These are my friends, Angie and Gerit - I met them back in 2011 in Puerto Rico and we've become pretty good friends. I'm hoping to be able to visit them while we're in Berlin - they live in Bamburg, which is not too far - about 3 or 4 hours outside of Berlin. Depending on their schedule and our free-time, we're hoping to meet up and spend a little time together.
Another reason I've chosen to go to Germany this year is the opportunity to see the area where the Reformation started. As a religious studies major and a youth minister, the reformation is a very interesting period in history - and I'm looking forward to seeing the Wittenburg doors (shown below), where Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses, which changed the history of the church.
In addition, it may sound odd, but I'm looking forward to visiting the concentration camp - I am sure it will be an emotional experience, but the Holocaust fascinates me, both from a sociological and a historical perspective. It astounds me that something so horrible could occur with so little outcry and that so many could be convinced that what they were participating in was in the best interests of their country. Its an area of history that deserves our attention and study, because if we don't understand the factors that created it, it is entirely possible that something similar could occur at a point in the future.
On a lighter note, Germany's culture, architecture, and food is also something I'm looking forward to exploring. I'm planning to bring extra spending money - I have a bad habit of accumulating books (not so bad unless you have to haul them around in a carry-on bag) and since we'll be there right before Christmas, I'm hoping to shop for my family while I'm there and maybe make this Christmas a bit more unique from a gift perspective than others we've had - also hoping to collect some new recipes, perhaps from new cookbooks and hopefully from people I meet along the way, that we can make part of our family's Christmas dinner this year. I'm hoping the weather is not TOO cold, but a little snow on the ground would be nice! I'd love to spend some time taking photographs and am trying to decide whether it's worthwhile to haul my Nikon and all the lenses along on the trip or if I'll just make due with my "point and shoot".
The above is a wide shot of a Christmas Market in Frankfurt - I don't know what they'll look like where we are staying, but I certainly hope to have the opportunity to wander and explore one or more of these.
One of the things I've discovered as I have travelled is that the best places to really get to know an area are in the local markets, "grocery stores", and other shopping venues where the locals go to obtain what they need for their households. While I am fully aware that a Christmas Market targets tourists as well as locals, its a cultural phenomenon that I can't wait to experience. With that in mind, I also hope to have some time to explore a local grocery, check out small places to eat, and just people watch while there - I know we'll be busy and I'm looking forward to that (the walking doesn't scare me - I'm in training right now for a 10 mile run in October and will be training at that time for a 1/2 marathon I plan to run in February), but I'm hoping for some time to just stop and soak in the environment as well - maybe on a jog along the River Spree?
The countdown has begun. We have just over 6 months before we leave. I am sure that this trip will be the opportunity of a lifetime.
