Germany 2009-2010: Day 6 of 330

Today was a good and relaxing day. Julia and I met down town in the altstadt (old city) and went to church at St. John's. It was neat to hear catholic mass in German and attend mass in a church over 400 years old. They don't even have heat in there! After mass, we got some Eis (ice cream) and sat at the fountain by the town hall.

Then we did the touristy thing and took lots of pictures and went up to the Schloss (castle). Lots of tour groups and tourists were out and about today so we didn't stick out too terribly. The Schloss is so high on the mountain, you can see the whole city from the gated entrance. The views were beautiful and I couldn't help but think, "I live here!" It was pretty awesome.

Then we headed down the Berg (hill) and took more pictures and stopped for lunch.

Culture Clash #4: Don't cross the street on red; you will get a ticket.

On the way down the Berg to the bahnhof, we crossed the street on a red light (whoops!). We didn't think anything of it until a cop walked up to us and started chewing us out for crossing on a red light. We apologized for our mistake and went on our way. We were lucky we didn't get a citation or some kind of formal warning because neither of us is registered with the city yet because we haven't matriculated into the University.

Because nearly everything is closed on Sundays, we just went back to our rooms for some relaxation. Sundays are highly valued as family time in Germany much like the states. I can hear a family from my building outside playing music and singing together.

The weather was much better today than it has been. It has rained everyday since I've been here except today (so far). It's a nice, sunny 68 degree day and I can open my window for some fresh air and natural light.