Today, the group went to Mainz, where we saw one of the widest- but shallowest- sections of the Rhein. It’s a beautiful river with nice nature on both sides, in and around the city.
I found the city to be an interesting mix of modern and older buildings, which were more intermixed than in Oberursel and Bad Homburg–the bombing during WWII clearly left many open spaces that were refilled with newer architecture, and though there was a small old city section, the historical buildings were not confined to that area.
The Gutenberg Museum was quite interesting–the guide explained not only the surprisingly complicated process of the first printing presses, but also several common but false myths about Gutenberg. I was very interested to learn that his most commonly cited claim to fame besides the printing press, the creation of the first German bible, was in fact untrue.
After the museum, we checked out the nearby Mainz cathedral, which was…interesting.
After that, we spread out for lunch. It was rather jarring to see a regular McDonalds across the street from a historical church, but the other food places in the city were quite good! Lunch was followed by ice cream, which attracted a visit from the local, and very brave, semi-wildlife, which was much more willing to get close to humans than any I’ve seen in the US.
Besides the ride back, that was basically the entire day. I came back to my host home and was tired enough by the long walks and hot weather to just relax for a bit and write this post, since there won’t be any time tonight for any other activities of note. ~Zachary