This weekend was definitely one of my favorite weekends so
far. Why you may ask? Simply because it
was a nice, relaxing, and SIMPLE trip to southern Germany. We had minimal train issues and I had some
of the best food while I was there. A
few of us had been wanting to see Heidelberg, and when we found out that Austin’s
old neighbors lived relatively close to the city it made sense to try to
combine both visits.
Austin, Joanna, and I set out right after class Friday for
the train station, and thankfully did not have any mishaps on the way to
Ramstein. Mrs. Christmann was waiting
for us at the station when we got there and greeted us very warmly. She then proceeded to drive us around the
city showing us the sites, which included a castle and a newly-opened American
Military in Germany Museum. Ramstein is
home to a US military base, and it just so happened that that Friday marked the
60th year of cooperation between Americans and Germans in this
area. Mrs. Christmann kindly bought us
tickets to a celebratory concert that night before driving us all back to the
house. Again, the family’s hospitality
was incredible. Not only did they by our
tickets for the concert, let us stay at their house, and feed us breakfast the
next morning, but they prepared a delicious dinner Raclette (a type of food a
bit like fondue) and refused all of our attempts to help them prepare or clean
up. I enjoyed the entire stay with them,
but my favorite parts were the concert and speaking German. Upon finding out that we knew at least a
little German, the family proceeded to talk to us in mostly German. Austin and Joanna were much better at
speaking than I was, but I was pleased to hear that I understood most of what
was being said as long as they spoke slowly.
The concert turned out to be a jazz concert, featuring various local
groups including the American military’s local band. The music was incredible, and was mostly
remixes of various American music spanning from the 60s all the way up to pop
culture. I kept getting the urge to get
up and swing dance, but as no one else was dancing, I figured that would
probably be frowned upon. After the
concert our ticket allowed us to have a pretzel and glass of wine while we
socialized with people. Let’s just say
that I enjoyed the pretzel much more than I did the wine.
The next morning we said our goodbyes and headed to
Heidelberg to see the castle. The
castle was HUGE! Not necessarily tall, but at least twice as big (if not more)
than any of the other castles I have visited.
The three of us walked around touring the grounds, taking lots of
pictures, and enjoying the view. We did
get a chance to see the World’s Largest Wine Barrel and the Apothecary Museum,
both of which were housed in the castle.
While the barrel was cool to see, I especially enjoyed the museum. I got a kick out of seeing the old-timey lab
equipment, including a centrifuge, and comparing it to the things I used in
college station. I am very thankful that
the centrifuge I used all last semester was electrically powered and not
powered by a hand crank as the one in the museum was.
Finally, we turned our feet back towards the train station
and after a small train mix up, managed to make it back to Bonn around 11:30pm. I fell asleep on the train (and was rewarded
with a large indent on my forehead) but Austin and Joanna stayed up studying
for Joanna’s test on Tuesday.
It was a very enjoyable weekend and I am glad that I got the
chance to explore even more of Germany.
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