New York City Day 1

Today was our first day in New York and everyone was more excited than tired. On our way to the city, we went through the tunnel under the Hudson River.  Thank god, that the sun was shining, so we could enjoy this day better than the last.

First we went to the New York Public Library, which isn't actually a public Library anymore. There we met our amazing tour guide, whose name was garret. He led us to the Rockefeller Center and explained to us that this building is the only building from where you are able to see the Empire State Building, when you are on top of it.  

We've all seen it in movies and everyone wants to be there: Central Park! 

Central Park, by the way, is not the largest park in New York (it is the third largest), but it is still huge! As we went through the strawberry fields, which has no strawberries on it, we saw the circle with the word 'Imagine' in it, which was dedicated to John Lennon. We ended the tour with going a little bit around the park and taking pictures. 

After that, we went to the largest Cathedral, which is huge because imagine you would lay the Statue of Liberty inside of this cathedral then you would still have 20 ft left! 

Columbus University! We saw the campus and actually talked to a student there! He was from Germany and is just there for one semester! 

We hopped back on the bus and took a trip to 'The Village', that's what New Yorkers call Greenwich Village. There a few people met Anne Hathaway, A MOVIE STAR! On our first day in New York!! 

Where do important people make important decision? Right, at the United Nations. Whenever you enter the UN, you enter International Territory and you aren't on U.S Territory anymore. We learned a lot about how Countries are seated in the room and how the whole process works. We also got a tour and saw some very interesting things! 

The best thing comes usually last, so we saved this adventure for the very last!  Times Square. The most amazing place I have ever seen in my life. As you walk towards the middle of it, you are surrounded by lights and screens and blinking signs! It is almost like you are in a movie yourself.  It was an awesome experience. 

On top on all of these adventures, we were all pretty hungry and so we enjoyed a very delicious meal at Mamas Sbarro.  

After that we, unfortunately had to head back to the hotel because it was getting late. Of course we were all really exhausted, but we did not want to leave Times Square either! 

A really great day ended and we still couldn't believe that we were actually in NEW YORK CITY!! 

Ann-Sophie & Bianca - Germany <3 

Philadelphia!!!

Going into this trip most of us were not very familiar with Philadelphia but had heard it wasn't too safe and kind of dirty. Right away we noticed we were totally wrong! We started off the day by visiting Reading Terminal, an open air market in an old terminal. All of the stores and restaurants were local to Philadelphia which was really nice. There were so many options it was hard to pick what to eat, so we ended up eating a lot. Between our group we had Italian hoagies, Greek food, ice cream, cookies, and of course a Philly cheesesteak...the areas most famous food. 

Next we went to the constitution center where we saw a show called "freedom rising" about the founding fathers of America. It was an interesting show where they used pictures and an actor to tell the story of how America began. The museum was really interesting and very interactive. We could cast votes, take an oath of office on film, decide what laws should be passed and much more. The end of the exhibit had a room full of bronze statues of famous early Americans that you could take pictures with. 

After that we met up with a guide, Chris, for a walking tour of Philadelphia. He was very funny and knew everything about the city, he was an awesome guide! He took us first to the liberty bell, which is a very important part of American history...mainly because of the crack down its side. Next we walked to Ben Franklin's house and leaned all about his life. It was amazing how no matter where you were there was always something historic nearby, we really felt like we were seeing history. Then we got back on the bus and drove down a street modeled after the champs élysées in Paris. The street ended at the art museum which is even more famous for being in the Rocky movies. We all started in a line at the bottom and we raced to the top like he did in the movie, it was awesome! It was the nicest weather we had seen on the trip and we got to see the sun set over the skyline. 

Then we drove to the restaurant we were having dinner at, Bridget Foy's. on the way to the restaurant we got to see so many cool mosaics and murals from the bus. We all wanted to stop and see them up close but we had to get to dinner. The food was really good, most of us got Philly cheesesteaks. Overall Philadelphia surprised us and we really loved it! We definitely want to come back to the city of brotherly love!!

Caroline--Germany 

Victor--Brazil

Jemima--Switzerland 

Carl--Germany 

Washington DC day 2

This morning we took the bus to the center of Washington D.C 

We  bundled up with all our warmest clothes because it had been snowing the whole night before. The first visit were the capital building where we took a lot of pictures in the rain/snow ... The second sightseeing were the library of congress, it was really beautiful with all the gorgeous old book collections and amazing architecture  (Jefferson). 

After that we took the bus to Washington monument and walked around the  White House, at that time we were all wet and tired of walking so we went in the bus where we drove to a big mall. At the mall we got loaded again with energy and got lunch:) 

At 3pm we drove to Smithsonian where we had a lot of time to walked around and see all the famous museums. We started out in the air and space museum and it was huge! There were space shuttles and satellites hanging from the ceiling. There was a planetarium, where we saw an IMAX movie called 'Journey to the Stars' where we learned about how stars are created, and what happens when they burn out, the theater was very cool and the movie was interesting. There was so much to see in that one museum we didn't have time to see the others, but they all sounded really cool, I would love to come back. Dinner was at an Italian restaurant where we ate pasta, chicken and more pasta! Dessert was delicious chocolate cake, we all left full and happy! I am looking forward to more adventures in Philadelphia tomorrow!! 

Rose-Denmark

Washington DC Day 1

Hello washington d.c!  Everybody is excited to experience the history and see amazing sights in the Capital of the United States. After a nice bagel breakfast we headed to the Korean War memorial. Everybody was more than impressed by the 19 soldier statues who  are reflected in a wall built up right beside them. While we were walking around the memorial everybody got the feeling to be observed by one of the soldiers what should remind us of how the soldiers back in the war always watched each others backs. On the wall you can read quotes such as "freedom is not free" which represents the reasons of the Korean War.

Our next stop was the Lincoln memorial. It was built to honor the 60th president of the Unites States. The huge statue of Abraham Lincoln inside the amazing building is impressive 19 feet tall. After taking pictures of the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln's inaugural speech we moved on to our next stop: the Vietnam War memorial. All the names of the fallen and missing soldiers are imprinted in a reflecting wall. It was very impressive because people still visit the wall to look for the names of missing family members.

After that we had the chance to quickly take a look at the Roosevelt memorial but we had to hurry up to see the hourly guard change at Arlington cemetery. Ever since 2001 a guard is watching the tomb of the unknown soldier24 hours a day. The ceremony of the guard change made it clear to us how serious they take their duty and how much dignity and respect they put into their job.

After a lot of walking we had lunch at Union Station where we also had free time to do some souvenir shopping before we headed to the Holocaust museum. The three hours we spent there seemed far too short to see the whole thought-provoking exhibition about  World War 2. This moving atmosphere was blown away by the neatness of Washington D.C.'s neighborhood Georgetown. As we were walking by the famous cupcake shop "Georgetown cupcakes" the long waiting line which would take you about almost an hour to get through seemed crazy to us. All the shopping and walking made everybody hungry and so we really enjoyed the dinner in Georgetown.

On our ride back to the hotel we were still impressed by the history and amazing sights and buildings this city offers. From there we had free time to enjoy the pool, hang out and relax for the next day!

Laura-Austria

Johanna-Germany 

Welcome to the East Adventure!!

Get ready for a week in the exciting cities of Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York City!! 

The trip will be starting out in the great city of Washington DC - the nation's capital! Here, we will explore the many monuments and memorials in this important city! Enjoy an afternoon on the Smithsonian Museum campus, visit the quaint neighborhood of Georgetown...and more!

Continuing on to Philadelphia- we will see American history come to life! We will explore the National Constitution Center, see where the Declaration of Independence was signed –even try one of Philly's famous delicacies, the “Philly Cheesesteak ”.
 

Next, we will head to New York City! There is no place like it in the world! A nice walk in Central Park, shopping in the cool and modern neighborhood of Soho, exploring the ritzy Upper East Side…the possibilities are infinite!

Join us on this journey through three of America's most vibrant, exciting, and historical cities!

This will be our day-to-day journal... each day, you'll get news, information and pictures from the students. Join us on our adventure!

Have Fun!!!