The cultivation of the fields, the building of the peasants' huts, the
national costumes, were all brought under our notice, thus making us
familiar with life outside of the school, and opening our eyes to things
concerning which the pupil of an ordinary model grammar-school rarely
inquires, yet which are of great importance to the world to which we
belong.

Our material life was sensibly arranged. During the rest at noon a cold
lunch was served, and an abundant hot meal was not enjoyed until evening.

In the large cities we dined at good hotels at the table d'hote, and--as
in Dresden, Prague, and Coburg--were taken to the theatre.

But we often spent the night in the villages, and then chairs were turned
upside down, loose straw was spread on the backs and over the floor, and,
wrapped in the shawl which almost every boy carried buckled to his
knapsack, we slept, only half undressed, as comfortably as in the softest
bed.

While walking we usually sung songs, among them very nonsensical ones,
if only we could keep step well to their time. Often one of the teachers
told us a story. Schaffner and Bagge could do this best, but we often
met other pedestrians with whom we entered into conversation. How
delightful is the memory of these tramps! Progress on foot is slow, but
not only do we see ten times better than from a carriage or the window of
a car, but we hear and learn something while talking with the mechanics,
citizens, and peasants who are going the same way, or the landlords,
bar-maids, and table companions we meet in the taverns, whose guests live
according to the custom of the country instead of the international
pattern of our great hotels.