After the first 2 days of classes we as a group went back to cologne for a tour of the city as well as a roof top tour of the cologne Cathedral. We started out by seeing part of the original wall that surrounded the city in the medieval ages. from there we went on to see more of the buildings that were scattered throughout the city that have been preserved or rebuilt over the years. Thankfully it hadn’t gotten hot yet.

We visited countless churches that were built in various time periods. They were all beautiful in there own way but one of the first churches we stepped into brought such a sense of peace I didn’t want to leave. It also didn’t help that it was slightly cooler in the building than outside.

Our group got a chance to sit down and have lunch. We finally made it to the cologne cathedral and the interior was dare i say more breathtaking than the outside. We had the opportunity to take a roof top tour but because of certain restrictions I’m not allowed to post the pictures that i took on the tour. We did make it to the top of the cathedral and it was a real struggle getting up there because I’m not a fan of heights. At all. we ended the day after the roof top tour and had dinner in cologne before heading back to Bonn.

The next two days were filled with German class, lectures and assignment introductions. The days themselves were generally uneventful because after the bonding trip the previous week as week as well as the weekend in cologne we were exhausted.We did all spend a little time together exploring Bonn.

Many of us decided to stay close to Bonn this weekend So we took a trip to cologne on Saturday night. We had heard that there would be fireworks so we figured it would be a good chance to bond a little more and experience the night live of cologne as well! We started of our trip later in the evening because the fire works weren’t set to start till 11:30. I say late in the evening and mean 6 but the sun doesn’t actually set here until almost 10:45 so we still had plenty of daylight. 10 of us got on the train and went to cologne which is only a 20 min train ride from Bonn. We got to the station and got off and we were greeted by a massive structure. The cologne cathedral.

We spent about an hour looking for food and settled on a place several streets away from the cathedral but still with a fantastic view. We ate. We laughed. we drank and we had another moment as a group that we will remember for a lifetime. Once we had eaten we made our way closer to the Rhine for the fire works but stopped at a wine garden and passed the time with great conversation. At this point in the trip I had broken down and purchased a camera. It was during our time at the wine garden that I began to play with the settings and basically take picture of everyone and everything.

After we spent some time at the wine garden we finally made it to the Rhine for the fire works. we hung out for about an hour in the park before the fireworks actually started.

We got to see a spectacular show of fireworks and music on the river itself. Unfortunately I didn’t get any decent pictures of the fireworks themselves because I couldn’t get the shutter speed of my camera to work and capture a descent picture. After the show we walked around for a little longer until we made it back the train station and then it was back to Bonn for us.

They said bring a rain jacket. I didn’t listen and I got soaked. We left on Thursday for a bonding trip and it’s two days I will never forget! We started the day with a ropes course that left every single one of us sore the next morning.

After the rainy ropes course we got back on our bus and went to a hostel in the mountains. This wasn’t just any hostel though. This hostel was a castle with the most spectacular views that took all of our breath away.

The night was filled with fun, laughter, friends, food and drinks. It was a night I won’t be forgetting!

As someone who works for public transportation I thought navigating the busses would be easy. I was completely wrong! I was only a little late for the first day but not too late which is good. We started the day off with a few informational meetings with our coordinator Mara as well as the housing coordinator.

After the brief meeting we got a tour from a student worker around the Bonn market or Markt. We dispersed for lunch but came together to continue our tour about the intercity of Bonn.

It was a generally easy day walking wise. I want to believe they wanted to acclimate is to walking for the later tours and hikes that are to come.

The trek home was about the same as the morning. Slightly confusing but I made it eventually. The night finally ended with more bonding with my host family over dinner in their back garden. My host father is a chef in training, so dinners are amazing and I’m sure I’ll get a shot eventually!

Day 1 : As someone who hasn’t traveled alone in over a decade ,especially internationally, the day it took to travel to Germany was an adventure to say the least! I got to the Houston airport 2 hours ahead of my flight take off because I don’t particularly like being late. After boarding it was a short hour and a half ride to Atlanta where the real fun began. I read my ticket wrong and ran to the wrong terminal in a completely different part of the airport. Once I realized my mistake I had to sprint to the right terminal and made it on the plane about 2 min before they closed the gates for take off! Once in the air it was an in eventful ELEVEN hour plane ride to Frankfurt international airport. I deplaned, got through customs and got my luggage.

Thinking pretty high of myself I didn’t think that finding our groups meeting point would be difficult. An hour and a half later I finally found the spot and was able to get some caffeine and food into my system to help with the headache I had acquired over the course of the last 20 something odd hours!

Our group came together and it was finally time to get to Bonn and meet our host family’s! The trip to Bonn was uneventful but the countryside was absolutely breathtaking.

Once we arrived at the old AIB building we met our host family’s and departed ways until the next day. I chose to room with another student because I knew I would need someone’s help when it came to finding my way around and I think it was the perfect choice! I ended the night with dinner with my host family and anticipation as to what the rest of the trip would bring!

(07/7/19-07/8/19)