Weimar!

Jason and I took a trip to Weimar yesterday. It suddenly dawned us that we have been living in Germany for a year (okay, there was nothing sudden about it... I've been watching the time go by in amazement, but fully aware of how long we've been here) and we had not visited the next town over. Oh, we've been to the train station there half a dozen times, but we've never ventured out into the town.

Friedrich Schiller and Johan Wolfgang von Goethe

The building in the background is where the Weimar Republic was formed in 1919.

Part of the market in Weimar. By then end of the day it was packed with people. 

(Sorry, I really need to clean the filter on my camera.) This grassy area was quite cute.

We stopped at a cafe to try a beer we'd never had before: Franken Bräu. 

While we were sitting there, I learned just how touristy Weimar actually is. I saw lots of people taking a picture of the building in front of us and told Jason to take one too since it must be important. He thought my idea was quite silly because we didn't actually know what the building was. So we pulled out our trusty iPhones and looked it up: it was Goethe's house. Mystery solved. We also heard English spoken at the cafe (from patrons, not the staff) and realized there were several college groups visiting Weimar. This town is so incredibly close to Jena, but the only American college kids I've seen have been individuals doing study abroad rather than whole groups touring the area. It really gives you a sense of the importance Weimar has had in the history of Germany.

Weimar Rathaus

After the cafe, we made our way over to the Market Square where the Onion Market and Christmas Market are held every year. Our Rathaus is currently covered in scaffolding, so it was nice to see a Rathaus is working order. The city offers horsedrawn carriage tours of the town. I considered following one just to see the sights, but realized that was a silly idea as well. My guess is that some of the tour guides speak English, but I don't know that for certain. The town does have a tourist information center across the market from the Rathaus where you can organize all tours (including a trip to the former concentration camp Buchenwald which is only a few miles out of the city center) and accommodations.

The clock town in town

Another view. We knew what we were looking at had the potential to be palacial, so we decided to check it out. 

And we walked through the archway... 

And found The Weimar Palace!

The Weimar Palace is now a museum (6 euros for entrance) of both the palace and art. The museum prohibits cameras, so we were unable to take pictures inside. 

A lion guarding one of the outer entrances to the palace. 

When we came out of the palace, we decided to take a break at one of the local cafes. This place seemed to specialize in mixed drinks and Jason had a kiwi margarita. It wasn't sweet at all, and it sure was tasty! After our break, we continued to wander around the down and took some random pictures. 

The building covered in ivy is a hostel.

There was a plaque on the side of this building mentioning Martin Luther. Originally I thought he lived here (the plaque was in German), but now I'm wondering if this is where one of his works was published. 

A church. It must be important because one of the horse drawn carriage tours stopped here.

We saw an old mini. It was shorter than the Smart Car behind it! 

The town of Weimar is a quaint, quite city. It feels much more relaxed than Jena, despite the number of tourists. I'll be heading back in October for the Onion Market! I can't wait!