There’s a big difference between the newlywed carefree curate and the sleep deprived vicar with a toddler in tow! This was my thinking when deciding whether or not to go to Germany with some other local clergy. Yes, we had a great time when we visited Germany in 2017 just after we were married, and we loved having our friends visit us in Liverpool in 2019 as well. But what on earth was it going to look like with such a small child with us?!

Anyway, after a lot of umming and ahhing, Nathan and former training incumbent Mark persuaded me to give it a go. So, on Sunday afternoon, we packed up and headed to the Holiday Inn at Manchester Airport. Our flight was at 9am and the pick up in Formby was at 6, so there was no way I could get us all out of the house by 5.40! So we three decided to stay overnight at the airport.

In the weeks running upto the trip, we had been talking to Sophia about the ‘Sky Choo Choo’ (Aeroplane) and she got very excited. When we got to the hotel on Sunday night, we said ‘one more sleep until the sky choo choo!’. Unfortunately for us, she went to sleep for 5 minutes and then expected to get up and go. At 10pm she was running around the room squealing ‘sky choo choo, sky choo choo!’.

Eventually we all went to sleep and we managed to get up and out for 6 and head over to the airport, Sophia clutching a pan-au-chocolat from the breakfast buffet in her hand.

I had imagined that the time in the airport would be terrible, but it was actually okay. Soph seemed surprised by the early start and enjoyed looking at all the people. She was ever so patient as the changing bag went through an extra level of scanning and was pleased to eventually wind up at Starbucks, sipping on a babyccino and stealing bits of our paninis!

The flight itself was great too. Long-term friend Anne, swapped with another passenger to sit with me, Soph and Nathan so that Soph would be with people she knew. It also meant that Sophia had a great view of the clouds from above! We arrived in Germany and got in a couple of cars, one fitted out with a baby seat, and drove the two hours to our hotel, near to Wartburg Castle in Eisenach.

On the first afternoon, we met old friends from former trips and we were introduced to some new people as well. We all set off on a walk to see the castle from a distance, and as Sophia had spent hours sat down, she insisted on walking. She did really well until she tripped and ended up with a mouthful of gravel. We decided to head back and have some down time before dinner, which was gorgeous.

That night, we settled Sophia and I headed out to the chapel to help lead evening prayer. Nathan and I decided that we would take it in turns to have the evening ‘out’ as the other stayed in the room with Sophia. Although we were staying in a Christian hotel, surrounded by lots of great people we knew, there were other parties staying, and as the range of our baby monitor wouldn’t stretch to the bar, we decided to alternate who would be where.

The next day, we walked to the castle. It wasn’t the easiest of walks because it was very steep. I can still feel it in my back after pushing the pram up such a steep hill! But boy, was it worth it!

We had a guided tour of the castle by an excellent tour guide. There’s lots of history, but one thing that was particularly interesting to us was how Martin Luther spent some time there after his big fall out with the Pope. It was in this castle that he translated the whole of the New Testament from Greek to German in just ten weeks!

I am going to be honest about the tours we had on this trip. Although the guides were excellent, funny and informative, I didn’t catch much of what they said. I have learned that toddlers do not do well with guided tours. They want to go back the way they came, or move on too soon, or just want to find lions so they can roar loudly!

Next was lunch back at the hotel and a bit of downtime followed by a guided tour of the city of Eisenach. The city was also in walking distance from the hotel, so it too has strong ties to Martin Luther. Again, the tour guide was great but Sophia didn’t really want to be in the pram. At one point, we passed a toy shop and I took her in, thinking that I’d buy her whatever she wanted because she was being so calm, despite wanting to get out. In the end, she picked a dolly called ‘Seb’ because Eisenach is also the birthplace of Johan ‘Seb’astian Bach!

That evening was my turn to stay in the room with Sophia. I believe that the team had a really good conversation about secularization in our churches, life in the church post-pandemic and the cost of living crisis. The German churches are state funded, which on the surface sounds great. But citizens are allowed to opt-out of the Church Tax if they don’t attend church. It’s understood that for some people who are struggling, it’s not that they don’t believe in God or don’t want to come to church, but things are so tight that they can’t afford to pay the Church Tax, so they no longer attend. It’s just heartbreaking.

The next day we got the train to the city of Erfurt, where there is an Augustinian monastery known to have been the home of Martin Luther for many years.

This is the tour that I saw the least of because it happened right in the middle of Sophia’s nap time. We two ended up in the Cathedral for a bit of a cuddle and she had a very peaceful sleep. Afterwards, I couldn’t find anyone so I pushed the pram around the outside of the complex and looked at ducklings with Sophia, who was very keen to show baby Seb – see below!

The afternoon consisted of free time in the city, a lunch of bratwurst and German potatoes, and a presentation from a leader of the Protestant Church in Central Germany. I have to say, at this point, we did duck out. Sophia and the two little boys in the group had done so well, and their Mum suggested taking them to the park for a run around, which we did.

Once we got back, I discovered an app which could be downloaded onto both our phones. It would then allow them to work as baby monitors, no matter how far away they were, because they connected via Wifi. This allowed Nathan and I to have a drink with the group together for a couple of hours before the system stopped working (not ideal, but it was far better than nothing!).

We packed up and got underway the next day, after another amazing breakfast and an hour long Bible study, during which the three children were great, yet again! The airport was less fun second time around, and our flight ended up being an hour delayed so it was definitely a bit of a stretch for Soph. Thankfully though, she had made very good friends with lots of our group who were happy to read stories to her, feed her sweets, show her the sky choo choos, and even let her empty their purse of coins and give them out to the rest of the group!

We had a really wonderful time. I was glad to be proved wrong. Having lots of people on hand to help carry buggies and entertain the children was brilliant. And I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know my colleagues even better and deepen friendships with our friends in Germany from the 2017 and 2019 trips. We have so much in common, and it’s always good to spend time with other people who just ‘get it’.