good times, bad shape.

first off, a couple random comments:

1) i am in bad shape. for a person who rarely bruises, i look like i have an abusive boyfriend. my legs are visibly bruised in like 8 different places and my arms as well. i think this is mostly from being a tourist and not watching where i'm walking (either because my head is in a map or mesmerized by the striking european architecture across the street) and i keep slamming into things (posts, benches, garbage cans, people...)

2) i think my german roots are most reflected in my physical appearance... or maybe i just dress like a german girl? because in all of the countries i have been to, germany seems to be where i fit in the most. i have been asked for directions from germans so many times! and when waiters or sales people address me they assume that i speak german (even when i hear them address the tourist couple next to me in english). hmmm...

anyway, felix and i had a great day on monday! it was so nice to have my personal tour guide, who knew all the places to go, and was also on a tight budget. we started off the day biking to the monument to the battle of nations, an impressive, massive, and intimidating monument built to mourn the deaths that occurred during the battle in 1913 between the prussians, austrians, and swedes on one side, and napoleon's army on the other. although it was built to mourn the deaths, the monument has a complicated history. during the era of extreme nationalism, it was used by the nazis as a sign of german strength and power. now it is a bit controversial: on the hike up to the top we saw numerous signs arguing that the monument should not be renovated, but should be allowed to fall, since it serves to glorify war. regardless of what it stands for, however, the edifice really was remarkable - the huge statues are intimidating, while at the same time quite calming. we hiked all the way to the top to experience the best views of all of leipzig.
afterwards we explored all around the city, including the Neues Rathaus Südansicht, where i had entirely too much fun playing on the posternoster. if you do not know what a posternoster is, google it immediately. and then find the closest one to you. and go ride it. i don't even know, do we have them in the states? or post-1700 anywhere?

then we went to the stasi museum, housed in the old headquarters of the secret police. the museum was interesting, but all in german :(

afterwards we biked out towards the river. then we stopped at Gosebrauerei Bayerischer Bahnhof to have a taste of Gose beer, a beer brewed in leipzig that does not follow the strict german beer purity law (it includes coriander and salt). it was really tasty and really refreshing after riding around in the sun all day long!

at night we went shopping for food to make a "traditional (although, vegetarian) german dinner". we ended up making Knödel (delicious) with sauerkraut and apple streudel for desert! then we went out to rent and rented a german movie (Herr Lehmann) and drank some good german beers! all in all, a great, german day!


yesterday morning i thanked felix for a great time and we said our goodbyes and i caught a train to prague! i got to my hostel (Dizzy Daisy) at about 4 o'clock, dropped my bag and headed immediately out. since i had stayed an extra night in leipzig, i would only have 2 nights in prague, and i was determined to see as much as possible. and i did fit a lot in! i did all of the east side of the river, including the old town, the astrological clock, and King Wenceslas square, where i stopped and had my first half liter of Pilsner Urquell (a czech beer, in case ya didnt know). for dinner, i stopped and had really good pizza (which i had been craving)! by the time i got home i was exhausted and went straight to bed.