Le Bon Anniversaire Weekend - Day 1 :D

One of my first thoughts when I'd decided to move o/s was that I wouldn't be able to celebrate my Dirty Thirty with my nearest and dearest in Melbs. :( *boo hoo* It was then however pointed out that I'd be living in EUROPE and I could just invite everyone to somewhere else more awesome. For example, an epic birthday weekend in PARIS. And so I did :D Now, I (un)surprisingly didn't take that many photos so these are all ripped from Pooey (who took heaps) and Tungy (ditto). 


Because I wanted to do it in style, I originally decided I was going to book myself into the Hotel de Crillon on the Place de la Concorde. However at €730 a night (or $1,200 for a suite!) I had to accept that this is simply not possible on a post-doc wage. Dang. I ended up booking an apartment in the 16th district. It was really lovely. Or as Gnoudesavanes called it, "A castle". 

 The Dining room

The Lounge Room. Mmmm, Art Nouveau boiserie...

Seriously, it was the biggest apartment I'd seen in Paris in it's own private street. But I'm really disappointed that we don't appear to have a photo of the real highlight of the apartment - the *Empire Style* ensuite bath in one of the bedrooms. It literally consisted of a bath that was separated from the bedroom by half a wall. But what made it really freaky was that the bathing area was completely surrounded by mirrors so people who were brave (or stupid) enough to use the bath could see themselves reflected into infinity. We decided the owners of the apartment must be swingers.


Due to a miscommunication (or more correctly, a complete lack of communication), we ended up scheduling Dad and Bro into Paris as their last stop, so I caught up with them and Pooey and we went down to Pierre Herme St. Germain des Pres to get macarons for the Bro and cakes for us! I can't remember what they were called but they were bee-yoo-ti-fool!

My gorgeous...something

It wasn't just beautiful, it was delicious with rose and lychee-flavoured cream to go with the macaron shell and raspberry.

Pooey was pretty happy with her sweetie too. She enjoyed it in the Salle d'Attente of the Gare de l'Est.

We were pretty wrecked after waving goodbye to the Dad and Bro so we headed back to the Castle to sleep in preparation of the rest of the weekend.

I *heart* Ikea

Now that I've moved to an unfurnished apartment, I have to look for furniture. This of course means trawling through Ikea's EPIC WEBSITE and then epic trips to their store out in Eching/Neufarn. And these trip(s) prove that I'm not the only one who loves Ikea - everytime I say I need to go or am going, others pipe up with requests that I tell them when so they can either go as well or hand over print outs of what they want.


Because I have absolutely no furniture (other than a Hampen and Ringum), I really get to look at the various room conformations for inspiration on how to express me (with a budget) and build from the bottom up. Do I want to get a Florvag mattress or should I lash out and get the firmer Flataker? What size Expedit bookcase should I get? I want to invest in a sofabed for visitors who'd find it strange to share a bed with me (hai Smee!) - is the €90 Solsta really that comfortable?! The Knubbig lamp is cute - do I want it in white or colour?! These are the deep issues that plague me.


What I have definitely decided on that I will probably get the large pieces of furniture in neutral black and white (easier to sell on), and then girl my room up with soft furnishings, interesting bedsheets, or pictures. Either way, it's going to be a fun month's shopping!

Eurovision and Room Cooling Party.

Okay, I have never professed to be a saint. One of the things that really pissed me off about my flatmate was that she used to throw parties during the week. One party annoyed me in particular because it resulted in the complete monopolising of the kitchen meaning that I was unable to cook dinner. Fuming, I went to Deutschkurs the next day and vented. Ruben, despite his tender years, gave me some sage advice - "She threw a party? You just need to throw a BIGGER PARTY!!!" And thus began the planning for my room cooling party - the opposite of a room warming. At some point it was pointed out that the date I'd chosen coincided with the Eurovision Song Contest so we decided to combine the awesomeness of Eurovision with my imminent escape. Plus the bonus of annoying her. Hehehe.


First of all, I lay down newspaper so people wouldn't destroy my furniture. Secondly, we decided to have some games and drinking game rules.

1. Everyone had to represent a country. You could nominate your country of origin (e.g. Austrians could be Austria) or you could pull a competing country at random (and thus I ended up being Russia).
2. As with the *real* voting, you couldn't vote for yourself.

This then led to the competitions...

1. Official vote! Whoever was the country who won the official vote got a prize!
2. Internal vote! Whoever was the country who won the internal vote (i.e. the country who partygoers thought had the best song, aka Popular Choice) got a prize!

Then the drinking games...

1. If a Baltic Country gives another Baltic 12 points, take 1 shot.
2. If a Scandinavian Country gives another Scandinavian 12 points, take 1 shot.
3. If Great Britain got not points, take 1 shot!

And this is how I ended up falling asleep at my own party. Epic stuff. 

But anyway, many hours, much noise, a giant pile of empty bottles and one pissed off flatmate later, the winners of 2011....The Official Winners, AZERBAIJIAN

 (they're in Europe?!)

and the Popular Choice...MOLDOVA!!!

Anything that involves unicycles can't be that bad in my book!

Bring on Eurovision 2012!

Hooray! New living arrangements!!!

I am happy to report that my hell is coming to an end and I will not be sleeping under a bridge. 


After following the advice of many, I decided to meet up with a native-speaker and form an apartment-seeking fellowship. I required his German-speaking negotiation skills, and he needed my Dr. title to make sure people didn't just regard him as a student. So after having officially received the keys, I will now be moving to a place 4 U-bahn stops down the line, into a less cooler place, but into a much larger apartment with a much more sane flatmate. And you can't put a cool price on sanity.


Now all I have to do is acquire some furniture....

More Berlin stuffs.

After the walking tour, I revisited some of the places that seemed especially interesting. Firstly, me and the Bro went back to Checkpoint Charlie to get some cheesy photos.

Freedom fist!

The Communists are always watching...

Inside the replica checkpoint cabin...small...

I found this sign amusing

And very amusingly, a few meters down the road from the checkpoint was this bastion of capitalism.

I then went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum shop to get myself a mug that sayd *You Are Now Leaving The American Sector* in 4 different languages!


On Sunday, Dad and Bro decided to take another tour to Potsdam(chen) while I decided to try to see Nefertiti at the Neues Museum. I hadn't done my research on what time it opened so after saying bai to Dad and Bro as they made their way to Alexanderplatz, I found myself wandering around the various museums around in a pretty much deserted  Lustgarten.

This heroic guy was hanging out at the Altes Museum

Looking out from the steps of the Altes Museum over the Lustgarten

Mmm, peaceful.

The Alte Nationalegalerie. I wanted to climb to get a photo but there was a locked gate barring the way (huff)

I also managed to see some tourists doing the Chinese Camera Stance!

It took me longer than I thought it would to go through the Neues Museum - all those Egyptian artifacts were so interesting! Anyway, finding out that I was running out of time - my train back to Muenchen was supposed to leave at 4-something - I decided to follow Johnny's advice and climb the Franzoesicher Dom - he claimed it was the best unobstructed view in the city. I asked the woman at the desk how long it would it take and she looked at me and said *for someone as young as you, 5 minutes.* I believe she was correct! Now, I climbed all the way to the top of the Dom and found it was glassed in - Johnny lied! 

Looking down into the Dom's staircase!

Looking up into the bells!

But then I thought as I made my way back down the staircase...I wonder what these doors do...and pushed one open where I found the best unobstructed view in Berlin! The backpacker that followed me said he had been told it was unobstructed too - this makes me wonder how many people climbed to the top find themselves disappointed....

Berlin is a pretty flat city (it was built on a swamp) so you could see quite far.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to climb the glass dome of the Reichstag because apparently you need to book that two working days in advance. Oh well, just another reason to revisit!

I'll climb you another day!

Ich bin in Berlin (on free tour)

After months of people telling me I should go to Berlin, I finally went to Berlin. And I must say, taking that cab ride through to Mitte, I did think to myself *Sorry Munich, but this is a city.* And to explore this city, I went on the tour that Pooey had done many years before. Alas, Mike The Hottie was not running this tour. We instead got Johnny, a very enthusiastic and pale Pom, who was particularly interested in history and politics - very appropriate for this city! 

The tour started off at the Brandenberg Tor. As we waited for the tour guides to sort out the different groups, we took some typical tourist photos.

It's like a postcard! 

Power fist

And of course, if you really wanted to, you could take a photo with a pair of communist and a capitalist soldiers!

The tour started with Johnny giving us a rundown of the various buildings around the platz. First and foremost was the Hotel Adlon.

It's where MJ hung Blanket of a window!

Next stop - the Holocaust Memorial

It's very disorientating - here I am following the Bro.

We then went to see the location of Hitler's Bunker...

now the site of some glamorous East German luxury apartments.

As a history/politics buff, Johnny took us mostly around the old East Berlin as he regaled us with stories of Nazi architecture, and the post-war happenings.

We went to see some of the remaining Berlin Wall. I always thought it was bigger than this. 

Scattered around the city were various sculptures of Bears (symbol of Berlin). I like to help them feel not so lonely.

As we trotted through the old East, we saw lots of symbols of how it used to be. People now like to take these Trabis for *safaris around the city.

And then we got to Checkpoint Charlie! (More on this later)

After a short sandwich break for lunch, we continued on...

...to the Gendarmenarkt - site of the Franzoesicher Dom, where Johnny recommended as one of the best vantage points in the city.

And then around the corner to the Book Burning Memorial outside the Humboldt University.

Over Unter den Linden to the Memorial for Victims of War and Oppression. Moving stuff.

Past the (extremely manly) former Arsenal Building...

ending up in the Lustgarten on the Museumsinsel. That's the Altes Museum looking very Alt. 

It was a really great and interesting tour. Johnny received much Trinkgeld (tips -literally, drink money) at the end. If I had one criticism, it was that the tour didn't include this building:

But you know, the tour did take 3.5 hours so I won't complain. And so to finish the tour, I did something really Berliner-ish:

I ate a currywurst. Miam miam.

Theeeeeeeeeeeeee HILLS ARE ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!!!

Now, I am not a great fan of the movie The Sound of Music. Thinking back, I think I've watched it about 4 or so times, but this partly due to the frequency of it being repeated on TV. I'm not even sure if they're complete viewings. But like getting excited when I see Melb Uni or in various movies, I sure got excited to visit the locations featured in the movie!!! Again, out of laziness, we did the same tour as Pooey and it was hosted by a highly amusing tour guide. I can't really remember much from what we were told on the tour or the order of it because my excitement was tempered by lack of sleep from discovering that both Dad and Thai snored. But we can relive it through photos!!!

Being a cheesy Asian with the cheesy tour bus!

First stop! The place that played the rear of the Von Trapp residence! Interesting fact I remember - the girl playing Gretl (the smallest one) nearly drowned while filming the scene where they fell into the lake!

The lake also featured heaps of baby birds - look, a line of goslings!

The next stop was Hellbrunn Palace which also played the side/front exterior of the Von Trapp residence

Also at Hellbrunn was the custom-built gazebo where Sixteen going on Seventeen was set! I somehow managed to almost replicate Pooey's pose from 2008! As with her, this also elicited some laughs from fellow tourbus peeps.

Umm...I think this was supposed to be Confidence Alley

I don't remember what this was but it sure looks pretty!

I can't remember what this was either. I think it was just overlooking some Alpine Lakes.

Me admiring how pretty everything is.

The tour then went to Mondsee where the church that the Captain and Maria were married in  (movie-wise, not in real life) is located. We also decided to have strudel for lunch here. Bro had the apple, pictured here...

while I decided to try and make up for all the weight I've lost by eating a cheese strudel! Miam, custard.

The sleep dep really hit me in the afternoon and I fell asleep on the bus. As a result, Ireally don't remember what happened after lunch. It was probably more alpine lakes. We got back to Salzburg proper some time in the afternoon and the bus fortuitously deposited us right opposite the Mirabel Gardens! Feeling slightly rejuvenated but the nap and the purchase of earplugs, I coralled Bro into helping me replicate some scenes from Do-Re-Mi and Pooey's photos! I think the poor quality of the photos betray his discomfort at having to participate in the fun.

Marching around the fountain!

Skipping under the archway! 

Copying the heroic sculptures!

And finally making sure that I didn't make the same mistake as Pooey and having my right arm up to hit the final high note!  

Messing around the gardens, I also made some new friends

My friend, the Unicorn

My other friend, the Lion.

Having fulfilled the aim of going to Salzburg, I went back to the hotel and collapsed into sleep.