Day 8

Good Friday. It seems really strange to be away at Easter, and hardly like Easter at all. It's a bit sad not to be decorating for Easter; I still like to do it even though the boys rarely manage to visit at Easter these days. The ship left Torgau whilst we were having breakfast, not due to arrive until lunchtime. In the morning Simon led a lively discussion about the European Union. The Brits of course had various views and points to make, whilst the Americans and Canadians on board had plenty of questions to ask. 

Later, Simon had arranged an egg decorating competition, which was good fun. There were paints and felt tip pens, glitter and gems and about forty of us spent a happy hour in childlike fun. And I forgot to take any photographs! I painted mine like a patchwork quilt (no surprises there then) and added some bling and it came in third place.

After lunch we set off in our coach for the town of Wittenburg, where a local guide took us for a tour of Martin Luther's town. This is the Augustinian monastery that became Luther's family home after he married.

This is the lectern that Luther preached from.

This painting depicting the ten commandments is in one of the rooms. It's a wonderful painting and I wish I could have shown you each individual section as it's full of humour.

Martin Luther and his wife - who was a runaway nun.

Martin Luther's room in which he held discussions with colleagues and students is preserved just as it was. This is the stove.

This tree, like many others we saw in the Czech Republic and Germany, was decorated for Easter.

Another building dating from the time of Martin Luther. It's easy to see the similarity in style to English buildings of the same era.

This is the door of the church on which Martin Luther pinned his ninety five theses. Of course, it's not the same door, this one is metal and relatively modern, but it's easy to imagine what it might have looked like.

Luther was buried in the same church and this is his burial place.

I loved the tiled floor in the church.

When we got back to the ship we found this waiting for us in our cabin. What a nice gesture from the crew.