Germany Week 4

This week was a restful week of classes and activities around, but was needed after a busy week of traveling. It was filled with interesting lectures, daily trips to nearby towns, and quality time with classmates. 

To start the week off, we began in Remagen where we visited the Peace Museum where the bridge used to be during World War I and II. Remagen was a beautiful little river town, with beautiful views of the hills and the quaint houses along the river. At the museum, we learned about the history of the bridge as it stood between both banks of Rhine serving as a connection for traveling trains. This bridge stood strong despite many efforts to demolish it, as it served as a strong point for whichever side of the war had control of it. Eventually, it collapsed on its own, but still serves as a symbol of peace and remembrance of those who lost their lives in Remagen during the war. 

Later on in the week, we had the summer party at AiB where everyone in an AiB program and their host families in Bonn were able to get together, hang out, and enjoy some food together. The whole night was peaceful and enjoyable, as everyone interacted and shared some quality time together. The tapas and yummy flan was the frosting on the cake too. 

At the end of the school week, we had a full day of traveling to Bingen and Andernach! Both of these towns had beautiful sights as they were surrounded by vineyards and along the Rhine. We started in Bingen where we finally got to see the famous Hildegard museum and Hildegarden. Learning about such an influential woman in medicine during class and being able to subsequently see a museum dedicated to her history and work was a unique and cool experience. There are so many things that women from the past have contributed to medicine as a whole, so honoring that and learning more about it is definitely rewarding, especially since this whole group consists of women. After Binge, we travelled to Andernach where we started with a yummy schnitzel lunch then made our way to the museum filled with historical medical equipment. This was such a cool museum to see because it shows just how much progress medicine has made in the last century. It is such a young profession in the grand scheme of things, and it really puts into perspective how much farther we have to grow in or knowledge of medicine and the human body. We finished the trip with some ice cream and headed home! 

For our free weekend, we decided to stay in Bonn and explore the area a bit more since we haven't had a full weekend at home. The weekend consisted of relaxation as we spent most of the day Saturday picnicking at the Rheinaue. Our last few weeks are flying by and approaching quickly, so I am trying to soak in all of our moments in Germany up. Though we are halfway through, I have enjoyed every second of travel, class days in Bonn, bonding with our host mom, and exploring all over Europe. Next up, Vienna and then Berlin!