January 21 

The day began with our now ritualistic early rise to obtain good seats on the bus. It is interesting that a group of college students is willing to get up earlier than they have too, but then again, this isn’t really class. It has gotten so extreme that if you come just ten minutes early, you may be among the last to arrive, and at five minutes early, you may be the last. We left Leipzig and drove to WittenBurg, the site of many activities crucial to the start of the Reformation.  In WittenBurg we took a tour of Martin Luther’s house.  It was interesting to see the rooms where Martin Luther and his wife spent most of their time and to see where some of the first discussions about the reformation occurred.  It was also exciting to see a replica of the original ninety-five theses.  After the visit to Luther’s house, we walked to the Castle Church, and saw where Luther nailed the ninety-five theses.  It was an awe inspiring experience to be at the exact spot where the reformation began.  During our visit at the WittenBurg church we saw Luther’s grave, where Rev. Broekhuizen led us in the singing of Luther’s hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”  It was inspirational to sing this hymn in the very place where the lyrics were inspired.  Following lunch in WittenBurg we drove to Berlin where we took a brief driving tour and stopped at the Berliner Dome.  Some of us climbed to the top of the dome for a beautiful view of Berlin at night. There is so much history in this beautiful church built over a large crypt.  Following this visit we drove to the hotel, where most of us relaxed for the night. TO, DV

January 20

This morning we attended church at St. Vitus Cathedral which was a traditional Catholic mass in Czech. Although we couldn’t understand the service and it was difficult to follow, it was still inspirational to see how other cultures collect into one place to worship the same God. After church, we drove to Dresden, Germany where we ate lunch and walked around for a while. Dresden was heavily bombed during WWII and is still in the process of reconstruction. It was interesting to see how much of an impact WWII still has on the people over here. It’s not really something that we as Americans think about very often, but for the people in Germany, it still plays a large part in their everyday lives. We then drove to Leipzig where we checked into our hotel and ate dinner. One unique thing about Leipzig was the dividing line of old and new buildings due to bombs from WWII. Upon arrival, we visited the train station which was rebuilt and plays a large role in the economy of this city.
 

January 19

We started out today with a familiarization tour of the city, including famous sites such as the Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral and the Royal Palace. Our guide was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable but slightly overwhelmed by the size of our group. The tour started at our hotel, which was located at the top of a very large hill, throughout the tour we slowly walked down this hill and ended up in the center of the city. After the tour we had the afternoon free to eat lunch and discover Prague for ourselves.

We met that evening for dinner in a local Czech restaurant that served Czech food. During dinner we had live entertainment in the form of a talented accordion player, a violinist, and two Czech dancers. The entertainers were very interactive with the audience and even managed to get several students involved in the dancing. I think that everyone had a good time eating and laughing.

January 18  

Today we visited Dachau, the infamous World War II concentration camp.  The camp was a horrific sight and really wasn’t a highlight compared to the fun places we have been.  Nonetheless it was a very humbling experience and it helps us appreciate our freedoms we have in the United States.  After we left Dachau it was on to Nurnberg for a quick lunch.  The day was filled with much driving and travels.  We arrived in Prague in the evening where we ate dinner at the hotel and then a quick look at the city light up at night.