So I made it! After 7 hours in the sky and 3 hours driving and no sleep in the past 30 hours I’m at my first destination in Cologne, Germany. I got a little lost in the airport when I landed but found my way and found the Salzburg meeting point and met Pheobe, our guide and instructor. Then we drove on the Audibone (?sp) which I had to ask what it was because I didn’t know. But basically you can drive any speed you want. There is no speed limit, so people were going by us at 100mph and over… We arrived in Cologne around 1130am and checked into the hostel then walked around the city. It’s so built up and modern I almost don’t feel like I’m in Europe. Even with people speaking different languages it doesn’t seem weird because in any major city you go to in the US you hear tons of different languages around you all the time..
We walked across this very long bridge and there were all these locks locked on it and our tour guide told us to read what they said. They were all people’s names and dates.. Its called Locks of Love. There were thousands and thousands of them.. all with couples names and special dates. I’ll upload a picture and video when I can. It was incredible. Then we went to the The Dome which is like known around the world. It’s a huge HUGE cathedral. I’ve never seen anything like it. Then we all decided to climb the whole way up…1000 steps. It was an adventure but brought us all together. The view from the top was incredible. Oh yeah, there are about 23 people on the trip. It’s a little less than usual but there are a couple kids in Salzburg that were here in the fall that are staying for the spring but did not come to this field trip with us. Then about half of us went to a local pub to have our first German beer. It was a cute little hole in the wall and we kind of got dirty looks when we walked in. Obviously not a tourist site. But we had fun and talked about where we were all from. A couple people are from New England, most people are from Illonios.. couple from Mississippi and Texas.. It’s a good group of kids and we are all going to have a lot of fun. After dinner the group of us went out to a local bar and had a few local beers, which I will get the name of later.. I tried to order a beer in German and the bartender laughed at me! We went to bed pretty early since we had been up for 30 plus hours.
The second day in Cologne started off with a bus tour of the city which was very interesting and informative. We went into an old Mideval church which I will put pictures up. Then we went to a museum of Roman ruins because the Romans had once occupied the city of Cologne. Actually cologne means something about Romans but I can’t remember right now. We saw excavations of a Roman Queen’s fortress which were discovered after WWII because when the bombs hit the city, the old fortress was buried underground so it was the discovered. Half of it was still pretty much intact. Then we went underground into the Roman’s old sewage system (which doesn’t have sewage in it anymore obviously!) It was cool to see how the Romans used these systems that we still have in place today. Then we ate a quick lunch, did a little shopping, (I had to buy a watch since I don’t have my phone on me all the time to check the time!) and then went to an art museum that I had to go to with my Modern Art class for an assignment. There were a lot of Picasso art there and other famous artists. My camera died by then so I didn’t get any pictures! Now I’m back in the hostel waiting for my housing interview. We are all planning on spending a night out on the town but as of right now I’m way too tired and we have to be up very early tomorrow! Will write again at the end of the Germany when I get to Salzburg and meet my family.. here are some other observations I have made so far:
Differences from the states—
People NEVER J walk.. even when there are no cars coming. And they look at you funny if you do it.
If someone walks into a store or bar and nobody is coming in behind them, they shut the door so hot air won’t come out. (unlike us we just let it shut on its own)
If someone is on a bike and you are in their way they will run you over
Every taxi in the city is a Mercadese
A small beer is very small. Smaller than our sizes at home. But Large beers are bigger than ours.
If you try to speak German, people will be very nice and try to help you (maybe laugh at you!)
The city looks much like an American city, except for a HUGE cathedral in the center.
If I think of more later I will post them!
Ps. Danka means thank you and it’s the only German word I know for now!
Love and miss you all,
Lynn
We walked across this very long bridge and there were all these locks locked on it and our tour guide told us to read what they said. They were all people’s names and dates.. Its called Locks of Love. There were thousands and thousands of them.. all with couples names and special dates. I’ll upload a picture and video when I can. It was incredible. Then we went to the The Dome which is like known around the world. It’s a huge HUGE cathedral. I’ve never seen anything like it. Then we all decided to climb the whole way up…1000 steps. It was an adventure but brought us all together. The view from the top was incredible. Oh yeah, there are about 23 people on the trip. It’s a little less than usual but there are a couple kids in Salzburg that were here in the fall that are staying for the spring but did not come to this field trip with us. Then about half of us went to a local pub to have our first German beer. It was a cute little hole in the wall and we kind of got dirty looks when we walked in. Obviously not a tourist site. But we had fun and talked about where we were all from. A couple people are from New England, most people are from Illonios.. couple from Mississippi and Texas.. It’s a good group of kids and we are all going to have a lot of fun. After dinner the group of us went out to a local bar and had a few local beers, which I will get the name of later.. I tried to order a beer in German and the bartender laughed at me! We went to bed pretty early since we had been up for 30 plus hours.
The second day in Cologne started off with a bus tour of the city which was very interesting and informative. We went into an old Mideval church which I will put pictures up. Then we went to a museum of Roman ruins because the Romans had once occupied the city of Cologne. Actually cologne means something about Romans but I can’t remember right now. We saw excavations of a Roman Queen’s fortress which were discovered after WWII because when the bombs hit the city, the old fortress was buried underground so it was the discovered. Half of it was still pretty much intact. Then we went underground into the Roman’s old sewage system (which doesn’t have sewage in it anymore obviously!) It was cool to see how the Romans used these systems that we still have in place today. Then we ate a quick lunch, did a little shopping, (I had to buy a watch since I don’t have my phone on me all the time to check the time!) and then went to an art museum that I had to go to with my Modern Art class for an assignment. There were a lot of Picasso art there and other famous artists. My camera died by then so I didn’t get any pictures! Now I’m back in the hostel waiting for my housing interview. We are all planning on spending a night out on the town but as of right now I’m way too tired and we have to be up very early tomorrow! Will write again at the end of the Germany when I get to Salzburg and meet my family.. here are some other observations I have made so far:
Differences from the states—
People NEVER J walk.. even when there are no cars coming. And they look at you funny if you do it.
If someone walks into a store or bar and nobody is coming in behind them, they shut the door so hot air won’t come out. (unlike us we just let it shut on its own)
If someone is on a bike and you are in their way they will run you over
Every taxi in the city is a Mercadese
A small beer is very small. Smaller than our sizes at home. But Large beers are bigger than ours.
If you try to speak German, people will be very nice and try to help you (maybe laugh at you!)
The city looks much like an American city, except for a HUGE cathedral in the center.
If I think of more later I will post them!
Ps. Danka means thank you and it’s the only German word I know for now!
Love and miss you all,
Lynn
Lynn! It was sooo good to talk to you on facebook! After reading this I know you're having an AMAZING time so far and it's only been 2 days! Oh and every taxi is a mercedes? whatttt?! thats so cool! The city sounds awesome and I can't wait for you to meet your host family! We're all just bored here waitng for you to update us about your awesome life! Love and miss youuu!
ReplyDelete<3 Kaitlyn