September 22nd, 2018

​The Family Hostel
The hostel I stayed at is called Waldjugendherberger Sargenroth. Yeah, that is a mouthful.  Basically it means a hostel that welcomes children.  There are a ton of outdoor activities to do here.  It reminds me of the state parks in Indiana.  There is a massive forest behind the hostel with miles of trails.  What a treat!  The sign says Forest Classroom. I found out later that this hostel is used like a Forest School for children to stay for 3 days. 

Night Hikes
This beautiful view is only enhanced at night.  The stars are so bright here and the children have the opportunity to venture out and see this space at night.  You can see for over 100 kilometers. They discuss nocturnal animals and cones and rods in the eyes and how it is an advantage for animals that roam at night to have more rods in their eyes.  Each child is then given a small battery operated candle (it has not rained here in a long time so to prevent fires they use battery candles) and that lights the way to the peak of this look out. My photos did not turn out so the photo credit is to ​http://ichurchoka.com/no-seas-como-las-estrellas/scenic-milky-way-above-forest-in-night-sky/.

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​Ants on a log
The children were all given a piece of wood and told that it was their log that they were taking back to the ant hill. (Side bar- they have massive ant mounds here.  The ants keep the floor of the forest clean from debris and carrion.  They bring it back to their mound.  They say the top of the mound is like the tip of an iceberg, the majority of it is below the surface. The ranger also discussed that the ants are very strong and work as a team to carry the objects back to their mound.)  So, back to the activity.  Each child is given a log but they cannot touch the gound so they have to one by one lay the logs down and make it to the other side of a field.  They have to pass the logs and the trick is, they must at all times have a foot or a hand on the logs.  Or they will lose that log.  If they lose 5 logs, they have to start over.

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​Anyone Want a Peanut?
To teach a lesson on squirrels, their winter food storage and the importance of a good plan, the main ranger had an activity involving peanuts.  Each child was given seven peanuts to hind in the general area of the forest sofa.  But they had to remember where they hid them.  Then they returned to the sofa.  As squirrels, they pretended to sleep for a while and were instructed to find one peanut and bring it back.  They got to eat it, then they continued with two nuts the next 3 times.  Some children found all the nuts, some children’s’ nuts were found by others and taken, some children only found one nut because they forgot where they put them.  The children learned the importance of having a plan, not leaving all their nuts in one place, because if something happened to that batch, they were doomed.

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​Forest Sofa
Forest sofas are great seating spaces in a circle in the forest.  The children are told to gather sticks and logs and arrange them in a circle large enough to seat 30 people. The sticks are laid down and woven together in kind of a next like formation.  These forest sofas serve their purpose, but let me tell you, they are not super comfortable on the rear end. Nope, this is not IKEA, friends.  It is way easier to assemble, but not nearly as comfortable.
(photo credit:https://www.landlove.com/article/8/projects/let-s-build-a-forest-sofa)

​Robin Hood
I absolutely love this activity. The children actually can make their own bows and arrows.  I was so excited to learn how to do this.  The branch they use is from a chestnut tree.  First they soak one end in water for several days. This makes the wood pliable enough to bend.  Then with a sharp knife (yes a sharp knife) you whittle the ends of the stick.  Then tie a strong string to one end, bow the stick with your knee and tie the other end.  It sounds so easy, and it really was.  Then with a smaller stick, sharpen it to a point and make a notch in the other end and boom, you have a working bow and arrow.  They kids shot them at paper targets and it really worked. It was so cool.  Yes, I know exactly what you are thinking… are they nuts? Making a sharp arrow!!! What are they thinking?  Again, NO ONE was hurt.  The parameters were set and the children complied and they had a heck of a time.

TIME TO MOVE ON>>>
After visiting this last location I had time before my flight to explore Frankfurt.

 Frankfurt
There is a special blend of old and new in Frankfurt.  This area is so neat because it is Midlevel buildings surrounded by sleek modern skyscrapers. I found this so interesting so I looked it up.  According to Wikapedia (I know, not the most reliable source, but handy) “Bombing of Frankfurt by the Allies during WWII killed about 5,500 residents and destroyed the largest medieval city center in Germany. The 8th Air Force dropped 12,197 tons of explosives on the city.”  Because of this, there is only a small portion of the “old town” remaining.  Below you can see the picture I took compared to what remained after the bombing. (Photo credit: ​http://www.fr.de/politik/zeitgeschichte/zweiterweltkrieg/1945-in-frankfurt-wie-frankfurter-das-kriegsende-erlebten-a-483616)

Euro Tower
Euro tower is a 40-story skyscraper in the center of Frankfurt.  The building served as the seat of the European Central Bank until March 18, 2015.

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Frankfurt according to their tourism website is the most international city in Germany, the largest financial center on the continent, and the historical city of coronations. Fun fact: 1 in every 4 Frankfurters (HA! See what I did there?) hold a foreign ID.

Locks of Love
I am sure you have heard of the Locks of Love bridge in France.  Well, my friends, there is one in Frankfurt too. It is pretty cool.  BTW Check out that skyline.

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OMG!!! What the Heck?
So, I come from the river to hear pleasant, peppy accordian music.  I think, "Wow, this really added to the ambiance."  Then I see WHO is playing it... It is some dude in a really bad Mickey Mouse costume, not unlike the ones on Time Square in New York.  There was just such a bizarre vibe, cheesy/creepy Mickey, Mideavel buildings, The "Chicken Dance" being played on the accordion... WAY too many contradictions for my brain to take in at one time.

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