A Day in Prague and back to Germany

7 July
We are currently staying in a four hunderd year old castle in Hurlach, which is pretty close to Munich in Germany. It's actually a YWAM base, and was purchased in 1972 as an outreach centre for the Munich Olympic Games. At the moment it's empty, as all the students and staff are either away on their sumer break, or off on outreach.
We spent quite a while visiting a huge complex of stately buildings in Dresden called the "Staatliche Kunstsaamlungen" - basically an extravagant way of some ruler to show off! I really wanted to see the Frauen Kirche, which I'd heard was like a huge wedding cake inside, but unfortunately a wedding was in progress, so we couldn't see inside. There were heaps of people visiting the area, so I came across the usual buskers - this time, a couple of statues, a group of clarinetists and a mime artist, who was actually very good, and attracted a large crowd.
That night, and the following one as well, we stayed at a guesthouse run by the Moravian Church at Herrnhut. It was beautifully set up, and even had a lovely garden behind it, complete with oversized outdoor chess game, and a grassed vollyball court - the latter which we put to use until the ball punctured!
On Sunday, we went to the church service at the Moravian Church, and Gordon and I didn't understand a word, as it was all in German, but it was fun singing the hymns in German. During the sermon, which was about 40 minutes long, I read about the history of the Moravians, and a man called Count Zinzendorf, who greatly assisted them. Afterwards, we stayed for a cup of coffee and then had a look through the museum above the church. They also had some second hand books for sale, and I ended up buying a recipe book called "Miracle Soups", and another about St Paul's Church in London, which was great, as that was the church we had visited, but had been unable to photograph, since there had been a service in progress.
After lunch, I enjoyed a walk through the neighbouring town of Berthelsdorf, photographing all the cute houses, then back along the road through the picturesque countryside to Herrnhut. It really is a very pretty area, so I was very pleased we got to stay there for two days.
On Monday morning, we left for Prague, and on the way stopped off at an amazing place (called Kalice) in the hills where the followers of John Hus visited amongst the rocks in secret. Being in the town square of Prague (which we generously shared with hundreds of tourists from all over the world!) was an amazing experience. Some of us ended up going to a string quartet which gave a fantastic concert of popular classical music in one of Prague's many churches. That night we stayed at a guesthouse run by some lovely Czech Christians. By the way, we just happened to be in Prague on the anniversary of John Hus being burned at the stake, and because this man is so reverred in the Czech Republic, it was a public holiday.
Today we spent a lot of time travelling back to Germany, where we spent a sobering hour and a half looking around the concentration camp at Dachau. What struck me was that both victims and perpetrators of cruelty alike were dehumanised in totally different ways. Somehow it was appropriate that the weather was cold and wet.

Hi from Leipzig, birthplace of Bach

3 July
We've just spent two nights here in Leipzig, Germany, at a kind of hostel where the rooms are very spacious, and where the bathroom and kitchen facilities are shared. It's on a very busy road, so there's lots of traffic noise, but that doesn't worry me, thanks to my trusty earplugs!
I've noticed that Easwt Germany seems quite a bit more rundown in places than either Holland or West Germany, tho' there is an effort to restore historical buildings. The roads are also in a state of disrepair, and in some places in the city, there are large blue pipes running above the ground, which were apparently placed there during communist rule in order to provide heating to the city.
Yesterday there was a visit to the castle where Luther translated the Bible into German, and because it was on the top of a high hill, there were lots of steps to climb. Each day we do heaps of walking, which is a good balance to all the sitting we do when travelling. At the end of the day, we were treated to some magnificent organ music when we visited St Thomas Cathedral here in Leipzig - where Bach is buried. The weather is getting hotter and more humid - yeterday it went up to 32 degrees - so we're all very grateful for the air-conditioning in the vehicles.
In my last update, I mentioned all the people we've been learning about, but forgot to mention the places, so here they are:
In Holland: Amsterdam; Wittmarsum and Pinjum (Menno Simens, the father of the Mennonites); Dokkum, where Boniface was murdered; Zwolle, home of Thomas a Kempis; Deventer (Brothers of the Common Life); Epe (YWAM base); Naarden, Utrecht (Commenius); Venlo (Willibrord, St Martin,); Aachen (Charlemagne and Alcuin); Cologne, Fulde (Luther); Wartburg, where we had lunch near the castle; Eisenach (Bach); Erfurt; Leipzig, Wittenberg (where Luther nailed his 95 theses to the cathedral door); and Halle.
Photos, from bottom to top:
A very unfortunate sculpture on the side of a cathedral, portraying Jews as pigs (from Luther's time); a memorial to the Jews on the pavement beneath; the ten commandments in pictures; the original version of "A Mighty Fortress is our God", written by Luther; our group having lunch outside the Luther museum; in front of a statue of Francke, who started a school for orphans; "Cop Shop" is actually a place to do copying!; St Thomas's Church - where Bach served - in Leipzig; Gordon and I in front of Bach's statue.

Holland to Germany

2 July
Here we are in the heart of Deutschland, having stayed last night in a Benedictine Community. We joined in with their 'prayer meeting' last night, but it was more like a time of praise and worship, and was very joyful. As we were a mixture of nationalities, we sang the songs in whatever language was familiar to us - mostly either German or English.
The weather over here gets pretty hot in the daytime - yesterday it went up to 30 degrees! It stays light until well after 10 pm and gets light shortly after 4 am, so a couple of nights ago, we were sitting outside in our host's backyard in Venlo, Holland discussing what we'd seen that day until ten o'clock or so, and last night we finished the day with icecream and gelato on a terrace in the centre of Fulda, a lovely German town of 70,000 or so inhabitants, about the same time of evening, and it wasn't in the least bit cold. Sorry to rub it in - I hear you've been having some rather cold, wet weather down in little old NZ!
Each day we have breakfast about 7:45, make our lunches, have a short outline of the day, pray, and then we're off. We visit cathedrals, monuments, museums and other places of historical significance, and hear about the men and women who have been influential in shaping the history of Europe. So far, we've heard about Menno Simens (the man who started the Mennonite Church), Boniface, Thomas a Kempis, Geert Grote, Erasmus, Comenius, Willibrord, Saint Martin (who supposedly cut his coat in two and gave half to clothe a naked leper), Charlemagne and Alcuin.
The cathedrals have been abolutely astonishing in their magnificence and sheer size, but I have also been enjoying the change of scenery as we move through different countries. We've moved on from the flat polderland of Holland, with its ubiquitous windmills and carefully cultivated fields, to the rolling hills of Germany, with the cutest little villages nestled in its folds. The autobahns of Germany allow higher speeds, but there are so many changes in the speed limit as you drive along, you really have to keep your wits about you, as apparently the German police are very strict about sticking to the exact specified speed limit. Yesterday we got up to 150 kph, but there were still cars zipping past us, while other times we had to crawl along at 60 due to road works.
The air is sometimes quite hazy and seems polluted in places, both here and in Holland, then other times it's really clear. Most of the time we've been blessed with fine weather, although we drove through a bit of rain in Holland, and again yesterday. However, we have so far been spared having to walk around in the rain.
We are travelling in a 9-seater van and a Citroen, so there is plently of space for both people and luggage. Jeff's wife Romkje makes sure there is coffee or tea on hand for morning and afternoon tea, so we are very well looked after.
The first three nights were spent at the YWAM base near Epe, Holland, then the next we were billeted out to various homes in Venlo, which is almost on the south east border with Germany. We haven't had to speak any of the native languages of either Holland or Germany, as most people we've met have had at least a little bit of English.
The photos above: Bikes come in many different disguises, a guy in Utrecht wearing marijuana glasses!, and a gorgeous memorial chapel to Boniface - I just loved the open area in the middle.

Holland - condensed

23-28 June
I'm sooooooooooo behind, that for the sake of my sanity, I'll have to condense 6 days into one entry. So, here goes...
We nearly missed our plane to Amsterdam, as there was no boarding call. Both Gordon and I were very impressed with Schiphol - the airport at Amsterdam - very attractive and efficient, with trains departing from the airport building, just as in London. My cough had become very persistent, so as soon as we arrived in Heiloo, I went to a doctor (not as straight-forward as it sounds!) and got put on antibiotics for a sinus infection.
It was great to see my father's sister, Tante Guus, again. She is a real sweetie and we get on really well together. She came to our hotel in Heiloo (the town where she lives, about 30 minutes' drive north of Amsterdam) - The Golden Tulip - and had dinner with us. The house where Tante Guus lives is right next to a large shopping centre, and about 25 metres from a very old church that my father's family used to attend manhy years ago. It's three stories high, but so narrow, there is only enough width for one room plus a passage. Tante Guus can no longer climb the stairs to her bedroom, so the government funded the installation of a chair that glides up the side of the stairs - eat your heart out, Mary Poppins! I even had a go on it myself.
Apart from one day, we had breakfast with Tante Guus each day, and we used her washing machine and dryer to catch up with our washing - there were no laundry facilities at our hotel. She showed us where my father's family used to live, and have their bakery - just around the corner, and also gave us directions to find the farmhouse where my Oma (Dad's mother) grew up.
The second day in The Netherlands, we hired bicycles from the hotel, and had so much fun riding them, first to Tante Guus' house, then to a beach about 5 kms away, called Egmond Aan Zee. We enjoyed the sense of freedom - no helmets needed here, as there are special bicycle paths everywhere, with their own traffic lights, and they almost have more rights than motorists, so you feel very safe, as you're not competing for road space with the cars. However, I have to say it's a bit disconcerting that scooters, and even motorbikes are allowed to share the cycle paths. It's really easy to cycle here as it's almost completely flat.
We hired a car from Alkmaar, with Tante Guus putting us onto a car hire company that has the same name as I did before I was married - Middelbeek. In fact, the man who founded the company looked very much like my grandfather, and his name was Kees (my father's name). We got this cute little dark aubergine-coloured Ford Ka, and had a great time, and only a few arguments over directions, as we tootled around the countryside. On the first day (Thursday), we visited two fishing villages on the coast just up from Amsterdam, and were taken with the quaint little houses, all beautifully neat and tidy. Volendam, the first of the two, was a lot more touristy, and had a parade of huge tour buses trundling through its narrow streets, while Marken seemed quite unspoiled in comparison. I got my photo taken in traditional Dutch costume - sorry about the pose - I just did as I was told! I was also thrilled when we visited a lovely old church in Marken and inside it were two of the sweetest little old ladies in their local costume who graciously allowed me to take their photo.
We got into trouble a couple of times, firstly when we tried to drive onto the wharf area at Marken and were told off in no uncertain terms by a very grumpy man, and the next time when we were halfway dwon a very narrow street in Marken, and a lady at a street stall started waving her arms at us and holding up her index finger, which I assued meant this was a one-way street, and we happened to be driving up it the wrong way! Actually, there were two other rather more scary incidents - one when Gordon was driving at around 90kph along a highway, and suddenly had to pull off the road onto the grass verge to avoid an oncoming car hitting us head on as it overtook three cars in one go. The second incident occurred when a scooter suddenly swooped in front of us as we were exiting a roundabout. If I hadn't called out to Gordon to stop, the rider would certainly have come off worse for wear. We are thankful to God for His protection - especially since we forgot to take out any insurance when we hired the car!
After the two fishing villages, we headed up north and crossed the 30 kilometre long dyke across the water between North Holland and Frysland, then called into a port to have dinner, before returning to Heiloo for the night.
On Friday (26th), our journey took us in the opposite direction, as we drove south to see an amazing model village called Madurodam, where all the buildings and models are exactly a 25th of their original size. It was a great way to see a lot of the beautiful buildings from all over The Netherlands without having to drive all over the country to see them!
Both Gordon and I think this country is really beautiful, and I reckon Heiloo must be the most gorgeous town I've ever seen. It's just so perfectly well-kept, with such interesting house designs and lovely little gardens set in tree-lined avenues. As you might have guessed, there are windmills everwhere, but not just the traditional kind you see on postcards - there are in fact more of the modern type you can see in the photo. The countryside is all very neat and tidy, and nearly every bit of land is used. We thought it every interesting that there are even buildings that straddle roads, and airport runways that go over the top of roads. On one occasion, the cars had to stop as a section of road lifted up in the air to allow boats to pass through along a canal.
On the day we laft Heiloo, we purchased tickets that would allow is to take the train to Apeldoorn, which is where we would be picked up and taken to the start of our "Share the Heritage" tour. What we didn't know was that it wouldn't be quite the straight forward journey we would have expected. It was very fortunated that Gordon asked an official on the train about our journey, and found out that we would have to change three times and catch a total of four trains to finally reach our destination. That meant a lot more heaving around of our luggage, plus a box of gluten free food I stocked up on for the tour! We were quite tired by the time we finally made it to the dinner where the others were waiting for us.
There is only a small group of people on the tour: a couple from Canada in their late forties, a photo journalist lady who is only doing the dutch part of the tour, a girl in her early twenties from Norway (who has an English accent from working in England), two young guys from Holland, a man in his fifites from Switzerland (and who grew up in Holland), and Gordon and me, plus the head of YWAM in Europe - Jeff Fountain - and his wife. They're an interesting mix of people and personalities, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better on this tour.
Today (28th) is Sunday, so we attended a most interesting church service in the heart of Amsterdam at a Scottish Reformed Church, where the congregation is made up of English speaking Amsterdamers. There was a large group of young people from Scotland playing their violins during the service, although the hymns were accompanied by an organ. I was very grateful to have the melody line of the hymns in the hymn book, as I didn't know any of the songs we sang. It was a very structured service, but at the same time had lots of variety, including the baptism of a very cute little girl. We hung around for coffee afterwards, while Jeff explained some of the features of the church. Just across the path from this church was another service being held in what is know as a 'hidden' church - this one being a Roman Catholic service in French. Am getting very tired now, but I'll try to remember what else we did today. Most of the time was spent in Amsterdam - a very busy city, with heaps of historic buildings, and alongside them the ubiquitous "Coffee" Houses, which are in fact marijuana cafes! After we left the city, we spent quite a while in a lovely town called Naarden, where Comenius is buried. We also watched a movie on his life this evening. He was an amazing man, with a passion to educate the people of Europe, and to see the advent of God's Kingdom. He is know as the father of modern education, as he sought ot teach young people through not just listening, but by allowing them to use all five senses.

Last day in London

22 June
This morning Gordon and I actually managed to eat breakfast together at Alhambra. I'm going to miss those English breakfasts - they give a great start to the day, and are so substantial that there's not much need for lunch.
The nice people at Alhambra allowed us to leave our bags there for the day while we went out and about. The receptionist also reduced our charges by removing our reservation from Booking.com and making it directly through the hotel. I've almost forgiven her for charging us for the night we weren't there!
We caught a train from Paddington Station out to a suburb called Hanwell, where Gordon's mum's family was brought up. Actually, we were caught out, and managed to miss the Hanwell stop, which meant we had to wait for a train going back to Hanwell. After a pleasant walk, we came apon Rectory Cottage, which has now been divided into two dwellings. There were four cars outside, but it turned out that no one was home. Across the road was a very old church whose sign outside declared they'd been worshipping Jesus there for more than 1000 years. The church yard was rather overgrown, with ivy creeping over many of the headstones, but it was a lovely peaceful place to wander around.
In meandering around the local area, we came across a very basic cafe, where I enjoyed a cheesy baked potato, and Gordon a cheese sandwich. As we returned to Hanwell station, we were just in time to hear our train departing, so we had to wait 29 minutes for the next one - not our day for getting trains right.
Around mid afternoon we scheduled in a visit to the British Museum. What an amazing place! It's a bit overwhelming really, being surrounded by so much antiquity - exhibits from one or two thousand years BC up till today; in fact, over 6 million objects! After about 30 minutes of trying to use the audio tour of highlights of the museum, we completely lost our way, and Gordon decided it was time for an afternoon snooze at the park over the road. So I continued on alone, and found some fascinating stuff, including a gorgeous gold miniature sculpture which showcased a thorn said to be taken from the crown of thorns Jesus had worn. Among other items was a floor mosaic from the fourth century AD, probably one of the first physical depictions of Christ.
I caught up with Gordon and relaxed over a moccachino in the cafe in the park - what a lovely setting. Gordon had been watching a group of people from some nearby workplace playing touch rugby together.
Our next stop was Piccadilly Circus where we met up with Paul, a nephew of Jennifer's (the cousin of Gordon's we'd visited at Bath), and had a drink with him at a very trendy bar - ultra modern furnishings and disco balls - you get the picture. We chatted together for 1 1/2 hours or so, and enjoyed Paul's easy-going, sociable personality.
We grabbed a salad at King's Cross station before picking up our bags from Alhambra. We wrestled those heavy suitcases along bumpy pavements, up and down stairs, in and out of trains, until we got to Custom House Hotel, near London City Airport, ready for an early start the next day. The much more spacious room with its own bathroom was a blessing after the cramped condiditons of Alhambra.

A Visit To Bath

21 June
This morning it was my turn to sleep in, so Gordon breakfasted alone. Once I was up, it was time to move to our third room in this hotel! Gordon organised a rental vehicle for the day, and rang his cousin Jennifer to arrange to visit her in Bath - a city towards the west of England. The drive out there treated us to lovely lush green countryside. The weather was a bit cool today (between 16.6 and 20 degrees), and there were a few spits of rain on the way. The landscape very much resembled New Zealand famrland, but with hedges instead of fences, and lots more crops than animals - I've seen only a few sheep, some cows and the accoasional horse. I was interested to note the warning for deer on the motorway.
Gordon is feeling a lot better - has been using a course of antibiotics the doctor from NZ had given him just in case. However, the sore throat I started having in the US has turned into a clogged up nose and a persistent cough, plus tiredness.
We managed to get lost in Bath, but fortunately came across a gas station where we bought a map, and with cousin Jennifer's help, we finally made it to her 400 year old cottage. We enjoyed Jennifer's company immensely, and found her constant conversational detours amusing. She showed us the allotment where she grows various fruit and vegies, and then we went to dinner at a wonderful old hotel.
When the time came to depart from Bath, we were very grateful that Jennifer drove ahead of us to the motorway - we would never have made it on our own.
Bath looks a fascinating place, with most of the houses made from yellow bricks, and it was a shame we didn't have longer to explore it.