Prague

Hey all! Our time in Leipzig is almost over, but we still have a few adventures planned. On Friday we headed out of Germany for the Czech Republic. Bryan has been to Prague before, but hadn't spent much time there, so we both knew there would be plenty for us to see and do.

We took the train to Dresden, Germany and then had bus tickets to Prague. During our layover, we ate at a "Californian" restaurant. Their specialty was burgers. As most of you know, neither Bryan or I eat burgers (though for different reasons,) so we passed on the specialties but still had a good dinner. It was nice to recognize all of the items on a menu for once. :) The bus part of our trip was not exactly desirable. Our bus was late on Friday night and this was an outdoor bus stop, which meant that there was no information about where the bus was or why it was late. Thankfully, the bus showed up about an hour late and we were on our way.

Our bus traveled on the Autobahn for awhile, which was pretty cool, but then we ventured on to side roads in the Czech Republic to avoid tolls (Probably. Not for sure for the reason). The trip was terrifying; there were a lot of hairpin turns, traffic circles, and the strange feeling that we were in the middle of nowhere. We finally made it to Prague and were able to catch the last tram to our hostel. Bryan and I have gotten really good at figuring out public transportation in strange cities late at night. We'd like to think it's a handy skill to have mastered. Our hostel was a nice enough place for a base for our weekend adventures; it provided coffee and breakfast in the morning and was clean enough. Here's the view from our window:

Saturday morning started early as we headed towards the city center to meet with one of Bryan's friends from his previous study abroad experiences. If it seems like there is always a foreign friend from a previous study abroad, it's because there is. These people have made our trips so much better!

The next 12 hours were spent seeing the sights, getting sunburnt, and walking 11,830,334 miles (Feels that way anyway! My shoes are worn out!) We spent time in churches, traditional pubs, and hole in the wall restaurants (including one with the best fajitas I have ever had.) We saw a castle, a beautiful river, crafts from vendors on a bridge, lovely architecture, and 498,345,345 tourists. I have never seen so many tourists in one place (well, Paris probably had more, but Prague is much smaller so everyone is crammed together.) By the end of the day, we were worn out!

On Sunday, we had about 6 hours of sightseeing time before we had to head back to the bus station. We ventured up (via a furnicular!) to a park that contains a replica of the Eiffel Tower (1/5 of the size, though) and also bought more presents to bring back home. We also wandered around the Jewish Quarter of the city, had lunch in an adorable underground pub, stumbled upon the Czech Senate and its gardens, and did some major people watching on one of the main squares. Sunday was a much more relaxed day than Saturday!

Here are some photos:

The Astronomical Clock:

The city's skyline and architecture and the Charles Bridge:

The St. Vitus Cathedral (next to the Prague castle):

 

Petrin Hill (the park where the "Eiffel Tower" is):

The Jewish Quarter:

We were determined to not bring any Czech money back with us, so we spent every last cent! Our money went much further in Prague than in Paris and there were some really neat jewelry pieces, photos, and Christmas decorations. I'm not sure how we will be getting all of the great things we've picked up back to the US, but I know that I definitely have some shoes to throw away. :) Also, the drinks were much, much cheaper in Prague than in the US, Germany, or anywhere else we've been.

It was worth the terrible bus trips (Coming back we stopped in some random Czech Republic town because of mechanical problems, which resulted in our bus driving away while our driver was on the sidewalk. No, we didn't go back to get him. No, I don't understand either.) to spend the weekend in Prague. Prague is a beautiful city and it was interesting to spend some time in Eastern Europe. There are definitely differences there than from Germany. It is apparent how much money the eastern part of Germany received after reunification and it was strange to return to Leipzig and think that it was a modern city. I've gotten kind of attached to Leipzig, I suppose. :)

Some final photos for you all:

Cross Eyed Opossums (aka Leipzig Zoo)

This weekend, we ventured off to the Zoo Leipzig. Though a bit pricy, it was definitely worth it! The zoo just opened up a new exhibit and have been heavily advertising that they now has a cross-eyed opossum on display. The zoo's aquarium is also well known. We were able to walk to the zoo from our apartment and had an awesome day.

As soon as you walk through the gate you are greeted with flamingos:

In the reptile area, Bryan tried to imitate the Mississippi Crocodile (just like the ones I have actually seen in Mississippi):

After checking out the fish and reptiles, we ventured over to Bryan's favorite part of the zoo... the Penguin Pool! These penguins were vastly superior to the penguins at Lincoln Park Zoo.

The brand new exhibit was up next. This just opened a few weeks ago and is also the only exhibit that was translated into English. My theory is that there weren't as many English speaking tourists coming to Leipzig when the zoo's older exhibits were built. The exhibit is supposed to demonstrate life on Earth when Africa, Asia, and South America were all connected. I think. The whole exhibit is in a large bubble (like an indoor sports bubble) and has a river, underground exhibits (for nocturnal animals,) and a super-intense rope bridge pathway.

The exhibit:

Bryan's reaction to the rope bridge:

The famous cross eyed opossum (Not kidding at all. This little guy is real. And creepier than the opossum we found in my parents' garage that one time):

Overall, this exhibit was pretty cool. Lots of beautiful plants and flowers, too. Next we went to visit my favorite animals, the elephants. However, they only wanted to show us this:

They told their friends the monkeys to do the same. Hmm.

We had better luck in the African exhibit. The baby giraffe was adorable and the other giraffes were willing to show their faces while chowing down on some leaves and grasses.

And, there was an ostrich. He looked a little cranky, but they always seem to be in a bad mood.

We also saw dwarf cows:

Horses, red pandas, and llamas wrapped up the visit:

This zoo was awesome! The exhibits had a lot of variety, it was easy to get around the park, and food at the zoo is much, much more reasonable than at home in the US. Saturday night was spent at another going-away party for a friend of ours here. It is the time of year for that, I suppose. Sunday was going to be spent at Champions, The American Sports Bar at the Marriott for the World Cup Finals, but Bryan came down with a stomach bug so we watched our beloved White Sox instead (MLB tv for a month was worth it!). Stay tuned for a post about garden plots!

Whirlwind Weekend in Paris

Bryan and I headed off to Paris last weekend and had a whirlwind trip of sightseeing and air travel. We started off by taking the train to the Leipzig airport. We arrived 2 hours before our flight (the first of two) and it took approximately 5 minutes to get through security, which meant we had about 2 hours to kill in an airport terminal that had a convenience store and about 5 other travelers in it. It was the most empty airport either one of us had ever seen. We had snacks (really healthy ones), watched the news, and read.

Finally some other passengers showed up and we were on our way to Frankfurt. Our flight was awesome! Luftansa treated us well and we had a ton of room. During our layover in Frankfurt we enjoyed some awesome panini sandwiches and then read some complimentary newspapers while drinking complimentary coffee. Seriously, guys, Luftansa is where it's at! We finally arrived in Paris at about 11 p.m. on Friday night.

We were planning on taking the train to Paris directly from the airport, but part of the track was closed, so we took a bus to a train station and went from there. We stayed with Bryan's friend Cecile; her apartment was in a great part of town and had a view of the Eiffel Tower from the street. By the time we got to her apartment, we were grateful to sit down on a comfortable couch!

We were up early Saturday for a French breakfast at a nearby cafe. Croissants, bread, and coffee were necessary fuel for the day ahead. We crammed all of the must see sights of Paris into one day. It was intense and definitely a cardiovascular workout!

The sights:

Eiffel Tower:

Arc de Triumph:

Leading up to the Arc de Triumph is the Champs-Élysées, which is the Michigan Avenue of Paris, only a lot nicer and expensive. However, everything is expensive in Paris. From there we went to the Alexander III Bridge, which is one of the nicest bridges anywhere. 

 

Garden of the Louvre:

Then, it was time for lunch. I tried foie gras,but I wasn't a big fan. After lunch, there were more sights to see.

Moulin Rouge (which is in a shady part of town):

Sacré-Cœur Basilica and Montmartre:

Notre Dame and the Seine:

After all of the sightseeing, we took another ride on the Metro, ate dinner, and hit the Irish pubs around town until the wee hours of the morning. We were exhausted on Sunday, but managed to have another excellent French breakfast and visit the Eiffel tower one more time before heading to the airport. Paris is a beautiful city and we are so glad that we were able to visit, but it is also an incredibly expensive city. Returning to our adopted German city was a relief to our bank accounts! I would recommend a visit to Paris for any traveler. There is so much history and so many beautiful areas; we didn't have the time to completely explore, but we gave it our best effort!

We had another layover in Munch and were delayed due to some severe thunderstorms in the area. We flew to Leipzig on a tiny propeller plane and then collapsed due to exhaustion!

Here is a final Paris photo for you:

This weekend is the only weekend we won't be traveling from Leipzig. Bryan is under the weather, so we plan on enjoying a relaxing weekend in Leipzig, possibly visiting the zoo and Bach's church and watching USA play in the Women's World Cup Finals!