Traveling to South Germany with the total cost of 0€






Heyyy!

So last Friday (22nd) I went to South Germany. The whole trip cost nothing for me, including flights, foods and a place to live. How is that possible?

I'm a part of student council and I was traveling with them and European Union paid our trip. If you are looking for cheap traveling, you should join different kinds of groups and try to travel with them. For example student council, language club or a sports club. I'm also going to Estonia in November with my badminton team.

What did I do in Germany?
I stayed in Sindelfingen, next to Stuttgart. We had a lot of different activities about politics, European Council, Germany and Finland. Here you can see a short version of our trip and what we did:

DAY 1
I had to wake up at 1.00. My friend's mom drove me and my friend to the bus station in Turku, where our bus departed at 2.30. We arrived Helsinki-Vantaa airport around 4.30 am. Since we arrived we did check-in and went through the security check. We had some time to eat in the airport because our flight departed at 6.55. Our flight lasted 2 hour and then we had 2.5 hours in Berlin airport because our connecting flight departed at 10.30 local time. We ate at the airport and then boarded to the next airplane. The flight lasted for 1 hour. At the airport of Stuttgart we met some of the German exchange partners, including mine. Her name is Natalie and she's 17. We had so much in common and I really enjoyed my time with her! We ate - again. Then we took train to Sindelfingen where we met the rest of the German exchange partners. Me and Natalie went to her home and she showed me around. After that she had to leave to a choir camp but I had fun with her mother too! Though she didn't really speak English and I don't speak any German so it was quite a challenge but we survived :D

DAY 2
Natalie's mom took me to a bakery in the morning and it was one of the most breath-taking experiences in my life. There was some morning fog while we walked through the forest. We could hear birds singing and many people stopped and talked with us. The bakery was amazing - it was just wife and husband. We ate brezels, croissants and some sweets and it was so good! Then we walked to Sindelfingen's center and I met the other Finns and Germans there. We took a train to Stuttgart where we had a guided tour to see some of the most famous spots of the city. After that we had some free-time to shop around and then we went back to Sindelfingen where we visited a nice youth café. We spent some time there and then we went home

DAY 3
This day was more focused on working and getting to know different working methods of Finnish and German youth councils. We had some workshops and in the evening we had some food from both countries and some fun games.

DAY 4
On Monday we went to Strasbourg. It's an amazing city with lots of old architecture. I was stunned by the views there. We had a guided tour around the city and then we went to have a lunch. After lunch we visited the Council of Europe which was very interesting. We got to know the system there and I can say that I really enjoyed it. Then we headed back to Sindelfingen where we ate in McDonalds.

DAY 5
On Tuesday we visited the Mercedes Benz Factory. We walked around the museum which I found very interesting. You could learn a lot of the history, especially of the history of cars. The highlight of the museum for me was Nico Rosberg's Formula 1 car. I've watched F1 since I was a child and it's a very important thing for me so it was quite amazing to see it. After the museum we went back to the center of Sindelfing where we had lunch in a nice restaurant where I ate my favorite German food - currywurst. It's so good! Then we had some presentations and feedback,

DAY 6
This day we had to wear our best clothes since we met the mayor of Sindelfingen, Dr. Bernd Vöhringer. We had some discussion about his work in the German Delegation at the Congress and he told us a lot about many topics. After having a meeting with him, we had a tour around the city where we could see some sights and the type of architecture. Then we had workshops and discussion about next steps. And because it was the last evening, we had a table reserved from a nice restaurant which I loved.

DAY 7
In the morning I had to pack and then we went to the city hall of Sindelfingen. We had free time to do some shopping but I didn't buy anything. Then we had to leave to the airport and we said good bye to the German people. They were so nice to us and I really wish we could do this exchange other way around so they could visit Finland. But we took a train to the airport and our flight departed around 6.55. Though it was a bit late which made us nervous since we only had a short break in Berlin before the connecting flight. We still managed to get in Finland safely and our flight arrived Helsinki-Vantaa airport 0.20. Then we had to wait for the bus and take the bus so I was home around 4 in the night.

But all together it was an amazing trip and I learnt so much. I'm so happy that I got to be a part of this :)

-TH

Comments

  1. It's quite funny to read about a town next to a village (Dusslingen) my grandparents used to live. You seem to have had the full "Schwäbisch experience" :D Small towns in Schwaben are this way: You feel like being more in a village - people greet each other with a "Grüßgott", you still got some old pittoresque studwork houses and family business is big there. Joining such a program is great to get to see stuff folks travelling Europe usually won't see, as they rush from one major city to another...

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  2. It is find of my dream to travel the world with out paying a cent for flights, accommodation, food etc. I loved the information about Germany in your post. I have not visited south of Germany, I can not wait to go see Nico Rosberg's Formula 1 car. Lovely read and amazing photos

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  3. Just the headline of your post made me jump and get ready to pack my bags for Germany. It's so hard to believe that something in this world is actually free. I cannot wait to travel and enjoy some great time in Germany :)

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  4. Good post, I like the way you start and then conclude your thoughts. Hotels Frankfurt-Oder

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