I thought it was interesting that our announcements were done in Icelandic and English only, despite the fact that we were flying into Frankfurt, Germany. Serves to highlight how prevalent English is outside of the US and UK, I suppose. I didn't record the English announcement, but I wanted to save the Icelandic announcement because it's such a fascinating language.

Image via André Bonacin on Panoramio (http://goo.gl/mYtA9b)

Icelandair Arrival Announcement In Frankfurt

On my first night in Leipzig, I had dinner and a beer at Kildare City Pub on Barfußgäßchen, a lively street lined with outdoor seating and buzzing with conversation. This is just a sampling of what I heard while I was there, and I happened to catch this while a man was walking through and playing the accordian.

Outside Kildare City Pub in Leipzig

On my first morning in Leipzig, I had a kaffee frappe, a mineral water, and a yogurt with fruit (not pictured), while looking out over the Marktplatz. Birds were chirping, buses were driving by, kids were playing in the fountain, and people around me were carrying on in German that I couldn't understand. It was lovely.

Outside Cafe Pascucci in Leipzig

After an unsuccessful attempt to visit a museum that ended up being closed, I sat outside another cafe to decide on a new plan. While I was sitting there, a jazz choir suddenly started singing in the plaza behind me. They started with a song I remembered from high-school choir, then kept going for a good while. From what I could tell, the people sitting around me were unimpressed.

Image via Wikimedia (http://goo.gl/l5vJlG)

Jazz Choir near Nikolaikirche in Leipzig

After visiting the Völki, I was super tired and ended up napping until nearly 10pm. I woke up starving, and wandered down to Sol y Mar. It had been raining a bit, but my walk there was mostly dry. However, almost as soon as I sat down, a crazy downpour started up. I was outside under an umbrella, which meant that I stayed dry but got to hear it all. It stopped as I finished my meal. Some crazy good luck there.

Image via Valley Heritage Radio (http://goo.gl/EW16Mo)

Rain at Sol y Mar in Leipzig

Before I went into the museum, I stood in the bicycle underpass and listened to a musician who was playing outside. The sound was bouncing off of every surface and swirling around me. This barely captures it, but it's still fun to listen to.

Rijksmuseum Entrance In Amsterdam

I'm becoming a little obsessed with public announcements, I think. I blame the movie "Mind the Gap" for this, though it took more than 10 years to really build up. This is the announcement you hear on the 14 in Amsterdam as it leaves a stop.

On The 14 In Amsterdam

So, this one time, I was taking a train to Vlissingen to meet a ferry, and I was also reading a really good book. I was deep in it when I heard the ding of a stop, and glanced outside to see if it was mine. I saw "Vlissingen" on the sign, hastily gathered my things, and got off the train.

It was not my stop.

I also thought the next one would be along shortly.

Nope.

Enjoy a piece of the hour I spent at this station. There are far worse places to wait around.

Vlissingen Souberg Station

Standing 83 meters high, the belfry is hard to miss. Its carillon contains 47 bells, which announce the time, fire alarms, work hours, and a variety of social, political, and religious events.

Photo via Wikimedia: http://goo.gl/oRkxpR

Jessi Brown

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