Our last day in Germany opened with the bells from the Bruderkirche, the Friar's Church. We ate a leisurely breakfast of hearty German toast and jam, then began a walking tour of Altenburg. We walked into the Markt Square, up to the Burgstrasse to gaze at St. Bartholomaikirche (St. Bartholomew Church), the epicenter of the Reformation where Martin Luther preached several times. We stopped at the Skatbrunnen, or Skat Fountain. Skat is a complicated card game of local origins. Tournaments are played in Altenburg, and even in our hotel, photos of Master Skat Players line the walls and Skat cards decorate the entrance. It is believe that if you "baptize" a new deck of cards in the Skatbrunnen you will have good luck playing the game. Well, there was no water in the fountain anymore to baptize anything with, and we had no cards at all, let alone Skat cards, and of course, we don't even know how to play the game, but we rubbed the noses of the pigs where the water would gush out, and admired the statue of the wrestling men at the top.

Then we walked up to the castle and along the Little Pond, or Kleiner Teisch and its Needle Dam on our way back to the hotel, stopping to buy to buy some baked goods (with free samples!) and a fall plant arrangement for Marlies. After a little rest, we walked back up to Markt Square for a bite of lunch at the Café Domizil, a wiener (hotdog) for Darrel and wiener schnitzel (pork cutlet) for me. A darling little coffee shop. Then we went inside our last chocolate shop and made a small purchase, snapping up a free sample as our dessert. But after paying our bill, the sales lady rushed to give us two wrapped chocolates as a gift. Yum!

We made it back to the hotel in time to meet Lysann, who had just gotten out of school. She drove us back to Kraschwitz so that we could see the kirche in daylight. We again met Uncle Siegfried, raking walnuts, and he gave us three to dry and try. We hugged Sabrina as we said goodbye. We saw Marlies' property in the daylight, too: her garden, rabbits, fruit trees and their old car from the GDR period, a real antique now.

Then Lysann took us to Yvonne and Dirk's home and we had a tour of their renovations. What a remarkable young couple they are, and so talented. We met all their children - Ruben who played his guitar for us, all English songs we would recognize; Johanne, the flutist and dancer, who tried to do her homework, but I think we distracted her; and Mathis, the farmer, who loves his toy trucks and tractors. We were served a lovely kaffeeklatch of raspberry cake made especially for us by Yvonne.

After a nice visit, Lysann took us back to Marlies for dinner: roasted duck (the best I have ever eaten!) and dumplings and red cabbage with ice cream stars for dessert. Renate joined us and so did Sabrina's mother, and last, but not least, Stev came with his bagpipe. He and Lysann gave us a little concert. We feel we are part of the family and really loved meeting each and every one. We hope that we will be able to see these wonderful friends again in the near future. Today was truly a delightful send-off. Tomorrow, Dirk will pick us up at 7:00 in the morning to drive us to the Leipzig/Halle airport over an hour away. We fly to Frankfort, then Zurich. We'll spend the night in the Zurich Airport Hilton, and leave on a KLM flight Saturday morning, changing planes in Amsterdam, then on to Dulles.

What a wonderful trip! From start to finish, the most excellent adventure. How can I say it any better?

So now we leave for home. Auf Wedersen!