Goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite ;-)

Well, another week has flown by. After a relaxed weekend in Interlaken, I was ready for our group excursion to Vienna. Monday we had a history of medicine lecture and our pre-departure meeting. After class, I went to buy a few light weight clothing items for the hot weather in Vienna and then went to the taco bar with Emily, Sam and Jackson. I spent the rest of the night packing and having dinner with my host family. We got a very early start to the day on Tuesday with a 3:20 AM wakeup call to begin our journey to Vienna. Once we arrived, we dropped off our bags and then went to meet Dr. Schnabel for a city tour. Along the way we ate some herbs and drank the urine of a young healthy boy to protect ourselves from the plague. This tour was fun and a great way to get to see the city. Tuesday evening we had a group dinner at the Goulash Museum. I ordered the beef goulash and it was sooo tasty. Paired with a glass of white wine, it was a perfect meal after a long day.

 We were all pretty tired after being awake for so many hours, so we went to the hotel and slept right after dinner. I slept from 10 PM to 8 AM… a whole 10 hours!! It was amazing, and the air conditioning was the cherry on top. On Wednesday morning we visited the drogistenmuseum. Something I found very interesting was that pharmacies of the past were not strictly for medicinal drugs, but for all kinds of chemical preparations used for many different purposes. For example, we learned that the chemicals used for developing photographs was sold in pharmacies. This sounds very similar to pharmacies today! After leaving the museum, we had a free afternoon. We went to walk around the Naschmarkt and had lunch. After exploring for a bit, we went back to the hotel to rest and refresh before going to get schnitzel for dinner. The schnitzel was very tasty, but the portion sizes were gigantic! I wish we would’ve known beforehand so we would’ve shared instead of each ordering our own plates. After dinner we went to the Prater amusement park.  We rode a few rides and had tons of fun. On Thursday we visited the Freud museum, which was really interesting. I’ve always thought psychology was interesting so learning about the work Freud did was very enjoyable. Thursday evening was the concert. The church was really beautiful and the music was nice, and it was fun to see everyone dressed up. After the concert a few of us went to a local night club and had lots of fun. Unfortunately, we didn’t check the late night train schedule, so when we got to the train station at the end of the night we realized the trains had already stopped running. Naturally, we had to snap a photo. We ended up getting a taxi and everything worked out just fine.

 Friday, Dr. Wasser took us to do some tai chi at stadtpark. The weather was not as hot as the previous days and the park was really pretty. While we were doing tai chi, we noticed some school age children on the other side of the park imitating us. It was really cute and quite funny. After our visit to the park, we toured the House of Music. I really enjoyed learning some of the history of music, especially since it’s such a big part of Vienna’s culture.

 After finishing our activities Friday, Emily and I headed to the train station to travel to Munich. We arrived pretty late, so we went straight to our hotel and went to sleep that night. Saturday morning we visited the Residence museum, which is a museum in the palace complex that housed rulers of Bavaria throughout history. We got to see lots of historical artifacts and even the bedrooms of old kings and queens. In the afternoon we went to the Dachau concentration camp memorial site. This trip was difficult and brought out a lot of emotions, but I’m really glad we got the chance to go. It’s important that we continue to remember and talk about the tragedies that happened so we ensure they never happen again. When we got back into town, we went to the famous Hofbrauhaus for some beer and pretzels. After spending some time there, we did a little bit of souvenir shopping and then headed back to our hotel. 

Sunday morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast and then went to the train station. Everything was going smoothly on the trip home until we reached the Frankfurt airport stop. Here we were informed that the AC had stopped working on two of the cars so they had to be evacuated. Of course, no one wanted to evacuate the train so the process took a very long time. By the time the two cars had been vacated, the entire aisle in our car was filled with people and their luggage. This made for quite an uncomfortable ride, but we made it home ok. When I finally made it back to Bonn, I had a nice dinner with my host family and got to bed early.

This morning, I was on the way to class when I looked down to notice a few bites on my arm. I had noticed them a couple days earlier, but didn’t think much of it. For some reason, my first thought this morning… BED BUGS. I started googling and then consulted Dr. Wasser. I’ve been advised to proceed by washing alllll of my clothes and bedding and disinfecting my luggage items. WOOHOOOO! I guess this is just another part of the hero’s journey. Lesson learned: always check the bed, even if you’re in a “nice” hotel. Well, until next week!

Can't Escape This Heat

I can't believe that week 5 is done and gone with, not only because it means were entering the end of the Germany journey but because this week was unlike any other week so far. This week started out like any other with a normal class day. We got let out early from class so of course that meant the Birkenstock outlet needed to be visited! This place was such a blessing on this country, discounted Birks are a rarity but in Germany they had thousands of pairs to choose from! After spending a few hours shopping we headed back to central Bonn to visit the beer garden for what might be the last time. We stayed, we drank, we ate, we talked and then we all went our separate ways to embark on the rough journey of packing our suitcases and making them under 17 pounds for our upcoming flight to Vienna. Once the packing had been accomplished with a good amount of rearranging the suitcase was sufficiently underweight. By the time packing was done we had approximately 6 hours until our 4 am taxi call that we were about to endure. Waking up at 3 am is actually low key easy when it comes with the perks of flying to Vienna for a week. I still don't know how it happened but somehow we all made it to Vienna not only on time but with very minimal hiccups along the way.
The first day in Vienna after we touched down was go go go from the start! We found our way to the hotel where we quickly dropped our bags, grabbed our water bottles, because I swear it was never below 95 degrees that week, and set out on our city walking tour! This included a very detail oriented tour given to us by the one and only Dr. Schnabel in his full on plague attire and everything. On this journey we learned about the different medical aspects of the city as well as some plague remedies and history. After our tour we indulged ourselves in some lunch along with some very good pastries. After lunch we had a lovely tour St. Michael church as well as a tour of the crypts that are below it. At the end of the tour we were taken to a dinner at the Goulash Museum to eat some Austrian Goulash and dessert which was phenomenal. This delicious food and dessert made it pretty easy to want to just fall asleep instantly but of course "you can sleep when you're dead" so why not have some fun! After getting back from dinner that night a shower was actually the only thing in the world that I wanted in that moment. But after the shower a group of some of us staying in the same building got together for a few rounds of spoons before finally heading to bed that night.

Wednesday morning started with a quick breakfast before we headed to a cathedral as well as an old medical school that was transformed into a museum to walk around the grounds before heading off to the Drogistenmuseum. This pharmacology museum was run by retired pharmacologists which made the tour in general very knowledgeable and interesting to see them talk about the history of their own professions. After this tour we headed to a market in the middle of Vienna for some very cheap but delicious lunch. We got to walk around the city for a while which was good until the feelings of dehydration took effect. But we quickly made our way to the national library in Vienna to walk around a cool space and take in more history of the city. Our next stop after this was a very fancy cafe called Cafe Central which had very beautiful and historical architecture and amazing chocolate cake for us to indulge ourselves in. After this long day walking around in the sun we all headed back to the hotel to take a little break from the sun and nap until later when we decided on dinner. We went to a fabulous Indian restaurant followed by a bar called Loos. And like not the brag or anything but not only was I in the same room that Brangelina and George Clooney had been in before but also Mick Jagger! This bar was very aesthetically pleasing but also had drinks that were phenomenal. We spent a few hours here before all heading back to the hotel for an early night to catch up on sleep.

Thursday morning our first activity was the tour of the Narrenturm. The narrenturm is a building in Vienna that was once used to house and treat mentally, physically, and emotionally ill patients. We went on a tour of the floor which stored wax models of the body parts affected by disease of actual patients that once stayed on those grounds. After this tour we went to a lovely Pakistan restaurant and indulged in the buffet they had set up there. We were then given time to nap before heading off to the Freud house to look around the set up of what his actual office looked like with the exact furniture and trinkets he had present at the time of his practice. This evening then turned to another break where we were given time to shower and nap before heading off to St. Anna Church for a string concert. Everyone was dressed to impress before we all headed to Burger King to grab food before the concert started. This concert was an hour long with pieces of Mozart as well as Haydn. When the concert ended we were all released to do as we pleased for the evening. A group of us headed to a bar close to the hotel before finding somewhere we could all go dancing at. Once we were all exhausted from dancing we headed back to the hotel to pack up everything for our last day in Vienna.

Friday was our last day to be in Vienna but that didn't stop us from going on excursions at all. We started the morning with some Tai Chi in the park before heading over to The House of Music. This museum had interactive properties of it that made it all the more fun to visit and take part in. We got toured around and learned about those that were the essential beginning of music that we know today. Lunch was the next thing on our agenda but after this we headed to the Natural History Museum where were toured around and got to see animals of all species, old and new, as well as minerals and asteroids and everything else to due with nature. This was sadly our last stop in Vienna before we loaded onto a plane and flew off the Budapest!

To start out in Budapest we arrived on train not that late but still late enough for the darkness to be out. First thing was first and we checked into our hotel before headed out onto the streets to have some food and a drink. We found this quaint restaurant that had great food and even greater music blasting throughout it. After our food and drink we headed back to the hotel for an early night so we were rested up for the day to come.

 Saturday started nice and late with a wake up call of 10 am. We headed to breakfast at the hotel where we actually met an anesthesiologist and a pediatrician from upstate New York. We talked to her for a good amount of time and received some very good advice and tips for the future to follow. After departing from this breakfast we headed out to do some sight seeing. We started with the Shoes on the Danube Bank; this is the placement of shoes on the bank of the river running through Budapest that are from Jews that were executed during World War II. After this we stumbled upon the Hungarian Parliament building which was absolutely gorgeous but filled with historical events and memorials. After our visit to parliament we decided to head across the river to the Buda part of Budapest. We walked around the Castle District visiting the Fisherman's Bastion before heading to the Buda tower and then the Castle of Buda along with the buildings that house the natural history and art museums in the city. We also stumbled upon a Michelin star restaurant at some point for lunch which deserved that star 100%. The food was phenomenal as well as relatively cheap. After all our walking around the city of Buda we headed back to the hotel where 45 minute naps turning into 2 hour naps. Even then we still got out in time for a lovely dinner followed by the exploration of ruin pubs such as Szimpla which housed about 12 or so different bars, after exploring this place and meeting so great people we headed to another ruin pub called Instant that had a great dancing environment that suckered us in.

Technically Sunday started while the night was still going on because we didn't end up leaving these ruin pubs until approximately 4:30 in the morning. Somehow we still got a good amount of sleep before heading off to the Széchenyi Thermal Baths that are famous in Budapest. We spent a few hours just floating around in a mix of indoor and outdoor pools that each had there own beautiful aspects. After attempting to dry off we headed to a great pastry shop that was home to a Hungarian pastry called chimney cakes. The spirals of bread were filled with ice cream and made for the perfect last meal in Budapest. The day was going so well until we then went back to the hotel to retrieve our bags and somehow I got trapped in the bathroom in the basement of the hotel. This required about half an hour of banging on the door until finally I was let out. We headed straight to the airport after this disaster where we sat for 4 hours because our flight just kept getting delayed. But it gave me time to write my paper due for class so I guess there's a silver lining to everything. These delays gave us an arrival time of about 1 am so were starting the last week in Germany on a very tired note but let's see if I make it all the way without taking too many naps. See you soon America!

Several Weeks of Beating the Heat

A late night train back from the Northern Island of Norderney was not terrible. I arrived home around 1:00 in the morning: just enough time to throw some laundry in the wash so I’d have clean clothes for the flight heading to Rome the next day. A bit of a tight squeeze travel wise but it wasn’t too terrible. What was an adjustment was the temperature stepping out of the Fiumicino Airport in the city of Rome. It was 94 degrees Fahrenheit with a sun beating directly down, which was a physiological shock after the cold waters of the North Sea.

We bolstered through the heat and made our way to dozens of landmarks in just three or four days. The Friday night we arrived was the day of my 21st birthday, and we celebrated it well in a cozy and cute restaurant we found with various meat and cheese plates and the best pesto lasagne I have ever had. Waking up early the next day to tear through the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, The Colosseum, St. Peter’s Basilica, and a dozen souvenir shops in between, all under the blazing sun was absolutely an experience. Taking a relative break Sunday to see free sights like the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, a cat sanctuary on the site of Julius Cesar’s assassination on a day that was somehow hotter still was great too. Running through the Vatican Museum on Monday morning with barely enough time to see Michelangelo’s esteemed Sistine Chapel before bolting to make our flight on time was an appropriate end to a weekend absolutely jam-packed with amazing things. Four sweaty days later I was back in Bonn.

The visiting of the Orgelbau Klais group organ manufacturers and observing real-life surgical processes for the first time were both experiences worth meriting blog posts of their own, but they were both done before I even knew they happened and a Friday excursion to Bingen that left me with the deepest V-neck tan-line I have ever received reminded me that as hot as it could get in Rome, Germany was not to be outdone in the amount it can be affected by climate change (read: it was hot).

A relaxing weekend in Bonn later it was time to get back out with the group. Everyone’s departure to Vienna came at 4:10 AM Tuesday morning and soon we were in Vienna: a beautiful place with amazing medical history and yet another city with a sun that seemed to stare directly down on its citizens with a divine fury. I happily sweat my way through every tour, museum, Käsekrainer, and bar I enjoyed though, Vienna was amazing and I was just happy to be there.

Budapest finally ended this entire saga as a beautiful and well needed cherry on top of an ornately decorated cake made from dehydration and exhaustion. A quick bus from Vienna was all it took to arrive at the Hostel One Basilica, and I immediately loved the location. Right by a huge lit up Ferris wheel that we immediately bought tickets for, the entire place seemed lit up with lights and the night life. Touring beautiful views like the Danube cutting through Buda and Pest, the Fisherman’s Bastion, the Parliament all added to the amazing experience that was some of my last weeks here in Europe.

Week 5 in Vienna and Budapest!

This week I went to Vienna, Austria with my class. We started with a Medical City tour with Dr. Schnabel, who was dressed up as a plague doctor with the bird-like beak and black robe. Along visiting the major landmarks in the city, we had to take various "elixirs" to make sure we are not infected with the plague. Some of these elixirs consisted of several herbal treatments such as cloves, mint, rosemary, as well as urine from a young boy (sprite... in this case). We also visited the Catacombs later that day, which was interesting. Seeing thousands of bones in piles from actual human beings was somewhat unsettling, though. My favorite museum we visited during the Vienna trip was the Narrenturm. This museum had hundreds of wax figurines that showed the symptoms of several diseases. I have always been more of a visual learning, so physically seeing how specific diseases affect the human body was amazing. I could have spent hours and hours walking through the hallways, but sadly we were pretty rushed throughout the entire tour. If one thing should be changed about the Vienna trip, it would be to lengthen our time at that museum. We also went to a classical music concert in a church, which was beautiful! Dr. Waltz even told us where to sit in order to perceive a more acoustically friendly sound. Over the weekend, I went to Budapest with Micheal, Melissa, Maria, and Bella. We stayed at a cool hostel that was very youth friendly. By staying there, we were able to get free admission into some really fun bars. We also met a lot of people from all over the world, so it was nice to hear other peoples stories and backgrounds. On Saturday, we went to Fisherman's Bastion, which was a unique terrace in neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style which was situated on the Castle hill overlooking the city. We also went and explored Margaret island, which had a musical water fountain, Japanese and rose gardens, and an amazing cotton candy stand. On Sunday, we went to the Szechenyi Thermal Bath and Swimming Pool, where we swam in water containing sulfur. The smell was pretty bad, but it was very refreshing to swim in cold water during the extremely hot day. We flew home that night on a plane that was delayed 2 hours. I didn't even get home until 2:30 am. I was extremely tired from travelling all week, so I was grateful to return home and sleep. Although I am sad that this was my last free travel weekend here in Europe, I am beyond excited to get back to Texas.

Excursions, Excursions, Excursions

After seeing my family I was sad to leave them but excited to be back in Bonn for a week. My first day back included shadowing surgery, a much needed nap, and loads of laundry. The day started off with going to the teaching hospital in Bonn and watching surgeries. I was so excited but also very nervous about getting lightheaded and passing out! Spoiler alert, I didn't pass out so no worries. Once changing into some super cute and comfy scrubs I was ready to go! I was lucky enough to be assigned to the cardiology wing and got to watch a cardiac bypass and aortic valve replacement. The crazy thing about shadowing in on a surgery of this kind is that there was nothing in-between me and the patient who's chest is wide open on the table. The surgery started with thoroughly sterilizing the patient and then harvesting a vein in his leg that would be used in the bypass part of the surgery. While the vein was harvested the main cardiac surgeon started to open up the patient's chest by making an incision and cauterizing the tissue and finally taking a bone saw to the sternum to expose the chest cavity. The chest was then retracted to further expose the heart and lungs. I was surprised by how little I was freaked out since I was looking a live beating heart. Once the vein and heart were fully prepped the bypass machine was started and the heart was stopped. This part was probably the craziest since you literally get to see a live beating heart stop and have the blood drain out of it and seem to become flat and lifeless. But nonetheless this is not the case since the blood is being rerouted throughout the body by the bypass machine. At this point the real surgery began and the  harvested vein is attached the heart to bypass the damaged arteries. In this patients case there were three bad arteries so the surgery was a triple bypass. After this was complete it was now time to replace the damaged aortic valve. In order to do this an incision was made on the aorta and the old valve was completely removed. The old valve was then replaced with a biological valve made from a bovine pericardium. Once the valve was sewn in I had realized I had been standing and watching the surgery for over four hours and was ready to leave. Throughout the whole surgery the surgeon was very informative and answered all of my questions and even joked the whole time which was shocking since he was just casually doing heart surgery but no big deal. My favorite thing he told me was that being a cardiac surgeon is easy because everything is simply a circle, for example the veins are a circle, arteries are circles, and the valves are circles. I simply just laughed because he was majorly under-hyping how difficult surgery can be! After the excitement of surgery all I wanted to do was sleep, sleep, and sleep some more and that was exactly what I did. The next day was kicked off with normal class and ended with a trip to the local organ factory. At the factory we learned how they make each individual organ part and how they come together to produce the unique sound. Thursday included visiting the museum of anesthesiology which is owned and operated by the cutest little elderly man. While there we learned all about the progression of the field of anesthesiology including the machines and anesthetics used. Finally Friday was met with a day trip to Bingen. The first part of the trip included a visit to the Hildegard von Bingen museum where we finally got to learn about an influential women in medicine. From there we took a scenic cruise down the Rhine where we probably saw easily twenty castles! The calming cruise was then followed by a strenuous hike up to one of the only castles still fully intact. Although I was exhausted and definitely didn't wear the proper shoes, the hike was worth it due to the spectacular views! Not only were the views from the outside cool but so were the ones from inside the castle where our tour guide shed light into what it would be like to live there in its prime. 

Replica from the anesthesiology museum

View from the top of the Marksburg castle

Brother Jeremius singing his heart out

After a very busy and long week the weekend was much needed and I happened to be heading to the perfect place to relax! Next stop Cannes, France. For those who don't know Cannes is located in the southern part of France know as the French Riviera and is home to the Cannes Film Festival as well as some of the best beaches in the Mediterranean. Sadly we missed the film festival by a month but the beaches and luxurious shops are always there. Once arriving and checking into the hotel the first thing on the agenda was food and boy did France not disappoint! Lunch consisted of truffle pasta, a bottle of rosé, and something that is very hard to find in Europe, ice! After lunch it was time to head to check out the town. Unfortunately as soon as we started walking along the strip the rain started to come down but no worries we hopped into a pub for a couple of beers and watched the Women's World Cup which happened to be in France. The night continued with strolling along the beach and bar hopping. Since Cannes is very laid back and doesn't have many sights other than the beach we did something crazy and decided to sleep in for what seemed like the first time in forever. Luckily for us Sunday's weather was warm and sunny so that meant a day at the beach. After visiting the port that houses the elites yachts, we decided to grab some lunch at a beach side restaurant that also had a private section of the beach. After eating I ended up finessing a couple of lounge chairs that would have cost 35 euros a piece and was able to enjoy the beach in style. This weekend was exactly what I needed and sadly it came to an end too soon but no worries the French Riviera hasn't seen the last of me!

you can never have too much pasta

Sunset stroll on the beach

The bluest of blue

Thrivin' in Week 5'n

It really surprises me how much I am able to pack into one week. Munich over the weekend and then Vienna during the week for our second excursion led to many fun and unforgettable memories! It was sort of a rough start trying to get to Munich because our over night train got delayed 2 hours. We almost decided to stay in Bonn because we were so tired, but I am so glad we pushed through and finally made it around 9am on Saturday. Our first stop was the Neuschwanstein castle (aka the famous Disney Castle). The train ride over was scenic with a beautiful view of the Swiss Alps, and when we I saw the castle it was better than I could ever imagine. When we got back to Munich we decided to go to the Hofbrauhaus where I experienced what I think was true German culture for the first time. There were multiple bands playing, people were wearing Lederhosen and dirndl, baskets of pretzels and pints of beer were being passed out left and right...I was in heaven. The next day we went to historical concentration camp, Dachau. Being a crucial part in German History and a topic of discussion in the History of Medicine class, it was an eye opening and stomach churning experience to see the terrible conditions all of the prisoners had to suffer through during the time of Nazi Germany. Although an amazing experience, it was nice to lighten the mood and end this trip with a cold pint and sausage for dinner. 

On Tuesday we left dark and early in the morning for Vienna. We were greeted by Dr. Schnabel who was definitely not Dr. Wasser in plague doctor attire and had the best tour of Vienna. The plague ran rapid in Vienna in 1679, so we learned about all of the different remedies and precautions people took in order to “protect” themselves as best as possible. From herbs like mint to urine of a small boy, I think we tried it all. After that we toured the catacombs in Michaelerkirche. It was believed that the closer one was buried to the alter the closer one was to God, so there are more than 4000 individuals buried at this sight. It was interesting and slightly spooky to see the mummified individuals as well as the different designs and materials used for the coffins. Our next stop was the Goulash museum where I ate incredibly too much but had the best goulash in my life! The next day we learned a brief history of drugs used in the past and present at the Drogistenmeuseum, and we had a free afternoon where I visited the Austrian National Library, ate lots of food and went to a small theme park. One of my favorite stops from this trip was the Narrenturm which was once a housing facility for individuals who had physical deformities, diseases and other illnesses and were thought to be insane. There are 5 levels of this museum which correlate to the 5 phases of the lunar cycle, or where the “lunatics” were kept. The wax figures were impressions from  real people and were very detailed! On Thursday night, we all got dressed up and attended a concert at St. Anna’s Church. The acoustics and the warm musical tones from the stringed instruments sounded beautiful! My other favorite tour we had was of the Natural History Museum. Here we learned about all things from evolution to rocks from the moon and Mars. I could have spent a whole day just walking around and looking at all the displays. It was after this tour however that the trip came to an end, but I wasn’t too sad because I would be in Prague the next morning!

Neuschwanstein 

Pints n Pretzels!

Marienplatz

Living quarters in Dachau

The gates to Dachau

Last feast in Munich!

Beef Goulash!

Austrian National Library

Theme park in Vienna

All dressed up for the concert at St. Anna's Church

Don’t pretend to skate on mud flats. Don’t do it.

As is usual. I write these posts up a bit late. I will try to remember what I did during the week of the Norderney excursion and the  following long weekend in Italy. At the moment, I do remember a few things about my very first day in Norderney and about the trip to the island. I did sleep pretty heavily for most of the ingoing train traveling. The ferry ride from Norddeich Mole was a nice little windy experience. Every time I stuck my head out the side of the ferry I had to hold onto my glasses. There’s no doubt the winds were strong enough to blow them clean off my face. The sound of the violent winds rushing against my ears was pretty deafening too. I haven’t reviewed my photos yet to weed out the mediocre ones, but I hope most of them are good enough to dump onto Facebook later. The evening of the first day ended in a very nice and calming sunset tai chi lesson with the tai chi master Dr. Wasser. The second day was Badehaus day. I never thought I’d have to strip down and be surrounded by so many naked people at one time, but it finally happened. The lecture and the tour that we received were pretty interesting. For some reason, I thought that the waters of the badehaus were initially fresh and then became artificially salted, but the water is in fact brought in form the surrounding sea. I was expecting for my eczema to magically disappear, or at least become less inflamed, with the help of the Thalasso water because of what our lecturer said. But alas, the giant glitch of eczema on my neck became even more angry; it was probably because the skin might’ve been a bit broken. Scratching your eczema-ridden skin is never a good idea, but I tend to do it anyways. wish I could’ve spent all day floating in the giant salt pool, but all the other activities needed to be tried, and I also might have turned into a salted raisin human. Despite being naked and covered in brownish-black mud, I really wish I could’ve experienced the Schlick spa again. I felt like I was 5 again, covering myself in mud and feeling a little silly. Later that day I found some dark brown clay on the beach that I strongly feel could be turned onto Schlick. Then came the mud flats. I do not, for any reason at all, at any point in time, no matter how much you are tempted, for any reason ever recommend pretending to skate on the mud flats. Your feet will be sliced up and diced up by the sneaky little shells hidden just below the mud’s surface. In all honesty, the mud flats was fun and entertaining for the first 30 minutes and then miserable did the next 1 1/2 hours. There’s no doubt exploring the mud flats would have been an absolutely wonderful and entertaining experience if the weather was a lot more pleasant. But of course, we can’t control the weather. On the day of the mud flats, that would have been very convenient. I do somewhat regret not participating in any of the sunrise training sessions., but sleep is such a wonderful thing. The very last day of the Norderney trip was full of souvenir shopping and downtown exploration before heading back to Bonn to prepare for the weekend trips to Rome and Florence.

1st things 1st: Florence >>>> Rome

Our group of friends arrived in Rome at around 6 pm. We didn’t do much that evening other than find our vacation stays and eat at the quaint little restaurant Tavernacolo on Via Aurelia Street. It was one of the few restaurants open in the area of my AirBnB, and thank God it was. It was a small restaurant with a book shelf spanning the bottom of the register counter. The food was absolutely deliiiissshhhhuusss and a liter of even more delicious white wine was only 10 euros. On Saturday the group toured the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, and St. Peter’s Basilica. Saturday morning and afternoon were dangerously hot. I highly recommend that one avoids wearing a jumpsuit no matter how light and airy it may be. It will stick to every inch of you and cause you to take eons in the restroom. Trying to remain stylish and put-together that day, and honestly the whole weekend, was VERY difficult. St. Peter’s Basilica was the most breathtaking excursion of that Saturday. The ornate decoration of the basilica was astounding. I knew that the Catholic Church was rich, but man, they are RICH rich-incredibly wealthy, and they show it. Maria and I attended a very short mass in one of the side rooms. I’m not sure why, but I quickly became emotional. On Sunday Maria and I took a day trip to Florence, departing at 6:15 am. Waking up at 4 am was absolutely worth the experience. That day, we did not have much of a plan. We saw Michelangelo’s David statue in its permanent home of the Academy Gallery. We visited the small but fascinating Da Vinci museum, which featured all (I believe) of his ingenious contraptions and mechanical improvements. We walked through many Piazzas and also through the Ponte Vecchio bridge, which is now home to luxury jewelry shops. The weather in Florence was substantially better than the weather in Rome; I hardly broke a sweat. Florence is very rich in museum options and numerous basilicas and other landmarks. I definitely will be back in Florence one day. On Monday, our last day in Italy, the group only had time for a very rushed visit to the Vatican Museum. It took us an hour to reach and see the Sistine Chapel. We saw nothing else, but had a nice little breakfast across the street where Maria gave the waiter her US number for a free croissant. He has yet to call, and is probably just confused by the odd area code. Rome and Florence were rushed jobs. It’s too bad one can’t explore all Europe in a month.