Hello fellow bloggers! Today is my first of many daily blogs here in Augsburg, Germany! It has been the longest. Day. Ever. We left Pitt for the Pittsburgh airport Saturday at 9am, and after multiple plane and bus rides, we arrived in Augsburg Sunday at 7am. After doing the calculations and taking into account the 6-hour time-difference, that is 16 hours of traveling! It was really hard for all of us to get sleep during this travel period, so we arrived in Augsburg pretty tired. But, our day had just started…

Just like every other day for the next two weeks, we had a packed schedule right off the bat! After a quick orientation with the University of Augsburg staff, Professor Feick and Mrs. Dawkins, our program moderators, gave us a tour of the whole city of Augsburg. Our whole itinerary for the day lasted until 8pm, so we have been up a whole 29 hours straight. But, today was definitely worth being tired for.

The city of Augsburg is very beautiful. As this is my first time ever being outside the US, I was speechless the whole time. Our tour first began with an introduction of many stores, shops, and restaurants in the area. Sure enough, I cannot escape McDonald’s and Starbucks! Then, we were quickly introduced to the Dom, or the cathedral, which we will be touring tomorrow. My eyes then lit up when we turned onto the Maximillianstraße, the main road of the city:

Pictured above is the area of the Maximillianstraße where I realized coming to Germany was the right decision. Under the umbrellas, we enjoyed a relaxing tea and coffee break in the middle of the city. It is a very spacious and relaxing area where you can admire all the different building structures and the many vibrant colors of the city. My strawberry lemonade ice tea was very delicious, too!

After our break, we continued to enter the Rathaus, or the town hall.

The main ballroom of the town hall consists of many pieces of artwork and many sculptures covered in gold leaves. It is very mesmerizing and even more stunning in person. After the original town hall was bombed, it has been restored to its exact features.

We then toured Fuggerei, a gated residential area for very unfortunate individuals. Jakob Fugger, the one who built the area 500 years ago, only allowed those who were very poor and unfortunate to live in the area, and it is still being occupied today. You can live in one of the flats for a whole year for less than 1 Euro!

Lastly, we wrapped up the day with a welcome dinner with the University of Augsburg students we will be working with for the next two weeks. I ordered Pork Schnitzel, a very traditional German meal, and it was delicious! The Augsburg students also amazed me with how well they spoke English and how much American culture they follow.

Overall, there are many things I noticed about Germany today. First, there is a lot of “green space”. There are lots and lots of trees and many open grass fields for farming. As Germany is agriculturally focused, it is very peaceful and calming to drive through. Also, there are no cars swerving in and out of lanes, and no one is in much of a rush. Germans seem to enjoy life and appreciate it more than us Americans. Lastly, I noticed how different there buildings are compared to American structures. They are very simple and cubic-shaped.

Today was a perfect start to my journey. Finishing up this blog post, I am realizing how fortunate I am to be able to be in Augsburg right now. I can’t wait for what the rest of my time here holds.

See you tomorrow!

Nicholas Monetti