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| Our first stop in
Germany after a 10 hour flight and several hours on the bus
was the city of Eisenach. On the first day we had a few hours
to get settled before dinner and a three hour rehearsal. The
next day we took a tour of the city, including the Bach House,
the house where Johann Sebastian Bach was born and now a
museum of early keyboard instruments. We also visited the St.
George's Church; it was damaged in World War II and was later rebuilt,
but the original baptismal font in which Bach was baptized is
still there. After lunch we toured the Wartburg Castle, one of
the famous castles in Germany. It was built in the 1100s at
the junction of two major trade routes, and the city of
Eisenach then grew up at the foot of the mountain on which it
was built. To get to the castle we climbed about 300 steps up
the mountain. Eisenach set the tone for the whole Europe
experience - cobblestone roads and small buildings jammed
close together. |
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We took a guided tour of Erfurt in the
rain. Some of the things I remember the most clearly are the bridge
with 20 shops built along it, the world's oldest Methodist church and
the cathedral in the town square. There was also graffiti on a wall in
the former East German town that read "SMASH CAPITALISM"
which we all thought was good for a laugh. After the tour Grace, Erin,
Mary, Katie and I went shopping in the mall and in stores along the
street.
The city of Weimar has many
connections with history, as our guide told us. However, we were
turned loose to explore and couldn't find any of the landmarks or
museums he mentioned. It was all most of us could do just remembering
how to get back to the buses. We did find a music store, though, and
we spent some time there before going to get lunch at a pizzeria.
There David realized that he had left something at the music store and
ran back to get it. He evidently got lost since he took such a long
time. For the next hour or so after lunch we wandered aimlessly until
it was time to go back.
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We had a really
nice hotel in Leipzig; I took this picture from my room on the
26th floor. We took another guided walking tour through the
city (we're getting used to these) and saw the final resting
place of Bach under the altar of the St. Thomas Church. Lots of significant historic buildings and places here. There
was a big bronze bell-shaped urn filled with water in one of the indoor marketplaces; by
rubbing your hands on the handles you can make the water
inside vibrate and bubble. I managed to make it work once out of the
three times I tried it. |
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