Bonn / Cologne

May 20, 2010

Monday, the first day of the program, I was still on my way to Germany. I carpooled with another student from College Station to Houston for our flight on Sunday, but we had car trouble and were four hours late for our flight. Our next opportunity to leave was not until Monday, so we did not arrive in Cologne until Tuesday afternoon! The rest of the group was already touring the Cologne Zoo, so we ran around the entire zoo trying to catch up with them. As soon as we could find out where the group was and figure out how to get there, they moved on to another exhibit before we could catch them. We finally met up with the group somewhere near the hippos, and the rest of the tour was amazing. The elephants were my favorite. We got to see their elephant facilities with the biggest stalls and squeeze chute I have ever seen. The elephants came right up to us to check us out. I had never in my life been that close to an elephant before!
After the zoo, we toured the Cologne cathedral. The others had already seen this cathedral before I arrived in Cologne, but this was my first time inside. We went all the way up to the roof, learning about the history of the building as we walked through it. I was surprised to learn how old it was and how long it had taken to complete. We don’t have anything in the U.S. that is anywhere near that old, but it is obviously a much younger country! Sometimes I wonder what places in the U.S. will look like in a thousand years, but I doubt any of the same buildings will still be standing. After our tour of the cathedral, we ate dinner at a German restaurant and finally went home for a little sleep. For me it was an incredibly long day, but needless to say it was definitely worth it!
Wednesday was another long, action-packed day with a visit to an organic farm and a tour of the city of Bonn. The organic farm in Bonn was called “Gut Ostler,” and I was surprised to learn that the farm was actually right in the middle of the city. It was small, but our guide told us that most of their income is derived from education, teaching the public how they operate and how sustainable agriculture can improve the environment. That afternoon we attended a lecture on homeopathy, which is very popular in Germany, I learned. I did not know much about homeopathy prior to this lecture, so for me it was very informative but not convincing. There is no pharmacologically active ingredient involved, and I do not believe that you can change the chemical composition or electrical nature of water simply by shaking it. However, I would be interested in seeing more controlled studies on this subject, since more and more people are using homeopathic remedies to treat their pets. After the lecture, we took a tour of Bonn, which ended with drinks at the “Biergarten” by the Rhine.