Home!

Looks like we made it!  Some folks left out early, having friends and family in Munich.  Some others were headed on to visit friends in Greece and they headed out a bit before we had to leave for the airport Thursday. We had about a dozen going home with us and all was uneventful.  The worst part was the uncertainty trying to catch a train to the airport; the first train was out for maintenance / scheduling.  Even with our limited language skills, we knew enough to not get on the wrong train going the wrong way.  Ten minutes later a working train appeared and we were off.

The plane ride home was relatively pleasant, but TSA and security in Philadelphia were terrible.  We got to CLT and headed out without incident, saying goodbye to the last few students.  However, 9 PM Eastern is 3 AM in Germany so I was a but dodgy getting home.  This morning I had fully intended to head to the gym, then work in the yard, then get my car worked on, then put in a full day of work.  In reality, I am still overwhelmed physically from the trip so I may just rest.  Consider the itinerary:

Drive to Charlotte
Fly to Frankfurt
Train to Freiburg
Hike up mountain to observation tower
Bus tour to:
    Biogas Farm
    Wind Farm
    Energy efficient Farm
    Barn for dinner with local foods**
Walking / biking tour of:
    Freiburg downtown
    Overview lecture
    Rieselfeld and Verban communities
    Heliotrope rotating home
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy
    Gasification / Pyrolisis
    Photovoltaics
    Hydrogen production and fueling
Train to Stuttgart
    Zoo or Downtown (Museum / church) tours**
   Frühlingsfest**
Car Museums of Stuttgart
   Mercedes Benz
   Porsche
Train to Ulm
   Climbed tallest church tower in the world**
Train to Munich
   Downtown tour**
BMW Museum tour
BMW Factory tour
Train trip to Alps (Garmish)**
Deutsches Museum (German Museum of Technology and Industry)
Technische Universität München department of Technical Chemistry
   Catalysts for biofuel / biogas production from algae / lignin
   Electrochemistry for Fuel Cells and Batteries
   CO2 chemistry for polymers
Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik Tokamak Fusion reactor
Hofbräuhaus München**
Fly to PHL to CLT
Drive home

No wonder we are a bit tired!  We did not leave a lot of room in the schedule for resting.  The students did very well with everything.

I took about 6000 photos and a few movies.  They will be available at Dropbox.  We are attempting to get photos from everyone in the same place, here:

Dropbox Photos

I am sending out information on how to post their photos there, so check back in a week or two once we get a wider selection.

One more time, my wife and I had a terrific time escorting this terrific group of students to Germany and back.