Dana's Deutsches Abenteuer: Herbst Ferien

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).