July 9th and 10th, 2011

This weekend started off superb. Saturday morning we woke up and booked our 79 Euro bus ride to Paris for this upcoming weekend! I am so excited. I’m not so excited about the red eye 8 hour bus ride but hey, it was cheap! After we booked our tickets we saddled up for what Dr. Batista claimed would be a “nice little hike” up the Drachenfels. I think everyone came to the consensus that it was much more than that. We got to see a beautiful castle that has some tale about a dragon slayer. We also made it to the top- after Michelle and I played caboose rather well. The top was definitely worth the hike and one of the most breath taking views. You could see for miles. We even spotted the city of Cologne from where we were (which is about a 20 minute train ride away). Once we made it back down the Drachenfels we decided to grab some ice cream in a little town nearby. IT WAS DELICIOUS!

Following the hike and ice cream, we headed back to nap, relax, shower, and freshen up for our trip to Cologne! We rode the train for the first time and it was quite the experience. For starters, when you are on the platform and one of those trains that just halls stuff, not passengers, comes blowing through there it is one of the most terrifying things ever. The people on the train are interesting as well. There was a young couple backpacking and I think it may have been weeks since they showered. On top of them, we were cramped in with about 6 drunken Europeans who sweat more than pigs. I was so ready to lift my sweaty arms up and say “what now biatches!” I refrained, however the smell was horrible. Once we made it to Cologne, we stepped out of the train station and saw the most breath taking Cathedral- the Cologne Cathedral. It was built hundreds of years ago and we actually get to go inside of it in a couple of weeks. Pictures follow.

Cologne I think is close to the Bourbon Street of America. There were so many bachelor/bachelorette parties and crazy bars. In addition, every summer they have this huge Firework show along the Rhine with music and people drink a bunch of beer and just sit on the grass and watch them. So we did just that. So much for Texas giving us fireworks on the 4^th of July, right? - Cologne had it covered. The show was pretty awesome except for the crowd which got to be unbearable so our group of girls checked out early. On our way back to the train station we got stopped by some Guido style Germans and the yelled at us: “Are you guys American? Because we LOVE Jersey Shore!” It made us laugh so hard so we stopped and talked with them. Got a few pictures as well as made friends with a German Bachelor dressed as a joker. Needless to say it was entertaining. We made it back into Bonn safely, after almost missing our train because it switched platforms on us. Oh! And I almost had to kick some local German’s butts. Some guys decided to make fun of us at the train station and then started mocking us and I had to turn to them and let me know we were not having it. According to Krista I get the award for smack talking locals. J

Sunday morning we got to sleep in a little more before the mental preparation for a 14 mile bike ride took place. Yes we rented bikes in Bonn and started off down the Rhine River with a packed lunch for a picnic. Although this trip was longer than Saturday’s hike it was much more enjoyable. I think we sang through every single Disney song of our child hood and scared a bunch of the other bikers crossing our paths. The views were breathtaking though. Castle after castle, and beautiful house after beautiful house. Ships and cruises would go up and down the Rhine and it was a beautiful 80 degree sunny day. We could not have planned it better. We had one minor setback with Gentry and Kyle decided to try and hold each other’s bike handle bars. SPLAT! Gentry came out of today with a nice shiner on her knee and some blood to go. I don’t believe either person will live it down for the rest of the trip. We stopped and ate lunch in the grass on the Rhine and then got ice cream once we made it to this little town called Ramagen. Here there was a bridge that crossed the Rhine previously, but was destroyed by soldiers during World War 2. This man that owns the history museum where the bridge used to be gave us his passionate story and history on how it all came about. It was humbling to see such an old man be so passionate.

After the museum, we headed back. Most of the group had the audacity to go ahead and bike the 14 miles back into Bonn but 6 of us, including myself took the train back with our bikes. (My left knee has been bothering me for quite some time now.) Needless to say riding a train with a bike is no walk in the park. Try getting that thing off and on a darn skinny passage way: not easy. We turned in our bikes and headed to the AIB building for a German BBQ and to watch the USA women’s soccer team kick some butt- which they did! Our group will officially be seeing the USA women play on Wednesday night in a semi-final game in Germany. Life just doesn’t get much better than that. We also celebrated our professor’s 60^th birthday tonight- Dr. Batista. Needless to say it was a jam-packed weekend and I think the only time we have been in dorms was with enough time to hit our heads to our pillows and pass out! Tomorrow class officially starts and Tuesday we begin our German language lessons! Pretty excited for that!