Closing thoughts

In the first photo you see the runaway hit of the closing celebration: Group 1's performance of the Three Little Pigs. Each group presented a brief skit/slide show to provide entertainment following the dinner. Then off to celebrate the final evening or pack for departure the next day.

The first group left early Saturday morning to be able to get to Amsterdam by early evening, the rest of us left at 5 for the night train to Frankfurt.

The second picture shows the sculpture outside of the Kursbüro where we met daily. The last picture shows the group of Russian students performing one of the songs that they sang until the wee hours in the dorm kitchen. If you've been following the student blogs, you will have heard reference to them, and I thought you might like to see them.

Please read through the student blogs to see all of their reactions to living in, and having lived in, another culture for 3 weeks.

Eisenach/Wartburg

The students all participated in an excursion to the town of Eisenach and the nearby Wartburg. In the first photo they are all posing with the Wartburg Castle in the background. The castle has a long history, from Ludwig der Springerin the 12th-Century to Elizabeth of Thüringen and finally to Martin Luther in the 16th-Century. It is here that Luther first translated the bible into German while he was being hidden from the religious authorities to save his life. The small room shown below is the room where he worked on his translation. The Wartburg is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and enjoys a long history as a cultural jewel in Germany.

Eisenach is also the birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach. The picture of his stature memorial shows him as the respected composer and organist he developed into. The final picture shows a contrasting Bach memorial located in nearby Arnstadt, where Bach had his very first appointment as church organist, a post he received at the age of 18. At the time, there was quite an uproar because Bach was considered too young, and he wasn't even a native of the city.

Night Life--the "Igel" Population

Just about everyone had spied the night time garden dwellers, the hedgehogs, except for me. I had gone looking for them around 9:30-10:00 p.m., but never was able to spot one. Everyone in the group who had seen one or more gave me hints: they seem to live in the woods near the Mensa, they freeze when you come upon them, and most importantly, they only come out late at night (i.e., past my bed time). Yesterday evening, I went in search later than I ever had--at 11:30 p.m., heading directly for the Mensa. Sure enough, as soon as I started to walk along the sidewalk between the woods and the Mensa, I quickly located this little critter. He froze when I started to talk to him, bushing up and spreading out his quill-like covering so that he would look as fierce as possible. Their quills are meant for defense purposes so that local dogs don't bother them. In the US, we only see them as small house pets.

Kickelhahn

Thanks to Mark for providing the photos from the Kickelhahn. The first photo shows the Kickelhahn, the second Goethe's little mountain top retreat. Both Mark and Nick made it to the top!

The third photo shows Torsten getting a drink from one of the springs along the path. The last photo shows the view from the top of the Kickelhahn.

Tracing Goethe's Path

This past Sunday we had the opportunity to hike through the forest, following the Goethe Wanderweg. Only three in group were up to this event, the rest were too tired out from the excursion to Berlin or their own activities. This was a hike I had always meant to take, but never did. I found myself making excuses: surely I'd be too tired from the Berlin excursion (we didn't get back until 1 a.m.), or maybe the weather would be too bad (it had rained in years past). I woke up at 7:30 to a beautiful day of sunshine and crisp weather. No excuses were possible, so I took off. I was glad to see Mark and Nick were also there.

The first photo is from the start of the trail at the highest point in the city of Ilmenau. The trail starts at the Rathaus, then up to the beginning of the forest. The trail was not particularly difficult, just up and up, so I needed to bring up the rear. Once in the forest, there was quite a long bit of level walking, with two major uphill portions. Luckily I found a walking stick near the start of the first really difficult (for me) one, which helped immensely. The second shot is Mark standing at the cross roads of three different paths deep in the forest. The path is well-marked with a "G" painted on the trees at intervals. The third picture is Nick relaxing in a wood-frame lookout after the second incline. The final shot is the location a picnic was delivered to us (after about 3 1/2 hours of walking a total of 5 km). The city immediately below the field is Manebach, one of the towns that make up greater Ilmenau. If you look carefully in the distance, near the top of the picture, you can see Ilmenau, where we started.

At this point, the group took off for the final ascent to the Kickelhahn and Goethe's house, where he wrote one of his most famous poems of reflection (Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh..). I was too worn out to continue, and will have to save that for a later date.