2018-10-28

The highlights from my weekends



Last weekend, I went with my host family to a mountain called Petersberg. It has a church on top of it, and from the road it looks like it would be impossible to get it there. The church was first built in 1137, but has been rebuilt a few times over the years.


From the top of the mountain there is a great view of the valley below, when it is sunny.
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This Sunday, we went to a salt mine near Salzburg, called Salzbergwerk. The mine first started 500 years ago. Today, it still produces about 900,000 cubic metres of brine per year.

The tour that we went on starts with a train which takes you underground. We travel for a few minutes, and then get off in a big cave called the salt cathedral. To get down in to the bottom of the cave we have to go down a steep wooden slide that miners used to use to get to work. We follow the guide through tunnels, looking at some information as we go, until we get to an underground salt lake. The water is so clear that you can't see it if you aren't looking closely. The tour gets on a boat, and as we drive across the lake we watch a light show.
We walk along some more tunnels, learning about different mining technology, until we get back to the train. It was very interesting to see what a mine looked like 500 years ago, before Europeans had come to Australia.
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Now we have one week of holidays, and my family is taking me to Berlin. I am looking forward to this and I will write about it in my next blog.
Robin

2018-10-14

My First Week in Germany

My first week in Germany has passed very quickly. When I first arrived I was very tired but after a few days I was used to the time zones.
On my first Sunday here, I went to the Oktoberfest in Munich with my family. There were so many people from all over the world. We went on some rides, and then went to look at the beer tents. They are full of people drinking beer, even early in the morning.



On Monday, it was my first day of school. I had to wake up at 6:00 am and run to catch the bus. After an hour of travelling by bus and train I arrived at school in Bad Aibling. It is very big and there are lots of people. At 1:50, school ends. The day feels so short and you can do things in the afternoon.

On Monday after school we drove a few kilometres to a mountain with a "Sommerrodelbahn". It is a long slide and you go down on little carts.
The view from the chairlift
I looked around Neubeuern where I am staying on Thursday. It is very cool. All the houses are old and there is a castle in the middle of town. We looked at the old market place in the middle of town, a canyon that is very close to the marketplace, the church and the second hand shop.


On Sunday, we went walking in the mountains near Austria. We climbed the Großer Traithen. It is one of the highest mountains in the area, at 1,852m. From the top we could look down and see Neubeuern.












I am really enjoying my time here and I am looking forward to more adventures!
Robin