A Journey, But Not Alone: June 4th - Day 3 Germany/Ethiopia 2023... Buses, Church, Beer, and Frisbee

The sun rose early. It took the rest of us a little longer to get out of bed. Breakfast was served on the ground floor of the hotel, Hotel Grille. One of the best breakfasts you could ever want... a variety of cheeses, sausages, fruit, breads, jellies, yogurt, granola, pickles, olives, vegetables, coffee, tea, and juice. Words and pictures don't do it justice!

Fueled for the day ahead we walked to the bus stop down the street. Sven-Christian, my "foreign exchange" brother, made sure that we knew exactly what bus to get on. He told us he would be waiting at the door with our bus tickets. The bus came. He was waiting by the door. The bus slowed down and almost stopped. Then quickly sped up for the next bus stop.

While we were concerned about not getting on the bus, the worry was swept away by giggling at the look on Sven-Chritian's face! A look between slight panic, surprise, and frustration as he feverishly hit the halt button again and again.

Not to worry, he came back to get us. We caught the next bus and were only about 10 minutes late for church that morning.

Sven-Christian and Michelle are part of a "family style" church. On the first floor of the building is a kindergarten school. The church has a worship area, fellowship space, and kitchen on the second floor. In the building nextdoor they have housing for their pastor and university students.

The service was modern and contemporary. A small praise band with piano, guitar, flute, and a singer led the music. Michelle served as the worship leader and their pastor preached and presided over Holy Communion. All of the service was in German and Sven-Christian did a wonderful job at translating for us. The sermon was based on a passage from Acts and centered around helping others and keeping our eyes open for God at work in the world and miracles in our daily lives.

After worship the congregation gave us a warm welcome during their coffee and social time. Many people greeted us and we talked for a very long time with various folks. I look forward to the opportunity to worship and visit with them again.

Immediately after our time at church we started our walk up to the "berg" for the annual beer festival. Imagine a carnival with multiple biergartens all above caverns, hundreds of years old, that have kept beer the perfect temperature.

Bergkirchweich is the oldest beer festival in the world. Every Pentecost since 1755 people have gathered on the hill in Erlangen for food, dancing, and beer.

https://www.erlangen.info/bergkirchweih_erlangen/

We walked around the city near the university. Part of our trip to Germany revolves around looking at universities for Siri and Marcella. FAU in Erlangen/Nürnberg is one of the contenders.

Michelle and Sven-Christian found the perfect spot to have döner for lunch. In the late 80's Turkish immigrants in Berlin began serving these kebabs and sandwiches. Now you can find specialty shops serving döner all over Germany.

After filling our bellies with some truly delicious food we took the bus back to the hotel for a rest. Later that evening we met up with Michelle and Sven-Christian at a nearby park for a picnic and games. The highlights... Michelle and Sven-Christian pack an amazing picnic dinner, Kevin had some difficulty aiming with the frisbee, Siri found it funny, Amanda not so much, Siri and Amanda dominated at Kubb against Marcella and Tarike... bug bites, food, and fun were had by all!