Bonn, Worms, Rhine Valley, Heidelberg, Nuremburg, SALZBURG!

Just spent 2 more days in Germany.. We went to Bonn and saw a Germany History museum. That has been the highlight of the trip for me. The museum started after WWII and went until the Berlin wall fell down in 1989. They had so many artifacts such as news papers, draft cards, videos, pictures, clothes, cars.. everything you can imagine. Our tour guide was really awesome too she brought it a lot of personal family stories about her grandmother and grandfather who went through the war times. Her grandmother’s sister just received a letter 10 months ago confirming that her husband had died in WWII because they could never be sure about the where abouts of some people. 60 years later and people are just finding out what they have probably known all along. Its mind boggling. They had a couple pieces of the Berlin wall. That was the best part of the museum. I actually never learned in school about the wall or why it was constructed, all I ever knew was that it was bad. Our tour guide taught us a lot about the conflict and what brought on the division of Germany. It’s amazing also how after WWII Germany was almost COMPLETELY destroyed. Most of the history I’m learning while I’m here is post WWII because they have lost almost everything from before the war including buildings, documents and people..
Then we drove along the Rhine River Valley. It was pretty foggy and a bad day to see the beautiful landscape but it was still gorgeous. We saw many castles and on each side of the river were very steep mountains that had vineyards on them. Our tour guide told us that each side of the river makes very different wines because of the different soil and times the sun hits them and what not. I want to go back there in the summer during wine season.
We then moved on to Worms which was one of Germany’s oldest cities. It was also almost completely destroyed after WWII. We went to a Jewish Synagauge that had been destroyed 3 times in the past thousand years. We learned some history of the Jewish people in town. Then we went to the oldest cemetery in all of Germany. It was a Jewish cemetery. The oldest grave dates back to the year 1100. We learned a lot about the Jewish culture and about their cemetery. It started snowing so the grave yard looked gorgeous and like something that came right out of a movie. Worms was also the place where Martin Luther started his revolution and began the Lutheran Religion. We saw some monuments dedicated to him.
Then we moved onto Heidelberg where we spent the night and the next day went on a tour of a HUGE old castle from the 13th century. It was nearly destroyed in a battle somewhere in the 1500’s but it’s still spectacular. Again, the snow was falling and really made everything much more beautiful. I will put some pictures up but they do not do justice, it’s just something you have to see in person. In the castle they had the world’s largest wooden barrel to hold wine. It took up an entire room and help something like 50,000 liters of wine.. That number could be completely wrong but it’s somewhere in the tens of thousands of liters. It was built in the 1700’s. Then we walked all the way down the side of a mountain to the town of Heidelberg below. It was a typical European town that you probably can picture in your head. Quaint and quiet, cobblestone streets, different colored buildings, churches and cute little cafes. We got lunch and walked around and window shopped.
We then drove through the Nectar River Valley which again with the snow was very pretty. They call it one of the most romantic things to see in Europe. I’m sure in the summer it would look gorgeous also, but seeing it in summer and winter would be like night and day. I definitely want to return to this part of Germany some day in warmer weather. Also, I’m used to the snow and seeing snow look beautiful in the trees and whatnot, but some people here have never really experienced this since they live I warmer parts of the country.
Then we went to another small town that I can’t even remember the name of which doesn’t really matter since it was boring! All I remember about that town is I was late for the bus that day! Woops. Austrians are very punctual!
Then we spent a night in Nuremburg where the Nuremburg Trials took place and the Nazi Party Rally Grounds were. We got there late so we had dinner and a couple drinks at a bar. We met a cool bartender names Rico (ha) who was from Columbia but moved to Germany so it was nice to hear his story! The next day we toured around the old city and then drove past where the trials took place, but couldn’t go in because it is still a working court house. Then we went to the Rally Grounds which I can barely describe to you in words. There was a museum where we got a head set and this cool hand held thing where we could choose what exhibits we listened to and could walk around on our own. I could have spent an entire day there listening to everything, but we only had 2 hours. Some of the videos/pictures/information I got there almost had me in tears. I had goose bumps almost the whole time. I can’t even describe the emotions I had while knowing I was standing in a place where once the most powerful and evil man alive had stood and made thousands of people believe in what he was saying, even though it was lies and he was evil. After the museum we could walk around the grounds a bit and saw some buildings where Rallies had taken place. Again, I cannot put into words how it felt to be there. And it’s still probably only half of what I’m going to feel when I actually visit a concentration or death camp. I’m looking forward to it/not looking forward to it at the same time. By this time, we were all ready to be done with Germany and move onto Austria!
We then traveled about 3-4 hours to Salzburg! Finally!!! We were met by our host families who took us around the city a bit. My host father’s name is Bernhard and the mother’s name is Sabine. They have 2 young children, a girl who is 5 and a boy who is 1 ½. He took us by our school which is LEGIT built into the side of a huge mountain. We have orientation there tomorrow morning. They both speak really good English, but the daughter doesn’t yet obviously but we are trying to teach her as she is trying to teach us German. We had dinner with them and they poured us a delicious glass of wine and we had a toast but me and my roommate Kristen toasted wrong so they taught us the proper “Austrian” way. Sabine told us she doesn’t cook normal Austrian or German food which is alright! She asked us if we liked Chinese food! Sounds good to me. The house is GORGEOUS and HUGE. We have the whole upstairs to our self, called the “penthouse” with a balcony and our own bathroom. It’s much more modern than I expected. Even more modern than any American house I’ve ever seen. Its only 3 years old they said. We had some nice conversation over dinner about differences between our countries and what their visits to the States have been like. Looks like I should start unpacking.. and I definitely need a good night sleep because sleeping in hostels is not the most comfortable thing in the world! My camera is broken at the moment so I will be trying to upload more pictures later from my friend’s camera.. love and miss you all! Some postcards are already going to be sent out tomorrow so check your mail!