Today was our first day with some downtime and this was definitely needed. We had a slow start to the morning and went down for the hotel breakfast, which by the way I look forward to every morning! Around 11, most of us decided to explore more of Augsburg and go to the Schaezlerpalais, which is a beautiful old palace located right in the middle of the city and is now used as a museum with beautiful art. My favorite part of this was by far the ballroom; it was covered in beautiful painting and gold detailing. I think it was nice for us to take a break from other cities and appreciate the history and beauty of where we are staying. The sun was shining and this was one of our warmest days so far; there was even a wedding party taking photos right outside the museum which was cool to see. 

After this, we headed to the University for a presentation from William Wilkes from Bloomburg News to talk about European Automakers in 2026. But first, we stopped at the University track and obviously, some of the guys challenged each other to a race. The presentation was super insightful because my group was able to ask questions about our specific group, Audi. He offered an unbiased perspective rather than just promoting new developments, which was different from what we have been hearing thus far. After the talk, my group and I met for a little bit to divide up roles and talk about our project. I have already been learning a lot from my group members. I find it so interesting to hear about the differences between our schooling systems. All of the German students have been so welcoming and I already feel like they’re becoming friends of ours. 

We headed back to the hotel later in the afternoon and chilled for a bit, then some of the girls and I decided to head downtown for some dinner. We went to Picnic and it was delicious… I have a feeling I will be back! Today was a much needed reset day and I am excited for Munich tomorrow!!!