Our final day began with a wonderful breakfast in our quaint hotel. Somehow we made it around the big bike race that had most of central Berlin blocked off and we found our way to the Berliner Dom church for their 10 a.m. service. We sat in a special section for international visitors who needed the English translation. We wore headsets and the translator sat behind us and translated the message and the announcements for us. We did attempt to sing the hymns in German though! We happened to be there on the 20th Anniversary of the renovations to the cathedral. It was a spectacular place. We were told by our translator that in the early 1970s, there was a hole where the dome should have been that went down into the ground and exposed the crypt below the sanctuary.
Our little nook with the translation head phones gave us a great view of the worship space, including the spectacular dome above us.Another bright sunny beautiful day in Berlin as we approached for worship.
The worship included a brass quartet, an impressive organist and a choir on tour from Ohio. As with all the well-designed cathedrals, the music just hung in the air after the musicians finished. This was the first stop on the choir tour by the group from Ohio. We think they made a great choice!
After worship, Matt expertly got the group to the airport and onto the plane to Amsterdam then to Minneapolis then Fargo. It was a great tour of Germany and a great group of people to tour with. The memories and experiences of food, history and culture will stay with us always!