Tuesday wrap up!

Greeetings!
It is Tuesday night, almost 11 p.m.
We left our hotel in Leipzig and traveled three hours to Eisenacht and had lunch at The Burgshenke." We had a traditional Thuringian meal of Pork Olive with red cabbage and pototo dumplings. Oh my. Some just had the potato dumpling. Some just took one bite, and put it back on the plate. Traditional Thuringian meal, eh?

After our meal, we took a guided tour of the Wartberg (meaing, "Wait mountain) Castle. The neat thing is that is has quite the history of good things. It was not a castle built to guard, but built for peace. Martin Luther hid here when in hiding and had a room there. Later, we traveled the town of Eisenacht and saw a house that Martin Luther lived in.

After the three hour drive back to Leipzig, we split off to have dinner. Pastor Andy used his Germish, and spoke German and Spanish to our waiter...saying our bill was together with another table, he said "....mit ellos." Huh??? :)

Tomorrow is a very early wake up and a very long bus ride...8 hours total. Fun! We will sleep.

In the famous words of Martin Luther, "Good night and Good luck!"

-Line. Rachel Line. And Erica Alexander.

Today, we visted Eisleben and Leipzig. In Eisleben, we saw the birth and death houses of Martin Luther and followed in his footsteps throughtout the town. We saw the church of St. Andrew where Luther preached his last sermon. Pastor Andy preached from the same pulpit (pictured below).

This is the oldest statue of Martin Luther, centered in the town square at Eisleben. And pitured below is Luther's birth house, which has been turned into a museum.

The rest of the evening was spent in Leipzig, where we walked around, ate and drank.
--Erica Alexander

Guten Morgan!

Buenos Dias from Wittenberg (pronounced Vittenberg)!

On Sunday,we all arrived on time (even Scott and Darlene!). The St. Andrews and Hope group traveled from Berlin to Wittenberg and landed at the Luther-Hotel Wittenberg. After 5 minutes to "freshen up," we gathered with our tour guide, Deiter (Deetor). He led us on a walking tour of the area, pointing out the greenbelt that is around Wittenberg. We saw St. Mary's, Luther's home church and the University Church (or the Castle Church, where Luther nailed the 95 thesis to the door...

and also where he is buried....2 meters below ground).

Martin Luther was 5'4"...the same height as Darlene.

After those churches, we saw Luther's home that he shared with Katie. From there, the group was given the options of going different ways. Some toured Luther's home, while others explored the city of Wittenberg. Some shared some fine, tasty beverages at a local beverage facility. After dinner, it seemed the best thing to do was to crash.

Pastor Andy is about to lead us in devotion in the "Room of Silence." Perhaps a quiet devotion? We shall see.

See you later, blog!

-Rachel Line!

Berlin - Day 1

Many of us have arrived in Berlin. Steve and Sig Routh, who arrived in Germany to visit family, had a great time in the countryside, and now are at Pension Peters, a B & B where many of us are staying. Also here are Kathy, Paula, Judy, Sue, Pattie, Jan and Pastor Andy. Sue, Pattie, Jan and Pastor Andy had quite an adventure getting here. We (this is being written by Pastor Andy) were on our plane from Philadelphia to Germany when, 3 hours into the flight, there was a problem with the navigational system and the plane turned back to Philadelphia. At 11 pm in Philly, we were told the flight was cancelled, and we'd have to call an 800 number to rebook. The agent on the line told me that the earliest we could leave was on Saturday - either that or ask for a ticket refund. When we searched for a hotel, we found that all the rooms in Philadelphia were booked - we ended up 20 miles away in New Jersey, arriving at the hotel at 230 am. We are very thankful for Bill Snider, our travel agent, who got us out of our Saturday flight onto a plane from Newark, NJ, the very next day. In order to get to Newark, we had to fly out of Philadelphia at 930 am, which meant leaving the hotel at 7 am, which meant we had very little sleep that day.

We arrived in Berlin at 8 yesterday morning and had another setback - Patties luggage did not make the plane. 24 hours later, it still has not arrived. Still, we enjoyed our first day in Berlin. Judy, Andy and Jan took a walking tour of East Berlin - a fascinating blend of sight-seeing and history as we saw the Brandenburg gate, Museum island, the memorial for Jewish victims of the 3rd reich, the Reichstag, and much, much more. Kathy and Paula went on the hop on, hop off bus tour. So did Steve and Sig, though we did not meet up with each other until this (Saturday) morning. Pattie and Sue had a tour of one of the opera houses by Sue's cousin, who lives in Berlin.

The tour begins tomorrow with a bus ride to Wittenburg, where Luther lived and taught. Today, again, we go our separate ways to sightsee in Berlin. We'll need to experiment on how to post pictures - when we figure that out, we'll have sights for you to see. More later. - Pastor Andy

On Our Way To Germany

We want to thank the congregation of St. Andrew's for their prayers and good wishes as 16 of us travel to Germany. We will tour cities and areas where Martin Luther lived and worked, and will see the famous Passion Play in Oberammergau.

Those who are going are Erica Alexander, Stephanie Alexander, Paula Azeltine (Kathy Wood's cousin), Sue Barnett, Darlene Elwin, Pastor Laurie Line, Rachel Line, Pattie Miller, Jan Paulsen, Sig and Steve Routh, Scott Skinner, Kim Strandberg, Pastor Andy Taylor, Judy Taylor (Pastor Andy's sister), and Kathy Wood.

We plan to update this blog on the trip as we are able. Others who are photographers will post pictures. I (Pastor Andy) will only be writing. But we'll try to find a way to keep you up-to-date on what we are doing and experiencing. That way, you'll be able to share this experience with us.

Thanks again for your continued prayers. Stayed tuned for further developments.