Day 1: Arriving in Germany

the group shortly before leaving Knoch High School at 4 20 am Monday.  

On Monday, July 11, we drove to Pittsburgh, flew to Philadelphia, flew to Boston, flew to Iceland, and finally to Munich Germany, all in the space of about 20 hours time.  This, combined with a 6-hour time change, made us appreciate any sleep we could get. 

Sierra passes the time before boarding our first flight to pgh with her ipad and  Tori sleeps

For Nick and I, this was our first time flying in an airplane.  Nick felt the ride was bumpy and noisy, but fun otherwise.   I thought it was really cool to be so high up, looking out the window, although the air pressure changes were painful for me at times on the International flights.  

Peter looks out the window on his first flight.

the group outside the hotel (Klassik Hotel am Tor)

We took a bus from the airport in Munich to Weiden and found our hotel.  We dropped off our bags and headed off to eat breakfast.  We sat down at a French-styled outdoor café.  We had to try to speak in German as we ordered our food.  The food was delicious and the people were friendly.  After breakfast we walked the town and stopped at some stores to look around.  The people we talked to were understanding of us not knowing much German.  (Peter Edwards)

The hotel that were are staying in was built in the 1300’s, which is before America was even founded, and it still looks very good. Germans take much more care of the buildings that are already established, preserving them so they can reuse buildings instead of building more. The blankets and pillows are amazing though, they’re really easy to set up and really comfortable.  (Nick Calderone)

Tori sits with the pile of our luggage before we eat breakfast

Nick and Peter, our reporters for the first days of our trip, at our first german meal together 

At the café, the food was much different than the food in the United States, however many of the foods were familiar. The croissant that Peter and I ordered was not like the ones back home, being much lighter and fluffier than ones in the U.S. The ‘Apfelsaft’, apple juice, was particularly good in my opinion, being more like an apple cider than actual apple juice.  

Katie's breakfast - Crepe with apples and cinnamon 

Shawna and her breakfast - fresh fruit salad

most of the group eating breakfast together at the cafe near our hotel 

Britni, Shawna, and Katie stand in front one of the many buildings covered in flowers and vines in Weiden

german fresh bread in a supermarket

On the walk that we had around town Peter and I noticed that despite Euros being worth more than the Dollar, many items for purchase were the same price in Euros as they would be in Dollars back home. Many of the items for sale in the Altstadt though did seem to be worth the higher price because of the exceptional quality of them. (Nick Calderone)

everyone is excited that Harry Potter comes out earlier in Germany than in the States

the groups stands in front of the sign for our school 

beautiful Weiden