Touring East Germany

This weekend, we got to go home with Elke, my Ph.D. student. I first went to lab at around 8:00 am to take my samples. I then left at around 10:00 am to pack my bags. Kim and I had lunch at the mensa at around 11:00 am and were back in the Geo. III building to meet Elke by 12:00 pm. We then drove to Freiberg to pick up Laurent, Elke’s friend from France, who is doing an internship at Universität Freiberg. We then drove to Schloss Augustusburg—a beautiful castle near Elke’s hometown.

We arrived at Elke’s house at around 6:00 pm and met her family, all of whom are such wonderful people. Her mom is so sweet. She prepared for us a delicious snack of honey cake, hard-boiled eggs, and bread slices. Elke’s niece, Jenny, is adorable. She gave us flowers with three German wooden ornaments attached. The ornaments are one of my favorite souvenirs thus far.

After eating and having a nice conversation with Elke’s family, we all went outside to tour the farm and to meet the animals: a horse named Vicky, sheep, hens, ducks, rabbits, and a cat named Yellow. Elke’s sister has a lovely vegetable garden. The atmosphere on the farm is so peaceful. Looking back upon my travels throughout Germany, I can honestly say that I am so fortunate to have gotten to experience life in Berlin—a very urbanized city—and now life in the Erzgebirge—the countryside (especially considering that I come from a suburb in the United States).

In the morning, Elke made us a tasty breakfast of fruit, sausages, cheese, bread, hard-boiled eggs, and coffee. Once we were finished with breakfast, we drove to Ehrenfriedersdorf, where we went on a mining tour. We went three hundred feet down into the ground, wearing capes and construction hats. The mine has been closed since 1990, but the machinery is still underground for demonstration purposes. It was really cool getting to see how the miners worked, but the equipment was very loud. Overall, I think that this experience was one of the most memorable that I have had in Germany. Kudos to Elke for organizing this trip! J

After walking through the mine, we toured some of the traditional German houses of the Erzgebirge. I took lots of great pictures, even though it was raining a bit. It was very interesting to see how the miners lived about two hundred years ago.

Next, we went to Seiffen, the “toy town.” We went into numerous shops that sell the famous German wooden figurines. The angel figurines are really popular in Seiffen, as are the nutcrackers, the porcelain dolls, and the windmills.

On another note, I can finally say that I have visited the Czech Republic! We crossed the border between Germany and the Czech Republic while driving along a river. We ate dinner at a Czech restaurant in a town called Kateriny. Everything was very “lecker.”

After dinner, Elke drove us to our hostel in Dresden, called Hofgarten 1824. Our room was very spacious. We had a four-person room (with four bunk beds) just for the two of us, which was quite nice. Luckily, we had wireless internet access. At night, we took a short walk down Theresienstrasse and took pictures of some of the buildings (they are well-lit).

Kim and I went to bed soon after our night walk so that we could get up for breakfast, which was served between seven and eleven o’clock. We woke up at around 8:00 am and went down to breakfast, which consisted of the typical German food (cheese, bread, hard-boiled eggs, meat), and also the best cereal we have had in Germany thus far (granola). I know that I often mention the food here, but I feel that it is an essential part of my Germany experience.

We checked out of the hostel at around 10:00 am and wandered throughout Dresden for the rest of the day, taking many pictures. Once we got back to Bayreuth, we toured the inner city. The Wagner festival is going on, so there are lots of tourists. The town is nicely decorated with paper music notes and statues of musicians. We sat by the stream for a bit and enjoyed the festival.

I do apologize for posting this blog entry later than I had anticipated. Today was the last day of my internship and I am currently in the process of moving out of my flat. Tomorrow is our last full day in Bayreuth, and we leave Germany on Saturday (early flight from Nuremberg to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to Philadelphia). I love Bayreuth and have had an incredible time in Germany, but it will be nice to be home with my family and then to go back to school in New York City—this time with our brother, Ricky, who is entering his freshman year there. Anyway, I should finish packing. Thanks for reading and for sticking with me throughout my RISE experience in Germany. Enjoy the rest of your summer and take care! -April