Hallo,

I apologize for the delayed post, but I have been fairly busy with class, traveling, and other social events. I've been up to quite a bit since my last post. I spent a day in Mainz and Wiesbaden, which I was able to travel to free of any cost. I also climbed up the Altkonig in Taunus and I hope to return soon to climb up the other "mountain" (only 800 meters or so).

Mainz was only a 30 minute S-Bahn ride away from Frankfurt. Mainz is an old Roman city, as evidenced by the ruins that are just outside of the city limits. It was also home to Johannes Gutenberg, who invented the printing press. I spent most of time walking along the Main Ufer, near the large church. I also stumbled upon a monument to German unity, which I found very interesting, The monument had most of the large German cities written on the side, as well as symbolic front side, which depicts East and West Germany.

I was accompanied to Wiesbaden with two friends from course, Tamas und Remi. We arrived in the city center and visited two churches. I visited Wiesbaden on my previous trip to Germany and remember it as a very quiet city. However, on this occasion the city was bustling with people due to the city fest later that day. Then, we proceeded to go take a train up to a scenic overlook of Wiesbaden, which was once home to a fancy hotel, which unfortunately burned down. However, due to it's popularity, the city revitalized the area with hiking trails and to my amusement, a tree climbing area, which I hope to revisit.

Once again, some of my classmates and I organized a small trip to Taunus, an area with two large hills. The hike to the pike lasted about an hour, but was very steep and exhausting. Once we reached the top, we enjoyed a small lunch and took some pictures. On our way down, we unintentionally encountered a small mountain biking fest. After spending about an hour there, our U-Bahn finally arrived and we headed back to Frankfurt.

My language course concluded this week and I will be receiving 4 credits, which will be helpful. I have a week break before my real courses begin. I will taking Management, Marketing, Microeconomics 2, perhaps Finance, and a seminar on economic writing in German. This weekend also marks the 25th anniversary of German unity and the celebration is being held in Frankfurt this year. Last night, some of friends and I went the the Main Ufer and enjoyed some Eppelwoi (Apfelwein), as well as the performances around the area. I have plans later to meet with my German professor from Whitewater, who is on sabbatical this semester, at the Bürgerfest.

Thanks for reading!