Dresden - 27th July 2007

As is my wont, I left München reasonably early on the Friday, wanting to get as much time in Dresden as I could, as I only had one night. As it was, I eventually arrived at my hostel mid-afternoon ish, chilled out a bit and talked with my roommate (a lovely Canadian lass by the name of Kim) before wandering out on a whistle-stop tour of the sights. Despite its small size, Dresden's a beautiful place, with many things to see. The old town has been completely rebuilt since the Second World War, and the architecture is amazing. I spent a couple of hours wandering around, taking pictures of all and sundry, before heading back to my hostel for a nap.

Later in the evening, Kim and myself hit the town for a bit, and once again I was impressed with what Dresden had to offer. We started in a punk bar below the hostel, and later relocated to a metal bar around the corner, and a good time was had by all :)


I had to leave early the next morning to make sure I was back in time to pick Matt up from the airport in Berlin, but nonetheless I thoroughly enjoyed Dresden, once of my favourite places so far!

Innsbruck/München - 25th-26th July

On Wednesday I left early and, after saying my goodbyes to Mike and Lisi, got myself a train to Innsbruck, where I intended to spend my lovely summer afternoon. At least, I thought that was where my train would take me. In fact, it took me to some obscure Austrian village I'd never heard of, from which I had to take a replacement coach to a similarly anonymous (though quite possibly amazing) village, then another train. Eventually I arrived in Innsbruck with an hour to spare before my connection to München. This was obviously a little less time than planned, so I quickly headed off into the old town. Luckily Innsbruck is a small place, so it was actually perfectly feasible to see a good deal of it in the time I had. It's also a very picturesque place, and I had a great, if all too brief, time seeing sights such as the Goldene Dachl (a roof tiled with gold) and the amazing mountain scenery which frames the streets of the town. However, it was soon time to move on, so after a bite of pizza I hopped on my train to Munich.


Now, as it turned out, my friend Holly, who currently resides in Munich, had got her diary in a bit of a tangle and very nearly forgotten I was coming to visit, but nonetheless managed to meet me at her nearest U-Bahnhof after work, and we went for a bit of a beer and a catch-up. After said catch-up we then progressed across the city to eventually find ourselves at a dinner party held by some of her friends. The food was all very enjoyable (meat fondue!), though I was rather tired from my day of heavy travelling, and caught myself rather impolitely falling asleep during the video we watched afterwards. Oops!

The next day, holly had to work, and I took myself off into the city centre to be a tourist. A cheap tourist. The same company whose free tour i took with Jane and Dani in Berlin also off a Munich tour, so I hopped along for the ride. Munich's rather a pretty place, and we took in the Old town Hall, New Town Hall, Glockenspiel, Frauenkirche, Viktualienmarkt, Hofbräuhaus and some other bits and bobs. It's also full of history (though not as much as Berlin!), so it was all in all an interesting day. Later on in the afternoon I met up with Holly again, and she biked me (some of the way) to the Englischer Garten, which quite confusingly contain a Chinese pagoda and lots of German beer. After that, we had a quick freshen-up then went for pizza and drinks with some more of Holly's friends. Fun!

Graz, Austria (22nd-24th July)

My semester at Humboldt finally came to an end on Thursday 19th September. I spent a few days saying goodbyes to all the lovely people I'd met there, then on Sunday evening set off on my penultimate journey of the year. I'd acquired myself a ten-day Interrail card, and my first stop would be Graz to visit my friends Michael and Lisi. To this end, I booked myself a couchette on the night train to Vienna, a 12 hour express over the border to Austria. This in itself proved to be an interesting experience, as in our cabin were situated six bunks, all of which were booked. This resulted in me taking a top bunk, which I was quite surprised I managed to sleep in without falling off!

My connection from Wien eventually got me to Graz around lunchtime, where Mike and Lisi were waiting for me. They'd been having a bit of a busy time themselves, so after a bit of shopping we had a relaxed lunch before I dragged them into the city with me. Graz was the first "Germanic" city I visited 3 years ago, so it was interesting to see it again from a different perspective. It certainly seemed a lot smaller than the last time, but I still like it very much. The weather was very warm, so we didn't do anything too active, but had a stroll around the centre and up to the Schlossberg. We also ate ice-cream, which seems to be a legal requirement there.

Before too long, we'd seen pretty much everything, so we retired to the park. Here we met some of M&L's friends, drank wine and played cards, generally being lords of leisure for a few hours. As evening fell, we retired further to the flat, where we met more people and played poker for a while, until the effects of my long journey took their toll and I had to curl up for the night.

On Tuesday we had intended to go up into the mountains and swim in a lake, but as luck would have it, cloudy skies were abound and the forecast was for rain. So we did what any sensible Austrian would do instead - we went to a cave. The Lurgrotte is a cave system over 10 km long, and has some amazing rock formations. The tour lasted about an hour and was very interesting, though I was disappointed not to see any bats. My disappointment was soon washed away by the amazing platter laid on by Lisi for lunch - Kaesekrainer (cheese-filled sausage), potatoes and fried egg on a bed of seived spinach. Outlandish to those from Ausland, but nonetheless a delicious concoction. The rest of the day consisted of another walk in the town (which was rained off and into the local armoury) and a visit to the Gösser brewery/restaurant/pub affair. Here we dined on Weisswurst, Brezeln and Bieramisu (yes, it is what it sounds like), and drank a number of delicious local beers, my favourite of which was the Schneeweissen. A pleasant evening to round of the first of my last cities :)

Nearly done!

Oof. It's been a busy old week or two, so it has. I've now done and received marks for the majority of my exams, and generally done pretty well. I still have one small assessment left, which I've not actually received yet, but when I do, I have pretty much the whole summer to do it and send it back, so now is time to relax :)

Last weekend was Gemma's birthday, so on Saturday we all went out for a meal at some mexican place near me, then later travelled on to the Kulturbrauerei, where Gemma had pretty much booked out one of the clubs. The food was very nice, even if the service was terrible, and the club was good, all kind of chilled-out and things. Also of note, I spent some time that evening speaking to Dom from Hollyoaks, as he happens to be a friend of Gemma's! He's quite cool, although his real name constantly escapes me. And I know I shouldn't watch things like Hollyoaks, but being a student, it just sort of happens...

I'm coming towards the end of my time in Berlin now, so I've also been wandering around a bit taking photos of the everyday sights I see and things I do here. Not had chance to upload them yet, but as I'm not quite finished on that front either, it'll have to wait a while. Work in progress, that is.

Very soon I'm going to be all systems go again...Sunday evening I take a night train to Austria to visit Michael and Lisi, who I've not seen for 3 years! After that I'm going to bob off to München to see Holly, then grab a day in Dresden before picking Matt up from the airport in Berlin. We have a few mad days here, a few more at WACKEN and then I have a couple of days to pack and everything before finally going home. Weird.

A Week of Culture

Well, last week was somewhat different. On Wednesday, myself, Johanna and my flat mate [sic] Martin went to the Berliner Ensemble theatre (designed by none other than Bertold Brecht, for those of you who give a hoot) to see Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (Warten auf Godot in German). I'd never seen or read it before, in any language, so it was an interesting experience, and it was also great to see a play in a place with such importance to the shape of modern theatre. I'm not going to go into great detail, because if there's one thing I've learned this semester, it's that in-depth analysis of plays, books etc really bores my socks off if it's someone other than me doing it,but it was....good.

A day later, not to be phased by the onset of exams and the like, I trundled off to Columbia Club to see Porcupine Tree. Not in any normal sense of the word a "metal" band, Porcupine Tree are something of an enigma on the rock scene. "Prog" is the label more normally attached to them, though comments such as that which I read recently in a German issue of Metal Hammer, describing their latest album, Fear of a Blank Planet, as "one of the most important metal albums of this year so far" are not uncommon. Generally they enjoy a mutual respect from most parts of the music world as one of the most innovative bands going, and as such this lead to a very interesting crowd. Long-haired metallers lined up next to what, in England, may be described as "chavs", with a smattering of emo kids and old, Pink Floyd types to make up the numbers.

Personally I arrived towards the end of the support act, Pure Reason Revolution, by whom I was rather impressed. With a mixture of two frontmen and one frontlady, playing various guitars, keyboards and other bleepy objects between them and all contributing vocal-wise, it was one of the more interesting support acts I've seen for a while, and it was good to see such young musicians trying (and, in this case, succeeding) to do something innovative without resorting to banging their instruments on the floor or generally disappearing up their own arses. I advise getting their album if you're into this kind of thing, I'm doing so soon.

Anyway, during PRR's set I slowly and subtly made my way towards the front of the crowded room, like the seasoned gig-goer I am, and by the time the first clock-tickings of the title track of Porcupine Tree's new album sounded, I was in optimum position for the show. Which was stonking. None of them may look like consummate rock stars, but this was completely beside the point, as their music basically speaks for itself. They broke the new album up throughout the evening, playing old favourites and a couple of obscurities in between. All in all, a very good show, and 2 bands I'd definitely pay to see again.

Plan for the weekend was mainly revision, but after a good day's work on Friday, I felt I deserved a break, so myself, Johanna, Hanna, Martin, Marcus and his brother went out for a few drinks, starting at Bar 103 in Kastanienallee and ending up rather unexpectedly in Roter Salon down at Rosa-Luxembourg Platz. It has to be said, not as much work got done the next day as hoped, but I did get my hair cut. Far too short for my liking, but isn't that always the case?

Freiburg and the Schwarzwald

Last weekend, as is my wont at the end of a month, I hopped on a train again, this time to the opposite corner of Germany to pay my good friend and housemate Clarissa a long overdue visit. It's quite ridiculous that we'd not seen each other for over a year, so despite 6 hours and over €100 worth of train journey, it was well worth it :)

I actually arrived in Freiburg slightly ahead of Clarissa, as she'd been home for a few days, so I took it upon myself to wander around a bit. It's a nice little town, maybe a bit bigger than Västerås, but prettier. However, due to it's size, I was perfectly capable of doing the rounds of most of the sights before Clarissa even arrived, and did just that. After taking lunch in a café Johanna recommended to me, that is. And most spiffing it was too, but I won't go into detail, as I feel I've already written enough about food to fill a seperate blog on its own, and I'm sure I'll mention more later, too.



Clarissa rolled in about six o' clock, and our plan was to drop things off back at hers, freshen up a bit then go out and see where the night took us. However, a year of catching up takes its toll, and nearly 7 hours later we were shocked to find it was nearly 11 PM. As the weekend went on, we eventually came to realise that we were spending most of it in our own parallel dimension where time worked completely differently, and as such shock at where the real world was up to became a regular occurrence on the odd occasion we saw fit to interact with it.

In any case, we did eventually make it outside to a little bar which soon became the "local" for the weekend. Here we ate, drank and made merry all at the same time, but not for very long, because they were almost literally throwing us out when they closed at two. Having both had travel days, we were actually pretty tired by that point, so slumber was the best option anyway.



This slumber continued at a leisurely rate until well into the morning, though we still managed to complete our agenda for the day. Upon arranging my visit, Clarissa had stated that she "hoped I liked trees", as that was pretty much all the area had to offer. As luck would have it, I am partial to a good tree, and the Black Forest certainly has them in abundance. With this in mind, we too a tram, a bus and a cable car into the nearest corner of it, and had a wee ramble around the hills etc. We don't have much in the way of real forests in England anymore, and as most of my travels have been train-bound this year, I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite on this scale before. It was amazing, and I was very happy.

Upon returning to the "centre" of Freiburg, we had a bit of a nibble and a drink, which soon became a couple of cocktails, and before we knew it we'd lost time again. Despite this, we did eventually make it back home and then out again in time for a visit to Schlappen and then the local rock club,Crash, which was celebrating its 25th anniversary, or some such. As such, it was pretty busy and full of interesting types, our personal favourite being a pensioner in a suit and straw hat, with an impressive beard, who spent most of his time on the dancefloor. I don't know what it is about Germans, but they seem to have no shame in this kind of thing. It's great.

Sunday morning was once again late, so I shouldn't have been surprised or offended at the wry smile our waiter gave me when I asked for breakfast at 3 PM. But I was, and as he went on to speak to us in a combination of French, English and German, he gradually worked his way out of a tip, despite an excellent breakfast. Foreigners eh?

The rest of the day was spent pretty much in the same way, just in cafés, bars and Spielotheks...pretty much the only way there is to spend time in Freiburg, it seems, but pleasant nontheless. We arose a little earlier on Monday in order to take another extensive breakfast with another strange waiter before my train home. It was truly wondrous to see Clarissa again, and also fun to frolick in the Schwarzwald, a much-needed break before the onset of exams. This week, in between revising, there are two trips to the theater and a Porcupine Tree gig. More on that story later.

Midsommar!

As you will already know if you take notice of these things, last Thursday was the summer solstice – the official first day of summer. In England, not a place renowned for its summeriness (as demonstrated by the fact Sheffield is currently flooded), this is no big deal, but the Europeans, especially the northern ones, tend to make quite a fuss about it. Being as I associate on a frequent basis with a number of Nordic types here in Berlin, and with a view to my time in Sweden, it was inevitable I take part in the madcap schemes planned for the weekend.

These schemes began on Friday with a journey to Tierpark in very East Berlin, where hordes of (mainly) Swedish students were amassing on the lawn. By the time we arrived, the afternoon as sunny, but not ridiculously warm, blue and yellow ribbons and ballons were strewn around the vicinity and a banquet-sized table cloth lain out on the floor was slowly filling up with all manner of things both Swedish and edible. Within a couple of hours, all the food was ready, a cross (of planks appropriately purchased from IKEA) had been erected, and the guests numbered anywhere between 30 and 50. And thus we tucked in.



On offer, amongst other things, were köttbullar, various types of herringsil, crackerbread, potatoes and a range of cheeses. To go with this, pear cider and Vodka (snaps substitute), and to go with these, Snapsvisor – Swedish drinking songs, which I was surprised to recognise a couple of. It was a most luscious spread, topped off later by excessive strawberry consumption. And dancing around the midsommarstång, something which has to be seen to be believed.

After a couple of hours, Mr. Rain started to feel a bit left out and attempted to join in the festivities, thus causing us to take them inside. Later on, the fun continued in not one but two clubs, until the break of dawn. Well, when in Berlin…



Though not as madly into the whole thing as the Swedes, the Berliners were also celebrating midsummer this weekend, and to that end myself, Johanna, Jenni and her 2 Finnish visitors had a wander down to the island in Alt-Treptow, where word had reached us there would be a medieval festival in order to celebrate the “Sonnenwende”. After a little confusion at the fact the festival wasn’t in the main park itself, and a wander down the river, we eventually found said island, and, along with it, said festival.



The poster had promised, amongst other things, a medieval market, music, dancing and knights, so it was a bemused group of ERASMUS students who wandered through the gate into an area not much bigger than my back garden. Yes, there was a medieval market, but as to just where the knights were meant to joust, and indeed where they were at all, we were somewhat uncertain. However, the market felt pretty authentic, and after a look around it, we settled down at a table to watch the music and dancing. The audience wasn’t huge, but numbers began to swell as the show went on, and it was both a pleasant and interesting experience, with a great range of quaint and intricate wooden instruments being put into use.



However, we tired before too long, and while the Finnish girls went off to do more sightseeing, myself and Johanna took to exploring our general area a little more, having never previously been to Treptow. After an hour walking through the woods and the park, we came to the conclusion it was big. However, we did eventually find our way out, and decided to stop for food and ice cream at a bustling biergarten on the way. The ice-cream was good, but the real attraction soon revealed itself in form of the ‘entertainment’ provided. There was a small stage, occupied by a DJ spinning the kind of “classic disco hits” one would expect to find at a family reunion party or wedding anniversary - Whigfield, Cotton-Eye Joe et. al. And dancing to these songs, in all their timeless glory, were the largest group of tipsy, elderly Germans anyone could ever wish for. And they were really going for it. Pointing in the air, hip-thrusts every which-way, the lot. Dani, if you’re reading this, you would have loved it. Some of them were even wearing bum bags.

A fitting end to a glorious weekend’s celebration of a festival I’ve never even paid attention to before, I feel. The next weeks promise to be busy: there are only 3 weeks of semester left here, and as such my time is drawing to an end, but before I finally return to the hallowed land known as Engl, I’m going to be on the road again to visit Clarissa in Freiburg, as well as friends in Graz and Munich, before catching a bit of Dresden and showing Matt the delights of Berlin. Then there’s Wacken. And somewhere in the middle of all that I have some exams too. Joy!

Type O Negative

So, as I was saying…a few weeks ago, I was going to see Type O Negative at Columbiahalle in Berlin. And see them I did. And it was one of the strangest gigs I’ve ever been to.

I suppose the clue should have been in their surprise opening track, a cover of The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour. Not many bands would open on a cover, least of all one so far away from their own stylings in its original form, but then, Type O Negative aren’t many bands. They proved this further by continuing at full pelt (if the term truly fits) through songs mainly from their new album, Dead Again, for 40 minutes before disappearing off the stage without having spoken a word to the audience.

This turned out to be a theme for the evening. Whereas most bands, when doing a headline gig, would go out onto the stage and play for 90 minutes to 2 hours, briefly disappear and then return once, possibly twice for an encore of no more than 3 songs, Type O disappeared off the stage no less than four times throughout the evening, each for about 5 minutes, and only once at a point in the set where one would traditionally expect an encore. To be honest, I found this a little frustrating, though it didn’t seem to unduly bother most people. I doubt very much whether anyone else would have got away with it though!

Another thing that was strange was the fact that Kenny, the guitarist, seemed to be singing a lot more than he does on the records. He actually has a very good voice, so I didn’t mind at all, but it was strange nonetheless, especially as I don’t remember him singing much, if at all, the last time I saw them. What was also funny in this respect was that, last time I saw Type O Negative, I knew none of their material, whereas this time I was quite familiar with most of their back catalogue, but still didn’t recognise a lot of what they played. Nor did they play the songs I expected off the new album, save for The Profit of Doom. Still, Type O Negative have never really been a band to do the expected, and they pulled off a good gig in spite of it. As only they could.

A bit of Berlin

This month is my month of simply "being" in Berlin. No travelling (til the very end of it), no visitors, just living as one would normally live in such an amazing place. I can't remember exact details of everything that's been happening, but here's some highlights...

1) Weinerei. Been here a couple of times this month, and I expect there shall be more to follow. The idea is that you pay €1 for a glass when you enter, then you keep refilling this glass from the selection of wines available, and upon leaving, you pay what you belive your evening has been worth. I'm not a big wine drinker, but this concept appeals to me, and also seems quite typical of Berlin, which is fun.



2) Gigs. Actually, I went to one just before I went to Salzburg, Mnemic, Nightrage, Slowmotion Apocalypse and Karras @ Knaack Klub, which i forgot to mention in my hurry to recount all my travellings. Generally a thrash/"melodic death metal" (an odd term if ever there was one) evening, in rather a small club...nothing too amazing, but good fun nonetheless. Good to get gigging again, it had been a while. This Friday I'll be going seeing Type O Negative, so more on that story later....

3) Swedish things. Last Wednesday was Swedish National Day, so myself and Johanna went to celebrate at Ikea. Not most people's first choice of a party venue, I know, but it's the most obvious place to eat Swedish food in Berlin. After that, we went for cocktails somewhere in Kreuzberg with hanna and a load of friends from back in Sweden she had visiting. This was fun :) Also of note, in IKEA we found the first written evidence of our new language, "Schweutschlish" (Swedish/German/English), in a sign advertising "Köttbullar to go für €1".



4) Uni. Sadly, I am actually here primarily for "business reasons", and as such I have to do some work every now and then. This morning I did a presentation on the German Hausarbeit (it's sort of a dissertation), and I may also have to say something about a poem this afternoon. It's also not too long til the end of the semester now, where we have to sit some lovely exams. Oh joy.

5) Neuer Mitbewohner. I have (another) new flatmate. Except this time there are 2 differences to my previous ones. He's both German, and Normal. This can only be good, so I felt it was worth a mention.

6) Flunkyball and BBQ - being as Berlin has a bloody great park in the middle of it, as is our wont (and that of many other Berliners), we have been known of late to go and have a Grill there. Here we also play flunkball, a game involving balls and bottles of beer. I'm not sure if it's German (it was introduced to me by Norwegians), but it's fun.

7) Mauerpark/Flohmarkt - I currently live surprisingly close to where the Berlin Wall used to stand, and right on the border of a Sunday there's a sizeable flea market in the park there. You can buy everything from bikes to portraits to plants to hats...it's great, and as such I've splashed a little of the old birthday money on a couple of things.

Think that's about it for now, pictures and further reports of things to follow!

And this is our cat, Lulu:

Salzburg! – 25-28th May 2007

It’s a while since I’ve been to Austria, so I was rather looking forward to my next trip. It’s been a pretty hectic month, and as it turned out, this was the perfect way to wind down a bit. My friend Werner (amongst others), who I know from Sweden, lives and studies near Salzburg in Tirol, so it was time for further reunion activites and a bit of a break from the hectic big-city lifestyle of Berlin for the bank-holiday weekend (Pfingsten, or Pentecost, in Germany and Austria). After a few technical issues (unusual for German trains) and a missed connection, I eventually arrived in Salzburg early evening, and myself and Werner took a stroll through the city before hopping into a local eatery just in time to avoid the sudden onset of a summer storm. Here we did a bit of catching up, and I reacquainted myself with a little of the Austrian dialect. Werner also explained that there wasn’t actually a great deal to do in the area, as it’s quite small, but as I said, this suited me fine in the end, and it couldn’t have turned out much of a better break. We had a casual evening playing cards over a few beers with some of Werner’s friends and listening to music, which was rather pleasant.

The next day we rose at leisurely pace, and breakfasted likewise on fresh bread, cheese and assorted hams. I was beginning to remember why I like Austria. This memory was jogged further as we strolled ten minutes down the hill to the local lake…the scenery in Tirol really is stunning, and I was quite frankly in awe of the lake and mountains in the summer sun. We ate lunch back with Werner’s parents, as it was his Dad’s birthday, and it was delicious :) Saturday afternoon we first visited the local football tournament, held annually at this time of year, before heading on down to another local lake/beach area. He we found not only more of Werner’s friends, but also some of mine, Vic and Barbara, who I also know from Sweden. It was good to see them again, and we spent the afternoon generally lazing around and occasionally nipping in the water for a quick swim, which was much-needed, being as the weather was so ridiculously warm.

After a quick refresher, we headed on out again to the centre of Salzburg. We stopped first by two friends of Werner, Stefan and Helena, who were having a little pre-party. Here much fun was had, and we later moved on to a (the?) local rock bar for the remainder of the night, where further fun, laughs, and Manowar were had. Very good night :)

Sunday should always be a leisurely day, and it was with this in mind that we spent a good deal of time lazing before we finally got back out onto the road to head into the Salzkammergut, Austria’s rather impressive answer to the Lake District. Here we visited Mondsee and Wolfgangsee, just two of the beautiful lakes the area has to offer. Naturally considering the weather and the bank holiday weekend, there were quite a few tourists around, but it was nowhere near as bad as it can get in England, and if you ask me, it was also much nicer.

Later on in the evening we travelled back into Salzburg to get something to eat and a couple of Apfelschorlers (or “Apfelsaft gespritzt”, as the Austrians like to say :P ) with Vic. It was a balmy evening, and the conversation and company was good. It was, however, another early one, not least due to the scheduling of the next morning.

After getting up, breakfasting, packing and saying my farewells to Werner’s parents, we headed into the Old Town of Salzburg for a whistle-stop sightseeing tour before my train home. Now, I realise this could have been done earlier in the weekend at a more leisurely pace, but Salzburg is quite small, and as I tend to sightsee everywhere, I much preferred to spend the majority of my time in the other ways available to me. Within a couple of hours we took in all the main sights, including the Mirabelgarten, Mozart’s Birthplace and the Cathedral. Salzburg’s a lovely little place, and I had a great weekend. Vielen Dank nochmal sowohl zu Werner als auch zu seiner Eltern und Freunden, die mich so wilkommen und wie zu Hause gemacht haben. Und Grüße auch zu Vic und Barbara, hoffe wir sehen uns bald wieder! :) :)

Sweden Reunion Part 2 – 18-20 May 2007

And so it was, that the weekend after my parents had been here, Jane and Danielle popped over to see me and Berlin. Sadly, Emily did not make the trip, as she slept in and missed her flight, which everyone thinks was a bit silly of her, but Dani and Jane arrived in one piece and with relatively little confusion on Friday evening, despite the fact Dani was driving. We took a moment or several to catch/freshen up before heading out for the evening. We wanted to keep it fairly low-key, as we had a big day ahead of us on the morrow, so we started off by inducting Dani into German culture in the only place possible – the Biergarten. Here she enjoyed, in addition to our company, a large bratwurst, a pretzel and a Berliner Kindl with a strange-coloured shot in it – all very traditional and German. She was most impressed, and we happily soaked up the ambience for a while before moving on to another couple of bars in meiner Nähe then calling it an early night.

The next day I had been hoping to show Jane and Dani my wonderful U-Bahn line (I feel it is here for me personally, as it usually stops practically outside my house), but alas, it is currently undergoing work, so we caught the tram and an S-Bahn to the Brandenburger Tor, where our adventure for the day was to begin. A friend of Jane’s had recommended the New Berlin Free Walking Tour, which, being students, we couldn’t resist as a sightseeing option, so we met up with some people in red shirts and a large number of tourists to be allocated our group. Our guide for the day was a tall Arizonan chap by the name of Charlie, who was very interesting, if a little overenthusiastic at times. The tour began with a brief history lesson around the Brandenburger Tor and Reichstag, which in itself was good for me for filling in the gaps in my knowledge. We then moved on to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and the former site of Hitler’s bunker, where he finally died. Everything was colourfully recounted, and I really got a feeling of how much went on in the city and country in which I currently live, which was amazing. We then moved on to take in the largest remaining section of the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie, and afterfter a short lunch break along Friedrichstraße to the Gendarmee Markt, where the Deutscher & Französischer Doms are situated. Eventually we finished up around the Berliner Dom and Museeninsel, where we were treated to a lively account of the fall of the wall. All in al it was an excellent tour, and I feel much better equipped for living here having learned all that I did along the way. I think Jane and Dani were also amazed by the amount of history which happened in the very places I live my everyday life at the moment. It was, however, a somewhat tiring experience, especially in the heat of the early summer, so we went back to mine and chilled out for a while before beginning the evening’s festivities.

When they did begin, it was at Rice Queen, a Chinese eatery around the corner from me. Cheap and splendid, was what it was, and it fuelled us nicely on to the free open-air Opera taking place near my university. We spent a while here pretending to be cultural on a budget before moving on to the night’s main event – the New Berlin Pub Crawl. Run by the same company as the tour, it took in 5 bars before we hit the Matrix club. All in all, it was a good night, though it was a little strange for me to be out with so many English speakers! Fun was had by all however, and that’s all that matters.

Due to the returning of the hire car to Bonn, Jane and Dani had to leave Sunday evening, so we spent the day thereof in a relaxing manner, wandering down to Potsdamer Platz and the Topography of Terror exhibition at the wall before a bit more chilling, packing and farewells. It was a good weekend overall, if a little short, and it was great to see Dani and Jane again. We all agreed to have a reunion in Las Vegas in a few years too, so there’s another excuse for some more travelling!

Photos

So, I've noticed my blog is rather lacking in colour of late. I don't have the internet at my flat, which makes it difficult for me to upload visuals of my adventures...i'm currently putting them on my photos site from this wireless cafe, but probably won't have time to link them into here. so i'll do that ASAP, promise. I'm not sure how many of my eastern europe ramblings are online either, i'll look into that. And i'll do a blog soon of jane and dani's visit, and the gig i went to last night. hopefully before i go to Salzburg next weekend, otherwise this could get really complex...

Visiting

Being as I currently reside in Berlin, and also partly due to the fact I’ve just had my 21st birthday, a few people have been keen to come and visit me here, so there’s a bit of that coming up in the next few weeks. It started last weekend with my parents. They arrived Thursday evening (10th May), so after my Swedish class I found them at their hotel and we went out to eat at a steak bar, where I savoured the nuances of Ostrich, and my mum had her first experience of the seasonal Spargel (asparagus) menu. It was all rather tasty, and we did a bit of catching up and planning for the weekend before I was issued with my birthday presents.

Friday morning we hopped on an S-Bahn to Potsdam, on the outskirts of Berlin. Occasionally referred to as “The Versailles of the North”, the generously proportioned park in Potsdam boasts a number of extravagant palaces, gardens and associated whatnots, once inhabited by the Royal family of Prussia. It’s all very impressive, and we spent pretty much the whole day wandering around the various grounds, oohing and aahing at what was on display. As it wasn’t a weekend, and the weather was a bit naff, nowhere was too busy, and we quite easily got on tours around a couple of the houses too, which was very interesting and also quite glamorous. We did, however, have to wear ridiculous slipper things over our shoes, apparently to protect the marble floors and such, though more likely because a few hundred tourists shuffling around the place a day must save quite a bit on floor polish.

Later on Friday evening we rendevouzed once more for food, this time selecting a very German place going by the name of the Kartoffelkeller, or potato cellar. Once inside, we soon realised the reason for the name – it was in a cellar (albeit a large one) and they certainly weren’t pulling any punches on the potatoes. The place was full of noisy German parties, and obviously very popular. It was a great atmosphere, and we all thoroughly enjoyed our somewhat unorthodox Pfannengerichte, containing all manner of things from apple and fried egg to shrimps.

The forecast for Saturday was rain, so we decided it would be a good day to visit the various indoor wonders of Berlin. We began right near the university with Museeninsel (museum island), where we visited two museums with very unique collections. The Pergamon Museum is basically made up of various huge and impressive collections of architecture from all over the ancient world, unceremoniously displaced from their original homes to Berlin by German explorers. Though the idea itself would never have washed with the authorities today, it makes nonetheless for an extraordinary collection. My personal favourite was the Ischtar Tor, a massive blue stone gate from a palace in Babylon, decorated with dragons and lions (see attached). To be honest though, very little in the Pergamon Museum was short of amazing, and we spent a couple of hours in there before moving on to the Altes Museum, where the Egyptian collection boasts, amongst other things, the mask of Nefertiti. Again, this was very interesting, though I have to admit it lost its effect somewhat in comparison to the Pergamon. But then, just about anything would have done, I think.

Once we’d completely museumed ourselves out, we had a coffee, then wandered down the road to the cathedral (Berliner Dom). It wasn’t open, but we took some pretty pictures of it then made our way back to Alexanderplatz, where we took advantage of the short queues to climb the Fernsehturm (TV Tower). This wasn’t something I’d been particularly taken with doing, as I couldn’t think of much worth seeing from the sky in Berlin, but I have to admit to really enjoying it. I think this was mainly because I’m pretty familiar with what’s in Berlin and how it’s all set up by now, so it was great to see it from another perspective, rather than just on a map. After this my parents wanted to see my flat, so I took them there, introduced them to the cat, Lulu, and then we went around the corner to a typical German pub for some typical German food. As I was being a tourist for the weekend, I felt this was acceptable behaviour, and as a result have now discovered the closest thing to my local pub here in Berlin, with a good range of well-kept beers and a slight feel of “this is a local pub for local people”. Being as I’m a local person until mid-August, I think that might go ok.

Berlin is currently home to one of the biggest celebrities in Europe, and on Sunday we went to pay him a visit. The celebrity in question is small, white and furry. His name is Knut, he’s a baby polar bear, and he lives in the Zoologischer Garten in Berlin. The hype there’s been in Germany about this polar bear is quite frankly ridiculous, so we weren’t surprised that we could only view him from a distance because of the crowds and queues. We did spend a while watching him though, and he is quite cute, though it has to be said he’s already getting a bit too big for that tag. Quite what the Berlin media are going to do with themselves once this becomes obvious, I’m not entirely sure, but that’s their problem.

Of course, Knut’s not the only animal in the zoo, and we also visited, amongst others, orang-utans, capybaras, giraffes, hippos, bison, llamas and a large range of lizards, reptiles and aquatic chaps. My personal favourite though, was the as-yet-unnamed baby jaguar, discreetly getting used to the world away from the crowds still entranced by Knut. We were actually lucky enough to see its mother carry it around in her mouth before washing it from head to tail with its tongue, an act which I got on video. In fact, most of my experiences in the zoo were on video rather than photo, as I decided it was a bit more memorable, and also easier to take through glass or bars. Speaking of which, I feel I should just mention that I really wasn’t comfortable with the way the big cats were kept in the zoo. I’m not much of an environmental activist, and for the most part I thought the animals were fairly well-treated, but the size of the cages these creatures were forced to live in was ridiculous compared to their size. They’re called “big” cats for a reason, and while for a newborn cub it may be better to keep it inside, you could tell by the way creatures like the black panther were pacing up and down that they weren’t happy in such an enclosed space, and with no sunlight. It’s no wonder that, on the odd occasion one of them escapes, it goes on a bit of a killing spree.

Anyway, rant over. That night we ate at another traditional german restaurant before taking in the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church and going home for the night.

On Monday I was back to lectures, so I left my parents to their own thing for a bit before meeting them later in the afternoon to take a trip to “West” Berlin (it’s not really relevant to refer to the two former halves of the city now, though it is interesting to note that, but for the previous day’s trip to the Zoo, this was the first time I’d ever ventured properly into the West). We spent our time milling around the shopping areas, where my parents were kind enough to furnish me with a new pair of jeans before we took our afternoon tea in an exceedingly upmarket manner in KaDeWe, Berlin’s most famous department store. The cakes were ridiculously good, and after more wanderings we polished off the evening once more in the Kartoffelkeller.

Tuesday was the day my parents were due to leave, and due once more to uni work, I left them to their own devices again in the morning, then met them for lunch before I went for my language change lecture and they went for their flight home. It was nice having them here, and good fun to show them around what I already knew of Berlin and play tourist for the weekend seeing bits that were new to me. It’s still all systems go though, because as I’m writing this, I am expecting a phone call any minute from Jane to say that her, Danielle and Emily are lost somewhere in Berlin, being as they’ve hired a car and driven up here from Bonn for the weekend. By the time this finally goes online, they’ll have been and gone, but I’m just using what time I have to keep myself up to date, even if I can’t promise the same for anyone else who might want to read this!

Getting Older – Around Monday 7th May, 2007

So, this weekend I finally turned the big 21. Bit of a strange thing, being in Germany for it, but in a way that might make it all the more memorable. I’ve been getting around Berlin a bit more recently, and it really is a great place. I’m very glad I’m here and not some smaller place where boredom can set in easily. I’m not sure I could ever get bored of Berlin, it’s a place that seems to always be changing (you could probably say it’s “happening”), and it’s also huge, so I don’t think one could ever feel like one had experienced everything here.
Last Friday a few of us decided to take advantage of the sunshine to go for a picnic in the Tiergarten. This was a very fun idea, and after a busy week it was nice to just laze around doing nothing for an afternoon. I also remembered to take my camera for this, so there’s some pictures not only of some of the sights in the middle of Berlin, but also some of the lovely people I’ve been spending my time with here J On Friday evening, one of our Swedish friends, Johanna, had a WG-Party, which was also much fun. One thing very strange about Berlin is the distance one finds oneself travelling for everyday events like this. Not many of my friends here live near me or each other, at least not in great numbers, but we all quite happily travel across the city for up to an hour to socialise with each other. It’s just something we’ve got used to, I think, or at least I have been doing. I suppose for those who’ve lived in a big city before, it’s probably not as big of a thing. Anyway, good party!

Which brings me quite nicely, in a roundabout way, to my birthday. Though the day itself wasn’t until Monday, uni commitments decreed that the more raucous of the celebrations should be redirected to the weekend, and so it was that on Saturday evening, we all went for a night out in Prenzlauer Berg. As the weather was still balmy, we began in the Prater Biergarten, a large-scale outdoor drinking affair which I’ve taken rather a shine to. After this we passed by another bar before finally tramming it down to Magnet, a club which can be (and often is) described with the blanket term “alternative”. It was only the second time I’ve been to a club in Berlin, but a good night was had by all, I believe. Thanks to everyone for coming!

On Monday I awoke with not that much of a shock to discover I had become 21. I opened all my cards from home before my morning lecture (unfortunately the Germans take a holiday on the actual first day of the month, not the first Monday, as in Britain). It went reasonably well, and I spent the rest of the day organising bits and bats before the evening festivities commenced. We had a rather nice meal in an Indian restaurant just round the corner, where I treated myself to the novelty of a duck curry, before taking ourselves off to the bar from the other night. As the weather had taken a somewhat drastic turn for the worse, we decided to situate ourselves inside this time, and thus made our way to the uncharted areas of the basement. This was really quite pleasant, and very Berliny. 3 couches (one zebra-striped) are complimented by two table football tables and old cinema seats on the wall. I had a great night, so thanks to everyone who came along!

Goudaland! (Amsterdam & Utrecht, 27th April-1st May 2007)

Not long had I begun my studies in Berlin before I was on the road again. It’s becoming something of a force of habit now, but at least this time I had good reason. Michiel, a Dutch friend from Sweden (if that makes sense), had spent the past few months organising a bit of an ERASMUS reunion for Koniginnedaag (Queen’s Day), a big national celebration in Holland. Not that I needed an excuse, but after 7 hours of train journey I made it to Utrecht by the evening of Friday 27^th, and was welcomed at the train station by Michiel and Outi, who had flown there earlier in the day. It was good to see them again, though the strangest thing was that it wasn’t actually strange…just like normal. Always the best way, I feel! A few hours after me, Jane arrived, then Johannes (D) and Raquel (E) a little later. That night we just had a couple of quiet drinks in Utrecht, then retired to our beds. It was, after all, going to be a long weekend…

We awoke the next day to the sound of drums being played badly and noisily, as if by an uncontrolled child. It should have been no surprise, then, when we shuffled down to breakfast to find our entire hostel was populated by German school kids intent on making the most of the novel facilities provided. The place was absolute chaos – it was difficult to move, let alone get food – but luckily the hostel possessed a plentiful larder, and after a few minutes the children disappeared completely, leaving us to breakfast in peace.

It wasn’t until the afternoon that the remainder of our party was due to arrive, so after taking our repast we wandered into Utrecht to have a look around. It really is a lovely little place, lots of canals, cafes and pretty little houses – just what one might expect from Holland. It also boasts a rather impressive Gothic cathedral, which I went rather snap happy with. Myself and Jane also caused a passing policeman some distress in our touristing efforts, to the extent that he pulled up next to us as we were taking in the canal to ask in Dutch why we were taking pictures of green water. I’m not sure what Michiel told him, but it probably involved the words “crazy” and “foreign”, which seemed to be a satisfactory excuse. After a few hours in the centre, we took ourselves to a café and then back to the lawn outside our hostel to relax and enjoy the glorious Dutch weather while waiting for the others to arrive. By late afternoon the rest of our group (Werner, Mareike, Anne, Bruno, Julian and Doro) had arrived, and they went having a look at Utrecht while Jane and I went on a desperate hunt to find shorts with which to combat the almighty sun. After 2 hours, we failed miserably, and got lost into the bargain. That wasn’t great, but that evening we all went out together and ate at an Italian place by the Kraach (canal – think that’s the right spelling!), before relocating to a bar for the rest of the night. All good fun, and it was good to spend time with so many people from Sweden again.

Sunday we finally made it to Amsterdam. Queen’s Day wasn’t until the next day, but it was still really busy, and incredibly hot. Overall though, we had a good day, got to see plenty of Amsterdam, including a boat tour along part of the canal system, though I did miss out on nearly all my food aims for the day (prawn sandwich, waffle, pancakes, ice cream). Later on, myself and Jane found our way to the Anne Frank house, which was very interesting. It was set up by her father, the only surviving member of her family after the war, and tells her whole story. The evening was quiet, as we were all somewhat knackered, so we crashed early in preparation for the big day.

I have to say, I’ve never quite seen anything like Queen’s Day. For one thing, I never knew so much Orange existed in the world. The streets were full of it, and the people covered in it, including ourselves, on Michiel’s instructions. I think the reason there isn’t that much Orange in the rest of the world must be that the Dutch horde it all for this special occasion. It was quite amazing. We spent the morning wandering the streets, wearing silly hats, drinking beer and eating waffles, as it seemed to be the done thing. The atmosphere was great, people dancing and singing all over the place, and lots of little stalls selling various related items. Jane treated herself to a big orange whistle, I’m not quite sure why. Personally I stuck to the inflatable orange crowns I was planning on hording as the day went on – a plan soon put to bed by the rather excitable wind present at the time. By early-mid-afternoon-ish we’d made our way to a central park, where they’d put up a big stage which was showcasing Dutch musical talent. I’m not sure I’d normally describe the entertainment as such, but all the same it was very much fun, though we did eventually all tire quite early, and by about 7 we were on the way back to Utrecht. Needless to say, we didn’t go out that night, as most of us were due to leave relatively early in the morning, so we just spent a bit of time lazing around the hostel, as the children had disappeared by this point.

All in all, I have to say I rather like Holland. The lack of hills somewhat disturbs me, but despite that it’s a very picturesque place with plenty to offer. It was great to see everyone again, and I’d love to go back there sometime when it’s a bit less manic to see things properly. Big thanks to Michiel for organising the whole thing!