Eurovision and Laderhosen
It has been a while since I have put an entry on the blog but I have been travelling quite a lot and really enjoying the hospitality of friends. I left Copenhagen and spent a few days in Munich, which turned out to be a very nice surprise. I walked the city, through the parks and the biggest beer garden in the world, had a peak at some grand buildings and a few beers in the old beer halls. I tried practising my very limited german "ein beire bitter" "one beer please" too some success.
I then caught a train to Schäwbish Gmünd, a beautiful old town not far from Stuttgard where, just out of it live my friends Marco and Monika. Schäwbish Gmünd has two very old and gothic churches and a very nice outdoor cafe culture. During my week long stay with Marco and Moni we visited a few of the old towns around the area which included an old medieval town with a fortified wall surrounding it. We even managed to see a Marc Chagall exhibition somewhere in regional Germany, I found this very strange but in a way very european. We went on long walks up mountains to see castles and views, and I even got to ride a bike around their neighbouring village. The ride was hard and I had to walk up many of the hills, but with cake and coffee waiting at the end, it was worth it. Germany is a very beautiful place.
Monika and Marco live in a very small village called Brainkoven and its very rural. Across from their house is a cow pen where the cows eat and moo all day and all night. Its stange to be woken by the odd mooing sounds that cows make, but the fresh country air is always a welcome relief.
One thing I noticed about Germany was that when you turn on the radio, they are playing eurovision songs, including the winner of the 2000 contest from Denmark (if you can remember the travelling wilburys- Fly on the wings of love, fly baby fly). Marco, like any good music lover, has the eurovision CD from 2001, which was played many times. We even managed to make up our own actions to the Swedish entry which really should have won the competition. I videoed it but unfortunately the memory card fillled up before we finished. We have now made a plan to go to a Eurovision final either in 2004 or maybe 2005. Any other takers?
The other noticable thing about my stay in Germany was a noticiable obseesions with cake and chocolate. This fed into my sugar dependencies and I managed to scoff down many cakes and kinder surprises. Now I am in Switzerland and they are equally obssessive, which I find very dangerous. I was lucky enought to stay in Germany long enough to meet up with Spanish Michael and Chris on their way home. We all went out to a traditional Swabian restaurant that night where we had snitzel and sausage, not to mention a bit of beer and wine, and some very special icecream. Upstairs at this restaurant they have square dancing classes, but when Michael went up to look, they immediately stopped. I think it was a secret society of square dancers.
I have now spent a few days in switzerland with Anne. On Saturday we visited Lausaune, the home of the Olympics, and more importantly there are vineyards just out of the town. We walked the hills through the vineyards trying to find some wine to taste but to no avail. However the scenery was stunning, overlooking Lake Geneva, with hills of vineyards, I managed to find a few castles in which I would like to live. We found a Cavern in which to sample some of the local wine, which we did and I bought some rose, which I couldnt resist. I try not to buy into the sterotype about Switzerland, all cheese and chocolate, but I do find it funny that the restaurnats do actually serve fondu and you can buy chocolate just about everywhere. I did buy some, including some Asterix chocolate, unfortunately not Asterix in Switerland choccy.
I like it here but tomorrow I am off to Paris. Its been fantastic to catch up with old friends, who would have thought that we would all end up here at some stage or the other. After a few days in Paris, I am going back to London for a few weeks and then its off to San Francisco to see Rhonda and the inevitable reality of work and a new country to settle into. As winter approaches I am grateful for the exteneded summer that I have had in Europe.
It has been a while since I have put an entry on the blog but I have been travelling quite a lot and really enjoying the hospitality of friends. I left Copenhagen and spent a few days in Munich, which turned out to be a very nice surprise. I walked the city, through the parks and the biggest beer garden in the world, had a peak at some grand buildings and a few beers in the old beer halls. I tried practising my very limited german "ein beire bitter" "one beer please" too some success.
I then caught a train to Schäwbish Gmünd, a beautiful old town not far from Stuttgard where, just out of it live my friends Marco and Monika. Schäwbish Gmünd has two very old and gothic churches and a very nice outdoor cafe culture. During my week long stay with Marco and Moni we visited a few of the old towns around the area which included an old medieval town with a fortified wall surrounding it. We even managed to see a Marc Chagall exhibition somewhere in regional Germany, I found this very strange but in a way very european. We went on long walks up mountains to see castles and views, and I even got to ride a bike around their neighbouring village. The ride was hard and I had to walk up many of the hills, but with cake and coffee waiting at the end, it was worth it. Germany is a very beautiful place.
Monika and Marco live in a very small village called Brainkoven and its very rural. Across from their house is a cow pen where the cows eat and moo all day and all night. Its stange to be woken by the odd mooing sounds that cows make, but the fresh country air is always a welcome relief.
One thing I noticed about Germany was that when you turn on the radio, they are playing eurovision songs, including the winner of the 2000 contest from Denmark (if you can remember the travelling wilburys- Fly on the wings of love, fly baby fly). Marco, like any good music lover, has the eurovision CD from 2001, which was played many times. We even managed to make up our own actions to the Swedish entry which really should have won the competition. I videoed it but unfortunately the memory card fillled up before we finished. We have now made a plan to go to a Eurovision final either in 2004 or maybe 2005. Any other takers?
The other noticable thing about my stay in Germany was a noticiable obseesions with cake and chocolate. This fed into my sugar dependencies and I managed to scoff down many cakes and kinder surprises. Now I am in Switzerland and they are equally obssessive, which I find very dangerous. I was lucky enought to stay in Germany long enough to meet up with Spanish Michael and Chris on their way home. We all went out to a traditional Swabian restaurant that night where we had snitzel and sausage, not to mention a bit of beer and wine, and some very special icecream. Upstairs at this restaurant they have square dancing classes, but when Michael went up to look, they immediately stopped. I think it was a secret society of square dancers.
I have now spent a few days in switzerland with Anne. On Saturday we visited Lausaune, the home of the Olympics, and more importantly there are vineyards just out of the town. We walked the hills through the vineyards trying to find some wine to taste but to no avail. However the scenery was stunning, overlooking Lake Geneva, with hills of vineyards, I managed to find a few castles in which I would like to live. We found a Cavern in which to sample some of the local wine, which we did and I bought some rose, which I couldnt resist. I try not to buy into the sterotype about Switzerland, all cheese and chocolate, but I do find it funny that the restaurnats do actually serve fondu and you can buy chocolate just about everywhere. I did buy some, including some Asterix chocolate, unfortunately not Asterix in Switerland choccy.
I like it here but tomorrow I am off to Paris. Its been fantastic to catch up with old friends, who would have thought that we would all end up here at some stage or the other. After a few days in Paris, I am going back to London for a few weeks and then its off to San Francisco to see Rhonda and the inevitable reality of work and a new country to settle into. As winter approaches I am grateful for the exteneded summer that I have had in Europe.
posted by Paula at
4:23 AM
