Ich bin ein Berliner

I spent a marvellous day in Berlin today. The first thing I noticed when I went outside was it is colder here than anywhere else I've been so far. For the first time I think I may need to wear my thermals!

I decided I'm going to avoid taking the train if I can help it - seeing the sites by walking is by far the best way to go. And I like walking in the cold air - I soon warm up and you also get to see normal people walking around, going about their daily business which I enjoy seeing. I'm not just travelling to see buildings or monuments - I want to see the people too!

Anyway, I went to see Checkpoint Charlie, which was one of the crossing points between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. It is quite plain to be honest - there is a museum next to it but all that really stands there now is the small booth where the person would stand. There were many, many souvenier shops around it though. And there were also a lot of beggers - they don't speak English (and they don't have German accents either so I'd be interested to know where they are from) but would ask "Speak english?" and if you even looked like you understood that then they would shove a piece of paper at you which detailed their request for money. I soon learned to keep my face blank so as to not give away that I did understand english.

Checkpoint Charlie, with a rather lovely Christmas tree to spice it up.

I kept going and noticed there was a lot more snow here than in London or Holland. The snow next to the road isn't very attractive as it is mixed with dirt but the snow that's fallen on the parks away from the footpaths looks beautiful.

The next thing I discovered on my walk were the Christmas markets. They are simply beautiful. To an Australian, gingerbread houses are something only in stories but I the little houses that had been errected with the goods at the front looked just like them! I could barely contain my excitement as I wove in and out of the various stalls. There were cakes, gingerbread house, lanterns, Christmas decorations, wooden sculptures, clothes, bags, jewellery - so much beautiful handmade stuff. I found it quite hard to retrain myself from a) trying all the various food and b) spending all my money on the different wares. It was a good lesson though - sometimes just looking and appreciating the beauty of something is quite enough. I did buy a few little things for people back home though :)

It's a bit hard to see the individual things but I was most impressed with the handmade wooden objects. I wasn't sure if I would be able to bring wooden things to Australia so I didn't buy anything, but they were exquisite.

I resisted the temptation to elbow the kids out of the way and get on myself!

By this time I was feeling a little cold and there was a warm looking shopping centre coming up so I went in and had some fun browsing the shops. Everything is decorated for Christmas so beautifully!

I came accross an Aldi store in the shopping centre - it's exactly the same as in Australia. There are the dodgy looking fruit and vegetables, the fantastic German chocolate and Christmas goodies and the random objects like leather jackets and bed sheets. The check-out chick even threw all the items to one side as she put them through the register just like back home!

Next stop was the Brandenburg Gate. It's quite impressive. In summer it must be beautiful as it's in a huge square and there's a park nearby, but it looked a bit bleak against the snow and people all huddled around, all trying to be interested in this piece of history but eyeing off the cosy cafes nearby!

I'm not sure why Darth Vader was present but hey, it's a good photo!

I kept walking and found myself in the main section of Berlin where a lot of the museums and theatres are - they are all very impressive buildings. My next destination was the Berliner Dom - the Cathedral. It's also very impressive! The next pictures are its exterior and the interior also.

As I was there a whole bunch of young school boys arrived and started their choir practice. It was a joy to hear them in such a beautiful surrounding. However by this time the light had almost gone as it was past 4 o'clock and I knew the temperature would start falling fast. I didn't have enough clothes with me to be able to stand it so I walked back to the hostel. On the way I passed an op-shop and had the nifty idea of stepping inside to pick up a new beanie - I had lost mine somewhere today. I managed to pick one up for 50 cents - score!!

One last little note - it's amazing how much Geman is coming back to me after having studied it at school and never had the need to speak it for about 4 years. It's a great feeling being able to understand signs and even speak a little bit with shop keepers.

Calm blue ocean, Calm blue ocean...

Yesterday turned out to be another mammoth day. Here are is a post that I wrote while on the train in Holland yesterday ~

Today I left my family in Weert and caught the train to Amsterdam. The plan was to store my bag for the day (at the central station for instance) and then explore Amsterdam a bit. There is still a fair bit of snow on the ground but the main issue now is the ice. It was raining yesterday so all the water on the ground has turned to ice and it is very slippery. My cousins told me many people have accidents trying to ride their bikes when the ground is like this!

So this morning I packed everything up and was about to put on the small bag that I keep my passport in but thought I would put it on when I am about to get my coat and leave. First mistake.

My cousin drove me to the train station, me blissfully unaware of what havoc my lack of preparedness was going to bring about. As I was about 1 hour into the train trip, it hit me like a lightening bolt – an image of my passport bag sitting on a chair back at my family's house in Weert. I did a quick search of my bags for the passport just in case – it wasn't there – and contacted my cousin and asked if it was still at the house. After a search she found it on the floor so I got off at the next train stop (unfortunately by then I was practically all the way into Amsterdam). My cousin worked out which train for me to get back to Weert and said she'd drop it off at Weert train station at the manned desk so I could pick it up. I then went to seek if I needed to buy another train ticket to get back to Weert. The lady I spoke to told me that if I just caught the train back to Weert I could buy another ticket when I get there. I don't think she really understood what I was asking and I wasn't confident enough to clarify if she had understood me. Second mistake. Because I got on the train and when the conductor came around, she told me that I had the wrong ticket and was not at all interested in hearing what the lady at the train station had said. She wanted to fine me nearly 60 euros but I protested so she told me to get off at the next stop and buy a ticket. Fine by me. I did so, bought another ticket and am now on another train back to Weert. I think I was unlucky with the conductor being on the second train – there was none on the way to Amsterdam or now on the way back to Weert.

My cousin's mum (I'm not sure if she is my aunt or cousin!) texted me to say that the people at Weert station won't accept the passport to mind so she will send someone to drop it off to me. I feel terribly foolish and embarrassed but from now on the passport bag is only coming off when I am asleep and then it is locked in my backpack. My poor family must be sick of me!

Luckily my flight to Berlin is this evening so at least time is on my side. I am annoyed at myself that I won't get to see Amsterdam because I think I will have to go straight to Schiphol airport after I pick up my passport – I won't have time to go into Amsterdam now. However the main priority for me here was to see my family and I have done so. And each time something frustrating happens I just think to myself – I am safe, I am being looked after and I can figure out a way to handle this. It's fast becoming my mantra!

~

It all ended up being ok, although I had to go straight to Schiphol after getting my passport in Weert. This time there were no problems getting on my flight to Berlin. In fact, because it was a budget airline, it had no allocated seats so they separated the passengers into rows, each allowed to go in at a separate time. TO my great surprise, I was allowed to go in first, getting the best seats. I wasn't the only one surprised - a very posh looking couple looked distainfully at me, but whatever. That'll teach them to fly budget!

The flight to Berlin was all of 50 minutes. To me that is just crazy - travelling from one country to another in less than an hour! I was a bit concerned when I landed that I would get lost on the way to my hostel and I was feeling quite tired at this point so was not looking forward to getting lost and trying to find my way around.

I needn't have worried. The directions the hostel gave me to find them were very... well, German. Precise and to the point. I found the hostel easily and the guy at the front was very friendly. A little too friendly actually - I noticed there were a few people waiting to be dealt with and he was adamant that I must be the priority! I can handle that :) This hostel is much more like a hotel so I am looking forward to better beds! The hostel also runs a lot of social stuff and tours around Berlin so I think I'll join in and see where it takes me.

I did get a bit of a shock last night when I went to my room. I forgot that I had booked a mixed gender room so I walked in to find 3 guys all in their jocks reading and chatting. I checked to make sure I had the right room and yes indeed it was! They were very friendly though and two of them put some pants on. We ended up having a great conversation about Europe - two of the guys were from the UK. It's really interesting in that wherever I go and get talking to someone - European immigration comes up. It's a fascinating topic and one that I can barely do justice here, but the short of it is the years of relaxed immirgration control and generous benefit systems are starting to have consequences - and people aren't too happy about them.

This morning I have tucked into the buffet at the hostel. I've noticed that compared to the UK, food is expensive here so I figure I'll feast at breakfast and eat little during the day. Since I landed in London last week I have not really been feeling the best so I'm barely eating anything at the moment. Hey, at least it's cheaper!

Today I think I will go out and explore a bit - there's so much to see so I will sit down with a map and plan it out.

And lastly, a few photos!

The town of Weert, Holland. I took this coming out of church on Sunday. It was raining wet snow that day after the snow storm the night before.

Look what Sinterklaas brought!! The guy on the left is Black Peter.

A view of the snow from the train in Holland. There were many trees around where my family lives - it must be beautiful in spring and summer!

Another view of the town of Weert.

One mammoth day

When you think of transport, either public or planes, take a moment to think of what could go wrong if you have somewhere to be and you need to rely on them. Ok, got a little mental list? Well I can guarantee that probably 9/10 of the things on your list happened to me today.

Let's start at the beginning. As we know, my original flight to Amsterdam on Friday morning was cancelled due to Gatwick airport being closed because of the snow. I was looking forward to meeting my cousin and spending the day together in Amsterdam, which we couldn't do. However, I was lucky that I found another flight the next morning at 8.40am so I quickly snapped that one up thinking, that's it, I've had my share of bad luck. Wrong.

I left my hostel this morning at 5am and got to the train station only to find there had been residual strike action so there were no trains until 6am. That's ok, I can deal with that- that's why I left plenty of time. So I got on the train at 6am and was merrily on my way when 5 stations off from the Heathrow terminals, there's an announcement over the loudspeaker - “Attention, I've just been informed there's been a signal failure and this train will be terminating here. Passengers are advised to seek alternative transport”. That's it, no other information. So we all get off and ask what other transport we could possibly take at that time to the airport. “I dunno” shrugs the driver. “That's not my area”. Everyone flounders for a few minutes, waiting for someone to make an executive decision. Eventually a local who's been waiting on the platform pipes up and tells us if we catch a bus to another station on a different line there is a connection train there to Heathrow. By this time I feel nervous so I decide this is the way to go. We all wait in the freezing cold for the bus to turn up. It's late. When it does turn up, every single person getting on asks the same question - “does this go to Heathrow?” and the bus driver, instead of making some kind of announcement that yes it bloody well does, answers each of the 40 or so questions. By this time I'm starting to sweat. It's nearly 7am. Relax, I tell myself, I have time. That's why I left early.

We get to the train station where all of a sudden everyone suddenly has nothing to do while we wait for the connecting train. It's been a flurry of excitement up until now and suddenly we're all stuck waiting for the train. That's the worst bit. The train comes at 7.20 and then crawls towards the Heathrow terminals. Anyone who's been to Heathrow knows there are 5 separate terminals on 3 separate locations. Mine was (of course) not on the one that this train was going to and I was told I had to change again and wait for another one. It's 7.45 and I'm on the platform waiting for this other train. Now I start to panic – I haven't checked in yet because I couldn't print off my boarding pass so it's going to take some time for me when I get to the right terminal. The right train comes and takes me to the right terminal. As soon as the doors open (it's 8am by now) I burst out and run as fast as I can to the British Airways section. And stop dead. It's PACKED. People everywhere and worst of all there's a line for the bag drop a mile long. I run up to a self check in kiosk and print off my boarding pass. It tells me the gate will close at 8.20 so I have less than 20 mins to get this bag in. I find a helpful looking lady and ask her if I can skip the queue. Sorry, she says, she can't move from her post so she can't walk me down to the front. She points me to another lady, who looks less helpful. I run up to her and she turns away and locks herself behind a glass door so I can't speak to her. I look for someone else but there's no one. By this point I'm desperate. I qucikly check to see how big the hand luggage measurement is so I can see if my big bag will fit in. It doesn't. But it's not too big so I decided, screw it. I'm taking this bag on board.

So off I sprint to the other end of the terminal to get to my boarding gate. It's not really a sprint given the weight of my bag but it feels like it! I make it to my boarding gate at 8.15, red faced and puffed and praying my thanks that I've actually made it! Just in the nick of time.

Except it's not. After my mammoth effort to get there on time, we're late getting on to the plane. I happen to see another girl from my train that morning at the same gate so we start talking. It turns out we're sitting next to each other on the plane. We both congratulate each other on our good fortune in getting to the gate and plane.

As we've been waiting on the plane, stationery for 40 mins, the captain announces that we've missed our window of opportunity to clear the run way so we have to wait. He says it may be another hour. So we wait. We finally take off at 10am. As we are getting close to make our descent the captain again makes an announcment. A storm has just come into Holland so Amsterdam has closed its airport. We are a small aircraft so don't have many supplies or fuel. So we land in Brussels of all places! I can say I've also been to Belgium!

The captain says we'll probably be here for 30 mins. OK, I think, I can deal with that.

We're stuck in the plane, stationery for 5 hours.

Every hour the captain tells us we'll be moving soon and each time we all believe him less. After 5 hours of waiting for Amsterdam to open its airport again, it does!! Yay! But by this time, the snow has settled in Brussels and the wings are frozen. So we have to get the nifty wing defreezer (there actually is one!) to work its magic on getting rid of the ice on the plane. Problem is, there are a number of planes now around us all waiting and having frozen in the meantime. So we're in a queue to get access to the defreezer gun thing. By the time the thing gets to us, the nozzle on the gun has broken so we have to wait another hour for another defreezer to come.

Finally it does and we're defrosted and then another 40 mins after that we're in the air, bound for Amsterdam.

When we finally land at the airport the plane erupts in cheers. I feel elated – finally I can see mt family!! I've arranged with them to catch the train to where they live. Throughout the day I kept in touch with them, letting them know what was happening. They are so lovely and tell me not to worry about it.

So I get to the airport where I say goodbye to my new friend and make my way to the train station. A man stops me and asks me where I'm going. “Uh, to Utrecht and then Weert” I say. “Not today you're not”, he says and tells me that all the trains that way have been cancelled due to the snow. I am gutted. SO close but yet so far! So I call my family once again and they tell me to sit tight and will come and get me by car. That's no mean feat – it's 2 hours at least each way. It's such a kind act.

So I am waiting at the airport now for my family to come and get me. I feel slightly delirious from all the events today and one thing is on my mind – I just want to see my family. As I wait here for them, I'm struck by how I've never even met them before and they are willing to drive 2 hours on a freezing night to come and get me. I can't describe how amazing that makes me feel. So, after all the events today, the disappointments, the frustrations, the stress, in the end I am so fortunate.

~*~

I wrote that as I was waiting at Schiphol airport yesterday evening. My family came to meet me – my two female cousins and their parents and took me back home to their house. My first impression was to marvel at how tall they are!! I felt like quite a dwarf next to them. This was my first experience of meeting relatives overseas and I was struck by how happy it made me.

The weather got worse as we drove back to where they live, in Weert. The road became very snowy and dark as we drove. This snow was much worse than in England!

This morning we woke up to find most of the snow had melted and all has turned to slush. I went to church this morning with my cousins - the church itself was stunning. I've never seen one in Australia like it. The service was in dutch so I tried to make sure I didn't sit down or stand at the wrong moments :) However all the singing was in Latin and they used the Gregorian style for the music notation. I recently took lessons in reading this kind of notation and singing so it was fantastic to be able to follow along (somewhat!).

Today is Sinterklaas in Holland - the best festive holiday I've been told. We put out our shoe at the fireplace last night and this morning woke to find chocolates in it! And today is teh day that they exchange presents. Really, today is Christmas for them (which I didn't realise) so I feel very fortunate to be able to spend this day with them!

Tomorrow evening I am supposed to fly out of Schiphol airport again but to be onest I am not sure of my chances. I heard that last night the airport had to find beds for thousands of people who were stranded at the aiport. So I am just praying that the weather doesn't get any worse!

My phone number

Just a quick post to say I've finally sorted myself out with a mobile phone while overseas. My number is 07769875063. It's been so strange not having access to a mobile for a few days, especially given my mobile at home is an iphone. I keep looking for it to browse, text, listen to music etc and not having it at my fingertips is really strange. I think I'm breaking an addiction here :) And it's hard!

More snow this morning! However, Gatwick airport has been re-opened. No luck for me though, as I received an email 2 hours hours before my flight telling me it had been cancelled. No matter, I was expecting that anyway. My plans to get another flight for this morning fell through - I received an email yesterday telling me that because the booking had frozen halfway through, it had been cancelled and the only other flights at that time were around $700 AU!!

It's a real bugger, but I managed to do some more quick hunting and found a flight tomorrow morning from Heathrow to Amsterdam that gets me there at around 11am so I will make my way to Weert by train, where my family lives. And this flight was somewhere around $200 so I can manage that. So I have another day in London unexpectedly! I think I will check out the National Gallery and then find somewhere cosy to read Middlemarch. That's another thing about London I love - it has a cafe culture. The coffee is nowhere near as good as Melbourne but it's not expensive and the places are quite cosy so I can easily enjoy a few hours there!

The Downfall of Snow

I must admit that much of my glee at seeing snow has worn off at having to face the unpleasant reality that it grounds planes. I went online to check in to my flight to Amsterdam tomorrow morning from Gatwick airport in London to find out that Gatwick has been closed and is not likely to open until the weather improves (which is is the long way of saying not for a while). After panicking for about a minute I began trawling the internet for other flights from Heathrow to Amsterdam, as Heathrow is open (and I hope to God it stays that way!). I finally found a flight (about 3-4 times as much as the one I had already booked) so booked this, only to have the computer freeze halfway so I was unable to pay. At this stage the flight is confirmed, I just have to find a way to pay them. I tried calling (from a payphone buried in snow!), but the lovely automated voice told me it would be 10 minutes at least because everyone is calling due to the bad weather (we're talking about spending 40 pounds on a call before even speaking to anyone!) So, I have my confirmation number and it says its booked so I'll just get to Heathrow really early and find who to pay. Surely someone will accept my money!! What is most frustrating, more than the cost, is that I have family meeting me in Amsterdam and I don't want to spend my time in airports when I could be seeing them and I certainly don't want to waste their time either!

I have learned a good lesson here: snow is great and fun - as long as you don't have anywhere to be.

Other than this hour of stress, I have really enjoyed my time in London. It's super easy to be here is you are Australian, if not just for the fact that one in every 5 people here is an Aussie! I think there must be more of us at the hostel than any other nationality combined. I had breakfast this morning with some guys from Monash Uni in Melbourne and we talked about the Chaser on ABC- almost felt like being at home!

I also really enjoyed seeing two shows while here - Phantom of the Opera and my absolute favourite, Les Miserables. The Phantom was totally over the top and fantastic for it and Les Mis was as stirring as ever. Les Mis was staged at a theatre right near Chinatown in London, so for a moment I felt like I was back in Melbourne, eating my noodle soup with blackbean sauce.

I also went to the British Museum yesterday - once again I've been before however this time I've got years of archaeological studies at uni behind me so this time it was more special to see the pieces now that I know far more about them! This time I was particularly interested in the Assyrian stuff - the winged horses are simply breathtaking.

And this time I have photos to share!

This is how dark it is by 4.30pm. Right outside the Natural History Museum, they have set up Christmas lights and ice skating!

The below shot is one of the winged horseman that guard the palace of Sargon II of Assyria, during the 7th century BC (I think). To get a perspective, a grown man would not come up to hte man's knee. Impressive.

This is a winged spirit in Ayssrian mytholgy - he appoints the King with the special pollen in the pail he is holding and uses the cone in his hand.

Fancy some real estate in South Kensington, London? Think again. That's right, a 2 bedroom arpartment for 2.5m pounds.

The snow that has delayed planes all over the country.

Time now for lunch and there was a shop I walked past the other day that was selling old maps and books - tragic I know but I have to check it out!

Back in London Town

I landed in Heathrow yesterday afternoon after a pretty horrible 24 hour flight. I'm glad I chose a window seat because the couple next to me played musical chairs the entire flight. When we landed I got talking to a few young Aussies off like me on adventures - one guy was starting his very own 'Around the World in 80 Days' like in the Jules Vern book.

I made it to my hostel on the train after a number of changes due to industrial strike action on many of the train lines in London. By this tiem I was looking forward to my bed but I didn't want to stay stuck in Australian time so I went for a walk and popped in to Brompton Oratory (my favourite Church in London) and managed to be there just in time for Latin mass - quite a treat! I only wish I had been more awake to enjoy it more.

Today I went to the Victoria and Albert museum. I've been there once before when I was in London 2 years ago, so this time I just focussed on the sections I really liked. One of these was the jewellery section - I am drawn to anything sparkly or shiny so I was in fits of rapture as I persused the halls of diamonds!

I also popped in to Harrods - I didn't go there last time I was in London and everyone asked about it so I went this time and I have to say I don't really see what the fuss is about. If big name brands and overpriced market foods are your thing then you will probably love it. But 30 mins of walking through the handbag galleries (all 8 of them!) and being constantly checked by security was enough for me.

Far more exciting for me was that it snowed today! It was quite light, just enough to dampen my clothes, but it was so magical! It just seems to float in the air. The Londoners didn't seem to be too impressed by it though - in the short time I have been here I have nmever heard so many people complain about the weather! It must be the lack of light - makes them grumpy :)

Tonight I'm off to see the Phantom of the Opera at the West End in London. I haven't seen it before and figure London is the best place to see it!

Apologies for the lac of photos - for some reason my laptop doesn't want to connect to any wifi I can find and the hostel computer doesn't have a USB port. Quite annoying! I will endevour to get some photos up soon!