Visitors from California

Last Sunday DFSR welcomed seven American students from Chico High School in the sunny state of California who are spending two weeks at the Bergstrasse, living with German host families and attending the secondary school "Karl Kübel Schule" in Bensheim. Yesterday they went on an  excursion to the ancient towns of Schwetzingen and Heidelberg with our DFSR Inbound Team and with our two DFSR interns Paula and Chiara who are reporting on the exciting day.

At 9 o´clock in the morning we met the American students at the DFSR headquarters in Heppenheim. After the host parents had said goodbye and everybody was ready and provided with hot coffee, we all went to the train station together. Thanks to the great weather our train was late, so we missed the connection train in Mannheim, but luckily we found another one taking us to the town of Schwetzingen soon. The students from Chico were all freezing but still fascinated by the snow because they never have a weather like that in California. Then we walked to “Schwetzingen castle” and had a great tour with a really funny English guide, who told us a lot about the life of the elector at Schwetzingen castle, Karl Theodor. We were stunned by all the “secret doors” that were actually pretty obvious and the fancy rooms. Unfortunately we could not go into the huge garden because it was too cold but we took a nice group picture in front of the castle.

The students with their teacher Mrs. Snyder and her family in front of Schwetzingen castle

After the interesting tour we took the bus to Heidelberg and went to the beautiful “Old Town” where we got something to eat and could warm up in a cozy bakery. 

The girls in the warm bakery

Happy and relaxed we searched for a place to get money and found a bank. Everyone who entered the bank was shocked by the long queue at  the cash machine which was a funny picture because some of them stood in the entrance for a while looking confused and then decided to leave. While waiting for the bus, we made the most of the time and bought some gloves for one of the girls. Then the bus arrived and took us to the cable railway of Heidelberg castle.

On our way to Heidelberg castle

Inside the castle’s court we divided into two groups and started our discovery tour. There was a big balcony where you can have a beautiful view over Heidelberg and a huge empty barrel that could contain 219.000 liters of wine. Some of the students bought some souvenirs for themselves and their families at home. Before we left we took a look into the pharmacy museum and walked around the castle. Then we went to the cable railway and got down again.

The castle

Heidelberg from above

The students entering the castle's court

We took the bus to the train station and hurried to our train, although it stood in the station for a while.Back in Heppenheim, we said goodbye to some of the students at the train station and the rest walked back to DFSR.

It was a lot of fun talking to the American students and find out more about the American way of life. They were all really nice and kind and it was a fun day. We are looking forward to our trip to Frankfurt next week.

Yulissa having her first German "Milchschnitte" with Chiara