Getting to feel at "home"

I have been in Bonn for a bit over 2 weeks now and I am just now feeling at "home" here. It is nice to be staying in Bonn as a home base because the city is so full of culture and international awareness (since the Germany U.N. building is here). I really am getting to know my way around town and around the public transportation system, which is much more confusing than the one in College Station. This week has gone by SO fast.

Monday we had class and German lessons. Then in the evening we all went to one of the concerts for the Beethoven Festival. Beethoven was born in Bonn so every September Bonn has a month long festival to celebrate their most famous "son". For this festival famous musician's come from all over the world to play Beethoven's music. The program we are with got us all tickets to one of the concerts on Monday. It was the French National Orchestra, and it was moving. We all enjoyed the music. It is just inspiring to be able to walk down the same streets as such a genius. There first piece was Beethoven's 8th symphony, but I am not sure what the second piece was.

On Tuesday, we had class and then Marck Mueckenheim, an amazing German Architect, came to teach us about the history of German Architecture. We will have him come speak a few more times for the German Culture/History class I am taking. Then I just spent time walking about Bonn with friends.

Today, Wednesday, was like a dream. We visited Cologne as a class. I had already gone with friends to look around, but we had the first of 3 tours of the city. We toured the cathedral (St. Peter and Mary's Cathedral) which is the most Gothic Cathedral ever built. I have a bunch of pictures but I only put a few in this post. The first is of the burial place of the three wise men. They originally were located in Palestine, but moved a few times before being given to Cologne as a gift. The second picture is of the oldest stained glass in the Cathedral. All the glass and interior were kept safe during WWII by being removed and placed in bunkers. This glass shows the different bible stories which was important because the majority of people couldn't read or write, and the pictures helped explain the stories. The next picture is one of the 3 organs located in the cathedral. This organ is so powerful that it is only played during organ concerts. The last picture is of a part of the cathdral that was lazer cleaned. It took 2 years to clean this with a lazer because it could only clean one square millimeter at a time. We also looked at the anceient ruins left in Cologne, and traces of the changes from development of the city.

Tomorrow I get the pleasure of going to Trier for the entire day. Our class will be touring what is thought to be the oldest city in Germany. I am excited!