I’m a little behind on my blog posts, partially because I’m
having a hard time accepting the fact that the program is coming to an end.
Sunday night I got back from Brussels in enough time to repack my bags and get
a few hours of sleep before having to catch a 6:40AM train to Hannover. In
Hannover we went to an Axolotl research facility. Axoltols are salamanders that
have a unique regenerating process that bring interest in researchers to find
applications to wound healing. We also
went to Hannover Medical School, which is one of the largest in the world.
Here, a cardiovascular surgeon talked to us about how heart surgeries have
changed over time.
Tuesday morning we left Hannover and headed to Norderney,
which is an island on the northern coast of Germany. We arrived in Norrdiech
Mole and took a ferry ride to get to the island. From the ferry we went to pick
up bikes, which would be our mode of transportation for the next three days.
(Note, I have not ridden a bike in so many years, so it was actually really
exciting besides the fact that the seat really bruised my butt and I felt sore
the next few days.) The island is rather small, only 14km long, and is covered
in sand dunes, lots of rabbits, and tons of birds. The area was very different
from what we have been seeing in Germany, so it was a nice change of things. We
had a bike tour that was a couple of hours long where we rode through the
dunes, to a lighthouse, and around the cute little town. Once we got back to
the hostel we were staying at, we had the afternoon free to hang around where
we were staying. We played volleyball, soccer, and swung on the swings. We all felt like little kids again, and it
was really nice to just goof off and have a great time together. That evening
we had a group BBQ and made s’mores, but the German way because they don’t have
Hershey bars here and we couldn’t find graham crackers so we used vanilla
cookies instead. Regardless, they were wonderful! Once the sun started to set
we headed to the beach to watch the gorgeous view, and a few brave souls jumped
into the water (not me, because it was WAY TOO COLD).
Wednesday morning we headed over to the badehaus and heard a
lecture over Thallous Medicine from one of the doctors. Shortly after, we had
time to enjoy ourselves in the spa. There were multiple pools, tubs, and saunas
throughout the spa where we could relax and renew ourselves (because, we have
been working so hard ya know!). It was a great experience, not only because it
felt wonderful, but because I personally feel like “spas” and “saunas” are not
as greatly used properly in the states as they were here. Plus, the mud bath
was really neat! After our time at the badehaus, we had the afternoon to
ourselves, were I naturally found myself playing some beach volleyball. That
evening we had a mudflat hiking tour where a guide took us during low tide out
into the muddy swamps. We were able to see muscles, worms, and crabs, and see
how Norderney is one of the World Heritage Sites. I thought it was really neat
learning about the biological side of this since I just finished bio 112 and I
was actually able to apply some of the things I learned and never thought I
would need again. Unfortunately our stay in Norderney was short, but I really
enjoyed it there. I wish we would have had more time because, though the island
is small, I could have stayed for much longer! Thursday we headed back to mainland
and a group of us had about ~8-9 hours of travelling ahead of us to Paris! But
the Paris post will come later, so stay tuned lol.
Until later (probably tomorrow),
Emily
No comments:
Post a Comment