Farewell Party

A few photos from our farewell party at Gymnasium Korschenbroich.  It was one of the hottest and most humid days of our trip, so naturally you can see the party ended in a water gun fight.  We forgot to take a group photo before the mayhem...

View of the party from above

The best we got :)

Our "Jumping Photo."

Köln (Cologne), by Herr Spence

Köln is a great city. As soon as we left the Hauptbahnhof, we were standing at the steps of the cathedral in the hustle and bustle of a very large city. Our tour guide was a both tall and humorous, a winning combination. He gave us a chronological tour of the city, starting at one of the gates to an old Roman fortification there in Colonia. From there we wound our way through narrow streets, viewed an ancient Roman sewer, and learned about the invention of cologne (which helped mask the odor of the stinking rich in the Middle Ages). There in the heart of the city archaeologists are still actively unearthing parts of an old Jewish district from the Middle Ages. We saw the old courthouse, the old fire-watch tower, and the old fish market.

The Cobbler's Wife and the Little People

Apparently, Germans didn't always have a reputation for being so industrious and hard working. For hundreds of years, the cathedral sat in various states of construction. The tradition in Cologne was to sit around all day and do no work. All the work was done at night by the little people. One night the cobbler's wife put some peas on the stairs to trip up the little people so she could see them. Unfortunately, the little people got hurt when they tripped on the peas. The cobbler's wife shone her lamp down and saw them, but nothing was the same after that. The little people were so upset that they never did any work for the townsfolk again. On a positive note, though, the cathedral was finished in less than sixty years after this incident. 

What's so special about this cathedral anyway? I'm glad you asked. The mortal remains of the three wise men are enshrined in the main part of the cathedral. If you're looking to make a pilgrimage, Cologne is the place to go. The stained glass windows depict various interpretations of the three wise men story through different ages in history. One piece shows them as lowly travelers, another as wealthy kings, and a modern piece is...well, lots of squares that look random, but they actually have a pattern. The exterior pictures show the cathedral in a pretty grimy state. The natural color of the stone is a dazzling white, but the proximity to the train station has turned most of the cathedral's exterior black. 

Archaeological dig of the old Jewish district

 No trip to Cologne is complete without a trip up the cathedral tower. It was long and exhausting, but certainly worth it. Frau Brandt told us to meet somewhere at some time, but I guess I wasn't paying enough attention. While the group was patiently waiting for the train that would take them back to Korschenbroich, I basked in the 95 degree weather soaking my feet in the public fountain. It was very relaxing until I got a call informing me that I had one minute to get to the platform. The rest of the group made it back home safe and sound.

Berlin by Ms. McCutcheon

Hallo,

Ms. McCutcheon here.  We have been running into quite a few technical difficulties with the blog, but have been trying to piece it together better the last few days.  In the meantime I would love to share a little bit about our whirlwind weekend in Berlin and will hopefully have some more blog posts to share at a later date.

We left for Berlin Friday morning.  Our trip was uncertain due to the flooding, but we managed to catch a train on a different route.  We travelled most of the day and arrived at our hostel in time for dinner and a late night walking tour of the city.  We visited the Holocaust Memorial, Brandenberger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), the Bundestag and walked along Unter den Linden.  The kids were excited about a Bugati Dealership.  My first impression of the city was this overwhelming feeling (in a good way) of being in a place of incredible historical significance.

The 2nd day in Berlin was a day trip to Potsdam for a historical biking tour.  Many centuries of history can be experienced firsthand in Potsdam.  We toured the palaces of Prussian kings, visited the location where Truman first learned of a successful atomic test and stayed during the Potsdam Conference, and crossed a bridge that was divided (and painted two different shades of green) between the Soviets and the Americans during the post WWII occupation of Germany.  

We ended our day with a walk through Berlin again.  Our route took us along the East Side Gallery.  I think that the experiences varied for each person as we walked along the remaining portion of the Berlin Wall.  It seemed that there was a portion of the wall, or a certain image that each student found a connection with and stopped for a moment of reflection.

Anthony's Train Ride Adventure

The floods in Germany this year can be seen on this train ride from Berlin to Düsseldorf.  Seeing the floods' effects in person is completely different from seeing the footage on the news.  Villages are flooded, trees have water up to their leaves, and crops have been rendered inaccessible to farmers.  The effects of the floods can also be seen inside our train.  There are a lack of trains due to the flooding and subsequent rerouting.  The cabins are filled to the brim with people.  There are only seats for the lucky who have reserved them.  People are crowding the food areas and hallways, squeezing into any available space.  Here are pictures of the group enjoying our trip!!

Leaving from our Hostel in Berlin to explore the city

On our way to see Brandenburg Tor (Gate)

Flooding seen from the train

Holocaust Memorial

Train ride entertainment from Herr Spence and Ingrid

Emma's Bike Tour

You would think that a simple bike tour would be all easy right? Wrong. Even a bike tour can go wrong in many ways. You have everyone having to go to the bathroom at different times at every stop along the tour. There was a bike that mysteriously deflated its own tire on our first stop at the house President Truman stayed in during the Potsdam Conference. In fact, how that tire deflated is still a mystery. And then you have the crashes and almost crashes which all lead to a delay of at least 20 minutes behind the second group which originally had started a good 15-20 minutes after we did. But let's focus on the good part. Castles. Boy do I love castles. 

Sanssouci, a castle for Prussian King Frederick the Great

The view of the gardens from Sanssouci

I forget how many castles we saw, but we saw a lot. Too many for me to actually count I think. They were all beautiful too, very majestic each in their own way. Each had some story about it, but I don't remember all of what our tour guide said about each person and the history behind each castle. However, that's what we have tour guides for right? If you're curious then go to Germany and go on the bike tour we did in Potsdam and you'll probably find out about the castles like we did. But really, I love castles, I really do. So all in all the bike trip was pretty good, but only because of the castles.

Alaska Cooking Night

Tonight we had our German hosts over for an Alaskan breakfast (for dinner!)  The evening was a huge success.

Our Menu:

Salmon Cakes with Sour Cream & Onions
Scrambled Eggs
Pancakes with Maple Syrup
Fry Bread
Berry Salad 

Monschau, by Andrea

This is Andrea and I'm going to talk about our day in Monschau. We all drove with host family parents to an all girls school and then got a guided tour around the town, which is only populated with elderly people.  Monschau was very beautiful and reminded me a lot of pictures Frau Brandt showed us in class before we left for our trip to Germany.

Above Monschau

After our tour we all had free time so me and some others spent the whole time walking around getting food, food, and more food. :) Monschau stores seemed really big at first but then we were told that each of the stores have houses above them which makes things very crowded.  Nevertheless the architecture around Monschau really caught my eye, especially this spot below.

View of the river and unique architecture from the center of town.

Later the guide took us to a car shop where we watched a video on nature around Eifel Park, everyone was really tired by now even though it was only half way through the day. The video reminded me of Anchorage and the outdoor activities we have.  We finished the trip with a hike through Eifel where we taught the German exchange students English songs and sang the whole time until we ended up at a cafè and ate cake.