Katie lives really close to a bus stop so I met her there. I wanted to make sure I went with someone to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) just in case I got lost or something. She told met that she gets stressed when traveling and that I should meet her at her place no later than 7:45. So I got there at 7:30 to make sure I didn't stress her out! This was really my first time riding on a bus since I got here. We have this awesome bus pass that I think I already mentioned, but I had yet to use it! It was so easy! I was really excited because now I know how to get to all kinds of places and know that it isn't too complicated.
Due to Katie's traveling worries, we got to the Hauptbahnhof earlier than we needed to. In fact, we were the first ones there from our group. That was fine though because we got to do one of my favorite things: people watching! We botth really enjoyed watching the times change on the train schedule. All of the letters and numbers on the board would start spinning when it was time to change the schedule. It was pretty cool. Maybe next time I go I can get a video of it to show you. After a little while, Frau Heckmann and the others started showing up. All of the bakeries inside the station were making fresh goodies and it smelled so good!!
The train we took was to Osterburken. It is in the same state as Heidelberg, Baden Würtemberg. Charis slept on my shoulder the entire ride. She didn't feel well and was really tired. Then we took two other trains and she slept on me again! It was so sweet! Some of the other students were even taking pictures. I thought it was pretty funny. She's just so sweet and loveable! She's super short and I just love her!!
Our first place we went was Kloster Bronnbach. It is a really really old monastary. We stayed at the moastary and it was absolutely gorgeous! Our room was so modern and everything was very clean. Heidi and I shared a room and we each had our own super comfy beds. We didn't stay there for more than 10 minutes before we went on a tour of the church and the rest of the monastary. Everything was so elaborate inside the church and then there were also some rooms by the courtyard that were made of only stone. It was just a very beautiful and peaceful place. I thought it was interesting though, that there was a bar on the property. I guess they built that for tourists, but it just didn't seem to fit! That along with the Biergarten. We didn't go there, but I wondered about it!
After this tour we all had a picnic with the lunches we packed. I brought a sandwich and some pretzels. I really should have packed more. I wasn't thinking very well I guess! I was still hungry after lunch, but there wasn't anywhere to buy food. Charis gave me a piece of fruit. It was some kind of tiny baby peach thing. I really don't know what it's called, but it tasted pretty good! After our lunch we headed back to the train stop that was right down the road. While we walked, I talked with Dr. Tracy. He asked me about my major and what I want to do after I graduate. I have no idea and had to try to convey my thoughts to him in German. I feel so bad when I can't speak very well, but he's used to it and understands broken German. Hopefully by the end of the semester I can carry on a better conversation with him!
Our train took us right to our next destination: Wertheim. This quaint little town was so cute! There was a castle on the top of the hill and it is on two rivers. One one side of the town is the Main (that also runs through Frankfurt) and then also on the Tauber. Like many old German towns, it was once surrounded by a wall (Mauer) and much of the wall remains today. We walked around the town for awhile and went inside a few churches. Beautiful, once again! This town was just so nice. I felt like there were a lot of things to do and explore.
We also went to a glass museum. They had a man who was making things out of glass (blowing glass) and Alexander from my group decided to pay him 5 Euros to make something. It was so cool to watch! The man took one of the things he made and hit it on the table pretty hard, but it didn't break! We were all pretty impressed with this super strong glass! After we sat and watched that for awhile, we walked around the museum and played with some of the different things they had. What a neat little place! Dr. Tracy told me that since my birthday is tomorrow, I could make something and AJY would pay for it! I was really excited because I wanted to make something, but didn't want to stay there by myself. So this was the perfect opportunity! I decided that the best thing to make would be a wine glass. What a cool piece of memorabilia for my 21st birthday! It took quite awhile to do this because there were two girls ahead of me. The AJY assistant Jenny stayed with me as well as Charis and Katie Gramlich. I thought that was really nice because while we were waiting to do that, everyone else went off to the castle. I really wanted to go to the castel too, but thought that this was also a cool thing. So finally my turn came to make my glass and I had to convey what I wanted to the man in German. He understood what I wanted, so that was a plus! I had to wear these super dorky glasses while I was making my glass so that my eyes would be protected from the intense heat. This was just the coolest thing to see. When he needed the glass to get bigger, like when I was making the actual cup part, he would tell me to blow a lot or a little in German and then the glass would puff up! I don't have a picture of the finished product, but will take one soon!
When we finally finished with this long ordeal, it was time to meet the group for dinner. We had such a great time eating together. I sat with people I hadn't talked to very much so it was nice. Dr. Tracy came over when we all sat down and sat that we had to speak only German until we got back to Heidelberg (I almost said HOME!) on Saturday night. So we had an interesting time doing that! Some of the people I ate with were Doug, Sarah Mulvaney, Kate, Davor, Patrick, and then of course Katie and Heidi. I sat next to Doug and we had a lot of fun talking. He's so nice! I got the Schweinerschnitzel and it was so yummy! They gave us two huge pieces each and I could only eat one. We also had a salad before dinner and then the meal came with fries. I am just surprised that they serve fries with dinner. I guess I just figured that they would serve something else. But it tasted so great! Then we had a bowl of ice cream. We had two scoops - one of strawberry and the other banana. Interesting combination, but delicous nonetheless!
After dinner we were all stuffed and walked back through the town to the bus stop. We had to take a bus back because there weren't any more trains back to Bronnbach that night. The bus that came was so tiny so most of the girls went on that one and the rest of the group took taxis back. Heidi and I were so tired when we got back we decided to get ready for bed and talk for awhile. We just loved those beds! They were so warm and nice! We probably talked for about an hour and then crashed.
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