Hi Everyone!
Yesterday myself and seven others embarked on an adventure to Cologne, Germany. Cologne is the oldest city in Germany, over 2000 years of history. Cologne is located right along the Rhine river. We took the bullet train, a train that travels at over 200 miles per hour. It took us about three hours to get from Stuttgart to Cologne. There were many historical things to see and do in Cologne. Upon arrival we took a bathroom break, which was an adventure in itself. In Germany you have to pay to use the public restrooms. It cost us one euro (about $1.35). I took a picture of the place where we had to put our money and the people around us looked at me as if I was crazy. We then walked out of the train station and saw the cathedral that cologne is famous for. The cathedral used to be the tallest church in Germany until a different cathedral was built in Barcelona, Spain. Once we explored the cathedral we had a chocolate pasty at the local bakery. The eight of us went on an hour and a half walking tour that gave us the highlights of the historical town. I learned a lot of information from this tour. We saw the building where the very first cologne and perfume were made. The first sent made did not smell very good but the new ones that have come out smell pretty good. We also saw the 4711 building where the rival cologne company has their headquarters and also sells perfume.
After the walking tour we had dinner at this little German restaurant. We ate outside even though it was a cloudy and cold day with a few short rain showers. The outside of the restaurant had tables set up under a awning with blankets on the chairs for us to use to keep warm as well as there were heaters at every table. It was different to sit outside in the cold and cloudy weather for lunch but it was a lot of fun.
After we had some lunch we went to the lindt chocolate factory. It was really neat to see how chocolate is made, we were able to read about the history of chocolate and how it is made from the coco beans. We also watched the machines pour the chocolate into the molds and then become packaged for shipping. After the chocolate factory we tried to take a cable car across the Rhine river but by the time we walked down there the cars had stopped for the day. We took pictures and then went back into center center and relaxed with a hot chocolate while waiting for our train to take us back to Stuttgart.
This week we have collaboration week which is where myself and the group I came with will be working together with a group of German students. We will be teaching each other about math and reading and discussing the differences between the United States and Germany when teaching.
Saturday morning I leave for London for four days. I will update before I leave and I will try to update while in London but I can't make any promises. Hope everyone has a good week and I hope to hear from
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