Monday is a free day

It's some kind of holiday here today, so everything is closed except some restaurants and cafés. I slept until 12.30 P.M. Hah! It's cold again, but at least it stopped raining for the time being. I finally got to the internet (as you can see), and was somewhat hysterical about it. I didn't know I missed it that much.

It's interesting walking around the city on Sundays and holidays (still don't know which one it is...). There are a surprising number of people walking around, taking their time looking in the windows of shops. I kind of like that. It's laid back, without rushing.

We also stopped at a café; I had an Eiskaffe I didn't really like (they taste better in Bonn) and a piece of cake I didn't really like more than I didn't like the Eiskaffe. What can I say -- I'm a sucker for pretty tortes. Too bad most of them end up not tasting very good. There was also this pigeon... At first it would walk into the café, but then it flew in like "Biatch, I'm the wicked pidgeon of the Marktplaz, I DO WHAT I WANT!" and then strutted around the inside for a good 20 minutes before someone shooed it out. Then it flew to the opposite side of the street to a window sill and watched the rest of us. We left soon after.

**note: tuesday we met with one of the students who had met us at the airport to take care of every kind of registration under the sun. She asked us if we knew what the holidaz was, we said no, just that we knew it was one. Yes, the holiday, as someone pointed out, is the National holiday that recognizes the reunification of east and west Germany. However (this is to defend my positions on the subject), the majority of Germans, our student said, see it as a good a day as any to have a day off of work. There are no elaborate flags or sales, speeches or demonstrations. It's a free day. SO, growing up in a society where every single holiday, major or not, is celebrated with streamers and cake of some kind, I seem to be tainted.