I failed to check my step count the past three days. Luckily, my phone keeps the record for a while. On the 1st, it was 9,031, the 2nd was 8,504 and the 3rd was 10,139. I don't know why the flight day would be higher than the arrival day, but there you go.
Sleep last night was not as solid as the night before, but that is to be expected, I suppose. We got up at 6:30 and immediately set to work on our morning stretches. The luggage was put out at 7:15, as my husband went to breakfast. I followed a few minutes later. The buffet was still good and I tried different Georgian syrups on the pancake today. Then, it was back to the room to brush teeth and get the hand luggage. I'd been very heartened last night, when Brane, the guide, said there was plenty of room in the bus for small hand luggage and that small rolling bags would be put in a special area under the bus. My CPAP machine was in my hand luggage and I did not want it far from me.
When we got on the bus at 8:27, we found that that bag fit right under our seat quite nicely and my husband's backpack went up on the rack above. I'd bought a bag that fit in the insane carry on size stated by Globus in the paperwork-12"x11"x6". It was sort of a small backpack and held the headsets and packs quite nicely. There was a small hook on the back of the seat that we found just at the top of the side door of the bus, but I eventually looped it through the handle on the seat ahead of us.
The weather was very comfortable and mostly sunny. We headed out at 8:30 with a local guide on board to tell us about Berlin. I was quite impressed, when Charlie, the bus driver, backed the bus up the street to get out of the narrow street he was trapped in. In just 16 minutes, we were stopped at the Topography of Terror exhibit that my husband and I toured yesterday. We were not given time to go in and it wasn't even open yet, but this gave everyone a chance to take photos of the Wall. I took the picture of the line in the street that I'd failed to notice yesterday.
East Berlin had been at the top of the picture, which means the Topography of Terror is in the old West Berlin.
We were soon back in the bus and at 9:02, we were given 10 minutes at Checkpoint Charlie. Everyone photographed it and did selfies. It was too early for the faux soldiers who pose with tourists, which was fine by me.
The next stop was the Holocaust Memorial. It really is amazing, even seeing it for the second time. Neither my husband nor I liked seeing people sitting on the blocks, even if the American architect who designed it didn't care what people did on them or to them. The Jewish community cared and the blocks are coated to prevent graffiti.
When we got back on the bus, I was surprised that we did not go around the corner to the Brandenburg Gate. Instead, we headed off for the Gendarmemarkt, with the German and French Dom flanking the Konzerthaus. I took my photos rather quickly, including this panoramic. I do love that function on the iPhone!
The others were still taking photos, when I noticed an Ampelmann shop across the street. At my husband's urging, I ran across and purchased pins, earrings to use as ornaments and a card. I was still back before most of the group was on the bus.
We left at 9:45 and reached the Brandenburg Gate at 10:08. We were given time to take photos and to go to one of the cafes to use the restroom. We watched a phalanx of police come through followed by bikers in racing uniforms. An unusual sight. We took our photos and then went to the Starbucks to use the restroom. It was downstairs, which my knees hated. There were only a couple of stalls, so the wait was long.
I like that you can see the Victory Column through the center of my photo.
We were on the bus at 10:35, which was on time. Unfortunately, others took longer and we didn't leave until 10:47.
When they let us off down the street a bit from the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche, we said good-bye to the local guide. My husband gave her a 2 Euro tip, because she really was quite good. We then walked up and across the street to visit the church. This was my first time in any part of the church and I was impressed. The paintings/mosaics in the old part were quite impressive and made for good panoramic photos. The new part was quite beautiful, yet stark.
Even though there was a festival with food booths around the church, my husband was determined to eat at the department store KaDeWe. Unfortunately, we weren't totally sure which street on either side of the church to take. We looked down the one opposite where we'd been let off the bus, but that didn't look right to me. (Both of us have been there on separate occasions.) The other street had a sculpture that I recognized from a jigsaw puzzle and I wanted a shot of this, which is called
Berlin.
After I took the shot, I looked farther down the street and saw the store. It is huge and you could spend a day exploring it. The first stop was toys, so that I could look for the Angela Merkel Barbie that I didn't find last time-or this- and to look for miniatures, which was also a bust. However, I noticed the book department next to toys and thought this was my best chance to get the books my older daughter had requested, including the first Harry Potter book in German for her friend.
That shopping done and stowed in my husband's backpack, we headed up the escalator to the food floor. It took a lot of walking around to find a stand with the two things we wanted, food and seats. Finally, we spied one selling that Berlin specialty, Currywurst, and knew we had to have that. The Spezial Currywurst with fried, shredded potatoes was 3,90 Euros and the small bottle of Coca Cola Zero Sugar was 2,20 Euros. We really enjoyed the slightly spicy sauce on the wurst.
My husband recognized "geradeaus" in the directions the server gave me to the restrooms. Our path led us past all kinds of wonderful food. Even though I searched, I couldn't find chocolate made in Berlin to buy. The restroom cost 20 cents, but out the window I saw another scene from the jigsaw puzzle set, so that was cheering.
We still had a little time and we stopped in a department that had some wonderful Erzgebirge figures 9,95 Euros each. I got a Berlin bear behind a ship's wheel and flower lady. When we left at 1:10, we had ten minutes to get to the bus.
There were plenty of people still not there, when we arrived on time. I walked down the street a bit to see if I could find the Hard Rock Cafe. I soon realized it was too far away. However, I recognized some of the Wyoming group standing approximately where we'd been dropped off. I told them that the bus was farther up the street, as I headed back. When I got to the bus, I let the guide know that some folks had been back there and he headed off to fetch them. So, we left 7 minutes late.
We drove through lovely country, but I soon dozed off, when we were on the Autobahn. When I woke, we were passing through a village on more of a country road. It was really nice to see the houses, which were all neat and well-kept.
At 3:28, we were let out at the Luther-Hotel Wittenberg. It had a very attractive front at the corner, which was over a store. The door was at the side. As soon as you got in the lobby, you knew they meant their name. There was a large Luther statue at the door.
We all gathered in the lobby, waiting for our last names to be called and to be handed the old-fashioned giant key holders, that were to be left at the desk any time we left the hotel. We waited our turn to go up the elevator to the next floor to our room. As we turned down the hallway, we passed the quiet room, set up for prayer. The windows of it even had a stained glass film on them.
Our room looked pleasant enough, but the lack of air conditioning was immediately obvious. The window was tilted inward, which didn't let in a lot of air. I didn't want to open it in the "door" position, because we'd be leaving soon. In poking around, I discovered chocolates with Luther on them in the mini fridge. They must be the sweets that were mentioned on a card in the room. After a while, our luggage was delivered, which reassured me. I didn't want to leave and have it out in the hall for who knows how long.
We decided to go along on the outing that the Wyoming group was going on to the Schloßkirche to hear their organist, who'd arranged to play. When we met them and the guide outside at 4:45, it looked like most of the tour was going. The guide led us through the streets of Wittenberg, which turned out to be a charming town.
It took about 15 minutes to walk to the end of town, where the church stood. I recognized the song that was referenced on the tower "Ein Feste Burg" (
A Mighty Fortress).
This is the church, where Luther supposedly nailed up his 95 Theses. "Supposedly" because they are not entirely sure he did that. They know he sent them to the archbishop in Mainz, because that is how you told the church things back then. The church door was used by the academics in town to post things for discussion, so that may be why it is thought he might have done so. We had to hustle in for the concert, but there were a lot of folks around the door anyway. It is also not the original door. That burned up in a fire. This one is bronze with the theses printed on it. Because the concert was delayed and I wasn't sure I'd have a chance tomorrow, I slipped out to the information center across the street to buy a couple of postcards, including the one requested by the German native at my Catholic church back home. When I came out, I saw that no one was near the door, so I took the opportunity to take an unobstructed photo.
Back inside, there were lots of folks besides our tour group, of course. Many of them paused to listen as the Wyoming organist played about 5:15. They even applauded at the end of one piece. His mother, aunt and cousin were there to hear him, which must have been quite a blessing.
Although this church used to be Catholic, it was reconstructed after the above-mentioned fire, so there is a lot of Lutheranism there, with the tower being a prime example. Windows and shields tell of the cities and people who converted.
As I wandered around, I discovered two raised plaques, one on the left and one on the right under the pulpit. They turned out to be the graves of Philip Melanchthon and Martin Luther, respectively. I'd never heard of the former. He is credited with founding Lutheranism with Luther and is seen as the intellectual theologian.
After the concert, we all gathered together to be led back through town. We passed a wine festival in the town square, as well as interesting shops.
To make things more interesting, the guide took those of us who didn't stop off at the festival down a different street to the hotel, which we reached at 6:20. We changed our shoes and went down to dinner at 7.
We sat with D., who works for CNN and was traveling alone. We were quite happy to tell him how much we appreciate CNN and the work it does.
Dinner was a serve-yourself affair and offered chicken, pork and fish. I did not choose fish, but did try both of the others, which were good. The golden potatoes were delicious and I really enjoyed the clear onion and leek soup. Beer for my husband and white wine for me were nice accompaniments. I tried a couple of desserts, which I really liked. My husband also found this delicious fruit, which internet research tells me is a cape gooseberry or golden berry, Kapstachelbeere in German.
We talked until 8:20, when we headed back to the room. We adjusted the window to open like a door and looked out over the roof to rooms on the other side of the hotel. That posed a privacy issue. We could hear the music from the festival and it lasted until late in the night, even though they played "Good Night, Ladies" at about 11. As I posted on Facebook, we even heard "Take Me Home Country Roads"! The internet kept dropping a lot, which was very frustrating.
When it came time for bed, we opened the window wide, but had to pull the curtain across for privacy and to keep the sun from waking us too early. We discovered that the pillows flattened to nothing. My husband hates the duvet they use in all the hotels and tore his apart to just have a sheet for the night. Luckily, it is just one night here.
10,789 steps today!
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