It just happened that one of our nights in Wittenberg was the night of the town’s Erlebnis Nacht - kind of a street festival with lots of activity and special entertainment.
Our full day in Wittenberg began with a visit to the Lutherhaus. I was pleasantly surprised. I did not expect the explanations and especially the theological interpretations to be great - but they actually did a good job of explaining the issues and how the Reformation progressed. They also had a lot of old documents from that time, which were cool to look at.
We left Berlin this morning after we decided not to see anything more there right now. We were having some trouble with our rental car, though. It kept telling us our tire pressure was low, so we stopped to fill it. But the light wouldn’t go out. So we had to go back to the rental car place at the Berlin airport so they could check and recalibrate everything. That set us back time-wise. But after that, it was off to Wittenberg!
We arrived mid-afternoon and walked through the town, getting a feel for where everything is. It is a small, quaint place, especially compared to Berlin! Here’s a picture looking down the main street in Lutherstadt, with the tower of the Castle Church in the background . . .
Here’s a closer-up picture of the Castle Church along with the door Luther posted the Theses on. It has the Theses permanently on them. (We hope to climb up the tower tomorrow!)
Our vacation begins in Berlin. We flew from Dulles to Munich and then to Berlin, arriving about 3 pm local time. By the time we got our rental car and navigated our way through Berlin, checked into our hotel, and got to our room, it was getting close to 6!
First thing to say: driving in Berlin in nuts! Between new street signs, construction, and just as many bikes on the road as cars, it was harrowing getting through town! So it took us a while, but we got here.
No time to rest, though, as we had a reservation to see the Bundestag building at 7. So we dropped off our stuff and hoofed it downtown.
At the top of the building is a dome to climb up and get views of the city.
After that, we began walking back to the hotel. On the way we stopped and saw the Brandenburg Gate and stopped for dinner at the Alt Berliner restaurant.
We got back to the hotel about 10 - exhausted! And fell asleep pretty quick. I didn’t post last night because I was just too tired.
This morning we had a very nice breakfast at the hotel and headed out to “Museum Island.” And yup, it is! Right in the middle of Berlin. We went to the Pergamon Museum first, which has lots of artifacts from BC Assyria! I took some pictures to use in Bible Class. Then we went to the Pergamon Diorama, which shows what life was like in Pergamum in the first century AD. Again, Bible Class fodder!
This is the gate to one of the old pagan temples in Pergamum! This is what Paul had to deal with in bringing the Gospel to the people there. We then also stopped at the Bode Museum, which had a lot of Medieval artifacts from Germany and France.
Side note: street performers here are really talented! When we were driving to the hotel, there was a man who was juggling in the street for donations! Then today, we saw a man doing another really talented thing. Fun to watch!
OK, so after “Museum Island” we started back to the hotel for a little rest. But along the way we stopped to see Marienkirche - an old Roman church. Some cool stuff inside, but also Luther on the outside!
After a brief rest, it was off to see the Berlin Wall memorial. That was very interesting, to see the pieces that are still there, how it changed over the years, and the big security zone.
After seeing that it was time to walk back to the hotel, and on the way we stopped for dinner at the Berlin Hofbrauhaus. Really good food, and live music!
Wiener schnitzel!
Tomorrow it’s off to Wittenberg. We may try to see a little more of Berlin in the morning. We’ll see. But a very full day and a little in Berlin! We’re off to a good start.
Yes, the time has finally arrived! Two weeks of R&R. Taking the trip to Germany my congregation gave me for the 25th anniversary of my ordination (three years ago!). We had to wait out Covid, but now we're finally going. Two weeks to unplug. But I'll try to post some pictures and updates here each day so my most generous folks can keep up with how we're doing. ;-)
We are so grateful!
Today is travel home day. Breakfast, then off to the airport. It's been a good week. Busy, very busy! But good. The staff who put on these conferences is amazing. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes that no one knows about - they just come and have a good time.
One things that struck me this week was the prayer requests I received. Parents whose 8 year old son died suddenly. A woman who lost both her husband and son on the sam day! A boy who fell in a hiking accident and had to have 6 vertebrae fused. A boy with brain cancer that has doctors stumped. I don't think any of these were at the conference - but were known by people here. Yikes! What a broken, messed up world we live in. A good reminder how much people need to hear the Gospel!
I don't know if I'll ever get asked to be chaplain again, but I think I would if asked. But I think I would do it differently. I would attend one conference with my youth so I could spend more time with them, and then chaplain a different conference. For I wish I could have spent more time this week with my youth. They're good, trustworthy, and independent. I saw them around a lot. And did get to spend time with my daughter. But more would have been nice, too.
As far as how I did as chaplain, I'll let others decide that. I only flubbed a few times! My main confusion for the week was with the Sacrament at the Divine Services. At the first, we had waaaaay too much left at the end. At the second, we almost ran out of wine - even after I consecrated more! (And we didn't have any more in standby!) I think the pastors who distributed at the opening service gave sips from the chalice, while the pastors who distributed at the closing service gave gulps. But how do you know how that will be beforehand? I hate consecrating waaaay too much, but that's better than running out, right?
Finally, we had dinner and relaxation/decompression time last night. That was nice. One thing that happened was that one of our deaclets liked catching frogs around the campus, so she did and brought it in to show us. Then it got away from her, hopped onto the floor, and right under someone's chair that . . . well, yeah. RIP Mr. Frog.
