Maria Cristina's report on Speyer meeting

1. My first time in Germany
It was the 30th November when we began our very long coach journey to Speyer. At
18:00 we took the bus at the central station in Pescara. I was too excited because
besides being my first time in Germany was also my first time abroad. I packed my
suitcase the night before because the desire to leave Italy, although just for 6 days,
was so strong..... So, after greeting our parents, Mauro, Elisabetta, Eleonora, Francesca,
the 2 teachers Ms Rosa Cantoro, Ms. Rossella Cianci and I, of course, left for Germany.
Our first stopo was the city of Karlsruhe, where we arrived after about 22 hours! A very
long journey, indeed! On the bus we ate a lot and we spoke about how would our days
there be. In the night I didn’t sleep because of the noise of the bus, the uncomfortable
seat and the cold, so I listened to music. One of the bus stop was at Brennero and it
was very cold, about – 3 degrees, but it was nice to see the snow around us. On the
border between Italy and Austria the 'Polizei’ stopped our bus to control all
passenger’s passport and ID cards. It was 5:00. It took a very long time, about 2 hours,
because a lot of foreigners’ passports weren’t in order, thus some of them were
brought back home on another bus. It was so strange! In the morning in Monaco we
changed bus and at 13:00 we arrived in Karlsruhe. There, we ate a kebab and we took
the train to Speyer. But something unbelievable happened on the train: while we were
talking, teacher Cantoro realised the loudspeaker on the train was announcing we
were seated on the wrong part ..... When we realized what was going to happen, we
immediately got off the train, but it was too late!!!!. So we waited another train to
Speyer and we arrived there at 15.30.

2. I was very eager to know my German partner who would host Francesca and
me. I promptly recognize her at the station of Speyer because I had seen her before
in a picture on Facebook. After the presentations,we went home. Nadine, our
German partner, is 18 years old and she attends a vocational school in Speyer. She
is not very tall, she has long, fair, wavy hair and she is very nice. She has got a sister
and we spent very good days together. In Speyer I felt at home. It’s a wonderful
village near the Rhine river and I think it’s magic, especially at Christmas time ,
because of the traditional Christmas markets in the historical centre which sell all
typical food: Brezeln, Glühwein and Wurste and so on. Speyer has a beautiful
historical centre and its stunning Romanesque cathedral attracts a lot of visitors
every year. The atmosphere is completely different from the Italian one because I
think they respect more the environment, in fact streets, parks and sidewalks are
clean and they take care of their city. For sure it was colder than Pescara but I
really enjoyed those days. We met and knew a lot of people and now we have a lot
of friends, coming from France, England, Poland, Italy and Germany, of course!. I
learnt that we are not the only one in the universe but there are a lot of other
people who, although speaking another language, have other cultures and ways of
living, they feel the same emotions, they are in the same bad or good situations as
we are. Even if I knew this before, I could experience this sensation only with my
first time out of Italy. THANK YOU teachers, THANK YOU, German students
and families, THANKS everybody who has made this dream come true! Maria
Cristina Potenza

3. Here are some pictures of the activities I enjoyed most.

4. The castle of Heidelberg

5. Ice skating in Manheim

6. Speyer cathedral
and Christmas markets

7. Speyer museum
and Speyer before and after the fire

8. The evening party of the last day in Quartiermensa

11. The flight back