Zweiter Tag

Heute war unser zweiter Tag in Mannheim.

Today we woke up in the morning to go to our city of Mannheim tour, led by one of our faculty advisors, Dr. Hasty. We met in front of the most recognizable landmarks of the city, the Mannheim Palace, or Mannheimer Schloss. If you can imagine a palace several times larger than the entire Swamp, then you might get an idea about the size. With, in Dr. Hasty's words a "summary" of the history of the palace, we began our tour. We went around to hopefully soon-to-be familiar locales, such as the Mensa (cafeteria), our classrooms, and several places to shop, including the open market near the Paradeplatz. After the tour, we were eager for nourishment. We wanted to try Turkish döner, so we stopped in at a quick place called the Kebap House. Döner is a Turkish item- imagine a huge cylinder of meat (in this case, lamb or turkey) hanging from the ceiling. They shave away pieces of the meat and put it into pita-type bread, along with veggies, tzatziki sauce, and feta cheese. It was delicious and also not expensive! After that refreshment, we visited a grocery store for some essentials. While not nearly as expansive as an American grocery store, we were able to find what we needed. Paying was a little tricky- there are no baggers, so you are quickly forced to gather up your purchases and head to a counter to bag them yourself, using either newly purchased bags or ones brought from home. I'm sure the process will become much easier and swifter and time goes on, but today, what with figuring out the correct change and trying to handle everything, it was a little difficult.

We dropped off our purchases at the dorms, and then headed out for the most complex trip of the day- a trip to IKEA! We took one bus out from the dorm, transfered onto a streetcar, and then transfered again onto a different bus. This was not without some help of a couple locals, whom we asked for help and directions. But we finally made it, and I was surprised- IKEA was huge! Roughly the size of 3 Sam's Clubs put together, there were numerous levels, tons of furniture and rooms, and 2 restaurants. We had some fun looking around at all of the options. We took the same buses and streetcar back to the dorms, where we had some much needed rest before heading out for dinner. This time we went to the Paradeplatz and found an interesting pizza stand. It wasn't quite traditional pizza, but "Butterfly Pizza" on an oval-dough and put into a paper packet. It was also inexpensive and good, and the owner even split an entire individual pizza for us all to try for free. On the way home, we bought a loaf of bread to have for tomorrow, since nearly everything will be closed, which is one of the notes on food that I have made thusfar. In addition I have noticed:

1. Stilles Wasser gefällt mir lieber als Mineralwasser. I like still water more than carbonated water.
2. Alkoholfreie Getränke sind teuer. Soft drinks (like soda) are expensive!
3. Wasser ist nicht kostenfrei. Water is not free.
4. Man kann Plastikflaschen ans Geshäft zurückkehren. You can return plastic bottles to the store (for a 25 cent refund!)
5. Alles, dass ich gegessen habe, war gut. Everything that I've eaten was good!

That is all for now- I look forward to day three, which includes a tour of Heidelberg, a nearby town. Guten Nacht!