Germans love to march

On Friday night, Steph and I went out for coffee and apple cake (Apfelkuchen) after work. We strolled around the city for a while and ended up going to an English pub in a cellar in the city center. Being the only native English speakers in the joint, we only stayed for a little bit. We then headed to the main restaurant/cafe/bar drag and had some "sour" beer from Leipzig (Gose Bier). Supposedly, the reason it's actually sour is because of the water source it comes from, which is also why it is and can only be brewed in Leipzig. On our way home, we utilized the $3 tripod I got before we left for some neat night shots.

Saturday was a long day. We got up early to visit a couple of cities in the region: Halle (Saale) and Naumburg. Halle is about 20 miles away from Leipzig and is the hometown of George Frideric Handel, which they are quick to mention. The road to the old town was a bit sketchy, but the main square was beautiful with a nice weekend market taking place while we were there. We stumbled upon an organ concert taking place at the Market Church, so we stayed and listened to one of the oldest operating organs in Europe, and which J.S. Bach christened in the early 1700s. Naturally, they played a piece by Handel and one by Felix Mendelsohn Bartholdy who was also from Leipzig. After the concert, we had a quick lunch on the market from food trucks. I had Asian and Steph had some sausage and fries from a stand named "Don't worry, be curry!" We also saw a sign for a Zumba class, which Steph had to take a picture of. Here are a few pictures from Halle.

The Market Church:

Inside the Market Church:

 Exercise time:

From Halle, we took the train down to the city of Naumburg, where they were having a Cherry Festival. The initial reason we decided to visit Naumburg, however, was the immensely important and huge cathedral dating from the 11th century (!). It is also the site of the "Naumburger Meister" who was a master sculptor nearly a thousand years ago. Being a medieval town we had to march up the hill from where the train station was to where the town actually was. Walking around the enormous cathedral, we walked into where we could enter the cathedral. When we got into the church, we found that we COULD NOT GET IN!!! Needless to say, I was slightly peeved. Apparently, the church was closed for the setting up of an exhibition of the Naumburger Meister for most of June. It reopens on the 28th!

After fuming for a bit and thinking to myself that I thought I learned that God does not take a vacation, we walked toward the Cherry Festival. Like any good festival in Germany, apparently, there was a parade through the center of town. What can I say, Germans love to march! Naumburg also happens to be in one of the northern-most wine-growing regions in Europe, and there was plenty of festival wine to be had. The town was kind of pretty, I guess...and we had a good time nonetheless. I tried to explain what I remembered of Nietzsche (who lived in Naumburg), but decided against it. Instead, I channeled my rage from the cathedral's closing to enjoy the good food and wine.

Flowers along the former city walls:

Naumburg street view looking toward the Kirchfest:

The cherry festival also had something to do with religious Hussites in the 15th century, which was the reason people dressed in silly outfits pushing carts:

 This is another street view in Naumburg, this time without any people:

 The inner courtyard of the Naumburg Cathedral, which we weren't allowed to go in:

 This was the view of the cathedral as we approached walking up the hill from the train station:

After getting back to Leipzig, we got a note from our roommate inviting us out for dinner and a party afterwards. Long story short, we met some Americans, went to an Irish pub, talked some theology with a theology student at the university, and got home at 4 in the morning.

Touring the City

Hi All! This week we were fortunate enough to be able to tour some more of the city. Bryan's department was hosting a conference this week about the Straßenbahn (street car system) and how to plan a city around that type of transportation. Bryan's boss let us both come to one of the evening events: a tour of the city on a private Straßenbahn car. It was very generous of him and very cool! We got to ride around on an adorable tram (it was specially decorated) and go across the city while Bryan's boss explained what we saw.

We spent a lot of time in Grünau, which is a part of the city that contains a lot of old Soviet housing. It has a reputation for being a not so good part of town, but it's not as bad as it's reputation suggests. As Bryan says, "it's just that everyone is old." There are a lot of grocery stores and open areas, so it is actually convenient for older citizens to live there, but the city is concerned about getting more young people and families to move in.

However, when it is cloudy and gloomy, it can look pretty depressing:

We've noticed that the weather here can change in a matter of minutes. As we write this, it is both sunny and thundering outside. There have been two heavy rain showers today (and some hail), but the sun has been out inbetween. On Wednesday, one of our roommates invited us to a cookout, but we had to cancel because of a storm. This is what it looked like outside our window:

But within about an hour, it looked like this:

As for the rest of the week, we visited Leipzig's Weinfest in the main square. We sampled some wines and also listened to a jazz band. It was nice to recognize the words to some of the songs; several of their songs were in English. The band had some awesome hats with sunflowers on them and one of the members decided to perform a solo while standing on a table:

It was a pretty awesome festival. We were slightly younger than the target audience, I think, but we fit in pretty well.

One of our roommates is moving this week and had a going away party to celebrate. His party was on the first day of summer, and he cut down a tree so that he could dance around the Maibaum (May tree or May pole). It was highly amusing!

This week Bryan and I also found an "English" store. They sell a lot of tea and also some packaged food from England. The best part is that they have a lending library of books in English. I joined right away (it was 5 Euros) and have already read three books. When you are finished reading a book, you just exchange it. I am determined to make friends with the shopkeeper by the end of the summer!

Have a good weekend, everyone. We'll leave you with some random pretty photos from the week:

Weekend Adventures!

Hallo!

We took advantage of our first non-jet-lagged weekend here and did some "adventuring." We started off our Saturday with a tram trip to a very eastern Germany neighborhood to find an ATM that would accept my card. Let's just say that it's incredibly different from the neighborhood we live in here... there were no cafes, lots of abandoned buildings, and more graffiti than normal (there's graffiti everywhere). I don't think we will be heading back to that particular area again soon.

Our next trip was to the main train station to grab some coffee and switch tram lines so that we could visit Völkerschlachtdenkmal (which is a memorial for a battle fought during the Napoleonic Wars in 1813. Bryan thinks the spelling of this word is common knowledge or something.) We just missed the Elton John concert that was held in the front yard. The memorial is being restored, so this photo does not serve it justice:

There's a nice museum at the foot of the memorial, but the main event is inside and at the top of the memorial itself. There is a gigantic rotunda (seriously larger than any rotunda I have ever seen in my life.) Three floors up is the actual memorial:

Then, by a combination of elevators and spiral staircases (seriously intense numbers of steps,) you can reach several observation decks. Scroll back to the first picture and look at the very top of the dome. The following picture was taken from next to that dome. It is of a church at a cemetery next door (and also a little view of former Soviet block housing!) There were rain clouds rolling in and we could see the rain falling on the other side of the city. Very, very impressive!

After seeing the cemetery from above, we wandered over there as well. There is a beautiful church (actually, upon further investigation it is a crematory) and monument to those who lost their lives fighting for Socialism. I was surprised at the number of headstones at the monument. There were many professors from the local university who were included. Once again, it was an impressive sight.

On the way back to the tram line, we passed a large flower garden and decided to try out some of the techniques we picked up in our photography lesson. Here are the results:

All of this exploring left us ready for a hearty German meal. As a result, potato dumplings, roasted white asparagus, roasted onions, and a sauce were created at home. I am happy that I have found a country that loves asparagus more than I do; it makes my life here pretty good. This vegetable is everywhere! After dinner, it was off to a Paulanergarten for a pint and some people watching.

Sunday was another adventurous day. This day was all about Luther! Considering my upbringing, this was a pretty big deal for me (Bryan said I was giddy). As we rounded the corner from the train station, we saw two odd individuals wearing cloaks. At first we just thought they had odd fashion taste (it happens,) but it turns out they were coming from the medieval festival taking place. It turns out that Wittenburg was having a Martin Luther Celebration! What luck! We're still not sure why we had to pay an admission fee to the festival, but it seemed that the locals were okay with it so we just went along with it too. We stopped at the "theses" church where Luther is buried and paid for the privilege to take photos. So worth it!

We also made a stop at the "town church" where Luther preached. There are still weekly services held here. And there's a Swedish king buried here too!

We also saw Luther's house and a parking sign with Luther's picture on it. This was the second most entertaining thing of the day, with number one being the sign advertising "good Lutheran food."

I had my first German bratwurst of the trip at the festival. Delicious! Though I found it odd that in a country where you can find a million different types of bread, bratwurst are served on a small, round bun. Half of the wurst isn't in the bread... I just don't understand.

Bryan saw people wandering by with coffee in tiny terra cotta looking cups and a search ensued to find the vendor. Imagine Bryan's disappointment when he noticed that the cup advertised a festival that took place in Leipzig in 2008! We returned the cup, but not without a photo:

That wraps up our weekend. Happy Father's Day, dads!

So, there are a few odd habits that are okay here. For example, it's apparently okay to walk around without shoes. The picture above was taken on a busy street in the city centre today. I don't really think it is okay, since the ground is covered in broken glass and cigarettes (I think everyone smokes at least a little). Oh, and you know, it's a public street!

Here are a few new pictures from this afternoon. There are two giant churches in the city centre. One of them is the church where Bach served as cantor. It also happens to be Bach fest right now. I've heard he is making a live appearance on Sunday.

Just kidding, guys! Bach's dead.

All of the taxis here are a pale yellow and are Mercedes, BMWs, or Volkswagons. Don't worry though, taxi drivers are just as reckless here as at home. That is an international trait it seems!

In addition to all of the pastries and Kuchen (cakes), there are a lot of street food. My current favorite is the Pommes (french fries) from a particular vendor on one of the main squares downtown. I like them plain. If you order ketchup, it gets squirted in a gigantic pile on top, which makes eating kind of gross and messy.
 

This is where Bryan works (more details from him below). I think the blue sign is the best thing ever. According to Bryan, it means that this pathway is a shared space. I think it was an excuse to put a lot of symbols on one sign. Either way, it is pretty sweet.

We went to a bar today that specializes in Paulaner, which is Bryan's favorite German beer. I tried Radler, which is beer mixed with Sprite. It was just about as good as it sounds... but there were a lot of bubbles, which was a definite plus. For dinner, we took our first foray into German food and stumbled upon a restaurant that seemed to specialize in vegetarian and gluten free food. Bryan had about 10 different options for dinner, which never happens! I had white asparagus (Finally! And it was everything I had hoped for!) in a chicken and cheese thick mixture/dip. Delicious! Hard to go wrong with that!

Below is a picture of the Altes Rathaus (the old city hall). Similar name to the building where Bryan works, but now it is a museum. It is surrounded by a giant construction site, several places to get gelato, and a Burger King with a patio.

Bryan: I've been learning a lot about Leipzig's post-socialist history this week. I'll be taking part in a conference/field trip next week about Straßenbahnen and city development. Straßenbahnen are streetcars that will run you down if you're not paying attention. They're the best. 

The Neues Rathaus where I work is a massive piece of industrial symbolism that (I was told) was meant to show Dresden (the royal, cultural neighbor city) that Leipzig was stronger and of course more important. I was also told that the tower is the tallest city hall tower in the world. I'm not sure if I believe it though.What I do believe, though, is that it is enormous and the seemingly unsafe pseudo elevator that does not stop is great when you work on the fifth floor (which I do). However, when you're on it between floors when the fire alarm goes off and it stops (which I was), it's quite an unsettling feeling.

That's about it... tell us what you've been up to! The best way is to e-mail or Facebook Steph. Bryan will likely never respond to you. Seriously.

It's Lost in Translation

I think that's the name of this blog anyway. I used Google translate... it can't be trusted!

Anyway, Bryan and I have safely made our way to Leipzig, Germany. Bryan is interning for the summer at the city planning office and I am writing Algebra I curriculum while in a haze of pastries, gelato, and wine. Truly, it's a pretty nice place to be working.

Our journey here took us through three airports (including one that looked just like Ikea!,) two public transportation systems, and too many train stations to count. We've settled into our apartment in the Waltstraßenviertel (it took two days for me to pronounce it too,) which is apparently in the "posh" part of town. We have three very friendly roommates. They come from several different countries and between the five of us we speak at least at least four languages. There are many bikes, bakeries, and old apartment buildings. We are also near the street car line, several parks, and the arena (Journey and Rhianna are playing there in the near future). A popular German crime show, Tatort, is also filmed on our street sometimes. Here is a picture of the film crew:

Here is the view from the bedroom window:

Bryan gets to work in a tower that was built in 1900 as a monument to the citizens of Leipzig and supposedly is the tallest city hall tower in the world. He spends his days proofreading English translations and trying to understand the conversation taking place around him. He also looks out a tiny window. Here is a picture of his office:

While Bryan is working, I attempt to do some school work of my own and bumble my way through town attempting to order various food items in German. My German is not good but I am learning more each day. I've also been doing a fair share of reading, people watching (it was really good when the gothic festival was in town,) and observation making.

Here is a list of observations so far:

- Germans love taking their adorable dogs out in public. The dogs can come on the train, in restaurants, and just about anywhere else.

- Traffic here consists of buses, trams, bikes, and pedestrians. There is not a lot of car traffic. Unless there is a bomb scare (there was one today. There was an unexploded bomb from WWII discovered at a construction site. Apparently this happens fairly often.) Here is a picture of intense German car traffic:

- Supermarkets are terrifying. However. it is just because the size of the carts is not in proportion to the size of the aisles. The trick is to not take a cart. We shop at Netto, which is similar to Aldi in America. It's actually a little bit familiar because there are no plastic bags and the store is very small. It's no HyVee but it definitely has it's positive qualities!

-German pastries are delicious! For a Euro you can have a life changing pastry. I don't have anything else to add about that.

-Bryan still likes beer. I know this is a surprise to you all.

That's about it for now. Bryan told me that is too long and that you would only look at it for the pictures! We will be in Leipzig this weekend, possibly visiting the zoo and visiting the lake country. If you want to reach us, the best way is through my e-mail or Facebook account. We'd love to hear from you! Here are a few more pictures for you: