It was a calm morning until my wife decided to break my little toe. How did it happen? It is still a mystery to me. All I know is that somehow the leg of the chair upon which she reposed ended up whacking my poor toe. I jumped around awhile on the good foot; it hurt too much to touch the other. I put my foot up and rested and then we needed to get out on a few errands for the day–we had planned the day for rest and errands.

All was well, pain, but bearable, and then may wife said, “Let’s cross the street,” unaware that a bicycle was coming down that street at a rather high speed. Yes, of course, we walked straight in front of it. How is it that the only thing that got damaged was that same toe??? The young fellow on the bike, other than yelling in fright that he had just plowed into two older Americans, made the sign of the cross and drove off. I was hopping around on one foot again, and I thought the first injury hurt! Yes, of course, it was pedestrian only, no cab to hail, and I had to limp to our apartment hotel. Yes, of course, it was uneven cobblestone all the way.

My purple toe is now somewhat pain free, after extra strength pain killers and after deciding to stay ten feet away from my wife. It has not popped/cracked in the past few hours. I cannot feel the toe but, God willing, it will be better tomorrow. WEG

This morning, from our hotel window in Wittenberg, I noticed older folks working in about 1/5 acre flower and garden plots with small houses on the property. There were probably about 50 such plots. I have noticed them from the train as we traveled across Germany. I decided to venture over and find out what they were doing. I didn’t think anyone would speak English, since English was not taught when the Russians controlled East Germany after World War II. I was right. I decided to cast caution aside, take down any facade, so I called out, “Hallo.” (This is not a typo,) and the woman closest to me responded in German. I told her I spoke little German and asked if she spoke English. “Nein.” It is amazing how you can communicate even when you cannot speak the same language. I asked, “Was ist Das?” as I pointed to the gardens. She told me they were summer gardens, and this particular section had been there for over 20 years. The small efficiency homes were only for an overnight when someone had come in from another town to work their garden or, if local, working and eating lunch and working in the garden again and taking a nap and working again and then going home. What a wonderful way to have a community garden! She picked an apple off her tree and offered it to me and I said, “Danke,” and waved goodbye. It was a delicious apple, made all the more so by our wonderful visit.

Kathy and I also spoke with a young German woman who was bicycling across East Germany. She told us how well marked the bike highways are and how she had prearranged her trip so that her luggage was always delivered to her next hotel before she arrived on her bike. That is common practice here. I told her if I was younger, I would do that for sure, and she winked at me and said there were electric bicycles available. Next trip, that will be on my agenda 🙂

For our evening meal, we ate at a local Brauhaus. We had made reservations, since it is a packed-out place. What a wonderful atmosphere, with German decor all around and archways and the brewery copper kettles right in the middle. The beer that is made there is unfiltered and has no preservatives–super good. Then, as the meal ended, our cute and perky waitress put a clear liquid in front of me and said it was made in house. The first sip was pure lightning. I whispered to Kathy that if I drank it all, it would put me under the table. Did you know that German wooden tables are fastened with wood nails? Just kidding, they are metal. I did leave a big tip, however.

During the day, I took a number of pictures of interesting building facades. That is one of the joys of traveling in Europe; the old building facades are still intact and enchanting. The city of Wittenberg is old and, as the center of the Reformation and home to Luther for most of his life, is in major restoration mode as it prepares for the 500th anniversary in 2017 of the nailing of the 95 Theses on the Castle Church door. We worshiped in the Castle Church in English this evening. It was inspirational singing, “A Mighty Fortress,” in the place it was first sung. WEG

We could do one or the other, not both. We were in Leipzig heading for Wittenberg.

1) Attend a choir and organ concert, late in the evening, at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Leipzig featuring some of Bach’s famous works. St. Thomas is where J.S. Bach, arguably the world’s greatest composer, worked as cantor and composer for almost 30 years. It is also the home of the 800 year old Thomaschor or boys’ choir. Bach led it during his tenure in Leipzig. In addition to Bach, Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Reger also played on the organ here.
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2) Attend English worship at the Castle Church–Lutheran, in Wittenberg, the place where Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses starting the Protestant Reformation, one of the world’s historic turning points. It is also the church from which Luther often preached from the pulpit. As the mother church, so to speak, of worldwide Lutheranism, the Castle Church played an important part in history.

Events made the impossible choice for us. There were no trains from Leipzig to Wittenberg after the Thomaskirche concert, and we had a hotel reservation in Wittenberg that could not be canceled. We also doubted that there would be hotel rooms in Leipzig since the city fall market was in full swing. And so, Castle Church it is.

Leipzig is a wonderful city. The train station is also a major shopping mall, well designed. The Old Town is huge, with imposing buildings and many elegant shopping arcades. The Fall Market (Herbstfest) was scattered all along the major pedestrian streets offering a wonderful array of fall goods, i.e., fresh honey with the hives, woven corn stalks with fall flowers or garlic, wood carving booths, new wine sold from large glass containers, fall handmade clothing, etc. We purchased our lunch here and ate foods we have never eaten before, Leipzig specialities, made with fried dough and cheese. Very tasty! Now, we are headed to Lutherstadt Wittenberg on a comfortable train.

By the way, we left most of our travel belongings in our apartment hotel in Dresden and will return there. The train stations have convenient lockers for bags, and we left our one travel duffel bag there while we toured Leipzig. Handy and efficient. More importantly, God gave me a Thomaskirche gift. We could not stay for the concert; however, an organist played one of, and perhaps my most, favorite compositions, “The Pilgrims’ Chorus” from Wagner’s Tannhauser Opera. Magnificent! WEG

It was a restful day on purpose, since Kathy crawled into bed the night before at 2:30 A.M. I used to work late hours and so staying up late is not so hard on me, but my wife is an “early to bed, early to rise” type of person, and so I walked softly in the morning and let her sleep. We had stayed up late due to the organ concert lasting until midnight and then going to a German restaurant for early morning beer. We really like this restaurant on our street. It is so German feeling with wood floors and wide-planked wood and plaster walls and wood beam ceilings with cozy eating areas around an old-fashioned bar with ancient beer taps for dunkel, rot, and weiss beer. It is quiet; Germans speak in soft tones, even in a beer hall.

The street where our apartment hotel is located is the oldest street in Dresden. The old city grew up around it. It is narrow and cobblestoned and ten restaurants with outdoor seating areas covered with canopies and outdoor heating make the passageway even narrower. The street runs from the Elbe River Promenade to the Frauenkirche, only about 200 feet. It is a favorite walkway for tourist groups and locals because of its good eating and drinking establishments, and so it is crowded from morning until early morning. The doorway to our apartment is right in the middle. The outside street singers are really good and, if we want to hear them, we only need open our windows. So far, it has been opera, country/western, and broadway for singing and classical for the brass and string ensemble. I told Kathy that we don’t need radio and there are no commercials.

This afternoon we happened upon a recent excavation in the Old Town, on the square of the Frauenkirche. Old photos before WWII showed a cluster of housing. After the Allied firebombing shortly before the end of the war that killed over 40,000 civilians, this area was covered over. Now it is being excavated and has uncovered well preserved foundations and walls. Most such sites are meticulously restored, but no decision on this site has been determined. It gives pause to think that so long after the war, restoration is still continuing. WEG

Dresden is one of the art capitals of Europe. Its buildings are impressive, even stunning. Each square in the Old Town is powerful, and the expanse allows the buildings, fountains, and statuary to stand out. The architecture is Baroque, outside and inside, and so, the Old Town is quite unified in design. The stones are dark with age and some from the firebombing of World War II; however, gold pediments and crosses stand atop stately palaces and churches.

Today, Kathy and I viewed the Old Masters’ Gallery in the Zwinger Palace. The Palace itself is a work of art, built symmetrically in the Baroque style around a massive square, but today, we were interested in the paintings of Cranach, Durer, Tintoretto, Raphael, El Greco, Titian, Van Eyck, Vermeer, Van Dyke, and Caravaggio that filled the museum.

In the evening, we attended a progressive organ concert held in the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady–Lutheran), the Kreuzkirke (Church of the Cross–Lutheran), and the Dresdener Kathedral (Catholic). If you like organ music played in beautiful churches on large pipe organs, and I do, it was three hours of bliss.

While both the Kreuzkirke and the Kathedral are large and impressive on the exterior with tall Baroque towers, it is the Frauenkirche that is the emblem of Dresden, and for good reason. It is a massive Baroque dome with an equally impressive Baroque interior of pink, white and gold. It has seven levels for seating with intricate balconies and a painted and layered dome. It was built by a staunch Lutheran populace to show their Catholic monarch that they could.

I’m not saying that I am “arted out” as we go way past the midnight hour, but I am definitely “worn out.” We are ending our day in a quaint German restaurant with a glass of dunkel (dark–Kathy) and weisse (light/white–Wayne) beer. WEG

It is a perfect fall day. Kathy and I took a morning walk to see the Festspielhaus, the Wagner Opera Hall and Grounds in Bayreuth. Inspiring! Although he lived before Nazi German history, Hitler claimed Wagner as his favorite composer and used his music to glorify the Nazi vision. Unfortunately, some of the Wagner heirs were sympathetic to the Nazi cause, and the Festspielhaus became part of the Nazi propaganda machine resulting in the oppression of Jewish musicians, in particular. Today, in the beautiful gardens that surround the Festspielhaus, large memorial plaques with pictures and script tell the story of each individual musician who had a tie to the Festspielhaus, who was persecuted,exiled, or murdered in a Nazi camp. There were many. It is amazing that a small city like Bayreuth has two of the world’s most important music halls, the other being the Margravial Opera Haus, a Unesco World Heritage Building.

Our walk was delightful. It was a cool crisp morning with bright sunlight. We walked along tree-filled spaces, with autumn colors taking hold. We then boarded our train to Dresden.

Trains are wonderful in Germany, indeed, in Europe. This train ride was a three and a half hour direct trip to our destination, with only a few short stops. We headed deeper east into Germany. Austria is to the south, and Poland and the Czech Republic are further east. This train goes through fields and at the ridge of hills. Corn fields are so close that the wind generated by the passing train causes the leaves to flutter. Farmers on tractors are laying down silage. It makes bright green rows. Other land has been filled, and the rich dark soil stands in sharp contrast to the green fields and forests that surround it. Suddenly, the train climbs altitude, and from my window seat I can look directly down into the sweeping valley below. The train is hugging the ridge of the hill. I feel isolated, yet, peaceful. We go by barns, many vine-covered, the vines turning bright red in the autumn air, and through small villages. Usually, trains are in proximity to highways. Not so on this line. The forests surround us, then rolling hills and farm lands. Horses and cattle seem content in the green fields on this sunny and cool day. WEG

We trained with our friends, Allen and Rhonda, to Nuremberg where we said a sad farewell. Allen and Rhonda were headed to Frankfurt and home to Tomball, and we were headed to Bayreuth. We have had a wonderful time, a fun time and a memorable time with our friends. As we boarded our new train, we realized that we were turning east and were going to places we had never before seen. East Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic were our next destinations.

Our train followed the course of a valley with steep hills on both sides and a lazy river meandering through its fields. The trees are beginning to turn fall colors and it is beautiful. Every once in a while rock outcroppings and cliffs appear on the ridges. As is usual, tall church steeples tower over villages along the way–I never tire of that sight. Steeples come in different designs. Some are spires, some are onioned–a descriptive word I have coined–some are stone carved, some have five points, some are towers–either flat or square–some are coppered, some are wood shingled and all are beautiful.

Bayreuth is synonymous with the great composer Richard Wagner (pronounced Vogner). It was here that he constructed an opera house to perform his mighty operas. This is the 200th anniversary of his birth, and the city is hosting many events to honor the occasion. In addition to the Wagnerian opera house, Bayreuth is home to another amazing opera house which is a Unesco World Heritage Site. This is a city of music. WEG

For the last day of the time our friends, Allen and Rhonda, are with us in Germany, we toured the German Alps around Garmische-Partinkircken, site of the 1936 Winter Olympics. It is beautiful country. Ettal Abbey, founded in the 1300s, is known for its brewery, its strong liquor, and fantastic church. We skipped the first two and concentrated on the last. We were in the church during Sunday Mass. The church is an outstanding work of rococo art. Some say it is one of the purest examples of that particular architectural and artistic design. Rococo is a riot of movement and color in imagery, and the church is resplendent in its explosive use of that technique. The eye cannot quickly comprehend all that is before it.

The Zugspitze, Germany’s tallest mountain, is close to Ettal. The gondola ride up is by far the most daring I have ever ridden. Unlike other gondola rides that soar above the trees as they sweep upward, this gondola ascends up the side of the mountain. You realize that there is absolutely nothing below you but air, and when the gondola makes its final ascent, it moves straight up like an elevator. Being used to gondolas that might reach heights above ground of 200 or so feet, I was terrified as I saw the ground underneath this gondola over a mile below. I am not sure I could ride it again. Of course, friend Rhonda was more chicken than I. She did not appreciate my running commentary of our ride upward, as in, “The last accident was over ten years ago and they haven’t made repairs since,” or, as we reached the top and the gondola came to a rest, “Since this thing is round, it could easily roll on down.” Honestly, the gondola did not glide into the station, it dangled in mid-air and you stepped onto a grate that led to the station. Then, you realized that the station was bolted to the side of the mountain–the station and platform are built around the peak and held in place by girders and cable wires. You soon realize that is no solid ground! I hollered at Rhonda, “The cables look like they are unraveling.” For those of you who know her, she gave me that look that said, “One more word…” The jagged peaks around us were in Austria and Switzerland. We could even see into Italy. We walked on a glacier, walked to Austria, and ate on an outdoor patio amidst God’s created beauty. Then, we took a cog-wheeled train through a long tunnel and through the mountain valley, past waterfalls and farms with goats and sheep. It was a fine final day with our friends. WEG

Over the past two long tourist days we have experienced some of the lows of humanity and some of the highs.

The Nazi Camp System, both concentration and death, is certainly one of humanity’s low points. It was evil planned and executed with precise detail. Dachau, on the outskirts of Munich, was the first official and model camp from which the extensive system grew. Tied to the SS, the elite core of Nazi leadership, Dachau was first the place where political opponents of Hitler were sent to be “re-educated,” and it turned into the place where the most horrendous crimes against humanity were carried out. Its crematorium burned night and day. Its slogan, later adopted by all the camps, “work will set you free,” was a cruel joke, since prisoners would only find death in this place. Our time in Dachau was a chilling reminder of the human capability to be inhumane.

Building and artistic creativity are certainly some of highs we have experienced. Although the food is good and the Bavarian entertainment is indeed entertaining, the beauty of the Hofbrauhaus, the oldest beer hall in the world, was what I enjoyed the most. The huge barrel ceiling painted in Bavarian design uplifted the evening’s experience. The mountain castles, Linderhof and Neuschwanstein, of King Ludwig II in the Bavarian Alps, are indeed a flight into fancy and fantasy. From the choice of geography to the thematic art that coursed through the architecture, the castles are splendid. Linderhof is a tribute to King Louis the XIV, the Sun King of France. Gold and white to the max, each room holds exquisite pieces of art in crystal, porcelain, ivory, wall coverings, furniture and paintings. The grounds are filled with fountains and flowers and arbors that radiate from the palace with wonderful ease. Neuschwanstein is probably the most recognized castle in the world. It was Disney’s inspiration for his parks. Perched on a pinnacle in a gorge, with waterfalls flowing down from above and towering over a lake below, this castle is the ultimate in one’s King’s fantasy world. The castle was designed on the theme of Richard Wagner’s operas. Each room used an opera as its inspiration and tried through art to bring the opera to life. Unfinished inside, due to the King’s mysterious death only a few days after he was declared insane, the thirty rooms that are completed are astonishing. Some might think the castles are “overdone,” but most would agree that they are high points of art in the style of High Baroque.

My emotions have been stretched “every which way” the past two days. That is what the juxtaposition of humanity’s highs and lows does to a person’s psyche. WEG

It was Oktoberfest again today in Munich. It rained during the day and that drove the masses of people indoors. We finally found a place at a table in the Baurosl Tent. It was the tent we had picked out from the many choices because the tourist sites said it had some of the best music. It was wunderbar! The crowd of thousands sitting at the tables on two levels were fully engaged–some standing on chairs to sing along. We didn’t mind that the words were all German; it was a fun people-watching event. Folks danced in the aisles; vendors walked about selling wonderful food and German clothing; wait staff scurried about with food and beer–I saw one waitress carrying ten huge full beer mugs–and patrons stood and offered smiles and hugs. It is really hard to describe the atmosphere that was German to the core. Lederhosen and dirndls predominated the dress, and the yodel-singing lady was really good as she sang with a big brass band. The room rocked, and the crowd roared.

In the evening, we left the Wiesen–the field on which the Oktoberfest is held–and headed to the Marianplatz in the Altstadt so that Kathy and I could allow our friends, Allen and Rhonda, the experience of eating in one of our favorite Munich restaurants, the Augustiner. It was another wonderful, fun-filled day that was captured in this oft sung beer toast song:

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit.
WEG