Craptastic

After a lovely weekend, this has been the fourth day in a row with hail.

New shoes!

German kids are giant kids. How do I know? Because I bought myself some new runners that are actually for kids. 

But I really like the berry accents

Also, much cheaper than adult women's shoes!

Green thumbs at last?!

Good news! The lavender isn't dead yet! But even better news is this:

I saw these little pots for sale with different seeds for flowers. If I manage to keep this alive, I should get some daisies from it!

Topiary

I was walking around Bremen when I saw this totally cute thing...

OMG!!! It's a topiary lavender bush!!!

So year, I bought this and took it home, conveniently forgetting the three lavender bushes I killed in Munich. I seriously hope this works. 

Hamelin/Hameln

When I told people I was moving to Bremen, quite a few said, "Is that a real place? I thought it was from a fairytale!" And you know where else is a real place? Hamelin, from the Pied Piper story! So guess where I day tripped this past weekend?!

Hamelin is approximately 2/2.5 hours away from Bremen depending on transport links, and it looks like a classic Middle Ages fairytale town.

No joke, this is the main street of the old town

The story of the rat catcher/child stealer is naturally all over the town. This is the Rattenfaenger (Pied Piper) haus. On the side of the building, is an old sign commemorating the event...which might be based on a true story?! 

This woman thought it was appropriate to take lots of duckface selfies outside of it.

The tourist trail in Hamelin is marked by these rat cobblestones

The museum outlining the history of Hamelin and the story of the rat catcher

THIS CREEPY BASTARD


Also, check out the rats on this fountain!

But it wasn't all rats, all the time. 

There was this awesome building whose significance I've forgotten

There's this...plaque that seems to commemorate...bretzeln?

And this awesomely decorative building!

Yeah, I was really only paying attention to the rats. 

Loui & Jules Bremen

A while ago, I was discussing with someone about burgers and this person told me that the best burger in Bremen could be found at Louie & Jules. I filed that information away for another day. Well that day finally came. Someone owed me a dinner (heh) and when he suggested this place, I took the chance to try out the burger. 

Brioche bun, bacon...looks good

Tastes good! I definitely recommend this place and if their steaks are as good as their burgers, I might become a semi-regular...

Weekend in Munich

I got a message from Winnie saying she was being sent to the Munich office - would I have time for us to catch up since we haven't seen each other in TWO years? Well okay, I don't live in Munich anymore but...sure, I'll fly down for the weekend to catch up with all my friends!!! And so began an action-packed weekend. So packed that I often forgot to photograph my friends. No matter - they're in my heart and memories!

No seriously, I hit the ground running. After arriving at MUC around 3pm, I made it to my old apartment *sniff* to say hi to Fabi (still the best flatmate/brother from another mother ever!), then raced off to Stammbar to meet old IHG people. Then at 7pm, off to see Winnie!

We went to Eclipse - an Israeli restaurant. Oddly enough, we ordered something that was a bit like giant xiaolongbao. Still good!

Saturday was spent catching up with APP people. First off, a trip to Freising to see Na who is seven month pregnant (!) and play with her son and then catching up with Shibo to congratulate and commiserate. 

And then off to Brienner str for Indian dinner - still haven't found a good restaurant in Bremen. Again, we forgot to take photos with the food so it had to be done in the incredibly glam Odeonsplatz U-bahn station :D

Sunday morning - brunch with the girls at White Rabbit's Room

I highly recommend this place. It's a bit expensive but the brunch was really nice and the decor is super cute. Alice in Wonderland themed - how appropriate

And then it was back to the airport *sniff*

I managed to get one of these for an afternoon snack - Mahlzeit der Siegers, bitches!!!

But seriously, I need another weekend break. Heheheh

Spring?

I was warned that although temperatures tend to be higher up north than down south, I was warned that the seasonal changes occur much more slowly than in Munich. Unfortunately, I have to agree. Having said that...

Clear blue sky...

Blossoms on trees...

I THINK SPRING MIGHT FINALLY BE HERE!!!

Copenhagen Day 3 & 4

*Sniff* Our vacation was slowly coming to an end.

We had another beautiful morning!


So time to walk out to Langlinie to see the Little Mermaid. Pooey said not seeing this would be like going to Paris and not seeing the Arc de Triomphe or going to London and not seeing Big Ben

But the weather slowly changed as the day continued so we decided to buy some groceries, head back to our apartment and eat a homemade dinner (chicken and rice) and drink our wine!

Just a word - our apartment was clearly made for tall people - the toilet paper was on the highest shelf in the toilet!!!

The weather turned nice again but it was our last day in Copenhagen :( 

After a very quick lunch and dropping dancinghula and Rao off at the metro as they made their way to the airport, I made my slow way to the central station

I resister sitting on Hans Christian Anderson's lap

I didn't have to resist going to Tivoli Gardens because it was still closed for the winter :(

And then I slowly made my way back to Germany.

But some good news - the bus was much faster than expected on the way back so I managed to arrive home an hour earlier than expected. A good end to a great holiday <3 p="">

Copenhagen Day 2

After an exhausted sleep, we woke up to a BEE-YOO-TEE-FUL day!

Which we greatly appreciated during our walk to our brunch place.

The brunch place had been recommended by the owner of our apartment and it was packed with locals. So packed that we had to wait at a rear table and play UNO.

This brunch was awesome! Did we order too much? I don't tihnk so and I kinda regret not ordering more bread to go with the homemade nutella :/

*Sigh* so purdy

We made our way over to Paper city because we were told it was a happening place.

It had this public art for us to climb!!!

Christiania. Pooey's advice: " Go here if you wanna feel uncomfortable"

Church where the staircase to climb the tower is on the outside

gfdsfg

All the walking was pretty tiring so we headed back to the apartment to rest. We bought wine on the way.

But we didn't drink it because we were too busy prettying ourselves up for dinner at Aamans!

*Sigh* more pretty walking along the canals.

Look at how happy we look!

My entree - raw marinaded codfish. Can't go to Denmark and not eat fish!

My main - chicken tartelet.

Despite the lightness of the meal, we were pretty stuffed. 

But it didn't stop us from chugging down our wine!!!

Copenhagen Day 1

Dancinghula and Rao moved to London at the tail end of last year. Since they're newbies that can only mean one thing - European city meet ups! For Easter we decided to head to Copenhagen, which is great because I hadn't managed to get there yet and from Bremen it's only a 6 hour train ride. Except it actually turned into a 10 hour train/bus/train ride due to trackworks that were taking place in Denmark over the Easter weekend. Oh well.

Except it actually wasn't so bad actually. The worst part was the confusion as to where I was supposed to get the bus from Hamburg to Denmark. There was basically no signage which was a little disconcerting given that the bus was supposed to take 6 hours and I don't know what would happen if I missed it.

But once I figured out which bus I was supposed to take, THAT BUS WAS AWESOME!!! Look at all that leg space! It was clearly made for Viking-sized people and had free wifi (when we were in Denmark).

The seaside!

Like the train was supposed so, the bus took us right onto the ferry. The weather was shit as. 

Electrical sockets in Denmark look like smiley faces :)

Dancinghula and Rao also had a tiring journey to Copenhagen so we decided to just eat at a restaurant in our street.

My entree of cod roe with a poached egg. YUM!!!


I was a bit disappointed with my pork cheek main. Cheek is meant to be soft and fall apart. It was a bit chewy >.<

Next up, being a tourist!

Fossil hunter

There is a staircase at work that I both hate and love. I hate it because I have to use it to get around the different buildings and people are allowed to smoke in it.

*Side note - while indoor smoking is apparently banned in Germany, it does not seem to be strictly enforced anywhere other than Bavaria. Like seriously. When I complained that it was not okay for this to happen, I was told that the weather is so bad in Bremen (with the rain) that smokers complained it was discriminatory. I countered this by saying it snows like fuck in Munich, and if smokers there have to go outside in the negative degree weather, they can suck up the rain. Also, how can you discriminate against someone who chooses to smoke? Don't give me *it's an addiction* shit - I could be addicted to alcohol but you don't see me drinking at work *End rant*

Anyway, I love this staircase because it is marble with some really lovely fossils. 

Beautiful nautilus - you can see the individual chambers!

And I figured out it's a nautilus and not an ammonite because ammonites have a ridge on their outer shell. There is a fossil that I think might be an ammonite but it isn't complete so it's hard for my inexperienced mind to decide

I'm actually a little upset that this one has a scratch right through it

I've got no idea what this is but I really like it.

Yes, I am a big nerd. BUT I LOVE IT!!!