Extremes

I've heard that shows with “extreme” in the title have more viewers than those without it. I don’t know how true that is, but using that adjective to describe this past week would certainly be truth in advertising. Whether academically or athletically, we pushed our limits and went all out this week.

Monday was the academic challenge of the week with nothing but class all day long. However, the class sessions themselves didn't actually seem too long because the material we were covering, actual history of medicine, was very fascinating. Throughout the week we covered important medical personalities from the Middle Ages up through the 1500s, including Rhazes, Hildegard von Bingen, and Paracelsus as well as delving into the Nazi era euthanasia programs like T4.

Tuesday was also an intellectual day, but this time the extreme factor came in the simple fact that we were observing human surgery on actual live patients. I’d seen surgery performed on animals before, but nothing like this. Most of the group observed orthopedic operations, and the digital x-ray machines they used during surgery to place plates and align bones absolutely amazed me.

The latter part of the week was the physically exhausting portion. Beginning with a 44 km bike ride, we climbed multiple mountain trails, including ones 7000 feet above sea level, walked all around multiple cities, took a paddle boat out on a lake, and even went canyoning, which is a whole other degree of extreme by itself. Everything we did was worth it, though. I don’t regret doing a single thing, even if I was completely worn out, not to mention a little sore, by the end of the week.

Also extreme is the fact that the fourth week is already over. We have less than one week left in Germany, and I can hardly believe it. Part of me wants to go home, see my family, and get back to a (relatively) normal life, but at the same time I also wish I had more time in Europe to see and experience even more than I already have.

It’s hard to imagine that this time next week I’ll be back in Texas. I've already had to say goodbye to my host family and Bonn, and in only a few days I’ll have to completely leave behind the land of some of the most amazing and extreme adventures of my life. But, that’s a little too depressing to think about, so for now I’m just going to focus on all the extremes Berlin has to offer during our final days abroad.

~Daily Blogs Posted Below Break~

Monday, July 30, 2012

So, today we were supposed to take a bike tour to Remagen, but, unfortunately, a little before eight this morning I got a call from Morgan, telling me the trip has been postponed due to potential bad weather and we were going to have class at the AIB instead. I passed on the message to Mario, and got to sleep an extra half hour.

We started class with Dr. Wasser at 9:30 this morning, first finishing our discussion of Islamic medicine in the medieval era. We talked mainly about how they collected books written in Western Europe and translated them to Arabic, only to be translated back to the original Latin a few hundred years when the copies were discovered after the originals had been lost. We then started discussing the slightly more recent history of Western medicine, reaching around the 12^th century.

We broke for lunch around 11:30 and Olivia came in and talked to us about the schedule changes for the rest of the week. We are basically switching Monday and Wednesday so that we’ll be able to do the bike ride in pleasant weather. Once that was settled, we left for lunch and headed to a burger restaurant recommended by Olivia where I had a delicious and huge bacon cheeseburger. It was amazing and completely filling, so the walking around shops we did right after was definitely a good thing.

Class started again at 1:30 and this time we switched gears completely to discuss the history of euthanasia in Germany. We started by talking about views on the procedure before WWII and how many believed that those people who were a burden to society should be killed so that the more fit individuals could prosper. We also talked about the T-4 project wherein the Nazis killed around 70, 000 mentally handicapped individuals to reduce society’s burden and discard inferior genes.

We finished lecture around 3:45 and then talked to Olivia about going to see the new Batman movie later this evening. We were able to find an English showing at the theatre across town that started at 8, and Olivia kindly gave us directions on how to take the tram to get there.

Since I had some time before we were meeting to see the movie, I went back home to work some on my blog and get dinner. Then Caleb, Mario, Meredith, Mikaela, Morgan, and I met at the hauptbahnhof and went to watch the Dark Night Rises.

The theatre, Kinoplex, was huge. It didn’t seem like it in the entry way, but our theatre was actually on the second floor. It was pretty similar to American theatres in that the food at the concession stand was ridiculously expensive, but also very different because each ticket was an assigned seat instead of just grabbing the best one available like in the US. This meant that those people who bought their tickets online could show up halfway through the commercials and still have awesome seats. The movie itself was incredibly awesome and I’m very glad I decided to see it even though it means I’ll only get around five hours of sleep tonight.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Today was surgery day!

We all were supposed meet at the hauptbahnhof at 6:30 this morning so we could make it to the Bonn University Clinics early enough to observe a few surgeries there, but unfortunately a few people overslept. We all still made it to the dressing room in time, but two people had to make it there by themselves.

When we arrived at the university hospital, it was kind of awkward because no one really knew why we were there. Eventually one of the doctors that had been a part of the set-up of the program arrived, and we made it down to the lower level where they have the changing rooms and ORs. He only knew the code for the men’s room, but eventually we girls made it into ours as well, Olivia coming too.

We all changed in to a set of blue scrubs and chose a pair of shoes similar to crocks. Then we got to don caps and masks as well. This inevitably led to numerous pictures and poses as “doctors,” and of course the requisite Grey’s Anatomy shot as well.

We were sent to wait in what I assume was the nurses lounge where coffee was available until it was time for us to go to the ORs. However, we ended up staying there for about 45 minutes and no one ever came to tell us where to go. Eventually, Olivia worked her magic on the phone and found out which rooms we could go to to observe.

We all split up so that only two or three people were taking up space in each OR, and I stayed with Michelle and Caleb. We waited outside our room for about 15 minutes before Olivia came back and practically pushed us inside…Not that we didn’t want to go in, we just weren’t assertive enough to boldly walk into the OR.

Anyways, it all worked out and we got to observe a distal tibia and fibula fixation due to an open fracture that occurred eight weeks ago. At that time they closed the wound with a skin graft, and this time they put in a plat at the end of each long bone, fixing them together for stabilization right above the ankle. They first made an incision along the ventral side of the leg to have a good view and clean out some of the scar tissue, then they mad another incision along the lateral side of the lower leg so they could slide the fibula plate into place. After using digital x-rays (we had to wear the lead aprons, too) to visualize the correct placement in real time and screwing the plate in place, they repeated the procedure for the tibia, also attaching a piece of bone that had broken off in the original accident. Once both bones were properly fixed in place, the surgeons had many sutures to do to close the multiple long incisions.

All of the above is purely my observation because the entire procedure was conducted in German and none of us were brave enough to interrupt to ask questions. The head surgeon did introduce himself and give us the brief history of the patient and that he and his colleagues would be fixing a tibia fracture, but beyond that, no one really paid attention to us. The entire experience was phenomenal, though, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.

At some point during the morning, Caleb left to watch another operation, and then Meredith came in to observe the last of mine and Michelle’s because the one she’d been watching was over. Since we had to leave a little before noon, we didn’t get to see all the incisions closed, but they’d made amazingly quick progress in a short amount of time and I’m sure they finished the procedure just fine.

At noon we had to return to the changing room so we could head back to the main part of Bonn for lunch 

and later class. For future reference, there are two parts of the locker room: the dirty and clean. Don’t go into the clean after dirtying your scrubs watching surgery; you’ll get shooed out by an upset nurse.

After the bus ride back to the Bonn hauptbahnhof, everyone splintered off for lunch or other errands. A few of us went with Olivia to reserve seats for the train from Bonn to Berlin on Monday, then I went back home to get my mud walk shoes and “handy” box to return to Olivia as well as start a load of laundry so I have clean clothes for this weekend in Switzerland and next week in Berlin. I grabbed a turkey sandwich and bottle of apfelschorle for lunch in time to be at the AIB for class with Dr. Wasser starting at 2:15.

The two lectures today were both biographical histories. We first discussed Hildegard von Bingen, a nun from the 12^th century. She began at a monastery in Disibodenberg, spent time in seclusion as an anchorite, and eventually became the abbes. A little over ten years later, after receiving one of her many visions, she left Disibodenberg, to the dismay of the leaders there who lost the income from the dowry of each girl who came to Hildegard’s new abbey in Rupertsberg rather than Disibodenberg.

Hildegard had a very long and productive life in Rupertsberg, recording many of her visions (which some now believe to be phosphenes or scotomata due to migranes), describing the connection between the microcosm (man) and the macrocosm (the universe), writing Physica and other medical and scientific works in which she described many holistic treatments, composing plays and symphonies, and even creating her own language and writing.

The second lecture was about Paracelsus, the narcissistic man with two hats.

After class, we all split up again, mainly for dinner with our host families, before most of us met again at about 8:45 by the old AIB so we could get rid of some more of Morgan and Michelle’s wine. While some of us were waiting for the rest to arrive, we took pictures of the London telephone booth next to the old AIB and even found some books we recognized, like Top Gun and Jurassic Park.

Once most of the people had showed up, we walked down the street and into a nearby park, then up to a wooded area on what seemed like a fortress wall. We sat on the wall overlooking the Rhine and got to witness a beautiful sight as all the lights of the city buildings turned on and reflected in the river.

A little while after we’d been sitting there, a couple of people came up and asked if we were Aggies. Turns out they’re also from A&M studying with the AIB, but for international studies. We talked for a while and eventually got together to sing Saw ‘Em Off after the two wine bottles were gone…

After our little Aggie reunion in Bonn, we headed off again. Some people headed to the Quiet Man for one of our last nights out in Bonn, but others, including me, headed home to get some rest so we’ll have enough energy to make it through the bike ride to Remagen tomorrow.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Today was what Monday was supposed to be—the bike ride along the Rhine to Remagen. We all met at the hauptbahnhof this morning (everyone made it this time!), and then walked around the back to the bike rental shop. My host mother told me later today that it’s actually a sort of charity place where they hire people that otherwise wouldn’t be able to work. All the workers we met there were very helpful, giving each of us a bike that was the right size for our height.

After everyone was on a suitable bike we wheeled them through Kaiserplatz towards the university park were we got on and rode down the trail before dismounting again to wheel down the hill to the pavilions where we ate our first dinner together. There, we got on again and started the almost 22 kilometer ride to Remagen.

We all started off sticking together, even singing Do Re Me and Bohemian Rhapsody. After a while, though, our line kept getting longer and longer and we eventually spilt into groups to travel up the river. Up the river is south, by the way, because the Rhine flows north, which still seems weird to me (rivers usually flow south!). I rode the rest of the way with Mikaela, Mario, and Caleb, except for when Caleb had way more energy than the rest of us and left us all in the dust.

We stopped in Remagen in a little square with shops, and everyone showed up within the next five minutes. We parked and locked our bikes, then walked to a little picnic area on a hill next to the river to eat lunch. Afterwards we all sat or laid out on the cool grass in the sun to rest.

Next we walked up the river a little ways to the location of the Peace Museum inside the eastern towers of the old Remagen Bridge. On the steps up to the museum from the river, our guide was waiting. Mr. Kürten was responsible for the creation of the museum, and like Dr. Stoeckel, it was an honor to be shown around by him. He told many stories of the history of the bridge, especially during WWII, because it was the last one across the Rhine in Germany near the end of the war. He was an awesome narrator, making motions and changing voices; it was awesome. A lot of the history he told us had to do with the American allied troops gaining control of the bridge near the end of the war, so it was interesting to look at another side of Germany’s past.

After we said good bye to Mr. Kürten, we walked back to our bikes, filled our water bottles in a nearby restaurant, and began our trip back. Alexis chose to take the train back, so Olivia took her to the station, meaning she had to catch up with the rest of us on bikes after she was done. We actually stopped and waited a few minutes into our ride for water, and then decided to wait for Olivia.

We arrived back in Bonn a little over an hour later, all nine of us students sticking mostly together this time, but we had to wait for Olivia and Dr. Wasser at the pavilion for about five minutes before returning to the rental place.

Once our bikes were safely returned, everyone split up to go home and rest, write, or pack for the weekend and next week. Jooy and I took a quick trip to Haribo, though, so we could completely reverse all the healthiness of the rest of the day.

Afterwards we headed home for dinner, and I watched the Olympics while packing away all my things. It hard to believe that tonight was my last dinner with my host family at our normal time. I’m excited for the Rhine cruise tomorrow, as well as the trips to Switzerland and Berlin, but sometimes I wish we had more time here in Bonn.

Thursday, August 2, 2102

Today we started the morning by meeting in the hauptbahnhof to take the train to Bingen. There was a platform change because the train before ours was running late, but luckily it was just the other side of the platform barrier, so we didn’t have any problems. The ride south along the Rhein was very pleasant and picturesque, but most of us used the extra hour to nap.

We arrived in Bingen around 10 AM and took a circuitous route around the city before we made it to the Museum am Strom where we were given a tour of the Hildegard von Bingen exhibit. They had models of the monastery where she first lived in anchorage (seclusion) showing it in its current condition as well as what archeologists and historians believed it looked like in her time in the 12^th century. There were also examples of her many writings, including her records of her prophetic visions and her medical texts. There were examples of her musical compositions and secret language as well. 

We also saw some of the minerals she recommended for medicinal use and walked out to the garden to see many of the plants she described in her book. It was very beautiful and very awesome to actually see, touch, and smell the potential medicines she described so long ago. The museum also had a small section where they displayed a Roman doctor’s tools that were buried with him and discovered on the grounds of the museum, which actually used to be a power plant.

After the museum tour we walked to a nearby biergarten where Olivia and the AIB bought us all lunch (Danke!), and we trapped a few of the local wasps in our empty cups… Then we went to the dock where our boat would be and bought tickets for it before walking along the river while we waited for the boat to arrive. We found a nice park and sat down to relax, or in some cases, play the “airplane” game.

At 2:15 PM we met back by the docks, and most of us ended up getting Magnum ice cream bars while we waited. Then we boarded the boat and found places to sit up on the top deck. There was even a small slide up there that some of our group took advantage of. The cruise itself was pretty wonderful; the hills along each side of the Rhein were dotted with vineyards, castles, and quaint little towns. It was very windy, and even though it threatened to rain, our luck held out and we stayed dry the whole time.

We got off the boat at St. Goar to visit Rheinfels Castle. We had to climb up the hillside to get to it; at first on roads, but then on stairs carved out of stone. Some of us chose to take the “short-cut” that didn’t really save time and took a lot more energy because it had no carved steps, just dirt, rocks, and a few trees with roots to use as footholds.

After we made it to the top of the difficult terrain, we paused for a photo-op before continuing our journey upwards, this time on a lovely sidewalk. At the castle, we didn’t have a tour guide, so we split up into groups of three or four, went to different sections, and made up our own tales of what occurred in the castle. My group consisted of Alexis, Mikaela, Jooy, and myself and, after we finally found our area in the tunnels, we wove a tale of an ancient queen and her love affair with a miner working below the castle. 

Morgan, Mario, and Meredith’s group put on an awesome show where Sir Mario defended the castle against Barbarian Morgan, was healed by Doctor Morgan, captured Barbarian King Morgan, and married Princess Morgan with the permission of King Meredith while the rest of the group followed with Tour Guide Meredith. 

Caleb, Michelle, and Sara led us all around their section of the castle pointing out where various scenes of Monty Python and the Holy Grail took place, and where Paracelsus found his two hats and narcissism. Making up our own stories was a lot of fun, even if we did trek up, down, and around the castle, wearing ourselves out.

After making a pit stop at the old-fashioned restrooms, we walked down the hill the easy way to the train station to take the train back to Bonn. In Koblenz we switched trains on the fly so we could get back sooner. On the second train I got a phone call from Mario’s number, but it wasn’t Mario. Apparently his phone was left behind in the rush to switch trains, but the nice gentleman who found it is planning to give it to Olivia when she travels to his area this weekend, so it should all work out.

We made it back to Bonn a little after eight and planned our meeting for tomorrow morning for the train to Switzerland. Then we all split up to go home, get ready, and get a little sleep before meeting back at the hauptbahnhof at four.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Today was the first day of our free long weekend, and we made it extra-long by leaving for Interlaken, Switzerland this morning at 4AM. Meredith, Mikaela, Jooy, Caleb, Sara, and I took the tram for the Bonn hauptbahnhof to Sieberg, meeting Morgan and Michelle along the way, just like for the trip to Strasbourg.

We took an ICE train from Sieberg to the Frankfurt airport station, and then switched to another ICE train that took us all the way to Interlaken. The last train was about five hours long, so everybody got to catch up on some sleep. That is until we made it into Switzerland. More people were getting on the train, so we had to move back to our reserved seats, which although it kind of stunk at the time, turned out to be good because we were awake to see the beautiful scenery of the Swiss Alps, rolling countryside, and clear blue lakes.

We arrived in Interlaken with mountains all around us and went to the train office to buy passes for the busses and for the scenic train to Luzern tomorrow. We then took the bus to our hostel for the night, Balmers. It’s a traditional Swiss house from the outside and inside is very nice; it even has a fairly elaborate gift shop with many different Swiss Army knives. We checked in and paid for the rooms and our canyoning excursion at the reception desk, then stored our bags in the luggage room because the room wasn’t going to be available until 3PM.

After storing all our bags, except for the things we needed for canyoning, we walked down the street til we found a restaurant that served lunch. The place we found, The Three Tells, was awesome, even if it was a bit pricey, but apparently that’s just the way it is in Switzerland. Almost all of us got the specials of the day, either the sandwich or the mincemeat pie because they were the cheapest. The waiter was terrific, almost always cracking jokes, and participating in a little friendly rivalry when his country went against the US in the Olympic event that was playing. It was kind of funny, though, because we ended up being served by a New Zealander at an Irish pub in Switzerland…

After we finished lunch, we went back to Balmers to meet for canyoning at 1:30. We gathered there then walked down the street the other way to the Outdoor Interlaken building where we were outfitted with wet-suits and jackets, swim boots, harnesses, life vests, and helmets. From there we rode in a passenger van up the mountain until we reached the place where we had to take a walking trail the rest of the way up to the starting point for the canyoning adventure.

Our guides, Tim and Simon, went over a few safety guidelines and then we began. I really didn’t know what to expect from canyoning, but it was fantastic. We slid down rocks like water slides, jumped of rocks into pools below, and even repelled down a rock face into water. There was also a lot of balancing as we walked through the mountain stream on slippery stones and swimming to stay afloat after landing in the water below the various rocks. It really was a blast; just indescribable.

After canyoning, our most athletic venture to date, including the 44 km bike ride, we went back to Balmers and actually moved all our stuff into our room. It was very cute with a little cubby with a slanted roof that reminded us of Harry Potter’s room that Sara and I claimed. Then we relaxed for a few hours. There was a room open to the outside that had hammocks hanging in it of which some of us took advantage to take naps in while others used the actual beds in our room.

After we were mostly recovered, we headed down for dinner at the outdoor biergarten downstairs in Balmers. Most of us had burgers (with Swiss cheese!) and fries, with a free drink because we were staying at the hostel. After dinner we walked some more around the town of Interlaken, visiting a small café where a couple people got hot Swiss chocolate while the rest of us looked at optical illusion books they had available. We continued walking around and eventually found a small playground where we all allowed our inner kids to make an appearance, spinning around on the cool merry-go-round/swing set thing they had.

Once we were plenty dizzy we returned to Balmers and the small club, Metro, where we took advantage of another free voucher and happy hour before heading back up to our room for a card game…with drinks for some as well. Then some of the group went back down to Metro while Micelle and I stayed upstairs.

Tomorrow I’m not really sure what we’re doing besides taking a scenic train to Luzern in the afternoon. We’ll probably end up just walking around other parts of the city, which is ok because Switzerland is so beautiful just walking and looking around is wonderful.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

For not having any plans yesterday, we actually stayed pretty busy today. We began with free breakfast at Balmers, and it was worth only a little more than we paid for it… We got a set amount of corn flakes and bread with butter, strawberry jam and cheese spread. There was orange juice and coffee too, but the OJ was very watery. We did get to eat outside, though, and the weather was beautiful. We also watched some other residents play with the giant chess set.

After breakfast we had to check out of our room and store our bags in the luggage room again. We also talked to the receptionist at Balmers to see if there was anything interesting we could do before we had to catch the train at three. She suggested we go out to Lake Thunersee by bus and hang out there, so we did.

The lake was incredible. We walked along the shore for a while, taking pictures of the clear blue water and Alps in the background. We found a small path out to a bench on the edge of the lake, hidden in the trees, and took pictures of everyone climbing out onto one of the limbs growing out over the lake.

After that we split up. Morgan, Michelle, Jooy, and I rented a paddle boat; Caleb and Mikaela rented paddle boards; and Meredith and Sara stayed on the beach to relax. Going out on the boat was a lot of fun because we were able to stay dry and still go out on the water to take pictures.

Once our hour-long rentals were up, we went back to the bus stop to head back to town to grab lunch and our luggage before heading back to the train station. The train we rode today was a special scenic train that had windows that you could lower so that there would be no glare in your pictures. And we took full advantage of them. The ride only lasted about two hours, but I took about 200 pictures of the beautiful mountainous landscape and valley below as we climbed up. I was proud of my camera for lasting as long as it did!

We arrived in Luzern a little after 5PM, and, after getting bus tickets from an impatient tourist information receptionist, made it to Youth Hostel Luzern. We have two rooms this time, but they’re so small there’s barely enough room for all our luggage. They did give us sheets though, so that’s a plus.

We stayed at the hostel for a few hours while it rained outside, taking advantage of the internet and TV playing the Olympics or just napping. We also researched where we wanted to go for dinner (a place that served fondue was a requirement) and what we want to do tomorrow. We finally decided on a dinner place, with some help from the hostel receptionist, and headed out around 8.

We made it to the restaurant, a cute little traditional-looking place, after a pit stop at an ATM and had a great meal. I liked the fondue, but since I’ve not had it before, I can’t say it’s the best. Their goulash soup, though, was the best I’ve had so far. We also splurged for a chocolate fondue for dessert and had fun dipping fruit and left over bread in the delicious Swiss chocolate before a few people finished it off with a spoon.

After dinner we wandered around a little bit trying to find the lion statue, eventually finding it with some help from a local sign directed, degradingly, to tourists. The statue was really more like a relief carved into a rock face and was lit rather beautifully by one small light through some trees, but it was too dark for the cameras to pick up well, so we’re planning on going back in the morning.

We eventually made it back to the hostel where we discussed plans for tomorrow (gondola or no gondola?), used the internet in the lobby, and headed to bed relatively early so we can start tomorrow early, too.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Today began with breakfast at the youth hostel, and this time it was buffet style like usual, with bread, yogurt, cereal, and toppings. They also had coffee and hot milk to which you could add cocoa powder…I had two cups of some of the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had.

After we’d finished breakfast and cleared all our stuff out of the rooms, we checked out and gathered in the internet room to plan out our day. We knew we wanted to take the gondola up to the top of mount Pilatus and see a few of the famous monuments around Luzern, but we had to figure the most time-efficient way to do it because Michelle, Morgan, and I had to get to the train station before 5 to catch our train back to Bonn. The rest of the group didn’t have to worry as much because their train to Berlin doesn’t depart until after midnight. We finally decided to start off by going up the mountain, and then the three of us could come down earlier than the rest if we needed to.

We walked down to the stop for the bus to the base of the mountain, but Meredith and Sara took a detour to the ATM and ended up missing the first bus. Caleb and Mikaela waited for them and took the bus that left 10 minutes later, but Morgan, Michelle, Jooy, and I went ahead so we could scout out how to make it to the gondola center. We thought we knew which stop the hostel receptionist told us to get off, but it turned out that the stop before would have been best. It wasn’t bad though. We were able to follow the street signs toward “Pilatus” and made it to the gondolas within fifteen minutes, and call the other group with directions so they got there even more quickly.

In the five or so minutes it took for the rest of the group to catch up, we purchased our tickets for the ride all the way up and back down (yay for EuRail discount!) and checked out the gift shop that was within the building. All the things they had there were outrageously expensive (like a 50 Frank T-shirt), but they also had a really awesome white, grey, and red Switzerland jacket that I really wanted. I was almost willing to pay 159 Franks, but it didn’t fit, so maybe it’s for the best.

Once everyone had their tickets we got in line for the gondola ride up. Each car held four people, which worked out well because we could split evenly into consecutive cars. The ride up was incredibly beautiful. Even though I normally hate heights, I was so distracted by the gorgeous scenery that I didn’t mind. We could see pretty much all of Luzern, the lake, and the Alps all around. We also passed over several adorable farm houses, cows with their jingling bells, sheep, and even a pony. After the first gondola stop there was also an awesome playground that even had a zip line.

When we made it to the end of the first gondola ride, we had to wait for the larger one that goes all the way to the peak, but only departs every fifteen minutes. Somehow we got split up (I think restrooms were involved) and Michelle and I were the only ones to depart on the first available car. The second gondola could hold up to 40 people, but there were less than a dozen on the one we took. We were standing, and could move all around to look out the windows. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see everything because we’d reached the level of the clouds so a lot of the landscape was obscured.

We reached the top and exited out onto the viewing terrace, and started to explore. First we went down some stairs toward the hotel where an older gentleman was feeding the birds; some of them even landed on his shoulders (it reminded me of the bird woman in Mary Poppins). Then we went back up the nicely paved stairs and took a trail back up the same direction, this time with rock-carved stairs, towards what appeared to be a weather observatory. We couldn’t enter the area around the observatory, but there was a (cold!) metal staircase that took you down through a little cave/tunnel to the other side of the mountain ridge. This trail ended up giving us the best overall view of the Swiss landscape because most of the clouds had cleared out. We took tons of pictures, but nothing can compare to actually experiencing being on top of a mountain in Switzerland.

We eventually tore ourselves away from the beautiful view to meet back up with the rest of the group who had just arrived on the viewing terrace. We all gathered together, with Reveille, and posed for a group picture overlooking the Alps (thank goodness for kind strangers willing to take pictures of crazy American tourists). We posed for some more pictures, mostly against a wall with the white Swiss crosses on block of many different colors. I have to admit it did feel kind of silly to be standing on a mountain and be taking pictures in front of a wall…

Next we all went into the main building to look around the gift shop, which was basically the same as the one below but larger. We all got some souvenirs, most of us getting something for our host families as well to say “danke”. 

After we were satisfied with our purchases we headed up another, steeper trail that gave us a 360° panoramic view of Luzern and the surrounding Alps. It was pretty tiring climbing up all the steps in the thin mountain air, but the cool breeze helped, and the beautiful view made it worthwhile. We took glimpses between the clouds and climbed down a short ladder to go out further on the ledge; it was awesome.

Once we’d taken all the pictures we could and were too cold to stay much longer, we headed back down to the observation deck. It was almost 12:30, so Morgan, Michelle, and I went to take the gondolas back down while the rest of the group stayed atop the mountain to eat lunch. We made it back to the building just in time, too, because it was just beginning to rain.

It was pretty cool taking the larger gondola back down through the clouds and rain because, at first, we couldn’t see anything around us. Then we dropped below the cloud level, the rain cleared up, and we were once again left with beautiful trees, lakes, mountains, and the city of Luzern.

When we’d finally arrived back on solid ground, we walked back down the hill to the bus stop, running the last 50 meters to make it just in time. We got off near the train station so we could look at the Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke), complete with beautiful flower boxes and swans swimming all around. We walked across the bridge, stopping to purchase postcards halfway through, and then wove our way through parts of the more residential area of the city to reach the remaining eight towers of the old town wall. There we climbed up the first one we came to, which turned out to be the highest one we were allowed to climb, and took pictures of the city from above. These pictures of the city were actually better than those taken atop Pilatus because we didn’t have clouds in the way.

After we’d sufficiently recovered from the stair-climbing workout, we headed back down the tower and continued along the wall on ground lever, pausing to take pictures of each of the towers. Once we’d reached the last tower, we were actually very close to the Lion Monument, so we headed there to get better pictures than the night before. Seeing the lion in the daylight was definitely better because we could actually see all the details of the commemorative carving for the Swiss victims of a massacre during the French Revolution.

Once we’d seen all the tourist attractions on our list and stopped at the few gift shops that were open on Sunday, we walked back to the hostel to gather the rest of our bags. We took advantage of the free wifi for about 20 minutes, looking up info on all the things we’d just seen while the Olympics played in the background, then walked back out and up the hill to the bus stop.

We eventually made it to the train station, grabbed some lunch, and boarded the first of two trains that would take us back to Seiburg. We had reserved seats, but the wagons were unmarked, so we couldn’t find them and ended up sitting across the aisle from each other, but the ride was pleasant enough. We even discussed Hildegard von Bingen because Morgan was writing her blog for the last week.

We switched trains about an hour after leaving Luzern, when we arrived in Basel.  We hadn’t realized it earlier, but we had about an hour-long lay over until our train to Sieburg arrived, so we spent some time walking around the train station, spending the last of our franks. We sat down to wait on an open bench because our platform wasn’t listed yet, but it turned out that we were sitting right on top of our train, right next to the escalator we needed to reach it.

We made it onto the train and found our seats with plenty of time to spare, then settled in for the almost four hour long ride. We all worked on our blogs or read some to pass the time, and made it back to Sieburg safely. Then we took tram 66 again back to Bonn, Morgan and Michelle getting off at their stop and me continuing on to mine.

Once I made it back to my room, I had to unpack and repack some of my stuff so I’ll be able to carry everything to the hauptbahnhof tomorrow morning for our train to Berlin.