– Day 17

            Well, it was an adventure! We got up early this morning, intending to visit Eisleben  (the town of both Luther’s birth and his death) and perhaps Halle. We actually made our target time – we were out of the hotel about 8:00 a.m.  We felt very confident, ready to try out our new GPS in English.  It got us exactly where we wanted to go, and pretty much in the time allotted.

            At the same time, Miss GPS sometimes gave confusing directions, meaning I would either turn too soon or too late.  Then we would hear the dreaded word “recalculating.”  Some of you may remember that I preached a sermon on “recalculating” within the past year.  The worst part of the trip over was in Halle – we didn’t intend to get into Halle on the way over, but got recalculated right into the city – narrow streets, unmarked lanes, etc.  Finally the GPS got us out of town and to Eisleben.  We found Luther’s birth house with no problem.  Parking was another problem.  We probably ended up parking a kilometer away, and then could only park for 2 hours on a “parkschein.”  The birth house was closed for renovation when we were here in 2006.  They did a really nice job of renovating and expanding.  We spent well over 2 hours going through the place.  Lots of exhibits about the copper mining industry that Luther’s father was involved in.  We also discovered that Luther’s “death house” was closed for renovation, but that was OK, since we spent quite a bit of time there 5 years ago.  We wanted to visit St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church, just a block from the birth house, where Luther was baptized,  but it too was closed for renovation.  One of the workmen allowed us to peek inside – its full of scaffolding and completely empty except for workmen.  We had also seen this five years ago, and the contrast was striking.

            By then we decided that we should start heading back, without stops in Halle or anywhere else.  Mrs. GPS recalculated a couple more times before we got out of Eisleben, and then did we get a tour!  Signs kept saying “Strasse Schade” – bad roads. I’ll bet no American tourist in 30 years has been on those roads – mostly one lane, many parts cobblestone, no shoulders, windy, perhaps you can get the picture.  At one point the GPS gave the direction:  “Get on ferry.  Get off ferry.”  We made it repeat itself four times before we discovered that we indeed had to get on the ferry across the river at the little village of Wettin (have no idea what river it was), ride across on the ferry, and get off again on the other side.  The trip across the river took five minutes  Once we were on the way again, we decided it was a pretty interesting trip, and we got home in plenty of time.

            It is interesting that the GPS took us from Wittenberg to Eisleben by one route, and returned us by a totally different route.  I haven’t quite figured that one out yet!

            But we are back, and in an hour we are supposed to be leading devotions.  Perhaps we will be 3 for 3 with no-shows this week! 

            By the way, we had to fill the car up with gas on the way back.  They sell gas for 1.61 euros per liter – the equivalent of about $90 to fill up a ¾ empty tank.  Hope we don’t have to do that real often!

             I am now officially 0-3.  Right – three devotion nights in a row with nobody showing up.  That’s almost not quite true – David Mahsmann, who used to be part of the International Center staff in St. Louis (LCMS), is now based in Germany, and he stopped in, mostly to say hello to us and to talk with LeRoy.  But nobody else.

              We walked down to the Information Center and watched a half hour video about Luther and Wittenberg.  It is very well done, and available in both English and German.  The problem is that European DVD’s use a different formatting system than American DVD’s, and they don’t play on any of our equipment.  Otherwise we’d buy one to bring home.

            Went to the organ recital at 6 at the Stadtkirche.  The head organist and two of his students played.  It is really a very nice sounding instrument, although the playing by the students was a bit uneven.

            Then went to the Asian outdoor café for supper.  I liked it a lot – Dea had her fill before her plate was empty.  Paul and Barb arrive tomorrow, and since we don’t know for sure when they will get here, we’re going to stay in town for the day.  Besides, there is church tomorrow night, and I keep hoping that it won’t turn into 0-4!