August 28, 2010
Lutherstadt Wittenburg
It was a three ferry day and all of them the pully variety. Only about two or three significant showers though we did have to ride through quite a bit of water where the track was flooded. One of the low points when cycle touring is when you have been riding along well making it seems very good progress then inexplicably you begin to recognize things you are passing through. This happened to us today in Dessau but luckily we didn't ride past them for a third time, probably did an extra 10km because of this.
Lutherstadt- Wittenburg is a lovely Renaissance town. We reached this in the fairly early afternoon and decided to find a hotel in the centre of the old town and have a good look around so here we are at the Golden Adler. This is right by the cobbled main square which at the moment is completely covered with multicoloured figures of Lutheran Messages. It reminds me of the Terracotta Warriors. I saw in a gallery you could buy one of these figures for around 300 Euros - as Ken said rather difficult to take on a bike. We visited the Marrienkirche (St Mary's) the parish church where Martin Luther preached here and conducted the first ever service in German. It has many fine paintings many of them contrasting the austerity and godliness of the Lutherans to the decadence of the richly glad bishops and cardinals of the established church of the time. The other church is 'The Castle Church' (Schlosskirche) - it was to the door of this that Martin Luther nailed his criticisms of papal indulgences in 1517 at the start of the reformation. An English language Service was being held at 5pm so we joined it. The Lutheran Church in the USA has for the last 14 years provided this service each Saturday with a rotating roster of Pastors from the USA, Canada and Australia. This is the first time I have been to a Lutheran Service and I must say I didn't find it much different from an Anglican one. The people all had American accents, they were very welcoming and curious as where two people with such strange accents came from.
After church we found the perfect place for dinner Das Wittenberger Kartoffelhaus. We were lucky to find a table there and it was amazing there are so many dishes involving potatoes. Kens meal was pigs stomach, sauerkohl and potatoes which he said was delicious, mine a little less exotic. The church goers we saw there told us we had chosen the best place to eat in Wittenburg
Today's ride: 82 km (51 miles)
Total: 925 km (574 miles)
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