Saarland and the city

6.9.16
-We met in the morning to go to breakfast together. Here we are outside Waldhaus.

There's another building coloured blue on the left.

There's a path behind our dorm. Where does it go? :^)

We had breakfast at Mensa, the main cafeteria. A meal is 3 euros or less here for students, which is pretty good. We went on a campus tour, and then took a placement test. I didn't take the test since I'm a complete novice.

The cafeteria, Mensa, is really big. Even has outside seating.

That's mostly everybody! I think it's safe to say there are at least 60 people in the program.

I need more vegetables. I did enjoy the oragensaft (orange juice). It wasn't bitter/sour at all. The croissant was crispy and pretty good.

I had some time to kill before the city tour, so I went home. I got off one stop too early, but it was a nice day, so I walked.

I passed by an enclosure with sheep.

You can't really see them, but they're under the roof.

Hundeakademie (dog academy). I didn't see any dogs, though.

Germans apparently use Whatsapp. I installed it. With my FreedomPop number, I can still call and text the US, but I can't call or text anyone in Germany. I have plenty of data, so whatsapp should suffice.

I was pretty tired since I had stayed up, so I took a short nap before leaving for the city.

5 PM

France is really close. It's common for people to just drive to France to eat something.

Apparently this place has good doener.

There are so many places that advertise PIZZA PASTA. I hope they're good. Anna said to try the Napoli place.

Lass uns am Brennen treffen (Let's meet at the fountain)! In the market square, this is the most popular place to meet up, because everyone knows where it is. There's a longer word for it, but I forgot.

I can't wait to try the Mexican food here.

In English, this street is called "Frog street", because frogs came out all at once to lay their eggs in the river. The closest path was through this road.

Korean place. I...don't know about this. I'll eventually try it...

A huge theater! Hitler donated this when Saarbruecken declared itself a part of Germany instead of France around the 1930s. Saarbruecken has changed hands between France and Germany a lot. Like much of Saarbruecken, the theather was destroyed in the bombing during the war, but was restored.

Highway next to the river. Drive carefully!

Alt-Saarbruecken, old Saarbruecken, across the bridge, south.

Castle. It looks more like a mansion to me. The middle is made of glass and stone. What a stark contrast!

The Platz des Unsichtbaren Mahnmals, the Place of the Invisible Memorial. People wanted to create a WW2 memorial for the people who died, but they didn't get approved, so people wrote the names of Jewish cemeteries on the bottoms of the rocks of the castle and then put it back.

A museum here on the side of the castle.

Another museum under the trees back in the left.

I really want to come here and try their dame blanche.

There are a lot of small parks. I say "charming" too much, but it is. I saw people playing bocce ball.

What a darn shame that this Russian place closed recently. I want some borscht.

"American" nails? I wonder how that would be any different.

5 euros, huh? Tempted.

Local radio station

There are quite a few casinos here.

Big mall!

We walked to the train station. Now I have a rough idea of where things are.

Our tour group.

After the tour, we headed over to Ulanen-Pavilion for a bier.

You can order beer or fleisch (meat) from these shacks. Plenty of outdoor seating, and the weather is great right now.

The local brewery. I see "Bruch" everywhere.

I ordered a weizen. Wheat beer. My first one here. Very light and refreshing. Gut.

Prost! I'm learning that the 'r' sounds aren't hard- rather, they need to be softer than I think. You don't roll 'r's in German.

At some places, when you pay for your beverage, you pay extra for the container. They refund you when you return the cup/mug. Sometimes you need a token they give you. For 2 euros, I'd take a mug like that.

Some other groups met up with us. We talked and then headed home. It was fun (Spass).