Bonn, Cologne, and the Rhine

So this seems to be my first little report from Germany. So far, everything is going great and is fantastic. And just to say, the food is amazing over here, especially the gelato. There is also this great fast food kinda pita things called doner that are great and filling for like 3 dollars. We also had the local style of beer called kolsch, which is much lighter than the normal beer that we have in the US but very tasty. Just this past evening we visited Cologne, the neighboring city, where Kolsch was created. There we had curry wurst and ate it on the lawn overlooking the Rhine. We also toured the Cathedral at Cologne, one of the most massive buildings that I have ever seen. Let’s just say that it took six hundred years to build. Ya, it is that awesome.

For the past couple days we have really just been acclimating to the German culture and the city we have been staying in, Bonn. It is actually a fairly small place, though there is a large plaza with a decent sized in its own, though nothing compared to Cologne’s. Most of the travel here is done by public transportation or walking, so just lots of wandering around the city to see all the sites. The Rhine river also passes through Bonn, providing some very scenic views, but the architecture and age of a lot of the buildings is unbelievable compared to the US. Heck, lots of the buildings had already been built before the US was even formed!

We have also had some introduction to German medicine and veterinary medicine. On Tuesday we went to a research farm in the around Bonn. One of the most interesting aspects is the quick transition from an urban setting to a rural setting. It is almost instant, and it’s almost like you stumble upon beautiful German countryside. Since it is spring time now, the entire landscape is green, making for beautiful rolling hills with small towns just nestled in them. This trip allowed us a look into how research is conducted in Germany, mostly the same, though the differences lie in the personnel staffing the farms and how they are trained. On Wednesday, we visited an organic farm that had a completely closed ecological system. It was nice to see the diversity of crops that are grown throughout the country in a single place. We also had an introduction to German veterinary clinics and the differences in some type of medicine. Anyways, that even chatter from me, y’all have a good one!

- Chris