Prag, Straßburg, Leipzig, Dresden

The mad travel spree continued this past month. Ali and Helen (sister and cousin) came to visit Deutschland/Europe/me which was WONDERFUL. It was literally so nice to have family around and people to talk about home-things with. Slash we did some amazing traveling:

Prag/Praha/Prague– completely beautiful and horribly touristy. I love the way the city looks – it actually reminded me of Vienna – and how it embraces it’s river – it’s very central to the town has simple gorgeous bridges, which I’m a total sucker for. We spent nearly all day Saturday at the Hrad (castle), a massive complex really, and both beautiful and intimidating in the best sense. Sunday we went to mass in a really stunning church just steps from our hostel, and an hour-long mass in a language I 100% don’t speak realllly made me appreciate Vatican II. We also saw parts of the Jewish Museum in Prag; the Synagoge/Museum focusing on Jewish history in the region from 1000-1800 was one of the best exhibits I think I’ve seen.

Then Ali and Helen ditched me for more awesome traveling (they went to Vienna, Venice, and München) and I went back to Tübingen for a joyous (read sarcastically) week of Uni.

The next Saturday/Sunday we went to Strasbourg/Straßburg. The spelling still confuses me, but it was incredibly beautiful! Which I was not entirely expecting but was pleasantly surprised to discover. I was also extremely pleasantly surprised to find that all of the people there – and by that I really mean the waiters, the only Strasburg-ians we talked to – we super-nice despite the fact we were speaking English (and me accidentally sometimes in German) to them. Although Ali and Helen said Strasburg was the most difficult place to use English that they’d been to, we very much got by.

We were extremely lazy tourists in Strasburg. Mass (in the really stunning Frauenkirche) and a boat tour on the river were the only things we did. All other time was filled with walking from one restaurant or bar or café to the next. It was wonderful.

After three days in Tübingen after Straßburg, we (me plus some Americans and Brazilians from Deutsch-Kompakt) left this past Thursday for Leipzig. We did a “Blind Booking” with Germanwings, which means you choose a general destination or theme (ex, “Eastern Europe” or “Sun and Sand” or “Nightlife”). We chose “Eastern Europe” and naturally get sent somewhere within Germany rather than somewhere like Sarajevo. Oh well. Leipzig was a lot cooler than I was expecting, and we were able to do a day trip on Saturday to Dresden, which is absolutely beautiful along the river. Museum-wise I was feeling a little screwed after the weekend was over, as Leipzig’s City Museum was only half finished (missing the 19^th/20^th Centuries) and the History of the German Military Museum in Dresden was closed until November. There was, of course, plenty of else to do and it was a really fun trip overall.

Tomorrow (Sunday) I leave for a four-day-trip to Salzburg, and then I literally never want to leave Tübingen again. By Sunday in Leipzig we had no desire to do anything, and I think I’m a little traveled-out. The new goal for my last two months here is to explore Baden-Württemburg (the federal state that Tübingen is in) and maybe start being serious about school. Maybe.