Wednesday, June 26

We departed our youth hostel and took a short bus ride to the beautiful town of Rüdesheim. We were given time to walk around and look in various shops and I got to practice my German with a shop owner when I wanted to buy a satchel. After a little bit of exploring we got back together for a nice long cruise on the beautiful Rhine river. We had a photo competition to see who could capture the best picture under the theme of Romantacism. I took a picture of a castle on a hill as I thought it was an impressive piece of history. Fortunately for me my picture ended up winning the contest allowing me to get a free scoop of ice cream later in the day. After our cruise we went on the bus for few hours and took a lunch stop and eventually arrived at a family owned hotel in a medieval town called Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The houses were like nothing I’ve ever seen before and it truly looked like a town from the Middle Ages. Our last big activity for the day was an hour long tour led by a “night watchman” named George who carried a pole axe and explained the history of Rothenburg. He discussed how dangerous and miserable life was centuries ago while being funny and entertaining. Although the heat often times felt merciless, and a lot of times I missed cold water and air conditioning, it was a fun day full of great memories.

~ Carlon Ford