So, I don't have too many pictures of the surroundings from the Germany tour, but I will post what i have with descriptions! (If you would like further detail or have any question please feel free to comment or email me!) We recently had an exchange student trip with my Rotary district 1850 and they generously took us on a short 6 day tour of Germany! We went (in order) to Köln, Frankfurt, Bad Homburg, Eisenach, Weimar, Berlin and Wolfsburg! We saw so many amazing things and I can't thank my district enough for putting this all together for us! and not to mention that it was free! Also a huge thanks to my Rotary district 5050 back home for giving me this opportunity to see and experience the wonderful German culture and history!
We first went to Köln and visited/ toured the famous Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and we got to take a quick tour of the city by foot. We walked along the Rhine and toured the gorgeous stain glass of the Dom. Later that day the seemingly "always sunny city" as Germans like to say, opened the flood gates and well, we got drenched... But it cleared up in time that night for us to go walk along the Rhine at night and go to one of the many bridges ( there are seven in Köln) and take pictures! Although, it wasn't clear the whole night and we got drenched yet again on our way back... In the picture left to right is Ambra from Colorado and Quinn from South Carolina. The next day we got up early and headed out to Frankfurt.
Pictured above is what I think was one of the highlights of the trip! We were all going to take a picture in the square in Frankfurt when a group of guys just walked right over and took the picture with us... It was so funny and made for a great look at how friendly the people in Frankfurt are! We spent the afternoon on the tarmac at Frankfurt International Airport with a long, slow tour of the planes and airport. Then we headed into the city for free time! We walked around, danced on a bridge, drank Starbucks coffee and of course spent some money on pretzels and souvenirs! I think Frankfurt was my favorite city, it was very similar to Seattle! That night we headed to a nearby town called " Bad Homburg" and spent the night walking, talking, exploring, and eating amazing gelato! The next morning we headed out to Eisenach and Weimar.
We got to Eisenach in the afternoon and finally saw more elevation than sea level!! We went to Wartburg Castle where the famous Martin Luther was writing the new Bible in German and spilled his ink when scared by the devil. We took pictures on the tower with our flags and headed down the hill, back onto the bus where we left for Weimar. We got in when it was dark but our Rotex leaders set up a scavenger hunt of rotary symbols around the city. It was super cool to walk around the city at night and we all took a picture in front of some street art! Some of us stopped at an " American Diner" for some milkshakes that were superb! We stayed at the nicest hostel by far. In the morning we drove in the fog to the nearby concentration camp " Buchenwald". It was shocking to see all the history and horror that was there. We had a full tour and solemnly headed back to the bus on our way to the big city of Berlin.
We spent two days in Berlin. We had a fun night at a teenage disco and got some good Chinese food at some small hole in the wall! The next morning we had a tour by bus of Berlin and got to walk along the wall! We took so many pictures I had to choose just a few. We also stopped at the Brandenburger Gate! Then we had around five hours of free time to walk around Berlin and see whatever we wanted! We went to bakeries, museums and the Jewish Memorial. It was cool to see some bullet holes left on buildings from WW2 and to see the cobblestone path of the Berlin Wall that zigzagged all of the city ( if you weren't aware already, the Berlin Wall is not straight at all). We went to some popular churches on Museum Island and then went to the Parliament building and got a tour! Sadly I didn't take any pictures but if I find some I will make a separate post! That night we got another four hours of free time and wandered the city, buying gifts and good food! Some of us went to the Brandenburger Gate again and watched a light show for the freedom of Germany! We all went to bed veryyyyy late since it was the last night we were together. We wanted to make it last!
The last day we all passed out on the bus until we arrived in Wolfsburg at the VW factory! It literally felt like i had walked straight into the future with all the shiny towers of cars and perfectly landscaped surroundings. We spent several hours looking at all the new and future models of cars. Our tour guide was very nice and led us around everything! It was so cool to see this place and the people were very friendly! It made for a great ending to an amazing trip with people that will be my lifelong friends! Huge thanks to Rotary District 1850 for putting this free trip together and showing us exchange students how cool our new home is!! Also thanks again for my district 5050 back home for putting all their faith into me and sending me to the best country!! Thank you, and just comment if you have any questions!!
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