Finally a post...

So it's been a while since my last post... Sometimes I forget that I even have this thing around! Things have just been pretty crazy here lately... Too many weekend trips and late nights working have been pretty draining. On top of all that, I think the 6 of us (me and the others who came over) are finally starting to get annoyed at each other! It's probably cuz we all spend so much time together, but it would be nice to 'have some time apart'. I think it would be good for our collective relationships.. ;-)

What's happened in the last month? Well, I went to Prague. It was unbelievable how different it was once we crossed the border. The trains are old and kinda smelly, and there were many buildings that looked really shabby and remnants of tall metal wire fences from the communist years really gave it a different feeling. This was especially the case when we stopped off in Cheb. (the first border town after getting out of Germany).

Cheb seemed like your stereotypical small town in Eastern (actually central) Europe. There were medium sized concrete apartment buildings all with mismatched colours, and old paint stripped buses just sitting outside of the train station. We walked around the town looking at shops before our next train left... We were expecting things to be ridiculously cheap, but were definitely looking for them in the wrong places! Brand name stores cost just as much as they do in Canada or Europe, which makes me wonder how hard it would be for native Czechs to buy something from Bata. We finally found some street side vendors who were willing to haggle with bargain hunting tourists-with-no-soul such as ourselves, and Nicole got a pair of sunglasses. It wasn't much of a deal though, as they broke during the weekend we were in the Czech Republic!

Prague was a crazy city. It's been one of the most popular new tourist destinations in Europe since they took away the visa requirement to enter the country. I met up with Drew and we walked around the town for a bit. After spending enough time here, we realized that it was a city overrun by tourists. It's hard to say whether any of the residents are happy about it... On the one hand, the flocks of tourists bring much money into Prague, but on the other hand, their city and everything they've grown comfortable and familiar with has been virtually been taken away by visitors. And who knows if all this tourism has really benefitted the residents of Prague, or whether it's just driven up the cost for people living there. There were so many beautiful buildings and the sense that there's so much history here, but walking down the street all you see are shops that target tourists, selling souvenirs that they pass off as Czech souvenirs... Who the hell knows (or cares) anyway what Absinthe, Russian Matrioshka dolls, and marijuana paraphernalia have to do with Prague. For me, the Prague I know will always be filled with drunk Englishmen fighting in the streets, people in sailor suits trying to sell you a ticket for a cruise, and the guy in medieval costume selling armour and and swords in the Prague castle, all the while telling us about what a 'zoo' the city's become and how much of a jerk his boss is. The hippie (he really looked like one in the medieval green poncho!) proceeded to drum away on a pot of noodles (dinner) with his chopsticks, and later even invited us to go see him perform for an hour on Sokolska street! (he plays the didgeridoo) It took us a while to find something that was genuinely Bohemian, but in the end, it was worth the heat, all the walking and the long wait.

Hopefully I'll post some pictures soon!

Jeff

Weekend in Stuttgart

After so much travelling, we finally got to spend a good weekend in Stuttgart. The weather was terrific, and I browned from being outside the last couple of days! Friday was a lot of fun... we were seeing Carlos (one of my co-workers) off as he took a weeks vacation in Paris before returning to New York (where he lives). We went out to eat, and then for drinks... He seemed so excited to go, and we thought it was only because he hadn't taken a vacation in such a long while.... but then it was revealed that he is going to be meeting up with a few of his ex-girlfriends while in Paris... You should have seen the excited look on his face as the train pulled away from the station! haha

On Saturday, we went to Immi's (our bosses) place where we watched the finals of the Eurovision song contest. It was a great deal of fun... it was a competition of the most popular singers from each country, and basically like an american/world idol competition where people vote for their favourite artists.. but you can't vote for your own country! Here's the catch though, this year, the Eurovision Song celebrated its 50 year anniversary! That's more than 10 times as long running a show as American Idol... Granted the formats are a *little* bit different, but you can tell that American Idol is definitely in part based off of this idea... Oh yeah, did I tell you I'm into this new band called Wig Wam now? They were a band from Norway that placed I think 8 or 9 in the contest. You can download a song from here if you're interested! The best thing about it was the fact the there was so much ethnic/cultural music. And there was political music too... the song from Ukraine was the song used during the Orange Revolution in Ukraine... that was a good song too... and it really carried a lot of meaning for Ukrainians. (the contest was held in Ukraine that year) In the end, it was all in all a fun night!


My new favourite band.

Munich/Lindau

The very next weekend, we decided to go to Munich. We had wanted to go somewhere far for the long weekend(ie paris or amsterdam), but when we got to the train station to buy tickets, we realized that EVERYBODY was going away that weekend... and everything was sold out! I guess you could say that that's the weekend when Germany goes on trips and spends their money outside of the country! You'd think that the German govt. would somehow try to put an end to the massive outflow of money... but I guess it happens every year so everyone's prepared for the massive recession that generally follows this holiday;-) Oh yeah, and as we left we wondered if there would have been anyone left in Germany since everyone had gone to other places!


Adam, Nicole, and the soccer team that we met on the train.

Munich was a great place... a lot different from Stuttgart... it was a bigger city, and definitely came with all the good thing and bad things about big cities... More Convenience with trains and stuff... but we were a little more wary of crime.. and the streets were just a little dirty, and there were just a few more cars. On the bright side though, there were still people in Germany (surprisingly) so we didn't have to walk the streets of Munich all alone.:-) Either that or they were all tourists... Fun experiences there included the Giant beers that we got (once again) in a Munich Beer Garden, (and we got a coupla 1 litre mugs too! more on that later.) all the awesome historical sights, and the club district. The club district was a really really awesome place... there are about 35 (the number is NO exaggeration!) clubs all in the same area... each with its own particular theme and music. We went to the clubs on a good night - 10 euro to get into any club out of the 30-some odd that were there! My favourite was this Soviet-themed one called Kalinka. There was all this communist imagery and soviet flags everywhere inside the club... and there was a huge model head of Stalin outside that was made to look like an actual bronze statue dedicated to him! It was a different and wicked place that's for sure. The next morning we recovered and left for Lindau.


Fans showing up for the big Nuremberg v Bayern Munich match and getting checked out by the cops.


Spot the fake. :-)


Who are those people?


Kids playing by a fountain. (photo taken and published without consent)


People listening to the game and going nuts.


In beer garden.


Adam clinking mugs.


In the Deutches Museum.


Relaxing with a beer.

Lindau was a great place also... It's a small town right on the edge of the Bodensee. (some lake) It's a really popular summer destination for Germans since it's really close to the alps. On a clear day you can look across the Bodensee and see the mountains in the background. Alas, it was drizzling the whole time we were there, but even still, it was a great little town with a lot of history (which I read about and then promptly forgot) I think when the weather gets a little warmer I definitely want to go back and enjoy the water and scenery. For that day, it was just relaxation, cheap ice cream, and a fun little arts and crafts festival that they had there!


The AMAZING scenery! I think you can see faint outlines of mountains in the background... (damn.)


Cobblestone streets of Lindau.

Strasbourg/Basel

3 weekends ago was the Strasbourg/Basel trip. Strasbourg is a great little town with a ton of history. Its culture is kinda French, and kinda German... fair enough if you consider its position on the border between France and Germany! It's where the european parliament is located, and where many euoprean cultural institutions have their headquarters. I guess you could call it the capital of Europe! We went up on the cathdral there (the highest cathedral tower in France) and for dinner had Alsatian tarte flambée which was quite nice. People spoke mostly French there, and it was great to be able to understand what was going on for a change! Other cool places were the European parliament, the boat tour, and definitely La Petite France, a really old district of Strasbourg... I think it is one of the UNESCO world heritage sites. Everything about the city was really quaint and old, although a little touristy. Even still, it had a great atmosphere.



On the way to the top of the cathedral. | A look at the spiral staircase.
The group on a balcony mid-way up. | Made it!





Group picture, while Bernada made sure they didn't get hit by the tram...



A nice view.


Me in a French restaurant... in France!

Basel was our next stop. This is where the three countries Germany, France, and Switzerland meet... somehow we ended up in the Swiss part (by train) but we didn't know it... We had to ask a local whether we were in Switzerland whether we were in Switzerland or still in Germany! (they looked at us as if we were idiots... and rightfully so..) Everything was expensive.... A Big Mac combo was about 11 Swiss Francs.. (comparable to Canadian prices) It wasn't what you imagine a Swiss town to be, since it was both a border city and also a harbour town. The weather was great there though, so it was nice to enjoy the sun and rest a while.



The place marker of the intersection... Sorry you have to turn your head!



A Swiss Chalet in Switzerland.. who would have guessed?

Extra Long Post (Prologue)

Okay, So I haven't posted in a long long time... my sincerest apologies first of all... Second of all, here is an extra extra long post to make up for it all.

The last two weeks have been eventful and more than interesting. It's sometimes hard to believe that I'm still going to be here for another 3 months, considering what's already happened so far!

I'm staying up all night today (our train to Prague leaves tomorrow at 6 so I have to get up at 4:30) so I will finally make a proper update.... bear with me please... I'll stop procrastinating eventually and keep my blog up to date!

More Random pictures...


Bernada and her roommate Alex.


Ralf trying to talk to Bernada while I talk to Alex.

SpringFest

Eating Raw Pork Pictures

Here are the pics from the raw pork thing that I described.


My equipment


Smett - only 15% fat! / serving suggestion


Remove foil 2-3 minutes before consuming to enjoy the fresh aroma.


The inside.


Yum!

Pictures

Works by Picasso. :-)


Cool gallery...


Statues!

Himmelfahrt

Yesterday was Himmelfahrt - the celebration of Christ's Ascension and a national holiday! We went to the Porsche Museum and the Art Gallery of Stuttgart. A good trip overall!

Also, I'm at work now, and they do not block ftp here, like in the university, so now I can show you some cool pictures!

Finally, we have decided to go to Strasbourg this weekend; a charming little city on the border of France and Germany, and the location of the European Union Parliament. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Bye!

About settled.

The past 4 days in Stuttgart have been great. Everything has been good so far, I've only been yelled at by a German person once, and I can honestly say the hardest thing to get used to here is the German keyboard setup. I've had a chance to meet all my co-workers, roommates, and I've even gone grocery shopping twice! Grocery shopping was an adventure... On the first day I didn't bring my dictionary, and I had absolutely *no* idea what I was buying.

Highlights included Knoppers (wafers with hazelnut, chocolate and cream sandwiched inside) and Quark (a creamy yogurt-like cup with fruit in it) Any big surprises? Well there was the Leberwurst (liver sausage) It was quite good actually, and I glad I got it, but it was a little disconcerting when it came out of the sausage skin all squishy. Second big surprise was this raw pork that I got in the grocery store... Basically, it was just raw pork & onion on a container... and you spread it on bread. Pictures of that to come later...

Also, beer is cheap here.... it's about 5 or 6 € for a 24. Or more, depending on what kind of beer you get. At Frühlingsfest (SpringFest) we got these GIANT mugs of beer (1 litre) for 7€. I guess that was a little more comparable to Canadian prices for alcohol but still quite good!

Thursday is a holiday so I believe we will be taking a trip. I'm not exactly sure where yet, but I'm sure it'll be great!

6:45pm EST - Toronto to London

Wow... going already. I wish I had a little more time to relax at home, but that's how it goes I guess. There isn't much difference between one straight week of video games and two straight weeks, anyway.

Bye everyone, see you in four months!

Getting ready to go! Look at my new jacket :-P