Brussels, the Smurfs, and Chocolate

Friday, July 15 - Sunday, July 17
During this weekend Kaell Rubio, Savannah Haney, Sarah Baker, and I went to Brussels Belgium. We got on the train in Cologne and got to Brussels by 2 in the afternoon. It took us about 30 minutes to walk to our hotel, and it was pretty sketchy. There were Police Officers and Military members walking around the whole city. After checking into the hotel we went to the Grand Palace and the surrounding areas. The Grand Palace was enormous and amazing i have never seen anything built so elaborately. In my opinion, it is one of the best-looking buildings I have seen so far. My favorite part of the whole trip was getting to go into the Smurf store. There was a museum also, however we did not go inside. The Smurfs were and still are one of my favorite TV shows. After spending the day in Brussels we got on a train the next morning and went to Ghent. Ghent is a nice town, it is quite small but it still has a lot of  history with it, There is a whole historic district in the city that we were unable to go explore because we didn't have time. After hanging out in a park for a couple of hours we got back on the train and traveled back to Bonn. In all the weekend was a fun and enjoyable trip.

A Cathedral in Brussels

The Smurfs take over Brussels

The Grand Palace

One entrance to the Grand Palace

Another entrance into the Palace

The Peeing Boy statue

Brühl, Falkens Lust, and Poppelsdorf

Thursday, July 14
Today we went on an excursion to a town 15 minutes away from Bonn by train. During this excursion, we went to two different places, Augustusburg Palace and also the Falken Lust Hunting Lodge. Augustusburg was first started being built in 1725 and was completed by 1728. The Palace had two architects, Johan Conrad Schlaun, and Francois de Cuvillies. The center staircase done by Balthasar Neumann was an amazing work of art, as well as the ceiling that is seen right above this massive staircase and statues. The Palace has three main sections and is built in a U-shape. There is also a massive garden that goes along with the Palace and connects it to Falken Lust, built from 1729-1737. Both Falken Lust and Augustusburg were commissioned by Clemens Augustus the Prince Elector at the time. Falken Lust was a hunting lodge that Clemens August used to hunt Falcons. There are multiple places around both the Hunting Lodge and Augustusburg where he is dressed out in his Falcon hunting attire.

After touring the Palace and Hunting Lodge (sadly there were no pictures allowed to be taken inside either) we got back on the Train and came back to Bonn and visited Poppelsdorf Palace and the Bonn residential palace. Joseph Clemens the Elector at the time commissioned both of these buildings. Just like Augustusburg and Falken Lust you can see both of these were places were connected by a garden. The Residential Palace was built from 1697-1705 and in 1715-1723 the gardens around it were added. Poppelsdorf palace was started in 1715 and again had construction done from 1745-1746. Poppelsdorf palace is currently home to Bonn Universities botanical gardens.

The front view of the Bruhl Palace

The Garden at Bruhl Palace

Falken Lust 

View of Bruhl Palace from the Garden

Taken from the Garden at the Bruhl Palace 

Cologne but not the kind that Smells Good

Tuesday, July 12
     Today we spent all day touring the city of Cologne. Cologne is one of the oldest cities in modern Germany. The first mention of the city was during the Roman Empire, to this day they are still excavating many parts of the city and discovering Roman artifacts. One of the first places that the tour guide took us was one of the former entrances to the Roman city. After seeing the entrance, the tour guide took us to a parking garage which holds an old roman foundation wall. The wall still helps to hold some portions of the parking garage. We were also got to see an original Roman cellar, where they kept their food cold, a floor that was kept in the wine cellar featuring the Roman God of wine, and lastly, we saw an original Roman roadway.
     During this tour, we also saw many of the Medieval aspects of the city. As soon as we left the train station we were greeted with a wondrous sight, the great Cologne Cathedral. The first stone was laid for the Cathedral in 1248 and the final piece was laid in 1880. The Cathedral is also home to the relics of the Three Kings. After the Cathedral, we also visited the romanesque church of St. Marys.
     To end the day we got to go to the top of the Cathedral and see many of the architectural features up close and personal. Even though I am absolutely terrified of  heights it was an enjoyable experience, however it is not one that I plan on doing again in the near future.

One of the original Roman Foundations seen in Cologne 

The ceiling of the Cologne Cathedral 

The view from the second story of the Cathedral

Flying buttresses up close 

Another image of the flying buttresses

The City of Cologne as seen from the top of the Cathedral

St. Marys Church built in Romanesque Style 

The organ in St. Marys 

The view of the front door of the Church 

Me conquering my fears and making it to the top of the Cologne Cathedral

Marksburg Castle and its Many Owners

Monday, July 11
Marksburg Castle has one astonishing fact that makes it cooler than any of the other Castles along the Rhine, it has never been completely destroyed. Even though this Castle has been damaged severely several times it has only had to undergo renovations. This Castle was first built in 1117 and has changed owners at least six times. We got to take an hour and a half long tour of the Castle and got to see many of the rooms including the bedroom, the kitchen/dining room, and the torture chamber.Upon completion of the tour we got back on the bus and came back to Bonn. In all, we were gone for almost two days.

This picture shows the view that the cannons have overlooked the Rhine and Braubach, the town just across the river.

This picture gives a better look of Braubach 

 To the left is a picture of the Kitchen in Marksburg Castle

This is the King and Queens bedroom 

To the left is the Chapel room in the Castle

This is the torture room in the Castle, it was formerly the stable room

Many Castles, but More Water pt. 2

Monday, July 11
Today we had a Rhine River boat tour in which we saw many Castles, as well as smaller towns and Churches. We were on the boat for a little over an hour and got to enjoy the river more than we possibly could by just looking at it. The stretch of the Rhine that we saw has been designated as the most beautiful part of the river, and it lives up to that naming. There was a Castle on almost every hill that we passed. With each new Castle, there was always a town nearby. In total, I believe that we saw 13 towns and 13 Castles. After finishing the boat tour we went into the town of  Braubach and had lunch. After eating we took a 30-minute hike up the mountain to get to Marksburg Castle.

 This is one of the Churches that we passed along the way.

 To the right is part of the scenery that we saw during this tour. In the background you can see it says "Bacharacher Hahn".

 This image shows one of the bigger Castles that we were able to see from the boat,

The vie Marksburg Castle from the river. This is the Castle that we were able to tour later in the day

Many Castles, but More Water

Sunday, July 10
Today we started a two-day excursion with the Sports Management Group. Day one we started on a high rope course and then went to Bacharach and stayed at Stahleck Castle, a hostel just a couple miles inland from the Rhine River. Upon checking out of the hostel we were able to walk down from the top of the Castle to the town down below. While waiting for the boat to come we were able to walk around the town. A group of us were able to walk up to a viewing tower that showed Stahleck Castle from the front side. After climbing up what felt like a million stairs we were able to finally get up to the top and have the best view possible. After climbing down from the tower we still had some time to go look at an old Church that was sitting in the middle of town.

 This picture is a view of Stahleck Castle as seen from a viewing tower in town.














This picture is a view of the Rhine River as seen from the courtyard of Stahleck Castle.

 This is the path we took to reach the town from the hostel.













This is a look at the inner portion of the Castle, giving a look at some of the room windows

Bonn: The Second Chapter

Friday, July 8
Day two started with a German language lesson and then our intro to the second class. Hallo, mein ich bin Michael. After lunch, we went on a historical tour of Bonn. We went to many of the same places, however, we learned more of the history behind many of the buildings, including the Bonn Minster, Beethoven House, and Bonn University.

Above is the Bonn Minster, it was built between the 11th and 13th centuries. It is dedicated to Saints Cassius and Florentius who were Roman soldiers that were beheaded because of their Christian beliefs.

To the right is one of the entrances into Bonn Minster.

 The University was built in 1777 by the Prince-Elector of Cologne at the time. It has since been destroyed and rebuilt several times, due to fire and bombing.

 The Statue Regina Pacis has become an unofficial mascot for the University. She has survived multiple attempts on her life. although she was caught in a fire, she survived, the surround areas were destroyed by bombs but, she survived, and people tried to pull her down but the rope snapped and she once again survived.

 Both of these images show one of the houses that Ludwig Van Beethoven lived at during his time in Bonn. This house imparticular is where he was born but not where he spent most of his life.