Excursion Nach Prague

back from Pfingsten and attempting to study and assemble this German life. I spent the week in classes and recovering from the long trip.
But after finally posting all the adventures from Pfingstenpause, I thought I'd be ready to rejoin normal society and be a studious student--not yet. More fun to have...


Toni Ingenthron, the exchange student from Worthington (my home town) currently studying in Crailsheim, Germany, sent me a spur-of-the-moment message saying she was free for the weekend so I invited her to Freiburg. Thursday afternoon she arrived and I took her around the main parts of Freiburg, despite the blasted rain. The evening was spent with friends at the StuSie dorms as we had dinner together--Mike made lasagna and Marta brought Belgian chocolates.
Then crash til Friday. Early Friday morning Emma and I ran to Kaufland--which we didn't know until now actually existed--and bought tons of cheap food. Finally a place with everything in one grocery store. Then we ran back, picked up Toni, caught the Train, and Emma, Toni, Essi, and I rode to Triberg to see Germany's largest waterfall (pictured here). Oddly enough the city was only 1/2 hour away by car, but because no lines run East & West, only N-S we had to go 1hour 40 minutes to get there--one way.
Friday night, out of randomness and because Toni was here, we had everyone over to the Vauban to my apartment to hang out. Unfortunately they all left to catch the last tram back home.
Then Saturday was an early morning in order for Toni to catch the 5 hour train back to Crailsheim. It's actually only 2 1/2 hours away by car, but all lines run N-S, so you can only get there in a round-about way.

After seeing Toni off, I needed to start studying, but what do I do instead? I committed to finishing the book I started "Atlas Shrugged". I was 1/2 way through and thought I could finish it in a long sitting--mind you the book is 1,186 pages long. So Sunday, Monday, Tuesday evening and late night were consumed reading this book. It's totally worth it because the Library of Congress deems it the 2nd most influential book in American History, next to the bible. But, yes, it does take a long time to get through. But I had a nice break celebrating Becky's Birthday--a friend that lives across the sidewalk.

Wednesday was a long day of classes and rushed by Alastair's 21st birthday that night. Pirate themed and wow was he a well-dressed pirate. Unfortunately I had to leave early to catch the bus at midnight to go to Prague with the International Club.

After a 14 hour bus ride, and finally arriving at 2:30 p.m.

So we settled into our hotel rooms and met up for a collective lunch. I had recognized two of the group members from my Portfolio analysis course and met them right away. Victor & Philipp, both Germans...finally real GERMAN friends. Also, there were two girls from Australia--Ella & Kara, and two from Canada--Shiza & Laura. The Canadians didn't speak any German, so it was much harder to hang out collectively together because at any point there was someone who didn't fully understand what was being said.

The first 1 1/2 days (Thursday & Friday) were spent on a long tour around the city. Offered in both German & English, the tours were each 3 hours (total 6 hr) and showed a lot of old stuff. The photo here is of me and Nadja (also GERMAN!) on the observation platform of the tower resembling the Eiffel tower. Prague had an ausstellung (display or fair) similar to, but after the one in Paris and built this tall tower for a nice view of the city.

Our excursion included shopping in the city (which was no cheaper than anywhere else) and eating a lot--the food was really cheap. A huge meal cost $4 (or 3 Euros). Also we hung out at the hotel, took a cruise ride along the Moldau (the river pictured below), tried out some great cafes around the city, and of course saw a lot of old stuff.

Here, Philipp and I stand on the Charles Bridge (Charles Brueke) overlooking the Moldau and the length of the city.

But no trip would be complete without a visit to

my number one tourist destination--Ernst & Young. Located just outside of the tourist-plagued city center, E & Y was across from a long park, down the street from the "Dancing Buildings" (a building complex with a twisted architecture) and a block away from the Moldau.

Finally, we drove back to Freiburg--this time only taking 7 1/2 hours (we had to go through Austria to get into the country because of some technicalities with the Chinese students needing Visa's). All in all, Prague was a pleasant city, but the experience was amazing because I finally met REAL Freiburg Germans and can only look forward to studying, hanging out, jogging, and potentially traveling with these new acquaintances. Until next time with (probably fewer) new adventures...

Later Days,
Rick