Final Day in Germany

On Friday, June 12, 2009, we arrived back in Frankfurt. After dinner with Rotary District 7390 Governor Mr. and Mrs. Ben Hoover and Rotary District 1950 Governor Herr and Frau Helmut Mater, we toured the city. Walking through the streets of Frankfurt, I noticed how even in a big city, everybody still seems to move along at a much slower pace than in our American cities like New York and Philly.

It's a tear-filled goodbye for us, but with a promise that most of us hope to come back someday in the near future.

Thank you to all of our sponsoring Rotary Clubs in Pennsylvania.

Thank you to the Rotary Districts 7390 and 1950 (in Germany)

Thank you to District Governors Mr. and Mrs. Hoover and Mr. and Mrs. Mater

Thank you to the host Rotary Clubs in Arnstadt, Gera, Jena, Weimar, Schweinfurt, and Roth

Thank you to the German GSE Team: Roland, Christian, Ulli, Ulrike and Daniela

Thank you to Peg Sennett and the GSE Committee.

Thank you to Mr. Treiweiler.

Thank you to Will Kirkpatrick for being our fearless leader.

Thank you to my team members: Melanie, Christina and Jessica.

Thank you to our new friends in Germany.

And thank you to Rotary International for this wonderful opportunity.

It is programs like this--promoting leadership, networking, friendship, travelling abroad, and peace--that we can finally begin to see good things happening in the world.

Thank you to all of our loyal readers. Please keep in contact with us. k_lightcell@hotmail.com

Blessings to all around the world!

-Kevin Leitzel-

On the Road Again...

After several days of arguing with Tina, I finally lost the argument. Nürnberg is, in fact, the same city as Nuremberg. My mistake Tina. I apologize. You win.

Once in Nuremberg (aka Nürnberg), we visited the Documentation Center of the Nazi Party Rallying Ground in the Congress Hall. Our tour lasted between 2.5 and 3 hours. In this tour, we learned the history of Adolf Hitler, the Third Reich, the Holocaust and the Nuremberg Trials. Afterwards, we enjoyed a more light-hearted view of the city. We toured Nuremberg Castle; it sits on the hilltop overlooking the city and learned about the devastation of World War II air raids. Approximately 90% of the city was destroyed, but then later rebuilt to look almost exactly as it did before the bombings.

In the evening, we walked through the city and stopped at a beer festival. Once a year, the city holds a beer festival in the land moat surrounding the castle. Here 28 local breweries are represented along with food vendors. As you can imagine, it was an enjoyable evening... - Kev-

Playing in a Creek, Talking to Birds, and a Last Minute Stop in Regensburg

From our hotel in Enderndorf -- the beautiful building overlooking the Grosse Brombachsee (a man-made lake)-- we ventured about two hours to a waterwheel electricity station. Standing in hip-boots, we inched our way through the creek to get a feel for the strength of the water passing through the waterwheel.

Later, we travelled to a bird sanctuary where we met some very friendly feathery friends. The owner, a man with a shaman-like ability to communicate with the birds, showed us some of the neat tricks they can do. One exotic creature flips his head back when there is an audience. He enjoyed entertaining us. Meanwhile a hawk was very giddy for the owner's affection.

In the last minute, we took an impromptu tour of Regensburg. A walking bridge was built in 1146. It still stands today. It is the first stone-bridge found in Northern Europe. At that time, a toll was collected three times across the bridge. I bet they weren't very happy when they got to the end... This bridge was the only way to get across the Danube River at that time. Regensburg was an important trade center as a result of this bridge. The Rhine-Main-Danube channel join in Regensburg. The earliest record of Regensburg dates back to 179 A.D. Today, the city has a population of about 150,000 with an unemployment rate of 1.5%! In the 13th and 15th Centuries, very strong earthquakes destroyed two-thirds of the city. By the 19th Century, the city had been completely reconstructed. - Kev