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!

Busy busy Busy!

Well, it certainly has been a while. I’ve not really stopped since my last update, what with one thing and another, but I did have a very strong urge to start this blog in German just now, so I suppose that must be a good sign. Also, I’ve become used to using a German keyboard (I’m typing this on my laptop), so I keep thinking Y and Z should be the other way round. Because that’s how they are in Germanz. I’m still webless at home, but hopefully sometime soon I’ll have worked out a way of uploading my photos from the past couple of months, so this whole page will be a lot more colourful.

But that’s all a bit by the by. The point is, Berlin is fun, and I’ve been having a lot of it. Fun, that is. Though not all in Berlin. The end of the first week of lectures myself, Kasper (DK) and Sam (Australia) went for a few drinkies in a little German pub before moving on to the club where the ERASMUS party was located. I’m glad we did this, not only because Sam and Kasper are fun, but also because, as far as being welcoming goes, the party was a bit of a let-down. It’s a 1000-capacity club, and thee were a lot more real life Germans than international types. Basically it was a normal club night, only we got to skip the queue, so I’m glad I knew people before I got there! It was a really good night though, bumped into a number of people I knew, and stayed out til the break of dawn, which was a laugh (when in Berlin…) Also, the night before, I was at a WG Party (flat party) at Gemma’s, one of a number of my compatriots here. This was also fun, though I had to leave early due to having a seminar…on a Saturday morning. It was a one-off though, so it was OK really.

Also, the week after that I got the chance to see some of Berlin, and learn more about its unique history. The ERASMUS types here had organised a trip of the Scheunenviertel – part of the former East Berlin, so a few of us tagged along for that. The number of what would pass for “sights” in a normal city was low, mainly consisting of part of the wall and Alexanderplatz, but our guide was very knowledgeable and gave us a great insight into much of what had gone on in various areas, and how things have changed since the wall came down. I remembered my camera too, so there’s a few snaps of that.