Day 18 - Mon. June 27, 2011: Paris

I had another day full of sightseeing in Paris. I started out by going to Sainte-Chapelle, a beautiful church near my hotel. Sainte-Chapelle has 15 huge stained glass windows and is an example Gothic architecture. I then walked a few blocks to Notre Dame. The outside of Notre Dame is very intricate and stunning. Unfortunately, the hunchback decided he did not want to make an appearance today. I then took a leisurely walk to the former location of the Bastille. The Bastille was a fortress/prison in Paris and is famous because the French stormed the Bastille in 1789, which is considered to be the start of the French Revolution. Today, the Bastille is no longer standing, but a monument has been built in the place where it used to stand.
I was tired of walking so I hopped on the Metro to visit the Arc de Triumph and the Moulin Rouge. The Paris Metro is very crowded and hot since the trains do not usually have air conditioning. Tomorrow is my last day in Paris. I will be taking a train back to Frankfurt in the evening because my plane leaves on Wednesday morning for Washington D.C.

Above: The exterior of Sainte-Chapelle.

Above: The beautiful stained glass windows in Sainte-Chapelle.

Above: The exterior of Notre Dame.

Above: Some gargoyles at Notre Dame keeping watch over the church.

Above: The interior of Notre Dame.

Above: The monument where the Bastille was located.

Above: The Arc de Triumph

Above: The Moulin Rouge. Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor were not performing today

Day 17 - Sun. June 26, 2011: Paris

I woke up early this morning and grabbed a croissant on my way to the Louvre. It opened at 9:00 and by the time I got there at 9:10 there was a line. Luckily it only took about 20 minutes to make it inside. I spent a little over 2 hours walking around the museum and didn't even see everything....it's a huge place. Of course I made sure to see the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. After leaving the Louvre I decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower because it was such a nice day outside. The walk took 45 minutes. There were lots of people wanting to get into the Eiffel Tower so the wait in line was about 90 minutes long, but it was worth it. The views from the top of the Eiffel Tower are breathtaking. I did a lot of walking today so I went back to my hotel to rest before going out for dinner.

Above: The famous glass pyramid entrance of the Louvre.

Above: In the lobby of the Louvre looking up through the pyramid.

Above: DaVinci's Mona Lisa.

Above: Venus de Milo.

Above: The skyline of Paris.

Above: The view from the very top of the Eiffel Tower.

Above: Another view from the top of the Eiffel Tower looking out over the Seine River.

Day 16 - Sat. June 25, 2011: Brussels and Paris

I wok up super early (4:30 a.m) and took a train from Frankfurt to Brussels, Belgium to visit my cousin Craig and his daughter Rosie. Unfortunately, Craig's wife was in Africa on business so I didn't get to visit with her. We went for a walk around the city center of Belgium and had a great lunch. I also got to eat a Belgian waffle in Belgium and it was delicious! I was able to spend about 8 hours with them before I had to catch another train to Paris. By the time I arrived in Paris and got to my hotel (I got slightly lost but managed to find my way) it was 10:30 p.m. and I was wiped so I went to bed. I'm planning on a full day of sightseeing in Paris on Sunday.

Above: Belgium is also know for their chocolates. Here were some in a store window front. 

Above: Scenes from the city center of Brussels.

Above: Home Sweet Home...my hotel room in Paris

Day 15 - Fri. June 24, 2011: Frankfurt

Our morning appointment was with Deutsche Bank, one of the trip sponsors. They have recently moved into their renovated headquarters in Frankfurt, which has been certified platinum by LEED for being an environmentally friendly/efficient skyscraper. The windows automatically open and close to adjust the temperature in the building and the lights automatically dim and brighten depending on the position of the sun.
Our farewell dinner was at a wine tasting in a winery near Weisbaden outside of Frankfurt. We had an excellent time eating, tasting wine, and socializing on our last night together as a group. I will be taking an early morning train to Brussels to visit my cousins living there. I will spend about 10 hours with them before taking another train to Paris in the evening.

Above: The outside of the Deutsche Bank building in Frankfurt.

Above: The lobby of the Deutsche Bank building.

Above: The view Frankfurt from the top floor of the Deutsche Bank building.

Above: Wine tasting and our farewell dinner.

Day 14 - Thur. June 23, 2011: Frankfurt and Mainz

We got on an early train this morning and traveled about 4 and a half hours from Berlin to Frankfurt. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our awesome tour guide, Monika and Gerrit, who had been with us for a week. After checking into our hotel we traveled to Mainz, the city famous for the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg. We met with the local Catholic library who has been starting programs in the neighboring towns to increase reading among young students. Research has shown that German boys, especially, are struggling with reading at grade level. Tomorrow is our last official day of the study tour. I've chosen to extend my trip until Wednesday, June 29 and will be visiting Brussels and Paris on my own. Several other members of the group are also extending their stay in Europe before returning to the United States.

Above: Our amazing guides Monika and Gerrit who spent 7 days with us. 

Above: Downtown Mainz

Above: My tasty dinner of roasted trout and new potatoes. 

Day 13 - Wed. June 22, 2011: Berlin

We visited another secondary school in Berlin this morning, which means it houses students in grades 7-10. I got to sit in on a 7th grade Geography class where we had the opportunity to have a Q & A session with the students. They wanted to know where in the U.S. all of us were from, what our favorite German food has been, and if students in the U.S. could have cell phones or chew gum at school.
Our afternoon appointment was a meeting with a sociologist who works for a research institution in Berlin. This institution looks at issues and trends regarding education, immigration, economics, etc. After we ended our discussion we went to the Berlin Wall Documentation Memorial and Center. This is where there is still some of the Berlin Wall standing. It is significant because it happens to be at a point where the citizens were in East Berlin when inside their apartments, but as soon as they stepped outside of the building they were in West Berlin. When the Berlin Wall was built, many of these residents jumped out of their windows into West Berlin to escape the Soviets and the GDR.
We ended our evening with a wonderful farewell dinner as this was our last day in Berlin. Tomorrow we will be taking a train to our final city on the tour, which is Frankfurt. I had white asparagus and new potatoes with Hollandaise sauce and schnitzel, a traditional Austrain dish of breaded and fried veal.

Above: The outside of the Berlin Philharmonic.

Above: Part of the Berlin Wall still standing at the Berlin Wall Memorial and Documentation Center.

Above: The dinner of schnitzel, asparagus, and potatoes. 

Above: An original watch tower from East Germany shown at the Berlin Wall Memorial. The tall metal wall to the right of the tower symbolizes the Iron Curtain.

Day 12 - Tues. June 21, 2011: Berlin

We started the day by visiting 2 schools in Berlin. The first school was an equivalent to an elementary school and housed students in grades 1-6. This school participates in a project that creates natural open spaces on school grounds to be used as a playground or common space area. The second school was an integrated secondary school housing students in grades 7-12. The school is integrated because students on track to the university go to school with students planning on going on to an apprenticeship.
We then went to the neighborhood community center. The neighborhood has a large migrant population and has a goal of educating the parents of these migrant families on how to survive in German society. The men of this community center were kind enough to cook us lunch consisting of Turkish food....it was awesome!
Our next appointment was with the Commissioner of Foreigners and Migrants for the district of Charlottenburg, one of 13 districts in the city of Berlin. His job is to ensure the peaceful integration of the different cultural and ethnic groups living within his district. He said this is a difficult task, as some groups do not wish to integrate people from different cultures into German society.
We then drove to the Turkish market in Berlin and got a chance to shop around and bargin for items within the market. We ate dinner at a Turkish/Mediterranean restuarant close to the market.
Our day ended with a walk along the East Side Gallery. This is the only section of the Berlin Wall still standing and has been covered with artwork commissioned by various artists.

Above: Some awesome playground equipment at the elementary school we visited. Yes I did climb on it with the kids. 

Above: The start of the East Side Gallery.

Above: An art piece on the East Side Gallery.

Above: Another painting on the East Side Gallery.

Day 11 - Mon. June 20, 2011: Berlin

This morning we attended a lecture by Wolf Wagner, a sociologist and author of the book "Cultureshock Germany." Dr. Wagner pointed out some interesting differences in culture between East and West Germany and the challenges these differences created after reunification. He also discussed culture differences between the United States and Germany, which I hadn't really noticed until he pointed them out. For example, Germans say hello to friends and collegues by a handshake, while Americans typically greet co-workers or friends with a wave of the had and a hello.
Next, we went to a lunch hosted by the Federal Foreign Office who is one of our sponsors for this wonderful trip. After lunch, we headed to the Reichstag building, which is the house of the German Parliament. We were led on a guided tour and got to see where the Bundestag, the German equivalent of our House of Representatives, meets. The Reichstag building has a cool glass dome that you can actually go up and walk through. This dome is also a "green" technology as it allows natural light into the Reichstag as well as being used as a ventalation system.
We then walked to several memorials that remembered victims of the Holocaust including a memorial of the gypsies, homosexuals, and ended at the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe.

Above: The outside of the Reichstag.

Above: During WWII, the Reichstag was set on fire. Soldiers signed their names in charcoal on the remaining walls.

Above: This is the room where the Bundestag meets.

Above: The view of the dome from the meeting chambers.

Above: The view of Berlin as seen from the top of the dome atop the Reichstag.

Above: The Brandenburg Gate.

Above: The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe in downtown Berlin. This memorial commemorates all of the Jewish people who lost their lives during the Holocaust.

Above: The hotel that is known for the site where Michael Jackson hung his baby over the balcony of his room.

Day 10 - Sun. June 19, 2011: Potsdam and Berlin

We took a short train ride to Potsdam, which is on the outskirts of Berlin. Our tour of Potsdam was unique bwcause we rented bicycles and biked around the city. We saw three major palaces, the most famous being Cecilienhof which is where the U.S., Britain, and Russia held the Potsdam Conference. This is also the location where Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. Our bike tour lasted almost 5 hours and we did get rained on....thankfully for only the last 5 minutes of the tour. Sunday night we got to go to a concert performed by the prestigious Berlin Philharmonic. The piece they played was called "The Creation" written by Joseph Haydn. It depicts the creation of the world as described in the book of Genesis.

Above: A bridge in Potsdam. Halfway across the bridge you would cross from East to West Germany.

Above: Some of the group members taking in the sights during our bike tour.

Above: The outside of Schloss Cecilienhof.

Above: An interesting windmill we saw during our bike tour.

Day 9 - Sat. June 18, 2011: Berlin

We took a morning train to Berlin which lasted about 2 and a half hours from Weimar. Once we chacked into our hotel we had some free time to explore the multitude of museums the city has to offer. I went to the DDR museum which contains information and exhibits about how life was in the German Democratic Republic (aka East Germany). I then went to the point in the city known as "Checkpoint Charlie." This is the point where one could pass between the Western American sector of Berlin and the Eastern Soviet sector of Berlin. Saturday night consisted of a dinner cruise down the Spree River. It was neat to see the sight of Berlin while enjoying good food, drink, and conversation.

Above: A replica of a typical living room in an Eastern European home during the GDR. 

Above: The sign at "Checkpoint Charlie" that you would see if you were in East Germany going to the American sector of West Germany.

Above: The booth at "Checkpoint Charlie."

Above: Us on our Spree River dinner cruise.

Above: Graffiti is a form of artwork in Berlin.

Above: A cool looking hotel as seen from the Spree River.

Above: The Park Inn Hotel we stayed in during our stay in Berlin.