MHHS GAPP 26

Day 20 Recap, Saturday June 14:

Today was as packed as could be! Even though many of the students wanted a lot of free time to do shopping, there were still so many amazing sights in Berlin that we really wanted to show them together, so we packed as much as we could into the time we had!

First stop was Checkpoint Charlie, the old border crossing between the former communist East Germany and the West.

After Checkpoint Charlie we took the U-Bahn to the Reichstag, the German government building. This building has always been an important part of German and European history. At one point there was a Soviet flag flying over it when Russia took over the city after WWII.

After seeing the Reichstag it was a short walk to the Brandenburger Tor, or Brandenburg Gate. This famous structure is no longer used as a gate, but is the most known icon in Berlin, and possibly all of Germany.

After the Brandenburger Tor we took the U-Bahn to the beautiful Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church). This impressive structure was bombed during WWII and has been restored but not completely, leaving the damaged spire as a reminder of the past.

After viewing the Church we walked down to the Kaufhaus Des Westens (KaDeWe), the impressive 7 story mall that was (and still is!) an icon of luxury and prosperity and in the West. KaDeWe is the second largest department store in Europe, second only to Harrods in London.

At this point we let everyone explore the mall, visit places they hadn’t had a chance to visit yet, finish souvenir shopping and many chose to go back to the hotel for a nap before dinner!

Our dinner for our last night in Europe was a traditional German Beer Garden meal at Lindenbräu am Potsdamer Platz, a bustling Mecca of activity that was once in the middle of the “dead zone” between the wall.

After dinner some ventured out for a few final moments of shopping and soaking in the culture, but most went back to the hotel to start packing for our trip home! One more true “sleep” until we see our families again! 🥰

Day 19 Recap, Friday June 13:

Today was a packed day of sightseeing and exploring!

We started the day with a morning meeting in the “Arena” to discuss what our itinerary would be. We then took off to go get our 48 hour public transit passes that will allow the students access to all public transit within the city, including getting us back to the airport Sunday morning. We then took our first S-Bahn ride down to Treptower Park, to see the Soviet Memorial. This is a large park in the middle of the city where 7,000 of the 80,000 Soviet soldiers killed in Berlin during WWII were buried.

After walking around the Memorial we took the train to Alexanderplatz and saw the “Fernsehturm” (TV Tower), the St. Marienkirche, where Martin Luther preached, the Neptunbrunnen (Neptune Fountain), and got a bit wet trying to get a fun photo! The students then had some time to explore the city a bit before meeting for our dinner tonight.

It’s crazy to think tomorrow is our last day in Europe! There is still so much for us to see! It will definitely be a busy day as we try to pack in as much as we possibly can before leaving this beautiful country.

Day 18 Recap, Thursday June 12:

Everyone was happy to get to sleep in today! Most agreed the breakfast this morning was “sehr lecker” (very delicious)!

After breakfast we walked down to the Zwinger, a palatial complex with beautiful gardens, but currently under construction. It is one of the most important buildings of the Baroque period in Germany. Along with the Frauenkirche, which we also walked to, the Zwinger is the most famous architectural monument of Dresden. We also saw the Staats Oper, and learned that many buildings were covered in black from the “carpet bombing” the British Troops did to the city of Dresden in the hopes of ending WWII.

After seeing these amazing historic buildings the students had a couple of hours to explore the city before we loaded the bus and headed to our final stop, the Capital city of Berlin!

Upon arrival in Berlin we had a tour through the city, viewing most of the main historic sites from our wonderful tour bus before Georg, our driver, dropped us off at our home for the next 3 days here in Berlin.

After checking in to the hotel and getting settled in a bit, we walked down the remnants of the Berlin Wall, viewing the East Side Gallery, which is the artwork that is on the remaining portion of the wall. Our hotel is near the Spree River, and right at the end of the Berlin Wall, which basically dead ends into the hotel.

After seeing the wall, we had a “Döner dinner”, a traditional Turkish meal that is extremely popular in Germany, especially in Berlin. Döners are similar to gyros, but not exactly the same, and are a staple in Germany, especially for teens!

After dinner the students were allowed to explore the area near our hotel a bit before room checks and settling in for the night.

We’ve only got 2 days left of our amazing trip, and LOTS of awesome things to pack in to those two days!

Day 17 Recap, Wednesday June 11:

After an amazing breakfast spread at our hotel we met up with Kalina, who guided us through the beautiful city of Wroclaw, giving us some history and interesting facts about the city.

One fun thing Wroclaw is known for is their brass gnomes, hidden throughout the city. They were placed during communist times in an effort to bring some fun and smiles to the residents. There are apparently over 900 gnomes throughout the city! We found quite a few and even made a game out of one of them that has the Statue of Liberty. 🗽

After the tour we had some time to explore the city, and many of us ended up at the same restaurant and tried Poland’s famous pierogies.

After Wroclaw we said goodbye to Kalina and loaded the bus to head for our next stop, Dresden (back in Germany). We checked into our hotel then walked down to the historic Frauenkirche for our dinner reservation at the quaint Augustine an der Frauenkirche. After dinner the students had a little time to explore the city before our curfew for the night, but were happy to hear we can get a later start tomorrow so they can actually sleep in a little! As always we’ve been keeping a pretty busy schedule so they were happy to hear we won’t leave the hotel until 10 tomorrow! 😴😂

Day 16 Recap, Tuesday, June 10:

This morning we had a good breakfast before leaving Brno and heading to Praha (Prague), Czech Republic. We saw the changing of the guards at the Prague Castle.
The Guard is composed of a brigade of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic who serve the President of the Czech Republic as a security force who also provide honour guards and take part in ceremonial functions.

After that we walked down the beautiful Old Castle Stairs to the middle of the ancient town. We walked across the breathtaking Charles Bridge, a medieval stone arch bridge that crosses the Vltava river. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV.

The beautiful cobblestone streets led us to the town square where we watched the tolling of the famous Astronomical Clock. The students then had a couple of hours to explore this gorgeous city before we boarded our bus again for the drive to our next hotel in Wroclaw, Poland, where we met up with Kalina, an exchange student to Mountain Home who happens to live here and just returned home two weeks ago.

The hotel restaurant prepared a delicious authentic Polish dinner for us, after which we all settled in for the night.

Day 15 Recap, Monday June 9:

After a delicious traditional “Frühstück” (breakfast) this morning we left Linz and headed to Wien (Vienna) Austria, where we spent most of the day seeing the beautiful Schloss Schönbrunn (summer palace of the Habsburgs), walking up to the Glorietta and seeing the amazing views of the palace and vast city below.

We then did a bus tour around Vienna, seeing the amazing architecture of beautiful buildings like the Staats Oper, the parliament building and so many other historic buildings. We ended our tour at the world renowned St. Stephen’s Cathedral in the heart of Vienna, where some even went down into the catacombs for a tour.

After that the students were allowed to explore the city for a while before getting back on the bus to our next overnight stop, Brno, in the Czech Republic. But “we don’t talk about Brno” 🤣

Day 14 recap, Sunday June 8:

Well, we have been gone for 2 whole weeks now and the students continue to amaze us! They are doing so great here!

This morning was very hard as we said our final goodbyes to our German partners and host families. As expected, there were many tears shed, both in the parking lot and continuing for miles down the road as we drove away. As I’ve said before, this group of youngsters has really bonded in amazing ways, and we hope this is just the beginning of years of friendships between these kids! We know firsthand how special it is to keep friendships going with new friends from other countries and cultures, and we truly hope these students continue to build on the relationships that have been forged here!

After leaving our partners we drove to Salzburg, Austria for the first stop on our travel leg. We walked around the quant city and saw the residence of Mozart, along with the beautiful Mirabell Gardens, where some scenes from the movie The Sound of Music were filmed. The students then had some time to explore the city before we loaded the bus again for our final destination of the day in Linz, Austria.

We arrived at our hotel here around 8pm, and we have just finished our room check for the night and I can say all students are safely tucked into their rooms and hopefully getting a great night sleep! 😴

Day 13 Recap, Saturday June 7:
Today was our final day with our partners here in the beautiful city of Regensburg. The students spent the day in various ways, some doing more shopping, others visiting nearby cities they hadn’t been to yet, but all of them soaking up every last minute they could. They ended the day with a get together at one of the host homes before going to their homes to pack and get ready for our final goodbye early tomorrow morning. This group has become so close that we know there will be many tears shed in the morning, and we are trying to plan a little extra time for our goodbye as we get on our tour bus to start our travel week.

Day 12 Recap, Friday June 6:

Sorry for the late post! Friday was our last day at school, and because of their two week holiday coming up school was out early, so it was a short day. We said goodbye to our Homeroom and got ready for our farewell party.

The “Abschiedsfeier” (Farewell Party) was a fun but already emotional time. We played several typical Bavarian games, had some great food, watched a slideshow that some of our students worked hard to put together showing all the wonderful memories of our time here with our partners, and did our Thank You flower and card presentations for our host families.

Day 11 Recap, Thursday June 11:

Today we had a reception by the Bürgermeisterin (Vice Mayor) Frau Dr. Freudenstein. We were received in the very room that the elector princes made decisions for the surrounding empire 400 years ago.
She spoke about how fitting it was that on the same day we were coming together in that famous and historic room, our two countries’ leaders are also meeting! 🇩🇪🇺🇸

Day 10 Recap, Wednesday June 3:

Today we had a tour of Krones. Although probably none of us have heard of the company, I guarantee ALL of us have benefited from their products! Krones produces the machinery and software that makes plastic bottles, fills plastic and glass bottles and was one of the first companies to use full automation to fill and label bottles for products such as sodas, juices, shampoos, dish soap, etc. Dr. Pepper exclusively uses Krones machines, and Coke/Pepsi primarily do. They have over 20,000 employees in 27 production sites and 52 engineering sites, and own over 7000 patents. Each machine can fill anywhere from 10,000-50,000 bottles in ONE minute! Currently the plant in Germany that we visited (which is the company headquarters) are working on machines going to the UK, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Brazil, Poland, Vietnam and Japan.

After the tour we were treated to lunch in their cafeteria.

We weren’t allowed to take any pictures during the tour, but I snapped a few ahead of time, during their presentation, and while we were getting our security vests and tour headphones on.

Back in our Homeroom today we started discussing our farewell party details. It’s sad to think our time here in Regensburg is coming to an end!

Day 9 Recap, Tuesday June 3:

Today was our day out in Munich, and visiting the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. It was a very emotional and exhausting day, but also a very informative and enjoyable afternoon.

We started the day with our visit and tour of Dachau, walking through the former concentration camp site, viewing the barracks where hundreds of prisoners stayed, and walking through the gas chambers and crematorium. We were then able to go through the exhibit on our own, and watching the students reading all the exhibit materials and really taking in the gravity of what happened there was incredible.

After Dachau we went to Munich and walked through the beautiful Englisher Garten and had lunch at the Biergarten there. The students then had a few hours to explore the city on their own (in small groups) before we headed back to Regensburg.