Goethe House by Eva

At Goethe house, Frau Brandt bought us tickets which came with an audio track that gave us information about Goethe's life.  Our tour didn’t start for 45 minutes and with time to spare we took Ella and Ingrid to a park that consisted of benches and a statue of a man (or God) partially buried in the ground, maybe Goethe.  Finally, we got a tour of Goethe’s house.  We were able to walk through his house and appreciate his extensive personal collection of art, geological samples, and his personal library and office.  Goethe had a very nice garden that we could only see through the window of the house.   I enjoyed the tour.

The 2nd Half of the day was spent in Erfurt.

Buchenwald by Alexis

Today we woke up a little bit earlier than usual to take our side trips to Weimar and Erfurt.  After the usual breakfast of various breads, meats, cheeses and yogurts we left the hostel to make our way to Weimar.  After a brief train ride, we separated into two groups: one to Buchenwald and the other to Goethe house.  On the way to the Buchenwald concentration camp, the weather became foggy and very eerie (some felt a little creeped out).  We soon arrived at Buchenwald and had a bit of a hard time figuring out our way since there was no tour guide.  Once we figured out the way with our maps, we took our tour and visited various parts of the camp.  The crematorium was especially sad and made me a bit emotional.  Overall, the trip to Buchenwald was very informative.  It’s important to remember the events of the Holocaust and pay respects to those who lost their lives.  I’m very happy that I went.

Along one of the pathways in Buchenwald

Collette's Thoughts on Day Three

We started the day like the others.  Woke up early, couldn't go back to sleep, wait awhile for breakfast, eat breakfast and finally, head out for a new adventure.  Instead of looking around the city, today we went on a hike.  Our destination was Die Drachenschlucht (Dragon Gorge.)  On our way, we had to stop.  There was a road where it was difficult to see around the corner and also kids who could not wait to get to the other side.  Predictably, right when some people started to cross, a huge truck came around the corner.  Afterwards, we were much more cautious.  When we got to Drachenschlucht we were told that the waters had washed away part of the path.  We still got to see about half of the Drachenschlucht trail.

In an effort to get there by a different route Frau Brandt took us along a dirt path that travelled parallel to the road.  After walking on what seemed to be a never ending trail, we camp upon what appeared to be a tombstone.  Looking forward from there we saw that the trail only continued, thus we decided to return to the youth hostel have some free time in Eisenach.

 

After another delicious dinner at the hostel, Raymond took out the Ping Pong balls he had purchased that day and invited people to play a game.  Out of a total of four students and Herr Spence, it was found that Jonathon was the Ping Pong champion.  This was until some German kids at the hostel joined our game and taught us a new way to play the game.  Unlimited amounts of people can play the game according to the new rules they taught us.  They then commenced to beat us repeatedly.

Day 3: Bach Haus by Sarah and Herr Spence

Herr Spence operating the foot pedal

After a decent lunch of Döner Kebabs and some time to shop, we headed to the Bach Museum.  There we had a chance to listen to samples of the concertos and sonatas composed by Bach, some of which were performed live by our guide on instruments over 200 years old.  This led up to our self-guided tour of the museum.  This gave us the opportunity to see how Bach and his family had lived as well as having the opportnty to see some the drafts of the some of Bach’s composed pieces.  Along the way we also got to see some of the instruments that were played during the time when Bach was a composer.  

Lastly, we were able to experience some of the music composed by Bach while relaxing in bubble shaped chairs suspended from the ceiling equipped with headphones.  At the end of the self-guided tour we had the chance to explore the gift shop and eat Bachwürfels at the museum café.

Day 1 second attempt

Kelsey wrote a lovely post about our trip over and I managed to lose it.  I am posting some photos from our flight over and will beg Kelsey to re-type her lovely post later.

Here we are waiting to board the plane

Flying to Iceland

We enjoyed the stopover in Iceland's International Airport in Keflavik

Some of the gals getting excited for the last leg of our journey

 
 After this we arrived in Germany and made our way to the youth hostel.  We were tired, but excited.

Day Two: According to Jozey

Though incredibly jet lagged, we dragged ourselves out of bed and made ourselves decent for our first full day in Eisenach.  Unfortunately, the weather did not feel like cooperating and it was raining at a steady pace.  Our first adventure of the day was a walking tour led by a delightful lady who sounded British, though we knew she was German.

Here is some of the wildlife we encountered out enjoying the rain!

Here we see some students rubbing Bach's foot in hopes of acquiring a bit of his musical talent.

This is the birthplace of J.S. Bach.  We will return tomorrow.

Here we are at the beginning of the walking tour.  That is the Wartburg Castle on the top of the hill.

Part of our walking tour took us by the Luther House.

This is the Town Hall and we are standing on the Markplatz.

 After being drenched, we headed back to the hostel for a change of foot attire.  After a bit of drying off we headed back out to catch the bus to Wartburg Castle.

There we had another tour but thankfully this one was indoors.  Gazing at unique column capitals, tapestries, artifacts and a room covered in intricate mosaics about Saint Elizabeth's life, we travelled through 900 years of German history.  What a glorious way to start our trip.

The group in front of Warburg Castle.

So ein Mist!

We have two lovely blog posts to share but are having a bugger of a time posting photos.  We are all jet lagged so we are off to bed for the time being.  Please check back tomorrow.  In the meantime just know that our students are a delightful group and are representing East very well ;)

Getting ready to go...

We are gearing up for our departure.  Students have received information about their host families and are busy getting ready for our exchange.  Last summer we hosted 15 students from Gymnasium Korschenbroich and had an amazing time sharing Alaska with them.  We look forward to seeing them again and getting to know Germany! - Frau Brandt