"Why yes, I'll have the Schnitzel..."

As mentioned in the previous post, the journey began in Mainz, Germany.  While in Mainz, I took part in a week-long traning class which was facilitated by Duke University.  Not only did the class allow me to technically refer to myself as a "Duke Alumnist", it also contained some exceptional content delived by many terrific facilitators.

The hotel itself was called the Novotel.  The hotel was quite nice and each room reminded me of something out of last season's IKEA catalogue (notice the "European Style" spelling).  All of our sessions were held in the hotel, however each evening allowed us to take in the local Mainz food and local festivities.  Mainz is a beautiful town, and some of the areas that we visited were simply spectacular.

I am attaching some various photos from around Mainz.  It seemed as though there were new streetside cafes, churches, or open city squares around each corner.  The first photo is of St. Stephan's Church which holds nine stained glass windows.  What makes these windows special is that they were constructed by Marc Chagall, considered by some to be the finest artist of the 20th century.  What makes this even more interesting is that Mr. Chagall was Jewish (by birth and by faith), and his making these windows for a German Catholic church marked a significant moment in the post WWII reconciliation process.

I do hope you have enjoyed the post, my next will outline my first several days in Shanghai.  Danke Schoen