Loving Life in Lutherville

    Wittenburg: I don't think I've ever been so cold in my life. It was 7 in the morning, and as I ran my way up the sleepy main strasse, my lungs were heaving from being in contact with the cold and my breath billowed about me. It was about 30 seconds into the run that I started thinking, Man! I really wished I hadn't dropped that glove in the toilet the other day! My Nike thumb holes were just not sufficient to keep my hands from freezing without gloves, but hey! That's what I get for being clumsy in museum WCs.

     Regardless, it was still a great run because I was in the town of Wittenburg, Germany--otherwise known as Lutherville, Luthertown, Luthercity, Luther Luther Luther! They even have Lutheran food in this city, which I did not try, but I am sure it was quite zesty. This is the town where the big man Martin lived, taught, drank his beer, and started that big huge ruckus we call the Reformation. 

    The town itself is very small--there's really just that one main street I ran on, which is about half a mile long. At one end is the castle church and at the other are some houses and the monastery where Luther lived. But very big things happened in this town back in the 1500s, thanks to an unholy trinity made of Luther, his buddy Melancthon, and their crazy prince Frederick.

     The thing I like about Luther is his sense of humor. He would crack jokes to his university students and poke fun at himself, and a lot of his writings have a touch of spunk and humor that many of the other reformers lack. He was not just interested in theology and reforming people's spiritual lives but all aspects of life: thus his interest in education, family, and gardening. He loved to garden; here's one of my favorite quotes by him: "No matter how much Satan is raging, meanwhile I will laugh at him and watch the gardens...If I am going to stay alive I would want to become a gardener." What a little charmer. 

   How he treated his wife is what really cracks me up though. Apparently Katherina von Bora, among her other great attributes, made fantastic beer (that was probably Luther's favorite thing about her). Katherina was a practical woman; Luther once said, "I keep thinking what good wine and beer I have at home as well as a beautiful wife, or should I say boss?" He called her "my boss Kathe!" How cool is that? His other nickname for her was "Katy my rib," which could be flattering, depending on how you take it. 

    I feel a special bond toward this Katherina lady, mostly because we have the same name. But how could you not like her, when she escaped her nunnery in a barrel hauled on a wagon, gave birth to six kids, and made a man out of Luther? Proverbs 31 sets some pretty high standards for women, and Katherina exceeded them all. She cared for orphans and the sick (part of their huge house was a hospital), counseled her husband, raised her kids, provided money for her family, and was a great intellectual: otherwise her husband would never have let her join him at his table discussions with students (she was the only woman). Yep-Luther had it right: she was a boss.

The main street of Wittenburg, deserted in the frigid morning. The houses and stores are very colorful though.

Sorry for the blur but behind that oak is the place where Luther burned the papal bull  that condemned him and his writings against indulgences. 

This is Luther's monastery-turned-home. Wow- I must have been really cold if I was running this blurringly fast!

The church where Luther preached, married, and baptized his children. The altar-piece has a famous painting by Luther's friend and famous artist Lucas Cranach. The corner of the church had an anti-semitic pig engraving (common on many old churches, but in another area near the church was an honorable Jewish monument.

There's the man himself, and near him (out of view) is a statue of Philip Melanchthon, who holds almost as much notoriety in Wittenburg as Luther, because he was such an important collaborator with Luther as he was educated, courageous, and calm.

The Castle Church, where Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door.  The original door burned down, but in its place is a metal door with the theses engraved upon it. Luther, Prince Frederick, and Melanchthon are all buried here as well. This church was for the nobility of Wittenburg, and supposedly this church's fortress-like architecture may have inspired Luther to write the hymn "A Mighty Fortress is our God."

 

A Perfect day in Paris

     Crepes, museums, guilded statues, metros, and baguettes filled our four-day stay in Paris. My three friends and I were lucky enough to sleep in a fancy Marriott right along the Champs Elyssees. Running on one of the most famous streets in the world is quite the contrast for an Idaho girl who is used to running by cows and pastures instead of Gucci and Prada stores. Not to mention our destination: we ran to the Eiffel Tower-you’ve heard of it, right?

     I am so proud of the pictures I took! This running photography thing is starting to be quite fun, although it was hard to not feel judged by the French--what they must have thought of me, a tourist running with a camera… hmmm. C’est la vie. 

     Some facts about Eiffel's tower:  Built in 1889 for the Paris Exhibition, it was a significant symbol of the modern industrial era as it was made of iron and steel (7300 tons of it!). It is 984 feet tall, the tallest structure of the time. 2.5 million rivets connect the iron steel. Compared to the beauty of many of the buildings in Paris, the Eiffel Tower seems ugly, and it is ironic that it has become one of the most famous attractions in the world, and also a romantic symbol. The sparkles at night help add to its romance, as does its association to Paris, a very romantic city itself. Personally I can't decide what I think of it because it’s ugly, but you can’t help thinking it’s beautiful at the same time. Maybe it’s one of those things that is made beautiful by familiarity: it is so famous, probably one of the top tourist sites in the world. But why do people want to travel so far to see a tall ugly metal tower? 

    I’ve decided the Eiffel Tower is like a Bob Dylan song: you have to like Bob, at least I have to because I'm a Tracy and he's divine to our family. Even though his voice is scratchy and he likes to play his harmonica every five seconds, he's important. Not just important, but excellent (at least his lyrics are, ha!). He is so familiar to everybody, not only because of the way he’s changed music forever, but he’s an icon, just like the Eiffel Tower.  They're ugly, but you've gotta love 'em!

    Contrast the metallic harsh beauty of the Eiffel Tower with our journey up to Montmartre later that day. Sometimes the best travel experiences happen when you least expect them. For me, sitting on the steps of the Sacra Coeur numbers among the best moments of the trip. There we were with the sun shining, looking out on a panoramic view of the city with the Sacred Heart behind us. 

    “Imagine all the people, livin’ for today…” sang the funny Italian street musician, who highlighted the different nationalities represented on the steps. I have never liked the Beatles song he was covering (John Lennon is my least favorite Beatle), but I couldn’t help feeling differently with this guy Youri playing it. His voice was great, and the sense of unity among the national diversity I felt on those steps was quite moving. Surrounded by Koreans, Brazilians, and Italians, all sharing the same experience of sitting on those steps, we listened to that great song and it gave me the chills. (I forgot to mention the crazy soccer juggler we were watching below--he climbed a light post with the ball balanced on his head.) 

“You could say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…” 

 Paris is a great city.

This the Champs. The Arch d'Triomphe is in the distance. Our ritzy hotel was in a perfect location, and watching the Arabic royalty eat all day was fun. We'd come back for the night and they'd still be chowing and sipping their 13 euro espressos, right where we left them.  

I got pretty used to looking at cool buildings like this in Paris- I don't even know what this one is but it looks important...

There it is! I had fun editing some of these pictures on my computer. Macs are the greatest.

I love this picture. What a pretty sunrise, and the building's alright too :)

Directly underneath the Eiffel Tower. It's more intricate than I expected- there are 2.5 million rivets connecting all that iron and steel.

What a beautiful sunrise we had that morning! Sometimes it's worth getting up early to run, although it's the hardest thing I ever do...

We ran over this famous bridge back to our hotel, the end of a great run and the start of a great day.