What a day! Today was our first day in Germany and landed in Munich around 8 AM local time. After claiming our bags and finding the bus driver we all boarding and headed to our new home for two weeks in Augsburg. We arrived in the city around 10 am and were given a warm welcome by our German friends from the University of Augsburg. There was no time to waste, so we quickly dropped off our bags and began a walk through of the main areas of the city. Seeing our fatigue and jet lag we stopped in the main city center where we had water, coffee, and rested. After we were given some free time to explore the city some more and split off amongst ourselves. This free time was really eye opening to finally experience what you hear about European walkability. In the streets pedestrians, cars, and bicycles are equals and you rarely feel like you are going to get run over. Over thousands of years Augsburg and these cities have changed but began with just people and adapted to vehicles later, whereas the U.S has many cities that were planned in a grid with cars and vehicles in mind making the roads and sidewalks a lot distinct from each other.

We met back together around 2 PM where we were given a more formal tour of the city and although we were exhausted I thought it was very insightful tour learning and seeing the city more in depth. Two things that stood out to me was the canals and Fuggerei. Despite not being the largest city I thought it was really unique seeing some of the canals flowing around the streets of Augsburg and learning how they were used for mills, fountains, and other uses over the years. The other really cool part of the tour was seeing the Fuggerei, the world’s oldest public housing complex which was a gift to the people of Augsburg by Jakob Fugger (once one of the richest people in the world at his time) for those who needed it. It was amazing to see that it is still being used today and see how it once looked and to know that they update the apartments regularly to ensure they have appropriate living conditions. During the tour, I was making comparisons to our own philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, and how during the last 18 years of his life he gave away around $350 million dollars (or close to $10.9 billion today) to create libraries, universities, and other charities.

After the tour we went back to the hotel to check into our rooms and freshen up before dinner. After a needed shower and quick break we walked to dinner and met the German students over a good meal. We were then given the evening to be free where some of us relaxed and got to know our German friends even more before heading back to the hotel for some much needed sleep!