When In Amsterdam

Where to start?

Amsterdam was a whirlwind of a weekend. Early Saturday Morning, I got up with a few others to go and wait and line for the Anne Frank House. We got there an hour early and there was already a line. Not too long yet luckily. The house was such a somber experience. The rooms in the house were so small and the floor was so creaky. I can't imagine 8 people hiding in the rooms during the day in silence. It was heartbreaking to relieve the story of Anne Frank and the people who were hiding with her and just of all the Jews who died during the Holocaust.

After the house, we had only an hour left until the worst storm ever blew into Amsterdam. Well since records started being kept in 1901. Traffic signs were literally bent over by the wind. And tram wires snapped in half. Trees fell over. Oh and it was pouring rain! We were running everywhere as fast as we could to get indoors from place to place. Unfortunately, because of the weather we weren't able to see some of the things we had planned to see.

The next morning we woke up early again to try and see the things we had missed the day before. We hit many of the touristy sites and got souvenirs and saw and smelt things you would only see and smell in Amsterdam. We didn't have a break until we were on the train back to Bonn.

My favorite thing about the city was by far the architecture. The houses were all smashed together and built right next to one another. Sometimes, they would lean from the getting wider as they got taller. And sometimes the edges of the buildings on the corners would look like a point on a triangle which blew my mind. Also, all the houses and buildings were so colorful. I took so many pictures of the buildings because I think it was my favorite architecture I have seen in Europe so far.

Titles are hard

Since my last blog, we've been to Hanover, Norderney, Amsterdam, and Belgium. Here is a summation of every excursion:

Though we only had one day in Hanover, it has been one of my favorite excursions. We visited the MHH, one of Germany's top cardiology hospitals, and had a lecture on heart transplants and transplant alternatives, more specifically, LVAD's. Despite nodding off a few times (exhaustion is our new normal), I found the talk incredibly interesting. Next, we trekked over to the spider silk and Axolotl research center, which focuses on the wound-healing potential of spider silk and Axolotl regeneration genes. The Axolotl were freakin' adorable. Soft smiles for days. After seeing the Axolotls, we were taken to the spider room, which is literally a room with only spiders. I went in, which was mighty courageous of me (jk, there weren't that many spiders).  

<3

Later that evening, a group of us went to a biergarten near our hotel. Best one we've been to so far. I didn't eat anything because my stomach hates me, but everyone else's food looked amazing. The biergarten was set among massive trees, and there were strings of lights between the trees. It was beautiful and relaxing. 

Other than a serious lack of wifi, Norderney was awesome. I loved how everything was max a 15 min bike ride away. Though the Thalasso spa was very relaxing, the most fun thing we did was the impromptu bike ride to the light house. We biked through the beautiful sand dunes and watched the sun go down across the beach. We even got yelled at for accidentally biking across private property. The light house was neat, but I still think getting there was the best part. The spa was fun. It was my first spa experience, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I was pretty nervous about nakedness, but I ended up only seeing one old, naked man, so minimal scarring. My favorite was the salt pool. The salt concentration was high, so floating took minimal effort. And the water was warm. It was amazing. Mudflat walk was cool, but so freakin' cold. Glad we went though, it was a one of a kind experience. 

What I saw of Amsterdam was cool. Well, the Red Light District not so much, but the canals and shops and iamsterdam sign were. The crappy weather put a damper on things, but luckily, we were in a nice, dry car by the time to tempest hit. Thanks to Collin's friend Jonathan, four of us got to hit some major sites in Belgium. Even though we were only there for a day and a half, it's on my list of places to revisit; it was so beautiful and the people were so nice. The coolest thing we did was visit the TAMU WWII museum. The first thing you see when you walk into the museum is an Aggie shirt; I couldn't help but smile when I saw it. I've never been so proud to be an Aggie. 

At the USA WWII Memorial in Belgium, close to museum

We also saw this church statue thing that is out in the middle of this pear orchard. Right when we got there, the sun came out, and shone across the landscape all around the church. Much pretty. 

Though we only Brussel'ed for less than an hour, it was an amazing city. The Belgium waffles from a waffle truck changed my life. FOR THE BETTER. I would go back just to eat another one of those waffles. We didn't have time to get Belgium fries (sorry Jacob), but I guess that just gives me another reason to go back so #nocomplaints.

Went to the Cologne Zoo today. It was aight.

I just can't believe that we have a week left. This has gone by so quickly. I will be happy/sad when it is over. Happy because I want to go home and sleep for 10 days, sad because I will be at home and not in Europe. Still so excited for Berlin though. It will be crazy crowded, but we're going to get to see some pretty neat things. Tomorrow, we are getting up at some unGodly hour in the morning to go watch some surgeries, which is always fun for us pre-med/vet'ers. I am also quite excited for the Rhine cruise because 1) the Rhine is fab and 2) it's our birthday! I don't know about you, but we'll be feeling 22.

ok bye.

PS: OUR bday because twin. Realized how weird that read after rereading after posting. :P

Hannover to Norderney

Last week was definitely a whirlwind. We had one day back in Bonn from our 10 days of travel to do laundry and sleep and then it was on to Hannover. This was a really quaint and quiet city with a lot to offer. During our stay in Hannover we went to a research center that deals with spider silk as a reparative medium and does research on the axolotl. This adorably interesting creature is actually able to regenerate not only its tail but its limbs, skin, and even parts of its brain. Obviously this is very important with a research standpoint to figure out if their properties can be applied to humans to aid in healing. This would greatly reduce the healing time and pain of human injuries and could be applied to all kinds of fields, so this was a really interesting subject to talk about!! They're also extremely cute and look like they're always smiling so they wouldn't be bad to work with.

The other part of our tour in Hannover took us to a room entirely filled with spiders. They collect the spider silk and weave it into a roughly square shape, this then is used as a medium to encourage new cells to grow. They stressed the importance of guiding cells into certain patterns that are physiologically correct with the help of spider silk.  For example they set a silk square above a very thin layer of epithelial cells which then actually developed into a lower dermis layer and upper epidermis. They've also created tendons by spinning medium with spider silk to encourage the cells to grow into a strand than spreading everywhere. This was really interesting and revolutionary research that I'm glad to have experienced. It got a bit too personal when they took us to their spider room. They opened the door and there was a spiderweb literally covering the top half of the doorway, so to enter the room we had to pass under the web of a peach sized spider (which I did!!). Apparently they don't like people anyway but it was a very scary room filled with creatures from my worst nightmares. So I'm glad there are people out there to collect spider silk to do research with but I definitely will not be one of them. 

So then we went on to Norderney, Germany for some beach and relaxation. I can honestly say this is now my favorite beach in the world. The sand was so clean and white and the water was a little chilly but really refreshing, and the beach was just beautiful. There was hardly anyone there at any given time and it was just such a different place than I've ever been to, everything was so calm but so full of life at the same time. This is where we went to the Badhous spa which specializes in Thalasso therapy which is a salt water therapy that involves water from the North Sea and warm and cold water pools, saunas, baths and mud. There was one salt pool that was 30% salinity and you could just float and let the stress float away with you, which felt really cool. They had showers that were 6 meters up so the water came down like a waterfall which was really interesting. The thing about Germany is their doctors can prescribe spa time to cure ailments, and mind you this is paid time which doesn't come out of their THIRTY paid vacation days. America needs to adopt this system. So it's a place for relaxation and healing of all kinds of things and was a really interesting place to visit. Also no editing was done to this picture, life really is this beautiful. 

We also got our own bikes to navigate Norderney and rode them to the lighthouse and through sand dunes and really beautiful scenery. One thing we all thought was odd was the sheer number of rabbits, it really seemed like an infestation because they were literally everywhere you looked. Norderney also has a tax on the air you breathe if you come to visit. You literally have to pay taxes for breathing there because of their belief in the restorative properties of their 'special' North Sea air. 

I have to say Norderney was really something special and I hope to go back someday day. A sandy beach can be found in lots of places, but this wasn't like any other. 

All Types of Medical Approaches in Germany

During the last week, we traveled through Germany to spend a day in Hanover and three days in Norderney. During the week we learned about medicine in Germany, we visited a hospital, a research clinic, and the Badehaus.

It was interesting to visit the hospital. I was expecting it to be cooler with air conditioning perhaps. However, there was no air conditioning. However, in general it looked similar to an American hospital. It was interesting to learn that a lot of new treatments are tried in Germany first before the US since the US has higher restrictions.

At the research clinic, we learned how axolotl regeneration is being studied and how spider silk is being used. The spider silk can be used to reattach skin to burn patients and reconstruct damaged nerves. While I enjoyed listening about the spider silk research more. I did enjoy looking at the axolotls more. Much much more. I did not go into the room to view the spiders and was way too close for comfort as it was. I enjoyed the research clinic and learning about new and innovative approaches to helping all types of patients so they can live a better life.

On Norderney, we had the chance to learn a lot about alternative medicine. Alternative medicine is taken very seriously in Germany especially in comparison to the US. We went to the Badehaus which is a salt water therapy spa. Doctors in Germany can give their patients prescriptions to go and visit the spa to rejuvenate and refresh. After we had a lecture at the spa, we had the opportunity to enjoy it for a couple of hours. When the 2-3 hours were over, I felt like a new person. My skin was the softest I ever remember it being. And I just felt like I had so much energy. This experience made me understand why a doctor would want to send a patient that really was just exhausted to rest at a spa. It is relaxing.

Amsterdam

So Amsterdam was pretty cool. Unfortunately we were there when a severe storm was taking place. It was so severe that not only were many trees blown down and countless umbrellas destroyed, but it was apparently one of the worst storms since 1901. Because of the weather, our sightseeing adventures were limited. The city itself was interesting, though. The architecture was very pretty as were the canals. The stroop waffles were very good, as was the rest of the food. We stayed in the museum district which included the Van Gogh museum. Unfortunately, the line was very long so we were unable to get in. We did go into the Heineken brewery/museum which I found to be very interesting because Gerard Adriaan Heineken, the founder of Heineken, was very into recycling. The city was constantly busy, and it also had a certain "smell" to it. A certain "smell" that is still illegal in some parts of the United States.  I would like to visit Amsterdam again because I wasn't able to visit the many museums that were there. My overall experience in Amsterdam was still very good, even though the weather was bad.

Hannover and Norderney

After having only one short day in Bonn to do laundry and pack, I had to then prepare to travel to Hannover, Norderney, and Amsterdam. My clothes were still wet from washing them the night before so they were pretty wrinkled for the trip.

We only spent one day in Hannover where we got to visit the hospital/medical school there and learn about LVADs. It was very interesting, even though I was half asleep from traveling so much. We also got to go to a research center where they keep Axolotyls and spiders. Axolotyls are the cutest things ever, and they regenerate body parts that may fall off, like a leg or an arm. I really want one now as a pet. Anyways, the research center is experimenting with their ability to regenerate body parts and how that can be applied to the human body. We also went into a room filled with spiders, and it was absolutely terrifying. It felt like I was on Fear Factor. It was pretty cool though. The spiders spin silk that the researchers are currently experimenting with.

Norderney has definitely been my most favorite place so far. I absolutely loved the beaches and the sunset, and the spa was AMAZING. Even though it was cold and really windy and I almost got hit by cars while riding my bike, it was a very lovely and relaxing place to be. The spa was so nice, but they only use salt water so if you have any cuts anywhere then they'll definitely burn. I decided to do the mud mask which was pretty interesting, but otherwise really nice and relaxing. It was great for my skin, too. Norderney is an interesting place because people go there to heal and get better. For example, if a person has asthma then they'll go there to help them breath better. Many people will go there for a few weeks at a time. I wish I could go to a spa for a few weeks at a time. I was sad to leave, but slightly happy because that meant that I didn't have to ride my bike anymore. I am not a huge fan of bike riding.

Other than being on an episode of Fear Factor and almost getting run over on a bike, the trip to Hannover and Norderney was fantastic, and I wish we could have stayed longer.

Heaven and My Personal Hell

After our short (very short as in 1 day) stopover in Bonn we headed out on a train to Hannover. Can we just pause to say how tired I am of trains. They were cool at first, but  train butt is real much like plane butt and car butt. 

Hannover is very much the hidden gem just like Bonn. I loved it. Top 3 cities so far...Bonn, Salzburg, and Hannover. It was calm and quiet but with plenty of people and  also things to do. Plus it was incredibly pretty and green as shown by our balcony covered in ivy. P.S. Callie, Cassie, and I were the only lucky ones to get the balcony :) 

Nicole even managed to navigate us to this super cute beer garden tucked back in the trees and next to a park. -Nicole is Siri- #whenindoubtnicoleitout 

But now to the important things we did while there that may have been the most fun, entertaining, and informative yet. Our first order of business was to meet with Dr. Schmitto however he got called into surgery so we met with his colleague instead. His colleague is a cardiac surgeon as well who gave a presentation on LVADs. These are otherwise known as Left Ventricular Assist Devices. He gave a brief history behind them as well as where the research is going.  We were also able to watch a video of how they work and how they are implanted. The funniest exchange happened between Dr. Wasser and the man presenting. While explaining how the device can affect some proteins Dr. Wasser asked how and if it alters any others and the man replies with a simple "I'm a surgeon I don't know". While there, the doc also explained how the transplant system works in Germany and how much harder it is to get a heart transplant in Germany than in the U.S. even. People who are waiting for transplants must meet the age and health requirements to even be eligible and then they must stay in the hospital while waiting.  All of it was very interesting to compare how different things are medically between Germany and the states. 

The next stop for the day was the Axolotl Research Center. This is the center for a lot of reconstructive and regenerative medicine research. We talked to two ladies who each gave a presentation. One on spider silk and the other on axolotls and how they can regenerate body parts. How cool is that?! The one about spider silk was so amazing to hear what they can do with it. -Side note: I am basically deathly afraid of spiders and I had a spider encounter earlier in the day which should've been my first clue as to how the rest of my day was going to go.- But carrying on, they have made grids of spider silk to grow human skin cells on to then use and skin patches and the skin tends to grow incredibly well on it. They also showed us the model of how they used spider silk to save one guy's arm and the motor function. He was in a car accident and instead of amputating his arm, they brought him to Hannover where they used the spider silk and a vein to provide the axon with a channel to connect to and subsequently repair what had been damaged. Some time later he came walking into the research center repaired arm extended to shake their hands. That very rewarding experience was very evident in the woman's face when she was giving her presentation. After the conclusion of both presentations, we were granted access to the Axolotl lab and let me just say these things are ADORABLE! 

There is a specific gene that provides the, regenerative capabilities. One Axolotl was in the process of regrowing one of his limbs and in another tank there were several regrowing their external gills. They can regrow their limbs, tails, and gills. Super cool stuff!! They love when people come in to see them mainly because they think they're getting fed, and when you wave your fingers over the top of the tank, they use their little t-Rex arms to swim to the top and it's probably the cutest thing ever. 

Once finished with the cute little critters, it was time for the spider room. AKA not cute little critters. When I say spider room I mean room. Like a big room with no cages just for the spiders to enjoy and make webs in. Basically my personal hell. They open the door and wouldn't you know a spider decided to make her web in the door way. Cool. This is NOT starting well for me. I was this close to not going into the room but I decided that I should do it while I have the chance or I might regret it...probably not but just incase. So here I go ducking down under the web and into the room.  Silently panicking on the inside although I'm sure it was blatantly evident on my face there I stood taking it all in. I was ok for the most part because the creepy crawlies weren't moving at all...apparently they don't like people. That was until Callie decided to touch the web which sent the spider SPRINTING up her web which sent me tap dancing and screaming my way over to Lauren who I latched onto because she happened to be the closest person to me in my moment of panic. After that boy was I done. Like so done I was crawling back out the door, under the web, and into the safety of the hallway. 

There's a spider in the very center of the door

This would be said spider in the door

Trauma over for the day we headed back to the hotel, split up for dinner and carried on with the rest of our night. Now this morning we were up bright and early headed out on a train to Norddeich Mole and then on to the island of Norderney, but more on Norderney later. 

Amsterdam Adventures

For out last free weekend, we went to Amsterdam. I really enjoyed my time there, and I got to see a lot interesting things. My absolute favorite thing in Amsterdam was the Anne Frank Museum. Overall, it was a great trip.

The very first thing I did was go to the Anne Frank Museum. It was absolutely amazing. I have never seen anything like it. It was so moving listening to a recollection of her life from her perspective, from some of her friends and acquaintances, and from her father. It was such a memorable experience, there are no words that can justly express that experience. After that, we went to a market. It was really cool. There were so many different booths with homemade goods and foods. It was definitely a great experience. Then we went to a cafe and ate some Dutch apple pie. It was delicious! Right around that same time the weather started going crazy. It only sprinkled at first. Then the wind started going crazy, postcard stands were blown over and people's umbrellas were turning inside out and breaking. I have never experienced that strong of a wind in my life. It was insane! We were ducking into buildings or anywhere that was dry while we were trying to figure out where we were going. We ended up at the Diamond Museum. It was interesting. I didn't know that diamonds were first found in India. When we left that museum, it seemed like the worst of the storm was over. Once we ventured outside again, there were leaves all over the side walk, trash cans overflowing with broken umbrellas, umbrellas run over on the street, branches broken out of trees. It was mind boggling.

Sunday the weather was 100% better. We were able to see down town Amsterdam and walk along the outskirts of the Red Light District. We saw the I amsterdam sign, got stroopwaffels, and walked through Vondel Park. It was a much more relaxing and pleasant day than Saturday. Then we caught our train back to Bonn. We made it back with a few delays, and I am definitely glad to be back in Bonn.

Amsterdam was nice, but I am glad to be back in Bonn.

Recent History

When I arrived back in Bonn from Prague, I had the chance to meet Sybille's cousins. Her cousins grew up in East Germany, so it was a very unique opportunity. I wish I had had more time to spend with them because they were both great people with interesting stories. Since they grew up in East Germany and Sybille, my host mom, had grown up in West Germany, all of them were not able to meet until they were older because her cousins were not allowed to leave East Germany. Sybille told me when she was older she had the chance to visit them in East Germany one time, but her cousins were never allowed to visit her in West Germany.

Her cousins had learned Russian in school and did not speak English so it was hard to communicate. However, we were able to look at some pictures I had taken while on this trip and talk about them. I showed them some from the House of History and it was interesting to hear about their first car, much like the one in the museum. Also, they told me about the Berlin wall and how it went up overnight and a lot about Stalin.

Being able to speak to them really hit home for me how recent these events were. It was CRAZY to hear firsthand how a family had been separated and how they weren't allowed to visit each other. I mean they are Family and they weren't allowed to visit. Also, just hearing how different there lives had been under communism in East Germany was mind-blowing and just amazing to see it with my own two eyes.

Hannover-Norderney

Having been away for 10 days in Salzburg, Vienna, and Prague I was relieved to return to Bonn. Then we were swept away less than two days later to Hannover. Tired I was, but excited to travel to Hannover to hear about cardiology. After a day in Hannover we left for the sleepy island of Norderney. I never imagined to see the North Sea; I don’t think I even knew the North Sea existed. A fond memory is me and a few others drinking wine on the dunes to watch the sun set over the ocean.

              Hannover is far from what I expected. Hannover is a rather large city, so I expected tourism to have found its place there. But this was not the case. As the cardiovascular surgeon explained, there are no major landmarks or festivals to attract non-Germans. The surgeon spoke great English during his presentation on LVADs and kept my attention throughout. As I biomedical engineer, I have a keen interest with such devices because they will probably become my livelihood. The charts we saw showing the improvements made with cardiac output in these devices over the past 15 years astonished me. The next step for LVADs in my opinion is nixing the external battery. No one wants a wire protruding from their chest, and infections are an everyday worry. An internal battery would be a real game changer as long as the cardiac output is comparable to an LVAD with an external battery.

Axolotls might be my new favorite animals. While looking into their tanks, many swam up to me to see if I had pellets for them. Watching them swim is a funny thing because they don’t have much length in their limbs. It’s like the axolotl is learning to swim for the very first time every time. The cuteness is not what draws research to them; it is their capacity for tissue regeneration, and they have a lot of it. As research shows, their capacity for tissue regeneration can be improved with some spider silk serving as a template. Of all things one could use spider silk for, I never thought of it as an application for tissue engineering. But with the optimum spacing in between the fibers for cells, spider silk can be the best tissue chassis. The success story of the man where the spider silk served as a guide for the nerves going down his legs convinced me. He couldn’t walk before, but now he can.

              Mud and salt. That’s all I have to say about Norderney. We went to the Thalasso spa on Thursday, and I have never been so muddy/salty. My skin felt amazing and as smooth as a baby’s bottom, but I had to pay the price of covering myself in mud and salt. The mud moisturized, and the salt exfoliated. On the final day, our group waded through mud with a guide and a bunch of kids who were at a summer camp. I’m pretty sure the guide was a North Sea guru. I finally discovered what a cockle is on that trip. I have heard the song “Cockles and Mussels” my whole life, so it is cathartic to finally put a shape to the name. Also, I was unaware that some worms excreted iodine when under stress. Collin has a stained hand to prove it. Norderney almost felt like an American coastal town. It was a sleepy, laid back town on the ocean with an extraordinary Thalasso spa.

              

Vienna - Prague - Hannover

            This past week we finished our excursion in Vienna. We went to a wax museum at the medical school. They made wax models of cadavers that they used to teach medical students. It was cool how detailed and accurate these models were. We then went to the Freud house where he both lived and did psychiatric analysis on his patients. Freud was very interested in people’s sexual feelings in psychiatric analysis and enjoyed smoking cigars, so an artist came through the museum and put up some penis statues, some cigar statues, and some penis/cigar hybrid statues. I’d be interested to see the psychiatric analysis of the artist. I guess I just don’t understand art sometimes. We also went to the museum of natural history, it was basically a lot of stuffed animals. We saw the largest prehistoric turtle skeleton, which the United States accidentally sold to the Austrians, not our proudest moment I guess.

            On Thursday we left for Prague for our second free weekend. Prague was an interesting place. The city was cool, but the people were unfriendly for the most part. On Friday I flew a plane about a half hour outside of Prague, it was awesome! The pilot took off and immediately let me take the stick. I flew around for 30 minutes then he took over to land. I guess I did pretty well since I’m still alive to write this blog. The next day we toured the Prague castle, it was a little disappointing that we couldn’t go inside, but the views from the castle were great. So that day at lunch we went to what looked like a nice restaurant. We ordered our food; they were a little impatient and short with us, which wasn’t too unusual for Prague. Then the waitress told me to “wake up” when I didn’t instantly claim my food when she brought it out, so at this point I decided she wasn’t getting a tip from me. Then they just didn’t bring out three peoples food, brought us our bill and made a point to tell us service wasn’t included and we should tip 10%.  Needless to say, I didn’t tip, and between the eight of us they got one crown for service (which is about one quarter). For some reason they genuinely thought they earned a tip and were furious, the waitress not so subtly threatened to murder us, so we got out of there. I think after this experience we were all ready to head back to Bonn.

            On Sunday we went back to Bonn for just enough time to wash our clothes, repack and leave for Hannover on Tuesday. In Hannover we visited the largest heart and lung transplant/ implant center in Germany and got a presentation from one of the doctors. It was really interesting, I didn’t know we had the technology to attach a pump to the heart to help certain heart diseases.  After that we visited a research center where they studied regeneration using Axolotls that can regenerate entire body parts with no scarring. They also harvested spider silk to use as scaffolding for certain regenerative procedures. They told us they successfully filled an 8 cm neuron gap in someone’s arm using spider silk coiled inside a blood vessel as scaffolding to regenerate the neurons. They’re apparently researching this technique for ALS as well.

            Today we leave for the island of Norderney in the North Sea, Ill post a blog about it soon.

Wednesday 7/22/2015

Where Umbrellas Go to Die

July 25, 2015

We made it to Amsterdam and I am currently sitting under a tunnel through one of the museums because it is POURING rain. And not like straight down pouring where you can just hide under an umbrella... It's coming in sideways at like 100 miles an hour. So here I am sitting under a tunnel. Also the dog next to me keeps trying to smell my feet.

Besides the weather not really being super ideal for doing touristy summery things, Amsterdam is pretty cool. I'm not sure if I'll ever come back though. Maybe I will but it's a very large crazy city that sits under a perpetual cloud of weed and makes lots of money off of women standing in windows with barely any clothes on so its not really my kind of place. I will say that everyone we've met here has been super nice to us so that's a positive. And the canals are really very pretty and such an amazing thing to see when you come from a place like West Texas where there is hardly any water anywhere. 

People watching here is really fascinating and it's just interesting to see the culture because Texas is a very conservative place and even after being in Amsterdam for less than 24 hours we've seen and been invited to gay pride events and walked by cafes making pot brownies and gone by super long lines of people waiting to get into museums to stare at art for five hours. It's hard for me to understand because I don't know very much about art and am not very cultured outside of what I know about America so it's a really big eye opener to realize how much I don't know and how much I may never know.

Several hours later.....

And now the weather is even worse... We're talking torrential downpour and crazy crazy windy. Umbrellas are literally snapping in half and huge trees have been uprooted and are laying across the middle of streets or on top of cars they've smashed beneath them. It just now kind of started to slow down but there's a lot of damage all over the city and broken umbrellas are laying all over the streets and stuffed into trashcans that are already overflowing with dead umbrellas.

We sat inside and ate a nice lunch to wait out some of the bad part of the storm. Then Alyssa, Callie and I made our way to the Anne Frank House. After finally arriving there completely drenched through our rain jackets, we waited in the line (which was not that long thanks to the terrible weather) and took pictures of the fallen trees and umbrella graveyard around us.

The Anne Frank house was AMAZING. Totally worth going to Amsterdam just to be in it. I remember reading her diary a couple times when I was younger and to actually see her diary, the real one, right in front of my eyes, was incredibly moving. It was really emotional to realize that this young girl had to live this hidden life for two years and even after everything she went through to try and survive she didn't make it. There was an exhibit at the end that I especially liked though that pointed out that Anne Frank is no saint. She's no super special person. She's just a girl that was killed because she was Jewish. There's millions of people who were killed in the holocaust that will never have their own museum and I think it's really important to read the other names. The other people who aren't famous but died for the very same reason she did. 

I really enjoyed my time in Amsterdam but I am super excited to be heading back to Bonn again even though it's just for a few days. 

See you in Bonn!

"To build a future, you have to know the past." -Otto Frank

Let me (sea) if I can come up with puns for these excursions...

July 24, 2015

Today we are on the train to Amsterdam. We got off a stop too soon so it's been a little bit of an adventure so far. I love traveling with everyone but we've definitely all become very travel weary. Everyone is exhausted so sometimes that presents some challenges. But for the most part I think we're all very sad that our time in Europe is quickly coming to an end. I knew a month wasn't a long time but I never expected the time to go this quickly.

We spent this past week in Hannover and then Norderney. I loved both places. It was a nice change of pace from the busy-ness and tourism of Vienna and Prague. Hannover was a quiet town that we got to spend a day in. We went to their medical school hospital which specializes in cardiac/thoracic transplants and learned all about LVADs (left ventricular assist devices) that serve as a sort of mechanical assist to help weak hearts pump oxygen rich blood to the body. The hospital is a major world transplant center and I found the topic super interesting because I spent this past spring semester shadowing a cardiologist.

After the hospital we went to a research center and got to learn about spider silk and regeneration studies. We got to see the axolotls that they keep there and the room full of the spiders that spin the spider silk. It was super fascinating and the researchers who presented to us were so incredibly nice and answered our many questions. 

That night in Hannover we found a really cute beer garden with super delicious food in a big park. The next day we set off for the island of Norderney. We had to cross in a ferry so seasickness wasn't super fun but the North Sea is absolutely beautiful and the Frisian Islands are definitely a place that I want to go back to. We went to the spa in Norderney that has waters that are all salt water from the sea. It was really relaxing and fun to try out. Europe is really into spas. We got to ride bikes all around Norderney and we watched beach sunsets, found a lighthouse, ate delicious seafood, and gave presentations from our research on alternative medicines. I learned a lot that I had not even heard about and really enjoyed the island life of Norderney.

We Broke Amsterdam

July 26, 2015

Let me start this off by saying that the Dutch are hands down the nicest people we’ve encountered so far. Our Amsterdam adventure started off a little shaky. We got off one stop to early from the train and missed one of our connections. We rerouted with a little help from people at the stations and made it only an hour behind schedule.

After dropping our stuff off at the hostel we started the search for food. It is always challenging to find food for groups larger than 5 or 6 so we split up for dinner. We ended up eating at this Italian place because pizza is always a safe choice. Our waiter was incredibly nice –much nicer than our waiters in Prague who threatened some of our group. We loved him. It was refreshing to actually receive good service for once. He even gave us directions to the red light district when we left.

We set off for the red light district and walked through relatively quickly. I had braced myself for naked women dancing in windows doing provocative things but it really wasn’t that bad. Most of the girls had lingerie on and were relatively modest compared to what I was expecting. We went off to a bar and enjoyed our first night.

The next day some of us elected to sleep in instead of getting up super early to go to the Anne Frank House. I think we needed a little time to catch up on sleep in order to be fully functional. Once we got moving we picked up coffee and bagels and headed to a park to eat. The rain started shortly thereafter and we decided a museum would probably be a good idea. We ventured off to the Van Gough museum where the line snaked around the building and then changed our mind and went to the Heineken brewery. There was no better decision we made that day. I didn’t realize what all was behind the company or how green they are or how good they are at advertising. At the end of the tour we went up to the rooftop bar. It was pouring rain and storming terribly outside at this point so we stayed inside for a while before meeting up with Lauren for lunch.

Fallen tree outside of the Anne Frank House.

After putting food in our bellies Lauren, Alyssa, and I made our way to the Anne Frank House. Our timing was a little off. Lauren told us that the rain was supposed to stop, but she was lying. The rain turned from slight drizzle to torrential downpour in a matter of minutes. We kept ducking into store or front stoops to get out of the rain. Their rain jackets soaked through quickly and my umbrella kept turning inside out but we made it. A lot of the streets and bridges had been shut down because of fallen trees –it was crazy. Two of the three streets leading to the house were blocked by fallen trees.

We only waited in line for 30 minutes which was incredibly short but also very cold. It was a very humbling experience being in the house where they hid. We even walked through the original bookcase that hid the annex. To think that they stayed there for so long only to be caught was so sad.

Afterwards we visited the Tulip Museum and the Cheese Museum before eating dinner at a café. We had a traditional Dutch meatball dish which was delicious. Our table was right by a window and as we were eating we suddenly saw flashes of light. When I looked up I thought it was some sort of fireworks or flares. The police had blocked off the bridge near where the sparks came from because a tree had fallen. We soon realized that one of the tram lines had sparked and snapped off the line. Thank goodness that the area was roped off, otherwise someone would have been severely shocked. The trams remained stationary for the rest of the evening.

Stroopwafels with my lovely roommate.

Today, our last day in Amsterdam, we went and got bagels again. We walked over to the “I Amsterdam” sign and indulged in stroopwafels –SO TASTEY. We didn’t do a whole lot in Amsterdam, but it was definitely one of my favorite cities so far.

Our love for Amsterdam was unrequited. We endured cold rain, blocked roads, falling trees, and sparking tram lines. I think we loved it so much that we broke the city. Even though the weather was terrible we still made the best of it. Until next time, Amsterdam…I’ll be back for sure.

Home is where the wifi is

We only got to stay in Bonn for a day before we had to leave for Hannover L. We got in late from Prague and Lauren and I got locked out of our host home. We had a key but the door is really tricky. After struggling for almost half an hour we called our host mom at 1:30am and she kindly let us in and then jumped back in to bed. I don’t know what we would have done without her. It was late and we were exhausted and on the verge of tears. She’s wonderful.

Hannover was really fun. Cassie, Kasey, and I lucked out and got one of the only rooms in the hotel with a balcony! It was a great room with the exception of a really terrifying baby carriage stuck right next to my bed…no thank you.

We started the day off listening to a cardio-thoracic surgeon talk to us about Left Ventricular Assistance Devices (LVADs) and then moved on to the axolotl research facility. I didn’t know a whole lot about axolotls but the research they were working on was really fascinating. They were trying to regrow body parts just like the axolotl does for transplants, skin grafts, tendon repair, etc. I was really excited to see that they were using adipose derived stem cell, because I used the same cells in my last high school science fair project for the same application –tendon regrowth and repair.

After one short day in Hannover we headed off to Norderney. I was a bit skeptical at first, but it was wonderful with one exception –WIFI. Wifi, the pulse of our lives, was practically unavailable in Hannover and in Norderney we had one computer per group with wifi for our projects on various non-conventional medical techniques. THE STRUGGLE WAS SO REAL. We all sat around moping about how we couldn’t get our applications done, emails sent, or facebooks updated. I think the hostel on the island probably did this for a purpose. The island focuses on healing and health and there is something to be said about being disconnected from the world of email and social media.

We spent a lot of time on bikes and outdoors in Norderney. After we were released the first evening we set off on our new wheels and followed trails all the way to the lighthouse. The next day we went to the spa where we had a lecture and gave our presentations and were then able to use the spa. This marks the third spa I’ve been to in Europe and by far my favorite. They had a ton of different salt water pools for thalasso therapy –salt water therapy. My favorite was the inhalation room. You sat in a dark room with steam filling the air. It was about 104 degrees Fahrenheit and salty steam filled the air. I could have sat in there for hours. No one was talking and with each deep breath I felt stress melting away…or sweating out. That evening we sat on the beach as a group and watched the sunset. We had a lot of fun, maybe a little too much, but it was nice to be together for our last night on the island.

The next morning Kasey and I woke up at the crack of dawn to see the sunrise. We biked out to a dune with a lookout platform on it and waited for about 40 minutes before the sun peaked out from beyond the horizon. It was the definition of beautiful.

I’ve seen sunrises before, but none quite like this one. For a moment I sat there in disbelief that I was watching the sun rise on the North Sea. It was a sight that I’ll never forget. We went back and slept some more before embarking on our mudflat walk. We rode out to meet our guide who we were convinced was a pirate. He was really nice but only spoke German so Dr. Wasser and Helen translated for us. At one point he told us to walk through a specific patch of mud. I didn’t think much of it until I took one step and suddenly the mud was at my knees instead of just covering my feet. We struggled to get through as a group of kids that came along ran circles around us –I guess we’re too old for that. All in all it was a great experience.

We had a lot of fun over the past few days, but I think we’re all ready to return to home base where we know our way around…and the wifi password…

I've got an AxoLOTl to blog about

After we arrived in Hannover we got a good view of the city. It's so quaint and adorable! Our hotel was so cute! Then we took a tram to the MHH. Once we got there we saw a lecture on transplants and LVADs from one of the leading cardiology centers in Germany. It was incredible to see all of the progress that can be made in such a short amount of time. I especially enjoyed hearing about how interconnected and international the medical field was. The doctor who gave the lecture told us about how he just spoke in Brazil and how the LVADs come from a company in Texas. He also showed us a video on how LVADs work and the chances of getting a transplant versus an LVAD.

Next we ventured to the Axolotl and and spider silk research part of the HMM. It was so interesting to hear about the studies being conducted with both Axolotls and spider silk. We saw that the spider silk can be made into many things from clothing to scaffolds full of cells to artificially regrow organs. The spiders themselves are much bigger than I thought they would be. We were able to tour the spider room and learned that only the females spin the webs. We also learned quite a bit on Axolotl research. Axolotls are similar to salamanders except live exclusively in water instead of being amphibious. They are found in only two lakes in Mexico and are considered to be extremely endangered. There are many different colors such as goldilocks, albino, and greenish-brown. They live for about 20 years, in fact one of the Axolotls was born the same year as me! Now we get to the cool part: why they are being studied. They can regrow everything from their eyes to their organs! The research being conducted is currently still in small animal phases but I think it would be amazing to see where the research goes in the next few years.

After that we got dinner at an adorable, traditional beergarden. I got Currywurst that was really good! Then we returned to the hotel to work on our projects before leaving for Hannover bright and early in the morning. 

Six a.m. comes reall fast when you're tired but after breakfast and last minute packing we were back to sleeping on the train to Nordeney! We got on the ferry and made the journey to the relaxation and rejuvenation haven. We biked around the island (so much fun!) to our hotel before trekking to the beach where Jane led an incredibly relaxing yoga session on the beach. I really really enjoyed the yoga session and it made me want to look into taking yoga classes when I get back to Texas. After that we had some time to clean up and work on our projects before the group BBQ. It was so good and so much fun! 

The next day we biked to the Badehaus where we could see all of the amazing research and natural healing process of Thalasso Therapy. After that we had lunch on the lawn outside then presented our own projects on different types of alternative medicinal and healing techniques. I was partnered with Zoe to go over the Feldenkrais method which is similar to the Alexander Method. It was developed by Moshe Feldenkrais based on Judo techniques and helps people of all ages and disabilities to better their minds and bodies. After learning about all of the other presentation we were released to the spa! Yay! I began with the high salt bath which was in a cave like environment and was very relaxing. Afterwards I went into the inhalation room and breathed in the salt water before going to the 6 meter shower. We tried the watt worm which was super fun as well as the outdoor underground sauna. My favorite - and in my opinion most relaxing - was the large pool in the main room because it had huge sky lights that I just floated on my back and watched the clouds drift by. After staying there for a while, we made our way back to the hotel to change for dinner. Dinner was so good! We had an amazing view of the North Sea and ate fish. We went to the beach that night to watch the sunset then stayed after just watching the sea and talking and laughing. 

The next morning we froze on our way to the mudflat hike. We saw watt worms and clams and even saw a seal poke his head out of the water! I got stuck knee deep in the mud and left with so much information - after it was translated! We ate lunch and schlepped our luggage back on the ferry then on to the train to Amsterdam!

Excursions on Excursions on Excursions

Today we went to the Hannover hospital of medicine and had a lecture
with a cardiovascular surgeon there. He told us about the VAD
(ventricular assist device) device and the miracles it was doing.
The device was only created in 2001 and so has only been used
for a short time but it has already saved many people from an early
death. We watched a short clip on a non invasive way to implant the
VAD and it was super interesting. After the cardiovascular lecture we
had some free time and were able to grab a coffee before our next
lecture.I have never before been able to drink black coffee until now.
OccasionallyI will still put a sugar packet in but that's nothing compared
to the large amounts of creamers and sugars I used to put in my coffee
back home. We have been so busy with all of our excursions and
traveling back and forth I have to have really strong coffee to get
me through the day.

After our coffee break we got on a bus and went to the axolotl
regeneration research center. This place was literally the coolest.
We had a quick lecture on stem cells and the different regenerative
processes of stem cells. They also discussed silk spider webs and
the advances we have made in regenerative therapies.
We then started to discuss the axolotls, which are literally the cutest
animals. We learned about their species and where
they come from, which is a little part of Mexico City, and how they are
critically endangered. Even though they're critically endangered you can
still buy them as pets though because they reproduce so often and
because there are so many breeders that work very hard to keep the
species alive it's actually quite easy to purchase them as pets and
you don't even need a certificate/license.
I'm really thinking about getting one when I get back to the states. They
look like such happy little creatures and seem to be relatively easy to
take care of.
They also have an awesome trait where they can regrow any appendage
that has been cut or broken off, super super cool. We also went into the
room where they keep the silk spiders. This was interesting because they
were just kept in a big open room and could go wherever they wanted.
I was really hesitant to go into the room at first because thinking about
spiders crawling on me is terrifying. I went in anyways and I'm really
glad I did. To get in we had to go under a spider web that a spider
had made in the doorway and then once we were in it wasn't bad.
Most of the spiders make their webs pretty high on the ceiling and
never came down, so we were just looking up at them. There was
supposed to be 16, I only counted 10.... So hopefully none left with
us. They were relatively big and I got a picture with the one that hung
in the doorway. It was an experience. I don't think I've ever been that
close to a spider that big without freaking out.

Our total stay in Hannover came and went so fast. I was sad to leave
 because the people there were so friendly. We went to get dinner at
a Biergarten that night and so many people were helping us translate
the menu and telling us what they recommended. They really made us
 feel at home. There's also a vet school in Hannover, so maybe if I learn
German in the next year.........

The ferry to norderney was pretty cool just because I was on the North
Sea. I didn't ever think I would be traveling to the North Sea in my life.
Once in Norderney the air felt great. It was really nice outside and as
soon as we got off the ferry we went to rent bikes. I had to get a short
bike, but it was okay because I got a front basket on it while everyone
else had baskets on the back of the bikes. We biked to the hostel and
then we biked to go eat. After we ate we had to rush to change and go
on our run on the beach and yoga class. The sand was so soft and pretty,
but it was really hard to run in. We first tried to run barefoot so the sand
wouldn't get into our shoes and then we encountered way to many
seashells, so we had to go back and get our shoes. When we got back
from our run we had a yoga class with Dr. Wasser's fiancé. It was
 interesting, I don't really like yoga, but it wasn't so bad I guess.
Running through the sand and doing yoga in the sand was pretty
difficult though. After the workout we went back to the hostel and
had a BBQ. It was delicious. It started to get really cold when the sun
went down though and I could easily see I didn't bring enough warm
clothes. We decided we wanted to go see the lighthouse after dinner
so we biked all the way there. It wasn't so bad getting there but we all
wanted to get back before it got too dark and biking over the sand dunes
 was real difficult. I was definitely sore the next morning when I woke up.
The next day we woke up and went to a bathhouse in Norderney and
it was so pretty. We got a lecture on bath houses and their history and
then we got to tour the place. We also had to give a presentation that
we had been working on, but then we finally got to go enjoy the spa.
It was unlike anything I've ever experienced. There were hot baths,
cold baths, warm baths, steam baths, salt baths, mud baths (kinda),
and there was even a water slide that was pretty fun. It was for the kids,
but we couldn't resist. After the spa we went to dinner at a nice restaurant
right off the beach. There was such a pretty view especially because the
sun was starting to set. The dinner was delicious as well, we ordered
different types of fish and they were so fresh and delicious. The last
day on Norderney we did a mud walk off the coast. It was really
interesting, some mud was really deep and gross and some was very
 shallow and just a little squishy. I had a big blister on the bottom of my
 foot though so after a while it started to get irritated and the walk
wasn't as much fun anymore. The blister was my fault from playing
(and beating) the boys in soccer. It was worth it.

On our free weekend a bunch of us chose to go to Amsterdam.
I absolutely loved Amsterdam and am so so sad we only had
two days to enjoy it. The first night there we found a cute pizza
place with the BEST service. It was the best customer service we
have had while being in Europe so far. After dinner we walked through
the red light district and that was super interesting, and super disturbing.
The next day we didn't really have plans so we just went exploring
until it started pouring. We quickly decided we wanted to find
something to do indoors and that's when we saw a sign for the
Heineken Experience tour. We payed a couple extra dollars to
skip the line and went right inside. The old brewery was so huge.
I was not expecting it to be that big. We learned a lot about the
history of the beer as well as the family that started the business.
The whole museum was hands on and had so many different things
to look at their was defiantly a place for everyone. They also showed
us how to properly pour and drink beer which was interesting. The
best part was that on the day we went they were having a free party
on the roof. The people who worked there told us that open parties
only happen a couple times a year so we got really lucky. We made
our way to the roof and got a couple of free beers and were able to
listen to some great live music. After the experience we walked around
some more and explored. There were just so many good vibes in
Amsterdam I never wanted to leave.

I'm back in Bonn now thinking about how we only have 9 more
days left here... I don't ever want to leave. I think I've said that in
every single post. The only thing I'm looking forward to about
being home is seeing my family, and most importantly resting.
Speaking of resting, I need to go catch up on some sleep.

Bis bald!