Hallo Hannover!

On Saturday, I took my first trip outside of Berlin since I arrived in August. It was definitely long overdue. I'd found out about a museum in Hanover with an Egyptian collection and since I have now seen the exhibits at Neues Museum 4 times, I desperately wanted to go. I was all set to go on my own when Julia asked if she could come with me! So it came to be.

Julia was running late thanks to the S Bahn being temperamental at the moment, and instead of panicking and getting irate, I just changed our tickets for the bus at 9 am instead. I was quite pleased with myself, and we had a leisurely coffee and croissant before starting the journey.

Bright and early (ish)

We had a real Berliner for a bus driver and Julia had to translate for me.. which was a bit embarrassing because we were right at the front of the bus! I've since been practising, and my favourite thing is now 'janz jenau'.

We went straight to the Museum, taking a few photos on the way of the beautiful old buildings.

The Town Hall

 The Egyptian bit was super interesting, albeit a bit smaller than I had expected.  August Kestner was a private collector who left his collection for public enjoyment when he died, so there was a fascinating mix of exhibits from different cultures too. Happily, Julia was also interested in the Ancient Egyptian part, but while I was pressing my face up against the glass like a kid at Christmas, she sat in a chair reading the information.

The colours have survived!

Typical style of the Armana period (Akhenaton is one of my faves to read about)

I tried. 

After I'd satiated my thirst, Julia wanted to see the Medieval part, which had some insanely beautiful tapestries and books. We attempted to write with feather quills and Julia finally explained to me why babies in medieval paintings are so frightening. Apparently, children weren't seen as we see them now, instead they were seen as miniature adults and were thus painted accordingly. Explains why they always look so intense and freaky.

This is a book!

Then we went to have lunch at the market hall, followed by a visit to the Bahlsen factory outlet where I could have easily emptied my bank account on Lindt chocolates and various assortments of Lebkuchen.

We found a bookshop, which was great until I had an anxiety attack. I think it was brought on by the fact that I am so used to taking daytrips on my own that I really couldn't cope with someone else being there. Basically I was out of control and hated it! Julia was very nice about it though and did her best to calm me down.

However, I did buy All Quiet on the Western Front in German. I have been meaning to read it for ages, so thought it would be good to read it in the original! I started it on the bus home and had to keep stopping, honestly, because it was so sad. I have read a lot of World War One books about English soldiers and to read the same experiences and feelings coming from a German, and even in German, was really something.

We took a meander around the old town which was like something out of a fairytale. We popped into the big church in the middle of the square. I didn't light a candle this time because there was a service going on, so I just gave my money and took it with me. Mum will find a place for it on her windowsill, I am sure. We fangirled over some old books (6 for 95 euros) and then walked through the newer part towards the train station where we sat in Balzac coffee overlooking the square.

Only in Germany!

It's the first time in a good few years that I have visited a West German city properly, and after so much time spent in Berlin, it really felt different. Everything was so BIG, so pedestrianised, so clean.

The bus back to Berlin was nearly half an hour late but it was a fun day though and hopefully we can go somewhere else together soon. Forgot to buy Mum a magnet though... oops.

Salad invasion and too much crawling

I'm really running out of creative ways to say hello. Do I even need to say hello every time?

Anyway, hi! So now I am 23 and feel no different whatsoever, obviously. My birthday last Monday was spent feeling a bit sorry for myself. Mainly because there was nothing to do at work so I had too much time to dwell on the fact that I was without my family and bored. I bought myself a bottle of wine and some chocolates, and some new clothes because hey why not? I had a nice phone call with mum and Reo called too! They both made me feel tons better. I also got a lovely letter from my niece, which made me cry!

One of the most adorable things I have ever received

In any case though my birthday was pretty uneventful. But Lewis is coming to see me on Friday (eek, not long now) so I guess we shall make up for it then!

On Wednesday I saw my German tandem partner again (okay his name is Tom). We had coffee and another long walk around the city, which included almost getting lost in the Jewish Memorial and me almost having a panic attack because I started thinking about crawling (wow) and me being his tour guide and telling him a ludicrous amount of information about the 1953 Worker's Uprising in the GDR.... I can't help it, I basically only studied the GDR last year! He seemed to appreciate it though.

J and I went to the cinema on Thursday night to see Crimson Peak, and happily for me in the original English! No terrifying German dubbing that night.  The visuals were absolutely stunning and there was a lot of brutal violence (there was a scene when someone got their head literally bashed in on a sink and I swear to God I have never felt more horrified in my life), which is just typical from del Toro. There was also the added bonus that Bobby from Supernatural was in it! That said, the plot was really lacking and it just wasn't a great storyline. It wasn't all that scary either BUT there was a disgusting crawling bit, which you can watch it below, if you desire. My hands will remain firmly over my face.

In other news, I ate steak pie on Friday evening! Tom and I went to this restaurant called East London (I know right! They didn't have pie n mash though so I will be complaining to the management). I was so excited to get my pie fill,  but it was basically just beef stew with a pastry lid. A very nice stew, mind, but still. Also, there was salad on the side. Germans eat salad with EVERYTHING, I swear.

We then walked from Kreuzberg to Friedrichshain, which ended up taking a lot longer than it should have, because the pair of us got confused and Google Maps was not being very cooperative!

When it started to rain quite violently, we ended up going to mine because I think neither of us really wanted the evening to end (wow sorry I appear to have swallowed a rom com) and we watched a hilarious German sketch show. One thing led to another and suddenly we are more than tandem partners. I'm quite happy with this though, it all feels natural, or as Lewis would say 'organic'.

We had breakfast the next day at a caff not far from me. It was so tasty but SALAD! Again! With breakfast! What are you doing Germany?

Excellent, but SALAD

We ended up spending the whole weekend together but  I feel weird writing so much personal stuff on here, so I'm leaving it there, sorry all you nosy people.

On Tuesday last week, Lionel and I met at Italo and it was so lovely! We had the nicest catch-up and ate pasta, drank wine and feasted on a dessert platter for two. It was so great to see a familiar face! We didn't speak French though, oops, but we decided we would do that next time. I was secretly pleased, as I dread to think what my French sounds like at the moment and at least now I have time to practice.

Nothing much of note happened last week, not that I can remember anyway.... J and I went to Hanover yesterday, but that will be a separate blog post as usual.

For now I am just enjoying Sunday. I've done my washing, had some scrambled eggs and some attempt at bacon, and am going to settle down with coffee, biscuits and a book. (After I've finished all this blogging stuff, naturally).

Laters xxxx

"What are pubes? Like children?"

Hello!

It's been a busy couple of weeks here in el Berlino. Work has been busy and interesting. I've been doing a lot of SEO stuff, and had a puzzling time attempting to explain the basics of keyword research in German, to a Romanian. I also read an interesting CV the other day, in which the man had written his date of birth and in brackets next to it 'under Nixon's presidency'. That's really interesting and everything but how is that relevant? Am I missing something? Who cares that I was born when John Major was in charge?

 I can't believe how fast time is going. It's my birthday tomorrow though I must say I'm not that excited. I'm turning 23 and honestly, what is there really to celebrate? It's a bit of a non-age, and I still feel like I'm 19 at heart. Physically more like 80, but there you go.

Anyway.

The Saturday before last was Tag der deutschen Einheit, so I went and checked out the festivities at the Brandenburg Gate, and also went to the Deutsches Historisches Museum. It was free thanks to the festivities.

"What things do you associate with the East?" Just thought this person's drawing was great.

I went out with S and her flatmate Esmeralda that night. We went to Matrix on Warschauer Strasse. It was pretty good, mainly because I spent most of the night observing people. There were 3 types of dancers there that night - the ones bopping their heads and taking leisurely swigs from their beer (aka, me), the tourists trying to dance in the cage and deciding that they never want to go home, and the people waving their arms madly like coked-up Mr Tickles.

 I had the worst hangover ever, a headache ALL day, throwing up, could barely eat and just sat sweaty and oozing toxins in bed all day watching Supernatural.... I'd only had 4 beers!!!! What a sick joke this old age thing is. Gone are the days when I could do 15 shots of vodka in a row. (That is not an exaggeration. I wish it was)

I met a new tandem partner on Wednesday, because let's face it, Stephan creeps me out, and my the other one was a bust. It was successful and we spoke for like 4 hours straight without realising! Turns out he is a massive bookworm like me, and so we decided to meet at Dussman's at Friedrichstrasse on Friday. It is an absolutely enormous book shop and we were in there until 10pm, talking about books and poring through the shelves. He can speak brilliant English for someone who is self-taught, but I had to explain to him what pubes were... he thought they were something to do with children?! (Like pupils, he said hahaha). We then went for coffee at a Viennese coffee house (suddenly I really want to go back to Cafe Demel!) and ended up walking around Berlin until, like, 3am. I've honestly not had such a good time with someone in a long time. We have so much in common! He insisted on walking me home, which I was absolutely astonished by. I mean, I am so used to doing everything alone and taking care of myself that I was flummoxed by such a suggestion. But it was very nice of him, albeit a bit silly because it was out of his way and he was waiting for a train home at 4.30 am! However, I do believe I made a good friend.

Surprise underneath my cup "Life is fast enough" 

Berliner Dom and the Festival of Lights

Lionel also got in touch, and as I expected and fervently hoped, he suggested Italo for dinner in a couple of weeks. Really looking forward to catching up with him and dusting off my French hat. Kat and Spencer sent me a thank you card from their wedding and told me they would be back in April so I'm looking forward to having a beer with them too!

I went to the cinema with S and J on Tuesday after work. We saw 'Inside Out' and I have to say it was absolutely brilliant. Addressing mental health in such a way that children can understand is commendable and I was honestly so touched by it.  All three of us cried at the end. It was also hilarious at times though!

This destroyed me. Still weeping.

J and I met today for a coffee at Potsdamer Platz, and then walked to the Hauptbahnhof. The autumn weather really is here. The air is so crisp and fresh, and there's that dead-leaf smell everywhere.

Aside from all that, I have also spent a lot of time wondering what I should do with my life. Go back to England and do a Masters in Translation? Stay here in Berlin and either stay at this job or find another one? Distance Certificate in Egyptology? Masters here in Germany in Marketing? I DON'T KNOW. I thought I had this post-Graduation life sorted, but apparently I too have been swallowed up into the graduate void.

Who knows?

Until next time my friends
xxxx