Germany

So im just about a month behind on my journey but I honestly didnt even think about writing a blog until now. I figure this will be the best way for me to remember what I did for my 4 months living here in Illesheim, Germany and my travels all around Europe. I have already been to so many wonderful places and seen so many cool things that its about time I got this going so I dont forget!!! Above is a picture of me at the Illesheim train station which is right around the corner from where I live. I arrived in Germany on August 23rd and I have 4 months of living here to look forward to. I live in a guest house in the small town of Illesheim with 5 other girls. Its beautiful and I couldnt ask for a better place to live. This is the front entrance to Deitz, our home for 4 months :)

 

Some people dont even know what im doing living in Germany for 4 months so ill quickly explain. I got an internship through Chico State to move to a foreign country and work on a US Army base in the childcare center. Germany has the highest deployment rate so the kids here need a lot of extra attention. I feel blessed that I was chose to come here and make a difference in these kids life. These children are put in a really hard position when they mostly are living in a one parent home because mom or dad is deployed or their parents arent together to begin with. The way these children act out you can tell that deep down inside they are hurting and need lots of love. That is the best part about my job. We work 40 hour weeks, I work with the toddlers and my other roommates work in infant rooms, pre-school and kindergarten. Once our work week is over we are off for the weekend to travel!!!

Above is a picture taken from a trip to Heidelberg, Germany.  Heidelberg is a popular tourist destination due to its romantic and picturesque cityscape's character including the Heidelberg Castle and the baroque style Old Town. We spend the day walking around the town and of course, touring the castle. Heidelberg is also known for being a college town since it where the University of Heidelberg is found.

Heidelberg had amazing shopping throughout the Old Town so we spent the afternoon shopping, then bought some wine and headed for the train. Drinking is legal while walking around town, while driving in a car(as long as your not the driver) and while riding on the train!!!

The next weekend we went to Wurzberg. They have a really beautiful castle also so all of us interns hopped on a train and met eachother there.

The Fortress Marienberg is the castle on a hill across the Old Main Bridge, overlooking the whole town area as well as the surrounding hills(below is the bridge and the castle). Würzburg's Old Main Bridge (Alte Mainbrücke) was built 1473–1543 to replace the destroyed Romanesque bridge from 1133. It was adorned from 1730 on in two phases with well-known statues of saints and famous persons. A similar impressive bridge is theCharles Bridge in Prague which you can see on my Prague Blog.

Behind me to the left up on the hill you can see the castle.

This picture is taken on the grounds of the castle. It was absolutely beautiful.