Eisenach, Wartburg Castle, and Erfurt!

Talk about busy! Today was a very full day. The bus ride wasn't soo horrible, but it was long. Our first stop was in Eisenach. Eisenach is famous for two very important people in history. One, Johann Sebastian Bach was born there; two, it is where Martin Luther lived as a child.

Another fun fact: the Social Democratic Party was also founding in Eisenach. Although we were only there for an hour I was able to discover the city center which was home to some awesome schnitzel!

After we all ate lunch, we started the hike to the Wartburg Castle. Supposedly, this castle got its name when its founder exclaimed "Warte, Berg- du sollst mir eine Burg tragen!" (Wait, mountain- you shall bear a castle for me). Not sure this is true, but it's a cute little story. This castle has been known for the artists that have made it their homes. Also, it was the place where Martin Luther translated the New Testament from Latin to German. He was not the first to do this, but his became the most well known and wide spread. 

 Look at that view!

After the tour was over, we were able to see some cool artifacts from the castle's prime.

After the Wartburg Castle, we headed to the capital of Thuringia (the state we were in), Erfurt. It is almost in the perfect center of Germany. We had an "interesting" tour guide. He was dressed (and spoke) like Martin Luther. Martin Luther attended the University of Erfurt and also lived as a monk there.

These two churches stand side by side, on the left is the Catholic Erfurt Cathedral, and on the right is the Lutheran St. Severi Church.

The town is quaint but beautiful. I absolutely loved walking through it. It is full of life and color.

Even the graffiti is interesting!

Then, our dinner at Christoffels was absolutely delicious! We ate like kings!

I think there were more than ten of these!

 

... And a couple of these too... when in Rome, right?

After our feast, we headed out on the town a little bit, but we had to get home early because tomorrow we have an early bus ride to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp!
Bis bald!

Tschüss!

Start of an Adventure

Today, is the first day of our long-end-of-class excursion. We will be traveling to Eisenach, Wartburg Castle, Buchenwald Concentration Camp, Dresden, and finally, Berlin! Stay tuned for many pictures, stories, etc.!

Now I'm off for a 3 hour bus ride, good thing I have my movies....

Tschüss!

Catching Up: Paris, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Drachenfels, Deutsche Welle, Hürtgenwald, and Amsterdam

I am alive and survived Paris and Amsterdam. I made it through the last crazy two weeks of traveling. First, Paris was beautiful. Seeing the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and Notre Dom was very epic. So fortunate that I was able to go.

The week after Paris the class took a trip to Frankfurt. We saw the Paulskirche. Although originally started as St. Paul's Lutherin Church, it was transformed to seat the Frankfurt Parliament-- the first publicly and freely elected German legislative body. This is where the first constitution of a united Germany was drafted. President John F Kennedy gave a major speech in this building on his trip to Germany in 1963. This is the speech that is famous for Kennedy saying "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a donut.) For the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's speech, Obama actually came to Frankfurt a day before we got there to commemorate the bond between Germany and the US.

(Sorry, couldn't really get a good view with the entire building)

During our trip to Frankfurt, we were able to explore the city for ourselves a little. There was so much to see. The city had huge skyscrapers on one side but then you walk for five minutes and you can't see them anymore. There is a huge contrast to old and new Frankfurt. While we were in "old Frankfurt" we were able to visit Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's house. There were beautiful paintings and impressive sculptures. Everything had a "Do not touch" sign, so naturally I wanted to touch everything!

The next day we headed to Düsseldorf. It is the capital of the state in Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia, which I am currently living in and is also the 7th largest city in Deutschland. We visited the Heinrich Heine Museum. He was born in Düsseldorf and was the poet that wrote the song for the Lorelei (discussed in an earlier blog.) After the museum, I had my first Altbier, the beer of Düsseldorf. It was hoppy and great! 

After the big city we headed to Cologne to see the El-De Haus. During the Nazi era, it was the headquarters of the Gestapo (the German Secret State Police). For some reason, although 90% of Cologne was flattened this one building remained standing after the Allie's bombing. The upper part of the building looked like a regular office building. However, when you go down stairs... not so much. The Gestapo held thousands in these little cells over their time in power. The walls were covered in writing, people telling their stories, letting loved ones know they are still alive. Imagining the amount of executions and torture that when on in that basement was heart wrenching.

That Saturday we headed to hike the Drachenfels. It was definitely a workout. But the view was totally worth it! After that mountain, we hiked to another mountain where we enjoyed some nice Riesling wine from a local vineyard. Overall, pretty fantastic day. 

 so we hiked all the way up to that highest point with the torn down castle, this is the Drachenfels

 View from the Drachenfels

 The little torn castle from earlier

 This is the view of the Drachenfels from the second mountain we hiked, it is straight back, the highest point, it was a looonngg hike

The following Monday was the Global Media Forum hosted by Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcaster, at their headquarters in Bonn. During the day we had the option to go to whatever two debates we wanted, I chose "Youth Employment- Translating Challenges into Opportunities" and "Europe, an Economic Tale, the Current Financial Crises as Seen from Europe and Beyond." The first debate just put a damper on my hopes for getting a job out of college, although Germany does have a very low youth unemployment rate at a cool 7.9%, so who knows maybe I will becoming back. Next, was what I was really interested in. It was a great debate by 4 renowned journalists, professors, and authors. It was interesting to see what the views of other countries, such as China or Russia, had over the current financial crises in Europe and also the difference in opinions between the richest country (Germany) and once of the poorest (Greece). Along those lines, I was surprised to hear how many times they compared the EU to the US. It was interesting to see how many consider the two almost on the same playing field, because one is a group of countries and the other is just a country. After the two debates, it was time for what many people came for- Noam Chomsky. Disclaimer: I had absolutely no idea who he was before I went to this conference, apparently he is a big deal. However, to me he just seemed like a critic with no plausible solutions to any of the problems he stated, so I didn't really understand all the hype. But I did sit through it because I knew what was coming next- the Rhine Cruise... all I am going to say is I had a great time and the band even played the Backstreet Boys, I was in Heaven. 

Later that week we took a trip to Hürtgenwald. It is where the longest battle on German ground in WWII took place. The battle took place from September 19 - December 16 1944. Between the two sides there were around 80,000 casualties. As we walked through the forest I tried to keep an eye out for bombs (just incase), because they found a live one a couple years ago. However, to my dismay, my over-caution caused me to step on a branch and fall right on my ass. After the embarassing episode we saw the "Dragon Teeth." These are rows of pyramids just up to the knees but they were built deep under the ground so tanks couldn't cross. Unfortunately for the Germans, they were a great concept, but in practice the Americans just found a way to go over them. 

So after that depressing and somewhat haunting day, a group of us headed to Amsterdam. It was a ton of fun. I saw things I had never seen before, everything was a lot more .... open. I think Amsterdam is the poster child for sex, drugs, and rock n roll; if I could think of an opposite of Texas, I think it would be Amsterdam. It was an interesting sight, but not sure I plan on going back. 

 Instead of car garages at their airports, they have bike garages- those are all bikes!

Now that I am all caught up, I will try my very best to post about our 5 day adventure starting on Thursday. We will be going to Eisenach, Erfurt, Buchenwald, Dresden, and Berlin! 

*****Birthday Plug-in******: I turn 21 in 11 days! 

Tschüss!!

Rhine Cruise, Lorelei, Marksburg Castle, Brühl

Hello all! Sorry for the lack of posting for the last week, its been hectic. Over the last week we have seen more beautiful churches, went on a Rhine cruise, and I even found my dream princess castle!

On Saturday we went on a Rhine cruise. Unfortunately, we went on a day that was bitterly cold! However, we were also somewhat lucky with our timing; a lot of rain in the Alps caused a massive flood on the Rhine; where we were standing on Saturday was completely under water on Sunday!

This is a middle ages toll both! Back then, in order to cross you had to pay a toll to this castle.

The Lorelei Cliff:it represents the narrowest part of the Rhine and has a very sharp turn, because of this it has seen many shipwrecks! Legend has it that Lorelei, a female siren, sings on the rocks to distract the sailors, causing them to wreck. Consequently, there is a song Lorelei song that the Rhine cruisers sing when crossing her path!

After the cruise and schnitzel for lunch, we headed to the Marksburg castle. I had been blissfully unaware all morning that I was about to hike a mountain- in my boat shoes and let's just say.... "dehydrated." So that was a little rough. However the view from the top was absolutely beautiful and totally worth it!

On Tuesday, we headed to Brühl and I found my princess castle! The Augustusburg Castle is gorgeous! Sadly, I was not allowed to take pictures from the inside however you can head to their website to see why I fell in love with it: http://www.schlossbruehl.de/Home . The the walls were all marble, the ceiling was beautifully painted, and the garden in the back was huge.

A couple other things we did this week:
We went to a club for the first time, it was... interesting. Kids 16-18 must have parents' permission slips in order to stay at the club until 12.
On Wednesday we went to Mainz (sorry no pictures) and toured a couple of churches.
It was my host sisters birthday yesterday, so there was a big party for her, which was tons of fun! 

Currently, I am on the train to PARIS to see my friend Samantha. I love this huge train network! However, when they go super fast while next to another train, I get a wii bit nervous. But other than that I like it. More info on my trip to Paris next time!

Tschüss, or I guess, Au

Drei Länder

Wednesday was full of adventure. We traveled to the home of Charlemagne and his empire. Needless to say, there was a lot to see. First we traveled around a bit walking the streets of Aachen and found this AMAZING ginger bread bakery. They aren't cookies, it is actual ginger bread, and it is delicious!

Afterwards, we followed the tour guide around the city.  Usually, even though the tours are in German, I can usually understand 60-75% of what is being said, but his dialect was very different. So, I really didn't learn too much on the first tour. Although, one thing to notice: the ground water stinks! Literally, it smells like rotten eggs. However, if you wash your hands with it (the fumes dissipate), the water will moisten your skin like lotion.  At first, the idea of sticking my hands in this stinky fountain was repulsing, but I got over it, and it actually worked. The water was also very warm, which was great in the cold, wet weather.

After we were done with our first tour guide, we met Pier, the guide for the church and all of its treasure. There seemed to be gold everywhere, it was just beautiful. Also, some of the gold sculptures had Charlemagne's remains inside!

This was Charlemagne's throne at church!

Besides the water, I would say that Aachen is very much a beautiful city.Ohh and I had my first currywurst, it was absolutely delicious!

After lunch we headed to Drei Länder point, where Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany meet at one point. For the last two days I have been very pumped to be in three countries at one time, but with the weather, it just wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. But, it's still pretty neat!

Once everyone took a thousand pictures we headed back home. Later that night we went to a classical music concert. Then it was party time!

Not going to lie, waking up this morning was a tad difficult, however we had made plans to go to a small town outside of Bonn so we could go see the Hangover 3 (very apropos) and go to a Thai restaurant. Unfortunately, it is a Catholic holiday- so the entire country just seems to shut down (including the Thai place!). The movie theater was still open, but they weren't going to have an English showing until 8:40. We once again, hopped back on the train and headed back to Bonn. For lunch, we went to Pizza Hut. It is exponentially nicer here than it is back in the states...its an actual restaurant.
On Saturday, we will be going on a Rhine cruise; I am definitely looking forward to that! Until then.
Tschüss!