Our hotel was nice and even nicer was getting a night's sleep in a bed, not attempting (unsuccessfully) to sleep a on a plane. Hey those of you who can sleep on planes, what's your secret? Share your wisdom. :-) Anyway, got ready, had a pretty good hotel breakfast and then we gathered in the lobby to head to our first stop, which was a secondary school. We had a lecture from some of the teachers and the principal. The main focus was inclusion, but they also covered some basic information about schools in Germany as well as that particular school. That school participates in a program "Schools without racism, schools with courage." The schools have to meet certain requirements and I believe 70% of the students and staff have to agree to participate. Schools have various events to support this goal such as rallies for human rights, various guest speakers, etc. They have a local sponsor and they also try to provide support/help to families as needed (i.e. that might include meeting with parents and explaining things to them in their own language). We also got a tour of the school and had time for Q and A. They gave us some nice snacks too. Later, we watched an inclusion physical education class. During some down time there, we had time to talk to teachers individually and it was very interesting to learn more about their schools and curriculums. I enjoyed it. The PE class was being held outdoors in a nearby park so on the walk over I was able to talk to some people in my group and get to know them a little better, which was also nice
When our school visit was over, many of us went to a beer garden for lunch. Most of us weren't that hungry so we just had snacks and drinks (in my case a Raddler). Then it was off to the courthouse where the Nuremberg Trials were held. We had a lecture/guided tour of the building. Our guide was a political scientist who was soon going to be leaving to go work for The Hague. I found the exhibits and guided tour really interesting. Could have used more time, there was so much to see. After that, we went back to the same biergarten (beer garden) to continue our discussion with our guide--and yes, have another beverage.
We had some free time before dinner so we headed downtown and a few of us explored some of the shops together. I bought gingerbread (this part of Germany is known for it), a Christmas ornament (typical of me on a trip), and a magnet for my grandmother (she collects them). Then we visited a church in the area and shortly after that it was time to meet for dinner.
Our table shared some bread based appetizers, which were good (one was basically garlic bread and the other had a delicious cheese spread on it). I had slamon and I tried some rose wine, not my fave--I'm such a picky drinker, I need to learn to like more things. On the way back to the subway, we stopped for gelato. I enjoyed my strawberry vanilla. And then back to the hotel.
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