On Granddad's trail

I don't actually think that I mentioned where I was going the weekend before last, so you're all probably on the edge of your seats with suspense. If you're expecting some terrific adventure, stop here, because I stayed with an old lady in Büdelsdorf/Rendsburg in Schleswig-Holstein. No, this isn't one last desperate attempt to have a German tandem partner-she met my grandad when he was part of the occupying troops there after the war.

She and her sister were only young (10 and 4), but they remember him coming to their house with sweets and even reading them bedtime stories. I've known about them for a long time, as my Grandad wrote to them frequently. After he died, I wrote to tell them and they have always kept in contact with us, so I thought it would be lovely to meet them finally!

I took the train on Saturday afternoon and had an hour to have a little walk around Hamburg. I didn't see much, and it was so bloody hot that I'm surprised I didn't just melt. I saw the Alster which was gorgeous in the sun, with the sailing boats bobbing along.

A teensy weensy bit of Hamburg

I didn't get fantastic impressions about Hamburg, but come on, I was there for no time at all and didn't see a lot!

When the train pulled into Rendsburg station, there was a woman with a red rose on the platform and I knew it was Helga, because she'd told me on the phone she'd be carrying one. So cute.

So my weekend of solid German speaking began! Helga showed me around her house and garden and introduced me to her cat. Then we went for dinner at a little place on the high street.

The following day, we went to her sister Erika's house and we all went down to the canal to see the big ships. They have liveed in Büdelsdorf their entire lives, and their grandfather worked on the canals, so the water is in their blood. We spent Sunday in Erika's garden, drinking tea, eating ice-cream and having a very German cold supper. Helga and I went home and watched a Helene Fischer concert, and I learnt the verb 'naschen'. I nasched a lot of chocolates that evening. It was honestly great, as it brought back so many happy memories of spending time with grandparents.

I'm sorry, but this is awesome

On Monday, Helga took me on a proper little tour of everywhere. The house where they lived when my Grandad used to visit is still standing. It's now office space, and has a MacDonalds next door, but STILL. That was pretty eerie.

Their old house

The whole town of Rendsburg was lovely, and again, was just strange to think that my Granddad had been here all that time ago! We lit candles in the church for my grandparents, bought some postcards, saw the old site of the barracks where Granddad would have lived, and had a currywurst for dinner.

Paradeplatz (Granddad lived just off this square)

It all went very quickly though, and it wasn't long before they were seeing me off at the train station, and loading me up with peaches, sweets and cartons of orange juice. Bless them! I did take a picture with them, but I don't know how'd they feel about being thrown around the internet on my blog, so I'll be keeping that one to myself, also, it's a disgusting photo of me. So everyone's happy.

It was a lovely break from the city as well. I'm glad I went to see them! I also think that my German has actually improved since then? Maybe I'm imagining it, but three days solid of speaking German has definitely improved my confidence, if nothing else. It was also quite strange to hear a different dialect: the first time someone said 'moin' to me, I just stared at them in wonder. Plaadeutsch was quite fun though, it sounds like a mix of Dutch and English really, but I couldn't really understand what Helga was saying when she spoke so fast on the phone to Erika.

Anyway, it was lovely! I feel like it was definitely worth doing.

Me, myself, and my sister

It's been nearly 2 weeks since my sister visited so I reckon I should probably pull my finger out and write a blog post about it! I left work early to fetch her from the airport and found out her flight was delayed which was a fabulous start, but we were soon reunited with a bear hug and headed straight to my place for a cuppa. I gave her the tour of my flat and then we headed off to our hotel-weirdly opposite the place I was taking my language classes. Weirder still was that our room directly faced it!

The room was gorgeous and although we were both tired, we headed to Kotti for a burger. It was really strange sitting opposite my sister at the same table I'd sat with Sophie a few weeks ago. We decided we'd get some sweets at the supermarket and chill back at the hotel and talk into the small hours, which we did, and it was so lovely to have some sister time again.


The next day was sightseeing, but a lot less strenuous than mum's visit. We walked to the Brandenburg Gate, saw the Reichstag and couldn't really see the Tiergarten properly because of the Fanmeile.

Then the walk to Potsdamer Platz and the Jewish and Homosexual memorials on the way. We stopped for some baked goods, before setting off again and saw the remains of the wall at Topography of Terror. Joy was horrified by it all and couldn't believe that she was 8 when the wall fell. She just couldn't get her head around it! Then we walked on towards Checkpoint Charlie and stopped at the old-fashioned photo booth to get our photos done. I did this with mum and it is adorable! It costs 2 euros for 4 photos, they're black and white and like the old photo booths where you could change your pose every picture. We did it twice so we could each have a strip, then realised a queue was forming and the photos took like 10 minutes to develop. Ooops.

The paps caught me

After Checkpoint Charlie, I showed Joy the currywurst museum where we got samples to try, then declared it was time for coffee so we sat outside Coffeefellows for like 2 hours, putting the world to rights and nattering away. Then we took a walk down Unter den Linden, seeing the Berliner Dom, before going to the Nikolai Quarter. We wandered around for a bit, and I acquired a new friend! Thank you Joy!

Meet Müller (after the footballer, NOT the yoghurt. Joy, I am looking at you!)

We sat and had a beer, then we had dinner at a nice little restaurant, and thought the food was nice, but the guy on the table next to us was, quite frankly, a complete tit and shouted the place down about how awfuk his schnitzel was. He even called the waiter a 'fucking idiot'. What confused me though was that when he was ordering he asked what 'Kalb' was (it's veal) and then after the whole incident we heard him say to his friend that he'd been coming to Germany since he was 3 and that was the worst schnitzel he'd ever had... well, how did he not know what Kalbschnitzel was then?! In the succint words of Rik Mayall, he was an "utter, utter bastard".







After that, we headed to Alexander Platz (by the end of her visit, Joy was also calling it 'Alex' and I am very proud). We were up there a couple of hours, enjoying the views as the sun went down. I tried my best to look for where I live, but just couldn't spot it, even with the binocular things. It was a bit cloudy on the horizon so we'll blame that. We took a stroll home, going past several prositutes very suddenly, and finished off our sweets in the hotel.

Elephant selfie!

We allowed ourselves a bit of a lie in on Saturday and we toddled off to the zoo at about 11. The Zoologischer Garten is home to the most exotic species in the world, and, because there is more than one zoo in the city, Berlin has the most zoo animals in the world. I know right? It was pretty awesome. We saw an Asian elephant rub her eye with her trunk, a baby elephant, POLAR BEARS, grizzly bears, hippos, Melmans (giraffes), lots and lots of monkeys, wolves... I could go on and on. We went into the lion house and were horrified though. One lioness was outside and the other lioness and lion were inside. They were boiling hot- the lion was pacing and panting, and the lioness was sitting on her haunches scratching the hell out of the door. It was horrible. Then all of a sudden, they began to growl and whine. I have never heard a lion make a noise before, and it was pretty insane. The whole building was just echoing with these poor lions. I probably would have wet myself if they had actually roared... We tried to put it behind us, but it definitely made us uncomfortable. We sat for a bit at the restaurant and then went to the aquarium which was fun-I've never seen so many jellyfish!

Sorry but I love this

This was just too adorable not to post.

I tried to grow up once. It failed.

That night I took Joysie to the Oberbaumbrücke and East Side Gallery briefly, before we headed to the Mexican that Joe and I had been too before. It was better than I remembered. Mainly because we were watching the Brazil-Chile game, we had cocktails, and then a strange ruccus happened outside with a man and his bike. He was shouting all up the street and at one point threw his bike in the middle of the road. a lady got out of her car to move it, it was in her way, and the man shouted 'no you leave my fucking bike there'.  Sorry, what?  The police turned up and he eventually sidled away, with his bike in tow. Odd.

Next day was our last day sadly. We checked out of the hotel and headed to mine, where we had lots of baked goods and tea for breakfast. We spent the day looking at my photos and watching YouTube videos. It was good to just hang out! Time went too fast as usual, and suddenly we were back at the airport. We had a coffee together and then about 30 million hugs. There was a girl saying goodbye to her mum there, and we figured she might be a Year Abroader as well, which was making me well up!

This is me and the Bear outside Rathaus Neukölln

And my favourite selfie 

All in all, it was so lovely having Joy here, and I'm glad I got her the chance to show her this brilliant city. Everyone that has visited has said I am less stressed and more comfortable which is great to hear, since I've informed them all that I will be returning at some point!

Tschau xx

Vienna, du bist so bloody schön

After being excited all day at work, and suffering very badly from Friday afternoon syndrome, it was finally time to get the bus to Vienna! I was so stressed getting to the bus station because, well, it's me.

I ended up sitting next to a large snoring man, but at least I had the window seat and could bury myself as far that way as possible. I didn't manage a massive amount of sleep, mainly because I just couldn't wait to see Austria for the first time. It didn't disappoint. I woke up just as the sun was rising, to see rolling hills and farms bathed in soft pink light and mountains rising in the distance. It was the definition of idyllic.

Ugh, well it looked better than this in real life ... awkwaard

Enough of me pretending to Wordsworth. I met Sia at the station and we went straight to hers for breakfast. On the way we went past the parliament. My jaw actually dropped. It looked like someone had winched it over from Ancient Greece.

The Parliament

The day was a very busy one, yet at the same time really lovely and relaxed. We started off at the cemetery (none of you should be surprised by this). We were, of course, looking for the graves of Beethoven, Mozart, Strauss, Brahms and Schubert. We found them, primarily by following a large group of Chinese tourists.

Next up, Sia took me to Belvedere Palace and again, I was just like 'oh woah'. The views from here were stunning and I couldn't get over the fact that I could see mountains. The last person to live here was Archduke Franz Ferdinand! We also saw Karlskirche, which was beautiful inside. We then decided we were hungry and grabbed lunch, sitting in the shade of the cathedral near Sia's uni, before heading down the road to Cafe Landtmann for a Sachertorte. This cafe was lovely and was apparently the preferred coffeehouse of Sigmund Freud - but there'll be more about him later. I also quickly decided that Viennese coffee is superb.

Moi outside Belvedere

View from the palace

Following that, we went to the Museum Quarter, where I again marvelled my little head off. We were now in the Hofburg Palace and, boy it was something. I was excited to see all the Ancient Egyptian stuff, including a mummified crocodile. We saw the rest of the first floor as well, and the whole place is just ridiculous. It's not quite as insane as Versailles but it's still like, guys, really?

Creepy

Roses in the Hofburg Gardens

Then I saw the Spanish Riding School to see the famous Lippizaners! I only saw them in their stables but whatever. I'll be back in Vienna at the end of August so we're going to take a tour then.

After a long day of being sweaty, we went back to Sia's to freshen up before going to the dinner concert. It definitely ranks in my top 10 year abroad moments (maybe I'll make that list happen when I leave). The food was good and I even tried some fishy stuff, which was brave of me, because I hate fish. Everything was traditional Viennese and the performances were so much fun to watch! Near the end, we were treated to 'Edelweiss' and the whole room joined in, followed by 'The Blue Danube', danced to by a lady in a gorgeous red dress. It ended too soon, but as soon as we stepped outside onto the square, there was a massive disco going on? We weren't sure what it was, but we grabbed a beer and had a little dance to Queen and the like, before dragging ourselves on home.

Please excuse my humming and muttering

Probably one of our nicest photos together! (stolen from Sia)

Sunday was a bit more chilled and after a nice breakfast, we headed out to Schonbrünn Palace. You know what I'm going to say, right? It was stunning. We took the little tourist train tour, which took us to the top, to the Gloriette. From here, you could see the Palace with the city behind it, and then some mountains. Sigh. We sat on the grass for a while, taking in the view and having a little picnic.

Outside Schonbruenn

Sia and I on the little train

View from the top! (I stole this from Sia)

On our way back down to the carriage museum in the main building, we stumbled across some mazes and decided to try our luck. I think we did okay! Put it this way, no one had to come rescue us and we sent up no flares.

Sia in the maze

We went through the rose garden and then into the carriage museum. Granted, it sounds a bit random but it was really interesting. One of the carriages on display was the one that Napoleon used for his coronation in Italy! They also had the HUGE funeral hearse for Queen Sisi, which was pretty morbid but incredible, and was last used in 1980 ...

Sneaky museum pic ooh

Anyway, it was good and after that we sat down for a cool drink before going home. Sia cooked for us, which was lovely, and we had dessert at Cafe Central. This cafe was also beautiful, complete with a pianist.

We were both incredibly excited for the Prater; one of the oldest Ferris Wheels. It's pretty huge too, and one of the most well known symbols of the city. It took a little while to get on, but get on we did and enjoyed a gorgeous night view of Vienna and the fun fair below. We rustled up some money for the water log ride and then I determined to find an ATM because we'd walked past a fun house that we just NEEDED to go in, okay?! And yes, before you ask, I did fall over at one point. But it was hilarious.

Trying to be arty ...

On Monday, we started with the Hundertwasserhaus, a really awesome apartment block that has trees growing through it. I bought most of my souvenirs here and then we went onto the Sigmund Freud Museum. Everybody at least knows his name, so to stand in the rooms that he used to practice psychoanalysis was incredible. I bought a pen inscribed with 'Prof. Dr SIGM. FREUD', because I like to think this makes me quirky and interesting. We lunched on Schnitzel, followed by yet another Sachertorte, but this time in the very building they were invented.

Hundertwasserhaus

Wienerschnitzel

We had dinner at a really nice Hungarian restaurant,which unfortunately did bad things to my tummy which had me almost in tears on the train and locked in a toilet without toilet roll. Sigh. It was time for me to go catch my bus home ... and go to work that morning.

Anyway, it was such a good weekend, and I'm looking forward to going back already! Next up is my sister's visit in two weeks time!

xxx

On being a tourist (guide)

Hi! It feels like ages since I last properly blogged. Since then, I've spent hours in muesums, given up on Jean, signed up for German evening classes, danced all night to Madonna, toured my mum and her partner around most things of historical relevance, had an accident and have pretty much finished planning my August adventure. 

So a couple of weekends ago, it was der Lange Nacht der Museen, where museums are open until the early hours. My mum's initial reaction when I told her about it was "What's so special about that?" Oh mother! You are right about 99% of things, but not this. What could be better than sitting on the steps of a museum filled with ancient Greek treasures, cup of tea in hand, at 12.45 am? Who needs alcohol when you've got a two day museum pass? Not me mate.

'Telephos goes to Argos' This amused me greatly.





the stuff of nightmares

who put the glad in gladiator? HERC-U-LEEES

Biggest dinosaur skeleton in the world, or sumfink

There was a room filled with sealife in jars.

Dunno what my legs are doing, but CURRYWURST

There was even an interactive takeaway van thing. This is Sophie serving you chips.

It was genuinely great, and Sophie and I clocked up 7 museums in what, 12 hours? The Pergamon (architecture), Neues (where Nefertiti's famous bust is), Altes (Ancient Greeks), Bodes (not entirely sure of the central theme, but a fair amount of Jesus), Naturkunde (nature, and the obligatory dinosaur skeletons), the Currywurst Museum (!!!!) and the Museum at Checkpoint Charlie, which was really moving. We got quite into it, and each bought a postcard of our favourite exhibit from each one.

Next item on the list - the German Tandem Partner Situation. I genuinely do not understand what happened there. I am not gonna make you read reems of my hypotheses. Lionel is still around though, and to combat the lack of Jean, I signed up for an 4 week evening class course. I just figured I needed something. It was also born out of a moment of mild panic when I realised that I have 2 months left and my German is not as good as I want it to be! Yesterday I tried out a class, and I loved it. Due to time issues, I can't go to B2 classes because of work, so have to make do with B1-B2. It's fine so far and is quite nice to feel like a freaking boss but I might go to a C1 class just to see if that is challenging enough not to be painful, if not, I don't mind too much staying in this class I'm just worried I will get too comfortable and complacent ...



Saturday  before last was Madonna night. Hilary, Guy, Hilary's flatmate Daniel and I headed out to a Club in Neukölln (yes!) at like 1am and sweatily danced the night away to Madonna, Kylie, Britney ,etc. It was awesome. Mainly because of the fact there was music with lyrics, shock horror. And a lot of oiled, but sadly homosexual, torsos jumping around.


The next day my mother arrived! I was so excited to see her, and it was so cute to see her little face bobbing in the crowd. We went out for dinner that night at Italo, which was lovely because my mum loves Italian food and was in her element. The following day, my historical tour began. Starting with *deep breath* Potsdamer Platz, Brandenburger Tor, tour of the Reichstag, Soviet War Memorial in the Tiergarten, the memorial for the 1953 uprising at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Topography of Terror and a brief glance at the former Gestapo HQ, Checkpoint Charlie, Bebelsplatz (where the Nazis famously burnt the books), St. Hedwig's Cathedral, Berliner Cathedral, coffee in the Nikolai quarter, East Side Gallery and the Oberbaumbrücke and then finally DINNER.

Gross of me, but mum looks cute

It was just a prelude, because when you burn books, in the end you burn people too.

The Nikolai Quarter is so pretty

Mum bought me a new friend. Meet Sigmund.

'I remember'

East Side Gallery

Bit minging, but one of my favourite places in Berlin

Tuesday started off badly, that's for sure, as I somehow managed to slip and get my left leg stuck in the gap between the train and the platform. It felt like I was there forever but Mum has since assured me it was not even a minute before she pulled me up. After crying hysterically from the shock of it, we located a pharmacy and I patched up before I gallantly hobbled onwards to continue their tour. The leg is still bruised and still hurts. Sigh.


First off, I took them to J.F Kennedy Platz, then onto Ku'damm and the church, followed by the Siegesäule. We all paid to go in and the information was interesting but there was no way I could climb 285 spiral steps with my poor limb, so Mum and I didn't climb it in the end. Next stop was Bernauerstraße and the Wall Memorial. I visited this with Lewis in 2012, but I had no idea just how extensive the memorial was; the whole street was demolished to make way for the wall and so has been preserved almost in it's entirety. You can see the foundations of a church that once stood in between. You can see foundations of houses that were ripped down because people were using the windows that looked out onto the west side to escape. There was even video footage of a man shimmying down a sheet rope from a window. Lastly, they preserved part of the Death Strip. You climb a big viewing platform to see it properly and it's just, awful. Awful to think that it was only 24 years ago that it came down. The East Side Gallery is interesting, but I think Bernauerstraße really makes you realise just what this wall was, even though I will never get my head around it. It's a really tasteful memorial too, and I was pleased to see people were being respectful.

Do I really need to caption this?

After that, we rushed over to the Stasi Museum. By now it was absolutely chucking it down, so the weather was quite conducive to the tone of the day! We only had an hour there, so I showed them the most important bits. My mum has always been interested in spy stuff, so she was simultaneously fascinated and horrified.


We then went for dinner, opting for a place at Alexanderplatz. It was initially really good, until after we had eaten no one asked us if we wanted more drinks and we waited half an hour for the bill ...
After we all had a bit of a strop, we bought some biscuits and wine and hung out at their hotel until gone midnight.

hab' dich Lieb, mama

After dropping their stuff off at mine the next morning, I gave mum her birthday card and little present and there were some little tears too. Then, as an extra special birthday present, we went to see the site of Hitler's Bunker. It was chilling, and not just because it was pissing down. Saying goodbye at the Airport was not too bad, as Spencer drove me home so I had to dump them and run really. It was lovely seeing mum, and I think I can make the next couple of months now!

I spent the holiday weekend in Vienna visiting Sia, so there'll be a post soon about that! And last night, I went for drinks with Joe and the gang, as Joe will be knocking around el Berlino for a couple of weeks. Yay!


Bis bald
xxx