Today was a long bus day. We left Berlin at 8:00 AM and our final arrival in Dresden was in a drizzle at 4:30. The drive was very pleasant through the countryside going south toward the Czech Republic.

Our first stop was in Wittenberg where Martin Luther started the Lutheran Reformation. Different looking than Catholic Churches but beautiful in a different way. Martin Luther preached inclusivity unless you were Jewish or Muslim. Our guide pointed out a disgusting (in my opinion) relief on the side of his parish church depicting Jewish people drinking from the udder of a pig. What kind of religious leader condones that and this was over 500 years ago.

I had to google this because this came up in a discussion among us. Was Martin Luther King Jr named after Martin Luther? Martin King Sr travelled to Germany a year after Hitler became Chancellor and discovered the teachings and philosophies of Martin Luther and came back to Atlanta and changed his name to Martin Luther King and then eventually changed his son’s name to Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957.

The town of Wittenberg was very charming. Not sure why most of the stores weren’t open on Saturday morning. Several weddings going on with the brides walking down the middle of the cobbled streets.

The next stop was lunch on the top of a huge hill. Thank goodness there was a funicular to get us up and down. The restaurant had gorgeous views over the Elbe Valley and all the roof tops of the town. My vegan lunch was much better than the non-vegan choices. It was a pasta dish with vegetables and some kind of “vegan” meat probably made from seitan. Therese tasted it and said that she would have eaten it if she hadn’t known it was vegan. Cracks me up!

Next arrival at our hotel in Dresden that is out of this world. Our guide wanted to take everyone for a tour of the town but I declined because it was pouring rain. The grocery store was on that tour because absolutely everything is closed tomorrow because it is Sunday.

Clearly the weather is going to be much colder than we all anticipated. We are talking highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s. It will be an interesting next few days.