Just in case reassurance is necessary, the photo of a half naked man in my last post IS as previously stated, a weird piece of art hung on the wall of our Berlin apartment.
Importantly, IT IS NOT a photo of Phil, as my mother suggested (ok repeatedly insisted) on a facetime call this morning.
Mum, I swear to god, it's not Phil. It's just that lots of men have similar beards these days.
Ok, now that's cleared up, I'm heading out for (a very late) Berliner breakfast...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
Monday, 27 April 2015
Chillin & illin in Berlin
Chillin & illin
Because Berlin is cool... and also because I got sick 😞.
On the upside, I didn't get really sick, just knocked out for our first two days in Berlin.
As I mentioned in the last post, we had a couple of days in Berlin with Joelle before she moved on to Portugal. Unfortunately, this coincided with my feeling pretty average.
I did make it out of bed for our fancy lunch at Chipps - a vegetarian cafe with an interesting sounding menu and awesome write ups. The hype was deserved - a lunch menu of delicious tomato soup and 'Berliner mustard eggs' with mash was divine.
But I wasn't up for the band, which is a shame because Phil and Jo went - it was in a former brothel and sounded really quirky and fun.
I spent quite a bit of time in the apartment, which was also an interesting experience.
Apartment living
We have been booking apartments on airbnb for all our travels so far. Our apartments in Rotterdam, Budapest, Prague and Berlin have all been booked though airbnb. I love using airbnb because it adds an extra dimension of fun and surprise to travelling that a hotel just can't provide. You never know quite what you're going to get, especially when you're choosing on a budget!
The airbnb apartments fall broadly into two categories - (a) apartments used exclusively as rentals and (b) lived-in apartments - ie someone's apartment that they live in but offer for short periods while they go on holiday/ stay at a friends place etc.
The plus of a rental apartment is it tends to be set up for guests. They are usually spotlessly clean (usually covered by a cleaning fee) and have all the basics - decent towels, reasonable layout, an empty fridge & freezer etc.
Also, in my (limited) experience, these places are more likely to leave little welcome gifts - which of course, I love. In Budapest, we had sparkling wine, fruit, juices, chocolate, bottled water, microwave popcorn and Nespresso pods!!
The downside of these kind of places is that it's sometimes hard to cook "at home" due to a lack of basics like salt, oil, etc. They can also lack a bit of the homely feel.
Our two Berlin rentals, on the other hand, are lived-in apartments and positively brimming - nay, overflowing - with personality.
The rental we shared with Joelle (our last shared apartment - sob) was in Pankow - in the north east of Berlin, which turned out to be a lovely and cool area.
The actual apartment belongs to a really lovely but definitely eclectic burlesque dancer and her son... and it showed. Vintage jewellery, postcards, shoes etc covered every single available surface. And there was a distinct lack of blockout curtains (hail the eyemask). But I really enjoyed staying there not least because it was basically the dream apartment of my 16 year old self - before I realised that living in chaos feels, well chaotic.
Our new place in Neukolln is also awesome. A really big and bright one bedroom with polished floors and a huge kitchen.
It's actually really nice and clean, but again, has some quirky elements. Like the fact that there is only one pillow. And the shower curtain is a garbage bag held together by duct tape. And the uhhh... interesting photographs on the wall. Here is one that is safe for work (I'll leave you to imagine what the NSFW ones look like).
As I said, interesting.
To do in Berlin
As I mentioned, it is now just Phil and I once again. It was an awesome three weeks travelling with Jo - she brought lots of fun, laughter, amazing home cooked meals and introduced us to the aperol spritz - king of cocktails!
Our new hood
We're in Neukolln which is a vibrant spot popular with Turkish migrants and faintly reminiscent of Sydney rd in Coburg. Here's a couple of pics of the neighbourhood:
Eclectic shops
Fifty cent felafel sandwich - Phil was in heaven!!
We have no firm plans for Berlin beyond wandering around and soaking up the atmosphere.
Today we hit the Mauerpark flea market which was hugely popular and sold everything from broken watches and ancient LPs to up cycled tin can lamps and printed tote bags.
We're in Berlin til Thursday, so I'll let you know what we get up to. Personally, I'm keen to try and rent some rollerblades and skate around the former airport, Tempelhof park... And the avengers movie is calling my name...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Because Berlin is cool... and also because I got sick 😞.
On the upside, I didn't get really sick, just knocked out for our first two days in Berlin.
As I mentioned in the last post, we had a couple of days in Berlin with Joelle before she moved on to Portugal. Unfortunately, this coincided with my feeling pretty average.
I did make it out of bed for our fancy lunch at Chipps - a vegetarian cafe with an interesting sounding menu and awesome write ups. The hype was deserved - a lunch menu of delicious tomato soup and 'Berliner mustard eggs' with mash was divine.
But I wasn't up for the band, which is a shame because Phil and Jo went - it was in a former brothel and sounded really quirky and fun.
I spent quite a bit of time in the apartment, which was also an interesting experience.
Apartment living
We have been booking apartments on airbnb for all our travels so far. Our apartments in Rotterdam, Budapest, Prague and Berlin have all been booked though airbnb. I love using airbnb because it adds an extra dimension of fun and surprise to travelling that a hotel just can't provide. You never know quite what you're going to get, especially when you're choosing on a budget!
The airbnb apartments fall broadly into two categories - (a) apartments used exclusively as rentals and (b) lived-in apartments - ie someone's apartment that they live in but offer for short periods while they go on holiday/ stay at a friends place etc.
The plus of a rental apartment is it tends to be set up for guests. They are usually spotlessly clean (usually covered by a cleaning fee) and have all the basics - decent towels, reasonable layout, an empty fridge & freezer etc.
Also, in my (limited) experience, these places are more likely to leave little welcome gifts - which of course, I love. In Budapest, we had sparkling wine, fruit, juices, chocolate, bottled water, microwave popcorn and Nespresso pods!!
The downside of these kind of places is that it's sometimes hard to cook "at home" due to a lack of basics like salt, oil, etc. They can also lack a bit of the homely feel.
Our two Berlin rentals, on the other hand, are lived-in apartments and positively brimming - nay, overflowing - with personality.
The rental we shared with Joelle (our last shared apartment - sob) was in Pankow - in the north east of Berlin, which turned out to be a lovely and cool area.
The actual apartment belongs to a really lovely but definitely eclectic burlesque dancer and her son... and it showed. Vintage jewellery, postcards, shoes etc covered every single available surface. And there was a distinct lack of blockout curtains (hail the eyemask). But I really enjoyed staying there not least because it was basically the dream apartment of my 16 year old self - before I realised that living in chaos feels, well chaotic.
Our new place in Neukolln is also awesome. A really big and bright one bedroom with polished floors and a huge kitchen.
It's actually really nice and clean, but again, has some quirky elements. Like the fact that there is only one pillow. And the shower curtain is a garbage bag held together by duct tape. And the uhhh... interesting photographs on the wall. Here is one that is safe for work (I'll leave you to imagine what the NSFW ones look like).
As I said, interesting.
To do in Berlin
As I mentioned, it is now just Phil and I once again. It was an awesome three weeks travelling with Jo - she brought lots of fun, laughter, amazing home cooked meals and introduced us to the aperol spritz - king of cocktails!
Our new hood
We're in Neukolln which is a vibrant spot popular with Turkish migrants and faintly reminiscent of Sydney rd in Coburg. Here's a couple of pics of the neighbourhood:
Eclectic shops
Fifty cent felafel sandwich - Phil was in heaven!!
We have no firm plans for Berlin beyond wandering around and soaking up the atmosphere.
Today we hit the Mauerpark flea market which was hugely popular and sold everything from broken watches and ancient LPs to up cycled tin can lamps and printed tote bags.
We're in Berlin til Thursday, so I'll let you know what we get up to. Personally, I'm keen to try and rent some rollerblades and skate around the former airport, Tempelhof park... And the avengers movie is calling my name...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, 25 April 2015
Prague: Wednesday is the new Saturday
Bus blogging
This post comes to you from a very fancy bus that we are taking to Berlin. And it comes with free wifi - woo hoo!!
We did start out on a train from Prague but some rail works saw us turfed out at Dresden onto a replacement bus.
Ordinarily, I'd favour a train over a bus but this one is half empty (we're the cool kids up the back) and did I mention the free wifi?? Plus, it's a glorious day and a scenic drive.
We are on a bit of a schedule here because Joelle has a hair appointment in Berlin (yes, she is way cooler than me), so we're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll make it there by 2pm...
Prague wrap up
We had a great time checking out Prague over the last week. The weather favoured us for most of the week with blue skies and warm days, plus unexpectedly great veggie food and beer so cheap it made no fiscal sense to drink anything else. Indeed, the beer was so cheap and plentiful that Phil started referring to the pay-toilets as a beer tax!
The title of the post refers to a strange phenomenon we noticed about Prague's opening hours. Our first full day was a slightly grey and cool Saturday. We decided to explore our neighbourhood - Prague 2 or Vinohrady and found it virtually deserted with most of the shops closed.
Fast forward to last Wednesday in Prague and the same neighbourhood was busy, lively, and most importantly open. We even went back to the same farmers market that we visited on the first day and it was bigger and busier on a Wednesday than a Saturday! Don't ppl have to work?? (Irony noted).
In contrast, the Old town centre was absolutely packed every day with every imaginable kind of tour, street performer, school group etc.*
This makes sense because Prague is a city with specific highlights - Old town square, Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, etc. To get a feel for the city beyond the highlights, you have to work a bit harder.
Astro clock in Old Town
*The Old town area even features a guy whose whole schtick was having two super tame and friendly mini pigs - which I had to hold, of course. No pic sadly, but trust me, they were adorable!!
For what it's worth, my alternative highlights of Prague are below - some of which I've already covered in earlier posts:
Letna Park
A gorgeous sprawling park overlooking Prague on the castle side of the river. The beer garden opens for (the warmer) half the year and is an awesome place to bring a picnic and chill out for the day. Plus, a ten minute walk gets you to the Castle itself.
View from Letna Park
Veggie Food
This one really surprised me. The last time I was in Prague, I felt like I was drowning in a sea of pork! This time, we found not only great veggie food, but quite a few vegan and raw food cafes too.
Phil and Jo had a veggie burger from Dish - it looked incredible. I had the goulash burger which was heaven. And a saffron G&T pictured below...
Saffron G&T
Thanks to an article sent to me by my friend Alexis, we found a great vegan raw food place around the corner and I got a much needed vitamin boost from raw zucchini fettuccine and watercress soup - it was really good!!
Plus we found veggie hot dogs from a street vendor (a rare treat). Although dish of the trip was a home made omelette with eggplant ragu whipped up by Joelle - what she can do with packet soup mix and the leftover salt from a bag of nuts would blow your mind!!
Soooo good!!!
Neighbourhood walks
Our neighbourhood was lovely (after the gloomy Saturday) and packed to the hilt with little cafes, bars and restaurants. It would have taken us months to try them all! Beautiful parks, puppies and gorgeous buildings made the city perfect for aimless wandering...
Old town
The old town area is gorgeous and it must be seen. But I was also surprised by how many great little places were tucked away in the surrounding streets - great Indian restaurants, awesome and cheap pubs with sunny beer gardens and the Hemingway bar with its flourishes was a fun way to try absinthe in a city famous for it.
And now??
We're just pulling into Berlin for a week. I'm very excited - I loooove Berlin and can't wait to see the city again. Joelle is with us til Saturday and we've got a packed schedule - haircut, a booking at a fancy veg restaurant and a band on Friday night.
Then Phil and I check into a different airbnb apartment in Neukolln where I don't think I've visited but it's near an unused airport which has been converted into a giant park. We just drove past it and it looks pretty awesome!!
More updates soon - happy weekend all!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
This post comes to you from a very fancy bus that we are taking to Berlin. And it comes with free wifi - woo hoo!!
We did start out on a train from Prague but some rail works saw us turfed out at Dresden onto a replacement bus.
Ordinarily, I'd favour a train over a bus but this one is half empty (we're the cool kids up the back) and did I mention the free wifi?? Plus, it's a glorious day and a scenic drive.
We are on a bit of a schedule here because Joelle has a hair appointment in Berlin (yes, she is way cooler than me), so we're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll make it there by 2pm...
Prague wrap up
We had a great time checking out Prague over the last week. The weather favoured us for most of the week with blue skies and warm days, plus unexpectedly great veggie food and beer so cheap it made no fiscal sense to drink anything else. Indeed, the beer was so cheap and plentiful that Phil started referring to the pay-toilets as a beer tax!
The title of the post refers to a strange phenomenon we noticed about Prague's opening hours. Our first full day was a slightly grey and cool Saturday. We decided to explore our neighbourhood - Prague 2 or Vinohrady and found it virtually deserted with most of the shops closed.
Fast forward to last Wednesday in Prague and the same neighbourhood was busy, lively, and most importantly open. We even went back to the same farmers market that we visited on the first day and it was bigger and busier on a Wednesday than a Saturday! Don't ppl have to work?? (Irony noted).
In contrast, the Old town centre was absolutely packed every day with every imaginable kind of tour, street performer, school group etc.*
This makes sense because Prague is a city with specific highlights - Old town square, Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, etc. To get a feel for the city beyond the highlights, you have to work a bit harder.
Astro clock in Old Town
*The Old town area even features a guy whose whole schtick was having two super tame and friendly mini pigs - which I had to hold, of course. No pic sadly, but trust me, they were adorable!!
For what it's worth, my alternative highlights of Prague are below - some of which I've already covered in earlier posts:
Letna Park
A gorgeous sprawling park overlooking Prague on the castle side of the river. The beer garden opens for (the warmer) half the year and is an awesome place to bring a picnic and chill out for the day. Plus, a ten minute walk gets you to the Castle itself.
View from Letna Park
Veggie Food
This one really surprised me. The last time I was in Prague, I felt like I was drowning in a sea of pork! This time, we found not only great veggie food, but quite a few vegan and raw food cafes too.
Phil and Jo had a veggie burger from Dish - it looked incredible. I had the goulash burger which was heaven. And a saffron G&T pictured below...
Saffron G&T
Thanks to an article sent to me by my friend Alexis, we found a great vegan raw food place around the corner and I got a much needed vitamin boost from raw zucchini fettuccine and watercress soup - it was really good!!
Plus we found veggie hot dogs from a street vendor (a rare treat). Although dish of the trip was a home made omelette with eggplant ragu whipped up by Joelle - what she can do with packet soup mix and the leftover salt from a bag of nuts would blow your mind!!
Soooo good!!!
Neighbourhood walks
Our neighbourhood was lovely (after the gloomy Saturday) and packed to the hilt with little cafes, bars and restaurants. It would have taken us months to try them all! Beautiful parks, puppies and gorgeous buildings made the city perfect for aimless wandering...
Old town
The old town area is gorgeous and it must be seen. But I was also surprised by how many great little places were tucked away in the surrounding streets - great Indian restaurants, awesome and cheap pubs with sunny beer gardens and the Hemingway bar with its flourishes was a fun way to try absinthe in a city famous for it.
And now??
We're just pulling into Berlin for a week. I'm very excited - I loooove Berlin and can't wait to see the city again. Joelle is with us til Saturday and we've got a packed schedule - haircut, a booking at a fancy veg restaurant and a band on Friday night.
Then Phil and I check into a different airbnb apartment in Neukolln where I don't think I've visited but it's near an unused airport which has been converted into a giant park. We just drove past it and it looks pretty awesome!!
More updates soon - happy weekend all!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, 21 April 2015
A small favour, please...
Polling time
Yes, I know, I have been pretty rubbish with the polls on this blog. I promised that there would be interactivity and polls and so far have barely delivered...
I think we slid into such a deep chillout mode in Munich that I couldn't even think of options let alone contemplate following through with the actual outcomes. And since we've been on our Eastern Europe city tour, there just hasn't been time to post a poll and get results in! I will do better...
In the meantime, I have a question for you, so I've put up a poll.
In short, I suspect the background on the web version of the blog makes the text and photos hard to see. I can change the blog template, but before I do, it would be good to know what you see. Is the website version a horrible mess - or does it not matter a jot because you're reading this on email and the blog background is irrelevant?
Anyway, if you have a spare 30 secs, the poll is on the web version of the blog. Please and thank you.
Some Prague pics
And now, some photos of our adventures yesterday at the Dox gallery for an art brut exhibition and some phenomenal sculptures, followed by an afternoon visit to a nearby bar/cafe/ called Cross Club (definitely worth a visit - even if just to see the huge industrial steampunk-inspired sculptures), then to Hemingway bar for a taste of absinthe... it was a big day!
Amazing bird sculptures - half bird, half car, Dox gallery
Sunset silhouetting Prague Castle
Cross club with its industrially-inspired sculpture
Absinthe fountain at Hemingway bar
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Yes, I know, I have been pretty rubbish with the polls on this blog. I promised that there would be interactivity and polls and so far have barely delivered...
I think we slid into such a deep chillout mode in Munich that I couldn't even think of options let alone contemplate following through with the actual outcomes. And since we've been on our Eastern Europe city tour, there just hasn't been time to post a poll and get results in! I will do better...
In the meantime, I have a question for you, so I've put up a poll.
In short, I suspect the background on the web version of the blog makes the text and photos hard to see. I can change the blog template, but before I do, it would be good to know what you see. Is the website version a horrible mess - or does it not matter a jot because you're reading this on email and the blog background is irrelevant?
Anyway, if you have a spare 30 secs, the poll is on the web version of the blog. Please and thank you.
Some Prague pics
And now, some photos of our adventures yesterday at the Dox gallery for an art brut exhibition and some phenomenal sculptures, followed by an afternoon visit to a nearby bar/cafe/ called Cross Club (definitely worth a visit - even if just to see the huge industrial steampunk-inspired sculptures), then to Hemingway bar for a taste of absinthe... it was a big day!
Amazing bird sculptures - half bird, half car, Dox gallery
Sunset silhouetting Prague Castle
Cross club with its industrially-inspired sculpture
Absinthe fountain at Hemingway bar
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, 20 April 2015
Prague
Prague!!!
I may have mentioned previously that I had been to both Prague and Budapest before (some 14 years ago) whilst Phil and Joelle have not. And I may have also mentioned that I was a pretty useless travel guide in Budapest because I have a weird amnesia about the city. Well, I remember Prague a little better, but only a little, and we're staying in a different area and doing different things, so it's feeling like a new experience so far.
We bid farewell to Budapest on Friday morning - I'll confess, it was hard to leave. Our airbnb apartment was awesome and the city - I don't really think I did it justice in my earlier posts. Did I mention how amazing the transport was? Did I mention how beautiful the city is? How many little parks are strewn around? How EVERY SINGLE PERSON is walking around with an adorable fluff ball on the end of a leash?? I know I forgot to mention the endless ice cream stands charging 90 cents for a scoop... Phil tried the Gorgonzola flavour. Seriously, here's proof!! It was strangely delicious with a decidedly cheesy aftertaste and something you'd line up at Gelato Messina for and then pay $6 for the privilege:
All the other flavours were strangely normal...
Anyway, we jumped on a train on Friday morning and arrived at our apartment in Prague by 7pm (it's a long ride - but very comfy thanks to the Eurail granting us first class seats on all the trains!!). Our apartment is really beautiful - yay - with huge rooms and a full kitchen in a lovely residential neighbourhood in Prague 2 or Vinohrady.
The apartment was picked by Joelle, who btw, is an awesome travel companion , which we already knew from several previous trips together. She has introduced us to the aperol spritz - a cocktail that is coming to represent our travels. We've even invested in a travel ice cube tray to ensure it can be made at home!!
We spent Saturday discovering that Saturday trading doesn't seem to be a thing in the residential part of the city. As in all the shops were closed in our neighbourhood - weird. We visited a Farmers market, found great coffee, some pasta and pesto which we took away with us and a band that favoured Bob Marley songs and had all the hipster girls crowding round and dancing!
The band were surprisingly good and pulling off reggae with a piano accordion!!
After a locally based morning, we headed to the old town to see Prague's draw cards. The Old Town Square was as beautiful - and insanely packed with every tour group imaginable - as I had remembered. It's a pretty overwhelming experience, especially after the ease of walking through Budapest's most celebrated tourist attractions, but unmissable. It would be like going to Vegas and deciding to skip a walk down the strip!
The highlight of the night was visiting a little pub, seemingly run by a young Czech guy (who told us he was studying... at high school - I'm still not sure if something was lost in translation or if they let teens bartend in this town), but he served us some truly delicious beer, a yummy marinated cheese bar snack (he actually gasped when we ordered it and called us "brave" which was mildly concerning) and declared that he'd never seen anyone drink a beer as fast as Phil downed his (it wasn't fast - the kid may well have been 15 years old!!). He was also drinking the beer behind the bar - a small glass only, but still. I think that's what counts as responsible service of alcohol in Prague!!
Just to give you an idea about prices in this town, 6 beers and the aforementioned cheese was $25 - crazy!! We tried - and failed - to get into the Hemingway bar to sample some absinthe in style, but we have a booking for tonight, so I'll let you know how it goes!!
Yesterday was a stunningly beautiful day and we decided to just walk by the river. We ended up on the castle side of Prague walking through a gorgeous park with a delightful beer garden overlooking the whole city - truly my favourite way to spend a warm, sunny day.
The beer garden
The views were stunning all the way across the parklands
We ended up at the castle - with half the tourist populace - and had a wander around. Eventually we emerged mid-afternoon, a touch wearied and hungry and ran straight into two things on our "must try" list- veggie hot dogs (both Phil & Jo are veggie - I had something called the "special" and it was delicious and unfiltered Czech beer - both delicious!!
Hamming it up at the castle
No filter beer... cheers!
We've got three more days in Prague before heading to possibly my favourite Euro city, Berlin. It's yet another gorgeous day, so we're heading out to enjoy it!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I may have mentioned previously that I had been to both Prague and Budapest before (some 14 years ago) whilst Phil and Joelle have not. And I may have also mentioned that I was a pretty useless travel guide in Budapest because I have a weird amnesia about the city. Well, I remember Prague a little better, but only a little, and we're staying in a different area and doing different things, so it's feeling like a new experience so far.
We bid farewell to Budapest on Friday morning - I'll confess, it was hard to leave. Our airbnb apartment was awesome and the city - I don't really think I did it justice in my earlier posts. Did I mention how amazing the transport was? Did I mention how beautiful the city is? How many little parks are strewn around? How EVERY SINGLE PERSON is walking around with an adorable fluff ball on the end of a leash?? I know I forgot to mention the endless ice cream stands charging 90 cents for a scoop... Phil tried the Gorgonzola flavour. Seriously, here's proof!! It was strangely delicious with a decidedly cheesy aftertaste and something you'd line up at Gelato Messina for and then pay $6 for the privilege:
All the other flavours were strangely normal...
Anyway, we jumped on a train on Friday morning and arrived at our apartment in Prague by 7pm (it's a long ride - but very comfy thanks to the Eurail granting us first class seats on all the trains!!). Our apartment is really beautiful - yay - with huge rooms and a full kitchen in a lovely residential neighbourhood in Prague 2 or Vinohrady.
The apartment was picked by Joelle, who btw, is an awesome travel companion , which we already knew from several previous trips together. She has introduced us to the aperol spritz - a cocktail that is coming to represent our travels. We've even invested in a travel ice cube tray to ensure it can be made at home!!
We spent Saturday discovering that Saturday trading doesn't seem to be a thing in the residential part of the city. As in all the shops were closed in our neighbourhood - weird. We visited a Farmers market, found great coffee, some pasta and pesto which we took away with us and a band that favoured Bob Marley songs and had all the hipster girls crowding round and dancing!
The band were surprisingly good and pulling off reggae with a piano accordion!!
After a locally based morning, we headed to the old town to see Prague's draw cards. The Old Town Square was as beautiful - and insanely packed with every tour group imaginable - as I had remembered. It's a pretty overwhelming experience, especially after the ease of walking through Budapest's most celebrated tourist attractions, but unmissable. It would be like going to Vegas and deciding to skip a walk down the strip!
The highlight of the night was visiting a little pub, seemingly run by a young Czech guy (who told us he was studying... at high school - I'm still not sure if something was lost in translation or if they let teens bartend in this town), but he served us some truly delicious beer, a yummy marinated cheese bar snack (he actually gasped when we ordered it and called us "brave" which was mildly concerning) and declared that he'd never seen anyone drink a beer as fast as Phil downed his (it wasn't fast - the kid may well have been 15 years old!!). He was also drinking the beer behind the bar - a small glass only, but still. I think that's what counts as responsible service of alcohol in Prague!!
Just to give you an idea about prices in this town, 6 beers and the aforementioned cheese was $25 - crazy!! We tried - and failed - to get into the Hemingway bar to sample some absinthe in style, but we have a booking for tonight, so I'll let you know how it goes!!
Yesterday was a stunningly beautiful day and we decided to just walk by the river. We ended up on the castle side of Prague walking through a gorgeous park with a delightful beer garden overlooking the whole city - truly my favourite way to spend a warm, sunny day.
The beer garden
The views were stunning all the way across the parklands
We ended up at the castle - with half the tourist populace - and had a wander around. Eventually we emerged mid-afternoon, a touch wearied and hungry and ran straight into two things on our "must try" list- veggie hot dogs (both Phil & Jo are veggie - I had something called the "special" and it was delicious and unfiltered Czech beer - both delicious!!
Hamming it up at the castle
No filter beer... cheers!
We've got three more days in Prague before heading to possibly my favourite Euro city, Berlin. It's yet another gorgeous day, so we're heading out to enjoy it!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, 16 April 2015
Things I love about Budapest
Things I love about Budapest
Everything. That is all.
Okay, that's not quite all. There are a lot of things to love about Budapest.
First, the affordability. It's sooo cheap here. There are so many example, but let's use the beer - it's $1.20 for quality half litre. You can also buy rolls from the supermarket for 7 cents. Aaarggghhhhh!!!!
Then there's the food - Phil has discovered there is a chain of hummus bars and nothing will ever be the same... Plus veggie corn dogs, veggie burgers - who needs goulash??
The transport. If you're ever visiting, I'd recommend the weekly public transport ticket - $23 for train (FOUR underground metro lines - in a city of 2 million people - shame, Melbourne, shame), PLUS trams, buses AND ferries. Check out the view from yesterday's (free) ferry ride!!
Hungarian Parliament
One of the many impressive bridges
Second, the puppy love. It seems like every single person in the city has a dog. Miniature silky terriers seem like the most popular choice, but there are also tons of beagles, golden retrievers and all sorts of adorable fluff balls. Check out this little fella - awwwww. I nearly stole him!
Third, the coffee. Oh, the coffee. After Germany, I had given up on coffee in Europe. And then I found Espresso Embassy. On the first day we visited and ordered, we were spotted as Aussies by the barista and then immediately shown his barista awards - to persuade us?? And then we drank the coffee. And we've been back every day - nuff said.
I'm really just hoping that this spruik leads to free coffee in the future... hello??
The only thing I've been able to put on the cons list is slightly excessive public urination... But I suspect it's mostly down to the super cheap beer.
We have barely scratched the surface of the city - so we're already planning to come back!! For a month over summer!!!! It's that awesome. Beautiful big open streets, no language kerfuffles (how does everyone speak English so well?), lovely friendly people, great veggie food, did I mention the price of beer???
So, I'd check out Budapest if you can. Here are some pics - we climbed up a mountain - Phil made me clarify to read "big hill" (Gellert Hill) to capture these shots:
Tomorrow morning we're heading to Prague for a week or so. I will be sorry to leave Budapest, but excited to get back to Prague after 14 years (yikes)!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Everything. That is all.
Okay, that's not quite all. There are a lot of things to love about Budapest.
First, the affordability. It's sooo cheap here. There are so many example, but let's use the beer - it's $1.20 for quality half litre. You can also buy rolls from the supermarket for 7 cents. Aaarggghhhhh!!!!
Then there's the food - Phil has discovered there is a chain of hummus bars and nothing will ever be the same... Plus veggie corn dogs, veggie burgers - who needs goulash??
The transport. If you're ever visiting, I'd recommend the weekly public transport ticket - $23 for train (FOUR underground metro lines - in a city of 2 million people - shame, Melbourne, shame), PLUS trams, buses AND ferries. Check out the view from yesterday's (free) ferry ride!!
Hungarian Parliament
One of the many impressive bridges
Second, the puppy love. It seems like every single person in the city has a dog. Miniature silky terriers seem like the most popular choice, but there are also tons of beagles, golden retrievers and all sorts of adorable fluff balls. Check out this little fella - awwwww. I nearly stole him!
Third, the coffee. Oh, the coffee. After Germany, I had given up on coffee in Europe. And then I found Espresso Embassy. On the first day we visited and ordered, we were spotted as Aussies by the barista and then immediately shown his barista awards - to persuade us?? And then we drank the coffee. And we've been back every day - nuff said.
I'm really just hoping that this spruik leads to free coffee in the future... hello??
The only thing I've been able to put on the cons list is slightly excessive public urination... But I suspect it's mostly down to the super cheap beer.
We have barely scratched the surface of the city - so we're already planning to come back!! For a month over summer!!!! It's that awesome. Beautiful big open streets, no language kerfuffles (how does everyone speak English so well?), lovely friendly people, great veggie food, did I mention the price of beer???
So, I'd check out Budapest if you can. Here are some pics - we climbed up a mountain - Phil made me clarify to read "big hill" (Gellert Hill) to capture these shots:
Tomorrow morning we're heading to Prague for a week or so. I will be sorry to leave Budapest, but excited to get back to Prague after 14 years (yikes)!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, 14 April 2015
A tale of two cities
Budapest
We arrived in Budapest on Saturday and it is awesome!! We are already loving this cool, beautiful city. We've got a week here before heading to Prague and rolled into town without too much of an idea of what to expect.
I have been to Budapest before - circa 2001 - for a weekend but have incredibly poor memories of the trip - no, not because I was drunk the whole time... I just don't think the city left much of an impression. Were there not photographic evidence I would be tempted to believe I just had a really vivid dream about Budapest!
But before we get into our new adventures, a quick recap.
Farewell Munich
On our last day in Munich, Phil, Joelle and I finally got ourselves on the bikes and rode to not one but two castles!! All credit to Klaus and Cornelia who not only lent us their bikes, but cleaned and oiled them up for us!! We were lucky in getting a gorgeous day for riding.
Castle #1 - Schloss Blutenburg
Castle #2 - Schloss Nymphenburg
There were swans, 14th century castles and kitschy souvenirs - bliss...
After a final farewell dinner, we headed to the train station for my first ever night train to Budapest!!
Night train
We had an awesome three sleeper room which was basically a triple bunk with a (free) mini bar with water - still and sparkling - orange juice and some awesome packaged croissants which no one was brave enough to try...
Our cozy sleeper carriage
Minibar!!!
First impressions
After a wonderfully peaceful night of sleep (perhaps a slight exaggeration) we arrived in Budapest at the Keleti station... at 9am. We rented an apartment through airbnb which looked great, but a check in at 5pm.
The plan was to walk slowly from Keleti station to our apartment (about 5km) with our bags, grab some breakfast on the way and scope out the neighbourhood.
Budapest Keleti station is not the most savoury introduction to the city. The station itself is a touch dilapidated and both it and the surrounding streets seemed full of men - many in groups on bachelor weekends - drinking or drunk. At 9am.
But the seedy introduction didn't last... As soon as we made it a few blocks away from the station, the city revealed itself... to be absolutely gorgeous.
Beautiful Budapest
Huge, open streets, beautiful buildings lining the streets, green parks and stunning cathedrals. The city is divided by the Danube river into Buda and Pest Our neighbourhood is on the Pest side of the city a block in from the Danube and next to Parliament House (which is so huge it's hard to get a pic that does it justice).
Impressively large, no?
Parliament... apparently based on Westminster
We spent our first afternoon wandering by the Danube in the sun and then went to check out one of the famed ruin pubs - pubs that have opened in the last 10-15 years in Budapest's deserted buildings.
This is Szimpla Kert - the most famous of the lot. There was some sort of bike courier tournament going on, so the place was full of patrons in Lycra and carrying fixies - a touch surreal...
Since then, we've hit a flea market in the city park filled with clothes, LPs and soviet era badges, shopped in some vintage stores, visited Magrit Island - a huge park with a mini zoo, and of course checked out a couple more ruin pubs.
The term "ruin pub" seems to have a very wide application. Most of them are located in the old Jewish quarter of Budapest, but most don't have any Jewish connection. One of them - Mazel Tov - was reported as having Jewish influences... and a hommus based kitchen!! So we headed down to check it out. It was gorgeous! There was nothing "ruinous" about it - beautiful fit out, delicious hummus plate, great service aaannd in addition to selling tshits, they sell souvenir kippas*.
There's so much going on here, I could easily spend a month just hitting the main attractions!!
The Spring festival is on and a couple of city squares near us have opened markets with Hungarians handicrafts and delicacies. The cakes looked spectacular, but I wasn't too sure about this dish:
Not sure if made with actual rooster testes...
So pretty...
Today's agenda includes a visit to the spectacular Buda Castle. Here's an awesome pic of Phil holding Ronald Reagan's hand, just for you:
*Jewish skull cap worn by religious Jewish men at all times and are required for men in a synogogue.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
We arrived in Budapest on Saturday and it is awesome!! We are already loving this cool, beautiful city. We've got a week here before heading to Prague and rolled into town without too much of an idea of what to expect.
I have been to Budapest before - circa 2001 - for a weekend but have incredibly poor memories of the trip - no, not because I was drunk the whole time... I just don't think the city left much of an impression. Were there not photographic evidence I would be tempted to believe I just had a really vivid dream about Budapest!
But before we get into our new adventures, a quick recap.
Farewell Munich
On our last day in Munich, Phil, Joelle and I finally got ourselves on the bikes and rode to not one but two castles!! All credit to Klaus and Cornelia who not only lent us their bikes, but cleaned and oiled them up for us!! We were lucky in getting a gorgeous day for riding.
Castle #1 - Schloss Blutenburg
Castle #2 - Schloss Nymphenburg
There were swans, 14th century castles and kitschy souvenirs - bliss...
After a final farewell dinner, we headed to the train station for my first ever night train to Budapest!!
Night train
We had an awesome three sleeper room which was basically a triple bunk with a (free) mini bar with water - still and sparkling - orange juice and some awesome packaged croissants which no one was brave enough to try...
Our cozy sleeper carriage
Minibar!!!
First impressions
After a wonderfully peaceful night of sleep (perhaps a slight exaggeration) we arrived in Budapest at the Keleti station... at 9am. We rented an apartment through airbnb which looked great, but a check in at 5pm.
The plan was to walk slowly from Keleti station to our apartment (about 5km) with our bags, grab some breakfast on the way and scope out the neighbourhood.
Budapest Keleti station is not the most savoury introduction to the city. The station itself is a touch dilapidated and both it and the surrounding streets seemed full of men - many in groups on bachelor weekends - drinking or drunk. At 9am.
But the seedy introduction didn't last... As soon as we made it a few blocks away from the station, the city revealed itself... to be absolutely gorgeous.
Beautiful Budapest
Huge, open streets, beautiful buildings lining the streets, green parks and stunning cathedrals. The city is divided by the Danube river into Buda and Pest Our neighbourhood is on the Pest side of the city a block in from the Danube and next to Parliament House (which is so huge it's hard to get a pic that does it justice).
Impressively large, no?
Parliament... apparently based on Westminster
We spent our first afternoon wandering by the Danube in the sun and then went to check out one of the famed ruin pubs - pubs that have opened in the last 10-15 years in Budapest's deserted buildings.
This is Szimpla Kert - the most famous of the lot. There was some sort of bike courier tournament going on, so the place was full of patrons in Lycra and carrying fixies - a touch surreal...
Since then, we've hit a flea market in the city park filled with clothes, LPs and soviet era badges, shopped in some vintage stores, visited Magrit Island - a huge park with a mini zoo, and of course checked out a couple more ruin pubs.
The term "ruin pub" seems to have a very wide application. Most of them are located in the old Jewish quarter of Budapest, but most don't have any Jewish connection. One of them - Mazel Tov - was reported as having Jewish influences... and a hommus based kitchen!! So we headed down to check it out. It was gorgeous! There was nothing "ruinous" about it - beautiful fit out, delicious hummus plate, great service aaannd in addition to selling tshits, they sell souvenir kippas*.
There's so much going on here, I could easily spend a month just hitting the main attractions!!
The Spring festival is on and a couple of city squares near us have opened markets with Hungarians handicrafts and delicacies. The cakes looked spectacular, but I wasn't too sure about this dish:
Not sure if made with actual rooster testes...
So pretty...
Today's agenda includes a visit to the spectacular Buda Castle. Here's an awesome pic of Phil holding Ronald Reagan's hand, just for you:
*Jewish skull cap worn by religious Jewish men at all times and are required for men in a synogogue.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, 9 April 2015
Auf Wiedersehen Munich
We are finally coming to our last day in Munich after a gloriously relaxing month... sob! On Friday night, we will be boarding my first ever night train to Budapest. But first, some recapping.
Despite the closure of almost everything on Easter Monday aka Phil's birthday - and the Bavarian ban on dancing - we ended up
spending the day at a very cool brewery in the neighbouring town of Maisach. Phil's stepbrother Niko found the place, booked us in for lunch and then picked us up!! Talk about being spoiled...
Kaiserschmarrn for dessert... basically chopped up pancakes and apple sauce - Yummm...
Niko is awesome!! Check out his birthday present to Phil (waaaay better than my birthday pressie, which was a waterproof travel bag):
Phil's very own pair of Lederhosen!!
Niko also ensured we had a fun b'day eve on Thursday night with a trip to the Rattlesnake to see a fantastic country guitarist, Albert Lee. I'll confess to having the incredible spareribs again (they are just so very very good!!)
We spent Saturday in Munich's city centre, keenly anticipating the arrival of our friend Joelle who is joining us for the next few weeks. She arrived after a couple of weeks in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai and Italy - how exotic!! The three of us will be heading to Budapest and Prague... but more on that later.
On Easter Sunday morning, the three of us joined Phil's two stepbrothers - Niko and Chris & his lovely wife Karina for brunch.
Love the pink-theme, including hot-pink boiled egg...
We spent Tuesday running some
travel errands in the hip area of Schwabing, which was preternaturally successful. We had an ambitious list and started out pretty late - it's becoming a theme... But we managed to bag a jacket, 2 pairs of prescription glasses, a hat for Phil, notebooks and even had time for cake (which was actually on the errand list). We were so efficient, it took Joelle less time to find a gorgeous jacket she needed than it took me to find the bathroom in the department store. I think it must be a German efficiency thing??
Our generous hosts, Klaus and Cornelia have been away over Easter, but returned on Wednesday night. So we all spent today together to celebrate Phil's bday at Kloister Andechs - a monastery that has also been a brewery since about 1400!!!
Andechs is quite a special place. It has an incredibly decorative baroque church, but the monks also farm organic grains, make their own commercial bread, brew beer, run a distillery and even host retreats and conferences. The setting is pretty spectacular with views to the Alps on a clear day and overlooking farmlands and forests.
They have a gorgeous beer garden and roasted meats to die for. This was lunch:
That's sauerkraut, a giant bretzel and some roasted pork - you can stop salivating now...
Inside the beerhall they even have a spot where the locals can keep their beer steins locked up - apparently these are passed down by will from generation to generation!!
Beer steins kept under lock and key!
There was even a Hermann!!
Tomorrow is our last day in Munich and the plan is for Phil, Joelle and I to get on the bikes and ride into the city. Then we're on an 11.30pm train overnight to Budapest!!
Despite the fact that I'm really looking forward to our next city, it's been a fantastic, chilled out, fun month in Munich both on our own and hanging with family and I'm sad to leave...
But at the same time, adventures await. First a week in Budapest, followed by a week in Prague - sounds pretty good to me :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Despite the closure of almost everything on Easter Monday aka Phil's birthday - and the Bavarian ban on dancing - we ended up
spending the day at a very cool brewery in the neighbouring town of Maisach. Phil's stepbrother Niko found the place, booked us in for lunch and then picked us up!! Talk about being spoiled...
Kaiserschmarrn for dessert... basically chopped up pancakes and apple sauce - Yummm...
Niko is awesome!! Check out his birthday present to Phil (waaaay better than my birthday pressie, which was a waterproof travel bag):
Phil's very own pair of Lederhosen!!
Niko also ensured we had a fun b'day eve on Thursday night with a trip to the Rattlesnake to see a fantastic country guitarist, Albert Lee. I'll confess to having the incredible spareribs again (they are just so very very good!!)
We spent Saturday in Munich's city centre, keenly anticipating the arrival of our friend Joelle who is joining us for the next few weeks. She arrived after a couple of weeks in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai and Italy - how exotic!! The three of us will be heading to Budapest and Prague... but more on that later.
On Easter Sunday morning, the three of us joined Phil's two stepbrothers - Niko and Chris & his lovely wife Karina for brunch.
Love the pink-theme, including hot-pink boiled egg...
We spent Tuesday running some
travel errands in the hip area of Schwabing, which was preternaturally successful. We had an ambitious list and started out pretty late - it's becoming a theme... But we managed to bag a jacket, 2 pairs of prescription glasses, a hat for Phil, notebooks and even had time for cake (which was actually on the errand list). We were so efficient, it took Joelle less time to find a gorgeous jacket she needed than it took me to find the bathroom in the department store. I think it must be a German efficiency thing??
Our generous hosts, Klaus and Cornelia have been away over Easter, but returned on Wednesday night. So we all spent today together to celebrate Phil's bday at Kloister Andechs - a monastery that has also been a brewery since about 1400!!!
Andechs is quite a special place. It has an incredibly decorative baroque church, but the monks also farm organic grains, make their own commercial bread, brew beer, run a distillery and even host retreats and conferences. The setting is pretty spectacular with views to the Alps on a clear day and overlooking farmlands and forests.
They have a gorgeous beer garden and roasted meats to die for. This was lunch:
That's sauerkraut, a giant bretzel and some roasted pork - you can stop salivating now...
Inside the beerhall they even have a spot where the locals can keep their beer steins locked up - apparently these are passed down by will from generation to generation!!
Beer steins kept under lock and key!
There was even a Hermann!!
Tomorrow is our last day in Munich and the plan is for Phil, Joelle and I to get on the bikes and ride into the city. Then we're on an 11.30pm train overnight to Budapest!!
Despite the fact that I'm really looking forward to our next city, it's been a fantastic, chilled out, fun month in Munich both on our own and hanging with family and I'm sad to leave...
But at the same time, adventures await. First a week in Budapest, followed by a week in Prague - sounds pretty good to me :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, 1 April 2015
All about Phil...
The creative process
So for anyone who knows both Phil and I, you'll know that I am not the creative one.
I really love writing a blog when we travel because - apart from a convenient place to share my travels and record adventures for myself - I find it sharpens my own observations when travelling. I look at things in more detail, try to find the humour in any situation and generally think about things through a story-telling lens.
While the blog is my project, Phil has a couple of his own. One of them is learning Indonesian, which means up to several hours a day of speaking aloud into a program that repeats the pronunciation back to you - he's getting really good and I'm hoping some of it is sinking into my brain...
For those who know his love of photography, it will not surprise you to know that another project he has started is this Tumblr page where he's posting photos from the trip. Not happy snaps of us, but images that catch his eye while walking around. He takes some really cool and interesting shots. You should check it out!!
Personally, I'm hoping he's discovered as a photography savant so he can sell his work for millions and I can finally begin my true destiny as a Chloe-walking*, cocktail-drinking, first-class travelling socialite.
A short story
You may also be aware that Phil has a love for shorts. A deep and abiding love that means even in sub zero temperatures (literally, it snowed several times on our walk today), he eschews pants for a pair of knee length shorts.
This is just not the done thing in Bavaria. There are rules!! You simply do not wear shorts in March. You wear a down jacket and long pants whether it's 16 degrees and sunny or 2 degrees and snowing. Phil has been insisting that he has been getting weird looks from people since we arrived in Munich. But he's used to it. And so am I. I barely register the shorts anymore - the nice thing about Melbourne is you can wear them pretty much anywhere that isn't the workplace.
Anyway, we got up this morning to find the streets looking like this:
After nearly being brained by falling trees in high winds yesterday, we decided that it would be a great idea to go for a long walk...
Actually, (not to ruin the suspense) but it was a lovely day for a walk. Our aim was to visit Schloss Nyphemburg, a lovely palace about 11km walk, but we didn't actually make it.
Schloss Nymphenburg
We walked there "via" another cute castle, Schloss Butenburg and discovered that it was not in fact on the way to Nymphenburg at all.
Schloss Butenburg - not quite as grand, but still nice and there were swans, so I was happy!
Anyway, I digress. I realised on our walk that I was doing my usual custom of nodding slightly and smiling at the people walking towards us on paths. Just so people know we're friendly walkers and not psychopaths.
Lots of the people wandering through the parks and gardens and on pedestrian paths are elderly, so I thought it was particularly important to make a small gesture of acknowledgement.
I've been doing this for a couple of weeks in Munich now and some people slightly nod back or smile, and others don't, but today I was getting absolutely nothing back. After one old guy grimaced at me in mild disgust, the following exchange took place
Me: Why will no one smile back?
P: They're not friendly to outsiders in Bavaria.
Me: How could they possibly know that we're outsiders?
P: Some dumbass is wearing shorts...
And there it was. Some dumbass is wearing shorts and sacrificing our anonymity as native Bavarians in exchange for feeling a cool breeze on his lower legs...
I cannot understand how nude sunbaking pensioners on the shore of the river on a sunny day is ok while bearing one's lower legs on a cold day is not, but there you go. The world doesn't always make sense...
A GOMP Moment
Finally, a brief GOMP moment recap. Today on our walk, we encounter one of the loveliest dogs I've ever seen. A big tan and white collie who bounded over to us for pats and hugs, eyes full of joy and love. I badly wanted to kidnap him and make him our travel companion....
Phil had a short chat to the owner (who incidentally told him that his wearing of shorts was making her cold) and I realised that my limited German vocab did not include saying "you have a lovely dog".
So a few minutes later, I asked Phil to teach me the polite way to say to someone "your dog is really cute". I practised and practised and perfected the phrase. Because there are people walking their gorgeous dogs everywhere, an opportunity to put the phrase into action presented itself not long after.
Before we could even get close enough to the owner to say it, Phil aka the GOMP - who really doesn't like engaging with strangers - turns to me and says, don't tell that man that you think his dog is cute - he's holding a (used) dog poo bag.
What?? I said, in utter disbelief. Are you really suggesting that he's going to fling faecal matter at us if we tell him his dog is cute... like some goddamn animal?? Of course, I know it's just because he doesn't want me to say my one German line, leaving him to chat to the complete stranger when my German vocab is exhausted. But I want to hear him say it!!
Without hesitation, the answer was "yes". We walked on by...
* I miss you Chloe... Look at that face...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
So for anyone who knows both Phil and I, you'll know that I am not the creative one.
I really love writing a blog when we travel because - apart from a convenient place to share my travels and record adventures for myself - I find it sharpens my own observations when travelling. I look at things in more detail, try to find the humour in any situation and generally think about things through a story-telling lens.
While the blog is my project, Phil has a couple of his own. One of them is learning Indonesian, which means up to several hours a day of speaking aloud into a program that repeats the pronunciation back to you - he's getting really good and I'm hoping some of it is sinking into my brain...
For those who know his love of photography, it will not surprise you to know that another project he has started is this Tumblr page where he's posting photos from the trip. Not happy snaps of us, but images that catch his eye while walking around. He takes some really cool and interesting shots. You should check it out!!
Personally, I'm hoping he's discovered as a photography savant so he can sell his work for millions and I can finally begin my true destiny as a Chloe-walking*, cocktail-drinking, first-class travelling socialite.
A short story
You may also be aware that Phil has a love for shorts. A deep and abiding love that means even in sub zero temperatures (literally, it snowed several times on our walk today), he eschews pants for a pair of knee length shorts.
This is just not the done thing in Bavaria. There are rules!! You simply do not wear shorts in March. You wear a down jacket and long pants whether it's 16 degrees and sunny or 2 degrees and snowing. Phil has been insisting that he has been getting weird looks from people since we arrived in Munich. But he's used to it. And so am I. I barely register the shorts anymore - the nice thing about Melbourne is you can wear them pretty much anywhere that isn't the workplace.
Anyway, we got up this morning to find the streets looking like this:
After nearly being brained by falling trees in high winds yesterday, we decided that it would be a great idea to go for a long walk...
Actually, (not to ruin the suspense) but it was a lovely day for a walk. Our aim was to visit Schloss Nyphemburg, a lovely palace about 11km walk, but we didn't actually make it.
Schloss Nymphenburg
We walked there "via" another cute castle, Schloss Butenburg and discovered that it was not in fact on the way to Nymphenburg at all.
Schloss Butenburg - not quite as grand, but still nice and there were swans, so I was happy!
Anyway, I digress. I realised on our walk that I was doing my usual custom of nodding slightly and smiling at the people walking towards us on paths. Just so people know we're friendly walkers and not psychopaths.
Lots of the people wandering through the parks and gardens and on pedestrian paths are elderly, so I thought it was particularly important to make a small gesture of acknowledgement.
I've been doing this for a couple of weeks in Munich now and some people slightly nod back or smile, and others don't, but today I was getting absolutely nothing back. After one old guy grimaced at me in mild disgust, the following exchange took place
Me: Why will no one smile back?
P: They're not friendly to outsiders in Bavaria.
Me: How could they possibly know that we're outsiders?
P: Some dumbass is wearing shorts...
And there it was. Some dumbass is wearing shorts and sacrificing our anonymity as native Bavarians in exchange for feeling a cool breeze on his lower legs...
I cannot understand how nude sunbaking pensioners on the shore of the river on a sunny day is ok while bearing one's lower legs on a cold day is not, but there you go. The world doesn't always make sense...
A GOMP Moment
Finally, a brief GOMP moment recap. Today on our walk, we encounter one of the loveliest dogs I've ever seen. A big tan and white collie who bounded over to us for pats and hugs, eyes full of joy and love. I badly wanted to kidnap him and make him our travel companion....
Phil had a short chat to the owner (who incidentally told him that his wearing of shorts was making her cold) and I realised that my limited German vocab did not include saying "you have a lovely dog".
So a few minutes later, I asked Phil to teach me the polite way to say to someone "your dog is really cute". I practised and practised and perfected the phrase. Because there are people walking their gorgeous dogs everywhere, an opportunity to put the phrase into action presented itself not long after.
Before we could even get close enough to the owner to say it, Phil aka the GOMP - who really doesn't like engaging with strangers - turns to me and says, don't tell that man that you think his dog is cute - he's holding a (used) dog poo bag.
What?? I said, in utter disbelief. Are you really suggesting that he's going to fling faecal matter at us if we tell him his dog is cute... like some goddamn animal?? Of course, I know it's just because he doesn't want me to say my one German line, leaving him to chat to the complete stranger when my German vocab is exhausted. But I want to hear him say it!!
Without hesitation, the answer was "yes". We walked on by...
* I miss you Chloe... Look at that face...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone