Student Bloggers

Today marks one of my first “abroad milestones”: I’ve officially been in Scotland for a full month! While it feels like just last week I was arriving in the Edinburgh airport, I also feel like I've been here for a long time.

The week was, once again, full of adventures. Over the weekend, I actually ventured out of Scotland, and visited family in Wiesbaden, Germany. It was so strange being able to hop on a quick 1.5 hour flight and find myself in a completely different country. However, having family to visit provided a nice sense of familiarity, and was the perfect way to experience Germany. 

For starters, German food is absolutely delicious. Before I visited, my aunt warned me that German cuisine is not for those on a diet, and she was completely right. In the span of 3 days, I ate about every traditional German food I could get my hands on – schnitzel, sausages, currywurst, pork knuckle, doner, pretzels, and strudel. I also got to try several different German beers, as well as lots of Riesling (Wiesbaden is right next to the Rhinegau area, which is famous for it’s Riesling).

In addition to my food tour, I also got to experience a lot of small towns in Germany. On Saturday, we explored Heidelberg castle, or as the Germans would say, “Schloss Heidelberg”. It’s perched on top of a hill, and overlooks the entire city. After our tour, we visited Old Town of Heidelberg, and walked along an adorable street lined with shops and restaurants. 

On Sunday, we found ourselves in Mainz, which is just across the river from Weisbaden. Mainz is known as the home of Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press. We toured the Gutenberg Museum, where we got to see original copies of some of the first Gutenberg bibles. It was amazing to see the amount of labor that went into producing just one of the bibles!

Finally, we wrapped up the trip on Monday with a journey through Rhinegau, the area famous for Riesling. My aunt and I ventured through several different wineries in different little towns, and tried some of the best wine I’ve ever had! We wrapped up the dinner with one final schnitzel at the Schnitzel House back in Wiesbaden, and then it was off to the airport to fly back to Edinburgh!

I had an amazing time in Germany, thanks to my family. My aunt was the ultimate tour guide, and I’m so happy I got to spend time with them last weekend! This weekend I’m off to Copenhagen, so there will be more blog posts to come. Until then – cheers!