Today marked the end of our first week in Oberursel! This Friday consisted of an entertaining VR experience, a walk about Frankfurt’s beautiful Neue Altstadt, and ended with a tour of Goethe Uni Frankfurt.
I woke up this morning to a wonderful breakfast laid out for the family! We had many varieties of bread, as well as watermelon and the typical German hard boiled eggs. I decided to try the pretzel roll, and it was absolutely delicious! After breakfast, my exchange partner, Anna, drove me to school and dropped me off in the Haupthalle, where my teachers and friends were waiting. From there, we briskly walked to the S-Bahn station and boarded the train to take us to the heart of Frankfurt. The train ride was smooth, and when we exited the station, we were greeted by the hustle and bustle of a big city! As we walked, I saw many stands on the street selling beautiful flower arrangements, and various shops selling everything from decadent chocolate to cheese! We shortly arrived at our VR experience, Time Ride, and had a few free minutes. I decided to make use of the time by photographing the nearby church. The architecture in Germany is stunning, and is entirely different from anything I’ve seen before.
After snapping a few shots, our VR experience began. As I stepped through the doors, it felt as if I had been transported back in time to a kitchen in the olden days of Frankfurt. There were lots of wooden cabinets lining the walls, filled with elegant dishes, jugs, and teapots. Hanging from the ceiling was a wooden rack with wooden utensils and dried herbs, and on the counter laid containers of coffee, chocolate, and cinnamon. We also passed around an ornate slab of tea that could’ve served up to 3,000 people, according to our guide. Our steps through the next doorway took us into a library, with shelves of old books and paintings lining the walls. And in our final room, we put on VR headsets, which took us back in time to experience a horse-led wagon tour around Frankfurt over a hundred years ago. I found that it was incredibly interesting to see what the city used to look like, and how much it has changed!
From there, we continued walking to the U-Bahn to take us a few stops up to Goethe Uni. However, as we walked, we passed by a small bakery, and we were able to order something if we wished! The food looked delicious; there were pretzels, sandwiches, and various pastries! Although I didn’t get anything this morning, I tried a cherry pastry a few days ago, and it was heavenly. In my personal opinion, no one does baked goods as well as the Germans. Alaina actually got a similar cherry pastry to the one I tried previously, and she agreed that it was delicious. After our brief bakery stop, we continued walking, passing through the Neue Altstadt of Frankfurt. There typical German architecture made me feel as if I was in some sort of storybook. It feels unreal to be surrounded by such picturesque buildings and churches, especially compared to the architecture I’m used to in the US. We eventually reached the U-Bahn, rode up a few stops, and exited close to the University. With the promise of lunch, we hurried to reach the campus. I was quite surprised by the layout of the campus. Although it was beautiful in its own way, it was very different from colleges and universities in the US. There were many buildings made out of cream stone that all looked very similar to one another, flanked by sidewalks and green spaces. We had lunch in the cafeteria, and I decided to go with the classic pasta and salad. There were many other options for entrees, as well as a yogurt bar, a wall lined with drink options, and ice cream for dessert. We ate in the large indoor cafeteria, which housed many tables and even more seats! Although there were outdoor spaces as well, we opted to eat inside, as it was in the high 70s and sunny! After we finished up lunch, we were taken on a tour around the campus by Feldbergschule Alum Moritz K. He answered lots of questions about the University, showed us many buildings, and even let us try the open Pater Noster elevators in the library. The elevators work in a loop, and could transport you to any floor. They were a little terrifying to get on and off, but fun to try out!
The tour wrapped up our time in Frankfurt, and I took the train to return back to the house to get ready for dinner. ~Maddie