Alexandria's Adventures in Germany : July 2014

Hello! This past week has been completely amazing and extremely packed with fantastic activities! First I attend 4 German classes in the morning during the week and then after lunch our group goes out to explore!

Wednesday the 23rd of July:

This day was extremely packed! After lunch we met the Mayor of Bonn! There was a newspaper reporter there and he published an article about our CBYX program and the Mayor! I was interviewed, and I asked the Mayor many questions and they ended up in a German newspaper!

This is the link to tohe online article: http://www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/bonn/bonn/bonn-zentrum/25-junge-Amerikaner-zu-Besuch-article1410824.html

(Google Chrome can help you translate it)

Meeting the Mayor of Bonn

Me, Janae, Clara, Devyn, Justine, Annie

After meeting the Mayor, we visited the Haribo Factory store! Unfortunately it wasn't actually a factory where we could watch the Haribo gummies being made, but the store absolutely blew my mind with all the Haribo candies, stuffed bears, and umbrellas, etc. that filled the place!

Then after the Haribo factory store we had a little time to go and get some dinner before we had to meet again. Justine, Devyn, Clara, and I decided to go to a recommended Italian restaurant with really good pizza called Tuscolo. Deyn and I spilt a massive margarita pizza, and it was so delicious! This restaurant was so nice and we dined outside on a deck with umbrellas that had a view of the street below and the little shops all around. It was so european that it could have been in a cute little romantic movie:)

My Radler and Margarita Pizza

Once we left Tuscolo we met up with the rest of the group at school and watched an old war movie called The Bridge of Remagen. It was quite boring and poorly acted, but it was pretty accurate to the events that occurred at this bridge during WWII when it was the last bridge still standing that crossed the Rhine River. We watched this film because the following day we would be going to where it used to stand.

Walking home Wednesday night

Thursday the 24th of July:

By 10 o'clock in the morning our group was already on bikes riding from Bonn to Remagen. It would be a one and a half hour bike ride there. Though that doesn't sound too nice, it was actually extremely beautiful, on flat ground, and we had perfect weather.

In the picture above you can see one half of what is left of the Bridge of Remagen, below is the other half. Ten days after it was captured it collapsed on its own, despite being targeted by tanks and planes for days. The Friedens Museum shares the history of the battle that took place at this bridge, the other half is used as a Peace Museum.

On ride back Mira bought us all ice cream in Remagen and then we biked back to Bonn.

Took this picture while biking

When we weren't even halfway home yet a massive fast-moving storm moved in. We took cover in a nearby Hauptbahnhof (train station). There was a lot of lightning, giant thunder cracks, and huge rain drops. Needles to say, it added excitement to the biking adventure:)

The Storm

Upon arriving home I finished my homework and crashed:)

Friday the 25th of July:

This day wasn't too packed but it was the day that we would finally get to meet our Area Representatives that had been working to find us host families and internships! We also visited the Deutsches Science Museum. It was very cool, and I took the physics tour that focused of that type of science rather than the biology tour. Once we finished up there we all took the U-Bahn back to school to attend the Bratwurst Festival BBQ Area Rep. dinner. If was so nice to actually meet my rep and hear about Freiburg and my internship. Also, the bratwursts were unbelievably good! I tried 5 of the 12, and also enjoyed a large serving of smashed potatoes. Friday night I just walked through the center of Bonn and down the Rhine to get home.

Saturday the 26th of July:

The early afternoon a small group of CBYX kids and three Area Reps. went to see the Brühl Schloss (castle). We took a train to get there, and after getting off the platform I saw the castle right there.

This castle was built in a time of peace for Augustus, the Elector of Köln in the 1700's.

We took a tour of the palace in German, so I couldn't exactly understand everything I saw inside. It was absolutely gorgeous and had a beautiful marble grand hall and staircase with brilliant vibrant artwork throughout the palace.

After seeing the palace, our Area Reps. and us caught a bus to a Free Ben and Jerry's ice cream tasting. It was delicious and was held at a really neat beach bar with sand and and everything!

I said goodbye to my Area Rep. and went home after a busy day:)

Then later that night my friends and I met up at the Rheinau for a Bier fest with a variety of Biers, food stands, and a few carnival rides.

We walked around for quite a bit and then decided to go to a really fun electro-swing club. There we danced to music from the 1920's, Charleston style, Elvis, and just had a blast:)

Once again Bonn came through with an excellent week of fun!

Tschüss!

~Alexandria

So much has happened since last Friday (July 11,2014) when I arrived in Germany! I have met my Host Family, explored Bonn, had my first few German classes, and have settled into this new place to call home!

Walking home in the evening next to the Rhine River

I climb 4 flights of stairs to get to my bedroom
(attending Glenbard West has helped)

The view from my bedroom window overlooks the Rhine

I am absolutely loving Bonn! It is so beautiful here and has a lot of history as well! Our CBYX group of 25 visited the Beethoven House! Inside had the piano he composed many of his masterpieces on, and various notes, pieces of music he wrote, and pictures of his family and friends. He lived in this house for 14 years.

Beethoven House

Beethoven Statue

View from Bonn Hauptbahnhof

In Germany there is excellent public transportation and it really makes exploring much easier! This picture is from the Hauptbahnhof in Bonn that looks over the little spaziergang (walkway) that leads into Bonn Zentrum. The Hauptbahnhof is the center of transportation in Bonn. You can find a bus, train, street train (strassenbahn), and Unterbahn (underground train) to take you anywhere!

The University in Bonn

The University in Bonn used to be a palace and it is gorgeous. The lawn is where we go to eat lunch and relax in the grass before we move on to more adventures in the afternoon.

Lawn in front of the University

Friday the 18th of July:

After a hard day of school (a historical scavenger hunt through Bonn), our group went to a museum in Bad Godesberg that focused on history from WWII on. Below are some pictures of things in the museum that I found very interesting.

Piece of the Berlin wall

Later that night our Group went to the Alter Zoll Biergarten to chill, listen to music, and just hangout.

Clara, Justine, Devyn, and I at Alter Zoll

Saturday, July 19th 2014:

The next morning we went to the Flohmarkt in Rheinau. It is one of Germany's largest flea markets. People were selling things that they made, toys, books, clothes, technology, video games, unicycles.... there was a wide variety of objects at the market. I bought Harry Potter und der Stein der Wissen (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) !!! I cannot wait to work my way through it! It will require a lot of translating :)

Chilling at the flea market

On Saturday night, Rosi, Justine, Jutta, Thomas, Morgan, and I went to the Kölner Lichter (Fireworks in Cologne). There was about 10,000 people who were in Köln for the show and there were many Bier and Brezel (pretzel) vendors. There was a vendor that hung big gingerbread hearts, had popcorn, and various chocolate covered fruits.