Off to the Garden

Today we started off by being greeted by the deputy mayor and Dagmar Freitag, the local parliamentarian .  Then we attended classes with the German students. A number of students enjoyed the art class where they made watercolor pictures.  The others were a little baffled in  the German only classes but had a good time being the "stars"of the campus. I was lucky enough to spend sometime in my hostess Hilde's classroom where some very cute fifth graders asked me "Do you like our country?"  I resoundingly said "Yes!"

Museum in Hemer

There were enough steps that they had this on hand

Top of the Tower, Hemer

Zach and Kortney going for it

Camille, Tanner, and Caroline lost in the maze but in good spirits

After class we took a walk to the new park built in Hemer for a statewide Garden Show that took place last year.  The park was built on an old army tank training ground that was decommissioned in 2007 and also held a prisoner of war camp during World War 2. There was a great little museum that showed the sad history of the site. The new park was beautifully landscaped during the garden show and had exhibits and flowers from all over Germany. We climbed the tallest hill above the park where a tower had been erected. There were a lot of steps and they even had a defibrillator at the bottom! On the way down we toured the fitness exhibits and played on the trampolines and got lost in a hedge maze. The park was amazing. Tonight we have a welcome party with all the folks who want to greet us. The weather is a little rainy but our spirits are high!