Yes, indeed, another boring day at the lovely temp job. But, I am getting paid. And I got to spend a lot of time on an application I am submitting to one of the museums here. I won't say much more than that, as I do not want to jinx myself!!
We had a power failure in the office today, so for three hours or so, I quite literally couldn't do any work. My computer died, as did most of them in the office. The lifts didn't work, so when I came back from lunch I had to climb 96 stairs to reach the office on the fourth floor!! And the heating won't be on in the morning either which is lovely.
So I am sitting in the inernet cafe now, staring at the screen with sore eyes. I think I got eye strain from being in the dark most of the day!
My brain hurts, but I wanted to say hello to everybody. :-)
Toodles
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
A new job
Hello there. I am sitting at my new job at the moment. A new temping assignment that is, not my dream museum job that I shall get shortly (keep your fingers crossed anyway!). Today, the bos was not in, which was kind of silly. No one knew what I was supposed to do. So all day, the only things I have done are open the post, sort out the post, and do a mailout. Boring! But, this job is a PA position, and I have never done anything like that before! So I am sure I will bugger it up along the way, I am nervous about meeting the boss tomorrow too.
I really want to meet people here in London. It is hard to meet people. Scott is becoming mates with people at work, but temping really doesn't give me many opportunities to make friends. I miss my friends at home a great deal. I miss being able to talk to people on the phone or in person, going out shopping/for coffee, etc. I know I am moping a bit at the moment, and I apologise, but it's the way I am feeling. But at the same time, I am determined to meet people, Australians and otherwise, and to make friends. It is my New Years resolution! Yay.
I have another hour to go until I get to go home. I could go home early, but I will get paid more if I stay. Make sense?
I hope everyone is well. I am very curious just how many people read this, and yes I have said it before. But I am!! Please tell me, either comment or email me, or esp is ok too. :-)
I really want to meet people here in London. It is hard to meet people. Scott is becoming mates with people at work, but temping really doesn't give me many opportunities to make friends. I miss my friends at home a great deal. I miss being able to talk to people on the phone or in person, going out shopping/for coffee, etc. I know I am moping a bit at the moment, and I apologise, but it's the way I am feeling. But at the same time, I am determined to meet people, Australians and otherwise, and to make friends. It is my New Years resolution! Yay.
I have another hour to go until I get to go home. I could go home early, but I will get paid more if I stay. Make sense?
I hope everyone is well. I am very curious just how many people read this, and yes I have said it before. But I am!! Please tell me, either comment or email me, or esp is ok too. :-)
Monday, January 03, 2005
A day out in Greenwich
Today was a bank holiday (the English term for public holiday) so I didn't have to work. In fact I start a new job tomorrow, in The Strand, which will be nice. Hopefully! It will be good to work in a different part of town at least. So, seeing as though I did not have to be anywhere today, I decided to head off to Greenwich. Scott had to work today, but that's ok, because we will have to go back!
I caught the tube to Bank, and changed to the Docklands Light Railway, which is the scarey tram-like service with no drivers!! Anyway, got off at Greenwich and found the Cutty Sark, a large ship from the 1600s sometime. I took a few photos and found the information centre and got a map and a whole bunch of pamphlets. I decided to go to the Royal Observatory first up. It was a bit of a hike, through Greenwich Park and up the top of a hill. But it was worth it. The view from the top of the hill was great. I could see the Millenium Dome, most of greenwich itself and the River Thames.
The Royal Observatory is free to get in, which made it even better! I saw the Greenwich Meridian Line, where all longitudes are measured from. I wandered through the museum they have set up there. It's really very good. There were many astronomical instruments on display, as well as information panels, models, etc. There was a camera obscura as well, which is a lens and a mirror set up at the top of one of the towers. It projects the image of Greenwich (what it can "see")
onto a white painted table in a blackened room. It was really interesting.
From there I wandered back into the main street, grabbed a bite to eat and then headed off to another museum. This one was the Fan Museum. A museum dedicated entirely to the art of the fan. Quite well done, but could do with more of it's collection on show. There was a certificate in the ladies', congratulating the museum for the "Best Loo". Hmmmm.....
It was starting to get dark at this point, so I wandered down to the ferry, and bought my ticket. I caught a ferry back along the Thames into Embankment, where we were yesterday, and then two tubes home. And here I am!
There are so many great places to see and things to do in this city. I am determined to do as many of them as I can. It's what I am here for, right? I really enjoy wandering around, and I really enjoyed my day today. I went where I wanted to go, did what I wanted to do. It was a great day. It is kind of a shame that I have to go out and earn money! But if I want to travel around, then I have to earn the cash to be able to spend it!!
I caught the tube to Bank, and changed to the Docklands Light Railway, which is the scarey tram-like service with no drivers!! Anyway, got off at Greenwich and found the Cutty Sark, a large ship from the 1600s sometime. I took a few photos and found the information centre and got a map and a whole bunch of pamphlets. I decided to go to the Royal Observatory first up. It was a bit of a hike, through Greenwich Park and up the top of a hill. But it was worth it. The view from the top of the hill was great. I could see the Millenium Dome, most of greenwich itself and the River Thames.
The Royal Observatory is free to get in, which made it even better! I saw the Greenwich Meridian Line, where all longitudes are measured from. I wandered through the museum they have set up there. It's really very good. There were many astronomical instruments on display, as well as information panels, models, etc. There was a camera obscura as well, which is a lens and a mirror set up at the top of one of the towers. It projects the image of Greenwich (what it can "see")
onto a white painted table in a blackened room. It was really interesting.
From there I wandered back into the main street, grabbed a bite to eat and then headed off to another museum. This one was the Fan Museum. A museum dedicated entirely to the art of the fan. Quite well done, but could do with more of it's collection on show. There was a certificate in the ladies', congratulating the museum for the "Best Loo". Hmmmm.....
It was starting to get dark at this point, so I wandered down to the ferry, and bought my ticket. I caught a ferry back along the Thames into Embankment, where we were yesterday, and then two tubes home. And here I am!
There are so many great places to see and things to do in this city. I am determined to do as many of them as I can. It's what I am here for, right? I really enjoy wandering around, and I really enjoyed my day today. I went where I wanted to go, did what I wanted to do. It was a great day. It is kind of a shame that I have to go out and earn money! But if I want to travel around, then I have to earn the cash to be able to spend it!!
Sunday, January 02, 2005
A touristy day in London
Before I tell you about what I did today, I must wish everybody a Happy New Year!! I can't believe it's 2005 already! For New Years, Scott and I had a reasonably quiet one. We caught the tube into central London, to Green Park which is close to Piccadilly Circus. So we wandered down Piccadilly towards Trafalgar Square, where they had big screens set up for people to watch the fireworks on. An odd idea to me really. Trafalgar Square is a big hangout for people on New Years, but we wanted to avoid that. We walked down Whitehall (are you all seeing a Monopoly connection here??) down to the Thames. We shuffled our way through the crowd and found ourselves on Westminster Bridge, with a perfect view of the London Eye. Excellent. We were about 70 metres away from Big Ben. The fireworks were amazing. Absolutely brilliant. There were so many people out there though. It took us an hour and a half to walk two kilometres because of all the people!! We walked down to a tube station away from the centre of town to avoid the crush! A great New Years though. I hope everybody had a great one...
Yesterday was a lazy day, as all New Years Days should be. We hired a couple of DVDs and watched them. We are the only ones in our house at the moment which is nice, but quiet too. I miss people. It is my new years resolution to meet more people. It has been difficult so far as we were travelling then it was Xmas etc, but I am determined to meet people! Any ideas?
Today was fun. We headed off to the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. It was so much fun. They had many old trams and buses that we could climb in, touch screens for information, and a giant ticket that you could punch at 14 different points in the museum. I had so much fun, and I learnt a lot about London's transport, which was great. I was interested in the tube particularly, as I was told that it started quite early. In the second half of the 19th century actually, which impressed me.
From there we had a look at the Covent Gardens market. Not a great deal there, but good to look at. Had lunch there too. From there we headed down to near Trafalgar Square to the Sherlock Holmes pub. That reminds me, someone commented on Scott's jounral and said they were Sherlock Holmes, I am very curious to see who they were!! The pub was nice, and we had a drink there. From there we walked to near Embankment tube station to see Cleopatra's Needle. This is an obelisk from Egypt from 1500BC given to London in the 19th century.
We jumped on the tube at Embankment and went to Angel. The reason for this? We had learnt at the Museum that Angel station has the longest escalator in the London Underground system. So, of course we had to check it out!! It was fun, and I got to take some photos too. What a dork. :-)
Anyway, I think's that's all for now. Take care people. :-)
Yesterday was a lazy day, as all New Years Days should be. We hired a couple of DVDs and watched them. We are the only ones in our house at the moment which is nice, but quiet too. I miss people. It is my new years resolution to meet more people. It has been difficult so far as we were travelling then it was Xmas etc, but I am determined to meet people! Any ideas?
Today was fun. We headed off to the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. It was so much fun. They had many old trams and buses that we could climb in, touch screens for information, and a giant ticket that you could punch at 14 different points in the museum. I had so much fun, and I learnt a lot about London's transport, which was great. I was interested in the tube particularly, as I was told that it started quite early. In the second half of the 19th century actually, which impressed me.
From there we had a look at the Covent Gardens market. Not a great deal there, but good to look at. Had lunch there too. From there we headed down to near Trafalgar Square to the Sherlock Holmes pub. That reminds me, someone commented on Scott's jounral and said they were Sherlock Holmes, I am very curious to see who they were!! The pub was nice, and we had a drink there. From there we walked to near Embankment tube station to see Cleopatra's Needle. This is an obelisk from Egypt from 1500BC given to London in the 19th century.
We jumped on the tube at Embankment and went to Angel. The reason for this? We had learnt at the Museum that Angel station has the longest escalator in the London Underground system. So, of course we had to check it out!! It was fun, and I got to take some photos too. What a dork. :-)
Anyway, I think's that's all for now. Take care people. :-)
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Back in England
Hello out there!!
Yes, i made it back to London yesterday, with decidedly more luggage than I left with! Oh well, it was all in a good cause, and some of it will be consumed anyway. For Scott I bought some apfelwein (apple wine, kind of like cider), some Darmstadt beer, chocolate, some cherry chewing gum, pink grapefruit chewing gum (yes, Scott likes his weird chewing gums!!), and some tea bags that make gluhwein, which is the hot spiced wine that Gremans drink at Christmas time.
The flight back was good. I was very early to the airport, but I would much rather be early than late. So i checked in, said goodbye to Gisela who had kindly dopped me at the airport, and went through security. I was warned about there being two security checks, and that i should leave 40 minutes. Ok, fine. I went through the first lot, then had a look at some shops. I sat down in an empty gate lounge and drank the fruit juice I had bought myself. Then I wandered towards the British Airways end of the terminal, to find that there was another security check. My stuff was x-rayed again, and this time there was no walk-through metal detector. So I had a metal detector run over my body by some lady. Nice. I made a comment that it was a bit personal, but her English obviously wasn't good enough to understand what i said! The woman x-raying my bag picked up something metal in my bag and wanted to have a look as it was a strange shape. It was my flying pigs hair clip. She thought it was very cute, and proceeded to show it to her collegue. I don't understand why they needed a second security check. It was only if you were going through certain gate lounges.
While I was sitting in the gatelounge, before the second security check, I walked over to the window. And guess what? It was snowing. So on my trip to Germany it snowed the day I got there, and the day I left (but only after I was safely through immigration etc). Unbelieveable!!
I made it back to the house, Scott met me at the tube station which was nice. It's always handy to have a porter!! Went back to the house, unpacked a bit, wrapped Scott's pressies up. He made dinner for me which was lovely. We had our Christmas celebrations, well, we opened our presents anyway! I got three novels (all by Dan Brown who wrote The Da Vinci Code), two pairs of earrings, an Eeyore phone cover, and a lovely gift set care of his workplace as they miscalculated and had one male and one female gift for two male employees, so Scott chose the female one for me. It is really expensive stuff too!! A nice shower gel, eau de toilette and a body lotion are in there. Yum! Then it was to bed, as I am still a little unwell and the plane flight wreaked havoc on my ears and i was a bit deaf... what?? ;-)
Today, we got up early, as it was our "Christmas Day". We caught the tube to Notting Hill Gate, changed to the Circle line to Paddington. Got off there and made our way to the main line station (ie the long distance, overland railway system). We bought tickets to Oxford, and hopped on a train pretty much straight away. And it was an express train too, stopping only twice on the way there. We arrived at Oxford at 10am, and jumped on a sight seeing bus. Got off at Christ Church College, and wandered in. We had been told that the dining hall had been used in the filming of Harry Potter, but when we got there the sign said it was just used as inspiration. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see inside one of the colleges though. The buildings are beautiful. And coincidentally, when we were there, a group of school students from St Peters in Indooroopilly (for those of you outside Brisbane, it is a school near my university). The group was a choir doing a tour of Europe, and they were there to give a concert.
From Chrsit Church College, we jumped back onto the sight seeing bus. We had read in the Lonely Planet Guide that there was a really "cheesy" attraction in Oxford called The Oxford Story. So, we went and checked it out. I tell you what, I am so glad Scott decided to treat me, as it was so bad! Basically, the whole experience was us riding on a train, in carriages shaped like scholars desks, looking at models of people doing scholarly stuff, and listening to commentary. I can see you rolling your eyes from here!!
After that experience, we grabbed some lunch in the covered market, and had a wander around there. It's like a very mini version of the Victoria Markets in Melbourne. Very very very mini!!
After that we walked to the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Natural History Museum (they are joined really). So, again, Alex was in heaven! The Pitt Rivers Museum was great. It was a bit like the Horniman Museum in London (which I think I neglected to tell you about!!). Basically it is quite old fashioned in the museum world, in the display techniques. But I think theat is the appeal of the place. The cabinets are crammed full of stuff (like shrunken heads, baskets, knives, guns etc), all sorted into categories. It was fantastic. Although, the labels left a little to be desired (...Nic??).
From there we jumped on the bus again, and went all the way round to Christ Church College again, where we had a look at Alice's Sweet shop. it's basically just a small shop that is amking money off the fact that Lewis Carroll had something to do with Christ Church College. They had some cute stuff, but I bought nothing.
Then we wandered to Blackall's Bookshop, which is supposedly famous etc. Had a good look around. There were so many archaeology books, I had to stop myself from looking at too many as I would have wanted to buy them. It is very dangerous to take me into a book store!!
From there we managed to jump on the last bus back to the station and got on the next train to London. It turned out to be to non-express one, so it took forever to get us back. But we were able to jump off before the train went all the way to Paddington, and change to the tube. And now you are up to date! I am sitting in Acton after our day in Oxford, feeling still a little unwell, but I will have a quiet next few days, then it's New Years! Then I start a new job on Monday for two weeks for so. But, it's a change, it's money etc.
:-)
Me
Yes, i made it back to London yesterday, with decidedly more luggage than I left with! Oh well, it was all in a good cause, and some of it will be consumed anyway. For Scott I bought some apfelwein (apple wine, kind of like cider), some Darmstadt beer, chocolate, some cherry chewing gum, pink grapefruit chewing gum (yes, Scott likes his weird chewing gums!!), and some tea bags that make gluhwein, which is the hot spiced wine that Gremans drink at Christmas time.
The flight back was good. I was very early to the airport, but I would much rather be early than late. So i checked in, said goodbye to Gisela who had kindly dopped me at the airport, and went through security. I was warned about there being two security checks, and that i should leave 40 minutes. Ok, fine. I went through the first lot, then had a look at some shops. I sat down in an empty gate lounge and drank the fruit juice I had bought myself. Then I wandered towards the British Airways end of the terminal, to find that there was another security check. My stuff was x-rayed again, and this time there was no walk-through metal detector. So I had a metal detector run over my body by some lady. Nice. I made a comment that it was a bit personal, but her English obviously wasn't good enough to understand what i said! The woman x-raying my bag picked up something metal in my bag and wanted to have a look as it was a strange shape. It was my flying pigs hair clip. She thought it was very cute, and proceeded to show it to her collegue. I don't understand why they needed a second security check. It was only if you were going through certain gate lounges.
While I was sitting in the gatelounge, before the second security check, I walked over to the window. And guess what? It was snowing. So on my trip to Germany it snowed the day I got there, and the day I left (but only after I was safely through immigration etc). Unbelieveable!!
I made it back to the house, Scott met me at the tube station which was nice. It's always handy to have a porter!! Went back to the house, unpacked a bit, wrapped Scott's pressies up. He made dinner for me which was lovely. We had our Christmas celebrations, well, we opened our presents anyway! I got three novels (all by Dan Brown who wrote The Da Vinci Code), two pairs of earrings, an Eeyore phone cover, and a lovely gift set care of his workplace as they miscalculated and had one male and one female gift for two male employees, so Scott chose the female one for me. It is really expensive stuff too!! A nice shower gel, eau de toilette and a body lotion are in there. Yum! Then it was to bed, as I am still a little unwell and the plane flight wreaked havoc on my ears and i was a bit deaf... what?? ;-)
Today, we got up early, as it was our "Christmas Day". We caught the tube to Notting Hill Gate, changed to the Circle line to Paddington. Got off there and made our way to the main line station (ie the long distance, overland railway system). We bought tickets to Oxford, and hopped on a train pretty much straight away. And it was an express train too, stopping only twice on the way there. We arrived at Oxford at 10am, and jumped on a sight seeing bus. Got off at Christ Church College, and wandered in. We had been told that the dining hall had been used in the filming of Harry Potter, but when we got there the sign said it was just used as inspiration. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see inside one of the colleges though. The buildings are beautiful. And coincidentally, when we were there, a group of school students from St Peters in Indooroopilly (for those of you outside Brisbane, it is a school near my university). The group was a choir doing a tour of Europe, and they were there to give a concert.
From Chrsit Church College, we jumped back onto the sight seeing bus. We had read in the Lonely Planet Guide that there was a really "cheesy" attraction in Oxford called The Oxford Story. So, we went and checked it out. I tell you what, I am so glad Scott decided to treat me, as it was so bad! Basically, the whole experience was us riding on a train, in carriages shaped like scholars desks, looking at models of people doing scholarly stuff, and listening to commentary. I can see you rolling your eyes from here!!
After that experience, we grabbed some lunch in the covered market, and had a wander around there. It's like a very mini version of the Victoria Markets in Melbourne. Very very very mini!!
After that we walked to the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Natural History Museum (they are joined really). So, again, Alex was in heaven! The Pitt Rivers Museum was great. It was a bit like the Horniman Museum in London (which I think I neglected to tell you about!!). Basically it is quite old fashioned in the museum world, in the display techniques. But I think theat is the appeal of the place. The cabinets are crammed full of stuff (like shrunken heads, baskets, knives, guns etc), all sorted into categories. It was fantastic. Although, the labels left a little to be desired (...Nic??).
From there we jumped on the bus again, and went all the way round to Christ Church College again, where we had a look at Alice's Sweet shop. it's basically just a small shop that is amking money off the fact that Lewis Carroll had something to do with Christ Church College. They had some cute stuff, but I bought nothing.
Then we wandered to Blackall's Bookshop, which is supposedly famous etc. Had a good look around. There were so many archaeology books, I had to stop myself from looking at too many as I would have wanted to buy them. It is very dangerous to take me into a book store!!
From there we managed to jump on the last bus back to the station and got on the next train to London. It turned out to be to non-express one, so it took forever to get us back. But we were able to jump off before the train went all the way to Paddington, and change to the tube. And now you are up to date! I am sitting in Acton after our day in Oxford, feeling still a little unwell, but I will have a quiet next few days, then it's New Years! Then I start a new job on Monday for two weeks for so. But, it's a change, it's money etc.
:-)
Me
Monday, December 27, 2004
Last entry from Germany
Hello there,
As the title says, this will be my last entry from Deutschland. I have had such a wonderful time. It was so great to see my host family again, and share Christmas with them like I did 8 years ago.
Today I wandered around Darmstadt by myself. I went in with Henrike and Gisela, as they had to take Henrike's Christmas present back. Gisela bought her a phone for her apartment in Cologne, as her old one didn't work very well. But when Henrike opened the box, there was no phone inside. Nothing at all!! But it all got sorted out today.
I didn't intend on buying any clothes for me today. But I ended up with three items of clothing, which I am very happy with. I bought a pair of jeans (I brought a black pair with me, and a brown pair, but a little variety after 6 weeks in the same clothes never hurts!!), a kelly green jumper (Irish colour, suits me well), and a chocolate brown v-neck top that I can wear for work. And some stuff for Scotty too. Which I cannot put on here just yet, as he may read this before I get home tomorrow and spoil it!!
I am finding that I am developing a travel style. Let me explain. I really enjoy just wandering through a place, experiencing the local sights, smells, etc, rather than rushing around sightseeing. Maybe that comes from the fact that I will be over in Europe for a while, so subconsciously, I know that I don't have to rush around and see as much as I possibly can. I know I will be back to Germany, so for this trip, spending time with Vera and everyone was much more important than going to see other places. I can do that on my next trip, because I know there will be one. And besides, I am a people-watcher. I like looking at people from different cultures, looking at what they eat, how they dress, etc. It may sound odd, but that's me really!!
Bis London meine Freunde und Freundinnen!!
As the title says, this will be my last entry from Deutschland. I have had such a wonderful time. It was so great to see my host family again, and share Christmas with them like I did 8 years ago.
Today I wandered around Darmstadt by myself. I went in with Henrike and Gisela, as they had to take Henrike's Christmas present back. Gisela bought her a phone for her apartment in Cologne, as her old one didn't work very well. But when Henrike opened the box, there was no phone inside. Nothing at all!! But it all got sorted out today.
I didn't intend on buying any clothes for me today. But I ended up with three items of clothing, which I am very happy with. I bought a pair of jeans (I brought a black pair with me, and a brown pair, but a little variety after 6 weeks in the same clothes never hurts!!), a kelly green jumper (Irish colour, suits me well), and a chocolate brown v-neck top that I can wear for work. And some stuff for Scotty too. Which I cannot put on here just yet, as he may read this before I get home tomorrow and spoil it!!
I am finding that I am developing a travel style. Let me explain. I really enjoy just wandering through a place, experiencing the local sights, smells, etc, rather than rushing around sightseeing. Maybe that comes from the fact that I will be over in Europe for a while, so subconsciously, I know that I don't have to rush around and see as much as I possibly can. I know I will be back to Germany, so for this trip, spending time with Vera and everyone was much more important than going to see other places. I can do that on my next trip, because I know there will be one. And besides, I am a people-watcher. I like looking at people from different cultures, looking at what they eat, how they dress, etc. It may sound odd, but that's me really!!
Bis London meine Freunde und Freundinnen!!
Sunday, December 26, 2004
A quiet day
Hello there,
Well, today I was meant to go with everyone to the grandparents house near Stuttgart. But, I wanted to stay home, as I have a cold and I didn't want to pass on my germs. And I think a day of rest has done me a lot of good too. It is a pity I missed going to see them, I vaguely remember them from 8 years ago and they were very nice.
So there really is not all that much to write today. Yesterday was a very lazy day which was great. Vera and Chris went out last night to Das Kaffeehaus again, but I stayed in, because of the smoke. But that's cool, because I got to watch "Shall We Dance" auf deutsch. It was so lame, I am kind of glad it was in German!! I had a bit of a language barrier, but that made no difference, as Henrike had difficulties understanding what was going on in the plot, or should I say, lack thereof!
So today, I lazed around. I read some of my book, I took a nice hot bath, napped, and watched The Incredibles on dvd (a pirate copy obviously!!) but it was auf deutsch to, which was fun. I am feeling a lot better for a lazy day too. I am worried about flying with a cold on Tuesday, but hopefully I will be a little better by then. I think I will try and get some Sudafed tomorrow (or the German equivalent!!). Gisela will take me to the Pharmacy and do all the talking. It was bad enough when we were in Austria trying to explain what I needed to the pharmacist there (that too was for a cold, similar to what I have now...gotta love winter, hey??)
Scott said it was cold, but bright sunshine for Xmas day in London yesterday. And no snow here. What is the world coming to??? :-)
Tomorrow hopefully I will get to go shopping. I really love wandering and exploring by myself. Hopefully I will get to do a little bit of that tomorrow. I think Henrike goes back to Cologne tomorrow, and then I leave on Tuesday. I must remember to get her email address, so perhaps we can meet up in Dublin, or she can tell me a good place to stay etc. Insider knowledge is always good!!
So, what did everybody out there do over Christmas? I would love to hear all about what you got up to!! Please post a comment or email me and tell me! I still don't know how many people read this thing, so make contact, then I can find our just how many people I am putting to sleep.....
That's it from me. Hope all is well with y'all!
Alex :-)
Well, today I was meant to go with everyone to the grandparents house near Stuttgart. But, I wanted to stay home, as I have a cold and I didn't want to pass on my germs. And I think a day of rest has done me a lot of good too. It is a pity I missed going to see them, I vaguely remember them from 8 years ago and they were very nice.
So there really is not all that much to write today. Yesterday was a very lazy day which was great. Vera and Chris went out last night to Das Kaffeehaus again, but I stayed in, because of the smoke. But that's cool, because I got to watch "Shall We Dance" auf deutsch. It was so lame, I am kind of glad it was in German!! I had a bit of a language barrier, but that made no difference, as Henrike had difficulties understanding what was going on in the plot, or should I say, lack thereof!
So today, I lazed around. I read some of my book, I took a nice hot bath, napped, and watched The Incredibles on dvd (a pirate copy obviously!!) but it was auf deutsch to, which was fun. I am feeling a lot better for a lazy day too. I am worried about flying with a cold on Tuesday, but hopefully I will be a little better by then. I think I will try and get some Sudafed tomorrow (or the German equivalent!!). Gisela will take me to the Pharmacy and do all the talking. It was bad enough when we were in Austria trying to explain what I needed to the pharmacist there (that too was for a cold, similar to what I have now...gotta love winter, hey??)
Scott said it was cold, but bright sunshine for Xmas day in London yesterday. And no snow here. What is the world coming to??? :-)
Tomorrow hopefully I will get to go shopping. I really love wandering and exploring by myself. Hopefully I will get to do a little bit of that tomorrow. I think Henrike goes back to Cologne tomorrow, and then I leave on Tuesday. I must remember to get her email address, so perhaps we can meet up in Dublin, or she can tell me a good place to stay etc. Insider knowledge is always good!!
So, what did everybody out there do over Christmas? I would love to hear all about what you got up to!! Please post a comment or email me and tell me! I still don't know how many people read this thing, so make contact, then I can find our just how many people I am putting to sleep.....
That's it from me. Hope all is well with y'all!
Alex :-)
Friday, December 24, 2004
Weihnachten!
Hallo from Deutschland! Today we walked into the village to get some last minute Christmas shopping done. Went to the butchers, to the wine merchant, that kind of thing. As I write this, Gisela and the girls are off buying the tree. A last minute purchase, but one that saves money apparently. I think it's a great idea, really. I think it's funny how people have Christmas trees for so long.
Last night we went out to Das Kaffeehaus to meet Vera's friends. It was nice to see some of her friends from school I met 8 years ago. But the place is so smoky, I am really suffering today. I feel like I smoked an entire packet of cigarettes last night. And I have never actually smoked in my life. I think it's an awful habit personally, but the number of smokers here in Germany is phenomenal. I noticed it 8 years ago, and it hasn't changed much, if at all. Scott and I noticed on the tour, that smokers in Europe seem to be so inconsiderate of others. At least in Australia, most people think about others before lighting up. Ah well, the beauty of cultural differences, right??
Anyway, there is a tree to be decorated etc.
Frohe Weihnachten, Merry Christmas!!
Last night we went out to Das Kaffeehaus to meet Vera's friends. It was nice to see some of her friends from school I met 8 years ago. But the place is so smoky, I am really suffering today. I feel like I smoked an entire packet of cigarettes last night. And I have never actually smoked in my life. I think it's an awful habit personally, but the number of smokers here in Germany is phenomenal. I noticed it 8 years ago, and it hasn't changed much, if at all. Scott and I noticed on the tour, that smokers in Europe seem to be so inconsiderate of others. At least in Australia, most people think about others before lighting up. Ah well, the beauty of cultural differences, right??
Anyway, there is a tree to be decorated etc.
Frohe Weihnachten, Merry Christmas!!
Thursday, December 23, 2004
ahem
So, I was saying yesterday about a white Christmas? Well, my mistake, as I woke up this morning, looked out of the window and it had all washed away in the rain. How rude! Oh well, no white Christmas for me I'm afraid. But, nevertheless, I shall be having a German Christmas!
Gisela told me this morning that we were lucky yesterday with regards to Frankfurt airport. I think I mentioned that the pilot had never seen so much ice. Well, an hour after I landed, the airport was closed to all flights for 5 hours as the runways were too icy and dangerous. Good timing, hey?
I can't think of much else to say at the moment. I will try and update later tonight or tomorrow with some more news. Keep well.
A.
Gisela told me this morning that we were lucky yesterday with regards to Frankfurt airport. I think I mentioned that the pilot had never seen so much ice. Well, an hour after I landed, the airport was closed to all flights for 5 hours as the runways were too icy and dangerous. Good timing, hey?
I can't think of much else to say at the moment. I will try and update later tonight or tomorrow with some more news. Keep well.
A.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Darmstadt!
Hello! Well, I lied about the lack of entries before Christmas. I am sitting in Darmstadt at this very moment. I have not been in this house in 8 years. It is so nice to be back! Vera and her sister Henrike will arrive tomorrow by train from Cologne. Gisela and I will go into town in the late morning, and do a little shopping. I will hopefully find the rest of Scott's present here somewhere!! If not, I have something I can buy for him in England. :-)
I am so happy to be here. I cannot explain it. I had such a great time here 8 years ago, I have many fond memories of my short 6 weeks here. I am looking forward to being a part of Christmas here again. I am sad to leave Scott behind, on what is our first Christmas away from home together. But at the same time, we are not joined at the hip, so to speak. We have just postponed our Christmas day for a few days. A trip to Oxford for the day sounds good to me!
It is cold here too, so I get a white Christmas. YAY!!!! Apparently, it's my fault it snows at Christmas. Let me explain... When I was here last, in 1996, it was the coldest Christmas in 50 years or something. So when I woke up on the 23rd of December that year and looked out the window, it was all white. It is really hard to describe what I felt at that moment, looking out onto all that snow for the first time. Just breathtaking! And so this year, it is snowing again at Christmas, for my benefit of course! I think it's great that I can control the weather so well. I should get paid for that!!
I am looking forward to checking out the town I spent so much time in all those years ago. Do a bit of shopping. Maybe they have Christmas markets like they used to. I can't wait!!
So that's all for now. Toodles!!
I am so happy to be here. I cannot explain it. I had such a great time here 8 years ago, I have many fond memories of my short 6 weeks here. I am looking forward to being a part of Christmas here again. I am sad to leave Scott behind, on what is our first Christmas away from home together. But at the same time, we are not joined at the hip, so to speak. We have just postponed our Christmas day for a few days. A trip to Oxford for the day sounds good to me!
It is cold here too, so I get a white Christmas. YAY!!!! Apparently, it's my fault it snows at Christmas. Let me explain... When I was here last, in 1996, it was the coldest Christmas in 50 years or something. So when I woke up on the 23rd of December that year and looked out the window, it was all white. It is really hard to describe what I felt at that moment, looking out onto all that snow for the first time. Just breathtaking! And so this year, it is snowing again at Christmas, for my benefit of course! I think it's great that I can control the weather so well. I should get paid for that!!
I am looking forward to checking out the town I spent so much time in all those years ago. Do a bit of shopping. Maybe they have Christmas markets like they used to. I can't wait!!
So that's all for now. Toodles!!
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