Sorry I haven't posted sooner...the computer service in Prague was costly and not very good. So...here is everything that has happened since I last posted.
Friday: We spent the morning at the school in Bietigheim, where the jazz band held a concert for the students there. In the afternoon, my host family took us to an indoor water park in Bietigheim that had a whirlpool and a water slide. Then we had our concert in Freudental, which seemed to go very well.
Saturday: Yay for long bus rides! We made a stop in Pilzen, whose main feature is a giant brewery that makes one of the more famous beers in the world. We had lunch there, went on a tour, and I bought my dad a present for Father's day. Then we went to Prague, and went to a restaurant called Koliba. I had sauerkraut and LIKED IT! Our hotel was very nice, because we all had separate beds and an AWESOME view of the city from our window.
Sunday: Today was mainly a touring day...we started out by going to Vysoka, the town where composer Antonin Dvorak used to stay. It was SO PRETTY, especially the Rusalka (Mermaid) Lake! Afterwards, we made a stop in Prague's Old Town, where we had lunch. My group found a restaurant that sold chicken gyros for a pretty cheap price...which was helpful, because I then had to buy a disposable camera for 500 Czech crowns. In the afternoon, we went to Prague Castle, and go to visit Saint Vitus Cathedral. I really wish that I'd been able to take more pictures, because the cathedral was so beautiful! There were so many intricate stained glass windows and side rooms and...I wish that we'd had more time there, since the visiting time ended while we were still in there. Afterwards, we walked down a very large hill and went down to the Jewish Quarter, where we saw a lot of old synagogues and a Jewish cemetery that was so small, the citizens used to bury their dead in layers of ground and build the head stones up from underneath! Then we had dinner at Kolliba again -- fairly uneventful, except that the restaurant accidentally served liquor in our desert. (I think the liquor was cooked, though, so there was no alcohol in it.)
Monday: We made a quick stop at a Mozart museum in the city. The exhibition hall was small, but it had beautiful vintage instruments and there was a nice garden in the back. We went to the English International School -- I think it was for British children -- and had a concert there. Afterwards, one of the administrators told us about how the school had been thinking about adding its own music program, and that our concert had showed them how important such a program would be. SWEET! We then drove back to the Old Town to do some souvenir shopping. I bought this tan pashminka (Indian-made cashmere scarf) from a shop, and some new earrings. We had Kolliba for dinner again, but took take-out instead. I think it was some kind of fried pork sandwich, but I didn't eat that much of it because my group had gone to a Subway earlier in the day.
Today: Sadly, the tour guide we've traveled with in Prague had to stay behind and work with another group...our new tour guide came with us to Terezin, a Czech town that was used as a concentration camp in World War II. The main attraction was a cemetery where the people who died at the concentration camp were buried...it was very reverent, and beautiful. We went to Dresden for lunch and a walking tour. The group I went with for lunch found a hot dog stand where the food was good and extremely cheap! After Dresden, it was a long drive here to our hotel in Berlin. We have bunk beds at this hotel, and eight people (in two bedrooms) have to share two bathrooms...okaaay. However, the buffet dinner they served us was superb!
I hope that's everything...it was a lengthy time away from the computer! I can't wait to start touring in Berlin tomorrow!
Showing posts with label Caitlyn Foley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caitlyn Foley. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
6/12/08 - Pretty Castles and TOO MUCH RAIN
Hallo...I have the time to post tonight! Yay!
Today was our last sightseeing day in the Bietigheim-Bissingen area. (And I´m spelling it right this time! YAY!) We went to the town of Heidelberg, which is about an hour and a half drive from B-B. Once we were dropped off, we started with a very extensive walking tour around the town. Our tour guide, Eva, was very nice, and her English was very good. She told us a lot of interesting things about the town´s history.
Heidelberg was besieged by several wars in the 1600´s between Protestants and Catholics. A group of Catholic princes tried to convert the mostly Protestant village, but weren´t successful. The citizens built a fountain with a statue of Hercules on it as a symbol of their resilience (they had already survived two wars in fifty years!) and their willingness to take down authority if necessary. Needless to say, the princes moved away after a while.
In World War II, Heidelberg was, by chance, one of very few cities which were not bombed by American forces. The area around the town was so overcast that the planes couldn´t find the city! However, the city was damaged when the German forces blew up the bridges to prevent American entry -- the glass windows on one side of the town cathedral were shattered.
The tour also took us up to the castle...Schlosshof, I think, was the name. The walk up the hill to the castle was not as long as the walk to Neuschwanstein, but the hill was so steep that it didn´t matter! We were glad to get to the top and see how the different princes that lived in Heidelberg affected the castle´s construction. We also got a chance to see a VERY BIG wine keg. It could supposedly hold about 58 thousand gallons of wine, but the pressure on the barrel was so great that they could only fill it three times before it started leaking!
We had an hour to wander around in groups afterward. I managed to get a gift for my dad for Father´s Day -- hi Dad! The shop where I bought my dad´s gift also had a dispenser with Pokemon toys in it, so I used the extra euro of change to get one. (I was originally going to get a wooden rapier from another shop, so I think the Pokemon was a slightly better choice.)
The soccer game this past evening was...interesting. I got very involved in the game, moreso than I expected. However, Germany lost to Croatia. We had a party afterwards, but had to move it into a banquet hall-type building. It was for a good reason...it was raining REALLY hard!
That´s all I can really say...oh, wait! Go watch the video at the end of Mr. Miller´s blog post. I was sitting a few seats from the people who were performing in that video...it was HILARIOUS. Mr. Williams had to come back and keep the kids from getting too rowdy!
Anyway...tomorrow we attend school with the German kids and have our final concert in Bietigheim! (Actually, the final concert is being held in Freudental, where I´m staying -- lucky!) Wish us luck at concert number 2!
Today was our last sightseeing day in the Bietigheim-Bissingen area. (And I´m spelling it right this time! YAY!) We went to the town of Heidelberg, which is about an hour and a half drive from B-B. Once we were dropped off, we started with a very extensive walking tour around the town. Our tour guide, Eva, was very nice, and her English was very good. She told us a lot of interesting things about the town´s history.
Heidelberg was besieged by several wars in the 1600´s between Protestants and Catholics. A group of Catholic princes tried to convert the mostly Protestant village, but weren´t successful. The citizens built a fountain with a statue of Hercules on it as a symbol of their resilience (they had already survived two wars in fifty years!) and their willingness to take down authority if necessary. Needless to say, the princes moved away after a while.
In World War II, Heidelberg was, by chance, one of very few cities which were not bombed by American forces. The area around the town was so overcast that the planes couldn´t find the city! However, the city was damaged when the German forces blew up the bridges to prevent American entry -- the glass windows on one side of the town cathedral were shattered.
The tour also took us up to the castle...Schlosshof, I think, was the name. The walk up the hill to the castle was not as long as the walk to Neuschwanstein, but the hill was so steep that it didn´t matter! We were glad to get to the top and see how the different princes that lived in Heidelberg affected the castle´s construction. We also got a chance to see a VERY BIG wine keg. It could supposedly hold about 58 thousand gallons of wine, but the pressure on the barrel was so great that they could only fill it three times before it started leaking!
We had an hour to wander around in groups afterward. I managed to get a gift for my dad for Father´s Day -- hi Dad! The shop where I bought my dad´s gift also had a dispenser with Pokemon toys in it, so I used the extra euro of change to get one. (I was originally going to get a wooden rapier from another shop, so I think the Pokemon was a slightly better choice.)
The soccer game this past evening was...interesting. I got very involved in the game, moreso than I expected. However, Germany lost to Croatia. We had a party afterwards, but had to move it into a banquet hall-type building. It was for a good reason...it was raining REALLY hard!
That´s all I can really say...oh, wait! Go watch the video at the end of Mr. Miller´s blog post. I was sitting a few seats from the people who were performing in that video...it was HILARIOUS. Mr. Williams had to come back and keep the kids from getting too rowdy!
Anyway...tomorrow we attend school with the German kids and have our final concert in Bietigheim! (Actually, the final concert is being held in Freudental, where I´m staying -- lucky!) Wish us luck at concert number 2!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Report on Tuesday (6/10) and Wednesday (6/11)
Once again, outside circumstances have kept me from posting last night -- in this case, it was simply too late to say anything coherently! However, yesterday was our sightseeing day in Bietingheim-Bissingen. We took a walking tour down the main street; we got to see several interesting statues, the entrance to a Japanese garden, and a monument for all the particularly high floods they´ve had in this town! (The town has two rivers running through it, with another one a few kilometers away. If it rains too much, the city floods very easily.) We got to meet with the mayor of the town -- he spoke English very well -- and the town gave us hats as souvenirs. (Iäve been wearing mine sightseeing -- but more on THAT later.) After lunch -- and lots of ice cream -- we rehearsed and performed our concert at the Kronenzentrum. My host family, whom I had a second dinner with after the concert, said they liked Godzilla Eats Las Vegas the most.
Earlier today, we went to Stuttgart - the equivalent of Chicago in this area. We went to the Mercedes Beny museum, where they had several different historical cars on exhibit. I took pictures, but I´m afraid they won´t come out right. We had about an hour left after touring the exhibits, so I joined Jennifer D., Suzanne S., and several of their friends in playing Mow (a card game) and going to the gift shop. The whole group walked past the soccer stadium and bought things at the gift shop there.
The buses picked us up from the stadium and took us downtown, where we spent the rest of the afternoon. I stuck with the Mow group...we found this pretty large mall that we hung out in for an hour and a half. We had ice cream again...I am such a sucker. Then we went walking down the street and found a relatively inexpensive jewelry store. Then we went back, the buses picked us up...and we went to the soccer game! Iäm sure youäll have heard about it from the other students. I actually played at the start of the second half, but I haven´t played in years and I couldn´t get to the ball in time. We had curry for dinner tonight -- another first for me! -- and...now we´re going to bed! Tomorrow is our last day of sightseeing, in the town of Heidelberg. I´m looking forward to it!
Earlier today, we went to Stuttgart - the equivalent of Chicago in this area. We went to the Mercedes Beny museum, where they had several different historical cars on exhibit. I took pictures, but I´m afraid they won´t come out right. We had about an hour left after touring the exhibits, so I joined Jennifer D., Suzanne S., and several of their friends in playing Mow (a card game) and going to the gift shop. The whole group walked past the soccer stadium and bought things at the gift shop there.
The buses picked us up from the stadium and took us downtown, where we spent the rest of the afternoon. I stuck with the Mow group...we found this pretty large mall that we hung out in for an hour and a half. We had ice cream again...I am such a sucker. Then we went walking down the street and found a relatively inexpensive jewelry store. Then we went back, the buses picked us up...and we went to the soccer game! Iäm sure youäll have heard about it from the other students. I actually played at the start of the second half, but I haven´t played in years and I couldn´t get to the ball in time. We had curry for dinner tonight -- another first for me! -- and...now we´re going to bed! Tomorrow is our last day of sightseeing, in the town of Heidelberg. I´m looking forward to it!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Doing Double Duty - Sunday (6/8) and Monday (6/9)
I apologize for not posting before today...it has been a very busy few days leading up to the trip. I actually tried to post last night, but I couldnät get into the blog..so tonight, I will have to post on the past two days we have been in Germany.
We arrived in Berlin at around 7:30 in the morning, due to a rain delay we had experienced before taking off in Chicago. We actually got through baggage claim in very little time, and rode coach buses down to Bietingheim-Bissingen. (I think I am spelling the name of the town correctly...) We arrived around noon, and met up with our host families. The host family I am staying with is actually quite large. There is Mr. and Mrs. Lowen, the parents, as well as one daughter (age 10), and three borhters, who are 16, 18, and 20 respectively. Their house is in the village of Freudental, and is very nice. Sarah F. and I are sharing a bedroom together.
After we arrived at the Lowen house, the youngest son, Cornelius, took us on a tour of the village with his younger sister. He showed us a street that used to house their Jewish popoulation, as well as the synagogue. He also showed us the village´s church, which is over 800 years old. After the tour of the town, the whole family sat down to lunch together. We had pork, salad, noodles, and sliced tomatoes with mozarella cheese. It all tasted very good!
After lunch, we went down to the town of Ludwigsburg. The town is best known for a very large castle that has a lot of gardens. I was particularly interested in their rose garden. The roses there all had different names, like Shneewittchen (Snow White) and Feuerwerk (Fireworks). I took so many pictures of the roses! Whil we were there, it started raining very hard...we had to huddle under a tree and try to stay dry until the rain let up. Once it did, we left the castle and went to the town square, where Mrs. Lowen bought us Italian ice cream. We then went home, had sausages and cheese for dinner, and went to bed.
Today, the entire band went, as a group, to Neuschwanstein castle. When we first arrived, I mistook another castle in the village for Neuschwanstein...and did not realize that the real castle was half an hour´s walk away! We took a guided tour in English at the castle. We were not allowed to take pictures, though I wish we had been able to. The whole castle was beautiful! My favorite rooms were the throne room, which featured a very detailed depiction of Jesus Christ and various saints, and the dining room, which had a swan theme to it. i decided to buy a stuffed swan in the gift shop as a memento of the trip. I went straight back to the buses after the castle, though some people stopped at a bridge that was relatively nearby. We ended up leaving late from the village because one of our students ended up in the wrong parking lot, but we arrived relatively on time and went home. Dinner tonight was spaghetti with meat sauce. (My mother might be pleased to know that I ate the spaghetti with the sauce today!) Now we are preparing for bed. Tomorrow´s our first concert -- I hope we do well!
We arrived in Berlin at around 7:30 in the morning, due to a rain delay we had experienced before taking off in Chicago. We actually got through baggage claim in very little time, and rode coach buses down to Bietingheim-Bissingen. (I think I am spelling the name of the town correctly...) We arrived around noon, and met up with our host families. The host family I am staying with is actually quite large. There is Mr. and Mrs. Lowen, the parents, as well as one daughter (age 10), and three borhters, who are 16, 18, and 20 respectively. Their house is in the village of Freudental, and is very nice. Sarah F. and I are sharing a bedroom together.
After we arrived at the Lowen house, the youngest son, Cornelius, took us on a tour of the village with his younger sister. He showed us a street that used to house their Jewish popoulation, as well as the synagogue. He also showed us the village´s church, which is over 800 years old. After the tour of the town, the whole family sat down to lunch together. We had pork, salad, noodles, and sliced tomatoes with mozarella cheese. It all tasted very good!
After lunch, we went down to the town of Ludwigsburg. The town is best known for a very large castle that has a lot of gardens. I was particularly interested in their rose garden. The roses there all had different names, like Shneewittchen (Snow White) and Feuerwerk (Fireworks). I took so many pictures of the roses! Whil we were there, it started raining very hard...we had to huddle under a tree and try to stay dry until the rain let up. Once it did, we left the castle and went to the town square, where Mrs. Lowen bought us Italian ice cream. We then went home, had sausages and cheese for dinner, and went to bed.
Today, the entire band went, as a group, to Neuschwanstein castle. When we first arrived, I mistook another castle in the village for Neuschwanstein...and did not realize that the real castle was half an hour´s walk away! We took a guided tour in English at the castle. We were not allowed to take pictures, though I wish we had been able to. The whole castle was beautiful! My favorite rooms were the throne room, which featured a very detailed depiction of Jesus Christ and various saints, and the dining room, which had a swan theme to it. i decided to buy a stuffed swan in the gift shop as a memento of the trip. I went straight back to the buses after the castle, though some people stopped at a bridge that was relatively nearby. We ended up leaving late from the village because one of our students ended up in the wrong parking lot, but we arrived relatively on time and went home. Dinner tonight was spaghetti with meat sauce. (My mother might be pleased to know that I ate the spaghetti with the sauce today!) Now we are preparing for bed. Tomorrow´s our first concert -- I hope we do well!
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