It wasn't ALL good

Those in the know may recall that we were accused of breaking a washing machine at an AirBnB in Paris a couple of winters ago.  We tried to use the washer there, and it never started.  Not our fault.

Well, this time, we really broke it.  Our hostess had a washer for guests with (although we didn't know it at the time) instructions on how to use appropriately in a folder she left for us.  We didn't look at the folder.  We put in the clothes incorrectly.  It jammed.  We couldn't open the door.  So we left a load of wet clothes in a broken washer, and a promise to wire some money once it was fixed.  I feel horrible.  Our landlord (Cornelia) is wonderful, and we left her in the lurch.

BUT... we did successfully book a series of trains from Oberammergau to the Holy Land, Lutherstadt Wittenberg.  For the infidels out there, this is the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg church, kind of a seminal moment in the Protestant Revolution.  We're on an ICE train (with wifi!) from Munich to Wittenberg as I write this, more or less following the Saale River and approaching the station in Jena Paradies... somewhere midway bewteen Nurnburg and Leipsig.  How do I know?

Because I have wifi and Google Maps on the train, dude! 

I just finished grading and posting results for an assignment for our Online MBA students... something I was expecting to have to do when we arrived at our hotel in Wittenberg.  How awesome is that?  So now I'm blogging, although the wifi is too slow to upload pictures.  Sorry.

If any of our presidents was serious about investing in infrastructure, a decent rail system on the coasts would not be a bad place to start, and the rail system in Europe would be a good place to look.  From our tiny train from Oberammergau to Murnau, to high speed ICE train now, everything is modern, clean, and any idiot can figure out how to book tickets.  Even ones who can't figure out how to load a washing machine without breaking it.

The weather continues to surprise... in a really good way  When we left, the weather report had 2 rain-free days out of 14.  So far, we've had brief sprinkles on 2 of our 8 days, and I don't think we've gotten wet since our arrival in Innsbruck last Sunday.  Right now, we're somewhere between Nurnburg and Leipzig, and the sky is virtually cloudless as we roll through the countryside.  Yeah, we'll spend about 8 hours on the train, but in comfort and style.  And getting work done!

We're scheduled to arrive in Lutherstadt Wittenberg near 9PM, and I'm not super excited about getting in so late.  It's a tiny town - beautiful, but tiny - and we're going to be hungry.  Not that missing a meal would hurt us.  You don't eat light in Germany.  Well, we don't eat light in Germany.  Maybe this is a good thing.