CHAPTER XIV

It's crazy to think how quickly the semester has progressed. Lois and I were just talking about it with Regina, how we've been able to see and do so much, but that there's also a few things we want to do around Bonn. The cherry trees in the Altstadt will be blooming soon, so that is something I am looking forward too! There should also be some spring markets starting. For these last few weeks, I am planning on staying in or at least around Bonn.

Tuesday, we went to Bingen am Rhein. Our main destination was the Hildegard von Bingen museum. We have talked about her a bit in the History of Medicine course, but got to see many of the artifacts and hear about her life in more depth during the tour. Hildegard was a revolutionary nun; she most definitely paved her own path. Most nuns had the job to solely pray and run the nunnery. Hildegard among other things acted as a doctor. Most of her treatments fall under the category of homeopathic medicine. She went on tours sharing her knowledge and discoveries. Hildegard also had these bizarre visions that would be translated into paintings.

This week we have been working hard on the Enmodes semester long project. We have mostly finalized our ideas and are working on outlining it and filling in any gaps in our research. I am excited to see what our presentations will look like next week -- and also to finish it.

The weather has been so nice outside, and I wanted to spend the weekend enjoying it outside! For Saturday, I went to Cologne with some friends. We rented bikes for the morning and biked up and down the Rhine. We got to see a couple parks, bike through a city fair, admire the cathedral, and navigate through the crowded Altstadt. It felt so good to enjoy the weather and be active outside.

For the afternoon, we looked around a riverside market and wandered through the old city area before heading to the Chocolate factory. It was obvious that everyone was excited about the beginning of spring. The town squares were overflowing with people sitting outside enjoying the different cafes. The chocolate factory is made to look like a boat since it’s right on the river. It isn’t specific to the history of just one chocolate brand; it covers it all. But, the chocolate we got to sample and were gifted was Lindt. My favorite part were seeing the chocolate manufacturing machines, both the current and past versions. There was a specific machine that revolutionized the manufacturing process because it quickly and easily separated the cocoa butter from the cocoa solids. Also, I learned that all of the hollow chocolates are made using centrifugal force by spinning them in the molds.

Sunday was the warmest Bonn has been since I arrived. My friends and I brought snacks and games to play in the Hofgarten. The Hofgarten is right next to the university in the town center and is essentially the main city park. It was full of life! Tons of people were set up enjoying a picnic, conversing with friends, or watching their kids run around the playground. There were also a group of people who put up this trapeze thing and were doing tricks on it for the afternoon. A few different soccer games were scattered throughout the area. The most interesting thing was some sort of German game where most of the players had large foam sticks and a couple had a leather ball on a string; they were all going after a white ball that started out in the center. Each round would last less than two minutes. What a lovely weekend!

Random Takeaways

Sometimes Germans don't even understand the weird German games, I found out after asking one of my friends about the game I saw in the Hofgarten.

Spring is even nicer after waiting all winter for it.

This view is only 10 minutes from my house! There are a few perks to living 25 minutes away from the city center.

Bonn has the highest ice cream shop per person ratio in all of Germany, and I really, really, appreciate getting a scoop of gelato for only 1 Euro. See look how excited we are: