June 11, 2010 Detmold & Lippisher Land

We followed a Detmold city guide dressed as a minstrel from the Middle Ages. As he explained the city's history, he had us play historical figures, complete with capes, hats, and even some swords. Jason was a multitalented farmer and later a knight, Trudy played the tambourine, Amy was a cook, Sherry a fair maiden and Tracey a milkmaid. Our host Gunther Koch was a merchant and Barbara played a princess. It was lots of fun even though we got a few quizzical looks.
Later that afternoon, we went to see the statue of Herman the German, who defeated the Roman army. The statue was erected to celebrate Gemany's defeat of Napolean in the 1800s. The weather was beautiful and we had a clear but windy view from the top of the monument. Later that evening we joined friends for a tasty meal of herring with various sauces followed by an assortment of schnapps.

June 10, 2010 Vocational Day

This was our last vocational day

Tracey:
Today I visited Lukas Hospital, a 350 bed general hospital associated with the protestant church. I met with CEO Mr. Reiniker and Dr. Kerstner, who toured me around the not for profit facility and demonstrated how well they are meeting their community's needs. In particular, they have cooperated with independent dialysis and cardiac care facilities to expand patient services while continuing to focus on their core mission of being a community based general hospital.

June 9, 2010 Berlin to Herford

We stopped to look at the impressive architecture of the Jewish Museum on our way to visit the Haus at Checkpoint Charlie. This museum documents the division of Berlin and the inventive ways people used to escape the tyranny of the former East German government. We then stopped to view a preserved section of the wall that once divided this beautiful city. On our way out of Berlin we stopped to admire Schloss Charlottenburg as we headed to our next city, Herford.

June 8, 2010 Berlin Day 2

We started the day with some shopping at the Kaufhof des Westens (KdW) and then walked to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The remains of this bombed out church and post war new building serve as a powerful testament to the destruction and suffering of war, and is now dedicated to encouraging peace. We then went on a private tour of the Reichstag and Albert Lobe building arranged by fellow Rotarian and Representative to Germany’s lower house of parliament, Dr. Mattias Heider. Dr. Heider’s assistant Phillip Riedel did an excellent job of showing us the impressively rebuilt historic building and we enjoyed the view from the dome on a clear day. We then walked to the Brandenburg gate and Tracey was particularly interested to see the new American Embassy located at its historic location at Pariser Platz. We walked through the Holocaust memorial and then headed off to see a floorshow “Qi” in Berlin’s historic Friedrichstrasse Palast. This singing and dancing extravaganza included ice dancing, a swimming pool, and a trapeze act!. We finished the evening at an Indian restaurant and then had a beer in the colorful Haeckisher Hof.

June 7, 2010 Berlin Day 1

It was great to be in Berlin, and we spent a good deal of time walking around the eastern section of the city and admiring the beautiflully restored architecture. We were amazed at the art in the Altes Museum, where we saw the Door of Ishtar and Nephretiti. We all decided Trudy bore a resemblance to the famed Egyptian queen known for her beauty!

Tracey was happy to find a shop that sold wood carvings so she could stock up on souveniers, and we all enjoyed a boat tour through downtown on the Spree river. It was a beautiful day!

June 6, 2010 Travel & Potsdam

This morning we piled in the van and headed to Berlin. On the way we stopped at the memorial at the former Checkpoint Bravo, at the former border to East Germany. It was sobering to walk through the rooms where cars were searched and interrogations took place for so many years
When we got closer to Berlin, we stopped at Potsdam to visit Cecielienhof, one of the last residences of the Hollerzollern family. Cecielienhof is well known for being the site of the Potsdam agreement reached between the Allied powers at the end of WWII. The Potsdam agreement sought to denazify, decentralize and disarm Germany to avoid future conflict. It also set the stage for the cold war, as divisiveness was apparent between the Allies and Germany was divided into occupation zones. Cecielienhof is a well preserved memorial to this important period in history, and provided valuable historic perspective for our visit to Berlin.

June 5, 2010 Paderborn to Bielefeld

We overlooked a small lake as we enjoyed and outdoor brunch with our Paderborn hosts. It was hard to say goodbye to them when Peter Giese, the GSE team leader from the German team that that visited Florida in November, picked us up in a large van and took us to visit the largest glider airfield in Germany near Oerlinghausen. After watching the gliders, we continued to his home in Bielefeld where we had an interview with the local press before walking to a local restaurant to enjoy a gourmet meal with representatives from the Oerlinghausen Rotary club.

June 2, 2010 Vocational Day

Jason - Heinz Nixdorf forum
Amy - Matern & Wäschel Architects
Trudy - Dr. Frank Berlage
Sherry - Paderborn University
Tracey - St. Vincenz & St. Josephs Hospitals

Tracey enjoyed a very informative tour of two hospitals, St. Vincent & St. Joseph. The hospitals run profitably, and St. Vincent's has developed a well regarded cardiac unit. Like the other hospitals I saw, ratio of the emergency department beds is about 1-2% of total bed count. Patients are generally moved more quickly to a floor rather than being kept inthe ED, and there is board certification in emergency medicine for physicians. Instead, doctors will take an additonal course to work in the ER St. Vincent also had a window where a despondant parent can leave a baby child in the care of a nurse rather than abandoning it. If the window is opened an alarm sounds so a nurse will know a child is in need of care.

June 4, 2010 Paderborn

Christopher Pluempe and Tim Kempe arranged a guided city tour for the morning. We visited the cathedral in downtown Paderborn. Our personal guide led us along the city’s river namesake: Pader. Fresh water springs discharge water near the city’s center, and the Pader’s born. Along the way our guide explained more the city’s heritage on our path towards the Poseiden Fountain. We concluded the tour with lunch at the Ratskeller followed by a casual stroll through the shopping district.

Later in the day we tried a unique German beverage: Bionade. At first, Bionade seems like another soda pop. It’s a actually a brewed beverage which contains no alcohol, and is made from alternative ingredients not found in the beer brewing process.

For the evening, we rendezvoused at the Heinz Nixdorf Museum for a trip to Dr. Frietag’s Bavarian beer garden. The charter bus was full with our team, host families, and prominent Rotarians from two Paderborn Rotary clubs. We arrived to a table large enough for us all and enjoyed a spectacular feast in the garden.

June 3, 2010 Paderborn

Today we focused on renewable energy. The landscape is dotted with windmills, and we got to see one up close. We then toured a biogas facility, which turns agricultural waste into warmth, electricity and fertilizer. We finished up with a tourof a dam and a water treatment facility. It was facinating to see how our hosts managed their sustainable natural resources.

That evening we were treated to a very tasty cookout at the Piepenbrock's garden. The chef is Hr. Dr. Freitag, and the food and company were both wonderful!

June 1, 2010 Dortmund to Paderborn

Today we left our Dortmund host families and traveled to Paderborn. When we arrived we were greeted by a welcoming committee and toured the Heinz Nixdorf computer museum. The museum had an extensive collection of calculator imaginable, from the abacus to super computers. It was great to be met by Christopher Plümpe, who had been a member of the German team that had visited Florida.