Author: Trevor Sando

Wittenberg

(Created 08/15/17)

On Sunday we went to Wittenberg, where Martin Luther lived and preach. It was the city where the reformation began, kind of crazy we got to go there. Anyways we got to worship in the church where Luther infamously nailed his 95 questions and complaints to the church door. Though the original door burned in WWII (like most things in Germany), a bronze door has replaced it with his thesis written in raised letters on the front. The cool part was we got to walk out of those doors when we exited the service. I was surprised at the size of the city, it was pretty small. You could walk across the town in less then a half hour. Also Luther’s house is huge. After becoming the most famous man in Germany he became very rich. A lot of people offered his family and him donations. A lot of animals and barley for beer.

Köln

(Created 07/31/17)

I have only been in a catholic funeral a long time ago which was similar but of course slightly different. It was very interesting to watch coming from a non-denominational church. Our first Sunday we worshipped in a Lutheran church which was a nice step towards high mass. I just wish that we had a translator for high mass, like we did for the Lutheran service. Now going through three Germany services I have found that they all have a very different order to service. While my church(and most American churches) have a distinct worship time and sermon time, the German services don’t. There is some singing, some talking, then some more singing , then more talking. Also the services are much shorter. This is no exception to high mass. Also the church building is a wee bigger then my church’s.
I would not be surprised by the estimate of 20,000 tourists a day on the weekend.

Sachsenhausen and the Holocaust Museum

The holocaust museum in Berlin was the first actual holocaust museum that I have been to, apart from a few monuments.But this does not mean I have known nothing about it. Throughout my schooling years I have read book after book of stories about people’s stories. Also quite a few of movies who’s soul purpose was to show the atrocities of the war. However standing in the place where it happened is a wholly different level on its own. I walked the Sachsenhausen camp by myself with the audio tour not speaking a word. The place in the camp that was the hardest to come to terms with where the three lumps in the ground that where the three mass graves that where found outside of the crematorium. Over 40,000 people’s ashes had been thrown in those holes. I stood there and stared at it. There was nothing else I could do, silence was the only thing someone could do.

Week One: The adventure begins

I apologize for posting so late, I have had my posts for couple of weeks but never got them out. This is what I wrote a week into the trip:

This first week has been pretty interesting. There are so many similarities between Berlin and the US that it kind of feels normal when walking around the city. (Except the fact that everyone is speaking a language that I only know about 50 words) Also the great and extensive transits system is really nice. It’s kind of weird, back in the states a 30 minute drive to go somewhere is a trek but taking public transit(something I am not used to) takes minimum of 40 minutes to get anywhere. And it never feels that long but after you wait for the first bus then transfer, sometimes a couple of times, it’s usually been an hour even if you have only gone 5 miles. So that has been interesting. Some things that I miss from home are air conditioning, tacos, and water. However I have found some foods hear that I really like. One is the Döner Kabab which is a Turkish like sandwich.