Thursday was probably the longest day that I had in Germany. It was good, but I was a wake for a very long time!
We all met in the Aula (lobby) in the morning, in anticipation for our day trip to Berchtesgaden and the Königsee. Then we got on the bus for a lovely (ha! sarcasm) two hour drive. I slept for a good bit of it.
The first thing we did in (near?) Berchtesgaden was take a tour of the salt mine there. We had to wear jumpsuit-like things (ha, that was fun to fit into while wearing a skirt...good thing they weren't very tight!). First we filed in for our group photo and then sat on the little train-like thing and rode through tunnels to a big, cavernous room. They had some history with cool special effects there. Then we went down the wooden slide - just sat, held on to a few others, but our legs up and went. I wasn't a big fan of the steepest section (for the same reason I do not like roller coasters), but it was survivable. ;) We walked from place to place, took a boat ride across a brine lake, tasted some brine (very nasty), went down another slide, etc. We rode back on the train-thing and it was very cold...my fingernails were a pretty shade of purple. Then the ride was over and we were outside in the nice warm sunshine. We stopped in the gift shop (after eagerly climbing out of our suits) and bought some cool stuff (including salt). On the way to the Königsee most of us ate the food our host moms packed for us.
We took a boat ride across the Königsee to another stop along the lake. Oh, and if we looked really close up on top of the one mountain, we could see Eagle's Nest. I got as good of a picture of it as I could. All I can say is, Hitler did not deserve such a magnificent view! The boat ride was really cool Luckily, I got a window seat so I could take pictures of some of the views. The water was such a clear and beautiful green-bluish, not gross green like our lakes. The guy giving us a tour of what we were seeing was really funny. At one place he played a trumpet out the boat and the mountains echoed it back. We docked in St. Bartholomew and then had 45 minutes to walk around and do whatever, and while everyone went right to where the shops, food, etc. were, Jake, Kenny and I went left, following a cool path all the way to where it went into the woods. We took SO MANY pictures...the view was just so beautiful!! It was fun, though, except when I thought I lost my ticket for the boat ride back. But don't worry, that was resolved just fine. Then we walked back the other way and found some of our people and then walked on the path that way and took more pictures. :) It was so amazing there....I would've loved to just stay there forever....but then we had to leave. :( The boat ride back was nice, too, and a lot more of us got window seats for more pictures!
The bus ride home was horrible. I slept for part of it and then woke up and was listening to music, but the people in the back were getting really annoying so finally I moved to the front because I had a headache, but then a few people up front were also really annoying...there was no escape!! So when Elli and her mom picked me up, I was slightly car sick on the way home.
My dad got pizza that night. German pizza is...interesting. I gave up on trying to eat it with a fork and knife and just picked it up. Also, their pepperoni is literally salami slices on the pizza.
Then...we got ready for the club! Yes, I went to a club. And I can say that I don't ever need to go to one again. Then Ollie and his mom dropped off Jake (who was just going to sleep at our house and go to school on the bus with us the next morning, since we would be getting home so late). Hmm...how can I even describe the club? It was basically just like they always are in the movies! At first it wasn't very full because it wasn't late enough, so we all - me, Elli, Nici, Cassandra, Jake, Kenny, Kelby and Corey and their host Jakob - sat and chatted for a while. But then Kelby and Kenny were too excited to dance so they went out to dance, and a few more people joined them, and soon all of us were out (me because they dragged me along, basically, and the same for Corey). I felt really awkward because I am not a dance person, but oh well. It was at least amusing watching the others. The funny thing is, all of us (Americans) that were there are not the club type! The other funny thing is that in Germany, my covering didn't get me any weird looks....not even in a club! But yeah, they had the whole smoky-stuff going one, and occasionally super bright lights, the music was loud and pumping and my skirt was vibrating! More people kept coming so it was more and more crowded, more smoky, more hot, more full of drunk people, and smelled more and more like alcohol.
The others had to leave earlier because they were minors (and the Americans couldn't get parent signatures to stay later), but Jake and I were old enough to stay and Elli had gotten parent signatures, plus her sister was there too, so technically we could've stayed all night. We were there until maybe 12:45?
I took a quick shower when we got home and was happy to lay down in my bed! :)
We all met in the Aula (lobby) in the morning, in anticipation for our day trip to Berchtesgaden and the Königsee. Then we got on the bus for a lovely (ha! sarcasm) two hour drive. I slept for a good bit of it.
The first thing we did in (near?) Berchtesgaden was take a tour of the salt mine there. We had to wear jumpsuit-like things (ha, that was fun to fit into while wearing a skirt...good thing they weren't very tight!). First we filed in for our group photo and then sat on the little train-like thing and rode through tunnels to a big, cavernous room. They had some history with cool special effects there. Then we went down the wooden slide - just sat, held on to a few others, but our legs up and went. I wasn't a big fan of the steepest section (for the same reason I do not like roller coasters), but it was survivable. ;) We walked from place to place, took a boat ride across a brine lake, tasted some brine (very nasty), went down another slide, etc. We rode back on the train-thing and it was very cold...my fingernails were a pretty shade of purple. Then the ride was over and we were outside in the nice warm sunshine. We stopped in the gift shop (after eagerly climbing out of our suits) and bought some cool stuff (including salt). On the way to the Königsee most of us ate the food our host moms packed for us.
We took a boat ride across the Königsee to another stop along the lake. Oh, and if we looked really close up on top of the one mountain, we could see Eagle's Nest. I got as good of a picture of it as I could. All I can say is, Hitler did not deserve such a magnificent view! The boat ride was really cool Luckily, I got a window seat so I could take pictures of some of the views. The water was such a clear and beautiful green-bluish, not gross green like our lakes. The guy giving us a tour of what we were seeing was really funny. At one place he played a trumpet out the boat and the mountains echoed it back. We docked in St. Bartholomew and then had 45 minutes to walk around and do whatever, and while everyone went right to where the shops, food, etc. were, Jake, Kenny and I went left, following a cool path all the way to where it went into the woods. We took SO MANY pictures...the view was just so beautiful!! It was fun, though, except when I thought I lost my ticket for the boat ride back. But don't worry, that was resolved just fine. Then we walked back the other way and found some of our people and then walked on the path that way and took more pictures. :) It was so amazing there....I would've loved to just stay there forever....but then we had to leave. :( The boat ride back was nice, too, and a lot more of us got window seats for more pictures!
The bus ride home was horrible. I slept for part of it and then woke up and was listening to music, but the people in the back were getting really annoying so finally I moved to the front because I had a headache, but then a few people up front were also really annoying...there was no escape!! So when Elli and her mom picked me up, I was slightly car sick on the way home.
My dad got pizza that night. German pizza is...interesting. I gave up on trying to eat it with a fork and knife and just picked it up. Also, their pepperoni is literally salami slices on the pizza.
Then...we got ready for the club! Yes, I went to a club. And I can say that I don't ever need to go to one again. Then Ollie and his mom dropped off Jake (who was just going to sleep at our house and go to school on the bus with us the next morning, since we would be getting home so late). Hmm...how can I even describe the club? It was basically just like they always are in the movies! At first it wasn't very full because it wasn't late enough, so we all - me, Elli, Nici, Cassandra, Jake, Kenny, Kelby and Corey and their host Jakob - sat and chatted for a while. But then Kelby and Kenny were too excited to dance so they went out to dance, and a few more people joined them, and soon all of us were out (me because they dragged me along, basically, and the same for Corey). I felt really awkward because I am not a dance person, but oh well. It was at least amusing watching the others. The funny thing is, all of us (Americans) that were there are not the club type! The other funny thing is that in Germany, my covering didn't get me any weird looks....not even in a club! But yeah, they had the whole smoky-stuff going one, and occasionally super bright lights, the music was loud and pumping and my skirt was vibrating! More people kept coming so it was more and more crowded, more smoky, more hot, more full of drunk people, and smelled more and more like alcohol.
The others had to leave earlier because they were minors (and the Americans couldn't get parent signatures to stay later), but Jake and I were old enough to stay and Elli had gotten parent signatures, plus her sister was there too, so technically we could've stayed all night. We were there until maybe 12:45?
I took a quick shower when we got home and was happy to lay down in my bed! :)
The view of St. Bartholomew
Arriving
A beautiful view of the Alps
The path that we walked on
Jake on a log - look at the multiple tones of color in the water!
Kenny on a log
The beautiful Königsee!
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