Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
Berlin
There are two types of people in the world. I know its a gross generalisation but while sitting on the floor at Stansted waiting for the so called efficient Ryanair plan to land, the revelation dawned on me. There are the quers and the que jumpers. The later are the scum of the earth, but they seem to thrive here in London where the quers are meek and do little more than give the evil eye and mutter under their breath. Well, thats what happened while boarding the plane, this couple decided that they did not need to wait like the rest of us and jumped the que while the rest of the plane were sitting down on the floor (from exhaustion mind you). I, being the agressive australian that I was did more than just give them the evil eye, i labeled them. yes labeld them in public as que jumpers. Mind you that despite my agreesiveness I am softly spoken, so much so that people may have construed it as muttering under my breath. But anyway, I gave them the evil eye the entire time we were in the que and I think she (always pick on the weakest one) started to feel uncomfortable. Hahah, justice is served.
Anyway, already slightly annoyed, we arrived in Berlin and faced what has to be the efficiency with a capital A. Yep, three customs officials dealing with the EU passport holders and one old dude dealing with half a plane load of aussies, kiwi's and yanks. Anyway, needless to say, our group were the only ones left in customs after a while. Shoody I say.
Our night of efficiency kept rolling on, we decided to catch the train to the hotel because it would be easier. Famous last words. 2 hrs later we arrived. The person responsible for that decision has appologised and we have all moved on.
Our morning in Berlin started off with Breakfast at MacDonalds. A medium big mac meal at that. Talk about awesome! Big Mac's for breakfast! Anyway, not a good idea. Somehow your body just isn't ready for one at 9:30 in the morning. Lesson learnt.
Below is an extract fro Hien's email because I am being lazy
"We started a FREE walking tour started at 11am outside Starbucks, on Paris Platz, where Dave (our guide from Manchester) proceeded to give us a history lesson on Berlin's past 800 years. The Brandenburg gates were as impressive as the pictures but the monument which stole the show for me was the Memorial to the murdered Jews. A staggering 2,711 concrete blocks, all the same width and length (but varying in depth), covered a paved area of East Berlin, just over the street from Tiergarten. The architects gave no indication of what the blocks meant - everyone's own interpretation is correct.
Exhausted from our 5 hour walking marathon, we proceeded to find Monsieur Vuong's famed eatery - a Vietnamese restaurant in Berlin, you say? Yes. It turns out that German food is not so popular in the nation's capital. While the food did taste great, the portions were a little smaller than what you would get down Victoria Street and the waiters were a little too waxed and had more eye make up than your regular Footscray squatter. Hey I'm Vietnamese - I can say this.
With the arrival of Christmas around the corner, what else does Germany do best but its Christmas markets. In Berlin, there were several, with the most popular one being in Gendarmenmarkt, the square where the German and French identical cathedrals stand. We ate everything - from bratwurst, to currywurst, to fried biscuit things, to honey roasted peanuts, to chestnuts, to crepes....we ate it all. The only thing we weren't game to try was gluwein - mulled wine. Maybe next time".
Just to add, I am finally recovering from Food poisoning, yep real food poisoning. Based on my scientific analysis, it was the German gingerbread cookies. I think I might keep those for Halloween next year.. BWaahahahaha!
Photos to come up later. I haven't figured out how to use my new iMac yet.
Update: Photos are up. I have figured out how to use my iMac
Anyway, already slightly annoyed, we arrived in Berlin and faced what has to be the efficiency with a capital A. Yep, three customs officials dealing with the EU passport holders and one old dude dealing with half a plane load of aussies, kiwi's and yanks. Anyway, needless to say, our group were the only ones left in customs after a while. Shoody I say.
Our night of efficiency kept rolling on, we decided to catch the train to the hotel because it would be easier. Famous last words. 2 hrs later we arrived. The person responsible for that decision has appologised and we have all moved on.
Our morning in Berlin started off with Breakfast at MacDonalds. A medium big mac meal at that. Talk about awesome! Big Mac's for breakfast! Anyway, not a good idea. Somehow your body just isn't ready for one at 9:30 in the morning. Lesson learnt.
Below is an extract fro Hien's email because I am being lazy
"We started a FREE walking tour started at 11am outside Starbucks, on Paris Platz, where Dave (our guide from Manchester) proceeded to give us a history lesson on Berlin's past 800 years. The Brandenburg gates were as impressive as the pictures but the monument which stole the show for me was the Memorial to the murdered Jews. A staggering 2,711 concrete blocks, all the same width and length (but varying in depth), covered a paved area of East Berlin, just over the street from Tiergarten. The architects gave no indication of what the blocks meant - everyone's own interpretation is correct.
Exhausted from our 5 hour walking marathon, we proceeded to find Monsieur Vuong's famed eatery - a Vietnamese restaurant in Berlin, you say? Yes. It turns out that German food is not so popular in the nation's capital. While the food did taste great, the portions were a little smaller than what you would get down Victoria Street and the waiters were a little too waxed and had more eye make up than your regular Footscray squatter. Hey I'm Vietnamese - I can say this.
With the arrival of Christmas around the corner, what else does Germany do best but its Christmas markets. In Berlin, there were several, with the most popular one being in Gendarmenmarkt, the square where the German and French identical cathedrals stand. We ate everything - from bratwurst, to currywurst, to fried biscuit things, to honey roasted peanuts, to chestnuts, to crepes....we ate it all. The only thing we weren't game to try was gluwein - mulled wine. Maybe next time".
Just to add, I am finally recovering from Food poisoning, yep real food poisoning. Based on my scientific analysis, it was the German gingerbread cookies. I think I might keep those for Halloween next year.. BWaahahahaha!
Photos to come up later. I haven't figured out how to use my new iMac yet.
Update: Photos are up. I have figured out how to use my iMac
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