Dragons, Whales, and Bees, oh my!

We take the subway to get around everywhere

My time in Germany thus far has been brilliant! We spent yesterday wandering around the city, attempting to get our bearings. Although I find it hard to identify particular things about the way of life in Germany that differ from the U.S., we were able to see part of the old city of Bonn yesterday and enjoy the traditional architecture and great street food! The school we are attending the program through hosted a barbeque for all the students that are here in Germany through their program, we met lots of very nice people--many from Texas. We looked past our Texas stereotype and were actually able to enjoy their company. Since many of them have already been in the city for a few days they showed us around the old part of the city and particularly important...pointed out all the good bars. Here are some pictures from the city of Bonn -

Drachensfel Castle Ruins

This morning we woke up for our hike of the Siebengebirge Nature Park. We took a boat called Moby Dick to the town at the base of the mountain. The park is named for its seven mountains, Siebengebirge translates directly to seven mountains. There is a large castle at the top along with ruins of a castle that was built in the 1880s. Siebengebirge is the first protected natural area in Germany. The hike was not too challenging at the beginning but as we reached the top my legs were feeling the burn! Reaching the top, however, was well worth it. You could see all of Bonn and even into Cologne, which was probably 40 miles away. Here are some pictures from our hike -



View of the Rhine River from the top of the mountain