to the airport, but Dea’s cousin Dori and her husband Dave Robbins came to pick us up and take us out.  Such wonderful friends!  We got to the airport about 5:00 a.m. with a suitcase and 3 carry-ons each – good thing Dave drove his pickup!  Went to check-in, and found out that our first leg to Detroit was going to be 2 hours late.  So we are going to Minneapolis instead!  That’s OK, but… been there-done that!  Actually, from Minneapolis we will go directly to JFK in New York and then on to Berlin.  The down side is that this flight will leave an hour later than our original flight – we could have slept another hour!  So here we sit, bleary-eyed, but anxious to get going.  More later.

Hello

My name is Bill Otte.  I am pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Rochester, Minnesota, and am embarking on a hopefully great adventure - a long trip to Germany.  We leave very early tomorrow morning, so I better save my sermon writing to you for another time.