We broke fast with Bob & Janet, a lovely couple from Richmond, VA who are Unitarians. Their pastor is one half of a married lesbian couple. Bob once taught at a small Catholic girl’s college.
Leaving Leipzig behind us, we are bussed to Wittenberg — the Bethlehem of Lutheranism — and the beginning of the Martin Luther tour.
But first things first: our bus pulls up and stops for a pre-arranged bathroom break—which turns into a fiasco because the agreed-upon restaurant is closed.
We walk across the street to view a pair of fake doors that were recreated in the style of the original doors upon which Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses for discussion. (What they won’t do for tourists.) The castle church was under remodeling with the entire structure encased in a second skin of scaffolding and mesh with naught but a small open rectangle framing the faux door for viewing/photographing. Why bother!
Then, we are herded down the road for a tour of the Martin Luther house. Formerly a monastery to which Martin Luther himself once belonged, the order had been expelled as the Reformation spread, and it became his family home (and student dormitory) when he and his wife, ex-nun Katharina von Bora, began raising a family. We tour the facility and admire a few displayed artifacts–like Luther’s prayerbook–under glass.
Then we are driven out into suburban Wittenberg. Today was Home Hosted Lunch Day and our smaller group was foisted upon Lily, a former restauranteur, and her family. We are fed a delicious luncheon of schnitzel, french fries and fractured conversation seasoned with occasional translation assistance from her daughter, Melanie (“Ja. Ja.”), and her exceptionally well-English’d grandson, Robert.
BUT…there were several “oh-god-no” mal mots during our meal:
One of our group tried to all-but-pre-engage his teenage granddaughter to the 14-year-old grandson of our host; he had to be satisfied with wringing his Facebook handle from the poor lad for his granddaughter. Using Melanie’s experience of living in Detroit for one year as a springboard for commonality of experience, this same individual blamed the “hillbillies” of Detroit for making his neighborhood unsafe. And another traveler used the only German word he knew—“dummkopf”—as he bid goodbye to our hostess. Scheisse!
From there, we headed to Torgau—another major stop in Martin LutherLand—where we boarded our ship, the M/S Allegro on the shore of the Elbe.
The ship was quite impressive. The cabins are well appointed with more than sufficient room throughout. The beds are long enough; there are large closets with enough hangers; plenty of drawers and storage areas in the bathroom. Our room floor is below the water level (!) but there is no sense of claustrophobia.
The rest of our afternoon before dinner was occupied with unpacking, meetings and complimentary cocktails. Now that we were on the ship, we had access to free WiFi (Wi-reless Fi-nally!) and the lounge filled with group members trying to get connected. After dinner, Rob and I chose to accelerate the digestive process by taking a circuitous stroll through the town as its Renaissance Fayre packed up for the day.
Returning to the boat and the Independence Day Open Bar Party, the evening wrapped with a holiday gift from Grand Circle: a very nice, surprisingly lengthy fireworks display from the opposite shore of the Elbe.
Once I am back online, I received a text from Vince referring to my having too much wine. Intrigued (and rather cavalier about using cellular minutes), I called him in reply to the text…and learned that I had called him last night from Richey’s bar! He explained his text: apparently, as I was rambling on with my message, Rob was heard in the background telling me to “…hang-up. You’re drunk!”
A Taste of the Soviet Bloc 