Day 6 - 5/13/2023 - Stuttgart

Mercedes-Benz Museum, Porsche Museum, and a major wrench in the plan…

The German trains are striking tomorrow night at 10pm…they cancelled our trip to Munich for Monday. We set aside funds for emergencies and have never had to use it to date in the way we did today. We scheduled an extra night in Munich tomorrow and moved our train ride to tomorrow morning. It is really the best time in our itinerary for this to happen because tomorrow was their free day…and now they will have it in Munich. Phew!  I hope all goes smoothly tomorrow as we execute Plan B.

All are doing well and are ready to move on tomorrow…

Day 5 - 5/12/2023- Freiburg to Stuttgart

We checked out of our hotel and went to the Institute for Solar Energy to learn about their research past and a bit present. Then, we hopped a couple trains to get to Stuttgart. This group is soooo good that we made a 5-track, 2 minute change between trains. TOLL!!! Frühlingsfest (Spring Featival) is happening and rivals Oktoberfest! This has happened only once before in the program over the 9 previous times we have come to Stuttgart.  

Day 4 - 5/11/2024 - Strasbourg, France

We had much success touring Strasbourg. We did a canal boat ride to learn more about the UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Then, all had free time for about four hours to explore the Grand Íle area. This is a really cohesive group and it’s nice to see them enjoy the program each day. All are doing well. 

Day 3 - 5/10/24 - Freiburg/ Rieselfeld/ Vauban

20km on bike…12km on foot…that was today’s adventure as we explored Freiburg and surrounding sustainable-living burbs…All are in good spirits and doing well.

Day 2 - 5/9/23 - Freiburg / Emmendingen

We started the day with breakfast, seeing the town market, touring castle ruins, and seeing sustainable farms. Everyone seems to be without jet lag and have done well today! 

Day 1 - 5/8/2023 - Frankfurt to Freiburg

All of us have made it to our hotel in Freiburg. We are generally well, but most will be happy to get some sleep this evening. 

One person had a snafu with a flight and rallied like a seasoned traveler!  Proud of this student’s fortitude. And thanks to their mom and dad for going the extra effort to get them here swiftly!

We have one bag that was lost, has been found, and we are awaiting delivery any time now. 

It’s going to rain a good bit tomorrow, but we are prepared and will do well learning about sustainable farming. 

Thanks for sending your kids on this trip…we treat them as if they are our own…Good night!

2023 Pre-Departure Blog Entry

Welcome to year 10!  We are once again looking forward to taking an exceptional group of students on an exciting and educational trip!  

We generally try to blog each evening during the trip after our scheduled activities have been completed. 

Thank you for sending your kids with us to have this adventure.

For all the parents / guardians that are following our blog and may require our phone numbers in an emergency, please note them below:

Dr. Ed Gatzke:  803-361-1749

Dr. Andi Gatzke:  803-220-6572

Backup devices 1:  803-206-7562 (text/ facetime)

Backup device 2:  803-718-2938 (text/ facetime)

Location information by date: