When I found out about the Roger M. Jones Fellowship as a Sophomore, it would be an understatement to say that I was excited about it. I was so ecstatic to learn that there were not only people like me in the College of Engineering that had an appreciation for both the sciences and humanities but there was also this amazing opportunity to explore my love for the arts in a completely new culture. When I learned that I had gotten this opportunity, I thought I could nearly burst with excitement! And that feeling didn't let up the entire time.
My experience over this past year has been nothing short of life changing. I know that everyone says that after studying abroad, but I mean it to the very fullest. The lessons that I have learned about myself, about the world and about everyone around me are indescribable and the friends that I have made will be life lasting. I am determined to continue to foster my passions in both science and engineering and the arts and humanities and I hope that my love of both will find a way to help the people around me in one way or another.
As I turn over this amazing opportunity to someone new, I can only hope that she has the same sort of unforgettable experience that I did. I am sad to close this brilliant and vivid chapter of my life but at the same time I am eager and excited to take everything that I have gleaned from it and apply it to brighten and augment the rest of my future in this lovely existence that is somewhere between art and science.
It's been an absolute pleasure and I thank you from the bottom of my heart,
Sarah
Friday, June 24, 2011
Germany and Switzerland
The last of my European travels include Germany and Switzerland. A friend and I rented a car and drove from Frankfurt all the way through the Black Forest, down through Switzerland and back! It was a whirlwind trip, but I loved the beautiful countryside, the breathtaking views, the chance to experience another culture! I took tones of good pictures so I hope that you enjoy! Zer Gut! :)
The first town we stayed at was along the Rhine river and was tiny, quaint and was situated at the foot of a hill which housed a castle from the early 12th century. The picture above is of the town during the day and below is a picture of the Rhine in the evening.
Here is a picture I snapped of the Rhine from our vantage point up the hill where the castle was!
I didn't end up buying anything more than a cookoo clock magnet (the actual clocks are all around 100 Euros and that's for a basic one!), so I did the next best thing and captured this giant one on the outside of one of the shops that sold them. Inside of this shop their most ornate clock was enormous, featured a little town, and cost over 1500 Euros!
This is a picture that I took of the German country side looking out from one of the Castle's 'windows'. You can sort of see it in this picture, but all along the country, there were vineyards and crops planted at extreme angles all along these steep hills/mountains. It was incredible to think what sort of effort it must involve since there is no animal or farming equipment that I know of that could handle that sort of gradient!
I absolutely love the way the light and colors turned out in the picture which I took in the castle. It was one of the many passage ways that we walked through. Some of the pathways (that I was surprised to learn we were even aloud to walk along) were completely enclosed or under the ground and there was no way to see anything of what was in front of you (unless you brought a flashlight of course, which we didn't have the foresight to do). Unfortunately I was mostly a wimp and avoided these dark, scary tunnels. I was too worried that I'd misstep and fall down a spiral staircase (of which there were many).
This photo was taken in a little German restaurant where we tasted the local cuisine! I absolutely adored the Wild Boar Ravioli (which weren't really what you would have expected with the word 'ravioli', but the taste of the Boar and the way it was seasoned was incredible! I highly recommend if you ever are presented the chance to try it!) and the white Asparagus (which Germany is famous for) left a little something to be desired. I think I'll just stick to the regular green stuff from now on!
This is a picture of the city center of the town in which we tried the wild boar and asparagus. It was really pretty and we had a lovely day to poke around the shops and take in the atmosphere.
This picture is of one the cathedral in Frieburg which was under construction (you can see the scaffolding in the picture). This city was much larger than the others that we saw and made me realize that I really enjoy the simpler, slower pace of the littler towns that we saw. I suppose I'm just not a city mouse, after all.
After checking out Frieburg, we began our scenic drive through the black forest. The next several pictures are the favorites that I took during our time there. While the scenery was indeed beautiful, I was more taken aback by the fact that of a country its size, Germany had left such a large percentage of its countryside undeveloped and completely preserved. I'd like to think that the US would have a similar philosophy about wildlife and nature, but if our country was the size that Germany is, I really don't think the Black Forest would have been left untouched and that thought is really humbling.
We stayed one night inside of the Black Forest and this was our little table decoration at breakfast--a little vase of mountain wild flowers. I thought they were so pretty that I'd risk looking like a tourist and take a picture. :)
And if the flowers weren't dainty and adorable enough, they served us our eggs with little knitted hats on top of them so they would stay warm until we ate them!
Now begins our drive into Switzerland, which I must say, is to date my favorite country in all of my travels. It has astounding mountains, breathtakingly turquoise lakes and some of the most friendly people around. It has everything! If I were ever given the chance, I'd move there! I think this first picture that I took of the lake to the west of Interlaken speaks to the wonder of Switzerland.
This next photo I took of the town of Interlaken. It was a nice town, but I really did again prefer the smaller towns to the east and west which were situated on the lakes, not just between them.
This next picture is a good example of the roads that we drove in through the foothills of the Alps.
Here is another little village in Switzerland. It was beautiful in the summer and I'm sure it would be just as gorgeous in the winter (although in different ways I'm sure)!
This next photo is the last of the lot from Switzerland but it is again one of my favorites. It was taken in a harbor on a lake which borders Germany, but we were still on the Swiss side of it. I grew up sailing with my family and taking pictures of the water and of sailboats always makes me happy!
The last stop on my tour of Germany was at the Tubingen where the world famous University is. Below is a sign for the uni as well as a sign for the famous white asparagus.
This next picture was taken in the town which has a city center that is almost reminiscent of Venice. There are twisty turny little pathways that are mostly just for people on foot and it is almost impossible to keep your direction straight! It was a quaint little college town and probably my favorite place in Germany.
Here is a picture of the river which runs through the town, where the fraternities and sororities buy row boats to paddle across the river to get to an island in the middle. The picture was taken at dusk, but unfortunately there weren't many little row boats around.
This is a picture of the giant fountain in the city center's square. It wasn't turned on, but I thought that the fountain with the backdrop of the very typically German looking architecture was beautiful.
This last picture is again of the town, and I included it because I love how beautiful the design and colors of the buildings are.
Germany and Switzerland were beautiful countries that I am really glad I got to visit! I hope that sometime in my future I'll be able to go back again (especially to Switzerland!).
Cheers,
Sarah
The first town we stayed at was along the Rhine river and was tiny, quaint and was situated at the foot of a hill which housed a castle from the early 12th century. The picture above is of the town during the day and below is a picture of the Rhine in the evening.
Here is a picture I snapped of the Rhine from our vantage point up the hill where the castle was!
I didn't end up buying anything more than a cookoo clock magnet (the actual clocks are all around 100 Euros and that's for a basic one!), so I did the next best thing and captured this giant one on the outside of one of the shops that sold them. Inside of this shop their most ornate clock was enormous, featured a little town, and cost over 1500 Euros!
This is a picture that I took of the German country side looking out from one of the Castle's 'windows'. You can sort of see it in this picture, but all along the country, there were vineyards and crops planted at extreme angles all along these steep hills/mountains. It was incredible to think what sort of effort it must involve since there is no animal or farming equipment that I know of that could handle that sort of gradient!
I absolutely love the way the light and colors turned out in the picture which I took in the castle. It was one of the many passage ways that we walked through. Some of the pathways (that I was surprised to learn we were even aloud to walk along) were completely enclosed or under the ground and there was no way to see anything of what was in front of you (unless you brought a flashlight of course, which we didn't have the foresight to do). Unfortunately I was mostly a wimp and avoided these dark, scary tunnels. I was too worried that I'd misstep and fall down a spiral staircase (of which there were many).
This photo was taken in a little German restaurant where we tasted the local cuisine! I absolutely adored the Wild Boar Ravioli (which weren't really what you would have expected with the word 'ravioli', but the taste of the Boar and the way it was seasoned was incredible! I highly recommend if you ever are presented the chance to try it!) and the white Asparagus (which Germany is famous for) left a little something to be desired. I think I'll just stick to the regular green stuff from now on! 
This is a picture of the city center of the town in which we tried the wild boar and asparagus. It was really pretty and we had a lovely day to poke around the shops and take in the atmosphere.
This picture is of one the cathedral in Frieburg which was under construction (you can see the scaffolding in the picture). This city was much larger than the others that we saw and made me realize that I really enjoy the simpler, slower pace of the littler towns that we saw. I suppose I'm just not a city mouse, after all.
After checking out Frieburg, we began our scenic drive through the black forest. The next several pictures are the favorites that I took during our time there. While the scenery was indeed beautiful, I was more taken aback by the fact that of a country its size, Germany had left such a large percentage of its countryside undeveloped and completely preserved. I'd like to think that the US would have a similar philosophy about wildlife and nature, but if our country was the size that Germany is, I really don't think the Black Forest would have been left untouched and that thought is really humbling.
We stayed one night inside of the Black Forest and this was our little table decoration at breakfast--a little vase of mountain wild flowers. I thought they were so pretty that I'd risk looking like a tourist and take a picture. :)
And if the flowers weren't dainty and adorable enough, they served us our eggs with little knitted hats on top of them so they would stay warm until we ate them!
Now begins our drive into Switzerland, which I must say, is to date my favorite country in all of my travels. It has astounding mountains, breathtakingly turquoise lakes and some of the most friendly people around. It has everything! If I were ever given the chance, I'd move there! I think this first picture that I took of the lake to the west of Interlaken speaks to the wonder of Switzerland.
This next photo I took of the town of Interlaken. It was a nice town, but I really did again prefer the smaller towns to the east and west which were situated on the lakes, not just between them.
This next picture is a good example of the roads that we drove in through the foothills of the Alps.
Here is another little village in Switzerland. It was beautiful in the summer and I'm sure it would be just as gorgeous in the winter (although in different ways I'm sure)!
This next photo is the last of the lot from Switzerland but it is again one of my favorites. It was taken in a harbor on a lake which borders Germany, but we were still on the Swiss side of it. I grew up sailing with my family and taking pictures of the water and of sailboats always makes me happy!
The last stop on my tour of Germany was at the Tubingen where the world famous University is. Below is a sign for the uni as well as a sign for the famous white asparagus.
This next picture was taken in the town which has a city center that is almost reminiscent of Venice. There are twisty turny little pathways that are mostly just for people on foot and it is almost impossible to keep your direction straight! It was a quaint little college town and probably my favorite place in Germany.
Here is a picture of the river which runs through the town, where the fraternities and sororities buy row boats to paddle across the river to get to an island in the middle. The picture was taken at dusk, but unfortunately there weren't many little row boats around.
This is a picture of the giant fountain in the city center's square. It wasn't turned on, but I thought that the fountain with the backdrop of the very typically German looking architecture was beautiful.
This last picture is again of the town, and I included it because I love how beautiful the design and colors of the buildings are.
Germany and Switzerland were beautiful countries that I am really glad I got to visit! I hope that sometime in my future I'll be able to go back again (especially to Switzerland!).
Cheers,
Sarah
general musings
Hi there! I'm just getting a chance to do some catching up with the goings on in England (and elsewhere)! This first picture I took of a giant snail that was crawling along the sidewalk in front of my apartment. It was one of about 5 or 6 snails making some sort of Exodus from the greenery on either side of the path. I love how the texture of his skin came through in the photograph and how you can see the 'slime trail' behind him too!
This picture is of me and one of my course mate's daughter who was kind enough to give me her opinion on my picture book which I wrote and illustrated. I'd put up pictures of the illustrations and such, but I'm hoping to send it off for publication so I don't want to ruin my chances! My friend and her daughter and I went on a walk in the New Forest and this tree that we found was so old and so huge that we couldn't not take a picture!
Finally, I drew this picture in 90 minutes (a new record for me!) and I'm not sure which way I want to have it oriented yet... :) Hope you enjoy it!
Cheers,
Sarah
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