We all arrived safely in Wichita yesterday evening and were greeted by many, many smiling family members.
Cheers!
LRT
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
The Weather in Austria is NOT wrong!
Yesterday, we watched out of our train window as the snowy Munich countryside turned into beautiful blue skies in Vienna. We arrived a little after noon and, after grabbing some lunch, took a nice walk through the city to find our hostel. And then, the adventure began.
Our hostel was located a mere two blocks from the area in Vienna known as "Museum Quarter". So, after arming ourselves with a map of the city, we decided to just head out and see what interesting things we could find. The buildings in Vienna are beautiful. We walked around state buildings, museums and parts of the old Imperial Palace. Half of the time, we didn't actually know which buildings we were taking pictures of.
We then went to the Imperial Apartments and spent a few hours looking around at the three museums held in the one building. First, we saw rooms full of the dishes, cutlery and centerpieces used by the Emperor and Empress. There were plates decorated with birds, some with stories from Greek mythology and some with intricate flowery patterns. We were amazed at the large, gold centerpieces used for holding flowers and candles. There were even giant trunks holding travel sets of the beautiful dining-ware. Next, we visited the Sisi Museum -- a museum for Empress Elisabeth. There were replicas of the amazing gowns she wore and items she used on her many travels as Empress. We were a little creeped out, however, when we came to the display of the file used to assasinate her. Finally, we came to the actual Imperial Apartments. The rooms were huge! The Emperor and the Empress each had two lounges, a bedroom and a waiting room. The Empress even had a room used for exercising. We decided we definitely want to be Empresses when we grow up.
Our Austrian adventure didn't end there. After grabbing a Döner for dinner, we headed to an aquatic zoo that stayed open until 9 at night. The building was nine levels of aquariums and displays of other reptiles and amphibians. In one level there was even a rainforest-like room filled with birds, turtles and bats. Yes, bats. Sarah almost made it inside until one of them flew a little too close to her head. We took lots of pictures and even managed to capture the snakes' dinner time! (We would show you, but we can't load pictures at our hotel.) The top level of the zoo opened to a rooftop view of the city of Vienna. We could see all the fancy buildings we had visited earlier that day.
We decided to head back to the hostel then, since we were finally worn out, and met a few of the students also staying there that night. Three were from Turkey (two were cousins, and the other one found out he had grown up a few streets away from them) and the other was French Canadian. All of them spoke smooth English, so we enjoyed sharing stories of our travels with eachother.
This morning, we decided to skip Salzburg and come back to Munich. We were a little sad to be leaving such a beautiful city, but we were excited to see the rest of the group again!
Only a few more days until we come home! We're enjoying our time, but are definitely ready to live out of our closets instead of our suitcases.
Love,
Sarah and Anna
Our hostel was located a mere two blocks from the area in Vienna known as "Museum Quarter". So, after arming ourselves with a map of the city, we decided to just head out and see what interesting things we could find. The buildings in Vienna are beautiful. We walked around state buildings, museums and parts of the old Imperial Palace. Half of the time, we didn't actually know which buildings we were taking pictures of.
We then went to the Imperial Apartments and spent a few hours looking around at the three museums held in the one building. First, we saw rooms full of the dishes, cutlery and centerpieces used by the Emperor and Empress. There were plates decorated with birds, some with stories from Greek mythology and some with intricate flowery patterns. We were amazed at the large, gold centerpieces used for holding flowers and candles. There were even giant trunks holding travel sets of the beautiful dining-ware. Next, we visited the Sisi Museum -- a museum for Empress Elisabeth. There were replicas of the amazing gowns she wore and items she used on her many travels as Empress. We were a little creeped out, however, when we came to the display of the file used to assasinate her. Finally, we came to the actual Imperial Apartments. The rooms were huge! The Emperor and the Empress each had two lounges, a bedroom and a waiting room. The Empress even had a room used for exercising. We decided we definitely want to be Empresses when we grow up.
Our Austrian adventure didn't end there. After grabbing a Döner for dinner, we headed to an aquatic zoo that stayed open until 9 at night. The building was nine levels of aquariums and displays of other reptiles and amphibians. In one level there was even a rainforest-like room filled with birds, turtles and bats. Yes, bats. Sarah almost made it inside until one of them flew a little too close to her head. We took lots of pictures and even managed to capture the snakes' dinner time! (We would show you, but we can't load pictures at our hotel.) The top level of the zoo opened to a rooftop view of the city of Vienna. We could see all the fancy buildings we had visited earlier that day.
We decided to head back to the hostel then, since we were finally worn out, and met a few of the students also staying there that night. Three were from Turkey (two were cousins, and the other one found out he had grown up a few streets away from them) and the other was French Canadian. All of them spoke smooth English, so we enjoyed sharing stories of our travels with eachother.
This morning, we decided to skip Salzburg and come back to Munich. We were a little sad to be leaving such a beautiful city, but we were excited to see the rest of the group again!
Only a few more days until we come home! We're enjoying our time, but are definitely ready to live out of our closets instead of our suitcases.
Love,
Sarah and Anna
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
We're too tired to think of witty titles
Dearest Readers,
Today, eleven weary students arrived in Munich. Don't worry, we didn't lose anyone! Our official tour of Europe is over, so we're spending our last few days traveling on our own ... well, kind of. Lisa is visiting her host mother, and Megan is spending time with a friend. The rest of us stayed together.
We checked out of our hostel in Leipzig at 10:00 this morning and waved farewell to Professor Extraordinarious and Megan before heading to the train station. After a mere 5 hour nap, we arrived in the Munich train station. Our walk to the hotel was twenty minutes; after brief confusion concerning how to actually get into the building, we all congratulated ourselves on successful travel without the help of our "grown-up".
Even though we are no longer being led by Frau Thimm, we are continuing to strengthen our math skills. It took us less than 5 minutes at dinner to figure out individual payments on a bill for eleven people (not an easy feat -- our first attempt was Fatal).
The majority of the group is taking a trip to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial tomorrow. Sarah and Anna will be visiting Vienna, Austria for a day and then stopping in Saltzberg on the way back to Munich (They hope to find "hills alive with the sound of music."). Friday, group members are going to be visiting a BMW factory; and Saturday, David, Dylan and Justin will be catching a soccer game. We'll spend Saturday night in Dusseldorf before hopping on our flight home on Sunday.
Nobody has been severly injured or sent to prison, so we're all still well!
Love,
The group
Today, eleven weary students arrived in Munich. Don't worry, we didn't lose anyone! Our official tour of Europe is over, so we're spending our last few days traveling on our own ... well, kind of. Lisa is visiting her host mother, and Megan is spending time with a friend. The rest of us stayed together.
We checked out of our hostel in Leipzig at 10:00 this morning and waved farewell to Professor Extraordinarious and Megan before heading to the train station. After a mere 5 hour nap, we arrived in the Munich train station. Our walk to the hotel was twenty minutes; after brief confusion concerning how to actually get into the building, we all congratulated ourselves on successful travel without the help of our "grown-up".
Even though we are no longer being led by Frau Thimm, we are continuing to strengthen our math skills. It took us less than 5 minutes at dinner to figure out individual payments on a bill for eleven people (not an easy feat -- our first attempt was Fatal).
The majority of the group is taking a trip to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial tomorrow. Sarah and Anna will be visiting Vienna, Austria for a day and then stopping in Saltzberg on the way back to Munich (They hope to find "hills alive with the sound of music."). Friday, group members are going to be visiting a BMW factory; and Saturday, David, Dylan and Justin will be catching a soccer game. We'll spend Saturday night in Dusseldorf before hopping on our flight home on Sunday.
Nobody has been severly injured or sent to prison, so we're all still well!
Love,
The group
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Wolfenbuttel and Leipzig
Hello there, friends and family. It's quite rainy here in Germany. We're on the move a lot more here than the first half of the trip. After we left Gottingen, we headed to Wolfenbuttel. It's a very small town compared to some of the other places we have been. Our connection in Wolfenbuttel is the Herzog August Bibliotek. Leibniz, a German mathematician, was the librarian there for some time. Dale Schrag spent some time researching there and was kind enough to arrange a tour of the library.
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| One of the collection rooms in the library |
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| Front of the Library |
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| Courtyard of the palace in Wolfenbuttel |
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| Looking in the windows doesn't work very well |
We only stayed in Wolfenbuttel for one night. The next day we took off for Leipzig, our last touring destination.
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| Outside the university building that pays homage to St. Paul's church, which was destroyed. |
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| We didn't find the Leibniz statue on campus. Here's a girl carrying water instead. |
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| The crosswalk signs are funny here. |
Leipzig also has a significant music history. Bach, Mendelssohn, and Schumann all spent time here. |
| This is St. Thomas' Church, where Bach was choir director for a long time. |
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| Bach Museum |
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| Bach? |
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Göttingen
We have arrived in Germany. The weather has been cold and rainy with light snow flurries, but that has not kept us from going out and about to see the sights. Yesterday we received a guided tour of the city and had free time to explore the city. We all found some pretty cool things. We saw where the first electro-mechanical telegraph was sent. Today we decided to have a photo scavenger hunt, this lead to
some pretty interesting adventures.
There are pictures of these events, but unfortunately, the internet connection is to slow to allow them all to be uploaded... look for them soon!
-JB
some pretty interesting adventures.
There are pictures of these events, but unfortunately, the internet connection is to slow to allow them all to be uploaded... look for them soon!
-JB
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
So. Many. Stairs.
On Sunday morning, we went to the Musee de Arts et Meiters, which contained thousands of original inventions. Not copies, not pictures, actual objects created by the inventor. We saw the first battery, the first telephone, the first calculator (made by Blaise Pascal), and several other objects that were very familiar to objects that we see and use today. The museum also contained other interesting pieces, like this sculpture...
Other items at the museum included cars, the first French airplane, scale models of the Statue of Liberty, bicycles for men and women, and a giant pendulum that shows the earth's rotation. It also included a large, super expensive experiment by Lavossier to show that water is not a pure element of the earth. With all of the awesome things, and the superb tour by our wonderful tour guide, everyone enjoyed the museum.
After a quick lunch, we made our way to the Effel Tower. Jenny was so pumped, she couldn't stop talking about it as we were walking up.
We decided to take the stairs up the Effel Tower. That meant hiking up over 700 stairs in the metal structure. We were quite winded but got some cool pictures and spent a significant time wandering the first, second, and top level. (There was even an ice skating on the first level, which none of us actually partook, but thought was awesome.) The top level was very chilly, but several members of the group decided to use the restroom up there!
Then we went to the Arc De Triomphe. To climb more stairs. At the top we were able to see the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower and Paris at night. After we came back down, we took a walk down Champs-Elysees and looked at some expensive things and some really nice cars.
On Monday, we first went to Notre Dame and guess what? Climbed more stairs. Spiral stairs. Small spiral stairs. Notre Dame was beautiful, the view from the top and down in the sanctuary with the giant stained glass windows.
After lunch and some souvenir shopping, we traveled over to the Louvre. It was ginormous, but we all some some cool pieces of art. And here we sit again, exhausted, with swollen legs, ready for another full day tomorrow.
Thanks for all to read this blog, feel free to leave comments or questions!
Love,
David, Dylan, Andrew, Justin, Sarah, Emilie, Emily, Jenny, Miriam, Megan, Roxy, Sarah, and Anna
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| How Much of This Sculpture is Made of Glass? |
After a quick lunch, we made our way to the Effel Tower. Jenny was so pumped, she couldn't stop talking about it as we were walking up.
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| She finally noticed him and accidentally whacked him in the face. |
Then we went to the Arc De Triomphe. To climb more stairs. At the top we were able to see the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower and Paris at night. After we came back down, we took a walk down Champs-Elysees and looked at some expensive things and some really nice cars.
On Monday, we first went to Notre Dame and guess what? Climbed more stairs. Spiral stairs. Small spiral stairs. Notre Dame was beautiful, the view from the top and down in the sanctuary with the giant stained glass windows.
After lunch and some souvenir shopping, we traveled over to the Louvre. It was ginormous, but we all some some cool pieces of art. And here we sit again, exhausted, with swollen legs, ready for another full day tomorrow.
Thanks for all to read this blog, feel free to leave comments or questions!
Love,
David, Dylan, Andrew, Justin, Sarah, Emilie, Emily, Jenny, Miriam, Megan, Roxy, Sarah, and Anna
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