Our Adventure is Over, Vielen Dank!!

Our journey is over.  It is sad to leave Germany.  We have made many new friends here.  All of the Rotarians and their families and friends  have been such gracious hosts.  We have many wonderful memories of our visit.  This was the trip of a lifetime, truly!  It is time to return home to America to be with our own families and return to our normal lives.  Vielen, vielen dank to Rotary Distrikt 1850 and the Rotary Clubs of Bremerhaven-Nordsee, Wilhelmshaven, Norden, Papenburg, Vechta, and Bremen Buerger Park!   Tschuss! (good-bye)  Bis bald!  (until we meet again)

The Mercedes Benz THE ROCK is AWESOME!

On Monday we visited the Mercedes Benz production facility in Bremen.  We were told the complex has over 10,400 employees.  The first part of the tour we saw robots welding the body parts of the cars together.  The large building had very few people, so one had to wonder where all the employees worked.  Well, we found many of them working on the assembly line.  It was impressive to see the working conditions.  Mercedes makes great efforts to make sure its people do not become injured.  The assembly works change work stations every couple of hours, which helps them to be more interested in their work.

The highlight of our trip to Mercedes Benz was an awesome trip to THE ROCK!  We were given the chance to test drive the new GRK, a rugged four wheel drive vehicle.  There are many special features to this vehicle that allow you to drive on adverse off road conditions.  Check out these pictures!

 Vehicle drives on Extremely Bumpy Road

Driving up and down the Mountain (80% grade)

Bremen, Our Final Station

Bremen is the final place we are visiting during our GSE program.  We will go to Hamburg for the day on Tuesday.  Bremen is a wonderful small city of about 600,000 citizens.  We see fewer cars here because so many people walk, use bicycles, or take the tram to move around town.  It is a clean city.  When you walk down the street and see a red brick path, WATCH OUT!  A bicyclist may be approaching.

 Meet Roland!  He is in the Town Square and Other Places around Bremen

This is the Bremen Symphony.  Ask a Team Member When they are Home

The downtown area has a large pedestrian only district.  Only service vehicles are allowed.  It is a nice place for us to do some shopping on Saturday morning.  In the afternoon we have a guided tour of the historical area.  We saw the Rathaus (town hall) and Dom (cathedral), two of the oldest buildings in the city.

About 80% of the buildings in the city were destroyed during the bombings of WWII.  Some of the buildings that survived were moved to the city center.  Many of the buildings were rebuilt new in the 1960’s but retained their original architectural character.  So the city has been able to retain much of its original ‘feel’.  There are many newer structures, too.   

The weather is unusually warm for this area and much like we experience in Virginia, but with less humidity.  Air conditioning is generally not used here, as people are energy and environmentally aware.

Bicycling is a lot of fun in Bremen.  It is easy to drive a bike into the countryside or thru the city.  There is a delightful drive along the Weser River.  One can see people playing, sunbathing, or otherwise enjoying  the weekend.

Vechta is a Quiet and Charming Community

Last week we visited a rural community called Vechta.  Vechta is a county between Oldenburg and Osnabruck along the primary autobahn that connects Southern Germany to Bremen and Hamburg. The area has a quiet charm and a lovely town also called Vechta.

Enjoying a piece of home at Bocklage's home near Vechta

GSE Team Tours Vechta

On Tuesday May 31 we visited the Grimme Farm Machinery Factory.  Christine Grimme, a leader in the firm and a Rotarian, gave us the tour.  It was a rainy day, so it was good to be indoors.  Grimme is a family owned business that manufactures different farm equipment.  The most important is a potato harvester.  We walked the assembly, saw the automated warehouse, and visited the offices.  The firm uses modern business practices for logistics management, communications and other techniques to be competitive.  We are impressed by the many small/midsized family owned German businesses that are located in small towns and primarily export their goods to other countries.

We also visited the Andreaswerks organization that has a mission similar to Goodwill Industries back home.  We witnessed people with disabilities being trained to do work locally in Vechta.  The program is very impressive.  Some of the trainees live nearby in housing especially for them.  Other trainees live with their families.  Later in the week we ate lunch at a restaurant that employed some of the graduates of the program.  The restaurant is operated by Andreaswerk.  In the same building there were a gift shop and a picture framing business, all having handicapped workers.

Most of the places we have visited in Northern Germany are lowlands.  We heard stories of how some of the land was first settled.  Peat bogs or moors were and are common.  The peat was used for home construction and for fuel, like firewood.  Eventually, canals were built to drain the wetland and create a means for transportation.  The canals are still evident today, especially near coastal areas, along with dykes to keep the water from the sea out.

Well, we had a fun day visiting a moor.  There were exhibits telling us about the nature in a typical moor.  The many plants and animals cannot survive in a moor, but special species can.  It was a beautiful place to enjoy.  We had fun watching Jaime climb across the water on a rope bridge.  Ken Frantz watch out!

Jaime Becomes Adventuresome Cross the Water

On Thursday we witnessed the Ascension Day procession in the town of Vechta.  The procession was a religious service to commemorate Christ leaving earth after the resurrection.

One of the highlights for our visit to Vechta was our dinner at the Vechta museum.  The Vechta Rotary Club joined us to celebrate our visit to Vechta.  After a presentation by the museum curator, we had a small meal, a little wine, and lots of singing.  Thank you to Robert Eilers for leading the Rotarians, family members, and GSE team in song!  Everyone had a great time singing German and American folk songs from the 1960’s. 

 Robert (right) and Friend Play Guitar

We All Sing at our Vechta Farewell Social

Marion Wendt, GSE Team from Germany, Enjoys the Vechta Social, too!

Our Stay in Papenburg.

Post composed by Katie Kinsey

For the past few days we were in the town of Papenburg.  During our stay with some amazing families, we were able to tour the Meyer Ship Yard where they construct cruise ships for companies such as Disney, Celebrity and Norwegen Cruise Lines.

 During our tour of the ship yard, we were able to see a ship for Carnival being constructed.  The ship was launched into the river yesterday morning at 7:30 a.m.  The ship will then have to travel down the narrow river Ems to the North Sea.

Here is a foto of the passage the ship must make out to the North Sea.  I think for many Captains this looks pretty tricky!  There are about 3 meters of space on each side of the ship as it comes out of the channel in Papenburg.  Also, the river is very shallow for the ship, so they actually do not put all of the furniture and accessories on the ship until it reaches the city of Norden.  If they put everything on at the ship yard, it would run aground!!

Our host families were amazing in Papenburg and also took us on a bike tour to the city of Bourtange in the Netherlands.  Our team and some of our hosts set out on a bike tour at 7:00 am this past Saturday and rode 25 kilometers to the fortress.  The ride was beautiful and the fortress city of Bourtange was very quaint.

We had an amazing guide for our tour at the fortress and she made sure that everything we learned about the city was "clear!".  She was very sweet and had spent an entire afternoon creating an English tour for our group.

I am happy to say that no one was left behind, and we all completed the 25 kilometers back to Papenburg that afternoon.  We had a surprise picnic/wine and cheese tasting on the way back as well!  We really are getting spoiled with food here in Germany!

Thank you to our hosts in Papenburg for such great times!!  Vielen Danke!

The Street Light People of Berlin

During our visit to Berlin a great deal was made of the Ampel Maennchen.  These are the cartoon-like characters found in the pedestrian traffic signals throughout eastern Berlin.  'Ampel Maennchen' means 'traffic light man' in English.  The red signal has a man facing you with his hands raised vertically at his side. 

The green signal shows a side view of the man walking.  The unique style has made the Ampel Maennchen famous.  Along with the Berlin Teddy Bear, you can also find stuffed Ampel Maennchen in souvenir shops around the city.  There is also Ampel Maennchen candy, similar to gummy bears.  They come in red and green colors in a bag.  We would show you a picture, but we already ate all of our candy.

Green Light on the Friedrichstrasse

Posted by Stephen

Red Light near the Brandenburg Gate

A Fabulous Trip to Berlin!

Posted by Jaime Belitz

At 5 a.m. on Monday, May 23 we packed up the van and started our journey to Berlin.  It was a 5 hour drive from Papenburg, a town we arrived in just one day earlier.  The drive went quickly, thanks to our fearless driver Herman Nehe (and the fact that we all slept most of the way).

We arrived in Berlin around 10 a.m. and, after checking into our hotel, went directly to Checkpoint Charlie.  We took time to visit the museum and we were all moved by the countless stories of perseverance and survival.  At times, the stories seemed so unbelievable – how could this have happened in our lifetime?

After a fantastic lunch at Borchardts, we relaxed on a scenic and informative boat tour through the city.  We enjoyed great views and learned so much about Berlin.  There is so much history in Berlin.  The weather was perfect for a boat tour – sunny with a breeze.  We are all mesmerized by the beautiful gardens throughout the entire country.

We wrapped up our first day in Berlin with dinner at an authentic German pub.  Herman’s two sons, who are currently living in Berlin, accompanied us to Max und Moritz.  While Katie and Stephen were adventurous in their entrée selections, I was too hungry to take any chances and I ordered a delicious fish (Plaice).  It was a perfect evening to a long and exciting day in Berlin.

Tuesday, May 24: we got to sleep in!!  And then, we were off….our first stop of the day was to Neues Museum, an architectural wonder and all around beautiful museum.  The exhibit was fascinating as we traveled through Egyptian times, Roman times and more.  We only had an hour and a half to spend in the museum, but we could have easily spent all day.

Following a quick lunch, we headed to the Reichstag, a historical edifice constructed to house the German parliament.  Our hosts worked their magic and arranged for a private tour of the Reichstag including a visit into the dome.  Once it the dome, we marveled at the amazing views of Berlin.  Of course, we walked to the top of the dome, rested, and then headed back down.  We were on a tight schedule to make it to the theatre that evening.

We went to the largest theatre stage in the world at the FriedrichstadtPalast Berlin.  Yma was the name of the show we saw and it was enthralling.  We were in awe..the show was so much fun to watch.  There was dancing, acrobatics, trampolines, singing, swimming, break dancing and more.  SO MUCH FUN!  It was a great way to spend our last evening in Berlin.

The next morning we packed up the van, again, and headed home – but with a detour through Potsdam.  While in Potsdam, we visited two palaces - Sans Soucci and Cecilienhof.  The architectural details were amazing and the palace grounds were breathtaking.  We had a lovely lunch in the courtyard at Cecilienhof and a private tour of the palace.  Once again, our hosts arranged a wonderful day for us.

We arrived back in Papenburg around 8 p.m. and completed our Berlin trip with a small social at Herman’s house before returning to our host families.  Thank you for a fabulous trip to Berlin!!