SEBS Student Blog in Germany

Our last night in Germany :( We ended the trip back in Frankfurt, and all of us decided to go out for a nice dinner. Even though the trip was only a week, I learned so much about my classmates, and definitely made some new friends. It was a once in a lifetime experience, and I’m so glad I did it!

Our last stop on the trip was an asparagus farm. This farm specialized in white asparagus, which requires much more work than green asparagus. The stalk is buried so that the chlorophyll doesn’t develop, giving the asparagus its pale complexion. To harvest the asparagus, a long cutter is inserted into the soil mound and the stalk is cut at the bottom, then the entire plant is pulled out. Once pulled, the asparagus was fed into a machine that sorted it based on its size, then used to be sold as the stalk, pickled, or in more unusual products like their asparagus schnapps. The flavor was much more mild compared to regular asparagus, and the texture was a lot more pleasant. The farm we visited was working on agritourism, so they had attractions like live music, fair rides, food vendors, and competitions in order to get more visitors. They also deliver their asparagus to local grocery stores and vendors by themselves and created a strong bond that allowed them to grow their farm. To top it all off, they have the best strawberries I have tasted in my entire life! 

Drosselgasse has a special coffee drink that is made by pouring brandy into a cup, putting sugar cubes in, and then setting it on fire until the sugar caramelizes with the alcohol. Then, coffee with lots of whipped cream is poured in. It tastes delicious, and you get a show with your coffee! 

I’m originally from the Jersey Shore, and visiting Drosselgasse reminded me of it quite a bit! It was a quaint little town where Germans would visit to vacation. We were staying right by the Rhine, and the view was gorgeous. There were tons of little shops and cafes to visit. 

While we were at the monument, a group began singing at it was breathtaking 

This is a monument to William I, the first German emperor. Its where the Mosel river joins the Rhine, two important water ways in Germany. There were flags lining the monument with one for each region in the area. 

Some of my friends from the trip! A few of the pictured ladies were on the trip with us, but the woman on the far right was a local student in Bonn who hung out with us and told us about her experiences. We learned so much about not only the agricultural student experience, but also about Germany in general and some of the slight differences we wouldn’t even think about. We also talked about the EU and how Brexit was viewed by German citizens, as well as other international issues like the Paris Agreement. It was such a blast meeting someone from Germany our age who was willing to answer any questions we had, and I still keep in touch with her today! 

Bonn had an automobile museum that talked about the history of the industry in Germany, the beginning of the autobahn, and some famous cars from pop culture (like Herbie!) 

Bonn is the location of Beethoven’s birthplace, which we got to visit. Got to take a picture with a statue of him, representing Rutgers!

We got a tour of Bonn, as well as a birds eye view! Bonn has an amazing history, as one of the temporary capitals of Germany. This was one of the few days we got to wander around the city and just enjoy it, as well as meet some local agricultural students! 

A local we met at our hotel 

We visited a college that specialized in teaching students how to run wineries, from the business end, to harvesting, to actually brewing the wine. One of the funny parts of the tour was when they showed us the wall of student’s “final exams”- aka bottles of wine that students created from harvest to finished project. The school was also looking into finding new ways of tackling problems like insect control in more sustainable ways. Instead of using chemicals to treat these issues, they were looking into equipment that uses UV light in order to kill off unwanted pests. They had a field dedicated to studying the effects of climate change on crop production, where tall structures blew CO2 onto the plants to see any changes that occurred. The project was powered by solar energy, showing how the school was improving through trying to find new technology and also sustainably operating in the mean time. 

This was Kloster Eberbach, a gorgeous cloister outside of Frankfurt. One of the points they kept pushing on the tour was that the Name of the Rose, with Sean Connery, was filmed here. The cloister also functioned as a winery, and created some of the best Riesling in the area. It was full of history and beautiful architecture that left everyone of the tour amazed. 

This riesling soup and chocolate mousse is the most delicious thing I’ve ever put inside of my body 

This was from a land fill we visited, but one that specialized in more than waste management. This was the facility for Frankfurt, so they had a larger input than some of the other typical facilities. They also were exploring sustainable practices, like compost, wind energy, solar energy, and bio energy from processing the organic waste they had. The facilities manager talked about the importance of sorting trash, not only to make sure that the appropriate materials were recycled, but also because it made it easier to prep the organic waste for being turned into bio fuel. 

POSSMANN! Probably my favorite stop on the whole trip. Possmann is an apple based brewery that specializes in a drink called Apfelwein, a regional treat for Frankfurt. The drink tastes like a combination of hard cider, white wine, and a tiny bit of beer. It was vinegary and savory and absolutely delicious. I thought it was funny that all of the staff thought we would hate the drink because it wasn’t sweet, but almost everyone in the group enjoyed it thoroughly. We also got a tour of the brewery and got to see the full process of how they make their beverages, including a giant tankard that was made from an old Nazi submarine (last pic). I personally had a negative prejudice where I thought German people were all business and had no sense of humor, but our tour guide for Possmann’s was charming and hysterical, with a super dry sense of humor, that reminded me to check myself in terms of some of the preconceived notions I hold. 

More info: http://www.dlg.org/food_test.html