2019 DCIS Germany Program

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A Fina Farewell to Germany

Today was our final full day in Germany. The overall mission of today was to get from Fuessen, back to Munich for our flight tomorrow. We woke up for breakfast at 8, like we have been in Fuessen. We really liked the hotel in Fuessen, we had the whole place to ourselves. We also liked how relaxed and laid back the village of Fuessen was. In Munich there are way more cars, people, and trains.

After we cleaned up our rooms, collected all the dirty sheets, and towels, we were ready to go back to Munich. On the train ride, we saw a beautiful view of the mountains. The mountains here are way bigger and prettier than Colorado’s mountains. It is hard to explain but they are more stunning because of the green grass that contrasts with the colors of the mountains.

Trains are a good way to travel because they are comfortable, nice, and have a good view. We also think that trains offer more travel options for passengers because they offer more direct travel options. We think we need to have more trains in America. Like the bullet trains in Japan and nice trains like Germany.

We returned to Munich, back to our same hostel. We ate fruit, dried meats, and bread for lunch. Luckily, we had one more stop for ice cream on the trip too. We think the icecream in Germany has a better taste because it has less artificial flavors.

Next, we stopped at the BMW Welt (or BMW World). They had a ton of cars in the hall including BMWs, Rolls Royce, and Mini Coopers. We didn’t love BMW World because there were too many expensive cars. Upstairs at the BMW World they had motorcycles set up that you could sit on. We had a lot of fun taking pictures of ourselves on them.

We went outside to the Olympic park from the 1972 Summer Games to sit in the sun. There were pretty trees blooming too. We really enjoyed this time because we don’t think enough Americans take the time to sit outside and enjoy the little things that make life good.

We had one more afternoon of shopping. We had some time at the Marienplatz, but our favorite shopping stop of the day was at Aldi, which is the Trader Joe’s of Germany. Here we bought all kinds of chocolates, drinks, and sweets for our families.  

Dinner was in a Turkish restaurant. We all kinds of food from fried vegetables, bread, and lamb paired with tasty garlic and cheese sauces. Our time here is almost over, tonight we are packing up and preparing to leave tomorrow. We will have just enough time to eat breakfast and head for the airport. We will be home soon and promise not to eat all the chocolate on the plane ride!

Walking to Austria

Meghan Lavelle-Zdarko

Today, in the true nature of April Fool’s jokes, we didn’t believe our trip leaders when they had said we were going to walk to Austria. We, however, were severely mistaken.

First, shortly after we started our international stroll, we came across one of the oldest paved roads in Germany, as it was constructed by the Romans to connect Füssen to Venice. Here we stopped to do a little self-reflection and write letters to our future selves, looking back on our trip so far and describe our hopes for the future. We will receive these letters back in 3 years. After some experimenting in how to write an address, Mr. Hinders gave us a 5-minute crash course on how Julius Caesar was his second favorite Italian, and we proceeded on our way. After another short 700 meters, we arrived at canopy walk that would take us between the German and Austrian border. By the time we had halfway crossed the second bridge, we officially had made our way into Austria, as marked by four planks of painted wood and two metal plaques on each side of the bridge’s railing. As easily as we had travelled the ancient road of the Romans, we had crossed the borders between two nations. We took careful consideration of the differences we saw between borders of the countries of the EU, and compared this to the more strict borders we see in the US. It came across as shocking that there was no passport needed, no eyes were batted, that it was that easy to travel internationally within Europe.

To lighten the mood after our discussion, we all, kinder und erwachsene alike, went down the nature center’s huge slide, which was documented in photo and can be found on the blog. They are arguably the best photos of the trip. After a few trips down the slide, we made our way to a short hike through the German-Austrian woods. About halfway through, the center put a display of different fairy tales and their countries of origin, truly completing the fairytale forest aura of the area. Once we completed our hike, we headed back into town. On the way, Logan was able to earn his navigation badge, sending us well on our way to everyone getting their adventure certification. Last of all, to end our day on a high note, Katia bought an authentic dirndl and Mateo bought lederhosen suspenders. Tomorrow, we’ll say Auf Wiedersehen to Füssen, and soon enough, see you all again on Wednesday!

Neuschwanstein and More

Written by Kit Hinder –  Group Organizer

Mr. Hinders here, or “Mister” or “Hinders”…all names I have been called and responded to on the trip. First and foremost, thank you so much for tuning in every day for our updates. Many of the students have asked me to talk about “less boring history stuff” while on the trip, so please forgive me if I add a bit too much historical detail into today’s write up.

Our day started out with the second daylight savings of the year. That’s right, we enjoyed daylight savings, American style, so much that we wanted to see how the Europeans do it. Surmise to say, European daylight savings is no more pleasant than the stateside affair.

At our hostel we had breakfast in two waves, one at eight o’clock and a second at eight thirty. All our breakfasts in Europe have been similar, with bread, eggs, yogurt, cereal, and juice with dried meats for those that please.

It was then castle time! For those that haven’t visited Neuschwanstein, it is a complex process. First, you must arrive at the ticket office at 8:30, get tickets for a time later in the day (beginning at 10 o’clock), then you must present yourself at the time on your ticket, or else risk not seeing the inside of the castle. For us, that meant Annie (one of our program leaders) and I rode bikes the 4 kilometers to the ticket booth, purchased the tickets, then rode back to collect the group and transfer to the castle.

It was forbidden to take any pictures inside the castle, much like in Italy, while visiting the Sistine Capel, or other great works of art. Initially, it was a confusing request, as the outside of the castle is perhaps the most photographed building in Germany. It however became immediately apparent why photographs were forbidden inside. Every wall, ceiling, and pillar was either hand painted, carved, or gilded in ornate shapes, colors, and patterns. The scene was quite striking, but not a scene that shouts beauty.

A bit of history: King Ludwig, the man responsible for the planning and funding of the castle was ruler of the Bavarian kingdom during the second half of the 19th century. He lost most of his political power following the Seven Week’s War with Austria in 1867. The void in his schedule left him copious time to plan an elaborate castle. He closely managed the project and continued to pour money into the project long after his constituents grew tired of the taxes required to build the structure. It should come as little surprise to know that he found dead, allegedly murdered at the age of 40. History refuses to call it a murder, but all signs direct towards foul play.

The outside of the castle is absurdly beautiful though. So breathtaking that Walt Disney modeled his own famous castle after the structure. The inside, as previously mentioned, does not get such a glowing review-despite all the gold surfaces incorporated inside. Ludwig combined four major styles and time periods together, trying to also copy certain rooms from other famous buildings, while simultaneously pushing what was technologically possible at the time. The building featured indoor plumbing, central heating, and electricity. The best way I can think of sum up the inside of the building is to imagine mash up of a Beatles Song, mixed with Bach, combined with Brittany Spears, and add just a bit of Beyoncé.

On the way out of the castle, we were led through not one, but two gift shops. The students took so much time and thought searching for gifts for their families. Please know that your students love you very much and shared stories and great excitement at the opportunity to find personal gifts for you.

That love would be put to the test as, straight after lunch, we all continued the hike up to Marienbruecke (Mary’s Bridge), which is perhaps another mile further than the castle itself. It is hard to put into words the madness that is this bridge. If you can imagine a subway, photobooth, catwalk, and crosswalk; all put together, you are on your way knowing the spectacle that is Marienbruecke. Once on the other side, we self-selected into hiking groups and began the hike up the steep mountain slope opposite the castle. The views, in short, were unforgettable. Many students made remarks about the king and while he may have been crazy, his location selection was very keen.

Our Walking Tree guides are retrieving pizza for dinner. The students are quiet upstairs, resting, contacting families, or uploading some of the countless images taken today. I think they are tired from all the walking, but they always wake up the next day, ready to roll. Even when there’s daylight savings.

Nürnberg to Füssen

Written by Olivia Corn

Hi families, friends, and people who are reading this blog. My name is Olivia and I will be writing the blog for today, so enjoy. First we all met in the dining room and began to eat breakfast at 7:30 am. We finished at around 8 and went back to our rooms and finished packing and getting ready. Today is our last day in Nürnberg. We walked to the bus right next to our hostel, and took that to the subway. After we got off of the subway we all found lockers to put our stuff in while we went and got lunch and went to the museum. The lockers felt like a jigsaw puzzle because we had to figure out we were going to put the bags in the lockers. We then walked to the Albrecht-Dürer-Haus. In the museum we had a tour guide who was Agnes Dürer. Albrecht was a famous artist during the Renaissance and Agnes was his wife/business manager. The highlights for me were the art room and the kitchen. In the art room we saw replicas of self portraits and we learned about his life story. In the kitchen they had an illegal toilet because Albrecht was sick and it was nicer. After that we took an hour train ride and then transferred to a two-hour train ride to Füssen which is in the foothills of the Alps. Tomorrow we are going to the so-called Cinderella castle, Neuschwanstein. We were really excited to catch our first glimpse of the castle on the last leg of our train journey. It sits in the mountains above a lake and a German on the train made sure we saw it as we went around a bend.

Nuremburg

Written by Gretchen Currey

We went to a museum called the “Documentation Center”, which was previously a Nazi rally center. It showed how Hitler rose to power. I learned today that “Nazi” stands for the “Nationalist Social Party.” Something I didn’t know about Hitler was that he tried to seize control in 1923. That attempt failed and he was arrested and imprisoned. However, Hitler was put on trial in Bavaria, where he could appeal to the judges on a more personal level and thus, earned a short prison sentence that made shorter by good behavior. His famous book “Mien Kramf” was written at this time. Part of his rise to power was the consolidation of power. He brought the three most important political positions into one office that he filled. Some Germans, persuaded by propaganda, thought that Hilter was being very selfless, doing all these jobs, wearing himself out for his German people.

My largest take away was how regulated the German media was by the Nazi Party. I think that controlling the media would impossible to do today because the evolution of social media was made media so much more multifaceted.After the museum, we split up into two groups for lunch. The first group had either sausage or labenkase while the other group preferred vegetarian options. Other afternoon afternoon activities included walking about the city, seeing several churches, and shopping. Students purchased steins, keychains, magnets, but most of, chocolate. The city of Nuremburg is a much more ‘comfortably’ place to be. Spatially, the city is much closer together, the train is much less complex, and the streets are less crowded.We are now more than half way through our trip, but many of us still feel jetlag. For me personally, it is still hard to go to sleep at night. I’m also feeling a bit homesick, and I am not the only one. The emotions are complex because I’m having a great time, I’m enjoying new friendships, and stumbling through my German.

After our time in the city, we came to the hostel for a bit of rest. Our dinner for the night was at an Italian restaurant. One of my favorite parts of Nuremburg is the walk to the train station. Tonight, the restaurant was right next to the train station. The train station itself is about one mile away, I don’t actually know how many kilometers that is away…perhaps 100 or 150 kilometers? The road is straight as an arrow with the airport runway right in the middle. It makes for a great time to walk and talk with friends. At my table table, many people ordered the “Pizza Margarita”, which is European for “cheese pizza.” I can’t quite figure out all the languages, as “Pizza Margarita” is definitely Italian, but we in Germany…it is all a bit perplexing. Anyway, dinner is a great time with friends and we always take the opportunity to write home with a quick Wifi-connection. We are really sorry, many of us have not been able to write home the last two days because we have not had Wifi at the hostel. Tomorrow we will take three trains to Fussen, In the South of the country. The land of castles! We will write more soon, we love you and will be home before you know it.

Gratitude

Written by Danielle Duncan

Today included a lot of moving from place to place. This morning after breakfast we were given the option of going to a natural science museum or art museum. Based on my personal preferences I chose natural science and found myself discovering new things about technology over time. For me personally I hadn’t understood the kind of topics natural sciences cover and they aren’t my particular interests. However, I found myself coming out of the museum more educated anyway.

To follow this we took a train ride to Nuremberg and I experienced a completely different side of Germany that I hadn’t expected. Munich has been a bustling and adventurous city but experiencing Nuremberg felt like entering another country. The elegance of the architecture and quiet atmosphere is so pleasant and beautiful. After entering our hostel we went out into the city for free time and a traditional German dinner.
It’s been challenging for me and my peers to see a different sort of routine everyday, and trying to forget asking about what we’re going to do after our next activity and appreciate instead what’s happening right now. Personally I made a choice to not use my phone during this trip whatsoever except on a rare occasion to text my parents. This is a drastic change for me and I’m sure any other teenager on this trip, since no matter what we normally don’t have access to wifi throughout the day while on this trip. At home its completely different, where the majority of my non-school days are taken up by free time in which I usually decide not to do much else other then be on my phone. Here it’s the reverse.
I found myself appreciating a lot of moments on this trip that I initially didn’t consider monumental but then look back on as beautiful moments. Other then some incredible sightseeing I have found immense joy in simple times spent on subway rides from one location to the next. That’s not to say that the sightseeing isn’t breath taking, however there’s so much more to this experience then just looking at monuments.
I am so grateful for an opportunity like this one since I find every minute of being here I become a little more aware of the world I live in, that a gift isn’t one I can always put a price on. But, I know that this trip wasn’t a small cost for all of our generous families and I’ve had many moments where I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude for being able to experience something so unique. This is an opportunity we will never see again and an amazing chance to expand our horizons in every way and I’m sure that we will all take advantage of every moment even more!

Dachau

Written by Izzy Jurien

It’s our third day in Munich. Today was a more serious day. The group took a train down to Dachau and visited the concentration camp/memorial. We learned that many different groups of people – Jews, Poles, Russians, gay people, political dissenters (like Communists) – were all imprisoned here. Living conditions were cruel and doctors could not treat any inmates who became sick. Only a few buildings remain and the rest were turned into rubble that marked the size of the foundation of the former barracks. We spent three hours within the camp and felt a range of feelings – survivors’ guilt, shock, anger, gratitude for the lives we have. Then we walked to a Greek restaurant for lunch. After lunch the group headed to a park and played around for a little while. After that we took a train back to Munich and ate delicious Turkish vegetable kebab and gelato for dinner.

 

Biking Munich

Written by Logan Reed

My room woke up at 7:00 am and we ate bread with Nutella and eggs for breakfast. We kept waiting for the freshly baked pretzels to come out at the breakfast buffet. Then we walked over to meet our Irish bicycle tour guide Kevin and got our rental bikes for the day. Mr. Hinders and Hannah rode a tandem bike. Maddox “the wee man” (as Kevin called him) rode a child’s bike and the rest of us rode cruiser bikes. Kevin showed us this memorial in an alley where people would avoid riding by the police during the Nazi era who would make them show respect for Hitler. We rubbed a golden lion statue which is supposed to bring luck. We biked through the English Garden, a huge park in Munich. We went up to a gazebo on the hill to get a view of the city and then some of us rolled down the hill. For dinner we went to an Italian restaurant. The waiters spoke only Italian and the food was very authentic.

First Evening in Germany

Written by Katia

Yesterday we arrived in Germany! Our connection in Frankfurt went well and we arrived at our hostel in München. We took a short walk around the city to see the historic sites of the city. We saw the glockenspiel, Marienplatz, and had some downtime to gift shop for all of you wonderful people at home! We also went inside some historic churches. We finished the day with a traditional Bavarian dinner of schnitzel and spetziel. Thanks so much for letting us go on this wonderful adventure!

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