Day 1: "Bonn" Voyage

My Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Study Visit to Germany Begins

The Rhine River was right next to our hotel.

We made it to Bonn, Germany!

After an early morning departure from Fresno on June 15, a 4-hour flight to Denver, a five-hour layover, a 10-hour flight to Frankfurt, and a 90-minute shuttle to Bonn, we rolled into our hotel at about 3:00 PM, just in time to leave for a bus tour of the city. It was almost exactly 24 hours after I left home.

The four of us in the Denver contingent made a pact not to change out of our travel clothes, so we dropped off our luggage in our rooms, took a second to get refreshed (a.k.a. splashed water in our faces and reapplied deodorant), and joined the rest of our Fulbright crew. We were 24 teachers, two staff members, our German guide, a local tour guide, and a double-decker bus.

For about two hours we explored Bonn and learned about its cultural and historical highlights. Prior to reunification, Bonn was the capital of Germany. It is also the birthplace of Beethoven and home to Haribo, the maker of all things gummi. The Rhine River runs right through Bonn, and it got its start as a Roman colony. With over 300,000 people, Bonn is considered a small city, but for a small-town boy like me from Central California, it seemed huge and so old, with layers and layers of history.

After our trip, I finally got a much-needed shower and tooth-brushing, then we headed to dinner at a classic German brewery restaurant. After a long, hearty meal (I had various meats and root vegetables), some of us set out to explore the city on foot. When we arrived back at the hotel, I was more than ready to curl up for a long night's sleep. The only problem: the sun didn't set until almost 10:00 PM! Thankfully it was nothing my room's blackout curtains couldn't handle.

The Fulbright Germany Crew outside of Beethoven-Haus Bonn, the Beethoven house museum.

One of the many golden Beethoven statues that can be found all over Bonn (a delightfully impish look for the old fellow), the gummi bears that greeted me in my room, and the delicious pretzels ("bretzels" in German) and yogurt dipping sauce that we had for an appetizer.