During the second week of Herbst Ferien (Fall Vacation), I was lucky enough to get to travel around Germany a bit with my host family! Here's a little recap of our travels. :)
October 9th - 12th: Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Rhineland Pfalz
Bad Neuenahr is a beautiful little town located along the Ahr river, which is a tributary of the Rhine. We stayed in a Jugendherberge (youth hostel) there that really felt more like a great big house with lots of families. Unlike some youth hostels that are known for being really "no frills", this one came with towels, soap, shampoo, and a little pack of gummy bears for every person. The food was also really notable. In fact, it was so good that we didn't even end up going out for any meals during our 3 night stay.
On our first full day there (Saturday) we walked all over the town of Ahrweiler and found a bunch of geocaches. My favorite spots were the Alt Stadt (of course), the Dahlien Garten, and a really cool bench we came across on top of a hill in the middle of a bunch of vineyards. That evening we all hung out together and played some card games.
The tree behind us was planted in 1571!
Dahlien Garten
A church in Ahrweiler Alt Stadt
After breakfast the next day (Sunday), we all got ready and headed to the "Wald-Abenteuer Kletterpark" (Forest-Adventure Climbing Park). We had a short instruction session in which we learned how navigate a few of the common obstacles in the park, as well as to clip and unclip our various harnesses to the different contraptions. After that, we were on our own in the park for the next 4 hours. The park consists of a practice course (the one we did with the instructor), 5 normal courses (each including ending with a zipline), and a mega zipline that is 450 meters long!! Thats over a quarter of a mile! The courses get harder as the numbers get higher, so we decided to start with the first one, and complete them in order. The first couple were pretty simple, but by the time we got to the 4th course, things got really intense. One by one, we attached our harnesses to the ropes and climbed up the rope ladder to a 30-foot-high platform. Then, one by one, we took turns clipping our harnesses into some sort of bungee-type contraption and *jumping* off the edge of the platform. Yep, that's right, I jumped off a 30 foot high platform. The aforementioned bungee contraption was somehow designed to allow one to free fall approximately 10 feet, before swinging another 10 feet or so parallel to the ground, and then into a giant net thing. Standing on the platform right before jumping was extremely terrifying, but it turned out to be really awesome!
The Mega Zipline - 450 meters.
It took 28 seconds to get across.
Kletter!
On Monday morning, I took a really nice (and quick) walk along the Ahr to downtown Bad Neuenahr. We decided to call it "Power Tourismus", which basically means that we quickly walked to whatever looked interesting, looked at it for under a minute, and then walked quickly to something else. It was a good way to see a lot of stuff in a short amount of time! We only had about 15 minutes downtown (keep in mind that this is a really small downtown), but I think we saw pretty much all of the important sites! Of course having longer times to explore is always better, but a little time is always better than nothing!
October 12th-14th: Karlsruhe, Baden Württemberg
After leaving Bad Neuenahr at about 10 am, we started our drive to Karlsruhe. After about 2 and a half hours, we arrived at my host family's grandparent's house just in time for lunch! We had pumpkin soup (which was really amazing!!) with some great fresh bread. Shortly after we were done eating, everyone got ready to go collect walnuts. When I say we collected walnuts, I really mean we collected walnuts...like a lot of them. All together (there were 6 of us) I think we got at least 7 huge bags full. The walk was really pretty (rolling hills, open fields, country roads...you get the idea). We also got to see a little kapelle (chapel) out in the country which was pretty cool.
The next day (Tuesday), we went into the nearby city of Karlsruhe in the morning. It was absolutely beautiful, despite the fact that Karlsruhe is currently in the process of getting an U-Bahn System, so it is really dug up. My favorite things to see were the Karlsruhe Schloss and the Turmberg (tower hill). That afternoon, my host family members were all busy with various things, so I decided to take a walk on my own and look for a geocache. I intended to walk the same way that we had gone the day before, but due to some road construction I ended up going a different way. I looked for a route on google maps, and the way I ended up going was a really nice trail through a bunch of green fields. I did find my way back, and just in time for some yummy cookies and tea too! That night we had dinner with other family members and I got to meet my very nice host cousin, aunt, and uncle.
Karlsruhe Schloss
October 14th-16th: Bamberg, Bayern
Now onto my favorite of places we visited...BAMBERG!!! Due to traffic on the way there and some stops along the way, we didn't arrive in Bamberg until after 4 pm. We arrived at the youth hostel that we were going to be saying at, and my great aunt (Tante Lise) arrived there shortly after to meet us. From there, we started walking towards the downtown, but first stopped at the tourist info center to sign up for a night tour that we'd be participating in later that night. After that was taken care of, Tante Lise started showing us around the beautiful downtown area. Honestly, I'm quite sure that Bamberg is the most beautiful place I've ever seen. From the historic riverside houses to the thousand year old Bamberger Dom to the historic Rathaus, everything about the city seems like it comes from a fairy tale. As we walked, I had a really great time talking to Tante Lise about growing up in Bamberg with my Oma, and the times that my Oma, Opa, Dad, and Aunt came came back to visit. Having a local to show us around was really cool, and getting to know my great aunt that I've sent letters back and forth with for years was even better! For dinner, we went to a traditional Bavarian restaurant called "Alt Ringlein". I had a sampler of Bamberger and Nürnberger Bratwursts, with a side of sauerkraut and bread. It was very, very yummy, and very, very Bayrisch! At 9:00, we met in front of the information center for the night tour. Our tour guide was dressed in some type of traditional historic outfit, and was carrying a lantern. I didn't understand the entire tour (my host family said that this guy was speaking a pretty strong dialect, so I maybe I sort of have an excuse, haha) but I got parts of it for sure, and everything that I understood was really interesting! The tour was supposed to last an hour, but it actually went a while longer. By the time it was over, we said goodbye to Tante Lise and then pretty much just went right to bed.
With Tante Lise (Bamberger Dom in background)
Altes Rathaus (Old City Hall)
Bamberger Dom by night
The next day, Thursday, was our full day in Bamberg! We started out the day by checking out the inside of the Bamberger Dom, which is the church that my Oma and Opa got married in. We also went to the nearby rose gardens, which sort of reminded me of the rose gardens in Portland, OR. :) The rest of our morning was spent exploring the city and finding all kinds of cool places, taking pictures, and also a little bit of shopping. I got a winter scarf and hat at C & A because it turned out that Bamberg was a little colder than NRW typically is. In the afternoon, we hiked up the hill to the Saint Michaelsberg Kloster (an old monastery from 1121). Unfortunately the inside was temporarily closed for restoration, but the outside was absolutely amazing. After that, we went back into downtown and I found my 1,000th geocache. The title was "Bis sum bittern Ende", which means "To the Bitter End". Before dinner, I ended up doing some fast walking/power tourismus. We had dinner that night at the same place, but this time I got Kasespätzle, which is a southern German noodle dish made from eggs and cheese. Sehr lecker!
Inside the Bamberger Dom
Antother pic inside the Dom
Alte Hofhaltung & Bamberger Dom
Kloster Saint Michelsberg
Dinner at Alt Ringlein
On Friday, before starting our journey home, we went to visit the Altenburg, which is a castle on the highest hill in Bamberg. It was a touch foggy, but the view was amazing, and the castle was stunning. I especially enjoyed seeing it because I've heard my dad talk about how it was one of his favorite places to visit in Bamberg when he lived there for a year with his family. After that, we headed to the part of Bamberg where my grandma was born. We saw her childhood house, and also found the gravestones of my great grandparents. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity for this.
My Herbst Ferien was absolutely amazing, and now only 8 more weeks until Weihnachtsferien (Christmas break).
In front of the Altenburg.
Altenburg
View of Bamberg from the castle
Here's my youtube video of the entire fall vacation, including everything described in this post and the last one!
In the past 2 weeks, I've gotten to go to the beautiful city of Köln twice! I'm pretty sure I could go to that city every week and never get tired of it. The two trips were completely different, but both amazing in their own ways.
The first trip was with my Kunst (Art) class on Thursday, September 24th. After arriving at the Köln Hbf (the always-bustling arrival point for pretty much any great day in Köln), we sat down in front of the Kölner Dom to draw a portion of the cathedral. Unfortunately we only had 10 minutes to complete this task, so my drawing came out far from perfect. Lets just say that speed-drawing isn't exactly my forte. :P
From there, we walked a bit through the busy shopping district, before arriving at the Käthe Kollwitz Museum. Käthe Kollwitz was a German artist who documented war in the first half of the 20th century through painting, sculpture, and print making. We visited this museum because we have been studying art in the time of war. We had a guided tour of the museum, but unfortunately I did't understand everything that was said because it was all in very fast German. We also visited another church of the Romanic style. We had the same task, to draw a portion of the church, but this time we only had 5 minutes. I probably would have needed at least 25 minutes to draw it...if not 45. Oh well, I did my best. Once we made it back to the vicinity of the Kölner Dom, we had about 20 minutes to explore on our own before heading back to school. I ended up going to Starbucks with a couple girls from my class. Let me tell you that if you think Starbucks is expensive in America (which is kind of is), never try going to a Starbucks in Germany. I'm pretty sure the prices were close to twice as high.
So, now onto the second trip to Köln. The one that was pretty much as far from similar to the prior trip as it possibly could be, but also absolutely amazing in it's own way. This trip took place from October 3rd to the 4th, with the main activity being a party put on by my exchange organization (GIVE) for returnees and current inbound students.
I left the house by bike at approximately 10:40 am, in order to make my 11:06 train. I rode for 3 minutes (one stop..yes, just one stop) and then got off at the next station. Due to a complicated situation with living right near the border of two different transportation districts, my train ticket to Köln was significantly cheaper by getting off there, buying a different ticket, waiting 30 minutes, and then getting on the next train. I was actually happy to do this though because I got to see a cute little town that I hadn't been to yet. It was a national holiday (German Reunification Day), so all the shops were closed, but it was still absolutely adorable.
Starbucks by the Dom. :)
By 12:16, I arrived at the Köln Hbf, which was as busy as ever. I had been texting some of the other CBYXers that would be arriving in Köln for the weekend, and we planned to meet in front of McDonald's, because none of us could think of any other landmarks in the hbf. Well that turned out to be a sort of bad idea, because upon arrival I realized that there's more than one McDonalds in the train station. After a little confusion, and 5 or so minutes of texting back and forth, Ashley and I found each other. We waited for about 30 minutes until a whole bunch more people arrived, and then we all headed to the U-Bahn stop. It turned out that in addition to the group of us from the Düsseldorf language camp that planned to travel to the youth hostel together, a couple of the Aachen language camp CBYXers coincidentally joined us. :)
When we got to off the U-bahn, we realized that none of us really knew where to go. In the end, we decided to follow a group of other teenagers and hope that they were going there. Luckily it turned out that they were all German exchange student returnees who were going to the party, so following them worked out well. I couldn't believe how many people were in the lobby of the youth hostel when we got there. I have no idea number wise, but it felt like a never-ending sea of people standing shoulder to shoulder waiting to check in. Once we finally made it to the front of the line (well not really line, but you get the idea), we signed a couple of papers and got our name tags and room keys. I got to share a room with 3 of my amazing friends from language camp, so that worked out really well!
Eventually, once everyone had arrived and gotten settled into their rooms, we all decided to go take a little walk and explore the area. First, all of us Americans started out as one giant group. Eventually we broke into smaller groups, and so Alida, Ashley, Brianna, Jonathan and I ended up walking across a bridge over the Rhine to find gelato. We nearly got run over by bikes while attempting to make a vlog, but luckily we jumped out of the way just in time. :P In honor of the werbung (advertisement) that Alida and I made for "Kinder Bueno" Chocolate during our first week of language camp, I decided to get Kinder Bueno gelato.
No idea what this is for, but it was fun to take pics with. :)
Gelato!
The beautiful Rhine.
When you attempt to take a selfie in front of the Rhine with 5 people. :P
Another pic by the Rhine. :)
Once we finally made it back to the hostel, we sat outside with a bunch of our other language camp friends for about half an hour before going inside for dinner. Now, you may be thinking, since this was an event made up of about 90% German returnee students, that we were spending an awful lot of time with just Americans. Well in the dinner line, a few of us got talking to a couple of really nice German girls (Shoutout to Eva and Leonie, you guys are awesome)! and we ended up sitting with them for dinner. We did our best to speak German with them, despite the fact that they speak pretty much perfect English. They even helped us learn a few new words! We talked so much with them that our group ended up being the last ones in the dining hall...oops!
Dinner buddies :)
At this point we headed back to our room, and decided that it'd be a great idea to shut the curtains and attempt to take a 20 minute power nap before the party. I don't think anyone slept, but it did feel nice to rest for a bit. Just after 8:00, we headed downstairs to find the party. Not much was going on when we got there, but it got going pretty quickly. The rest of the night was spent dancing, talking, taking sporadic breaks to go play cards, and having an overall amazing time. We were also lucky enough to meet and get to know Katharina, another amazing German returnee student who spent last year in the U.S. :)
Exchange student party!
Group pics at the party. <3
On Sunday, we had to check out by 9:00 am, and breakfast went until 9:30. We got to sit again with Eva, Leonie, and Katharina, which was really nice. At 10 or so, I headed out with Alida, Jonathan, and Katharina to explore Cologne until we all needed to leave. We went by U-bahn from the hostel to some place a little closer to downtown, and then we walked around for a while with no real plan of where to go. We ended up getting to see part of the Köln Marathon, which was really cool. We were all reasonably tired, so we ended up deciding to go to a cafe, buy some tea and pastries, and sit down to play cards for a bit. After this we walked around some more before heading back to the area of the Dom and Hbf. As I was attempting to use my gorilla pod to set up my camera with a timer, to take a photo of the four of us with some sort of big sculpture/modern art thing, a whole bunch of the other CBYXers that had been at the party walked up. It was great to see them again, and a bonus was that they could take some pictures for us! We walked with them towards the Rhine for a bit, and ended up stopping to watch a guy making all kinds of interesting bubbles.
Set up the camera on a sculpture to take this photo!
Sculpture? Modern art?
Miss them already. <3
Bubbles!
That's all for this post! Hopefully sometime soon I'll find the time to post about everything else I've been doing. :) Right now I'm already on a two week vacation from school. How cool is that?!?
