Week One

Day 0: After a long flight into Frankfurt, we were greeted by the sight of built up snow on the ground. This wouldst the tone weather wise for the rest of the trip, snow everywhere and unusually cold for the tropical living Luis. Once settled in Bonn, the excursion for the food introduced us to the subway system. I had experienced a subway system before briefly while in Chicago, but the initial experience in the Bonn system left me astounded at the efficiency in such a system in a city like Bonn. After wandering around the market we came across a "Mexican" restaurant and decided to step in and have our first taste of food in Germany. After the food excursion we explored the market some more and then had a guided market tour by Nihls and Dr Wasser. At night we had our first experience of German food. The portion of food was huge! Perhaps even bigger than some American portions...It was a great way to end the night. I ended up falling asleep earlier than I normally would, anxiously awaiting the next day.

Day 1: The city tour through Bonn amazed me with how much history was connected to Bonn. The visit to an archeological excavation of Roman Bonn and view of the Bonn chapel gave me an new appreciation for Bonn as a cultural city. Perhaps I've grown used to the American towns and cities where there isn't always a big past to the city. To continue the day of history, we visited the German History Museum. I was slightly disappointed that the tour would not cover the early part of German History, but Dr Wasser said that we would get that portion on later tours. However, the museum gave me a new insight into a part of history I knew nothing about. Learning about the struggles of the German people post- WWII, and during the Cold War, gave me some understanding as why some things are the way they are in Germany, and why Germans behave the way they do. That night we ate at Pizza Hut. Yes, I said Pizza Hut. While it may have been an American chain, the food at this Pizza Hut was great! Again the portion serving was huge. I'm starting to wonder if it’s like this in all restaurants here.

Day 2: Surgery day! Today I had the opportunity to watch a double bypass and double valve replacement surgery. When we first walked in we were greeted by the sight of surgeons chopping away at the leg to find a good vein. Unfortunately for the patient, she has developed some varicose veins in her legs, so finding a good vein took the whole time we were in the surgery. The valve replacement was by far one of the coolest parts of surgery I have watched. I didn't realize it took so much work to sew on the ring coupling for the valve. Cardiovascular surgery looked like it was a lot of fine precision work and would seem nerve racking, however the surgeons in the room were as relaxed as possible, even cracking the occasional jokes. After lunch, we took a visit to the anesthesiology museum was amusing because a lot of the older generation equipment I have used in my past research lab. I managed to send some pictures of the stuff to my old lab, and they just had a good time laughing about how they still use equipment like that. I guess for research the older equipment still works fine to get good results. We arrived back at the AIB and Nihls shared with us some Christmas and New Year’s “traditions” that they have in Germany. Sure it may have been past Christmas, but after a long day it was relaxing and interesting to see how “traditions” vary slightly from each western country during the holidays. Dinner tonight was at a German restaurant. Today would be the first time I would have German sauerkraut and bratwurst. I can’t say that I was disappointed, as the food was excellent. What a great way to end the day.

Day 3: This may have been my favorite part of this week. The Cologne is one thing I will remember for years to come. We started off the day by taking a short train ride to Cologne. As soon as we stepped outside of the train station, we were greeted with the towering behemoth that is the Cologne Cathedral. I was amazed at the sheer size and beauty of the cathedral. I wanted to take pictures of it, but the sheer size of the cathedral made it difficult to fit on a camera screen. However, as the day would progress I would take many pictures of the wonderful sight. As with I suppose will be the custom when we visit a new city, we took a city tour. On the city tour we learned about the progression of that Cologne made from a Roman Colony, to medieval city, to the bustling cultural city. It seemed everywhere we walked in Cologne there was some story from history to be told. The last stop of our city tour was a visit to the inside of the cathedral. The inside of the cathedral was just as astounding as the outside was. Everything was very ornate, and had some story to contribute to the cathedral’s history. Unfortunately for us, a service was about to begin, so our visit inside the cathedral was cut short. However disappointed I was by leaving early, was offset by how great a lunch was. A group of eight of us found a nice little brauhaus(Peter’s Brauhaus) where the food was incredible. I had bratwurst again, but this one was even better the day before. Easily the second best meal of the week, only outshined by dinner the first night. After our little lunch break, we were off to another tour, this time a Roman History museum tour. This tour I was quite excited about as I am an incredibly avid fan of Roman and ancient history. Being able to see objects used two millennia ago, and know they have withstood the test of time amazed me. I managed to take pictures of almost every object/exhibit in the museum, so I could have proof to myself that I actually saw all that I did that day. This tour was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. After the museum tour, we were free to explore the city. The first site we hit was a gelato/coffee shop near the museum. I don’t know how to explain it, but every piece of food I had in Germany had tasted amazing, and the one Euro gelato was no exception. Great little treat after a long day of touring and exploring. While others from our group went back to Bonn, Daniel and I stayed in Cologne visiting a guitar shop. We barely managed to catch a train back to Bonn. Feeling exhausted and hungry, when we arrived in Bonn, the first order of business was dinner. After dinner, we headed back to the AIB dorms and packed up for the weekend, not knowing the fun that would await us.