Wartburg and Erfurt

I'm sorry for the delay, but last night I was way too tired and this morning the internet connection was not available probably due to more people being online. So I'll try to get yesterday's and today's posts both up tonight.

Yesterday began with a long drive to Eisenach to see the Wartburg Castle where Luther was secretly hidden under the

disguise of "Knight George." While there for only ten months he translated the entire New Testament from Greek to German.

The first picture shows a stained glass portrayal of the Wartburg Castle, which is very beautiful. The second picture is of his writing room there and you can see the ink stain to the left of the ceramic stove where he threw an ink well at the

devil, whom he was certain was interfering with his work.

As we walked around the castle grounds we found that love was in the air as the doves were definitely in a courting mood as you can see from the next picture. Next I took advantage of the elevation to get a picture of a distant church and next just a fun picture of a group of mushrooms that caught my eye.

Later that afternoon we drove to Erfurt where Luther spent some time, but our main purpose was to see the Dom St. Mariene. This is a gorgeous cathedral which is particularly noted for its striking stained glass windows. It was truly an inspiring place to be as you can see from the following three pictures.

The next picture shows just one of the beautiful street scenes that we enjoyed as we walked back to our car. We would love to have had more time just to look around Erfurt. It was late when we got Ingrid's cousins (yes more of them) back to their home and they insisted on preparing dinner even though is was 8:00. So out came the goulash, dumplings, and cooked red cabbage. I must say is was wonderfully delicious, but we didn't get home until nearly 11:00.

So that concludes another day and now I'll download pictures and stories from today's return to Wittenberg to see the Lutherhaus.