Germany

Hello Everyone,

From February 28th until March 11th, I went on a trip to Germany. The trip was like an exchange within my exchange. The trip was arranged through my Spanish school. They do a two week student exchange every year. With the help of my host mom, I spoke with the woman in my school who arranges the exchange and she contacted Hans, the exchange coordinator at the German school in Hamburg, Germany. Hans found a family that was willing to host me for two weeks. Soon after, I started receiving emails from my soon-to-be German exchange partner, Luca. We continually messaged back and forth and before we knew it, the time had come for the trip! The blog post is very long because it was a two week trip and it is very detailed because I wrote exactly what we did each day, not just a summary. But, it was a amazing trip and it's worth the read! Enjoy!  

Day 1-Feb. 28^th: I took a bus from Zaragoza to Madrid at 8:50 a.m. I arrived in Madrid at about 12:30 p.m. The bus dropped me off at Terminal 4 but I needed to take a bus to terminal 2, where Lufthansa, my airline was located. I checked in and went through security in about a half an hour. It was great because there was no wait. I was waiting at my gate at 1:15 pm. I waited for about an hour before boarding at 2:15 p.m. The plane took off at 2:45 p.m. The flight was very comfortable. I was served a full meal of chicken, bow-tie pasta, cookies, and juice. The flight lasted just over 3 hours. I landed in Hamburg at about 6 p.m. It was rainy and foggy when I arrived. I walked down the stairs off the plane, got on the bus, and rode it to the terminal. I entered the terminal, got my checked bag from the baggage claim, and walked outside. Right outside the baggage claim area were Luca and his mom Kerstin waiting for me with a ‘Welcome Brian’ sign. We went to their car (Volkswagen Golf) and drove to their home. When we arrived, I put my bags in my room and then they gave me a tour of their home which is very nice. They live in a flat within the city of Hamburg. I then met Felix, their pet rabbit who Is very cute. He is eleven years old! Cassie then made us dinner. We had spaghetti Bolognese and vanilla yogurt with raspberries for dessert. After dinner, we talked and watched TV for a bit before bed.

Day 2-Feb. 29^th: Luca and I got up at 6:45 a.m., took showers, and got ready for school. We had toast with nutella, bananas, and fruit juice for breakfast. The bread in Germany is SO good!   We packed our bags and headed off to school at 7:45 a.m. Luca’s school is a 10 – 15 minute walk from his house. Along the way, we met up with one of Luca’s best friends, Dennis. He is an extremely nice, friendly, and funny guy. My face hurt from smiling and laughing at the end of the day with him. Once at school, I also met one of Luca’s other best friends, Jan (pronounced ‘Yahn’). We went to Philosophy class where I met Luca’s best girl friend, Nora. Each class is ninety minutes. After philosophy, we had a half an hour break for a snack. After the break, we had project class which is like study hall. All of the classes after project class were cancelled but Luca had to go to a meeting because he is the class representative. The meeting lasted about an hour but while Luca was at the meeting, I went to the city park with Nora and Jan. We walked around the park, saw the very impressive planetarium there, and went on these enormous swings that were there. They look like they were built for giants! We then went and met up with Luca to walk home. Along the way, we stopped at a kebab restaurant which was delicious! We took the food to go and ate it back at Luca’s house. At about five o’clock I went to work with Luca. He is a delivery boy for a local pharmacy. We went to the pharmacy by bike (I used his mom’s bike) to pick up the medicines and delivery addresses. We then set off riding around Hamburg to deliver the prescriptions to the patient’s homes. It didn’t even seem like work because I enjoy riding bikes and I also was able to see a bit of the city. After the deliveries, we spent about twenty-five more minutes at the pharmacy to stamp some magazines and papers. When we finished, we got our bikes, went to the grocery store to pick up wood chips for Felix’s cage, and finally went back home. That evening for dinner we had tortellini with pesto sauce. After dinner, Dennis, Jan, and one of their friends named Eddy came over just to hang out and listen to music. They went home at about eleven o’clock and we went to bed.

Day 3-Mar. 1^st - After eating cereal for breakfast and heading off to school at 7:45, Luca and I had art, physics, and German classes. The last two classes of the day were cancelled. When we finished, we went home and had lunch. We hung out for a bit then went to Luca’s kung-fu training class. I also did the class! It was really fun and a great workout! After kung-fu class we went home and showered. Later, we had pizza for dinner and Dennis came over and brought the movie ‘The Life of Bryan’ to watch. We watched the movie which was hysterical! I had never seen it before. Dennis went home at about eleven o’clock and Luca and I went to bed soon after.

Day 4-Mar. 2^nd- Our first class didn’t begin until 9 so Luca and I woke up at about 7:30, ate breakfast, got ready, and left the house at about 8:30. We had Spanish, philosophy, music, and English classes. I really enjoyed the Spanish and English classes because I understood all of them! The rest of the classes I just sat and watched because they were in German of course! I was glad to meet Hans, Luca’s Spanish teacher because he helped arrange the trip along with my host mom Marta and another teacher named Marta at my school in Spain. I’m very grateful because without them I wouldn’t have had this opportunity. After school, we went home, ate lunch, and relaxed. When Luca’s mom got home we ate curry chicken and rice for dinner. Later, we went to ‘20up Skybar,’ a cocktail bar/restaurant on the top (20^th) floor of a very exclusive hotel where you can see the entire city of Hamburg. There we met two of Kerstin’s friends, Ines and another who is also named Kerstin. We stayed there for a few hours and had some appetizers while talking and enjoying the amazing view. At about eleven o’clock, Luca and I left the hotel to meet up with Jan, Nora, Lara, and another friend named Dario. We all met up, walked around, and went to the ‘Reeperbahn,’ a very large avenue and main nightlife area with bars, restaurants, and nightclubs. We all went dancing together until the morning. We went home on the subway at about 6 a.m. after filling up at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Luca and I went to bed as soon as we got home.

Day 5- Mar. 3^rd-We slept until 2:15 in the afternoon, ate "breakfast", and got ready for the day. At 3:30, Martin, Luca’s father came to pick us all up for a tour of the city by car. Martin is a driver for an upscale car service in Hamburg. I felt like a celebrity because we were being chauffeured around in a new Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan. The tour was great! I was able to see many of the different neighborhoods, important places, and landmarks of Hamburg. Some of which included the university, the port and fish market, the beach where we stopped and ate German sausage for lunch, and the business and shopping districts. We finished the tour at around 6:30 p.m. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour because it was nice to meet Luca’s dad and he knew a lot about the city and its history. Kerstin, Luca, and I then had dinner back at their home. At eight o’clock, we went to Kerstin’s friend Ralph’s flat to meet him as well as some more of her friends. It was a get together of about fifteen people with music and some appetizer type food. Ralph was very nice and funny. He is a flight attendant of Lufthansa Airlines. He told us that one time Cher was on one of his flights! He showed us her autograph and her plane ticket! I thought that was very cool! I also talked with another friend named Catherine. She and her husband are both nightclub DJs and are also hired for private events. She said that she wanted to stay in touch so we exchanged emails. She also said that she wants to make me a cd of popular German music for me to remember my trip. We left Ralph’s flat at about 11:30 and went right to bed when we got home.

Day 6- Mar. 4^th – We woke up at 7 a.m. and left the house at 8 to go to the famous fish market on the riverfront. We drove to the fish market and walked around. At the fish market, there were a lot of stands selling of course fresh fish but also fruits, vegetables, plants, baked goods, snacks, and souvenirs. We ate breakfast at a bakery stand. We had fresh muffins and hot chocolate. It was delicious! After walking around and buying a few things, we went and put our bags in the car. We then went of the ferry that takes you all up and down the river. It’s great! You can see everything from the river.  We got off the ferry twice. The first stop we made was to climb to the top of a very unique building that was built to look like a cruise ship. Its end hangs over the river which is very neat. We then hopped back on the ferry and rode it to ‘New Harbor City,’ a new area that was built on the other side of the harbor. It was a collaborative project. Each architect within the city of Hamburg that wanted to take part designed a different building. I was fascinated with all of the different styles mixed together in this new area. It’s a mix use area with flats, restaurants, shops, and offices. We then went home to relax, prepare our bags for Berlin, and warm up because it was a bit cold outside. We ate chicken, potatoes, and carrots for dinner and fresh cut strawberries for dessert. Luca and I watched Star Wars in German on TV and went to bed pretty early because our train to Berlin left at 6:25 a.m. the next morning. 

Day 7 & 8 - Mar. 5^th & 6^th - Berlin - Kerstin, Luca, and I took a train from Hamburg to Berlin very early on the morning of the 5th. We arrived in Berlin at about 9:30 a.m. First, we found the hotel to drop off our bags and then we set off sight-seeing. We had 2 very filled, long, non-stop, and fun days in Berlin. We saw the following: Alexanderplatz, the TV tower, Brandenburger Tor, the Sony Center, Reichstagsgebaude (Capital), Kollhoff Tower (fastest elevator in Europe; 28 feet per second), Potsdamer Platz, "Eastside Gallery", Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Town Hall, Neptune Fountain, Schloss Charlotteburg (minister's estate), Friedrichstrasse (main shopping avenue), the Jewish Memorial, Berlin Train Station (largest train station in Europe), and much more. Kerstin, Luca, and I took the train back to Hamburg at about 7 p.m. on the 6^th. 

Day 9- Mar. 7^th – Luca and I slept until about 12:30 p.m., had breakfast, and got ready for the day. We hung out and relaxed for a while. At 4:30, we went to Luca’s job like the week before. While we were out delivering prescriptions, Luca was hit by a car! We had the right of way but there was a woman in a Mercedes who wasn’t paying attention and turned into Luca. Luckily, neither Luca nor the woman were going very fast. Luca fell to the ground and slid sideways with his bike. The woman stopped but only to say “Oh my gosh! You scared me!” She then went on her way, I couldn’t believe it! Luca got up, he hurt his knee and cut his hands but overall he was okay. There was a UPS truck driver who stopped to see if Lucas was okay which I thought was nice. After we finished the prescription deliveries, we went back to the pharmacy and stamped some papers and magazines like last week. After work, we called Jan and went to get Chinese food with him and his friend Marie. After we finished eating, Luca and I went home for a while. At about 8:30, we went out again to meet Jan, Marie, and Dennis’ brother Jan. We walked around a bit then went to Jan’s house to hang out because it started to rain. Luca and I went home at about midnight and went to bed.   

Day 10- Mar. 8^th – We woke up late again, ate breakfast, showered, and got ready for the day. At about three o’clock in the afternoon Luca and I took the bus to the city center. We walked around, did some shopping, and we ate at a restaurant called ‘Jim Block.’ Afterwards, we went to Luca’s house to hang out and relax for a bit. Later on, we went out to meet up with Jan, Lara, and another friend named Ana and then we all returned to Luca’s house to hang out. Jan, Lara, and Ana left at about one o’clock in the morning. Luca and I then went right to bed.

Day 11- Mar. 9^th – Luca and I got up and got ready after sleeping in late. After lunch, we went in to the city center to visit the famous cathedral, "Michel", and the oldest houses in Hamburg. We also walked through a small park and then through the main city park. Later on, Jan, Lara, and Nora came over to hang out at Luca's house.

Day 12- Mar. 10^th – Kerstin, Ralph, Luca, and I went to a really cool Morrocan-themed restaurant called "Marrekesch" for tea and cake after lunch. Luca and I then went to visit the planetarium in the city park and to Mini-Wunderland, a famous miniature museum with model scenes from around the world with trains. After almost 4 hours at Mini-Wunderland, Luca and I grabbed a quick dinner and went out Jan for one last time. I was sad to say goodbye to Jan. He was very nice and we got along very well.

Day 13- Mar. 11^th –  Kerstin, Luca, and I left for the airport at about 7:15 a.m. We arrived very quickly because there was no traffic so we sat together outside of security for a bit. When the time came for me to go through security and get my plane, it was a very sad farewell. Even though I was only with them for 2 weeks, I became very close with Luca and Kerstin. We all had some tears in our eyes. I was very sad to leave but I'm also looking forward to Luca coming to visit me in New York in July! 

My trip to Germany was one of my top memorable trips in my life. I had the most incredible time and I can't wait to go back someday. I also now have a home and family in Germany. I can't wait until the next time I see them! Enjoy all of the beautiful photos!

Until next time, Brian

                                                                           Hamburg:

Berlin:

Hamburg: