luther in wittenberg

1. this painting above the alter in the "stadtkirche" in wittenburg is by lucas cranach is of martin luther preaching to his people. the crucified christ in the middle shows that luther aimed for his hearers only to hear of the gospel of jesus christ.
2. a papal indulgence sold by that catholic church which luther argued against.
3. luther's hymnbook with open to "a mighty fortress is our god".

berlin 2 - former GDR

the second historical emphasis was learning about the former GDR (german democratic republic, or "east germany") from 1949 to 1989 when the berlin wall came down.

 

* a watchtower for the berlin wall (1 of only 3 remaining)

* a part of the wall still standing on zimmerstrasser

* "checkpoint charlie" - the famous allied checkpoint where a significant stand-off between US and USSR tanks took place in 1963

berlin 1 - WW2 things

we had 2 major history things to see and do in berlin.

 

the first one was world war 2 things, specifically the german part of that. here are some sobering scenes from the holocaust memorial and "topographie des terrors."

dresden

the amazingly restored "frauenkirche" in dresden which was destroyed by WWII allied bombing.

on the guided tour with dirk, sylvia and babette in cold, cold dresden.

history and more history

brief update:

• visited historic dresden with claudi's parents and aunt
• train to berlin (caught it with 10 seconds to spare!)
• focussed on nazi and GDR history in berlin
• train to leipzig
• staying with hardy's parents and sister
• -7 degrees C today

Back where you don't mention the...

Another amazing German feast... Eating raqlette (?) - like the German version of hotpot... you fill your little shovel thing with mince, cheese, olives, etc. then put it into the griller thing in the centre of the table. A lovely evening with Hardy, Claudi and Claudi's parents Dirk and Sylvia!!

 

Back where you don't mention the...

Back in the land of Schnitten with the newlyweds...

 

1 - Hardy and Claudi meet 'Little Prentice' via ultrasound. He kindly opened his mouth (to say he wanted more schnitten) and opened his eyes.

 

2 - Eating wurst in Jena where Claudi and Hardy live

 

3 - The monkeys in Jena... they should stay up the tower!

 

4 - Clearing snow from the front steps of Claudi's parents house

 

5 - Another amazing German feast... Eating raqlette (?) - like the German version of hotpot... you fill your little shovel thing with mince, cheese, olives, etc. then put it into the griller thing in the centre of the table. A lovely evening with Hardy, Claudi and Claudi's parents Dirk and Sylvia!!

 

camels and pyramids

We had a 2 hour ride around the pyramids on camels... a bit rocky at first but we got the hang of it!

 

Got hoodwinked by one would be salesman who opened bottles of soda when we were astride camels and handed them to use - then asked for money a few minutes later. we thought the sodas were part of the camel ride experience! so henceforth ignored anyone who looked our way.

 

Was a bit weird being super touristy after our time remembering luke's childhood, but was fun nonetheless.