Saturday August 2, 2008

 

 

An Amazing Day of Celebration in Schwarzenau, Germany

 

First I must say hello to friends from these people!

 

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From Milton Cook (left) to Bob and Helen.  Some of our friends will know Robert Lehigh on the right.

 

 

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“Hi” to John and Lois from Jim and Elaine Gibbel.

 

 

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Greetings to Clayton and Peggy from Sondra and Mike.

 

 

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One of our first stops today was the home, and now museum, of Alexander Mack, founder of The Church of the Brethren, and his wife Anna Margaret.

 

 

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Arlene and me standing in the Eder River where the first eight Brethren were baptized.

 

 

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In the afternoon there was an impressive service at the river, where a plaque was uncovered. 

 

 

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There was also a large group on the bridge – which is where we chose to be for photos.

 

 

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The plaque

 

 

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 Tonight there was a program by McPherson College Choir and three German choirs – Frauenchor, Gemischter Chor, and Cantamus.  Beautiful!

Schwarzenau is a town of 800 people, and 600 Brethren are expected.  The service tonight was for Brethren and locals.

~~~

I have so many pictures to show you.  I’ve taken close to 2,000, but either have to pay to be online, cannot get online, or need sleep!  I will share the details after we get home – and only post higlights while traveling.

~~~

The town of Schwarzenau has gone out of their way to welcome us.  There is a craft show depicting how things were done 300 years ago, and the meeting place is a large equestrian barn that was fixed up for this meeting.

I cannot believe that I am getting to experience this trip – it has been educational and breathtaking.

 

 

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Saturday August 2, 2008

 

 

Quick Update from Bad Laasphe

Saturday morning

I just found out that I can get online in this town (I could not at the monastery).  Last night the desk attendant said, “No Internet in the whole city.”  This morning I talked to Jim, the other person with a computer, and he said he got on line.  I found out from the new attendant that it is just not available in our section of the motel!

We are having a fabulous time.   I will add pictures tonight – now that I know how to get online in this town.

We are enjoying breakfast at the moment, and now that we are entering the 300th Celebration time – have been joined by two other bus loads of members of the Church of the Brethren.

 

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Last evening’s dinner at the Ramada.

 

 

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Wednesday July 30, 2008

 

 

Tuesday Morning

 

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Tuesday July 29, 2008

 

 

Driving a Trabant!

 Tuesday Evening

 

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Prior to the tour, we were given the opportunity to sign up to drive a Trabant.  Only three people signed up – those in the foreground. 

The others have no idea of what fun they missed.

 

 

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Nancy Lantz, Doris & Cerwin, Anna Emrick and Sam Bowman

These are the three cars we took on a beautiful two-hour tour of the countryside.  (The car in the background is not part of our group.)

If I remember correctly it is 27 horsepowered, two-cylinder, and a two-stroke engine.  So you can imagine that we were not passing anyone! 

 

 

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We had so much fun and saw beautiful scenery.  I will show some of that to you when I get to it in the proper order of my entries. 

I told Cerwin I felt like we were in an Abbott and Costello movie – or maybe The Three Stooges!

 

~~~

Because we just got home – and it is late – I am only posting these three pictures.  I will go back to the order of our trip when I can get back online.  We finished our tour of Berlin yesterday.  Tonight we are in Wittenberg.

It might be a few days before I get back online, because we are staying at a Monastery for the next two nights.  But, be assured we are having a fabulous time!

 

 

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Monday July 28, 2008

 

 

Sunday in Berlin

 

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After getting out of the airport area, and into downtown Berlin, we noticed their traffic lights are different from ours.

 

 

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Our first stop was the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.  It was built in the 1890s, and bombed in 1943. 

 

 

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Our group, listening to our guide, Gordon (center with arm in the air), give some information about the church.

 

 

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Bomb marks and damage can be seen around the entire building.  The church is no longer used, but is now a museum.

 

 

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A new church has been built a few hundred feet away.  We walked inside to observe a service in process, and stood behind glass.  This is an internet photo of what we saw.  There were too many people in front of me to get a good photo.

 

 

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hooded crow that was intent on finding crumbs from tourists.

 

 

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David Eberly (Maryland) was asking about my camera, so I took a photo of him.  Since it got fairly good, I decided to feature him today.  He is a retired Church of the Brethren minister.

 

 

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Gordon told us that we should try currywurst while in Berlin, so we took him up on the challenge and stopped here following our visit to the church and a relaxing walk.

 

 

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I forgot to take a picture of it, but got this picture of John Heisey with their Apfel Schorle.  It bubbled when they opened, what they thought was apple juice.  We kidded them that they may have gotten wine!  It was okay though – it was apple juice and carbonated water.

 

 

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Linda and Stafford Frederick also decided to get currywurst, so we invited them to join us.  He is a pastor in Virginia and she is a registered nurse.  We have enjoyed getting to know them better. 

 

 

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Here we are driving across a section where the wall separated East and West Berlin.

 

 

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These cement slabs stand as a memorial to the millions of Jews who were murdered during the war.

 

 

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There are 2,711 unmarked, concrete slabs built on 4.7 acres of land.

 

 

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The memorial is even more impressive when you walk between them.

 

 

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From there we went to this museum that houses artifacts from the Babylonian era.

 

 

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We could not take cameras inside – so these photos are from the Internet.  Above are stones which include writings and information.

 

 

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A dagger.

 

 

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One of the displays that most impressed me was a reproduction of the Tower of Babel.  The white section in front is the steps.

 

 

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Then it was time to check into our Holiday Inn Motel and have time to relax, change clothes, and get refreshed – the first time since we left home on Saturday morning.

 

 

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Gathering for supper in the motel

 

 

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Singing the Doxology.  We decided that we could be a traveling choir!

 

 

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Tomato Apple Soup.  It was cold, spicy, and delicious.

 

 

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Chicken, vegetables, and sesame potatoes.

 

 

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A delicious chocolate mousse for dessert.

 

 

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Those who wanted to walk up the hill to an old anti-aircraft bunker met outside the motel following supper.

 

 

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The day had been hot (86 degrees) but the evening was delightfully cool.

 

 

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This is where we are going.

 

 

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There were lots of oohs and aahs when we got to a lookout and saw this.

 

 

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We decided to look it up on the way down the hillside.

 

 

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One of the many lookout areas.

 

 

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A view of Berlin

 

 

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I forget who built this tower – but it was the leadership of West Berlin.  However, when it was completed, the sun always reflected a cross.  They tried a variety of things to remove it – but it has remained.  Isn’t that neat?

 

 

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Another lookout.

 

 

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My photographer buddy – Ken Bomberger

 

 

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These two – Cora and Dale Deter – are married six years on Monday.  We call them “the kids.”  Both were married to their first partners for forty-two years when they passed away – her husband from heart disease, and his wife from cancer.

 

 

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We did find our garden on the way back to the motel.

 

 

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When we were almost at the motel, Gordon pointed out an underground bunker.

 

 

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I love the brick streets in the area of our motel.

~~~

By the end of the walk, we were ready for bed!

 

 

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Sunday July 27, 2008

 

We’ve Arrived in Berlin!

 

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4:53 p.m. EST Saturday – one of our crew checking the plane.

 

 

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6:39 p.m. – John and Arlene watching the takeoff.  They are across the aisle from us.

 

 

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Drop down screens gave us flight information.

 

 

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Our north east route of flight from Newark. 

The crew began serving us drink and supper immediately after we reached the proper altitude.  We had a delicious meal of chicken, rice, and vegetables, salad, hard roll, and cookies.

 

 

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8:16 EST – Sunset

 

 

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Day is dying in the west came to my mind with this photo.

 

 

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8:24 p.m. All that was left of the sun was an orange sky.

~~~

We all tried to get some sleep, but none of us got long naps with all the noises on the plane – talking, coughing, going to the bathroom, etc. 

~~~

 

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12:49 a.m. EST – the sun began rising in the east.  That was a short night! 

We were served a breakfast of fruit and a hot roll.

 

 

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Berlin Airport came into view shortly before 8:00 a.m. Berlin time.

Subtract six hours for EST.

 

 

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Gordan was glad to find a bus driver holding this sign.

 

 

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Bruno, our motor coach driver (pink shirt), and Gordan Hoffert, our guide (black shirt).

Each of the twenty-eight people in our tour group received their luggage!

 

 

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Our next stop, before leaving the airport was to exchange our dollars for euros.

 

 

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 Our motorcoach for today and tomorrow.

 

Even though we were all tired and needed sleep, Gordan said the best thing we can do to quickly adjust to the six-hour time change is stay awake all day – so we are off to see Berlin!

 

 

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Saturday July 26, 2008

 

 

We’re at the Airport!

 

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Two more hours!

 

 

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John (left) and Arlene (right) picked us up at 11:30 a.m., and shortly after finding our gate, we met Janet and Don Stroup from Brethren, Michigan.  Isn’t that a neat town to live in when you are a member of the Church of the Brethren?

We had a two-and-a-half drive to Newark.  The most complicated part of the day so far was finding a parking area.  We went through check-in and security without a hitch. 

 

 

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 Our tour’s host, Jim Hardenbrook (pink shirt) greeting people as they arrive at Gate C96. 

 

 

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Others in our group getting acquainted.

 

 

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Saturday July 26, 2008

 

 

This is the Day!

I can’t believe it is actually here – the day we’ve been planning for and dreaming about since last summer.

 

 

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We are leaving for Europe at 5:50 p.m…

 

 

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…and landing in Berlin, Germany, early Sunday morning – after an eight-hour flight.

 

Neither of us has been overseas, so this is new and exciting.  We are traveling with good friends, John and Arlene Heisey, and joining Ed-Ventures, Inc. at Newark Airport. 

The purpose of the tour – and the “hook” that got our attention is the 300th Anniversary Celebration of our church (The Church of the Brethren) in Schwarzenau, Germany, next weekend.  We will also spend a few days in Switzerland before coming back to the USA. 

Cerwin and I have “roots” in Germany and Switzerland – which added even more interest for us.

 

~~~

It’s time to pack and get the house ready for guests who are staying here during a nephew’s wedding – that we will miss because of this trip.

 ~~~

 

I’ll stay in touch as I have time and Internet access!

 

 

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Saturday July 26, 2008

 

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen;

it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Hebrews 11:1 New Living Translation

 

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Friday July 25, 2008

 

 

Be Still

Psalm 46:10

 

 

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It is important to keep a quiet place in your daily life

 

 

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…a place where God can speak to you.

 

 

 

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…a place where your body, soul, and mind can be refreshed.

 

 

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