Germany

(Frankfurt, Germany) How can 60 hours feel like 60 days? We’ve only been here those few hours but we’ve seen and done so much that it feels like Germany has been our home for months. Where to start. Despite the late takeoff from JFK, arrival in Frankfurt was right on time. A quick trip through customs, a short coach ride and we were at the hotel—where our rooms were hours from being ready. So, instead of unpacking and taking a shower we stacked our bags in the hotel luggage room (see picture) and we were quickly out the door to discover Frankfurt.

The tram stops in front of our hotel and within 15 minutes we were at the central rail station walking toward the old market area of Frankfurt. Dr. Morgan showed us some of the area and a tour guide took us to an observation deck on top of one of the tallest buildings in the city with a great view of everything, showed us around the historic church, the Goethe house and other significant areas. Little pre-World War II history remains because of extensive bombing during the war. But the rebuilt church includes the remains of some of the original Roman structures on the site. It was at the church, after our extensive walk just after departing our overnight flight, where one of the students quipped that she could now compete with her parents tales of a rough childhood because surely, “we had walked for miles and miles—up hill both ways!” The reward for all that hard work was dinner in a traditional German restaurant—and an inadvertent show.

The students spread out at a number of tables and each table got a big platter of meat: a few racks of pork on a bone, some boneless pork chops, some sausages—all on top of potatoes and sauerkraut. There was more than enough food for even the hungriest guys who worked up big appetites in our walk around Frankfurt. And then the show. Dinner was the night before Orthodox Christmas so there was a very big Christmas tree in the square outside the restaurant and it was visible from where we were eating. It was easily as high as the three story ancient ceremonial hall it stood in front of—the hall where successful sports teams are congratulated. And of course it was fully decked out in colorful Christmas lights, lights that we noticed start to flicker a bit as we were eating dinner, and then started to flicker more—until they stopped flickering as the beautiful, tall Christmas tree burst into flames! Before long those unmistakable sounding European sirens filled the square as the fire brigade rushed to the tree. The fire was put out, the ancient hall was saved and the tree remained standing—but without the lights (Journalists reading this take note: the traditional Christmas story, “family of five homeless after tree catches fire,” clearly has its international counterpart). After all that excitement it was back to the hotel to check in and sleep very soundly. (Hear students Mike Monkelien, Meghan Toomey,Dave Matz,Katie Tabor, and John Chiaramonti at dinner that night--before the fire--talking about their first day in Germany. Click on "F'Furt dinner reax.")

Early on Sunday we all got up and took the train to Nuremburg. Three and a half hours later we were in that historic town that was prominent in the rise of the Nazi party, the home to the Nazi party rally grounds and Hitler’s grandiose vision of the Third Reich as well as the place where Nazi leaders faced war crimes tribunals and international law relating to war crimes was developed. The courtrooms were open for tours as was an excellent museum on the site of the Nazi’s unfinished Congress Hall where one can see stark evidence of Nazi propaganda and the horror that resulted from it. You cannot walk away without that stunned shock of “how could this happen” even 70 years after the fact. The students were all sent out on their own and they all managed to successfully navigate the city with little input from their professors. They learned a lot—about history and themselves. For the trip back home, we grabbed sandwiches, pretzels, doughnuts and other sustenance for the long ride home (I’m sensing a food theme for this study abroad).

Today started with Dr. Morgan giving a lecture about the European Central Bank and then it was off to the bank for a tour. As one might expect, security is very tight. Empty your pockets, take off your belt, your jacket and your sweater. Even then one is likely to set off the detectors and trigger a hand search. It almost seemed as if many of our students got a free massage from security. Another trip through the detectors and I’m sure all of us would have a free x-ray of our spleens. But the bank is very important in the life of the new united Europe…and this is the 21st Century were everyone is security conscious. The lecture at the bank was fascinating—the students got a glimpse of the economic future they will be dealing with throughout their lives. With the weak dollar and the strong Euro it is a future some predict may already be arriving. At the end of the tour of the central bank the students got free samples—of central bank pencils and notepaper. The afternoon was spent exploring Frankfurt on our own followed by an early evening lecture by Dr. Morgan on the European Courts, our first stop tomorrow as we head to Luxembourg early in the morning. And then, if it’s Tuesday, it must be Belgium.