Bonn and Cologne

This trip has been fascinating so far. First off was the plane ride. I had to drive to Houston from Dallas, where I had been for Christmas. My dad and I left Dallas early thinking that there would be some traffic and that the trip would take us longer than expected, it didn’t. We arrived in Houston at noon and thus had to proceed to kill some time before checking in at the airport. The plane ride was very interesting. I had never been on a trans-Atlantic flight or on a non U.S. airline. I was surprised to find out that the beer was free, the seats as small as I’d seen on a plane, and the food was actually good. I was unable to sleep on the plane, but I caught an hour on the bus which prepared me for the day at hand.

On the trip to Bonn, before I fell asleep, I was surprised to find wide open areas of wilderness and plains. I had expected a lot of buildings spread out all over the land and not as much free space. I really like how there is so much room and the rolling hills covered in snow hiding the small towns behind them still exist even in a highly developed country.

I was surprised to find Bonn smaller than I had expected, although I really like that about it. I was not overwhelmed by the city, and it was rather easy to get directionally acquainted. I was surprised by the number of shops that are open to the outside even though it is in the thirties.

The food so far has been amazing. Almost everywhere we have eaten has been delicious. From bratwurst the first night to the pizza in Cologne, it has all been great. I have been very surprised by the cost of some of the food, at how cheap it has actually been. I was expecting to have my wallet raped around dinner time at the very least, but that has yet to happen.

Observing the surgeries on Wednesday was really cool. I got to see a gall bladder removal, which became even more interesting when they had to open up the patient further to see if there were any other problems in her abdominal cavity. I was very surprised by how rough the surgeons were. The first cut was precise, but after that it was just cut with the electrical knife. Also when they were pulling her skin back to look into her abdomen it was as if they were playing tug-of-war with her epithelium. The smell from cauterized skin was also something that I hadn’t expected. I did however get used to it as the surgery went on.

The Cologne Cathedral was amazing. I had never seen a more ornate and highly decorated structure. I was amazing that something like it could have been built without cranes or modern day construction equipment.