We never said we weren't nerdy

There are a number of moments in the last 8 years that foreshadowed mine and John's eventual nuptials. Many of you were witnesses along the way to the various hints at our burgeoning love; however, one you may not have seen was our time together in Professor Lazar's class at UNC, "The Poor, the Whore, the Devil and the Witch." That title may not inspire you to romance, but in the realm of nerdom that John and I inhabit, it was fodder for the heart. The class taught us many things: the history of the church in all its glory and gore, the interconnectedness of art and religion in Europe, and that we should never take a class together ever again (more on that another time).

In order to celebrate our own religious history, perhaps in order to kindle old flames, we bundled up on Saturday and headed to Lutherstadt Wittenberg, the little town in which Martin Luther boldly nailed his 95 Theses to the door of All Saints' Church on October 31, 1517, setting into motion the events that would herald in the Protestant Reformation.

Wittenberg did not disappoint. There was a beautiful blue sky (albeit near freezing temperatures), the Reformation Fest (the annual celebration of Luther's revolutionary act) and even the Rennaisance Music Festival (a more elaborate and hopefully more authentic version of the festival you know and love as it makes its yearly stop in your town). It was a bit difficult to distinguish between the two competing festivals. We were as likely to eat lunch with knights as we were with nuns and Luther spent the day leading a parade of children and fully regaled Arthurian soldiers. The whole experience was a bit surreal but we are in agreement that it was perhaps, the most entertaining day in Germany so far.

Here are a few of the highlights:

What's that? Oh, just Luther's own markings in his personal Bible.

And this is one of the original New Testaments translated by Luther and illustrated by Albrecht Dürer and Lucas Cranach the Elder (only 2 of the greatest wood cutters in all of history).

One of the oldest surviving copies of Luther's hymn "A Mighty Fortress is our God" which we sang, in German, Saturday night in All Saints' Church.

(While we grant that this hymn is perhaps one of the best ever written, we are both of the opinion that as a hymn writer Luther doesn't hold a candle to the Wesley brothers. I mean, we're just saying...)

There's the old boy himself leading a parade through town. Even Protestant saints have to contend with the paparazzi.

That's me in the black coat, sipping some hot apple wine, next to the monk, across from the knight, at the table with the lady of the court. You know, just another day in Germany.

I'm going to work on putting all of the pictures up on Picasa after this, so head there to get a fuller look at this rather ridiculous day.