Week 2

I absolutely love Germany. I feel like I’ve been here longer than just a week. It feels like home. My host family is amazing. We have sat and talked for hours. My host brother, Jan Philipp, is my age and we talk about all kinds of things. My host mother always calls me “my dear”. The grandmother doesn’t speak any English, but she always smiles when she sees me. I’ve been trying to use the few phrases I know in German everyday.

I like to notice the small differences between here and the US. For example, how the Germans use a comma instead of a decimal point in numbers, putting mayo on French fries, and all of the extensive recycling. The one thing I miss is ice cubes.

I took a day trip to Trier one Saturday to visit Karl Marx’s house. It was an eye opening experience and I learned more about the man behind communism. I was completely unaware that he had an illegitimate child by his house keeper or that he had money problems most of his life from living above his means (sounds a little odd for a communist). The house was beautiful and I was able to take lots of pictures. Then, I wandered around Trier until I found my way back to the central station. I spent the rest of the weekend exploring Bonn and talking with my host family.

Vienna was a beautiful city. The architecture throughout the city gave it an elegant look. I only wish we had more time because some of our tours felt too short. I know this is only because of the time constraint of the program, and I still thoroughly enjoyed everything we were able to do. My favorite place was the Narrenturm because of all the crazy specimens they had, like the femur of the “giant” and the stomach full of nails. Of course, I spent too much money buying souvenir gifts for everyone at home. I’m pleasantly surprised at how comfortable I feel in these different European cities. I have rarely felt out of place or like a tourist (except of course when we travel in our big group of 25). I woke up early one morning and ventured from the hotel down the street about 1 km to find a tobacco store and purchase a pack of cigarettes. Strolling through the city on my own felt so natural, like I was meant to do it. Attending the concert with everyone on the last night in Vienna and then going out for drinks together really allowed me to make friends with the other people on the trip.

Next, a large group of us traveled to Prague. The bus was extremely nice, with large seats and WiFi available. The drive was quite beautiful as well. We arrived rather late, so we went straight to the Air BnB and had to buy snacks at a gas station for dinner. There was a language barrier between the cashiers and us, but it is always fun to circumvent that by using hand gestures and plenty of smiles.  We started out early the next day with breakfast at a café. I ordered a mimosa, which confused the waiter. Then, we walked through the historic downtown square and stopped to watch the astronomical clock strike noon. We spent most of the day exploring the castle. We walked across a bridge that gave us a good view of Karluv Most, the bridge constructed in the early 15^th century to cross the Vltava River. The hike up to the castle was intense. Once we reached the top, we had to all stop to catch our breath. The view of Prague sprawling out below us was amazing. We took quite a few pictures sitting on the wall with the city in the background. We were able to tour the castle and the Basilica, but the cathedral was closed (probably because it was Pentecost). The castle was not as beautiful inside as the buildings in Vienna, but that’s probably due to its age. It is the largest ancient castle in the world. It was medieval looking inside, and rather sparse. Most of the items and collections of the rulers of Bohemia were kept in a separate museum. It was also the most crowded place I have visited so far on my trip. We ate dinner on a restaurant boat on the Vltava River. Later that night, we visited an ice pub where the entire room and the glasses were made of solid ice. The next day we wandered some more around the city until our flight. Being back in Bonn is nice because I have time to relax and catch up on sleep before our next adventure. The whole trip has been amazing so far and I can’t wait until the next excursion!