June 11 – I have arrived at the Frankfurt Airport after a 7 ½ hour flight from Philadelphia. I took a plane from Orlando to Philadelphia because it was cheaper, plus I got to see my grandmother in Philadelphia because she lives near there. I arrive in the airport with so much excitement to finally step on another continent for the first time. Luckily I got out of the plane quickly and went through security without almost any problems. The best thing was that there was no customs checks because I arrived in Frankfurt at 7:00am! Also, I meet a really nice person on the airplane, he sat next to me on the plane, and he helped me get through the airport and stayed with me till I found my exchange family. Then I walked out only to have, what I thought, a strange kid come up to me and say hello. It turns out it was my exchange student! I guess the msn video cam picture is way different then what it actually looks like. After that, I meet his father and they took my bags to the taxi we would take back to their town of Cochem. Soon after, we were going down the autobahn at 110mph! I couldn’t believe how fast we were going, and it kind of made me nervous. After about an 1 ½ hours, we arrived at his house. I then meet the family and put away my bags and things in the room were I was staying. After that, I went and had breakfast with the family and it was really different. Everyone spoke German to each other and there was bread and meat slices on the table. I grabbed a piece of bread and had butter as everyone looked at me strangely. The father then told me that they have it with the meat, so I just grabbed one of each and tried them all. Sadly, my exchange student didn’t want to help with any translation, so I felt a little left out. Later, I and my exchange counter-part, Torsten, went into town. The Mosel River and the surrounding area was so beautiful I couldn’t believe my eyes. The town looked like the perfect medieval town with a castle on the hill and medieval German buildings surrounding the bottom. Plus, the nature around the village was just so beautiful I couldn’t stop looking around to see everything. I really liked the area I was staying in and the family just seemed so nice. I knew I would enjoy it.

June 12 – I woke up to the sound of birds, something I never hear anymore in my suburbs of Deland. Today I woke up after falling asleep at 5:30pm the previous day. I woke up early to go to Torsten’s school; he had left the day before to have a sleep over at his school. After getting ready, I went to his school and watched a presentation they had for their graduating class, which Torsten was part of. After three hours I went back to his house. I then talked to Torsten’s older sister, who also knew English. Soon after, I went and watched German TV with the whole family. Later, we watched a euro soccer game, which was really fun.

June 13 – Today we just went around the town and I bought some souvenirs. Later that afternoon we went to Torsten’s graduation ceremony. The ceremony went on for 5 hours and was difficult because it was all in German. But the food was good at the ceremony.

June 15 – My exchange student, his father, and I all woke up early and got on a train in Cochem to Cologne. It was so cool when I arrived and saw the massive cathedral. We later would walk up the cathedral’s many steps to the top of the bell tower. We also went to the chocolate museum and ate lunch at an outside restaurant. It was also really cool because Torsten’s cousin from Cologne showed us the city and told me all about its history. At the end of our day in Cologne, we went to a beer hall in Cologne and I had wiener schnitzel because that’s the only thing I knew on the menu. We left the city in style on the ICE, or high speed electric train.

June 16 - Today we went up to the second castle of Cochem, but this on was a ruin and was not rebuilt. We got to go through the really beautiful farmland of the surrounding area to get to this castle. The castle was cool and I got to see the town of Cochem from on top of the mountain. It was also neat that we got to walk through all these nature trails going back to their house.

June 17 – We went to two places today, Trier and Luxembourg City. We took a tour bus out early in the morning, so I and my exchange student were tired. Trier was really cool and we got to see all the Roman ruins, the Porta Negra and the cathedral of Trier. We had only 3 hours in the city so I missed out on seeing the palace of Trier. Luckily, though, we then got to go to Luxembourg. This is the seat of the European Union so we got to see all the new buildings they were building for the Union. Plus the city was really neat to see. It looked like the picturesque French town. We got to even see the palace of the Duke of Luxembourg, the Notre Dame of Luxembourg, and other sites of the capital. I have to say that Luxembourg was one of the nicest cities I visited yet on my trip.

June 18 – Today we didn’t do a lot. Later in the afternoon, though, we went to the main castle of Cochem and I got a private tour from one of the Rotary members. The view of Cochem was really nice from the castle. I also got to be knighted, which was really cool. That dinner I also got to try curry wurst, which was really good.

June 20 – Today we left for Fussen and traveled by train to get there. It was really cool, though, because I love trains. Next, we arrived in Fussen and took a taxi to the townhouse like apartment we would be renting for the week while we were there. It was really nice and I got a really nice room.

June 21 – Today we went around the town and visited some old churches and a monastery in the city. I also got to have pretzels, which is my favorite German food. Lastly, I went to church at the main church in the town, there was 7 Catholic churches for just this one town. I went to mass with the mother because Torsten and his sister had to take the dog back to the apartment where we were staying. The church we went to was really beautiful and one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

June 22 – Today we went for a 4 – 5 mile walk to Austria and Lake Altsee. The nature was beautiful but it was a really long walk. But it was nice to just see Austria for a little bit and the Lake was really cool.

June 23 – Today we went and saw the primary thing we went to Fussen to see. We went to Schloss Neuschwanstein, the castle of the old king of Bavaria. The castle was really cool but I was sad that it only had a couple of rooms that were finished, the king died before it was done. The view from the castle was really cool and the Alps were neat to see from so high up.

June 24 – Today we went to Munich, which was really cool. The city was really neat and I enjoyed having white sausages there, a typical Bavarian food. We didn’t get to see a lot of the city, just some churches and the city hall. Torsten also took me to the beer hall were Hitler was arrested, and later caused him to write mein kampf. The funny part was that I saw palm trees in the city, and Munich is so high up North. Munich, though, was a really nice city to visit.

June 25 – Today was our last day in Fussen and we just relaxed. We spent time in the town just for me to buy souvenirs. Plus the mom got some pretzels for me to have. Later on that evening, we watched the Turkey vs. Germany euro soccer game. I was so happy when Germany won, and everyone went crazy in the town. All that night I heard people beeping their horns and driving around with German flags on their cars.

June 26 – Today it was raining when we left Fussen, it kind of fit my mood. I was sad to leave because I really enjoyed Bavaria. We arrived back late at night so we went home and I had dinner. Then shortly after went to bed.

June 27 – 28 – I just hung out at their house and played soccer a couple of times with Torsten and his younger sister. We three also played DS together. The mother was really nice too. She made me 8 pretzels for breakfast and I would eat 4, and then have the others with lunch and dinner.

June 29 – Today, we went into Koblenz. We saw the palace, two churches, and a big German monument called the Deutches Mark. Koblenz was a big city and nice to visit. We left in the late afternoon and returned home.

June 30 – Today we just got ready for me to go home and Torsten to go to America. I was sad because I was really going to miss Germany. Germany turned out to be a real surprise and was better then I expected. I was also going to miss having pretzels every morning. Later that day, I went with Torsten into town to finish buying souvenirs. Then we went to a rotary meeting for all the exchange students. All of the other students were from America so we all hung out and talked about our experiences in the country. I even met another girl from Florida. That night I couldn’t wait to get back to my family because I missed them but I would also miss Cochem and Germany.