Waking up Saturday morning, it was cloudy and humid, but it didn’t matter because bright and early at 10 o’clock we departed for Pittsburgh International Airport. We shared a bus with the transfer students that were attending Plus3 Ireland. Our ride was about 35 minutes, but because of all the excitement it seemed like nothing! When we arrived the airport was basically empty besides the students. After an easy and calm walk through security and bag check (my bag was not overweight to my own surprise) we got to gate A2 and were awaiting step 1 of our trip to Germany.
Plane number one left around 2 pm, getting us to Chicago at 3! This plane was really small, so turbulence and all the moving was a lot! While I was excited to not be on a plane anymore, the 3 hour layover was not very exciting, and the nine hour ride ahead was not to appealing either. After a salad from salad works, a couple card games with the others in the program, and just some waiting around the time came to board the Boeing 777 to Munich. I sat between Alex and Michelle. To start the ride, Alex, Jess and I watched a Star is Born. That only last 1/4 of
the ride and at this point I knew I needed to sleep! Luckily, I surprised myself and was able to fall asleep! I woke up one hour away from Munich and was greeted to a croissant and yogurt and only a short bit left in the sky.
As we approached the landing time, Alex was getting anxious with her fear of flying. The flight attendant noticed, and at the end of the flight gave her “wings” usually meant for children and I got some too for helping her through the flight!
After a day and a half of travel, we were all excited to step foot and get fresh air! It was 10 am in Munich, and a chilly 7 degrees Celsius (40 faranheit). For May I wasn’t expecting it to be this cold, but it really isn’t bad. We then waited for our bags, got coffee, and then waited for our bus to Augsburg. 45 minutes later, we arrived at our hotel Ibis. Our rooms weren’t quite ready so there was some more waiting around :(. After everything got situated we started touring the city.
To start the tour Dr. Feick took us through the plaza. It was so much better than I expected! After walking past town hall and the Dom, we went to the Fuggeri where we first met some of the German students from the University of Augsburg. The tour of Fuggeri, while it had a sad history at points, was beautiful. We learned all about Jakob Fugger development of social housing and how it’s lived on to present day in Augsburg.
After almost a day without sleep, I was ready for dinner. As a welcome we went to a very traditional Bavarian restaurant called König Von Flandern. While waiting to order we met two of the students from Germany Noemi and Laura. They both were in their second year of studying. We discussed a lot of the differences between universities at home and in Germany. Here college is cheaper, a completely different experience, and not for everyone. Even before college, there are multiple differences between elementary and middle schools. After getting to know the German students more we had to choose between two classic Bavarian dishes. To eat I had Pork with red cabbage, and a bread dumpling. For dessert, an apple strudel. It was so good, but accidentally forgot to take a picture!! When we left, around 8 it was still bright out, something that is definitely different then home!
We then walked back through the center of the city back to the hotel to finish the first successful day of Plus 3! Can’t wait to see all the amazing things we have planned and make amazing memories here in Augsburg!
Tomorrow: University of Augsburg tour and meeting all the students!