Dearest Bonn, you will always have my heart.

I have enjoyed this last week in Bonn very much and am definitely going to miss calling it home. On Tuesday I had the pleasure of taking my very first cruise and along the Rhine River of all places. The weather was perfect and the atmosphere relaxing as we cruised past small towns and large mountains. Many people took this opportunity to take a nap in the summer sun but I was enjoying the sights far too much to sleep. Although the castles were quite impressive, I would have to say that the best part of the trip was when Sarah, Jenna and I kindly asked a gentlemen also riding on the ship to take a picture of us. Of course, we got his attention by asking, "Entschuldigung, can you take our picture?" with his response being a grunt and a stumble towards the outside deck of the ship. After five minutes of waiting for the ship to reach the next town for a nicer looking background, the man finally decides to take our picture. After another five minutes of posing, he says "I need to take a picture, not a video." Let's just say it was one of the funniest videos I have ever seen; three girls smiling while constantly fixing their hair as it is being blown in the wind with the camera being slung about by a very confused photographer.

After the cruise, we had lunch and marched our way up to the Marksburg Castle very full and very sleepy. It was neat to see the living quarters of medieval times and/or modern times considering our tour guide actually lives there today. My favorite part of the day however, was the wine tasting. After a short tour of the winery, we were seated and provided with an overwhelming amount of food to accompany the five different wines we were going to taste. After approximately five sandwiches each, one white wine, one rose wine, and three red wines, we were all pretty happy.

These past two days I have really enjoyed the free time here in Bonn. Today I decided to make a trip to the Akademisches Kunstmuseum der Universität Bonn because of my love for ancient Greek and Roman art. After figuring out that what looks like the front entrance is just for show and finally making my way to the back of the building, I walked inside and my mouth literally dropped in awe. The lady at the front desk did not speak english but we were able to communicate enough for me to know that I had 30 minutes to look around and absorb what was before me. To avoid exaggeration I will just provide the information that I found in the brochure: plaster casts of 300 statues, 200 reliefs, and 2000 original objects of marble, terracotta and bronze. There before me were all the figures I had studied in art history from the early archaic period to the expressive forms found in later times. I took pictures of and with Athena and Apollo, Aphrodite and Hercules, the Winged Victory if Samothrace. And then I walked into the room with the pots, vases and drinking cups or kylix. The intricate designs on these vessels get me every time. I was honestly like a kid in a candy store. Oh, Bonn, you will be missed.

Tomorrow we are going to the Köln Zoo, which will be so much fun! And then off to Paris! I could not ask for a better week.

Brittany