Today we took a trip to the revered Neuschwanstein Castle in the outskirts of the Alps. The drive wasn’t bad at all, and upon our arrival, I realized it was well worth it. It’s hard for my brain to perceive that some of the backdrops I have seen aren’t pictures and are in fact real….
Tag: Plus3 2025
Finally a Mako Mermaid
Today, after breakfast, we were given a close-up demonstration of a man from the lodge making chocolate from the cocoa bean. He had to have burnt all of the feeling off of his hands because he would just pick up those burning seeds and crack them! We would all gasp as he basically stuck his…
Day 5 in Bilbao!
Today, we prioritized the culture of Bilbao, going to a cooking class and visiting a local market. As a member of group one, I was among the first to arrive in Kitxen, eager to prepare my own Baque meal. The class mainly focused on meal prep: we cut up onions, peeled potatoes and diced cilantro,…
Day 6: Am I a Future Farmer?!
After we packed up from our quick two night stay in Monteverde we headed to our final Coffee Farm, Life Monteverde. This place was so beautiful, and very insightful as an engineer. A lot of the other farms we had visited focused more on the business perspective of their coffee, and not so much the…
In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle
Hola! We made it to the Iyarina lodge in the Amazon!! Yesterday we had a long day of travel but we had a couple really fun stops as well. We packed up from the hotel and got on the road pretty early to head to our first stop at the equator line! We stopped there…
Birmingham Day 6!
Today we met up in the lobby at 8:30 to walk over to BCU for our lectures. We got coffee at Starbucks before going to the classroom to meet Marcia. When she got there, we previewed what we would be learning about on our walk and talked about the history of Birmingham. We learned about…
Day 4 – A Continent Sized Day
Today we toured Continental, where they produce processors for vehicles and it was incredible to see just how complex and precise the production lines were. Every step in the process was carefully timed and controlled, with machines and people working together in a rhythm that felt both technical and almost artistic. Seeing the technology behind…
Day 3 – Engines, Engines, Engines
Today we were up early for a visit to the MAN Trucks & Buses factory in Nuremberg, with a walking tour of the city center beforehand. Nuremberg was full of character. We learned about the city’s religious history, especially between the Lutherans and Catholics, which I didn’t know much about. It’s clear how much the…
Day 2 in Augsburg – Going everywhere!
On Monday, we visited the University of Augsburg and attended a virtual lecture by a journalist at Bloomsberg. He discussed car pricing in relation to features like display quality and speed and gave an overview of current trends in the automotive industry. One key topic was the planned 2035 ban on certain internal combustion engines…
Day 1 – Across the Pond
After a long day of travel, we finally made it to Augsburg! My legroom was far from spacious, so finally stretching out in Munich was heavenly. Our hotel room wasn’t ready when we arrived, so we took a short walking tour of the city and grabbed some snacks and drinks. I enjoyed exploring the quirks…
Spit, Spit, Spit, You Are Not It!
Waking up in this beautiful lodge was a wonderful start to my day. The walls in my room are all screen, so I could hear all of the wildlife awakening to the sun. I was still freaked out by the concept of a jaguar jumping out at me or a bullet ant crawling up my…
Day 5: Reaching for the Sky
Today was definitely my favorite day of the trip so far! We woke up with a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel in Monteverde, and then made our way to the Cloud Forest. The second I saw “Monteverde Cloud Forest” on our itinerary for this trip I couldn’t hold in my excitement. I love hiking,…
Day 4 in Bilbao!
Today, we visited Gorliz Hospital, a coastal hospital 45 minutes from Bilbao that started out as a child rehabilitation center. As time progressed it transformed into a hospital for adult care. The friendly, relaxed energy from its time as a children’s hospital is still evident with the layout of the hospital, which features several large…
Birmingham Day 5: Stratford Edition!
Today was awesome! We went on a little adventure to Stratford Upon Avon to explore where William Shakespeare was born. We started our long day with a walk down to the Moor Street Station, where we caught a train to the Stratford Upon Avon Station. The train ride was about an hour, so it gave…
HOT SPRINGS…Need I say more?
Our day started off early with a daunting seven-hour bus ride to the Iyarina lodge, and a very stressful hour trying to get pre-sale tickets to the Lorde concert on spotty Ecuadorian wifi…spoiler alert…we got kicked off and couldn’t buy them. Shout out to Joshua Ezer for snagging my tickets on the New Jersey wifi!!!…
Birmingham Day 4!
Today brought me a lot of new perspective in the healthcare field. Our first lecture talked about primary nursing. They explained what it is like working as an adult nurse in the UK and there were also 2 nurses that came in to explain their jobs, their experience with covid, and told us different stories….
Day 3: Revolutionary Medical Devices and The Guggenheim!!
Today we heard from Saioa, our contact with the Bilbao school of engineering, about her research project. Her project is working with patients recovering from a stroke, to measure the improvements and the ability of these patients balance. The research group Oreka-Balance project is doing this by using a platform fitted with different sensors to…
Scary Being a Chick in Condor Park
Today we awoke to the most beautiful view in a magical place. I am constantly in awe of how much effort Ecuador puts into the beauty of their buildings – whether it be hotels or businesses. I keep thinking that maybe we are just surrounded by wealthier areas, but each new place continues to impress…
Birmingham Day 3!
Today’s adventure started a bit earlier than yesterday’s adventure. We went over to BCUs City South Campus for the first time! The weather in Birmingham has been so wonderful and warm, which is not what I was expecting. The nice weather made for a lovely walk to the campus from our hotel. When we got…
Day 3: Yogurt Drinks and Elevators
Today was our first day of company visits. Our first company visit was to HY, a company I was initially unfamiliar with. On the bus ride to the factory, I briefly researched what they did and found out they made yogurt drinks. After finding this out, I was extremely excited for the visit, for these…