So clearly it’s been a while since I’ve posted on my blog – but that’s because on weekdays, I can’t think of much to talk about because Monday-Fridays, I’m in school from 9-4, and then I ride the bus home, do a little homework, play with Sophia, etc. On Saturdays, however, the group makes trips to other parts of Germany. For example, this weekend, we went to Rothenburg, a super-touristy city in Bayern.
Rothenburg was beautiful. It was a German town exactly as you would picture it in, like, Epcot or something. Stereotypical German village. But I’m not complaining – it was a great opportunity to buy souvenirs, get a bunch of touristy photos, etc. At the beginning of the trip, we ventured along the city wall, where we could enjoy the scenery of Rothenburg and surrounding areas. After wandering for, oh maybe an hour, we decided to shop!! We all founds some pretty great souvenirs. And we all spent a little bit too much… Rothenburg was very different from Stuttgart and Ulm, because it clearly targets tourists. They had signs in English, Japanese, and sometimes French, Spanish, Italian, etc. Our professor said that it’s the number 1 tourist city in Germany.
After lunch, we went to a museum that had the history of crime and punishment. It was SO COOL!! There was even a REAL iron maiden in the museum!! There was some pretty twisted stuff in that museum, but I kinda love seeing that stuff… haha! I took a class on Crime and Punishment in England at Simpson my sophomore year, so it was fun to actually be able to see some of the things we talked about in that class. I did a research project over shaming punishments, so seeing so many different versions of shaming masks was very cool. It was a good Saturday.
On Sunday, I was a little bit tired, having gone 6 hours on a train on Saturday along with venturing Rothenburg. That being said, I knew if I napped I wouldn’t be able to sleep that night, so when Tanja offered to go for a walk, I was happy to go along! She thought the walk would be 45 minutes to and hour, but we ended up taking a little over 2.5 hours!! I’m not complaining though – it was lovely!! We basically hiked up a nearby mountain which, at the top, we could look down upon all of Urbach and surrounding areas. It was seriously SO PRETTY!! It was a little chilly out, but not cold, so it was a great day to get some fresh air. After our walk, we had a small lunch since it was already after 2 and Tanja’s and Jürgen’s parents were coming over for dinner. Although I couldn’t understand most of what was said at the dinner table, it was still an enjoyable evening with very friendly and welcoming people. Funny comment of the day: Later in the evening, I needed to do my homework, so I was working on it at the kitchen table for a little while and I wasn’t even paying attention that Tanja and Jürgen were putting all the chairs up so their iRobot (automatic vacuum) could clean and Jürgen said to me, “Bar’s closed, Keely.” bahaha! I thought it was pretty hysterical, personally…
Today the weather was LOVELY! It was, like, one of the first days we’ve been here that it didn’t snow a little. Most days, there is a little bit of flurry, but today there was none AND it was nice out. In fact, after lunch, my friends Ella and Rachel and I played on the playground near our school. Ella and I played for about 45 minutes, just because we were enjoying the fresh air and sunshine (most days are cloudy too).
Anyway, although you all didn’t hear (well, read…) much from me in this past week, it’s been a good week!
Till next time…
keelygoshia 
Looks like a beautiful little town!
Glad u made it to Rothenburg, We were there backin 1969. then some of the wall was closed for repair. Very nice city. Did the town clock still play on the hour?
The weather still sounds the same as it was in 1969.
John