The Thursday of this week Ralf and one of his colleagues came to listen to our initial design ideas for our device. After this presentation we then split up into groups of more similarly concentrated ideas.
Then on Friday, my mom arrived in Bonn. I was very excited to see her. For the rest of my break we had a trip planned around Germany. To make things simpler, I'll just list out the places we went and what we did.
Saturday: My mom and I took a 5-6 hour train to Berlin. I can't exactly remember what we did each day we were there. We took a walk around the city using an app with a guided tour. We were able to see almost all the highlights: the Brandenburg Gate, The Reichstag, and Museum Island. One morning we went to go eat breakfast at the Reichstag and it was great just getting to roam around on the roof afterwards. We also made a visit to the Victory Column and the Tiergarten, which is kind of like Central Park in New York. While in Berlin, I got to meet up with an old friend from Kansas, along with her roommate. It was a great coincidence that we were both in the same city at the same time and I only found this out via Facebook. Thank you social media.
Tuesday: After 3 days or so in Berlin, my mom and I made our way to Munich on another train ride. We arrived at the Hauptbahnhof(Central Station) in the evening and recognized right away that it was the sketchy side of Munich. After this sight I was worried that Munich wasn't going to be a worthwhile city to visit. However, I got to see more of the city another day, and thankfully it was a great city worth visiting. That night I was able to visit with a friend from high school who was an exchange student from Germany. I also met his girlfriend and friend who were also studying abroad in Germany for the semester.
Wednesday: The day after we arrived we made a day trip out to Salzburg, Austria. I was already very excited to see this city with beautiful mountain views. I was not disappointed. Salzburg is beautiful. It easily became one of my favorite cities. It's not too big, although there is a lot of tourism, which I could do without. It's also the hometown of the child prodigy, Mozart. Now I've been to the hometowns of two famous composers.
Thursday: This was the day my mom and I got to actually explore more of the city. We visited the open market, complete with a may pole and tents selling various foods and crafts. We made the trip out to the olympic stadium where we saw numerous people out running, riding their bikes and walking their dogs. We also saw the deserted stadium filled with bright green chairs, where the track and field events took place. We were also able to climb up the stairs of St. Peter's church in Marienplatz, where we were able to look over the expansive city.
Friday: Before leaving the Munich area, we made the trip out to the Dachau Concentration Camp. My mom had been there once, about 25 years ago, and she only recognized parts of it. We walked around a bit on our own before we met for a group tour of the camp. It was very surreal to be there and hard to imagine or grasp the events that took place in the longest running concentration camp. From here we began our journey to the medieval town of Rothenburg. We arrived at our bed and breakfast and shortly after we went on the famous Night Watchman tour. The Watchman took us around the inner city and explained the duties of the Night Watchman as well as the history of the town.
Saturday: In the morning, my mom and I explored the tourist-filled town on our own. We browsed through the shops of homemade goods and made our way back to the train station to continue our trip of mother-daughter bonding. From Rothenburg we arrived at our 6th city, Bacharach. While here we only spent the night and got an overlooking view of the town in the morning. Walking to our Inn, we could tell that the town was less of a tourist attraction now than in its former glory. That night we ate dinner at the inn's restaurant, where we had the choice of ordering wine from the local wine country. I had a sweet and fruity wine, which seems to be the only wine my tastebuds can handle.
Sunday: We took the train from Bacharach to the town of Mozelkern. Our only purpose for visiting this town was to hike one hour out to the Burg Eltz castle. Once arriving at the castle, we took a tour, where we could see furniture and tapestries and cookware that was up to 500 years old. At one point in the tour, my mom leaned over to me and said, "I can't tell who's more bored, you or that teenage boy over there with the unamused look on his face." I wasn't too entertained by the tour, but I'm glad we were able to do something my mom wanted. After the tour we had to hike back fast enough to catch our train. We managed to cut an estimated one hour hike to 35 minutes by frantically running and fast-walking. We headed to Cologne that night so my mom could see the Dom. By doing this, we definitely saved the best for last and my mom was not disappointed. We spent the night there and my mom left early in the morning to catch her flight in Frankfurt, while I slept in and took the train to class.
Monday: Spring break is over, my mom is gone, and back to the somewhat reality of classes returning, because honestly, it's still hard to believe that I'm studying abroad here.
Thursday: This was the day my mom and I got to actually explore more of the city. We visited the open market, complete with a may pole and tents selling various foods and crafts. We made the trip out to the olympic stadium where we saw numerous people out running, riding their bikes and walking their dogs. We also saw the deserted stadium filled with bright green chairs, where the track and field events took place. We were also able to climb up the stairs of St. Peter's church in Marienplatz, where we were able to look over the expansive city.
Friday: Before leaving the Munich area, we made the trip out to the Dachau Concentration Camp. My mom had been there once, about 25 years ago, and she only recognized parts of it. We walked around a bit on our own before we met for a group tour of the camp. It was very surreal to be there and hard to imagine or grasp the events that took place in the longest running concentration camp. From here we began our journey to the medieval town of Rothenburg. We arrived at our bed and breakfast and shortly after we went on the famous Night Watchman tour. The Watchman took us around the inner city and explained the duties of the Night Watchman as well as the history of the town.
Saturday: In the morning, my mom and I explored the tourist-filled town on our own. We browsed through the shops of homemade goods and made our way back to the train station to continue our trip of mother-daughter bonding. From Rothenburg we arrived at our 6th city, Bacharach. While here we only spent the night and got an overlooking view of the town in the morning. Walking to our Inn, we could tell that the town was less of a tourist attraction now than in its former glory. That night we ate dinner at the inn's restaurant, where we had the choice of ordering wine from the local wine country. I had a sweet and fruity wine, which seems to be the only wine my tastebuds can handle.
Sunday: We took the train from Bacharach to the town of Mozelkern. Our only purpose for visiting this town was to hike one hour out to the Burg Eltz castle. Once arriving at the castle, we took a tour, where we could see furniture and tapestries and cookware that was up to 500 years old. At one point in the tour, my mom leaned over to me and said, "I can't tell who's more bored, you or that teenage boy over there with the unamused look on his face." I wasn't too entertained by the tour, but I'm glad we were able to do something my mom wanted. After the tour we had to hike back fast enough to catch our train. We managed to cut an estimated one hour hike to 35 minutes by frantically running and fast-walking. We headed to Cologne that night so my mom could see the Dom. By doing this, we definitely saved the best for last and my mom was not disappointed. We spent the night there and my mom left early in the morning to catch her flight in Frankfurt, while I slept in and took the train to class.
Monday: Spring break is over, my mom is gone, and back to the somewhat reality of classes returning, because honestly, it's still hard to believe that I'm studying abroad here.
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