Let the Adventures Continue!

It has officially been one week since I arrived in Germany and this country has yet to fall short of my expectations. I have really enjoyed spending one-on-one time with my host family. My host sister is 10 years old and I love sitting down with her as she helps me with my German homework, and I help her with her English homework. My favorite part about this week was going to visit Siebengebirge Castle in the 7 Hills outside of Bonn. The steep hike up to the top of the hill kindly reminded me how out of shape I am. Although the trek was a little rough, once we made it to the top, it was 100% worth it. The castle was gorgeous. It was filled with magnificent rooms and the views were breathtaking. Our journey almost stopped there, however, we made the decision to continue on the trek higher up the top of the hill where some ancient ruins stood. I almost turned around before we made it up the hill because I wanted to grab some food in the city, but I couldn't have been happier that I decided to continue the hike. The view from the top of the hill was remarkable—hills, cities, and rivers could be seen from miles away. When I pictured myself in Germany before the trip, I pictured myself on top of a hill or mountain somewhere just enjoying the views, so this really was my perfect cup of tea. 

This past weekend, we traveled to Amsterdam. This is where I learned how important it is to remain flexible while traveling. We had to change trains one time in Cologne, and when we arrived we were so confident in ourselves and thought we would make it to our next train just in time. Well it turns out we were right in thinking this, because we showed up to our train and stared at it for about 5-10 minutes thinking it was the wrong train before watching it roll away. We decided to make the most of the couple hours we had to wait around for the next train by going to a restaurant next to the Cologne Cathedral. Although our travels were delayed a couple of hours, I still had the best time spending time with friends and enjoying Cologne.

I was taught another lesson about flexibility the next day in Amsterdam. We had an entire list of plans written out, determined to squeeze as much as we could into this weekend. We ended up crossing only a couple things off our list, but it was in the small changes of plans that I made the best memories. We went on the Heineken Experience tour on Saturday, and visited the Rijks Museum yesterday. The Heineken tour completely blew away my expectations and everything in the Rijks Museum was absolutely gorgeous. I would like to return to the Rijks one day; it was so massive that I don’t think we even put a dent in one corner of the museum.  I was a little bummed about not being able to see the Anne Frank house, but that just gives me another reason to plan a trip back to the beautiful city of Amsterdam.

Some of my best memories from this week were made in the little moments. When things don't go as planned, that's when the adventures begin. Sometimes it is great to forget about all the plans, and stop rushing from one location to the other. As much as I would love to see every inch of the places I travel, I realize that is not possible. I want to fully dive into every experience I have on this journey and immerse myself in the moment. I am going to make it my goal to keep my eyes open to everything around me and ask myself, “What would Da Vinci say?”