Frühling is Coming!

Peace to you.

Frankfurt am Main

Dreikönigskirche (10.02.2008)

This morning, Thomas and I accompanied Roland to the Dreikönigskirche ("Epiphany" - literally, "three kings"), a large Protestant church on the banks of the Main River. Apparently, the guy who was the organist in this church from the 50s to the 80s was a world-renown Bach scholar . . . and this ginormous organ was a gift by the city of Frankfurt to the church. And, incredibly, this famous organist, by the end of his tenure, was almost completely blind, so he played all Bach's works from memory! Roland said the combination of the history behind the instrument and the sheer size and quality was like "being handed the keys to a Ferrari." The hymns selected for this morning were a treat - as well as the Bach pieces Roland played as a prelude and postlude. After church, Thomas and I took advantage of the gorgeous weather and walked along the Main and crossed on a footbridge to the main part of downtown Frankfurt.

Bundesliga Aktion (08.02.2008)

Friday evening, after we had taken Roland's uncle to the airport, Roland, Helmut and I met our friends Thomas, Mathias and Andreas at the Stadion for my first-ever Bundesliga Fußball match! It's funny, it was Andreas' idea (Eintracht Frankfurt is his favorite team), but he was the only German in the group, as the rest of my friends are South African. Our seats were in the sixth row on one of the corners, opposite the fenced-in area where they keep all the hooligans. I've not been to a major college football game (I don't count the Gophers in the Metrodome), but that's what I might try to compare it to. The "hooligans" had drums, crazy huge flags and sang through the whole game. We were treated to a 2-1 victory. And, after the game, the beer drinking and singing spilled outside the stadium and lasted the whole way back to the Hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt, where we changed trains back to Oberursel.

Mainz II (08.02.2008)

Friday afternoon, I tagged along with my friends Helmut and Roland and Roland's uncle. We caught the train to the nearby city of Mainz, just west of Frankfurt. The sun was shining (a rare occurrence in Winter) and we wanted to check out Sankt Stephanskirche, renown for the bright blue stained glass windows, designed by the French artist, Chagal. The windows lived up to billing. And, afterward, we enjoyed a Cappuccino on the plaza outside the cathedral, then walked to the Rhein with the sun setting behind us, silhouetting the cathedral.

Fulda (26.01.2008)

One Saturday, with nothing planned at the Hochschule, I set my alarm and boarded the train for Fulda. A bit off the beaten path, Fulda is known for a couple things: it's beautifully preserved Baroque Quarter in the old part of the city, and also being the final resting place of Saint Boniface, "Apostle to the Germans." As often happens to me on my travels, upon arrival in Fulda, within a couple blocks of the train station, I stumbled upon something interesting. Suddenly hearing a marching band behind me, I turned around and followed them to a political rally. All the big political parties in Germany were represented. And what rally is complete without cheerleaders and a German brass band? But the highlight for me were the Bratwurst mit Brötchen for one Euro! (I ate two.) Overall, however, the highlight for me was nearing the edge of the Baroque Quarter and seeing Sankt Marien Kirche for the first time. It was a beautiful day, and in the sunshine under a bright blue sky, St. Mary's was impressive. There is a cobblestone plaza in front of the church that is probably 300 meters in diameter. Across the street was the church where Boniface is buried (unfortunately, closed to tourists in January). After taking a nice long look inside St. Mary's, I sat outside on the plaza and enjoyed an apple and some water and just soaked it all in . . .








I spent nearly five hours on the train that day, too, but it didn't feel like it. I had picked up "The Kite Runner" by Khalid Housseni the previous afternoon and couldn't put it down. If you haven't read it, it is probably one of the three best novels I have ever read. It is intensely emotional. And Housseni has an incredibly vivd way of setting the scene - yet with such an efficiency that you can hardly tell he's using adjectives (if that makes any sense). I almost missed three train stops because of this book - including my own when I came home, and that was after I had finished the book. I finished it barely 24 hours after I began. Read it! I'd love to talk to you about it.

Peace to you.

Studienfahrt, Heidelberg (23.01.08)

January 23rd, the students and faculty of the Lutherische Theologisch Hochschule took a field trip ("Studienfahrt" auf Deutsch)! We took the train to Heidelberg where we met the faculty of the theological department at Heidelberg University, one of Germany's oldest. After lunch, we took a walking tour through the city, followed by a tour of the famous castle, perched on the hill above Heidelberg.