It was a great time touring the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, where Martin Luther hid for a period of time during the Reformation.

Kellie enjoying the stunning views of the countryside from the castle.

Later that day, we all toured the Bachhaus Museum where we had an opportunity to listen to several of Bach’s compositions in cool hanging chairs!

Nick checking out the printing press at the Augustinian monastery where Martin Luther became a monk.

After the tour of the monastery most of the group (including Professor Hansen!) took a ride on the spinning pendulum ride at the Erfurt Oktoberfest. Everyone made it without getting sick!

While exploring Erfurt later in the day the group I was with came across this swingset on top of an old fortress. The views of the city and distant countryside were beautiful!

Jordan, Mackenzie, and Kelsey enjoying the famous Charles Bridge Band in Prague.

Aaron found a great place to read a book for a few minutes at the castle ruins!

Finding our way around the ruins bright and early!

The incredible waterfall at Bad Urach that we saw after the castle ruins on Friday morning!

Just visiting Switzerland for the day, you know, it’s casual.

Nick being braver than the rest of us at Lake Constance on Saturday!

Nick got some great German practice in on the ferry ride across Lake Constance!

The Valpo Pin overlooking Lake Constance from the small city of Meersburg, Germany.

Mackenzie and Jordan enjoying the view of Lake Constance from Meersburg!

The ever-majestic Lauren trying her hand at punting on the river in Tübingen.

Reid posing with the Valpo flag on the end of the punting boat in Tübingen.

One night last week, three of us (Aaron, Teddy, and myself) joined a guy from Aaron and Teddy’s floor for a game of pick-up soccer with some neighborhood teenagers. While they were significantly better than the three of us and at least pretended to not know English (and us not much German), we ended up playing well beyond the original 10 goals we first agreed to play to. It was a fun night!

Kellie, Nick, Lauren (pictured on the left), Kenneth (pictured on the right), and I went exploring on the trails near campus. A small pond, campground, awesome covered fire pit pavilion we plan to grill at later on, and a new restaurant to try out in the woods were some of our great finds! We also came across this little building/shack/tree stand on the hike so had to take the photo-op!

On a bit more of a somber note, our group toured the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp while on our Berlin trip this past week. Although we arrived and departed as a group, everyone walked around the camp by themselves. It was a very moving experience for me, because although I had been to the Holocaust Museum in Germany, actually visiting a concentration camp where people were murdered and not just viewing exhibits and photos at a museum had a much greater effect.

In the middle of our city tour of Berlin we stopped by a famous chocolate shop. Yes, that is actually a chocolate version of the Brandenburg Gate!

From a famous American university chapel to a world-famous cathedral. This photo was taken on a pew in the Cologne Cathedral during the free travel time after our group Berlin trip. I traveled to Potsdam and then Cologne, Germany with Nick and Maria. We all also met up with two of my German friends while in Cologne!

Also while in Cologne, Maria, Nick, my friend Marius, and I went on a gondola ride over the Rhine river. Nick is pictured here, snapping a photo of Cologne from up in the sky.