DAY 16 - The Last Hurrah

Today was a bittersweet day; it was our last full day in Germany.  Many of us are looking forward to heading home, sleeping in our own beds, eating American food, etc., but it's also sad to be leaving.

After breakfast in Cologne, we had a 40 minute drive to Dusseldorf where we attended church at Erlöserskirche (Savior Lutheran Church).  Church was an interesting experience because the service was in German.  We were given printed copies of the sermon in English, and the order of service was translated into English, but the actual service was in German.  It was an LCMS service, so that made things a bit easier to follow along, and we took communion.  It was definitely a very neat opportunity.

We spent the rest of the day with members of the congregation.  They grilled brats for us and had a potluck lunch with various salads.  We had 2 options for the afternoon: shopping or sightseeing around the city. All but 2 students chose shopping.  We returned to the church that evening and had a sing-along while one church member played his guitar.  They brought in pizza for us for dinner, and then we went our separate ways with host families.

Savior Lutheran Church (the congregation was wonderful and we appreciate everything they did for us!)

Sights in Dusseldorf (pictures along the Rhine River, shopping area, one of many churches, and city hall)

DAY 15 - An Action-Packed Day

Day 15 was action packed!  After breakfast and loading the bus, we drove to Ruedesheim and boarded a boat for a 2-hour cruise down the Rhine River.  We saw many castles and castle ruins throughout the cruise, and saw Loreley, a rock along the shores of the Rhine River where a supposed mermaid distracted sailors and caused their demise.

We got off the ship in St. Goar and walked up the hills to Burg Rheinfels, a castle where we were able to explore the Castle including the dungeons and underground tunnels.

Following that, we drove about 2 hours to Cologne, where we visited the Cathedral, climbed all 500+ steps to the top to see the view of the city, then checked in at our youth hostel.

After cleaning up, we walked about 10 minutes to a restaurant for dinner.  It was very delicious. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food, and it was a good way to close out the trip.

Rhine River cruise

Views from the boat on the Rhine River

Cologne Cathedral

Delicious Dinner

DAY 14 - Best Breakfast on the Whole Trip

I had an omelet for breakfast!  The hostel we stayed at had your typical meats, cheeses, and breads for breakfast, but had a different specialty item for each day, and Friday was omelet day!  Quite a few students waited in line for an omelet too.

We then boarded the bus and went to the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart.  Like the Porsche Museum, we each had a self guided audio tour, but the Mercedes Museum even covered big events in world history and how it impacted cars and production.

Following the museum, we drove to Worms, about a 2 1/2 hour drive.  In Worms, we saw the Luther statue and where he said, "Here I stand.  I can do no other.  God help me.  Amen."  We got some ice cream, and then got back on the bus to head to Kaub, a 2 hour drive.

We have been pretty fortunate on the trip so far regarding traffic, but that ended today.  We got stuck in a couple traffic jams due to construction and traffic lights.

The latter part of the drive was along the Rhine River.  We drove our bus onto a ferry and had to cross the river to get to our youth hostel, which was just off the Rhine.  After dinner and devotions, we had free time to explore the town.

Mercedes Museum

Worms - Luther Memorial

Crossing the Rhine River & a picture of the ferry our bus was on

DAY 13 - Climbing in the Trees in the Black Forest

Today was an adventure filled day.  We had breakfast at the youth hostel, loaded the bus, and drove down the hill to the City Center of Triberg.

The morning started off with going to Germany's tallest waterfall.  We hiked up the trail next to the waterfall and walked across the bridge that went over the waterfall.  Then, was more adventure.  We went to the Hochseilgarten, an adventure park.  There were 6 different ropes courses in the trees, each with a different difficulty level and height.  The "orange level" seemed to be the overall favorite, as it contained a lot of ziplines.

We had lunch in Triberg and then walked to a cafe to have Black Forest Cake and coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.

Following lunch, we drove about 2 hours to get to Stuttgart, and toured the Porsche Museum.  At the museum, everyone had audio guides to go through the history of Porsche and learn about the different cars on their own.

We then headed to our youth hostel, which seems to be the favorite of the trip so far.  It is more like a hotel than a hostel, and the food for dinner was amazing.

Tallest waterfall in Germany

Adventure Park

Black Forest Cake

Porsche Museum

Stuttgart

DAY 12 - A World Record in Triberg

Today was another big driving day, but we also got to see a lot along the way.  We had breakfast at the youth hostel in Innsbruck, loaded the bus, and we were on our way.  We had to say goodbye to Austria and goodbye to the mountains.

We drove 4 hours out of Austria and back into Germany and stopped for lunch at Lake Constance; we could see Switzerland from across lake.  We found a little restaurant that offered hamburgers, cheeseburgers, schnitzels, currywurst, and fries.  I'd say about 75% of people ordered a hamburger or cheeseburger, myself included, and it was wonderful.  Ice cream was for dessert.

Following lunch, we got back in the bus and headed to Triberg.  It was another 2.5 hours on the bus.  We stopped just outside of town and saw the Worlds Largest Cuckoo Clock.  We had a short tour of the inside of the clock to see how it worked, and then saw/heard it go off at 4pm.

We then checked in at the youth hostel, settled in, ate dinner, then had free time.  We are really close to the Black Forest, so there was an optional hike through the forest at 7pm, an optional walk into the city center at 6:45pm (went to Netto, a discount grocery store), or free time at the youth hostel.  Our youth hostel is on top of a GIANT hill, so the walk down to the city center was a breeze, but climbing back up the hill was definitely a challenge.

As our trip is nearing the end, students are both excited to get home, but also sad to have to leave so soon.

Lunch stop at Lake Constance

Worlds Largest Cuckoo Clock

Triberg

View from the youth hostel