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!

Eating Out in Germany (Daily Living Part V)

This will be the last post for the Daily Living series. The next time you'll hear from us we'll be back from Paris! As much as I don't like the idea of four flights in one weekend, I do like the idea of Paris!

Anyhow, we thought we'd fill you in on the restaurant scene here. The first question that Bryan gets asked is if he has enough to eat here (he's doesn't eat meat). He definitely does and actually thinks that it is easier to eat out here than at home.

We live in a larger city here, so there are tons and tons of options for a meal out. If it's dinner or lunch time, you will be able to find sit-down restaurants that feature Italian dishes, sushi, Asian dishes (Chinese, Thai, Japanese (yes, I know that sushi could be included), and Indian are all popular here), and traditional German dishes (wurst, potato dumplings, pork, cabbage, soups, and lots of dishes that feature potatoes, mushrooms, and some gravy). We've also learned that the best place for "American" style food is an Irish Pub. Our favorite here (Kildare City Pub) feautures burgers, veggie burgers (good ones), chicken burgers, and lots of wraps. It's my favorite place to eat!

Here's a link to the menu at our favorite place: http://www.kildare.de/de/getraenke-speisen/

Once you choose a sit-down restaurant, you can usually decide to sit inside or on a patio. Then, you choose your drink. Water is not provided automatically like it is at home and there are no free refills on soda. It is usually cheaper to drink beer or wine that two sodas. Let's just say that I have only had one Diet Coke since we've landed! :) After you order and eat your food, you have to flag down the waiter to pay your bill. Generally you pay in cash and some places won't accept any credit or debit cards at all. For a tip, it is generally accepted to round up to the nearest Euro. Waiters make a much higher wage here and gratuity is usually included on your bill anyway.

If you're not looking for a sit-down restaurant, there are plenty of other options. Bakeries have pastries, breads, cakes, and sandwiches as well. Doner Kebap (kebab) is a popular style of food here as well, especially for a quick lunch or a late night meal (Bryan says it's like Taco Bell in the US). Doner is essentially a meat sandwich, but these shops usually sell falafel and pizza as well. McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Subway, and Pizza Hut are also popular here. Nordsee is a take out fish restaurant that has a pretty delicious fish and chips plate. The best things about these sorts of places is that they usually have patios too.

Our local Doner Kebap (kebab) shop:

Signs advertising fast food:

For dessert, gelato is a really great life decision. It is very inexpensive and comes in a ton of flavors. Last night Bryan had raspberry and I had Tiramisu. It's no Whitey's ice cream, but it is pretty awesome! There are usually full on ice cream sundae parlors too. These dishes are extreme! We're talking 4 or 5 scoops of ice cream, sauce, candy, and maybe a cookie. There are also dishes that are made to look like plates of spaghetti, which is a little strange but still on my to do list. :) A piece of cake is another good plan (it's not like cake in the US). Plum, apple, and strudel cake are the best and are really more like a condensed crisp (like Apple Crisp) than a cake. Delicious!

Ice Cream Sundae Menu:

Spaghetti Eis (The picture does not do the similarity between real spaghetti and this justice):

Pflaumenkuchen (Plum cake):

If you want to eat like this all the time, remember that you need to walk everywhere! :)

Random Germany (Daily Living Part IV)

• Pillows here are terrible. They are flat and not comfortable.
• Beds here do not have a top sheet.
• Garbage cans and recycling cans change locations overnight. For example, these cans were outside of our apartment on Tuesday, but were gone on Wednesday. Also annoying is that there is ever a complete set of paper, glass, metal/plastic, food scraps, and garbage cans all in one location.

• Ambulances make the world's most terrible noise.
• Cashiers almost always ask you for exact change. Some will reach into your wallet even if you offer the exact cent amount but will require euro coins in return to search for more desirable denominations.

My rant here is finished, I think!

Getting Around Town (Daily Living Part III)

Getting around town is a bit different here than at home (though it's fairly similar to any major city in the US). Where I currently live in the US, cars are definitely the main way of getting around, though there are buses. Some people walk or bike as well, but to conduct daily business, most people drive. I understand that this might not be the case in bigger cities, but I think you'll understand.

Here in Leipzig, the main way that Bryan and I get around is by foot. I have never walked so much on a day to day basis (it's the secret to being able to eat so very many pastries). The walkers here, though, do not generally wear tennis shoes like we'd wear to the gym or flip flops. Sandals, dress shoes, flats, or tennis shoes in the style of Keds or Pumas are what walkers wear (myself included). It's generally pretty easy to get around by walking here.

For longer trips, biking is a popular choice. Many people commute by bike and there are bike racks, bike lanes, and special traffic signals for bikes everywhere. It is common to see people getting groceries or running other errands by bike as well. Pedestrians have to keep a watchful eye out, though, because bikers are sometimes allowed on the sidewalks and bikers here tend to weave in and out of pedestrian traffic. Sometimes a little dinging bell noise behind you can mean danger is about to strike! You can also rent bikes from several agencies here.

If the weather is bad or you need to go a long distance, there are buses and trams (streetcars or Straβenbahn) as well. For 2 Euros, you can make a one-way trip. I do believe that the tickets are good for an hour, plus there are day, week, and month tickets too. The tram system is awesome! There are trams very frequently and the tram cars are very clean. It is a bit tricky because sometimes you need to validate (time stamp) your ticket and other times you don't need to, but it is definitely a convenient service. Leipzig is currently constructing it's first underground train line, but it is not finished yet. The street level trams are more convenient for passengers, I think, because there are no steps or long walkways to reach the tram (like there is for an underground system or for a system like the L). Also, there is no stigma to using public transportation here like there sometimes is in the US.

There are definitely cars here, but most people do not use them for day to day travels around the city. The cars that do exist here are smaller than at home. My Honda Civic is average to large in terms of size and Bryan's Honda Fit is about the normal size. There are a lot of tiny cars here and very few SUVs (gas is more expensive). Parking here seems to be a partial free for all. Sometimes people double park on the street or park on the sidewalks. We've only seen three cars get parking tickets before tonight, though, when we saw a parking officer giving some more tickets.

The train system here can also be a little overwhelming. There's a commuter line, regional lines, Intercity Express lines, and several others that all leave from the same station. The station in Leipzig has 26 tracks (it's also the largest train terminal in Europe) and also contains a shopping mall. We've been in this station every weekend since we've arrived here and it truly has made all of our day trips possible. The trains are clean and usually very punctual.


Hopefully this helped explain how we've been getting around town here!

The German Workplace (Daily Living Part II)

My job in Leipzig is with the City Development Planning department with the City of Leipzig. Their job, in essence, is to prepare plans for specific parts of the city (for instance each block in the city center) and to work with private developers to build the best possible development for the city, its residents and the private developer. They also deal with a lot of European Union programs. The City applies for pretty much every grant they can find through the state and federal governments and the EU.

The reason I chose Leipzig over other (potentially more beautiful) cities in Germany is because up until about 2000 it was a shrinking city, which is what I want to form my master's thesis around. Since then, it has accepted that fact and dealt with it in the context of a post-industrial urban area. These aren't our best pictures we've taken, but this is the building where I work (on the fifth floor next to the large tower not pictured here):

 
 Most of what I do (in addition to data entry) is read through the material the department already has in English and make corrects and additions. This sounds like a simple enough task, but the nuances of the English language are ever so slightly mangled and destroyed by the efforts of the Europeans. For example, seven-line sentences are NOT okay in English. In German, those sentences actually make sense and are (relatively) readable. However, this does not make it okay in English.

The office life in Leipzig is somewhat different than in the US. The dress code is drastically more relaxed than all other offices I've worked in in the States. For instance, I showed up in khakis and a button-down shirt for my first day (which I didn't think was in any sense over the top), but found that I was incredibly over dressed. Turns out, jeans are generally acceptable for everyone except maybe the head of the department. The guy I share an office with, who must be around 40 years old, showed up in ratty jeans and a South African Springbok rugby jersey. He also feels that he must crush every key on the keyboard in order to type anything.

The lack of openness is also quite different here than in the offices I've worked in up until now. In America, nobody (with a few exceptions of course) closes and locks their doors in the middle of the day I feel. We are subdivided like suburbs into two-person offices that are connected via other doors (which are also shut at times). It's taken a little getting use to, but I have learned quite a lot about how German cities are structured and developed, and hopefully I can bring back that information to turn into some kind of thesis!

Grocery Shopping in Germany (aka Daily Living Part I)

As most of you know, Bryan and I are in Germany for two months this summer. We aren't quite tourists and we don't quite live here. This puts us in an interesting situation. We've had some friends and family members ask us what it's like to shop, work, and get around here, so we'll be posting this week about daily life.

Since we are subleasing an apartment, we cook quite a bit, just like we both do at home. This set-up requires that we grocery shop regularly. Grocery shopping requires prep work.

Step 1: Gather a backpack, tote bag, reusable shopping bags, and other carrying devices. If you don't bring your own bags, you will have to pay for ones at the store.

Step 2: Make sure that you have a 50 cent or a 1 Euro coin on hand if you plan to use a cart. You'll have to put a coin deposit down to get a cart.

Step 3: Put that coin back. You don't want to get a cart.

Step 4: Make sure you have cash or a debit card. Most stores don't accept credit cards.

Step 5: Get yourself to the grocery store and get ready for an adventure.

We are fortunate enough to live within 3 blocks of 3 different grocery stores: Aldi (yes, that Aldi,) Konsum (the fancier grocery store,) and Netto (a discount grocery store like Aldi). We shop at this Netto:

Most of the products are fairly similar to what you'd find at home in the US. However, there are definitely some interesting products that we would never see at home and some interesting twists on products we have at home. There are also some products that I will miss when I go home and some products from home that I can't seem to find here.

A typical trip to the store involves fresh produce (but not too much because it goes bad more quickly because it is actually ripe,) cheese, pasta, breads, chocolate, pizza making supplies, milk, beer, and wine. The prices are comparable to home, but the exchange rate makes the end result higher. Luckily, though, beer and wine are much, much less expensive than home. :)

Falling into the category of items that we would never see in the States:

These are like fish sticks, except they are filled with vegetables.

These are the fish you could serve with your vegetable sticks. This is marinated herring (pickled herring).

In addition to these two extreme examples, there are far more pickled items (carrots, cabbage, and the like,) spreads for crackers and bread, and more powder based sauces than you can imagine. In fact, there is an entire shelf of sauce mixes:

The next category of items is made up of familiar items with an unfamiliar twist. Mexican food doesn't seem to be well-understood here. It's almost as though someone misinterpreted the characteristics and ingredients common of Mexican food. For example, this is Mexican dip:

Roughly translated, this is "ideal with grilled meat and fish, potatoes, salad, vegetables, french fries, and toast." Interestingly enough, none of the Mexican restaurants I have ever been to really focus on those dishes served with dip. Tortilla chips here are more like Doritos, salsa is not spicy, and nachos just taste wrong. Also, tacos are tortilla chips. This is all quite confusing. However, it gets more confusing:

This is a Mexican fish fillet that is filled with corn and tomatoes. I don't really understand.

Milk is sold both cold and shelf-stable here and eggs are sold at room temperature. 

Potato chips are also different here. Besides Pringles, chips are all paprika (pepper) flavored. There is a large selection of paprika flavored snack items:

Coca cola, Sprite, and Pepsi are common here, as is mineral water, tonic water, etc. However, the containers are 1.5 L and most bottles include a deposit. It is common to see people on the street with gigantic containers of soda, juice and the like:

There are some foods that I have gotten really attached to. For example, Doppelkeks (Double cookies) are awesome! Bryan loves Doppelkeks too!

There are also some awesome salty snack packs here. There are tiny compartments of pretzels, crackers, etc. Bryan loves these more than anything else in the store.

Probably the best item is this:

Although there are tons of familiar and new, delicious items, there are some things from home that I miss. Macaroni and cheese doesn't seem to exist here, and I have been craving it for weeks! Brown sugar, canned soup, chocolate chips, and marshmallows are also not found in the grocery store. Some familiar American brands are in stores like Netto and Aldi, but the best bet for imports from home is the gourmet grocery store in the basement of the department store in the city center.

Overall, the grocery stores are much smaller and a larger percentage of the store is devoted to beverages, dairy products, and sauces than at home. The product section is also smaller than you would see at Hy-Vee. People tend to go shopping more frequently here, so you don't see overflowing carts with enough food for a week or more very often. It's taken some getting used to, but I would say I am now an experienced international grocery shopper.

I hope you enjoyed hearing a little bit about the more mundane details of our life here.