Author: Dayton Thomsen

Where did the time go? I cannot believe how quickly this whole trip has flown by.

I had the privilege to take 202 in Germany, and being able to only focus on one subject at once was amazing.  We had classes on Monday-Thursday from 9-11 for the 202 class, then a German language and culture class from 2-4. It was about a 45 minute commute to and from the Technische Universität of Berlin. Apart from the class time, we would work on our homework during the weeknights.

The food in Germany is great. The street food and food from the grocery store is typically what I would eat. We would have group dinners where we could order the German highlights like Schnitzel and Porks Knuckle. Along the streets, there would be plenty of pizza, and doner options for a cheap price. For breakfast at our hotel (St.-Michaels-Heim Jugendgästehaus & Hotel) on the weekdays, there would be bread, meats and cheese, as well as coffee, and a small amount of cereal. I typically lived off of the bread and nutella for breakfast once I grew tired of the other options. For lunch during the weekdays I would go to a bakery close to our class. It had lots of different kinds of sandwiches to choose from for a cheap price. There were also plenty of Eis cafe’s that sold gelato, and would be a common spot that we would always find after a meal.

During the last week we were able to travel around for 7 days, so my group and I decided to go to first Vienna, Austria. We found cheap plane tickets, and a cheap airbnb that was a quick ride from the hauptbahnhof. We payed for public transportation so that we could see a lot of sights. Vienna is a nice city, and we were able to see a few museums in the city, as well as eat great food. After our trip to Vienna, we took a plane back to Berlin, then we traveled to Stuttgart by train with our railpasses. We found a cheap airbnb in the city once again. We saw the Mercedes and Porsche museum in Stuttgart, and I would recommend the beautiful German city to anyone. We then traveled to Munich by train, and stayed in a cheap hotel. We went to the BMW Museum as well as got a tour of the plant to see just how each model of a BMW is made from start to finish.

The trip was amazing, and I will miss the countless experiences I had with my friends in my room at St.-Michaels-Heim, as well as my friends on the group trip during the last week. 

 

Here are a few of the countless pictures I have taken while on this trip.

Here are 3 of our 6 total group members that I had the privilege of traveling with during the last week of free time while on the trip. This picture was taken in Munich at the BMW Museum.  We had the ability to step foot in the luxury cars, and here are some of my friends doing just that. We saw the history of BMW as a whole in the museum, and as well as went on a tour of the plant to see exactly how a BMW is made, and the differences between each model.

Here is the first Porsche sportscar that was modeled to kick off our tour of the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. This was during our last week of Free time, and while in Stuttgart we as well saw the Mercedes Museum. The Porsche museum was laid out perfectly, as we could see each model progressing through the year as technology advanced. The Porsche Museum seemed to be focused mostly around racing, being a powerhouse in the early 1900’s races. There was even a racing simulator in the museum for guests to test their skills at driving an incredibly fast car.

Here is another picture taken during my last week of free time during the trip. This is the Schloßplatz in Stuttgart, which is located right next to the main shopping center and downtown area of the city. While this picture looks calm and quiet, at night time the square would be littered with people having a good time around the beautifully architectural buildings that creates the square like appearance. There was restaurants that surrounded the area, with live music playing on occasion, which created a lovely vibe at night to sit in the grass and hang out with friends.

Thanks for reading!

 

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