Our last sightseeing stop was a visit to Wartburg Castle, where Luther translated the New Testament into German 500 years ago (1522). I had fun saying things like, "Exactly 500 years ago from today, on a Thursday morning in January, Luther was here."
Then we had a longish bus ride back to Berlin for dinner and covid tests before most of us fly back to the US tomorrow. We experienced a shock when it almost half the tests came back positive. It seemed fishy, so some folks got retested and everyone who did came back with negative results. We think the first test center wasn't operating very hygienically. There are still a few folks in the group who will stay longer until their covid cases clear up, but so far they're all recovering well and receiving good care. After so much uncertainty on this trip, it's nice that people know what to expect for tomorrow and beyond.
Dinner included some great beer and amazingly tender pork in a restaurant that was built in 1270. After saying some goodbyes and getting things ready for tomorrow, Jonah and I had a lively nighttime walk to Alexanderplatz. Despite how it started, it ended up being a delightful evening. It's going to take me a while to process what we experienced, but I'm glad for the trip and grateful for the people we shared it with. Thanks for following along!
Then we had a longish bus ride back to Berlin for dinner and covid tests before most of us fly back to the US tomorrow. We experienced a shock when it almost half the tests came back positive. It seemed fishy, so some folks got retested and everyone who did came back with negative results. We think the first test center wasn't operating very hygienically. There are still a few folks in the group who will stay longer until their covid cases clear up, but so far they're all recovering well and receiving good care. After so much uncertainty on this trip, it's nice that people know what to expect for tomorrow and beyond.
Dinner included some great beer and amazingly tender pork in a restaurant that was built in 1270. After saying some goodbyes and getting things ready for tomorrow, Jonah and I had a lively nighttime walk to Alexanderplatz. Despite how it started, it ended up being a delightful evening. It's going to take me a while to process what we experienced, but I'm glad for the trip and grateful for the people we shared it with. Thanks for following along!