Duesseldorf Digest and Bonn Blog: Week 2

Monday, June 18, 2018

Week 2 - Sláinte Ireland

This is my second week in Germany and I am falling more and more in love with the country each day. Bonn is beginning to feel like home and I am finally getting the hang of getting around. My favorite part of this town is the laid-back atmosphere and friendliness. Almost every night we all meet up at the Hofgarten or on the Rhine river and just hangout for hours. These have easily been some of my favorite memories and have allowed us to form awesome friendships so early. Madison and I are adjusting to living with a host family and handling the tough language barrier.
We traveled as a class to Cologne on Wednesday and spent the day touring the city. I loved learning about the history and the fascinating Roman ruins. I was in awe of the Cologne Cathedral and all of the years that went into creating its beauty. My group had the opportunity to climb up all of steps, which ended at the most breathtaking view. We then stayed in the city for dinner and went out with some other people to a pub! Cologne is most definitely a city that I will be visiting again and again.
I traveled to Dublin, Ireland for the weekend with a group of 15 other students (yes we all squeezed into 1 airbnb). Ireland is one country that I have wanted to visit for as long as I can remember. We were able to cover almost the entire city and experienced fish and chips, many Irish pubs, the Dublin Castle, and the Guinness Storehouse. Some of us visited the city of Howth, which is a peninsula about 30 minutes away. We hiked up Howth Summit and sat on the edge of the most amazing cliffs overlooking the ocean. The pictures can't even do this view justice. We spent our last night going to the most fun pub and only got 45 minutes of sleep, but who cares we can sleep later! Ireland exceeded all of my expectations and I am already looking forward to returning. But for now, here's to many more summer memories in Europe!