May 3-8, 2017
Hamburg to Wittenberg
Other than a few pictures on Facebook, I’m going to try and
get the blog going again. I might play a little catch-up, so we will see how
this works.
We left the Fort and drove to Bensenville, IL, right near
O’Hare, and parked our car at our friend, June Harrison’s, retirement home. We visited
with her and reminisced about our time in Chicago when she was our neighbor.
She has become a dear friend over the years and we treasure any time we can
spend with her. We then “Ubered” over to O’Hare.
We arrived in
Amsterdam only 30 minutes later than our originally scheduled time, even though
we flew through Minneapolis instead of Detroit. We then caught our train to
Hamburg and arrived at our Airbnb around 8:30 pm on Thursday and went straight
to bed . . . tired travelers.
We spent the next few days, despite the cold and rain,
seeing the sights of Hamburg and Lubeck, a town a train ride away, which has
well-preserved old buildings. In Hamburg, we walked around the harbor area on
the Elbe River which can accommodate ocean-going ships. The area of the old
warehouses has been rehabbed and it has become a gentrified part of the city.
We also spent some time at the Miniatur Wunderland, which had huge displays of
miniature trains, planes and displays of various parts of the world, including
America. Of course, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon area were the USA representations.
It is a marvel that families of all ages would enjoy.
On Saturday, we took the train to Berlin and have spent the
days walking around the city, seeing many of the famous sights, such as the
Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie and several memorials to Jewish
and Gypsy Holocaust victims and to those who tried to escape from East Berlin.
Sunday we spent
several hours walking along a preserved section of the Berlin Wall with
numerous well-done explanations of life in Berlin at that time in its history.
This has all been a very sobering time for us. The evil that has existed in
human hearts continues to this day.
We also met up with a former Taylor student, Kate Doiron,
and attended church with her at the Berlin Cathedral, which is a Lutheran church.
It is a very ornate building with the Reformers looking onto the congregation
from above during the service. The organ was majestic. We sat in the English
translation area, which helps with understanding, obviously. A mother and her
child from Mongolia were baptized. After church we went with Kate to Barcomi’s Deli
for lunch.
Later, we took the train to see the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial
Church, which was bombed during the war but was partially preserved including
the front and steeple, minus the very top. A very simple and contemporary
church has been erected right next door to it and is a stark contrast to the
old church. 
A highlight of our day was the ability to Facetime with all
our children who were at our house celebrating Braden’s first communion and
Max’s confirmation. Oh, the hazards of travelling in May. We might have to rethink
this time of the year if we plan to do spring traveling again. We are missing
too much.
Today, in honor of the 500th year of the
Reformation, we headed to Wittenberg to check out Luther sites. It is a just few
hours train/bus ride from Berlin. We visited the Castle Church, where Luther and
his buddy, Melanchthon, are buried and where tradition says he posted his 95
theses. 
We then headed over to St. Mary’s church where Luther was married,
where his children were baptized and where he preached over 2,000 sermons. His
hymn, “A Mighty Fortress,” was also first sung there. Sadly, we left without
hearing an organ concert since none was scheduled for today. 
We also made a quick
visit to the Luther House, which is now a museum, formerly a monastery where he
lived as a monk, and then as a married man.
construction and rehabbing
everywhere.
Tomorrow, we head to Leipzig.
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