Biosciences Bonn: Rhinecruise // B A C H A R A C H & M A R K S B U R G

This cruise was the last group trip we took in Germany. We (my group and the LMU students) all met up at the Hofgarten at 7:45 am. We left for Bacharach at like 8 and got there at like a little after 10 am. When we got to bacharach, we were allowed to go explore this town. Shannon, Lexie, Izzie, Brynn and I went to use the restroom and then went to get breakfast. On our way to get breakfast, Austen joined us. This town gave me a France vibe. The buildings were so beautiful and they all screamed history. After breakfast, we did a mini hike up to a castle. Because we were only given an hour to explore, we did not get to hike all the way to see the castle itself, but we got the chance to see a bird eye view of bacharach. It was time for us to meet with the rest of out group, so we hiked back down. When we got down, we still had about 5 minutes and so we decided to go along the Rhine. It was so windy and it felt amazing. Izzie and I took lots of pictures here and then we all went back to where our bus was. From there, we got our boat pass and went on the boat.

We went to the top of the boat. After sitting and enjoying the views for a while, we had our final exam for History of Medicine. We were separated into about 4 groups. I was part of team Raven clock. Professor Wasser asked us several questions about what we had covered in our History of Medicine class, and after all the questions he prepared were asked, the scores were tallied up and my team won by correctly answering 17 questions out of the questions asked, which was about 28. After our final, we all just walked around the boat, and enjoyed the amazing views as we cruised by. On the boat, they had a slide and some little kids coiled spring toys. I played on the swing and rode on the coiled toys. After, I sat on the top of the slide and just enjoyed feeling the wind on my skin.

Our destination was Marksburg, where we got the chance to see the only castle that was not captured and not destroyed during the medieval times. Before going to the castle, we got lunch. We had fries and schnitzels which was really yummy, and before this, we had a salad as our appetizer. The food was really good. After eating, we hiked up to the castle. The hike up to the castle was not long at all, it probably took about 25 minutes the most. When we go to the top of the castle, we had a tour of the castle. On this tour, we learnt that some people still live in this castle, and we also got to learn the castle's strategy for protection in case of an attack. We got to see how they stored food in what I would like to call the oldest form of what we now call a refrigerator. We got to see the kitchen, the blacksmith chamber, the royal chamber as well as the torture chamber. It was pretty awesome to enter a castle and to imagine what it felt like being a part of the royal blood at that time. One thing I think was fascinating and pretty hilarious was when our guide explained the reason behind why the restroom by the dinning table had no lock on the inside, but had one on the outside. He told us that the reason behind not having a lock on the inside was to allow the person who is in the bathroom to not miss out on what was being discussed. This really just speaks highly about how valuable social life was back then. Having a lock on the outside and not the inside also served as a protection mechanism.

After seeing the castle, we hike about a third of the way to catch the bus. On our way down we saw 2 glass lizards mating, I left quickly to give them some privacy but others stayed there staring in fascination. We got to the bus and headed back to Bonn. At this point, well throughout this trip, I was feeling pretty emotional as this was the last group activity, and the reality of this program coming to an end was becoming more evident. Emily and I sat together and just reflected over the fact that we have had the most amazing 4 months of our lives and we were so sad it was coming to an end. We enjoyed the pretty views one more time and we eventually fell asleep as we were also pretty tired. We got back to Bonn at like 6pm. When we got back, Lexie and I went to finish our souvenir shopping for our friends and family back home, and we also got a going away present for our host parents. After this, we went home, had dinner and pack up some of our stuff. Also, we studied for our Differential Equations exam, which we had to take the next day. The next vlog will document how I spent my last day in Bonn. I will keep you posted.

Bis spater.
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