Ich habe fünf Berlineren. Ich bin nicht ein Berliner.

This past weekend (the first in March), I made a solitary excursion to the Deutchlander capital of Berlin. This was my first time travelling alone so I was glad that I was doing it to a country I was already relatively familiar with. I got up bright and early to catch the flight, ran into Ryan at the Bahnhof so I had some company on the ride there. Got to Berlin in time for breakfast which I got when the bus dropped me off at the Brandenburg Gate. I killed a couple of hours eating, drinking coffee and taking pictures and then met up with a very informative free walking tour.

The tour took me through the Brandenburg Gate, to the Holocaust memorial, Hitler's bunker, the Luftwaffe HQ, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, Museum Island and probably several other places I've since forgotten. After the tour, I sought and checked into my hostel where I was greeted by the drunk receptionist and his drunk very tall kenyan friend who offered me warm rum and coke from a dirty looking pitcher (I declined...). After dropping off my stuff I went and explored Alexanderplatz where Berlin's famous TV tower is located. Grabbed some currywurst and a bag of 5 Berliner Donuts which I gorged on for the remainder of the weekend. That night I went for dinner to a highly recommended thai resturaunt called Monsieur Vuong's. It was a really cool place and had really cool food. Went to bed early because the hostel was empty and I didn't meet anyone :(

Next day I got up and decided to go to some museums. Went to the wall information center, the Holocaust museum (which I sincerely regret going to alone..) and the East Side Gallery. The line was too long to get into the Reichstag and I got to the Deutches History Museum 2 hours too late... Had some spätzli for lunch and for dinner I got flammkuchen in a weird bar that served weissbier and called it dark beer... Another early night.

Next day got up early to grab a bus to the airport. Flew back to Zurich where I promptly boarded a 3 hour train to Geneva to check out the car show. Not much to write home about. Much like the Frankfurt auto show except slightly smaller, less grandeur and only a few more cars than I had already seen in Frankfurt. I did however come across one little bit of inspiration for my future in a company that modifies cars so that they can be driven by the disabled. I shall have to look further into it.

All in all a good weekend but I've decided I'm not the solitary type when it comes to travelling!

There's a Weeeeeee Leprochaun in my Back Garden....

The conclusion to a very long February was a "quaint as &#!@" long weekend on the Emerald Isle. You can thank Bruce for that quote - the epitomy of eloquence that lad, I tell you... So yeah! Arrived on the friday evening, rented a trio of Ford Fiestas to be driven by myself, Steve P. and Olivia. Began with only minor setbacks. First, my handbrake was stuck and second, Steve P and the others in the gray car got lost - took the wrong turn off a roundabout. The other two cars made it Galway 3 hours later without any incident. Radio contact was maintained as we had cleverly elected to invest in some radios. This led to some very funny conversations over the course of the trip.

Friday night was relatively uneventful. After finding parking and checking in to our hostel we went looking for food. Tried to find a pub but they'd all stopped serving food so ended up getting a 4 person deal at Domino's. After this we went to the pub below our hostel and indulged in a few Guinnesses (many of which were courtesy of Bruce and Chris) as well as some well selected music.

Saturday we elected to get out of the metropolitan chaos of Galway and drive along the coast toward Doolin. This took us through some breathtaking scenery and we made a few stops along the way to take pictures and walk around. Car trips are great that way! We first stopped at an old castle, then somewhere in the middle of the burren - a giant slab of rock something like 250 square km? - then at an old jetty, then at the coast of the burren. We accidentally drove past our hostel on our way to the cliffs of Moher so we stopped in there quickly before continuing. We went down the street to one of 3 pubs in the tiny town of 500 and had a good lunch. We then drove to the cliffs, looked around (spectacular views) and took pictures. After this everyone was pretty knackered so we drove back to the hostel and parked the cars. We took a brief walk around Doolin and out to a ruined church for more photo ops. Afterwards, most of us were pretty done for and we took a nap. Upon waking, we were treated to a brief slideshow by the hostel owner giving us a good visual history of most of Ireland. We then set out to find dinner. The pubs were tooo full to accomodate 11 of us (Sondy was under the weather) so we got takeaway from the towns one italian restaurant. That was a big mistake. Disappointment with the food made us want to drink so we went to the pub and had a few drinks and talked to the locals. There were some characters haha.

On Sunday we began the long drive back to Dublin. Breakfast wouldn't be served in Doolin till too late so we took to the road and ended up getting breakfast rolls from a Spar in some town on the highway. Imagine if you will a foot-long bread roll filled with sausages, blood pudding, eggs, bacon and ketchup. And I mean filled. So good. Anyway, after 'refueling' we continued on and evenutally came to Bunratty castle. We got a nice tour from a quintessentially irish fella and had a genuinely nice time there. We hit the road again and by around 4:30, returned the cars and headed to our hostel in Dublin.

Nakul was kind enough to show me and some others a really nice restaurant and showed us some places worth checking out and where he goes to school. We then headed back to the hostel and watched Canada set a nice record on the TV.

Monday we got up early and took a stroll around Dublin. We saw a few sights, Trinity College and St. Stephen's Green being the best known, and then stopped for coffee and breakfast before taking a taxi to the airport.

One of the best trips thus far!

We came. Warsaw, We Conquered.

The third weekend in my dangerously busy February was spent with a staggeringly large group of other Canadians in Warsaw. We arrived on the Friday afternoon (in doing so, by the way, we made the weekend seem much, much longer) and proceeded directly to our hostel. After having checked in, we set out in search of food and some preliminary sight seeing around the hostel. We ended up heading for a big famous park but it happened to have just closed when we arrived. At this point the boys and girls split up so the girls could shop and the guys could throw away money on beer. After a couple of those (after a couple too many for, well, everyone except me) we met up with the others for a glorious dinner of perogies, pancakes and cabbage rolls. After dinner we went to some local bars. I headed in early because I was suffering from a bit of a stomach ache.

The next day we all got up when we got up, and headed out in search of breakfast.We then ended up walking around Warsaw's old town, visiting a gallery of portraits, eating a delicious lunch of borscht, dumplings and schnitzel in a old-school milk bar, and each taking lots of pictures of the same thing. We also made it to the park we'd intended to go to the day before and strolled around there for a bit. That night we went to a vietnamese restaurant for dinner and headed back to the hostel where we sampled some local wodka courtesy of Bianca and Arthur. This led to us deciding to go out to the club that was literally 20 paces from the front door of the hostel. (I'd neglected to mention thus far that the hostel was a mere SIX flights of stairs from the ground floor with NO elevator...). It was a pretty cool club (allegedly one of the most popular in Warsaw) but my stomach still wasn't right so I remained relatively sober. Interestingly enough, it wasn't this that led me home early but rather the unbridled consumption of alcohol of a peer who shall remain nameless...

Next day we got up and ate breakfast at the hostel. Groups sort of left as and when they came together and headed to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Museum. It was very interesting and quite well done though, at times, was hard to follow due to a lack of linearity that I find often helps in a history museum. After this we went in search of lunch and ended up in a shopping mall of all places. I wasn't too happy about it at the time, nor afterwards actually cause my food was attrocious. After spending some time in a cafe drinking too much coffee and eating too much cake, we eventually packed up and headed to the airport.

Austria-Hungary

So, now halfway through February - a month that is quite full of stuff to do!

The first weekend in February, Rachel and I went to Vienna. It was very cold and (dangerously) icy but we managed to see a lot and get a lot done! Highlights included the Schönbrunner Palace and grounds, eating Schnitzel, seeing the ballet Romeo and Juliet at the Opera House, walking on the (frozen) Danube river, very sex-oriented exhibit at the Modern Art museum, Exhibits on Andy Warhol's Cars and Various Impressionists at the Albertina Gallery, Sachertorte and Sacherkaffee at Sacher Eck (though the torte was more of a disappointment), Goulasch, Beer, Mozart related paraphernalia, and of course cool old European Buildings.

While we enjoyed our time there, we felt that it seemed quite lifeless and empty. It was often (disconcertingly) quiet and there were times we found ourselves wondering just where the f*** everyone got to. It probably didn't help that we were staying in what appeared to be the red-light district (judging from the oh-so-important hooker to not-a-hooker ratio). Also, there was a distinct surplus of canine fecal matter. Grody.

This past weekend we had a great time in Budapest. It was an exceptionally likable place and, thanks to our hostel, our impressions were good from the get-go.We arrived to our hostel a bit late thanks to our flight but we were still greeted at the door with a smile, the lady introducing herself to us and asking us our names. She then led us inside, introduced us to some other couples staying there and then sat us down to get our names and money. She then offered us each a shot of what I can only describe as Hungarian Moonshine (I can't pronounce let alone spell the actual name) that had at least 50% ABV (probably more) and was distilled by her very own father. Despite being a kick in the ol' teeth at first it was quite tasty! After this, she gave us a map and proceeded to circle every noteable site, pub, restaurant, club, market, store, cafe and street for us. It was really helpful! She then led us to our room where we settled in for the night.

On saturday we began by heading to one of the recommended cafes for coffee and breakfast. I had a deep-fried egg-covered ham and cheese sandwich (essentially a french toast sandwich) and a latte macchiato. Good. We then walked to the famous market hall, perused that for a while, considered crossing the Danube but deemed it too cold and windy for the moment. We took a stroll down a recommended walking street after which we headed across the river from Pest to Buda. We climbed the hill to the Castle/Palace and explored the grounds for a while. We decided to take a trip into the Labyrinths beneath the hill but ended up being disappointed by the lack of authenticity. We continued to the beautiful Fisherman's Bastion where we soon realized we were hungry. We took a metro back to Pest and got a good Hungarian lunch of goulash soup, paprika chicken and hungarian dumplings followed by a cottage cheese filled crepe with hot vanilla sauce for dessert. We then headed back to the hostel for a nap before joining the others in the common room for a free hungarian dinner prepared by the woman that had greeted us the night before. While we ate, we met and talked with some other coupes and eventually decided to take a stroll to the turkish baths at about 10:30PM. We were there until about 1AM and they were really cool. Pools of varying temperatures, steam rooms and saunas. A good way to spend the night!

Sunday, Valentine's day, we set out to find fabled hungarian 'hot bread tubes' aka chimney cake aka Kürtőskalács. Deliscious. Also had a coffee. From here we walked across pest to eventually end up at the Heroes Square. Here was a cool monument flanked by 2 cool looking museums (that we didn't go into). The park behind these buildings contained a sweet castle and also a very famous hungarian thermal bath. We headed in there for a couple of hours. It was very nice but a bit of a system shock when you had to get out of the 38 degree water and walk quite far in 2 degree weather to get back inside... After the bath's we went to a local Hungarian restaurant (again recommended) and had a really tasty meal of potatoes, bacon, pork, and various other things together on a plate.. For dessert we made our way back for hot bread tubes and, because they recognized us from the morning, they gave us a 20% discount! Bonus! Having to get up early the next morning to get to the airport, we headed back to the Hostel and had an early-ish night.


We also saw Honza and Claire right before we went to Vienna and Ksenija is apparently in town this week so i'm sure we'll see her too!


So far a very good February!

January!

So it seems that the relationship between time since one's last blog post and the difficulty of getting back into blogging is one of exponential growth. In an effort to stay on top of what I've been doing, this post will be more of a quick summary. I may or may not get around to flushing in more detail!

First weekend after New Years: Friday night went bowling with Rachel, her brother and sister and their girlfriend/boyfriend. Can't remember the rest of that weekend...

Weekend of the 16th: Went Skiing with Rachel on the saturday. She hadn't snowboarded in a long time so it was a bit slow. Chilled out the rest of the weekend, Rachel got sick :( Monday saw Holly who was visiting from Germany.

Weekend of the 23rd: Went skiing with Chris and Bianca to Hoch-Ybrig. Really nice day, great snowboarding, good snow, fun jumps - had a good time! Went to Rachel's brother's place that night for dinner.

Last weekend in January: On the 29th went to Rachel's mom's house for Rachel's sister's birthday. Had a nice apero, good dinner and lots of dessert. Got a cool Second hand sweater as a gift/attempt to clear out unwanted junk. Didn't matter, I appreciated it! Next day went to Technorama, the science museum in Winterthur. That was pretty cool, enjoyed it quite a bit actually!

That's more or less all I can remember at the moment, will try and add more later!

Christmas & New Year: A Trip Back to Home Mk. I

Ok, so, yeah, long time no see. If my memory serves me right I'm supposed to be picking up from about the 15th of December. I'll be honest: at this point I can't really remember what I did the rest of that week but I DO remember the weekend that followed!

On the Friday, Rachel and I met up in Zürich after work. We made our way across the street from the HB to do some ice skating in the courtyard of the museum there. It was an embarrassingly small rink but we still managed to have some fun. I was impressed with how easily skating came back to me considering it had probably been a few years since I'd last done it! After that we grabbed some fantastic gluhwein (mulled wine) and raclette (melted cheese with potatoes) then headed back to the train station to check out the christmas market there. It was pretty impressive, lots of stalls selling lots of cool stuff. Rachel got most of her christmas shopping done and I led us to some delicious apple fritters and some more (sub-par) gluhwein. We looked for a place to grab a drink but everywhere was just stupid busy so we elected to go home instead.

The next day we made an effort to get up early and do some more xmas shopping. I had to get gifts for people in the UK and she had to get stuff for her family as well. We grabbed a quick lunch out and then more or less rushed home to get ready for the evening. Rachel's grandmother was celebrating her 80th birthday and had invited us (as well as probably another 20 of her family) to a nice Swiss/Scottish (yes, Swiss/Scottish) restaurant to celebrate with her. It began with a nice (albeit cramped) apero of white wine and then continued with a 4 course meal: Salmon salad, Soup, Entre featuring steak, lamb and various veg, and a mixed plate of dessert. I was so happy to be eating good quality red meat I almost cried. Fantastic.

The next day, we decided to have a mini christmas because I would be leaving later in the week. I made crepes for breakfast, we exchanged gifts, watched some xmas movies, went for a walk and I cooked turkey for dinner. A really nice day overall!

On wednesday I was scheduled to leave for the UK. I say 'scheduled' because at about 10:30PM the night before my 10:10AM flight I checked my email to find that my flight had been cancelled. Being unable to get through to sleazy jet's customer service I elected to go to the airport at the normal time just in case. Ended up having to rebook (for free thank god) onto a flight that evening. Despite having ample time to go home, I ended up wandering the airport, sleeping and reading for about 14hrs. I also made it out to Oerlikon to meet Rachel for lunch.. She actually also came to the airport after work and waited it out with me - very nice of her :) Anyway, by the time my flight was scheduled to board, a message popped up on the departure screens: DELAYED. Ended up waiting another 1.5hrs in the terminal for the plane to arrive, then all the time for boarding, then all the time getting a spot on the runway. When we finally got to Gatwick we sat on the runway for 50 minutes after touchdown waiting for a bloody bus to come and take us to the terminal. Ended up getting back to Uncle Mark's place at about 1:30AM on Christmas Eve. Lame.

Oh well, got there in the end! Christmas Eve I spent most of the day with TJ playing video games and watching TV. Had a chance to hang out a little with Natalie as well. Leanne however wasn't feeling to well. Also accompanied Mark to buy some wine for Christmas dinner and while we were out he drove me around the old neighborhood. I was amazed at how much I remembered it! It hasn't changed that much, its just a little more overgrown and some of the shops have been rebranded. That night we went out for a pub dinner. Well, actually it was just Mark, Carole, TJ and myself because Leanne was sick and Nat stayed to take care of her. I had a big old juicy beef burger and a sticky toffee pudding. Yum.

Christmas Day! May have actually been the first one up but stayed in the room. TJ came and got me for present time. It was cool and strange at the same time to experience somebody elses traditions instead of your own for christmas morning.. Still. Got through pressies, had breakfast, cleaned up, played some more Xbox with TJ, helped him set up his new laptop and then sat down. Carole's father arrived and then helped to prepare some of the veggies for dinner. Carole's sister and nephew showed up, had some drinks, socialized, ate dinner, sat fat and happy for the rest of the night.

Boxing Day we went into Windsor. Saw the castle, walked around the town, had a coffee, walked from the castle to the guy on the horse (the long walk) and more or less back again to get to the car. That tired us right out and we pretty much just crashed for the rest of the time.

The next day's highlight was going to see Avatar in 3D in Bracknell. Played games with TJ in the morning, Habib showed up unexpectedly, went and saw the movie, got burger king, went home, TV, chatted.

The following day we went to Portsmouth (everyone but Nat). The girls did some shopping, the boys went to the arcade. We met up with Habib for lunch and more or less headed home.. Not overly eventful but a nice day regardless.

The next day I got sick. Really sick. Woke up with a stomach ache and was freezing cold. Planned on getting my hair cut but didn't feel well enough. Laid on the couch instead and watched Top Gear. Got up to answer the phone and ended up puking. Felt better so I got up again to get some water. Came over all dizzy and hot and puked again. Spent the rest of the day in bed. This resulted in going to Lil's that night being delayed and unfortunately didn't meet up with Steph and Gail and that.

Ended up going to Lil's the next day, got there at around lunch time. Went to the pub for lunch, managed to keep down a ham sandwich. We were joined by one of Lil's friends and her kid (who, Georgia will join me in saying, trod unforgivably on one's nerves) and we decided to try and go and see Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately it was sold out so we rented some movies instead and spent the evening in.

The next day I was due to meet Rachel at the airport. However, she was also flying easy jet and so inevitably she was delayed by about an hour and a half. I took this time to go and get a hair cut. Martin then took me to the airport where I waited for her to come through. Instead of her coming through, she called me saying she lost her ID card. Silly girl ;) Long story much shorter we eventually made it to Kork's place on New Year's Eve.

He had arranged tickets for us to go to a party at a local(ish) pub. He didn't realize until after we got there, however, that it was a masquerade party. We thus had to make a quick trip to a store to buy some masks. At this point, Rachel and I were more or less exhausted and took a nap before getting up to eat dinner and go.

It was a pretty cool night but also strange in a lot of ways. We had fun though!

The next day Rachel and I went into london (a little too late perhaps) and walked from london bridge along the Thames to Waterloo. We stopped in at the Tate modern on the way and also saw the sights like St. Pauls, Millenium Bridge, London Eye, Big Ben, etc. Also found a delicious can of Old Jamaica Ginger Beer. YUM.

Went to London the last day as well. Spent the first few hours there chasing down documents so Rachel could still go home and then headed to oxford street for some shopping. Ate lunch in a nice Tapas restaurant and I managed to get some choccies, sweets and crisps to remind me of my youth. That night we went out for curry with Kork and Kelly and then hit the hay for an early morning the next day (our 7:45AM flight was, of course, very delayed).

Good times though, glad I went back to the UK! Sorry for the long post!