Too few words

So much has happened that requires digestion. We went to a farm and saw animals, a reproductive research facility, and a cow ultrasound. We cruised down the Rhein and toured a castle. We went wine tasting. We went to a history museum and this all just in the last 2 days.

On Wednesday we cruised the Rhein. The area was beautiful. My favorite part was seeing the Lorelei. We had to memorize the poem by Heinrich-Heine in my High School German class so actually seeing the cliff was very moving for me. It is a poem about a Siren who sits at the top of the cliff and sailors would crash into the bottom because they were distracted by her. It is like the Sirens in the Odessy.

We then toured the Marksburg which was a fort. It had 12 gates before one got to the actual fort so it was never successfully attacked. They did everything for defense. They made their spiral stair cases rotate clockwise going up so that attackers could not ascend because their swords would hit the wall, but defenders could come down (this is assuming you are right handed). They made the windows smaller after a few centuries to protect themselves more. They also kept the door open when they went to the bathroom incase someone attacked from underneath, but closed the door when the bathroom was empty so that if a person did come up to the bathroom they could not enter the main area. These people were paranoid but I guess it worked.

After that we went for a wine tasting. It was a lovely experience. We were in a cellar and had wine glasses. We tried 6 types of wine. I discovered I prefer sweeter wines. Heather and I bought a bottle for our host mother. It was a very pleasant evening.

Thursday we went to a farm and I am even more sure that I do not want to become a vet. We saw pigs and one was the size of a pony!! It was HUGE. I have never seen a pig that big. We also saw piglets, calves, cows grazing, sheep and chickens. We then saw a research facility that deals with reproduction experiments. I had seen pictures of a sperm and egg, but actually looking through the microscope and seeing the egg and watching the screen of the slide for the sperm was an amazing experience. I never knew that a few drops of liquid can contain 20 million sperm. He had to dilute it about 150:1 to get it thin enough to see on screen and then 150:1 again to see the sperm individually on the screen. It was truely amazing. We saw a cow having an ultra sound and I am glad I am doing human medicine. That will be an experience I will never forget.

We went to the House of History museum which is the history of Germany from after WWII to the present. It was the first time I had SERIOUS trouble understanding what was going on so we all tried to stay near Olaf to hear what he had to say.

We are off to Paris this weekend and I am very excited. I think it will be a lovely trip.