Germany

To celebrate turning 21 in France, I visited a friend in Karlsruhe, Germany for four days. I also spent one of those days in Heidelberg, Germany.

Highlights:

The word VERBOTEN: The first night was the most eventful! I definitely learned the definition of the word VERBOTEN (Forbidden). Basically, I ended up in a place that I wasn't supposed to be on accident... I will never forget that word for as long as I live... :)

No English: It was the first time in my life I went to a country that I didn't speak any of the language at all. Five years ago, I went to Italy and Italian is rather similar to French and Spanish - every where I went I could make accurate guesses about the signs because they resembled words in French in Spanish. But no Germany. Words are 20 characters long or longer sometimes! Nothing was translated into English. I needed to buy a bus ticket, but didn't know how because there were so many options and nothing was translated. Luckily, I was with a friend who spoke the language.

History, castles, and beautiful red roofs:
It was so interesting to learn history about a country that isn't as popular as other European countries... I found the 1989 fall of the USSR to be most interesting. In 1989, Russia agreed to step out of Germany and to allow Eastern Germany to unite with Western Germany. Also interesting, the difference between the economy of the West and the East. While Russia and communists controlled Eastern Germany, their economy suffered. Even now, the Eastern economy of Germany is still recovering.

A country known for engineering:
My friend was studying at an engineering university in Germany and at that school there are students from all over the world because Germany is the international version of Harvard when it comes to mechanics and engineering. It was interesting to learn about the contributions Germany has made to the field of mechanics and engineering.