Germany
The Cathedral (Berliner Dome) in Berlin
I took almost 700 pictures.
It was the first trip to Europe for Anjie and I, and we took advantage of it, adventuring from Bremen to Berlin to Rothenburg to Munich to Salzburg. The first week was a real treat: the Willow Creek European Leadership Summit held in the northwestern town of Bremen. Willow has a long term commitment to Germany and has been hosting these summits for the past ten years. Over 5000 church leaders gathered to hear Bill Hybels, Gordon McDonald, Jack Groppel, Rick Warren, and Bono. Yes, Bono...last summer, Bill Hybels sat down with Bono and did a long interview with him which they broadcast at the Leadership Summit in Chicago in August, and they played the interview in one of the sessions in Bremen.
The Leaving Ruin experience was awesome and humbling. As a result of the already demanding schedule for their technical staff, Willow had to bring 10 extra technicians to the conference just to do the play. They simulcast the play into their Austrian and Switzerland sites: now I can say I've done the play in Europe! The translators did a tremendous job in creating subtitles to the play, and the response from the audience was extremely gratifying. I will forever be thankful to the folks in Germany who wanted me to bring the play to the conference. What a privilege.
Then Anjie and I headed to Berlin, where we saw most of the sites on the eastern side of the old wall, then on to one of the oldest medieval cities in Europe, Rothenburg, a city still surrounded by the wall that protected it for hundreds of years. Germans consider it a touristy kind of place, and it did remind me of Disneyland in it's color and form, but here's the difference: this town was a real town, with buildings dating from the 14th and 15th century. We stayed in a hotel that was once the mayor's house built over 600 years ago.
Then on to Munich where we felt a little like Joseph and Mary--no room at the inn. We had stumbled into Munich during a major trade show, and there were no hotel rooms to be had, so we hopped online, and made arrangements to stay our final two nights in Salzburg, which has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Old news, I know, but still captivating, and just right to end our journey.
It's wonderful to be back home, back with Daniel and the routines of our lives, back in rehearsal for the Christmas play at Northwest, and back to trying to figure what this life God has given us is all about. But what a gift the past couple of weeks has been. Here are just a few pictures, to give you a flavor.
...next up, England...
7:23:53 AM 
