A Hidden German Gem

There is nothing more exciting than doing something on your own and actually accomplishing your goal.  I had this exact feeling while sitting on the bus home from Tubingen yesterday.  I decided that I was going to see the Bebenhausen monastery and castle yesterday and boy am I glad that I did.  I left quite early yesterday morning and took the train into town where I then had to find a map and start the trek to the monastery.  It was a three mile hike each way to get to the city of Bebenhausen, and needless to say my poor little feet are  yelling at me today.  On the way I stumbled upon a musician practicing organ in the city church and some awesome little shops as well as Tubingen University and some fantastic river views.

The hike was gorgeous and everything here is so green.  I followed a little river on my way to the city and did more of a deep forest hike on the way back.  The Germans are big bikers and many many a biker passed me on the river trail.  When I emerged from the woods this was the beautiful sight that I had.

Who wouldn't be breathless with this view.  I walked into town and bought my tickets to get into the monastery and for a castle tour at noon. The monastery was so serene and was very old.  The monastery itself was built in 1160 and the castle was the monastery guest house the housed King Wilhelm II and Queen Charlotte until both of their respective deaths.  The castle is in the heart of hunting country and thus is all decked out in deer and animal mounts that the king, queen, and guests had killed themselves.  On the tour there was only one other German couple.  So, the tour guide being pretty good in English and a college kid probably about my age would give the German tour and explanations for everything and then would give me the English cliff notes version.

After such a long day and putting over 8 miles of walking on my poor feet I of course had to get an ice cream cone on the walk home from the train station to the dorms.  Last night my international friends in my dorm took three of us girls out to our first European clubbing experience.  O my gosh was that an experience.  Nothing that I need to do every weekend but the guys were so fun and we had a blast dancing for hours on end in three different themed rooms which were all jammed pack.

Yesterday taught me a lot.  It taught me to do what I want to do.  Looking back it was also probably one of the days that will stand out to me the most because I did so much reflection and it was nice to be surrounded by nothing but the sounds of the birds and little creatures in the leaves.  It was nice to be me and have no one else to answer to or to please. 

I'm heading off to a Reutlingen soccer match...


Auf Wiedersehen
Chels

The Beauty from Above

The best day thus far has been seeing Reutlingen from a bird's eye view.  We climbed Achalm and the ruins that awaited us on top.  It took us two hours, but boy was it worth it.  We had a gorgeous sunny day and stumbled upon some great sights all the way.  W even enjoyed a beer at the very top and looked upon the gorgeous cities and landscape that God had created all around us.

We also met some amazing little friends on the way.  Reutlingen is known for its textile industry and thus farmers have a lot of sheep that roam freely on these green hills that surround the city.  We stumbled upon a shepherd with a lot of sheep and of course his three sheepdogs.  The ewes must have just had babies because there were so many little ones as well as a lone donkey.

This hike put so many things into perspective and was a great way to start my first week of classes.

Auf Wierdersehen,
Chels

Beer is Liquid Bread

Ok so the stress of not having money or knowing anyone and being bored has started to wear off and the fun has begun.  We went out for beer as a group yesterday and went to downtown Reutlingen for the first time.  Not only am I living in the Doner capital of the world, but I also saw the world's smallest street.

We also meet our econ prof yesterday and had our orientation for the school.  He is such a cool and funny person.  He is the one that told us that beer is liquid bread and it is medicine.  Prof O took us out for ice cream before our walking tour of Reutlingen. On the tour we saw St. Mary's Church as well as the wall that was built around most of the city and places where the houses had been built leaning against the wall.
Tomorrow we are spending the day in Stuttgart and tonight we are having our first of what I hope to be many family dinners.

Auf Wiedersehen
Chels

10-4 Im here

Well I'm here.......so now what????

After a brutal plane ride and being up for twenty four hours I feel like I should have arrived in this magical place and so far it has not felt that way.  I think it may have something to do with the fact that my debit card is expired my credit card won't work and for some god forsaken reason the bank decides to take Wednesday afternoons off.

So after this being in a country with no money situation is handled Germany might start to feel a little more magical.  The room Rachel and I are in is huge and everything fits with room to spare.  The hardest part was putting up pictures with all my Valpo friends and knowing that they are not gonna be coming to school with me.

Today we tried Doners, which is exactly like a gyro and is very delicious.  Hopefully after everyone gets a good night rest there will be an extra pep in everyone's step tomorrow and we can tackle a little more of Germany.

Auf Wiedersehen,

Chels