Bye Bye Bonn

I can hardly believe our time in Bonn has come to an end.  Meaghen and I said “tchuss” and “dankeshön” to Hilde this morning as she dropped us off at the train station for our final excursion to Berlin.  We have been so blessed to have received Hilde’s hospitality over the past few weeks!  Our host mom never failed to treat us like one of her own, or even better!  I feel honored to have gotten to live with the housing coordinator herself.  I know I now have someone who would be happy to welcome me back to Germany in the future!

Our last week in Bonn consisted of a lot of lectures and some unique adventures.  We had a few more lessons in German, a lecture over the physics of music and the ear, and  presentation over Hildegard von Bingen.  On Tuesday we visited the Cologne Zoo where were given the opportunity to pet and feed the elephants!  We also encountered some friendly (and some very silly) monkeys.  After visiting the animals, a few of us had lunch at a brewery in Cologne before making a trip to the Haribo factory in Bonn.  Haribo gummy bears originated in Bonn, so we just had to load up on authentic candy for our friends back home!

We took a tour of the Hildegard von Bingen museum on Wednesday where we learned about the visions she received from God which gave her the knowledge of the medicinal qualities of common plants.  The museum also housed a collection of ancient Roman medical instruments, some of which I never would have imagined had been around for so long!  We had lunch at a quaint cafe next to the Rhine and Dr. Wasser treated us to ice cream, and then we loaded up on a boat for our Rhine River cruise.  As if being on a boat didn’t make me giddy, scoping out all the castles and ruins along the river made for an even more magical ride.  We eventually disembarked the boat and climbed up to the ruins of a castle from the 13th century.  Though most of the castle had been destroyed in World War II, it was still pretty cool to walk through and just imagine how awesome life in a castle must have been.

A few of us spent a lazy weekend in Hamburg where we ate what I’m convinced must have been the best pasta in all of Europe!  Maddi, Shelby, and I also took a tour of a chocolate museum.  We were definitely in our element as we got to taste chocolate in all the different phases of its creation.  We even got to make our own chocolate bar, which I have (shamelessly) already eaten.  Our entire group is now heading to Berlin to wrap up our classes and tours together.  I am looking forward to our bike tour of the city this afternoon!  Next time you hear from me, I will probably be sipping tea or munching on fish and chips in London!