My first time in GermanyIt 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.

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

Here are some pictures of the activities I enjoyed most.

View of Heidelberg,3rd of December

The castle of Heidelberg

Ice skating in Manheim

Speyer cathedral and Christmas markets

Speyer museum and Speyer before and after the fire

The evening party of the last day in Quartiermensa

The flight back