On the road again (sorry - in the air again!)

Am doing this final entry at home, a couple of days after landing feeling that the whole blog needed to have an ending. Back in to Munich on Friday from Nuremberg (obviously N'berg has problems with dog's Ruth, so we left!!!) and a further brief wander around the city
replete with its statues - what a surprise to find an old statue of one of the EMperors commandeered by the locals as a memorial to Michael Jackson!! However, Saturday came and we used the local train to get to the airport where we prevailed upon some people in the line to take the photo of us with luggage at the airport. From there it was a 6 hour flight to Abu Dhabi and a lay over for 2 hours and then the final leg home. LEaving at 11.15, we were 40 minutres late and then served our evening meal and finally off to sleep at about 2am. However, it was not long before the sun came up so all the blinds were closed and liughts off until about 10am (which of course by now was closer to 4pm Melbourne time so the body clocks were already starting to react. ANother major meal (where did breakfast go?) and it was n't long before we were flying over Horsham covered in cloud and then the runway at Tulla appeared and we landed at the scheduled 6-15. WE got through immigration and customs and were out in the foyer to be greeted by an excited Dee, Ashley and Caitlin by 10 to 7 and were brought home. Here Daryn, Joanne, Kealy and Elijah joined us for tea and so it was a veyr contented couple who were able to fall into their own bed after having experioenced hotel beds for the last couple of months. How good to be home. WE PRAISE GOD FOR ALL THAT IS NOW PAST, AND WILL TRUST HIM FOR ALL THAT IS NOW STILL TO COME.

EIn Feste Burg - Nuremburg

There are many facets to the history of Nuremburg and its place in the scheme of things. Firstly it dates from back in the 11th century as it was a town at a crossroad of Europe's trading routes. It soon became a city of 45,000 living within a square mile behind the city walls overlooked by an imposing castle, which, by the way, had never been conquered. The first time the city of Nuremburg was ever conquered by a foreign power was in 1945 when the American forces finally entered the city and took it over. One of the reasons, among many, was that access to the castle was very difficult - even the bridge over the moat which was not just around the city, but also around the castle had a bend in it which meant battering rams were of little consequence. The other is for us, more immediate - on seeing what was being established here as part of Hitler's dream for a 1000 year Reich, heaven help us all if the Allied forces had not prevailed and Germany was defeated in 1945!!!!. But also of course, much earlier Nuremburg was also the centre of the Reformation very influenced by Martin Luther. At that stage it was the centre of the Holy Roman Emperor, even though no Emperor ever lived here (the Nuremburgers liked it that way) so Luther had to front up and defend himself here. Needless to say, because of Nuremburg's role in the early scheme of the Reich (empire) Hitler made it the centre of the Nazi party. In the morning we joined an English speaking walking tour to explore the town rather than do it ourselves. Needless to say we went past the obligatory church but to our surprise, Nuremburg does njot have, never has had a Cathedral! In the afternoon, the tour took us out to the Nazi Party Rally Grounds, a massive arfea that was to be developed to be the showcase of Nazi power. I've included below a photo which many of us will be well familiar, or have seen film footage of the massive pre-war Nazi rallies. Of course, after the war, the US forces destroyed all vestiges of these Nazi symbols so that they could never provide a rallying ground for such activity again. What was the big flat ground has been turned into park land, but it is quite clear where the various aspects of the many rally activities were and displays of what ws further planned. The Congress Centre still stands, only because it looks impressive on the outside, but inside is shoddy brickwork, it is only in recent years since about 2006 that it has become a Museum as the Documentation Centre of Nazi activity. A bit of a reminder of when Jesus talked about external appearances. Rather interestingly, just as we were leaving a whole pile of uniformed young men arrived for a tour - they were officers in training of the current German Armed Forces. Needless to say, Nuremburg was also the place of the War Trials, but the Court Room 600 area is undergoing refurbishment and so it was pointless going the distance out of the city to just see an exterior. Well - the trip is just about over. We catch the train in the morning for a one hour journey back to Munich where we will spend the night, re-organise our casesand then on Saturday head for the airport and meet up again with Natalie and Megan and fly home. So, unless anything untoward occurs this will be our last blog entry. We look forward to seeing you all live and in person in a few days time. Over and out. Auf weidersehen.

On the train again!

Another good sleep in after all the walking yesterday and after breakfast as we were heading back to our room we were conscious of a whole pile of people in variopus forms of "fancy dress" on the street right outside the Hilton doors. It appears that the hotel next door was celebrating its 20th anniversary and so the staff from all the various parts of the hotel, its restaurants, loigistics, clerical, all of them were all dressed up for a parade. Most colouful and again something different to experience of the culture. With only the morning to occupy, and much of it now taken care of, we walked across the bridge to the "New City" past the golden statue of Augustus the Great and visited the Church of the 3 Kings. It also had been bombed during the war and has been rebuilt, but they have turned a mausoleum into a missional and practical facility yet have retained the old altar with all its bomb damage just as is (whereas the Frauenkirche completely restored theirs. Different stories - both really interesting.
Then came the walk of 1 1/2 km from the hotle to the station so we stopped part way and had our lunch, even then we reached it in time to be able to catch the train 1hr ewarlier than we had planned. That was good and although it wasn't the ICE (the very fast train) it was still 1st class in an Inter Regional Express. It came directly from Dresden to Nuremburg but taking a "back route" through the rolling hills of Saxony, quite different landscapes than we had seen before. Needless to say it also began to rain as we travelled south-east and quite heavily at times. However, by the time we reached Nuremburg it had stopped and we had very little distance to walk this time to our hotel - we have a great relationship with the railways from our bedroom window - fortunately it is double glazed. We've wandered into town for tea and this has already whtted our appetite for exploring this city of great medieval history as well as for its significant role in the War Trials following WW2.

Doing the rounds of Dresden

Well it was a good night's sleep even though we were right in the heart of the city. After breakfast we joined the 1 1/2 hr hop on/off tour, but didn't hop on or off, but this gave us a great overview of Dresden. Rosslyn had only seen it in the January when it was covered with snow. The city is on the banks ofr the Elbe, (same as Hamburg) and the water was rising following the continued rain in Poland and the Czech area over the last week or so. The weather had warmed and so we were in our short sleeves, but, having had the thunderstorm yesterday afternoon, we had our coats just in case. We passed various points of interest - the home of the guy who made his fortune by inventing rat poison!

Of course there were the castles and cathedrals and the imposing tile "tapestry" in Meissen tiles depicting the history of all the kings and rulers of Saxony. There was also the big VW Glass factory. This took us to lunch and so we just did some further wandering - the cafe where Rosslyn and Natalie had lunch when they were there was just at the back of the Hilton, we walked along the ramparts of the old wall along the riverside which took us around to the Fraenkirche shop which we had wanted to find to see the video of their restoration work. Graeme then took the elevator partly to the top and then climbed the rampo and stairs inside the cupola (see photo of the Church from yesterday's blog) right up to the very top. Of course the views of the river and the city were spectacular.. We then went for a walk across to the Zwinger Palace, a big area whose centre is a most relaxing garden of statues and fountains and precisely laid out geometric lawns. The catsle also containsthe museum collection of porcelain for which Dresden is famous. The evening then saw us dress up (just a little) and go across to the Frauenkirche for an organ recital of music of JS Bach. Evening lingers and so it was still light when we went for a romantic walk on the ramparts at 9-30pm

Dresden

Whereas yesterday's train hit speeds of upto 247kph, today's was a little slower, but very picturesque - past many golden canola fields, green rolling hills, quaint towns and cities that are well known in terms of Church history, or hymn tunes - Erfurt, Leipzig, Weimar. Intersting to think that we were travelling ground that was very familiar to Bach and earlier to Luther, but neither of them now would recognise anything much of their world - except the churches that continue to dominate the skylines. Fast trains, and elevated highways make travel so much easier. We left at 9-20 and arrived 5 hours later in Dresden and then walked the length of the shopping plaza to eventually find the Hilton Hotel, which was right next door (literally) to the Church that Rosslyn wanted to revisit - the Frauenkirche. When she and Natalie were here 2 years ago, there was a concert on so they could not go inside. This Church was bombed in 1945 and lay in rubble for over 40 years until it was finally rebuilt in all its splendour and re-opened in 2005. The other joy of the afternoon was that of finding that today was a holiday - Pentecost Holiday) and so in the square was a Spring Market, along with the maypole - needless to say we wandered that and had a ball (well, actually, chocolate coated bananas,) as black storm clouds gathered. WE went at 6pm for a service at the Frauenkirche and so heard the magnificent organ being played there for this 1/2hr devotion time and then went to the Ayers Rock Restraurant, just around from the hotel for our tea. Don't have to wake up early in the morning but we plan to do a hop-on off bus tour of the city which appears to offer great possibilities of interest.

From some tired Frankfurters

We had our night out on the town for the final tour dinner - hence Natalie and Ros who are joined by Natalie's room mate for the tour - Ria, who comes from Capetown. We had a good night and Rosslyn and Natalie rose early to have breakfast before Natalie joined all the others who were being transferred to the airport for her later flight up to Hamburg. We however after breakfast made our way by lift from the hotel directly down undernmeath to the subway and 4 stops later were in at the Central r.s. and we took the 3 hr ICE train to Frnakfurt. In fact it was quite a warm day, so by the time we arrived, it was coats and jumpers off and into short sleeves. We did our own orientation tour of the city - tall skyscrapers on the banks of the River Main. We walked and walked, saw the writer Goethe's home, visited the Cathderal (as one tends to do) and what would John Pritchard do if he got his hands on this organ!. Did'n't hear it but it looks impressive. Having satisifed ourselves that we had seen all that we wanted to see and could see in the time available, we had an early night for another train trip to Dresden.

Photos of Venice Canals for Ashley

Multi-emotional Munich

This morning was our orientation tour and walk of Munich - a beautiful city that Natalie and Rosslyn had visited in 2008 but that was in the middle of winter. It has wide streets and lots of trees and so is fresh and green. Of course there are old parts, but not as old and congested as other cities we have visited - this was only established in the 1100's and so is a "young" city. One of the highlights was the glockenspiel on the town hall clock which plays at 11am for 10 mins, the other was our visit to the Hofbrauhaus - the beer garden which opens at 11am also - what an experience - guyts in their traditional Bavarian outfits - leather shorts and braces, 1 lire pots of beer (they don't sell anything smaller) and the beer brass band filling the place with their drinking music. Wunderbar! When the 3 pots of lemonade finally arrived we were content, esepcially as we had prime seats at a restaurant in trhe Marianplatz with our coffee and pretzel to watch the clock.

The afternoon's visit was of completely different emotion - a visit to Dachau, the only concentration camp that existed for the full extent of Nazi reign. It's not large yet housed over 30,000 people. Much of it is still there as a museum along with a very moving Protestant Chapel, but the Bunker (rooms for "special prisoners") and the gas chambers and crematorium are all still in tact. Graeme found a very interesting sculpture in one of the rooms made of brass of two Jewish people, the other piece of sculpture dominates the open assembly sapce as an interntational meorial which also characterises the gruesome contorted shapes of human bodies one sees in many of the photos of dead bodies in the concentration camps. Most of the huts have been removed but two are left one of which is set up as it was. They may look like fun places for youth camps when we were young but as we know they were far from that. We can only echo the two words that dominate the place "NEVER AGAIN." Off now for our last part of travelling - Frankfurt by train tomorrow, Dresden, then Nuremberg, then backl to Munich on Friday and then home!!! Are we ready for this? Yes.

Oberammergau (2)

Left out some happenings on this day. We arrived in the village and Natalie Ros and Graeme wandered off from the group because we recognised we had limited time and were later than we had wanted to be. We found the Evangelical church (Lutheran) that had advertised that it has services and as Graeme was talking to someone (who turned out to be the Associate Bishop of Exter) who was with an English tour group, Natalie spoke to a Lutheran person who said that there was an English Service with Communion starting at 11am and that it would be OK for us to participate. So we did and it was led by this rather switched on Bishop (who actually was Scottish!) So not having been in church for worship (we had been almost in a church everyday of our touring!!!) it was good to participate in a Communion Service before heading off to do anything else. SO we set to our exploring, headed up to the hotel for lunch (in the rain) and then back to join the thousands in the Playhouse

Mad Ludwig

A sleep in after a late night last night as we had to wait for the others to come from innsbruck to collect us. Then we were off to Neuschwanstein Castle. This was the brain child of Ludwig 11 of Bavaria who built it in 1880's. He was enamoured with things Wagnerian and so much of the interior paintings and designs ahev Wagnerian themes. It is the castle that Walt Disney used to fashion the wellknown Disney Castle that we are so used to seeing. Thye trouble was that Ludwig was declared mad and a doctor certified him and he was to be isolated and unfit to rule. The next day both he and his psychiatrist were found dead at the side of a lake just out of Munich - again, another mysterious death whose circumstances will never be fully known. We have now arrived in Munich a city of just over 1mill people and do our orientation here tomorrow and then a visit to Dachau Concentration Camp. Since we have been off air for a few days, I've now been ablew to catch you up, ever so briefly to our happenings.

Oberammergau

Woke up and the morning was overcast and rainy. We set off for the 30 min drive from Garmisch to Oberammergau and joined the throng already there. Oberammergau has features of pictures painted on the house walls and is well known for its wood carvers. It is a village of about 5000 people and you mmust be either born inthe village or have lived there for 20 years to qualify to participate in the Passion Play. It is still early to try to process the whole event - a choir of 50, and orchestra, a cast of something over we , estimate 600 on stage at one time, live pigeons, horses, camels, donkeys, sheep, goats. It commenced at 2-30 and the first part went untipl 5pm when we had to make our way up to a hotel on the edge of the village where our meals were being proivded. The second part commenced at 8pm and finished at 11pm and we then had to make our way back by coach to our hotel. It is all in German but we are supplied with a book of the gtext which is fine in the first half when there is still enough light to read, but the second was a different matter. The stage area is all n the open but the auditorium holding about 4800 people is under cover. We've bought a book of the Play as no photos are allowed. There are many stunning tableaux dotted throughout the play which are revealed as the choir sings or the narrator offers his comment. I have included one photo which is one I took of a publicity hoarding at the back of the ticket office of the crucifixion scene. We had to rug up as the evening session was quite cold - to-p temp for the day was only about 8 or 9 degrees. Its a strange feeling now with this day behind us - little to look forward to except the plane next week. WE head to Munich now.