Castle where Martin Luther stayed

Veste Coburg, Germany

You might remember that during our Tuesday telephone conversation, I mentioned that I had been to a castle in Germany where Martin Luther (who you're learning about htis week in school) stayed. Well, I found the photo!
 

The photo was taken on a very cloudy day, and with the picture being taken nearly 30 years ago, it hasn't held up well, but it's attached. It's a picture of the Veste Coburg, a huge citadel in Coburg, Germany, that I toured in January 1986 (the day the space shuttle exploded by the way).

In 1530, Martin Luther sought refuge at the Veste Coburg from his persecutors. He spent almost six months there under the protection of the Elector John the Steadfast. This was during the time of the Diet of Augsburg, during which the Augsburg Confession, one of the Lutheran Church's most important documents, was drafted. While at the Veste Corburg, Luther worked on translating the Bible from Latin into German.

I got to see the room where Luther stayed, but they wouldn't let us take pictures of it. The photo that is attached is the outside wall of the area where Luther stayed, specifically the part that looks like a house standing atop the castle walls at the photo's center. It's neat to think that nearly 500 years ago, Luther looked out the same windows at the very spot where I was standing! I remember that the castle also had a massive collection of medieval armor and weapons, as well as a modern art museum in it.

I sent the photo to your teacher!

Going to Germany with Guard in 1986

During college, I took three weeks off and went to Germany! It wasn't a tourist, though; my National Guard unit went there on a three-week training mission called REFORGER in January 1986.

The idea of the training was for us to go through the experience of being called to active duty and serving in Europe in case of a suspected Soviet invasion of western Europe. At the time, the Untied States and its allies in the West were engaged in a Cold War with the Soviet Union.

After spending a couple of days at Fort McCoy, Wis., we flew from Camp Douglas, Wis., on a C-130 to Belgium. Along the way, we stopped at an airport in Maine and in the Azores!

From Belgium, we were flown to our base in Grafenwoehr, Germany, and then sent into the field. Our position overlooked a pass through two low mountains near the West German-Czechoslovakia border that would be a major invasion route for the Soviets if they entered the West.

We also got a day off to tour a town. We went through an old castle that was several hundred years old and walked through a German town.

Foreign countries I've visited

West Germany, January 1986

One of the things I've not done as much as I would like to as an adult is to travel to other countries. There are many great sights to see and experiences to be had across the world. In addition, I'd like to visit the places our ancestors lived and visit locations that have greatly influenced our thinking.

I hope you will have the chance to travel to other countries when you are older, and I encourage you to do so when you have the opportunity to in college.

What countries would I like to visit? Just about every one! But topping the list are England, France, Italy, Greece and Australia. Spain and Canada would be cool, too.

Here's a list of the countries I have been to. All were with the Army in January-February 1986 except for Mexico, which I visited in 1992-94 and then again in 2006:
>>Azores (Portugal)
>>Belgium
>>West Germany (got to see the East German border, though!)