After a night of sleeping in wonderful air conditioning I awoke and headed out with the group to visit the Saint Nicolai Church in the old city center of Frankfurt. This is an old protestant (Lutheran) church that is actually led by a pastor from the United States. He moved to Germany with his wife, who is German, and has led this church for 20 years. He gave us some information about the history of the church, but also of the relationship between Germany and churches (for instance, churches are sometimes owned by the state, receive funding from the state, and German citizens pay church taxes for the church they belong to—there is not an actual separation of church and state in Germany). We got to hear some wonderful pipe organ music played by a Goethe-Institut official, as well as a tour of the upper walkway of the church. The picture below is from the top of the church looking out over the old square towards the modern Frankfurt area.
After this tour we walked around the old town and toured the Goethe House as well. Then, we had some time for lunch on our own. Well, Bill, Duncan, Lyndal, and I had a craving for doner kabobs, so we walked all over the place trying to find a Turkish restaurant. We finally got directions from a Turkish man and ended up eating our food right by our hotel. So, instead of walking all the way back to the rendezvous point, we walked to the hotel and called our guides. So, now we are back at the hotel waiting to head out to a castle this afternoon. It's been a nice final day in Germany so far.
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