Mannheim continued...

We walked through a lovely cathedral that Mozart used to frequent apparently, according to Alex this memoriam says just that.

I LOVED these crying lions on the outside!! There were tons, and all different.
Inside.

Outside.

Machine gun bullet holes from WWII in the cathedral walls.

Downtown Mannheim.

The beautiful and famous Rhine River.

Schloss Mannheim today.

Schloss Mannheim in 1945.

Local apartments.

Tour of Mannheim

Mannheim is the second largest city (after Stuttgart) in Badn-Wurttemberg. It was 90% destroyed in World War II. You can still see bullet holes from the machine guns in many of the buildings that survived. On most streets you'll see an old building that survived attached to refurbished and brand new structures. It's a little bizarre but really cool!

Tour guide Alex:

Party Time at Mannheim Castle

Schloss Mannheim (aka Mannheim Palace)

Schloss Mannheim was where the party was held! This castle has been converted into Mannheim University, where Alex and his friends attend. This castle was completely destroyed during WWII and then completely rebuilt. This picture doesn't do it justice, it is MASSIVE.

The party was randomly in honor of Norwegian foreign exchange students.

Alex and I. I was introduced to Alessandra and Alex via Facebook through a mutual friend, Lauren Heineck who is living in Spain (and who I will be visiting Memorial Day :) Lauren met Alex while travelling through Europe and they have remained good friends and continue to visit each other. Alex couldn't have been a more excellent host and tour guide! He made sure to keep track of me amongst the thousands of crazy drunk students at the party.

Alessandra and Alex.

I drank German beer and watched the German Trophy cup with these guys before the party! Munich beat Breman 4-0, and apparently that is a VERY good thing. Everyone was SO pumped. These are Alex's friends and roommates, they were super polite and fun to hang out with! Everyone I met last night spoke ENGLISH too! OMG that was such a refreshing relief! I was actually able to learn quite a bit from them.

Homework time

Ahaha then I realized I realized I told Connor he spelled Tuesday right when he didn't, he had just spelled it right before I videoed! Anyway, aren't they cute!!! Whitney LOVES to sing, I'll film more later, Cinderella just came in my package I sent today and she's never seen it! We're watching it today and learning the songs.

Connor and Aiden wanted to play too, they asked me (the one who knows not a WORD of German) to ask the kids if they could play too. The German children looked at me totally confused and a little terrified, so we just watched. They DID however know how to say "Ladies first!"

Whitney goes to Gym Class and the boys to the Grafitti Park

The local art at the local park.

Cute little German kids

Tire swing.

Aiden getting ready to go.

Whitney at her gym class, none of the other moms speak english either! But it's cute to watch.