island of happiness and london bridges

The time finally came, spa time!! I had been anticipating Norderney since the first meeting when Dr. Wasser introduced the idea. He kept emphasizing how unique and special Norderney would be, especially as Americans. He said we would feel “reborn” after the day at the spa. I had never been to a spa before so my expectations were very limited. Before we got to Norderney, we stopped and spent the night in Hannover! Our time in Hannover was short but I loved everything about our day, especially the soft hotel beds. We started the day talking to a resident heart surgeon about transplants and implants. He brought different types of heart implants from various time periods. He explained the improvements in the design and technology of the implants. He also described the issues and problems with the past and current implants we use today.  The resident seemed to be very knowledgeable and willing to teach us the information we did not know about heart surgery. He even allowed us to speak with a patience that had a heart implants. It surprised me how lively the older man with the implant was. He seemed to be living a happy and capable life, He spent most the time joking around with us. I think as medical students, it was important to see just how much science and medicine can affect the quality of life for patients.

The axolotyls research center was our next stop! Being that I am studying veterinarian medicine, this was my favorite part of the day. I knew little about axolotyls before that day, only that they are adorable. It was so interesting to learn about their research with regrown limbs. I've known that certain animals have the ability to regrow body parts but never thought about applying it to current medicine. I could have spent all day learning and looking at those cute little creatures. 
  

We made it to Norderney by fairy and it felt like straight out of a movie. I was surprised how small the island was but everything was so lively. It almost felt like there was too many people for this little island. We started straight off on the bikes, which took me a second to get use to considering I hadn't ridden one in years. After I got the hang of it, it was so calming to just be pedaling down the street with the sun on our backs. The hostel had an amazing location, not too far being on a bike. We were walking distance for the sea, surrounded by green and wildlife everywhere. My favorite was the beautiful horses next door! We even had a whole soccer field and basketball hoop. Watching Henning attempting to play basketball and disregarding all the rules was pretty entertaining. Needless to say my ultimate favorite activity of the island was the spa day. Even though it was quite different at first I loved engaging in the spa traditions. Me and Kalea stayed in the sauna long enough to get the full lula experience. It was so cool to feel all the steam then he fans you with it which makes it stronger. Directly after the sauna we dipped into the freezing cold water. At first it seemed like a mistake but we you get use to it, it felt incredible. The mud treatment is definitely something I will always remember! It felt silly at first being completely covered in mud but then the steam came on and after your body was so soft and renewed. I spent the rest of the time in steam saunas, the tall shower, the salt water pool and took a nap on the heated benches. I have no idea when I will ever get another experience like that again so I indulged in everything I could!

The following weekend I met and stayed my bestfriend in London! Her family is from England so she was in Europe visiting family. We spent the first day checking off every touristy sight on our list. We first went to Buckingham palace, which was exciting because the queen was actually in town! We took some cool pictures are moved on to big ben! There were so many people it was hard to see and get a good picture but it still was beautiful. We avoided the London Eye because of the price and my friend had been before and didn't think much of it. The day was full of walking but all the sights were worth it. My friend's friend knew the owner of the OXO Tower Restaurant so we got what we thought we just a nice table. We got sat right next to the window with a beautiful view of the flowing river. We got first class service with free salmon, champagne, wine and 2 desserts. I had the best lamb I've ever had in my life. The service was just as good as the food, it felt like I was royalty. For the second day, we went 30 minutes outside of London to my friend's cousins house. It was nice to be out of the touristy part of the city and see where most people live. The town we went to was super hipster with a lot of younger people and cool bars. Later that  night we met up with Karen, Joseph and some of there friends. We all went to a techno concert that had amazing music and light show. It was so nice that everyone spoke English there, which made it even more hard to leave!