Lutherland!

Hello to all :)

Well, we had another successful week trip throughout Germany.  Most of our group wasn't looking forward to such a intense/ information- filled trip, but after all was said and done, we had a WONDERFUL time (& learned quite a bit too).  We are so fortunate that our group can turn anything into a fun and exciting environment (thanks to us 4 too, of course)!  Also, while on this week excursion, we couldn't have asked for better weather (I swear I can see a little pink on my cheeks...!), better friends or better memories.

To kick off the week, we left for the town of Erfurt on Monday morning (6 am.......).  This is the city where the great Martin Luther went to college.  We had a city tour that afternoon and were entertained the entire 2 hours with our guide.  He did a great job of showing us the city.  Then, we had a 3.5 hour dinner (one that everyone said has been their favorite thus far) where we just chatted with Herr Becker and laughed the night away.  Tuesday, we headed for Eisenach.  This city contained the castle where Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German.  It was quite a hike up through the woods, but totally worth the view!  We all shared our ipods and sang our own renditions of Rihanna, Rascal Flatts & The Fray... can you picture it now?! :)  Also in Eisenach, we toured the Johann Sebastian Bach museum.  We got to see instruments that he played and read more about his life (he had 20 kids!!!!!!!!).  Wednesday we were off to Wittenburg.  Another city tour was in store for us here.  We got to see the supposed door where Luther's 95 Thesis were nailed and we also were able to walk through his house (which is now a museum).  The last room contained the first Bible translated by Luther in German... it was HUGE!  Very cool!  Another awesome experience we did that night was to meet with a German high school's English class.  They performed a skit for us and made a pot- luck dinner... it was so CUTE!  We sat and talked for 2 hours... such an unforgettable experience.

A train ride to Leipzig was on our itinerary for Thursday.  This city was ALL about Bach.  It contained the 4 churches he was musically in charge of while he was living.  We went to a German cantata church service, celebrated a fellow RT- 83's 21st birthday and laughed along the way.  This city was very neat- lots of pedestrian walkways, cute shops and just the right amount of people.

For the day on Friday, we took a  4 hour train ride to the city of Prague.  It is supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities over here in Europe so we just had to go!  We all LOVED it.  We got to see the famous bridge, schloss (castle) and the small glockenspiel.  It was a memorable day.  We were bummed to leave that night because President Obama was due in that next morning... we just missed him!!!!

Our group headed back on Sunday morning.  We had so much to get done... register for classes, study for an art test & work on an Econ project (wheww!).  Lutherland may have not been one of our top picks, but it turned out to be a WONDERFUL trip.  Now, it's back to the daily grind until we head out on Thursday for Sweden and then Greece!  We miss you all so much & think about you daily.

Miss, Love-

Anna & the chicas!