Hamburg

Guten Morgen my wonderful friends :) I hope you're all in fabulous health and full of smiles. Last weekend I went up to Hamburg to visit my friend Karla, and it's time to share the fun!

First stop of the weekend: the Alster. It's one of the rivers that flow through Hamburg, and! it actually froze this year, so we thought we'd check and see if skating there was possible. It wasn't. There was so much snow there, you couldn't even see the ice! So instead of skating, we wandered around with the hundreds of other people there.

However, we had brought our skates with us, and it seemed a little silly to carry them around all day and not skate, so we headed to a nearby outdoor rink. Unfortunately it was ridiculously crowed and the line didn't seem to be moving. So we opted to find yet another rink to skate on. It was a lot of fun when we actually got out onto the ice, but I had one teensy tiny itty bitty problem...

You see, in European sizes I wear a woman's 41 (that's a woman's 10 back home). But the skates we'd borrowed for me were a men's 43... Needless to say, they were HUGE! But better too big, than too small. I still had fun.

I also really enjoyed the people skating around in costumes - it was Carnival in Cologne last weekend and the people just love to dress up. I think my favourite was the super tough looking hockey player that was skating around in a pink tutu. :)

Hamburg is also a harbour town. I'm fairly sure it's one of the biggest ports in Germany - or at least very important in the shipping world over here. I must admit, I was not expecting the harbour to be pretty - all those giant metal containers, ships, cranes... But when we walked by after the sun had set, it was really pretty. Take a look yourself:

Karla and I also checked out the tunnel running under the Elbe (another river in Hamburg). Here we are right in the middle - 21 meters under the surface of the river.

I just thought this was really pretty.

The next day we went to check out city hall - I 'd been told it's one of the prettiest around. And I agree. It vaguely reminded me of our parliament buildings back home in Ottawa.

It was a short trip, but a fun one :)

Sandy

Kroonis and Lattes and ice, oh my!

I don't know about you, but when my friend Maria mentioned that we could do a day trip in Tallinn, Estonia, I had to pull out a map to figure out where on earth it was. Estonia was one of the countries that used to belong to the Soviet Union and lies on the coast waaay up there in the north.

And after we found sweet ferry tickets, day 3 of my trip to Finland was spent outside of Finland :)

As members of my family well know, I don't do so well with ships. I blame Titanic. We went on a cruise in the Caribbean and I was afraid of hitting an iceberg and sinking. Ok, not really really... but kinda. In any case, the thought of a 2 hour ship ride through the ice was enough to cause mild panic. As you can clearly see:

Eeep! Ice!

Here's a nice shot of Maria and her island in the background. We're just heading out of the Helsinki harbour - I think we were the only 2 people on the whole ship to step foot outdoors :)

We had to change money before reaching Estonia - they're not part of the EU. Even at the end of the day though, neither Maria or I had any clue how to pronounce the name of their currency: the Krooni. 1 dollar is approximately 11 Kroonis, for those of you who are interested in those things :)

Maria standing by the entrance to the old part of town.

Thumb-wrestling with an Estonian. I won :)

We spent forever trying to find this stupid lookout point... and it was freezing cold that day - super blustery. We did manage to find a lookout, even if it wasn't the lookout and got a nice picture of the two of us, compliments of the German tourists we ran into.

Maria said, "look cold":
I think I look more like I'm in pain than anything else... not far from the truth actually. The wind cut like a knife!

After a while, us two hardy, hearty northerners succumbed to our blue lips and chattering teeth and found a café to warm up in (ok, so I'm exaggerating a little bit... but we were cold!). There were only 2 other gentlemen when we walked in, and they had already received their drinks. I walked up to the counter to order my café latte and then grabbed a table for the two of us. My coffee took forever to come out and I couldn't help but wonder why. I mean, it's not a hard drink - just coffee and hot foamy milk. When our waiter set my drink down on the table I immediately understood what took so long. He'd added a work of art to the top!

Prettiest coffee I've ever had the pleasure of drinking :)

I like this picture... gives you a real feel for how cold it was.

This picture too - Maria's braving the elements on the way back to the ship. We'd overheard in the café that there was a storm brewing, and neither one of us felt like being outside in it.

Both of us were a little worried that the ride back might be a little bumpy, due to the bad weather conditions, but we were pleasantly surprised. The ride back was smoother than the one over. Although I don't know that you ever grow to like the sound of ice sliding on past the hull of the ship...

Lovely chatting with y'all

Sandy

A little trip to Suomi

-70? No biggie, it is Finland after all. (Suomi is the Finnish name for Finland)

That's right, I've seen a little bit more of the world. The last weekend in January I flew up north for a super exciting visit in Finland with my friend Maria.

Now, I never would have thought it, but there's a time difference between Berlin and Helsinki. At first I was extremely confused by the fact that my flight there took 3 hours and the flight back only lasted one. I put it down to getting confused by the 24-hour clock. Eventually the light went on...

I must say, my arrival in Helsinki was less than exciting. I mean, my previous trips have been rather intense. Security people checking and re-checking your passport and visa, almost being denied entry because you don't have the address you're staying at for the night (Thanks England), no smiles to be seen for miles... All followed by the deep sigh of relief when the stamp finally hits your passport... But in Helsinki - nothing. There weren't even people in the booths! I must say, I was actually a little disappointed, I wanted another stamp in my passport :( But I quickly got over it. I mean, I was in Finland!!

I was picked up at the airport by Maria and we bussed into town. I have never been so entertained by someone asking for a bus ticket in my life! Finnish sounds SO cool!! After a quick stop to drop of my bags at her place, we headed back into town for a stroll.

Here I am in front of the National Theatre - enjoying the balmy evening. It never got much colder than -8 the whole time I was there! Thank goodness! I might be a Canadian, but that doesn't mean I like it when it's super cold outside.

Next Maria and I wandered past some of the University of Helsinki buildings to check out the Helsinki Cathedral (Tuomiokirkko - Finnish is a ridiculous, but fasicnating language!). It's this beautiful, white building that sits on top of a hill overlooking a huge square. Very, very pretty.

Now, a trip to Finland just wouldn't be complete without sampling some traditional Finnish food. First on the menu: Reindeer. I know... a little weird. But as you can see below - I'm quite enjoying it. What you won't come across until a little further down the page is the canned reindeer. Yes, you heard right. You can buy reindeer In. A. Can. Eew.

But the smoked reindeer here tasted really good. Salty-like.

Right, so the pictures here are a little out of order, but my genius blog won't let me move them around. Anyways, on day 2, Maria and I wandered over to this really cool looking statue. It's a memorial for the Finnish composer Gean Sibelius.

Back to day 1 below - after our stop at the white cathedral on a hill we wandered down past one of the harbours in Finland and through the pedestrian zone.

To the left of the picture was the big ship that makes the trip to Stockholm, Sweden. The bottommost windows, also in the left-hand corner of the picture are of the main market house. Unfortunately it was closed everytime we walked by.

Aha. Here we go. Below you will be graced with my overwhelmingly positive reaction to canned reindeer.

I repeat. Eew.

Now, I believe I mentioned before that Maria actually lives on a little island in Finland. On Saturday morning before bussing over the bridge and into town, we stopped by her beach. Not too much sand to be seen, but beautiful nonetheless.

I felt like I was at the top of the world. Finland totally has this stark, barren, absolutely gorgeous feel to it.

Maria looking fabulous standing in front of the Orthodox Cathedral.

Now, this might not look like such an interesting picture, and to be honest it's not. But I couldn't resist putting it in because the top of the blue can shows the words: Enemmän positiivista susmalaisuutta. Which roughly translates to: More positive Finnishness! Hilarious.

And a trip to a foreign country just isn't completely without trying some of the local dishes. As a result I ate reindeer, salmon soup (which was DELICIOUS I might add), meatballs and mashed potatoes and the two dishes below.

In the rear is some sort of cheese (which reminded me of cheese curds - it had that squeaky cheese thing going on) topped with cloudberry jam. Cloudberries grow way up north, we're talking Yukon/Northwest Territories north, in swampy regions. They remind me of orange raspberries. Which is then a little awkward as you're eating what looks like raspberries that have been exposed to radioactive material. But, despite all appearances, it was really tasty.

The box of dark brown sludge was a different story. It's a dish that you can only find in Finland in the months leading up to Easter. It's basically sweet rye bread dough that hasn't been fully cooked. Normally you eat it with whipped cream and lots of sugar.

I had an absolutely fabulous time in Finland. Never, ever in a million years did I think that I would travel to Finland. But I got the chance and I'm so excited that it happened. I am so thankful for all the opportunities this year is giving me... It's actually really overwhelming sometimes.

Next post: day trip in Tallinn, Estonia

Moi moi, (that's bye in Finnish. Hi is Moi)

Sandy

O Canada

This Christmas I got to spend 2 fabulous weeks at home. I made the most of my time there - hanging out with my family, day trips to visit my super-duper friends, reading, hot-tubbing, drinking gallons of eggnog (mmm)... It was brilliant.

On one of those oh-so-laid-back days, Mom and I wandered on down to the main street to catch a glimpse of the Olympic Torch as it ran through town. We weren't the only ones! Lots of people braved the cold to see it pass on by:

First we waited. Then we watched as about 35 cars passed on by marking the coming of this well-known object.

Phew, 45,000 km... that's quite a run!

We did manage to stand on the right side of the street though. Right infront of us was a group of kids, as the man walking down the street handing out flags to the youngins passed us by - Mom embraced her inner child and asked for one too:

Yippee!

Now I'm not going to say that the Torch was a junior burger... it was a pretty neat experience. You just couldn't blink, or you'd miss it. It was over SO fast. Well, he was running...

Short and sweet. With a very spiffy uniform to boot.

Sandy

One fine morning at the Fire Station...

Hi everyone! I'm back again to take you to the past :)

There have been so many adventures I've been able to experience since I've been in Germany, not the least of being the ability to hop on a bus/train/plane and be in another country in an hour. But some adventures happen closer to home. Friends of ours celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in the middle of December. This meant that I got to take part in the big celebration. And let me tell you, it was a lot bigger than I expected.

A few days before the party, the couple's friends get together to make a ridiculously long garland out of pine branches; we're talking 10 or 12 metres long! On that fine Saturday morning we met up at the local volunteer-based Fire Station with a truckload of pine trees, twine and two 12 metre ropes.

It was a fair amount of work, cutting the branches into smaller pieces and tying them to the rope to make the garland. But with lots of friends, coffee, cookies and Glühwein time just flew on by.

The next step is to gather up a whole lot of silver decorations, truck the garlands off to the party locales and decorate them. We put on garland over the door of the hotel where the main party would be, but the second garland was the really fun one.

Quiet as a mouse, you bring it over to the couple's house, and, without being discovered, drape it over the doorway or railing. Once you're just about finished, you start to make a lot of noise to call the couple out for a mini celebration. We pulled out a stone drill and a brick to fool them into thinking we were boring holes into the wall of their house!

Here we are carrying the garland along in the snow - it sure was a cold night to put it up! But, we were rewarded later on with a mug of Glühwein to warm those cold fingers.

As you can see, mittens didn't really work when you were trying to tie the decorations on. So something warm at the end of the night was needed!

It sure was a fun way to celebrate an anniversary and a new cultural experience for me. Living abroad is so much fun!!

Sandy

A month of Christmas

Today we're not jumping quite so far into the past, just to the lovely month of December. In some of the larger cities in Germany, the Christmas markets (die Weihnachtsmärkte) last all month long. So I took every opportunity I had to check out some of the Weihnachtsmärkte near me.

Ok, so that's a little bit of a lie. My first Christmas Market wasn't really close to me... I went back down to Bamberg for a weekend to visit with some friends. I stayed with a friend in her fabulous house on a hill - the view over Bamberg is stunning!


The next day, the crisp winter air just begged to be walked around in, so Franzi and I took off to meet up with friends and enjoy a Glühwein.


As you can see, the open-air markets consist of a bunch of stalls selling anything and everything. At one place you'll pick up a paper bag of Schmalzkuchen (little puffs of deep-fried pastry, kinda similar to funnel cakes), at another they're selling hand-made soap, then you'll pass a Glühwein stand before walking past a stall selling little Christmas knick-knacks.

Walking through the market left us all sufficiently chilled and in need of a mug of Glühwein. Glühwein is the German name for hot spiced wine. It's absolutely delicious - red wine with hints of cloves, orange and cinnamon... Mmm. On a cold day, a single mug hits the spot like nothing else.

Unfortunately, around this point in time, it started to rain. Doubly unfortunate, all the standing room with a roof overtop was full. So we improvised and stood in the large Christmas tree next to the stand.

On another weekend, this time a little closer to home, I went to the Weihnachtsmarkt in Celle. Celle is already a beautiful historic city with some houses dating from the 1500's. Add a Christmas market, with it's lights and garlands and tantilizing smells, and it becomes absolutely picturesque. In one corner is the "Old Market" set up to look like it's popped out of the middle ages. There was a blacksmith and a man carving rocks, an old set of stocks... It was a neat little place to look at.

Here are a few shots of the streets decorated for the Weihnachtsmärkte:

This is a shot of a Glühwein stand. The structure itself is a large version of a traditional German Christmas decoration. Set on a windowsill or mantle, the candles themselves would be lit and the hot air would cause the fan up top to slowly spin.

Here we are again, at the Hannover Christmas Market, enjoying a Glühwein amidst the hustle and bustle of people enjoying themselves at Christmas time.

"Frohe Weihnachten und ein gutes Neues Jahr" everyone :)

Daaay Tripper...

Well I've finally got my photos all sorted out and ready for your viewing pleasure. We'll be jumping back in time today - all the way back to September of 2009. On a unseasonably warm day, Megan, Paul, Ian and myself took a trip to...

the ZOO! (you can insert your favourite creepy music here)


I think Megan is the only one who looks sufficiently scared as we wander through the mist...

And the scares didn't stop there. The first animals we happened to run across were the pelicans. Who didn't have any sort of fence separating them from all the tourists who came to see them. So you could pet them if you really wanted...


This particular bird tried to eat Paul shortly after this picture was taken...

Our nerves sufficiently rattled we popped on the safari cruise to relax - watching the rhinos and hippos from a safe distance.

See? We're all looking much happier :)

Further wandering brought us to the highlight of almost any zoo trip: the monkeys!!

Monkey see,

Monkey do.

A little more playing brought a whole heck of a lot of laughter to the day, before we traipsed off to India to check out the local elephants.

This guy was really curious. He came right over, stretched his trunk across the barrier and let me pet him. Which, I'm sure, had nothing to do with the tantalizing smell of french fries wafting from our direction...

Next stop: Bird House! Smelled fantastic...

Give me a real big smile this time!

Afterwards we took a gander through the Yukon before checking out the childrens park - it was the petting zoo that totally grabbed our attention. But before we got there, we took a small detour.

A little sliding:

Wheee!

Dancing:

Jaw-dropping:

How's that for the best buck-teeth you've ever seen?!

And since no day is complete without a tractor ride, that's how we ended things off.

I hope you enjoyed today's blast to the past, and will join me soon as we move further forward in yesterday.

Ciao