This week was spent travelling to various German cities, growing in friendship, and becoming even more comfortable in Bonn.
Monday!
After our journey back from Rome, regular classes at AiB resumed Monday morning. We had two pharmacology courses followed by a study trip to Remagen! Remagen is a quaint town just 15 minutes away from Bonn. We visited the Friedensmusem (peace museum) to see the remnants of an important bridge in both world wars which now serves as a memorial to peace and freedom. The US Army captured this bridge and broke open Germany's defenses in the west. Thus, this bridge is an important monument to both Germans and Americans today.
Tuesday!
After a long day of pharmacology classes, a bunch of us headed to our favorite biergarten on the Rhein, Rheinlust. The manager there loves that we are Americans, so he has been more than generous with free drinks :) So many people from our program joined us, and we even met some German students as well. It was such a good time - we played cards, laughed, chatted, and told jokes. Many liters of sangria were consumed by the group haha. So yummy. The manager invited us back on Thursday.
Wednesday!
Wednesday was another long day of classes. We had history of medicine lectures all day, and then after class AiB hosted a summer party for all the students and host families! The school has a cute courtyard that was decorated and had drinks, music, and food. So many people came, and our host mom joined us too.
Thursday!
Thursday was again full of classes & time at Rheinlust. It was a few of the students' last time in Bonn as their program was ending, so we spent a long time hanging out, drinking, and eating pizza. Lily pinky-promised Flo that we would come back!
Friday!
Friday was a full day of excursion. We stopped in Bingen, a southern city, to visit the St. Hildegard museum. She was a really cool medical saint and visionary from the town of Bingen. I love that Germany has such extensive history, especially religious history such as the story of St. Hildegard. We then journeyed to Andernach, another small city, to visit a medical history museum. It was a kind of creepy museum because it had many old medical tools and diagrams that were a little icky, but it was interesting nonetheless. After our tour, Trinity's aunt and uncle came to visit us there! They live nearby in Germany and Trinity had never met them. We sat by the Rhein at a biergarten and had brautwurst, then we went to an Eis Cafe (ice cream cafe!). It was so nice to spend the evening with them. There is something so comforting about being around family (even though they weren't my own haha). They walked us to the train stop and gave us big hugs and well wishes.
Saturday!
My host sisters and myself slept in for so long on Saturday. It was our first free weekend in awhile. Once we woke up, Trinity and I cooked a big breakfast (which was such a treat.. Germans don't really eat breakfast). The four of us decided to head to Dusseldorf, which is a big city north of Cologne. We wandered around the city and found beautiful parks, interesting architecture, shopping malls, and finally a huge festival! There was some sort of soccer celebration happening.. we're still not exactly sure what it was. There were soooo many people in jerseys, bands playing music, and delicious food to be had. I ate a big steak and we all had delicious mojitos as we people-watched.
Sunday!
Sunday was another wonderful day of going with the flow. My host sisters and I went on a hike to a nearby castle. Boy, the incline was steeeeep. We were out of breath the whole way up, but it was SO worth it! The castle was gorgeous and intricate. There was a beautiful view of the city, so we stayed to eat at the castle cafe. Once we hiked down and traveled home, Trinity and I went to mass at Bonner Munster. It was a "youth" mass, so many younger people were there. We met a lovely girl around our age named Johanna. She invited us to the church garden after mass for a little social. They had pastries, lemonade, and beer! It was so cool - we met other German students who go to mass there. We met a guy named Patrick who invited us to mass the next morning, which I just got back from! It was so cool.. we cannot wait to hang out with them again.
Tomorrow we head to Vienna, Austria! I have no expectations, but I've heard it is a beautiful city.
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