Winding Down

Only one more week left in Germany and I am not wanting to go home! My family left yesterday and is flying home as I type right now.  I did not get much internet access while in hotels so I plan to catch you up now! 

The rest of Paris was an unbelievable thing! We went to see the Louvre with a private tour guide! I imagined the Mona Lisa as much bigger than it really was.  But the things we saw where just breathtaking! We then took the rest of day two to see the gardens at the Louvre and then wander around on our own.  That night, we went back to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up at night and the light show.  The third day, we then saw the Palace of Versailles.  The Hall of Mirrors was my favorite room and the gardens just seemed to go on for forever! We also bought some great macaroons and they were delicious! 

We then flew back to Germany that afternoon and drove to Bonn.  Here, we stayed in a castle.  The castle was so neat and it was cool to look out a window and see another wing of the castle.  That night, we ate at the restaurant in the castle and it was an outstanding meal! I ordered wolf fish and it was sooo good! We then got to wander around the castle the next morning before we left.

That morning after touring the castle, we drove on to Cologne.  Our reason for stopping here was the Cologne Dom and my oh my it was so big! I knew it was the largest church in Germany but I was not expecting just how big it really was.  The architecture on the outside was just magnificent! The inside was just as beautiful too but my favorite part was the outside! We then ate lunch in a restaraunt across the street from the Dom.  Our next and last stop in Cologne was the chocolate museum! It showed how and where chocolate is grown and how it is processed.  We got to see a real production line and watch people make chocolate in front of us! We left the gift shop with too much chocolate that day!

That afternoon we headed to Muden.  Our hotel here was also a winery and it was right on the Mosel River.  Behind the hotel we could see the grape vines and it was such a neat sight. We ate out on the patio that night and tried the wine from their vineyards.  

The next morning, we drove to the castle Burg Eltz.  We decided to park closer and take the "short" walk to the castle.  This walk was supposed to take ten minutes and it ended up more like 30 minutes down and 40 minutes up because of the steep grade of the hill.  It was a hard to walk down at some moments because of how steep it really was.  The castle itself was settled in the middle of all this huge hills and had a moat around it.  The tour guide was very knowledgeable and his English was understandable! 

We then left Burg Eltz to head to Liewen which was on the Mosel River as well.  We stopped at St. Urbans Hof winery for a wine tasting.  Most of their grapes surrounded us while we were in Liewen and each wine we tasted was a Riesling.  I was so surprised at how different each Riesling tasted! Each one had a different scent and aftertaste and they were all so good that we bought 7 bottles to bring home! 

Then we drove to Trier and checked into our hotel for the night.  We saw the Trier museum and the outside of Porta Nigra that night and ate dinner at Krocodile.  I ordered schnitzel caprese and it was schnitzel covered in mozzarella and tomatoes and it was excellent! The next day, we took a tram/train tour of the city.  We got to see the old Roman baths, the city walls, and churches.  We then went into Porta Nigra and walked around the oldest city gate.  

After Trier, we drove to Stuttgart and toured the Porsche museum.  Oh my goodness I have never seen so many Porsches in one place in my life! It was amazing to learn the history of how Porsche began and the history of the racing of some of the cars.  My favorite was the Pink Pig which was a race car that looked like a pig so much that they painted it pink on race day so that it could truly be called the Pink Pig.  We then continued walking around downtown Stuttgart and saw the old and new palaces and ate a fantastic dinner.

The next day, we starting driving through the Black Forest.  It is just so beautiful and unthinkable how big it really is.  Halfway through, we stopped in Triberg.  This town is known for its cuckoo clocks and boy were there tons of them! I did not end up buying a clock, since I got one during my high school trip, but I did end up getting a watch while there!  We then ate lunch at an Italian restaurant and then went to see the largest waterfall in Germany.  

After that, we continued driving on to Fussen.  On the way we saw cows that actually had bells so dad pulled off the road so I could take pictures of them! They were so cute when their bells rang!  We then arrived in Hohenschwangau at our hotel and it was so cool.  From our hotel balcony, we could see the Hohenschwangau Palace and from our dinner table and breakfast table in the restaurant at the hotel, we could see Schloss Neuschwanstein! These castles are just so beautiful! It really is a fairy tale experience and it was just so awesome to see for a second time and with my family.  

After touring both castles the next day and wandering around the small town we left for Munich.  Once in Munich, it took us quite a while to find the hotel.  After getting there, we rested for a while and then made our way to the Marienplatz.  Once there, David came to meet us and go to dinner with us! It was so good to see him after so many months of him being in Germany.  We found our way to the Hofbrauhaus and we all enjoyed a good meal and great liter beers!  Later that night David and I found our way to an Austrailian bar and I enjoyed a Snake Bite beer while we caught up.  

Yesterday, the family and I went to the top Munich sights.  We saw the Frauenkirche, St. Peters Church,   Heiligiest Church, vitualienmarkt (a market where you could buy practically any food you wish) and the Glockenspiel.  We saw the Glockenspiel play at 11am and it was so neat to see again. After a great lunch at the Marienplatz and more beer, the family drove me to my hotel up in north Munich near David's apartment.  They dropped me off and we all said our goodbyes.  They then headed off to Frankfurt for their flight this morning.  For dinner, I was lucky enough to be invited by David's boss/mentor to his home to join their plans with other students who work at BMW with David.   The night was really awesome and it was interesting to hear the Bavarian dialect in a more personal conversation.  We ate so much and the entire table was full of so much food.  There were sausage balls, potato salad, pasta salad, pork, grilled mozzarella and tomatoes, bread, and a cheese platter. We had beer and wine and it was a great night of conversation! 

Right now I am waiting for David to get off work so we can go sight seeing this afternoon.  David then has the next week off so we can travel to Innsbruck and he can use his vacation days.

While talk again when I have internet! Thanks for reading!

Paris Day 1

I never imagined that the city of Paris was this big! Big does not even describe Paris precisely!  Today, we had an early start and had a tour of Paris!  It was a tour by van from this private tour company and it was just our family and one other family on the tour.  Our tour guide, Pablo, drove us around to all the top sites within Paris.  We got to stop at the Cathedral of Notre Dame first.  It was such amazing architecture! To see this site in person was just so inspiring! It was just so neat to see in person and not on tv! We then drove around some of the Roman ruins and Roman baths.  From there, we saw so many things, and to be honest, all the French names run together for me.  I am so used to being able to understand at least a word or two here or there and now I just feel completely lost! French words just all sound the same to me.  Our next stop was part of the city at the very top the hill at the top of town.  It was a wonderful site to get a glimpse at just how big the city is.  It had a wonderful artist square in which you could purchase paintings or have a painting done of yourself.  If you think American hagglers are bad though, come to Paris.  I got asked 10 times within 2 minutes if I wanted my picture drawn, all by different artists, and if you don't walk away quick enough then they will start drawing and then charge you.  

Then we headed to see the Louvre from the outside.  We then drove around the Arc de Triumph and got great pictures!   Our last stop was the Eiffel Tower! We had express passes to get to the first floor that included lunch.  We ate at the restaurant on the first level and had formal "picnic lunch".  After the first level, we moved on to the second and then eventually the third level, the very top! The top was well worth the wait! I felt on top of the world looking out at this monstrous city sprawled out in front of me! It was so breathtaking! The photo opportunities were amazing! 

We then took an hour tour by boat on the river! We saw the sites from a different angle from the water.  We rode under 22 bridges and each one was beautiful! The views of the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame were amazing from the water.  After this tour, Pablo picked us back up and drove us back to our hotel.  This tour was a great overview of Paris and very time efficient. 

We got back to the hotel around 5:40pm and decided we would rest a little bit before heading out for dinner.  After browsing the local cafes, we finally decided on a restaurant and had a fantastic dinner.  I had a French cheeseburger with local French cheese melted on it and it was amazing! After dinner, we stopped at Haagen Daas and got ice cream that we took back to the hotel to eat! 

I am currently loading my photos from the past two days onto my computer and working on bought internet time so my time to write here is limited! Tomorrow, we start the day off with a private tour of the Louvre and then have the rest of the day to do whatever we saw yesterday that we want to see more in depth or go to more museums.  The day is up in the air and we will figure it out as we go.  We are expecting rain tomorrow so the museums are sounding pretty good! 

Till tomorrow! 

Volkswagen Heaven!

Let me start by saying that my family made it safely to Germany this past Saturday! We went out to a low key dinner Saturday and I showed them Lueneburg on Sunday.  Sunday night we drove about 2 hours to Wolfsburg, Germany.  

Wolfsburg is home to Autostadt (Volkswagen's headquarters and main factories)! This place is a as big as the eye can see! If it helps to imagine how big it is, it has two power plants powering it! The famous towers are a holding area for cars that buyers are going to pick up and it looks like a candy machine.  A lift takes cars up and down to their respective spots within the towers. We got to experience a tour of this and while touring we sat in a glass box that represented a "car" going up into a spot.  It was awesome to see the view of the factory from the top of these towers! 

Next, we made our way to the factory tour.  We loaded on to a tram and were driven over to the factory part.  Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos.  We saw the plant for the VW Golf and Golf Plus.  Seeing the car get put together from the body to the engine was amazingly cool! The marriage was the best part! This is when they take the engine and bottom of the car and attach it to the body! 

After our time in Wolfsburg, we made the 3 hour drive to Frankfurt and caught a flight to Paris! 

Bremen

Yesterday I took a day trip to Bremen.  This trip was originally supposed to be a trip organized by my study abroad program but they canceled it last minute.  So I decided to still go since the train ride was free with my student ID.


So I took off around 9am and relaxed on the two hour train ride to Bremen.  Once there I went to the tourist office to get a map of the city and some information on tours and various things to do.  No English tours are given on the weekends so I did a walking tour that my teacher gave me of places to see on your own.  I started by seeing Die Stadtmusikanten (Town Musicians) which portrays the donkey, dog, cat and rooster of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale.  

Then I moved onto another statue of the city's protector, Roland, with his view against the Cathedral and bearing Durendart, the "sword of justice" and a shield decorated with an imperial eagle.

Then I moved onto the cathedral which was under construction so you couldn't see most of the detail. I then moved on to the Schnoor quarter.  This was my favorite part of the city.  It is the part of town where the goldsmiths and crafters used to work and live and still have shops.  Some of these streets were so narrow that you had to turn sideways to walk through and people could only go one at a time. These shops were fantastic and I wish some of the things could have been smaller so I could have fit them in my suitcase! I did come across a fantastic Christmas decoration shop and bought the cutest handmade birds for my Christmas tree and mom's.


I then made my way back to the city center for lunch at the Beck's restaurant.  It was only fitting since the Becks brewery is in Bremen.

Bremen was a really cool small town and perfect for a day trip!

SaLu Spa

I decided to indulge myself while in the Salt City capital of Germany! I had heard so many good things about the salt spa in town that I decided to take advantage of a free day and hit up the spa.  Boy am I glad I did!

I made appointments the day before for a massage and a Softpack Thalasso treatment.  When I got there on Friday I decided I wanted to add another treatment, the Flotarium treatment, because how many times am I going to get to come here? So the very nice woman at the desk informed me for twenty dollars less I could get all three treatments, with a longer massage, and a full day ticket to the saunas and the pools, and a ticket for a free lunch at the sauna bar.  I was given a robe and told to go on back to the spa.

I headed back and changed into my spa and put all my belongings in a locker. I walked to the spa area and immediately felt relaxed due to the light music and surroundings.  I was greeted by a receptionist and told to follow her to my massage.  I had a male masseuse and felt very uncomfortable at first being naked in a all nude spa but eventually got used to it.  The massage felt like heaven and I completely understand why some people get them frequently.  I then headed off to the Eucalyptus Sauna.  It had Eucalyptus oil being infused with the steam and the smell assaults you when you first walk in because it is so strong.  After a couple minutes though the smell goes away.  It felt wonderful to sit in the heat! I then showered and made my way to my next treatment which was my Softpack Thalasso treatment.  Boy was this a treat! The woman took a paintbrush and "painted" this detoxifying clay all over my body.  I was then told to lay on this table.  She then covered my from shoulders to feet with a piece of plastic.  Then I was cocooned in more plastic and then again in heavier plastic.  She then asked if I was ready and after I said yes she pushed a button and the bottom of the table dropped out from underneath me.  The "tub" then began to fill with water and I was surrounded by water (the plastic on top of me was part of the bed as well).  It was a weird feeling to be completely weightless  while not touching water.  The water was warm and the clay smelled really good and it was only a matter of time before I fell into a deep relaxation and even fell asleep for a few minutes.  When my 30 minutes were up I washed off the clay and was sad that the treatment was over.

I then treated myself to the free lunch at the sauna bar. I got a salad with lots of veggies and a good vinaigrette dressing and fresh squeezed orange juice.  It felt refreshing to eat a meal without bread included in it.

I then headed to the Bio Sauna which was just as nice as the Eucalyptus sauna.  It had panels of warped blue plastic with blue lights behind it that mimicked a waterfall.  There were also lights on the opposite wall that put colored tints on the sauna.  It changed between blue, red, yellow, and green.  There was also tropical rain forest music playing on the speakers.  It was very relaxing.

Then I headed to my last treatment, the Flotarium.  It was my favorite treatment but they were all so amazing! I was taken to a room with a big sea shell bath tub in it.  It is easier to show you than try to describe this so look below at the picture.

The tub is filled up with salt water that is saltier than the Dead Sea.  The top of the sea shell closes when you get in.  You feel like you are in a different world once the stars lights are turned on on the lid of the shell.  You could not sink even if you wanted to which made the experience so delightful.  There was no effort to stay afloat and the underwater music was very soothing while looking at the stars.  This treatment last 30 minutes as well and time went by way too fast!

After all my treatments I headed over to the outdoor pool to soak in some sun.  After that my day at the spa was completed and I headed home very relaxed!!!!

Hamburger Kunsthalle

Today I had a fieldtrip to Hamburg to visit their art museum.  For my Survey of Art class I had to pick an era of art that I wanted to learn more about and give a presentation on it.  I choose Expressionism and did my presentation in class this past Monday.  Today we went to the Kunsthalle (art museum) to see the works of artists that we have been talking about for the past few weeks in class.  We saw everything from early Romanticism to Impressionism, Realism, Surrealism, Cubism, Expressionism, and Neo-Classicism.  It was a wonderful experience.

I have absolutely fallen in love with the Expressionist works of art.  They are so vivid and emotionally challenging.  They dare the viewer to come up with their own story behind to picture or images.

I am lucky enough to say I got to see artists such as Picasso and Van Gogh today!


Here is an early Van Gogh:

The next two pieces are by my favorite expressionist painter, Edward Munch:

Here is a painting by Picasso (my favorite of his several pieces of work on display today):

And here is a sculpture by Picasso:

This was a great experience and I am glad I got to see these painters works! I am even more excited for the Louvre in France now to see some more popular works!

London

Fellow followers:

I want to apologize for the lack of blog posts lately! With homework and exploring I have been so busy that the blog took the back burner to everything else.

This past weekend I took a wonderful trip to London! It was such a beautiful sight and the history was awesome! We visited the Tower of London, London Bridge, Big Ben, the parliament buildings, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, The National Gallery, and The Museum of Natural History.  Getting to all of these places via the London Tube was an interesting experience.  The Tube consisted of what felt like millions of stairs and escalators that never ended! Needless to say this caused foot pain in both me and my fellow travelers! 

When Amanda and I first arrived in London we met up with Nate, who had already been in London for a day, and tried to find the hostel.  Even though we were back in our native language, we were so confused by the maps and roads that it took us two hours to find the hostel!  We took a short nap since we woke up at 4am to fly to London and then were on our way! The first day we mainly walked around looking at sights.  First up was Big Ben and then it was followed by Parliament and Westminster Abbey from the outside.  Then, we made our way to the National Gallery and saw the great works of Ruebens and Van Gogh among other artists.  This was a great break from being outside in the sun and gave us a chance to see some absolutely amazing art work!  After this, we decided to head over to river to see all the monuments lit up at night.  It was amazing to see Big Ben lit up! 

The second day, we all toured the Tower of London and learned the history of the castle.  We also got to see the Crown Jewels exhibit of all of the jewels of the royal families throughout the years and then got to see an exhibit named Fit for a King which showed us all the types of armor that knights wore. Then, Amanda and I headed to Westminster Abbey to take a tour.  Nate did this the day before so he did his own thing while we were there.  I really wish I could have taken photos so that I could show you all how absolutely wonderful it was on the inside.  It was breathtakingly stunning and there was so much history there! I never knew that great writers and artists were buried here, such as Shakespeare and Bach. The ornateness of the pillars and the ceilings were so pretty I could only just stand and stare in awe of the beauty.  We then moved on to the London Eye where we took a 30 minute ride on the huge ferris wheel like machine.  I got amazing panoramic photos of the monuments below and enjoyed the relaxing ride.  

The last day, Amanda and I headed for Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard.  I was kind of disappointed with the changing of the guard just because there were hundreds of thousands of people there to see it and we couldn't see anything.  We could hear the band and catch a glimpse of the guards every now and then but only from a camera raised above everyone else's heads.  We also couldn't tour the Palace due to construction while the Queen is gone.  We then headed over to a shopping area and got to visit the famous Harrod's department store.  It was full of Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Jimmy Choo and so many other brands I couldn't even afford to try on! So we left there and shopped the much cheaper yet stores. Due to tired feet we actually took a break and went to see a movie while in London.  We saw Robin Hood and enjoyed every minute of it! It was a much needed break for our feet.

We then stayed at a hotel by the airport overnight and were up bright and early at 4am again to catch our flight home on Monday morning.  

The trip was an amazing opportunity and I am very grateful for being able to go! I can now say that I've "minded the gap" and had a pint in London! 

Hamburg

Let's just say that I was blown away by my visit to Hamburg! My train ride there cost me absolutely nothing because of my student ID so that was a great way to start off the trip! I also decided to take this weekend to travel by myself and discover just how independent I can be.

I left early Friday morning from Luneburg and headed north! I talked to the woman at the information desk in the train station and got my public transportation card and learned how to get to my hotel.  Once I checked into my room I realized just how lucky I got with the location and actual hotel room.  It was an amazing room and I didn't want to leave! I headed out to find the location of the docks for the canal tour I booked and found an amazing street for shopping along the way.  It had everything from Gucci to Tiffany's and I was in heaven window shopping! Once I found my way to the harbor I realized I was there quite early so I roamed around to pass the time.  In roaming around I found the St. Petri Church which had amazing stained glass and expansive copulas.

Finally it was time for the canal tour and boy did I get my money's worth! It was two hours of pure delight of experiencing some of the most expensive homes of Hamburg that are only accessible to the public by waterway.  We also got the see the lake that is home to 12 sailing clubs.  It was all so gorgeous and I can't pick just one photo to put in this blog to sum up the entire tour so you will just have to go to my photos and check them all out!

Afterwards, I headed to the Planten und Blumen (flower park) and wandered around and also got to see the tv tower.  I then stopped for lunch at a great German restaurant and had some wonderful wiener schnitzel and ice cream that came in a Donald Duck mug that I got to keep.

I topped the day off with a performance of the Lion King and it was fantastic! I had to take a ferry ride to get there and then once I was across the harbor I got to relax and take in all the sites from across the water.  I understood about 3/4 of the Lion King (it was in German) and so I was proud of myself for understanding as much as I did.

The next day I had the luxury of sleeping in and then heading out on the town for another day of great sightseeing!  I started the day off with the St. Nikolai Memorial which was a church that was bombed in WWII and left up as a memorial of the war.  It has a tower that has great observation decks so I rode the elevator up to the top for some pretty awesome photos! Next, I made my way to the Chilehaus which is a building shaped to look like the mast of a ship and it looks awesome! It is also the sharpest point in all of Europe.  (The Chilehaus is the photo below.)

After that I found the St. Jacobi Church and was blown away by how boring the church looks from the outside but how pretty it was inside.  It had a calm feeling about it and so I sat here for a good 20 minutes just taking in the beauty of the church.

Saturday was a bit of a challenge for wandering around the city because the worlds largest triathlon was being held in Hamburg that day.  This meant that a lot of the streets were blocked off for the running and biking routes.  After some trial and error I finally managed to get around the paths and find my way to the Rathaus and was amazed at the sheer size and ornateness of the government building.  Unfortunately I would have had to have waited three hours for an English speaking tour so I decided to walk around on my own for a bit and then move on.

My last stop for the day was the St. Michaelis Church which was my favorite place of the entire weekend! I could tell from the outside that the church had no stained glass and I was kind of disappointed because I am falling in love with stained glass.  However, when I got inside I was greeted by the most magnificent view that I forgave the architect for leaving out stained glass windows.  I realized that the stained glass windows would have totally ruined the inside and been a big mistake.  When you walk in you are kind of blinded at first by the sheer brightness of all the white in the church.  It feels almost heaven-like with all the bright light coming in from the windows and the white and gold leafed walls on the upper balcony.  I felt so overcome with emotion in this church and wished we had churches this beautiful in the U.S. Now, tell me that this is not the most beautiful church you have ever seen.... and the organ is amazing!

My weekend was an awesome one in Hamburg and I am really looking forward to London on Friday.  I can't wait to tell you all about London and the adventures I will have!

Lubeck and Travemunde

Two weekends ago I went and to Lubeck and Travemunde.  Wow! Just wow! Lubeck is a hanseatic city of Northern Germany which Luneburg shipped salt to.  The salt was then sent from there through the Baltic Sea to around the world.  Lubeck is absolutely beautiful and was a great experience.  We took a walking tour which was interesting because the woman who gave the tour didn't know much English and walked very slow.  But we saw very many cool things like the churches of the town and the music school.  The music school had very neat architecture and was spread out over several buildings.  They also had a neat piece of music that I found very hilarious posted to the bulletin board.

I know my brother personally would not like this song! Haha!

After the music school we headed to the hospital which was surprisingly very pretty.  The entrance seemed like a church but when you walked in further you could see the tiny rooms that people could rent out as apartments.  People who got to stay here were privileged lower class citizens and they had to live by the house rules.  Next, we moved on to the town hall building and then to my favorite stop... Niedregger! Oh my lord the birthplace of marzipan! There were so many different sizes and shapes of marzipan that my head was spinning! It all looked so beautiful and too artistic to eat.  I made sure to buy enough for the people I love back home and I know they will be giddy when they see what I brought them back!

Then we moved onto Travemunde.... oh my goodness! The beach was absolutely magnificent! It seemed like a picture from a postcard.

The wicker basket huts were so gorgeous that I pitched in with another girl from the group and we rented one for the time we were there.  It was so nice to be at a beautiful beach with the sun shining and not a cloud in the sky and be in the shade yet still be in on the action.  I wish the U.S. had these huts! They are amazing!

Seeing other cities is an awesome experience while here! I am learning to take in all the history of every city that I can.  Each place is a new and exciting adventure that gets better than the last!

Learning My Way...

After being here for a little over a week I am starting to learn many things.  Public transportation has always scared me for some unknown reason.  However, being here in Lüneburg has made me face that fear and I am learning to love public transportation! I especially like that I get to just sit back and relax and enjoy the scenery and not have to be on alert while driving.  I am also starting to learn to enjoy every detail of the architecture in this beautiful town! Being here makes me feel like I have transported back in time.  The buildings, churches, and the view of the restaurants on the river are absolutely magnificent! I am going to miss the absolute beauty of Lüneburg when I return to Ohio.  Never in the United States will you find a place anywhere near as beautiful as here! 


I am also begining to fall into a pattern since moving here.  Remembering that businesses close early and that people start eating gelato at ten in the morning are just some things that I have gotten used to.  I am thankful for the gelato as a way to cool down during these very hot (over 90 degrees and very humid) days! 


I am learning to enjoy time by myself and learning new things.  Every day is an adventure here.  Whether it is trying to communicate with a locals or figuring out a map, I am learning to trust my instincts more.  This weekend will be a great indicator of how my instincts are.  I will be heading to Hamburg by myself for an overnight trip.  I am scared and nervous at the same time! What if I get lost? What if something goes wrong? I keep asking myself these things and trying to think of every possible scenario but I have finally decided that I can't waste time thinking of these things and I need to just go and have fun! If things don't work out then I'll play it by ear and figure it out as I go! I plan on seeing The Lion King while in Hamburg and am so excited to see my favorite Disney movie and Broadway ever! 


I will update you on Hamburg when I get back! 

Beautiful Town

During this last week, I started to realize just how beautiful this town really it.  It may be on the smaller side but that is just fine with me.  There is all the shopping I could possibly want (everything from H&M to a department store) and it is all so gorgeous.  Back home, everything has new architecture and new facades all blend together..  Here, the charm of the old architecture is just breath taking!

This picture was taken from Am Sande.  It is of some store fronts and St. Johannis Church in the background. Isn't this beautiful? And if that's not enough, the entire town looks this beautiful.

The first week of classes went well.  My German course is going to be interesting since I am the only student in the class.  It is more like having a private tutor and my professor realized I know more German than the Survivor German course teaches so she bumped up the level.  My Cold War course is going to be challenging because of the amount of detail and so will my Survey of Art course.  The art course though is much more interesting than learning about war.

Today, the group hiked up to the top of this rather large hill and took aerial photos of the town.  It was an exhausting hike up the hill and stairs but the view was well worth it!

After this adventure, we decided that 90 degree weather was to hot to just sit around so we headed to the Freibad (the pool).  There are two pools, a lap pool and a kids pool with a slide.  The slide was so much fun and the water was so nice and cold! 

Tomorrow, I am headed to Luebeck and Travemuende.  I am excited to finally see a beach with the wicker basket huts which you sit in to shade yourself!

Lots of Action

I realize it has been quite a while since my last post.  I apologize for this and will make it up to you with this very long post!

My first time traveling by myself proved to be somewhat of an adventure.  Mom and dad dropped me off at the Dayton airport and I made it successfully through security and found my way to the gate.  The plane was due to board in about 15 minutes so I went to buy a bottle of water and find a bathroom.  I made my way back to the gate to be greeted by a sign that said my flight was delayed an hour.  The American Airlines people told me to go to the gate desk to get a new flight because I would miss my connecting flight to Chicago.  Then, while standing in line, the Chicago airport shut down completely due to a lightening storm.  All I could think was "Great... my first trip by myself and I won't even get to JFK to make it to Berlin".  I called mom and dad and luckily they hadn't gone too far so they started calling airlines while I was at the gate desk getting someone there to look up flights as well.  Dad found a direct flight to JFK from Cincinnati and we booked it at the front desk of the Dayton airport while waiting for me to get my luggage back from the plane.  Mom and dad then drove me all the way down to the Cincinnati airport for my flight from there. My flight was once again delayed, however I had plenty of time to catch my next flight. I never realized how big JFK was until I realized I needed to stop and ask for directions to my next gate.  I hopped on the tram and arrived at the British Airways gate, checked in, and went through security yet again.  I ate dinner during my 6 hour layover and read some magazines to pass the time.  My flight to London departed at 10:40pm and got delayed due to brake issues that maintenance had to fix. This flight arrived on time in London and I had an hour to catch my Berlin flight, which was also delayed.  Once I arrived in Berlin, I was met by Uta (the assistant director of the program) and she helped me get from the airport to the hostel we were staying at.  I arrived a day late for the Berlin trip, even though I was only one hour late, because the group flight was scheduled incorrectly.  All in all, my adventure to Berlin was quite eventful and I will be very happy if my return flight goes according to plan!

Berlin took my breath away from the first bus I took into the city to get to the hostel.  The buildings are a mix of old and new and there is color everywhere! The hostel was my first stop and it was interesting.  The ceiling of the bar area had cows and fake grass and the dining area had a yellow submarine painted on the walls.  The room itself had 4 bunk beds and slept the 7 girls on the trip.  It was nothing exciting and very bland but it did its job.  I was told by other people on the trip that this was a very bad hostel and they had stayed in much better ones.  Mainly, it was awful due to the bathrooms.  There were two showers, a couple sinks, and a very slippery floor when wet.  Many people slipped in the bathroom due to the water and tile mixture! The bathrooms were also located across the hall from us which meant we had lots of traffic outside our room at all hours.  There was also a group of 15 year old girls who were constantly being loud and a drunk guy outside at night peeing on our window to our room.  Luckily, the bottom three quarters of the window (which was floor to ceiling) was frosted, so we couldn't see anything.  Also, there was the hillarious drunk man outside that would yell "Hey you! You want to see my penis?".  Oh boy!

My first night in Berlin, Uta and I met up with all the others after my late arrival at an Italian restaurant.  We all ordered pizza and boy was I surprised! A single serving pizza is about the equivalent of a medium in the United States and it was huge! I got Pizza Texana which had salami, beans, pepperoni and spices.  It was delicious.

The next day, we started with a bus tour of the city.  I never realized how large the city was until this.  The city is very large and very spread out which makes travel time longer than you would expect.  Our tour guide, surprisingly, was from New York City and has dual citizenship because he was born in Germany.  His name was Torben and he wore a Mets hat on our tour which we all loved! He first took us to the Treptower Park War Memorial which was a memorial by the Russians to the war to commemorate the 5,000 Soviet soldiers that died in the Battle of Berlin. The memorial was absolutely breathtaking because you could not tell from the street how absolutely beautiful the park was, or how large! The next stop was the East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall.  The paintings were amazing and we happened to stumble upon a large sand castle building contest in the middle of the city! Next, we drove past a park where Hitler's command post was.  It was very poetic to see such an "evil" space transform into something beautiful. Then, we moved on to Checkpoint Charlie, which was not as grand as I thought it would be, but it was still awesome to see! We then drove onto Museum Island, which houses all of the Museums in former West Berlin, and we drove through the streets looking at the buildings.  We then moved on to the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate.  Next on the tour was The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  This memorial was breathtaking and intriguing all at once.  The depth of the memorial was absolutely amazing.  It was by far my favorite memorial.  To end our afternoon, we had someone from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs talk to us.  The rest of the night was free so we found a place for dinner to watch the World Cup and I had my first beer in Germany!

Day two in Berlin was even more eventful, we woke up really early and went to Potsdam to see the Castle Sanssouci.  The castle was absolutely glorious! The gardens were the most beautiful part with lots of green space and a large fountain.  The whole castle was of French origin and even had grape vines for the vineyard. We then moved on to the Memorial Site of the Berlin Wall, which was a part of the Berlin Wall that was still intact along with a watch tower and Death Strip.  It was very unsettling to know that where I stood not many people got to stand.  Later that night, we went to the Symphony and saw a great performance of the orchestra and even some opera singers!

The next day, which was also our last, we had a free day.  The group of us decided we would see the Gedachtnis Church which was bombed and never restored.  We then shopped for a couple hours in H&M and other local stores.  Next stop was the zoo which was a blast! You could get very close to the animals because there was no large wall separating you from them.  There was instead a moat to keep the animals from escaping.  This meant great views and great pictures and an even better time walking around!  We then returned to the hostel where the entire group met in order to catch our train to Luneburg.

When we arrived in Luneburg, it was dark outside so I felt very confused as to where we were going. My buddy met me at the train station and took me to my apartment.  My buddy, Teresa, and another buddy picked up Katie and I and showed up in a very small car to take us to where we were staying.  Only Katie's suitcase fit in the trunk and we managed to squeeze in my small one on the trunk separator.  Then we fit my large suitcase on a seat in the back and Katie and I then jammed into the backseat.  German cars are very small! Haha! When we got to my apartment, my landlady was waiting for me and she gave me my keys.  She speaks on a very small amount of English so the whole process was very interesting.

My apartment is very small, however it is a typical German student apartment.  I have one room, which contains a kitchen table with chairs, a desk, small kitchenette (it has a tiny fridge, two burners, a sink and some pots and pans and tableware), a cupboard (which houses my bathroom sink, some shelves for toiletries and a place to hang towels), and a bed and bedside table.

My first day in Luneburg, I was met by Reuben, a fellow student from session 1, at my apartment and he showed me how to get to the University for orientation.  The orientation was long and uneventful.  The walking tour of Luneburg, directed by Reuben, was much for fun and very exciting to see the city.  We then met up for a German BBQ dinner with the director and visiting professor, Dr. John McNay from the University of Cincinnati (kind of funny that he is from my university).  Afterwards, we hit up some bars downtown and I had a beer I can say I actually really liked.  It is kristallweizen and it is amazing!

Day two, I bought a pre paid phone for local calling.  Then, the group of us went to the freibad (the community pool) and it was awesome! For 1,40 euros, I got all day admission and there was a large field for setting up towels and picnics and two pools.  One pool was a children's pool with a huge slide and very cold water.  The other pool was a lap pool and was warm and soothing.  The lap pool had lots of people doing the frog stroke and I never saw another kind of swimming. It was weird to not see people doing breast stroke during laps.  The warm weather was much more comfortable while at the pool.  We then left to watch the World Cup game.  We sat at a local French bar and watched the game.  We surrounded a large projection screen and enjoyed the free shots for every time Germany scored.  We then made our way through the throngs of people celebrating Germany's win in the streets and went to fine 5 euro pizza.  It was the best food I've had since getting here and that is hard to say since the pastries are amazing and so is the gellato.

Today is a very uneventful day.  I am under the weather with no voice so I decided to stay in today.  I caught up on adding photos to my photo blog (Christy's Travels Shutterfly Photo Blog) and am writing this very long blog post. I will update the title's of photos tomorrow or the next day so you know what photo is what!

Well if you made it this far I applaud you. Thanks for reading the entire thing, I know this was a very long post! I will also try to update the blog more often because it took quite a while to catch up on a whole week of blogging!

Till next time!

Brotherly Advice

My brother was kind enough the other day to help my mom and I move my fish tank from my apartment to my parents house.  With it being a heavier object, he could carry it down the stairs more easily than mom and I.  While he was waiting for the tank to be ready to be carried down the stairs, he picked up my study abroad to-do list and wrote a few things on my list.

I caught him writing on my list and decided to check out what he thought I needed to do.  It did not surprise me at all that what he added was humorous.  I later asked where I had to do the hokey pokey, at the airport before I got on the plane or at home before I leave, and he said it didn't matter where but it matters if I do it or not! I absolutely loved his piece of advice to avoid sitting next to a smelly fat guy. Let's hope that his advice was heard by the "seat gods" of the airplane!

Too Many Lists

As I near my departure for Germany, my notebook is filling up with many lists.  I have lists of things to do before I leave, lists for things to buy before I leave, lists of clothing to pack, lists for toiletries to pack, lists for what to pack in my carry on, and lists of things I need for my classes at the University.  I need a list to keep track of my lists! Its too much! I tackle my lists for about 5 minutes at a time or I get way too overwhelmed and then get a brain freeze and can't think of anything!

I am getting really excited to leave and hope all my flights over to Berlin go as planned.  The only thing I'm absolutely nervous about right now is that I'll be delayed from Chicago to JFK or the JFK flight to Berlin will be canceled.  My fingers are crossed for a problem free day of traveling.

My iPhone is now capable of making calls from overseas! Mom and I visited the AT&T store today and signed up for the World Traveler plan which is only $5 a month plus the cost of calls.  This is a great option because now I can call home immediately when I get to Berlin to tell them that I am there and okay.  I can then find a cheap pay as you go phone in Germany for local calls and contact with other study abroad students and friends that I have co-oping in Germany.

I bought a new camera yesterday! YAY! My old camera was having issues and wasn't very reliable so Mom and Dad thought best to buy a new one that I can count on! My choice is the new Sony HX5V! It has a good zoom without the huge size and has some great features. One feature I found really great for my upcoming travels is the iPanorama feature.  This feature allows me to "sweep" my surroundings and it makes a huge panoramic photo! Also, the GPS feature is wicked cool! The camera stamps the GPS coordinates into the info of each picture I take.  Then, if I forget where I took a photo, I click on the pictures information on my computer and it brings up a satellite map and shows exactly where I took the photo! Great for traveling! There are some awesome other features also but I do not want to bore you all!

I will be setting up an online photo gallery within the next few days for everyone to see my photos as well! I'll post the link on here when I get it up and running!

12 days till take off!

Getting excited!

I'm getting closer to my departure date (June 27th)! Yesterday I went to the AAA store with my mom while she booked our hotel for Paris! I am excited to not only study abroad but I'm also excited for traveling with my family! They are coming over after my time in Lüneburg and will be picking me up from there and we will be traveling throughout Germany and also Paris! 


I got my International Driver's Permit while at the AAA store.  It's exciting that I can drive while overseas.


Yesterday, I got an email from the housing department of Leuphana Universität Lüneburg.  I was informed that I have two options for housing during my stay.  One option is a residence hall suite on campus which I would share with 3 girls and 1 guy, all of whom are German residents the woman who emailed me thought.  My second option was an apartment in the city center of Lüneburg, which is about a 40 minute walk to campus.  I will be sharing the apartment with one American girl and one Korean girl and an American guy will be downstairs from me.   I emailed the woman at the university back today and informed her that I would like to live in the apartment in the city center.  I picked this option because of the location, it is about two blocks from the river and one block from the government buildings.  The downtown location will be absolutely beautiful and full of places to roam.  The buses in the city are very reliable, or so I've been told by several sources, and I plan to purchase and sell back or rent a bike while there.  Therefore, I do not see the commute to campus as an issue.  I am looking forward to going on adventures in the city and going to farmers markets (I've been told they are great in Lüneburg and all of Germany).


I am starting to write down all the things I still need to do and buy before I go.  The list was several items long when I first started thinking about it.  However, now that I am trying to write it down, I can't remember all I was trying to keep in my mind last week.  I am learning to write it down as I think of it but I still think I am forgetting important items.

About Lüneburg

Thought I would tell you just a little about my study abroad program. I am headed to Lüneburg, Germany! It is a wonderful medieval city that was not bombed during the war so still really has its historic character.

A half hour train ride will take you to the port of Hamburg, a big and busy place with a lot to offer. It is a frequent
weekend destination for students. But there are other cities nearby as well, including Bremen and Hannover.

More about Lüneburg:

- Bridges outside the town were rigged with explosives to be blown in the event of a Soviet attack.

- The university is located in the former British cold war military base. The old brick buildings have ivy growing on them now and have a more academic feel.

Here is the link if you wish to know any more about the program itself!

http://usac.unr.edu/programs/overview.aspx?program=3094

Hello All!

Hello everyone! I have created this blog to document my journey of studying abroad in Lüneburg, Germany. I plan on recording the entire process from before I leave until after I get back.

I am a student at the University of Cincinnati with a major in Marketing and minor in International Business. I love Bearcat sports (actually I love all things Bearcat!). I graduate in one year and can't wait to see what the world has to offer!

I hope to keep you all entertained with my posts! Happy reading!