There were actually some not-so-good bits of the weekend, which I'd completely forgotten about as they were most definitely outweighed by the good bits. We went out on Saturday night to meet a friend of Aodan and Annette's at a pub, he was celebrating the birth of twins. Had a great time chatting with Aodan and a friend of his who is studying Japanese.
But you can still smoke in pubs in Koln. I'd forgotten how absolutely horrible it is to start coughing and rubbing your eyes, wanting to put all your clothes in the wash as soon as you get back (and I was wearing mine the next day) and then to crown it all your hair reeks of stale smoke...
And while I was having my hot chocolate in the museum, a bead came off my necklace - which is a woven one, so it means the thread is broken. I should probably restitch the whole thing... which will be many hours of work, but I suppose it is one of my oldest pieces and I should have taken better care of it.
And for the Monday - I put the clock forward and reset the alarm, but forgot to turn the alarm function on. Woke up 45 mins late. Went to the bank, my contact was busy. Managed to communicate my problem to the non-English speaker at the desk (PIN and part of online banking security received, card and other part of online banking security not received). But then, of course, couldn't understand the reply. A man who spoke English was produced and he explained to me that for reasons best known to themselves Deutsche Post had sent my card back to them, despite delivering the rest. A new one was ordered and I should have it all by the weekend. But I still haven't been paid, so the HR people will look into that.
The washer and drier were finally installed in the building! I had saved up a huge stack of 50 cent coins to use them, but they ended up taking 1 Euro coins. So I hauled myself out to the laundrette, which I'd checked out on the way home on the assumption I still wouldn't have any facilities in the building. It's a massive affair with a change machine, and instructions in English! I was as usual pathetically grateful.
So, for 5 Euros and 2 hours of my time (mainly spent playing Pokemon Blue Rescue Team) I got the washer, powder and conditioner and an immense Miele dryer which had everything bone dry in 30 mins. My pyjamas were even still warm when I got home. While unloading the dryer, I found I was missing two socks - I checked the washing machine and sure enough they were there, wedged into a corner. As I made a face at them, the German woman beside me smiled wryly - the one-legged sock thief obviously exists here too.
Tired, but very happy, and with a cupboard full of clean clothes. There have been worse Mondays.
Monday, 31 March 2008
Sunday, 30 March 2008
Cologne! (or how not to catch a train)
Back from a fantastic weekend in Cologne, or Koln, mainly thanks to the wonderful and expansive hospitality of my hosts, Aodan and Annette. Aodan has picked up a huge amount of lore about the city, and kept me laughing for a lot of the trip.
Pictures are here!
I nearly didn't get there - leaving in plenty of time on Saturday morning, I decided to walk to the main Frankfurt station. I was fine until Eschenheimer Tor, which I've walked to often, but then made a wrong turn while thinking I knew where I was going and found myself off to the northeast, on the street that runs off beside the flat. I had 14 minutes before the train. Why oh why didn't I just get the U-bahn? I know how apt I am to go off on a complete tangent even armed with maps.
I power-walked in some desperation back to the nearest U-bahn station, but it wasn't a line that ran to the main train station. But there were taxis. We hit every red light in the city. The elderly driver was very chilled out. But he got me to the station, I knew the platform from the detailed Deutsche Bahn printout, and by some considerable feat of luck the doors I came in led straight to the platform I needed. Two minutes to spare. Told myself off.
There was a group of very loud natives with a mini keg and huge sausages (being eaten with a tube of ketchup) sitting across both tables, one of which held my reserved seat. Decided I couldn't be bothered, and as the train wasn't that full I just sat in another seat. Proprietor of said seat boarded at the airport, so I just stood until everyone had found their seat and sat in a vacant one. The ticket inspector didn't care, so I could finally relax. Read MA stuff on the way up, deeply depressing accounts of what the Japanese did, mainly to Koreans, forcibly drafted as 'comfort women' during the Asia-Pacific war.
The next stop, just an hour and ten minutes from Frankfurt, was Kolnhauptbanhof. There's no missing the cathedral - just come out the exit marked 'Dom' and there it is blocking the entire skyline. I wandered around the outside for a bit, then went in and bought a self-guiding booklet and proceeded to walk around the inside. An embarrassment of riches makes it impossible to decide whether to look up, down or all around. I never feel quite right taking photos in places of worship, but I seemed to be the only one. I kept the flash off, at the risk of camera shake, but the light was great - it was a lovely day - and I didn't have a single bad shot.
After seeing the inside, I headed out through the shop and got a few postcards and a fridge magnet as a souvenir. I thought of heading further afield, but was aware that Aodan might call. I remembered that there was a spire you could climb so walked around to the end of the cathedral and found it. Paying my 2 Euro, I headed up.
Now, normally I'm fine with stairs. If you're visiting mountainside temples in Japan you need to be. But at least they have proper steps. It was nothing like edging up a worn circular stone staircase, on the inside with no banister and the thin edge of the triangular step, trying to hold on to the core of the stairs while taking great care to place your foot so that you get as much step as possible under it but don't catch your shoe on the step as you go up. All the time very painfully aware that it would only take someone on the way down tripping or catching my rucksack to knock me backwards. I had to stop briefly twice on the way up - when there was no-one coming down and I could step over to the banisters and let the terribly fit elderly Germans coming up behind me overtake - my calves were burning and I was breathing hard. Finally got to a point where the up and down stairs broke off, and stopped for a while to get my breath and try to stretch my legs out. There were more stairs to go. At least these were newer, wider and (for at least some of it) not circular, with banisters.
Once at the top I was mostly moved along by the crowd, got some good shots and headed down, stopping off at the bell tower. It was much easier, both because I had the banister and wider stairs, and because my calves were getting a break. I must have been using cycling muscles or something, I didn't think it would be that easy. There were even more people coming up, so looks like I got out just in time. There was graffiti everywhere, all over the walls of the staircase and even on the spire itself.
Frankly, unless you love stairclimbing and are combining travel with exercise, I recommend buying the postcards of the view at the entrance. I can confidently put this way up on Mom's list of places to say 'Let's not and pretend we have!' to.
After staggering out of the church I tried to find somewhere to sit and read the guidebook while waiting for Aodan. The only place with seats in the station was Starbucks, where I ordered an expensive latte which I'm not sure had any coffee in it at all. Missed Aodan's call, and realised I can't get into my voicemail as the voice of a nice German lady is giving me some kind of setup instructions I don't understand.
We headed out to the church of St. Ursula, a lady who travelled to Rome to dedicate herself to the church to avoid a marriage, had a dream that if she came back the same way she would die, and dutifully did so - martyred with ten maids to become the eleven martyred virgins. A brisk trade in bone relics sprung up, fuelled by the Roman graveyards... eventually so many were sold that the number of ill-fated virgins grew to 11,000. (There is also a Koln joke that there have never been that many virgins in Koln.)
The Golden Chamber in the Church of St. Ursula where someone's bones are preserved in Gothic splendor were unfortunately closed, so we instead wandered off to look around the town, including a strange sculpture with a woman with a lantern and loads of little men. The invading Prussians were so annoyed with the laid back and work-shy attitude of Kolnians that one of them invented a story of a bunch of 'little men' who built and ran the town while its residents slept in a drunken stupor. One night a tailor's wife put peas down on the ground, the little men stumbled on them and she caught sight of them - they were so offended they disappeared. Leaving Koln in the state the Prussians found it in, where they managed to convince the locals that the cathedral (which had been as it was for 300 years) wasn't actually finished. The relic and pilgrimage trade had been so good they hadn't bothered to complete it.
There were tales of Carnival, an alcoholic and musical riot preceding Lent, and the city gent/country bumpkin duo who supply much of the town's humour. And more sobering, small metal squares set in the ground, everywhere, before the houses of Jews killed by the Nazis, bearing their names and how the died. Not a city endeavour, but a lone stonemason's mission.
We walked around the banks of the Rhein for a while, then headed back to Aodan and Annette's very nice flat, passing the Schokolademusuem on the way. Koln is quite compact, so it was nowhere near as far away as I thought. We had a fantastic broccoli and blue cheese soup made by Aodan and talked well into the night about the past, the future (they will become parents in July/August and have bought a house in part of an under-conversion listed farm building) and how what you worry about changes as you get older and how hard it is to keep up with everyone who could be a good friend.
The hour went forward, so that combined with a long sleep and a long and late breakfast got me to the Schokolademuseum around 2pm. I was thinking of going to another museum as well, probably a 20th Century one near the cathedral, but it didn't happen. There's a lot in the Schokolademuseum, about the cocoa bean (they even have some trees in a tiny hothouse) and how it is processed, where the growing and processing happens, and what the demand is. The figures were from 1997 (and in Deutschmarks) so I'm sure it's even more impressive now. Then there was a mini-production line with real live little chocolate ingots coming off it, samples of melted milk chocolate on wafers dispensed by a white-suited Lindt employee from an enormous chocolate fountain, a huge section on advertising and packaging and finally cult chocolate products and the history of Lindt & Sprungli.
I sat down for a bite to eat in their cafe, and was delighted to find I was able to order - although the fact that what I ordered was a 'ham und cheese toast' helped. I also had a hot chocolate, which was very, very sweet. Nice, but you didn't want a second one. I've never been mad on Lindt milk chocolate.
Last, and most fatal, was the shop. Only the fact that I conserving my Euros until I get my bank card saved me from diabetic coma. I came out with a whiskey and chili bar for Aodan, a dark (62% cocoa) milk Java single origin bar for me, and some Venezualan (43% milk) and Ghanaian (85% dark) pastilles for work. My Javan one is nice - starts off with a dark chocolate kick but has milk chocolate mellowness aftwards.
Met up with Aodan and Annette again at (another) Starbucks and chatted to them and their friends until it was time to go for the train. Decided to U-bahn it and was told which lines. Decided to go to the loo, but for some reason didn't factor in the wait for it to become available out of the time left to get to the station. Aodan was looking dubious as I left and I soon realised why - as I got into the station, the station clock said I had 11 minutes. Ran for the platform. Got nervous and finally realised, as I missed one train in each direction, that I was on the wrong platform. Got the next train of the correct line, two stops. Got out at Koln Hauptbanhof at the time my train was departing. Ran for it anyway, as I had the platform number. Got turned around looking for the platforms after coming out of the U-bahn, but finally saw them - and the train was still on the departure boards. Ran. Jumped on. It was four minutes past departure time.
As the Japanese say, even monkeys fall from trees. The ever-reliable British 'maybe the train will be late' worked. Found my seat and collapsed. Got a fantastic view of the cathedral on the way out and a 'glad you got the train' from Aodan in response to texting him about it. Was going to study some German on the way back, but found the files for the Berlitz course had failed to copy onto my mp3 player, so listened to music, looked out the window and read the book instead. Took my safe travel charm from Fushimi Inari Daisha out of my passport, gave it a rub and thanked it profusely - I had had much too much luck to believe it.
Successfully bought some bread at the station and U-bahned home. Looking forward to another trip sometime - I could go to Koln again, there are loads more museums and churches, or Annette recommended Heidelberg, which isn't far away. Hmmm.
Pictures are here!
I nearly didn't get there - leaving in plenty of time on Saturday morning, I decided to walk to the main Frankfurt station. I was fine until Eschenheimer Tor, which I've walked to often, but then made a wrong turn while thinking I knew where I was going and found myself off to the northeast, on the street that runs off beside the flat. I had 14 minutes before the train. Why oh why didn't I just get the U-bahn? I know how apt I am to go off on a complete tangent even armed with maps.
I power-walked in some desperation back to the nearest U-bahn station, but it wasn't a line that ran to the main train station. But there were taxis. We hit every red light in the city. The elderly driver was very chilled out. But he got me to the station, I knew the platform from the detailed Deutsche Bahn printout, and by some considerable feat of luck the doors I came in led straight to the platform I needed. Two minutes to spare. Told myself off.
There was a group of very loud natives with a mini keg and huge sausages (being eaten with a tube of ketchup) sitting across both tables, one of which held my reserved seat. Decided I couldn't be bothered, and as the train wasn't that full I just sat in another seat. Proprietor of said seat boarded at the airport, so I just stood until everyone had found their seat and sat in a vacant one. The ticket inspector didn't care, so I could finally relax. Read MA stuff on the way up, deeply depressing accounts of what the Japanese did, mainly to Koreans, forcibly drafted as 'comfort women' during the Asia-Pacific war.
The next stop, just an hour and ten minutes from Frankfurt, was Kolnhauptbanhof. There's no missing the cathedral - just come out the exit marked 'Dom' and there it is blocking the entire skyline. I wandered around the outside for a bit, then went in and bought a self-guiding booklet and proceeded to walk around the inside. An embarrassment of riches makes it impossible to decide whether to look up, down or all around. I never feel quite right taking photos in places of worship, but I seemed to be the only one. I kept the flash off, at the risk of camera shake, but the light was great - it was a lovely day - and I didn't have a single bad shot.
After seeing the inside, I headed out through the shop and got a few postcards and a fridge magnet as a souvenir. I thought of heading further afield, but was aware that Aodan might call. I remembered that there was a spire you could climb so walked around to the end of the cathedral and found it. Paying my 2 Euro, I headed up.
Now, normally I'm fine with stairs. If you're visiting mountainside temples in Japan you need to be. But at least they have proper steps. It was nothing like edging up a worn circular stone staircase, on the inside with no banister and the thin edge of the triangular step, trying to hold on to the core of the stairs while taking great care to place your foot so that you get as much step as possible under it but don't catch your shoe on the step as you go up. All the time very painfully aware that it would only take someone on the way down tripping or catching my rucksack to knock me backwards. I had to stop briefly twice on the way up - when there was no-one coming down and I could step over to the banisters and let the terribly fit elderly Germans coming up behind me overtake - my calves were burning and I was breathing hard. Finally got to a point where the up and down stairs broke off, and stopped for a while to get my breath and try to stretch my legs out. There were more stairs to go. At least these were newer, wider and (for at least some of it) not circular, with banisters.
Once at the top I was mostly moved along by the crowd, got some good shots and headed down, stopping off at the bell tower. It was much easier, both because I had the banister and wider stairs, and because my calves were getting a break. I must have been using cycling muscles or something, I didn't think it would be that easy. There were even more people coming up, so looks like I got out just in time. There was graffiti everywhere, all over the walls of the staircase and even on the spire itself.
Frankly, unless you love stairclimbing and are combining travel with exercise, I recommend buying the postcards of the view at the entrance. I can confidently put this way up on Mom's list of places to say 'Let's not and pretend we have!' to.
After staggering out of the church I tried to find somewhere to sit and read the guidebook while waiting for Aodan. The only place with seats in the station was Starbucks, where I ordered an expensive latte which I'm not sure had any coffee in it at all. Missed Aodan's call, and realised I can't get into my voicemail as the voice of a nice German lady is giving me some kind of setup instructions I don't understand.
We headed out to the church of St. Ursula, a lady who travelled to Rome to dedicate herself to the church to avoid a marriage, had a dream that if she came back the same way she would die, and dutifully did so - martyred with ten maids to become the eleven martyred virgins. A brisk trade in bone relics sprung up, fuelled by the Roman graveyards... eventually so many were sold that the number of ill-fated virgins grew to 11,000. (There is also a Koln joke that there have never been that many virgins in Koln.)
The Golden Chamber in the Church of St. Ursula where someone's bones are preserved in Gothic splendor were unfortunately closed, so we instead wandered off to look around the town, including a strange sculpture with a woman with a lantern and loads of little men. The invading Prussians were so annoyed with the laid back and work-shy attitude of Kolnians that one of them invented a story of a bunch of 'little men' who built and ran the town while its residents slept in a drunken stupor. One night a tailor's wife put peas down on the ground, the little men stumbled on them and she caught sight of them - they were so offended they disappeared. Leaving Koln in the state the Prussians found it in, where they managed to convince the locals that the cathedral (which had been as it was for 300 years) wasn't actually finished. The relic and pilgrimage trade had been so good they hadn't bothered to complete it.
There were tales of Carnival, an alcoholic and musical riot preceding Lent, and the city gent/country bumpkin duo who supply much of the town's humour. And more sobering, small metal squares set in the ground, everywhere, before the houses of Jews killed by the Nazis, bearing their names and how the died. Not a city endeavour, but a lone stonemason's mission.
We walked around the banks of the Rhein for a while, then headed back to Aodan and Annette's very nice flat, passing the Schokolademusuem on the way. Koln is quite compact, so it was nowhere near as far away as I thought. We had a fantastic broccoli and blue cheese soup made by Aodan and talked well into the night about the past, the future (they will become parents in July/August and have bought a house in part of an under-conversion listed farm building) and how what you worry about changes as you get older and how hard it is to keep up with everyone who could be a good friend.
The hour went forward, so that combined with a long sleep and a long and late breakfast got me to the Schokolademuseum around 2pm. I was thinking of going to another museum as well, probably a 20th Century one near the cathedral, but it didn't happen. There's a lot in the Schokolademuseum, about the cocoa bean (they even have some trees in a tiny hothouse) and how it is processed, where the growing and processing happens, and what the demand is. The figures were from 1997 (and in Deutschmarks) so I'm sure it's even more impressive now. Then there was a mini-production line with real live little chocolate ingots coming off it, samples of melted milk chocolate on wafers dispensed by a white-suited Lindt employee from an enormous chocolate fountain, a huge section on advertising and packaging and finally cult chocolate products and the history of Lindt & Sprungli.
I sat down for a bite to eat in their cafe, and was delighted to find I was able to order - although the fact that what I ordered was a 'ham und cheese toast' helped. I also had a hot chocolate, which was very, very sweet. Nice, but you didn't want a second one. I've never been mad on Lindt milk chocolate.
Last, and most fatal, was the shop. Only the fact that I conserving my Euros until I get my bank card saved me from diabetic coma. I came out with a whiskey and chili bar for Aodan, a dark (62% cocoa) milk Java single origin bar for me, and some Venezualan (43% milk) and Ghanaian (85% dark) pastilles for work. My Javan one is nice - starts off with a dark chocolate kick but has milk chocolate mellowness aftwards.
Met up with Aodan and Annette again at (another) Starbucks and chatted to them and their friends until it was time to go for the train. Decided to U-bahn it and was told which lines. Decided to go to the loo, but for some reason didn't factor in the wait for it to become available out of the time left to get to the station. Aodan was looking dubious as I left and I soon realised why - as I got into the station, the station clock said I had 11 minutes. Ran for the platform. Got nervous and finally realised, as I missed one train in each direction, that I was on the wrong platform. Got the next train of the correct line, two stops. Got out at Koln Hauptbanhof at the time my train was departing. Ran for it anyway, as I had the platform number. Got turned around looking for the platforms after coming out of the U-bahn, but finally saw them - and the train was still on the departure boards. Ran. Jumped on. It was four minutes past departure time.
As the Japanese say, even monkeys fall from trees. The ever-reliable British 'maybe the train will be late' worked. Found my seat and collapsed. Got a fantastic view of the cathedral on the way out and a 'glad you got the train' from Aodan in response to texting him about it. Was going to study some German on the way back, but found the files for the Berlitz course had failed to copy onto my mp3 player, so listened to music, looked out the window and read the book instead. Took my safe travel charm from Fushimi Inari Daisha out of my passport, gave it a rub and thanked it profusely - I had had much too much luck to believe it.
Successfully bought some bread at the station and U-bahned home. Looking forward to another trip sometime - I could go to Koln again, there are loads more museums and churches, or Annette recommended Heidelberg, which isn't far away. Hmmm.
Friday, 28 March 2008
Thursday, 27 March 2008
Victory!
Topped up my phone at the supermarket. There are little plastic cards at the end of some of the tills with '15 Euro' and 'T-Mobile' written on them, you take them to the till and they scan them, then you punch your phone number into the PIN keypad twice, et voila! Chuffed.
A day full of unnecessary complications, mistakes, annoyance and reworking. But I left on time as there was nothing that couldn't be deferred until tomorrow.
Feel a bit lurgified (proper UK English) and went into the supermarket to look for whatever Germany uses for Lemsip. There didn't seem to be anything - they sell vitamins and what look like nuclear-war level herbal teas, but no aspirin or other serious stuff. I suppose there is a reason for all the Apothekes I see around. Another example of a strange boundary shift in everyday life.
Other than that, not much. Cold but no more snow. Looking forward to visiting Cologne at the weekend.
Have a look at a very cute coyote.
A day full of unnecessary complications, mistakes, annoyance and reworking. But I left on time as there was nothing that couldn't be deferred until tomorrow.
Feel a bit lurgified (proper UK English) and went into the supermarket to look for whatever Germany uses for Lemsip. There didn't seem to be anything - they sell vitamins and what look like nuclear-war level herbal teas, but no aspirin or other serious stuff. I suppose there is a reason for all the Apothekes I see around. Another example of a strange boundary shift in everyday life.
Other than that, not much. Cold but no more snow. Looking forward to visiting Cologne at the weekend.
Have a look at a very cute coyote.
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
Stop that right now
Okay day at work, finally managed after a day and a half to find out what they actually wanted and got it done.
Got back, did pilates. Got four successive terrifying crunches out of my spine.
Received an email saying my card had been declined and was unable to log in to online banking despite being certain my details were correct. Tried to call the bank on my online calling card only to be told my calling account was suspended. Had a momentary ID-theft panic.
Called the bank on my German mobile, was kept on hold then told everything was fine on my online banking, then put on hold again and then told everything was fine with my card, they hadn't received the request that said it was declined.
Phone credit ran out halfway through that one. Great way to burn through 30 Euro.
Got back, did pilates. Got four successive terrifying crunches out of my spine.
Received an email saying my card had been declined and was unable to log in to online banking despite being certain my details were correct. Tried to call the bank on my online calling card only to be told my calling account was suspended. Had a momentary ID-theft panic.
Called the bank on my German mobile, was kept on hold then told everything was fine on my online banking, then put on hold again and then told everything was fine with my card, they hadn't received the request that said it was declined.
Phone credit ran out halfway through that one. Great way to burn through 30 Euro.
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
The short version of the slightly white long weekend
Thursday morning wasn't so great - I didn't sleep well and managed to rip the jeans I was going to wear. After stuffing my washing into my bag I headed out early to get to the bank. My card hadn't arrived yet, so I had scribbled down some phrases to explain that and ask if they could tell me what my balance was and could I make a withdrawal. Got through the first bits okay, only to find that my balance was the money I had put in - so I didn't need the last bit. Batting away the remnants of my dreams of buying giant Golden-Hasse (Lindt Gold Bunnies in the UK) as presents, I trudged into work.
A French translator introduced himself to me on the way in, people I didn't know smiled and said hi, and it was generally lovely. An impending long weekend will do that to people, but I chose to take it personally. The UK team were going out to a German restaurant that evening, which I would miss, but we did have lunch together in the Chinese. I got out relatively on time and was surprised by the mere 3.90 Euro and 45 minutes it took to get to the airport.
We had some loud but otherwise harmless youth until the main station, then they swapped out with football supporters on their way to a local game - beer and singing aplenty. A British guy remarked to his neighbour that beer, football and youth were a bad mix and was agreed with - he assumed he'd found a fellow Englishman but the guy was actually from Frankfurt. Herr Britisch then went on to quote Shakespeare and go beyond the limit of the man's excellent English, which struck me as pretentious and annoyed me (especially seen how useless my German is).
After sending me an online check-in email, BA then wouldn't allow me to check in online and were either useless or deliberately witholding information and didn't tell us we were nearly an hour delayed until we were boarded and had our phones turned off. High winds at Heathrow.
When we did get there, just over 40 mins late, David was waiting for me - with a latte and a slice of carrot cake, and a little Gold Bunny. The man knows how to make me feel welcome. We headed out to the rental car, a Chevrolet Matiz. Feather-light steering and juddering controls, but at least not as noisy at speed as the Ford Ka was. There was a certain amount of being blown around the lane on the motorway though.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday were spent at David's parents, sitting at the kitchen table identifying birds, eating, chatting and generally having a wonderfully restorative weekend. Did my washing and hung some on the line for the first time in I don't know how long. The weather was bizarre, with bright spells, high winds, sleet and a bit of snow that stuck for a few hours on Sunday morning. David's mom was wished a Happy Christmas at church. Also had my first game of Scrabble in I don't know how long. David helped set up their new laptop and broadband, and I managed to get another pair of jeans. We left just in time to hit the shops on Sunday and I got the PG Tips pyramid tea bags that had been demanded of me.
We weren't sure what to do on Monday - the weather forecast was poor, but we really wanted to go to Longleat safari park. In the end I finished my packing (bringing back an extra piece of luggage to get some more clothes and shoes) and pushed everything into the Matiz' underdeveloped boot to head out past Andover and Stonehenge to Longleat.
We were in luck - the sky cleared on the way there, we made great time and we got in at 9:30 when we thought we'd have to wait until 10:00. We headed into the safari, taking the chance to get out of the car and walk around the wallabies and goats and grab a tea and a sandwich before getting back in the car. (By the way, if you go there beware of the cafes - one seems to be twice the price of the other.)
And then it was giraffes and emus and zebras and camels, oh my! Followed by many different kinds of deer and even a chance to feed them. Well, let me rephrase that. You could avoid feeding them by a) not buying food and b) driving through swiftly with the windows up. Once you pulled over with the window down, you had a deer in each side of the car faster than you could get the food ready. Just as pushy as the sacred deer in Japan! And they drool. Seriously.
We got several photos of the supposedly elusive Bongos, who were happy to be photographed while grazing. Others walking into the spotlight were the camels and some very impressive African cattle. Then it was in to the monkeys, with ample warnings to kiss your car trim goodbye and even an opportunity to U-turn out of it. They weren't interested in the rental car - too rounded - but loved 4x4s, anything with a roof rack or spare tyre and we saw five of them on an old (flat-roofed and flat-bonneted) Jaguar. The babies swung off anything that stuck out when they weren't chasing each other around the trees.
We concluded that the endless stream of cars was the enrichment activity and new toys for the monkeys, and that Nature will have your windscreen wipers.
Carrying on with our CD narrated by one of the presenters of Animal Park, which was a nice touch, we hit the big time - the big cats. Queues of traffic built up as people stopped to stare at and photograph tigers having their mid-morning snack and sleeping on the roof of the hides, and lionesses pacing about their wooded lawns. There are two lion prides, and the second had youngish cubs who were running around and jumping on their elders. Finally we went through Wolf Wood, where most of the residents were lying around doing their own brand of regal. One was tearing apart lunch, but despite signs all over of "CAUTION Wolf pups in road" we didn't see any.
Once out of the safari, we drove around to the grounds and headed for Pets Corner, home of the smaller and fluffier things. The parrot show was on, so we took advantage of the lull to check out the degus and rabbits, ground squirrels and Siberian chipmunks (think little albino squirrels). Ducking through the insect and reptile house got me the chance to hold a Chilean rose tarantula, which was absolutely lovely. The keeper was also very tempting when she said they could be acquired for £15, live in a quite small box lined with earth and only need 2 live crickets a week...
(Later research seems to indicate they don't like handling, which is both confusing and real shame if it is true - I don't want to stress anything. Best quote: "A happy spider is an unseen spider".)
The stars of the area were the otters, proud parents Rosie and Romeo and their two young kits. Six others had already been born and sent to other zoos, and Rosie was due to give birth again in April! She did have a distinct waddle. Very romantically, Romeo was giving her some of his food, just in case her "I'm cute! Feed me!" face failed to work.
We went for some food next, an excellent cottage pie for me and mushroom quiche for David. Expensive, but not bad. Next up was the safari boat, out into the lake with the gregarious Californian sea lions. They had already been fed - 65kg of fish - but were always given treats for chasing the boat. We saw the hippos from a distance (the only way to see the perpetually grumpy animals according to the guide) and also the elderly gorilla Nico, sitting on the porch of his house watching the rain. The guide gave a very moving talk about the status of the gorilla which had us reaching in our pockets for the collection boxes on the pier next to the meercats.
After that we judged we had just enough time to get to the batcave! After a few displays of insects (including my personal squee item, some real live and very large Deaths Head cockroaches) we got into the bat room. They were being fed and seemed to fall elegantly from the ceiling to lie wings out, flat on their stomachs to chew on fruit. They even adopted that position for the water bowl. The fruit kebabs suspended from ropes were a real favourite - one bat was on each, holding on to the top with its feet and munching away while mantling it with its wings. As the keeper said, relax, they're not going to hit you. They're good at this.
Final stop was the butterfly garden, and what a finale. Massive butterflies with wings like owls' faces lined the roof, with ones the colour of mother of pearl or cobalt flapping through the garden. Others were an amazing velvet black and startling red. David got some fantastic photos, even if we couldn't get the glasswing to stay still long enough.
Then we hit the road, just in case we didn't make good time back - all too possible with a combination of ropy weather and Bank Holiday traffic. We did it pretty well, from Longleat to the drop-off at Heathrow Terminal 1 in 3 hours. Back on the plane.
I was oddly tired by the time I got back, and the efficient German S and U-bahns got me home as soon as I figured out what ones I wanted to be on and managed to buy a ticket. Following some loud Americans who were going my way helped. It seemed to be shift change, with loads of police and men in hi-vis jackets in the station. I glared at the stairs, but as there's no option I climbed up. At least my suitcase was comparatively light this time.
Today was all right - up early to go to the bank again as I still don't have my card (I got my pin and some info for online banking, so I know they have the address right) but this time managed to not be understood and had to hand my notes over to the cashier. Money still isn't in my account so I withdrew from my UK account to cover me for another two weeks or so. Worked away on the instructions of A, got a confusing comment from B, A checks with B and realises there has been a misunderstanding, I have to throw away my morning's work. It ended with translators finding all the day's issues between 5:00 and 5:30, which is when I wanted to leave. I did manage to get away soon after.
Right into the snow that had been falling for an hour or so - huge fat wet flakes that were just about sticking on the dual carriageway dividers. It cleared a little, we hit the supermarket (I had given up on my daydream of blowing a stack of Euros in the Asian food shop) and I took the U-bahn back just in case it started up again. Must wear the hiking boots tomorrow, as it's forecast to be -3 tonight and tomorrow night with snow.
It was wonderful to be back in the UK - but I also have a trip to Koln/Cologne to look forward to this weekend! My first trip on the InterCity Express, just over an hour. Shall bring the camera...
A French translator introduced himself to me on the way in, people I didn't know smiled and said hi, and it was generally lovely. An impending long weekend will do that to people, but I chose to take it personally. The UK team were going out to a German restaurant that evening, which I would miss, but we did have lunch together in the Chinese. I got out relatively on time and was surprised by the mere 3.90 Euro and 45 minutes it took to get to the airport.
We had some loud but otherwise harmless youth until the main station, then they swapped out with football supporters on their way to a local game - beer and singing aplenty. A British guy remarked to his neighbour that beer, football and youth were a bad mix and was agreed with - he assumed he'd found a fellow Englishman but the guy was actually from Frankfurt. Herr Britisch then went on to quote Shakespeare and go beyond the limit of the man's excellent English, which struck me as pretentious and annoyed me (especially seen how useless my German is).
After sending me an online check-in email, BA then wouldn't allow me to check in online and were either useless or deliberately witholding information and didn't tell us we were nearly an hour delayed until we were boarded and had our phones turned off. High winds at Heathrow.
When we did get there, just over 40 mins late, David was waiting for me - with a latte and a slice of carrot cake, and a little Gold Bunny. The man knows how to make me feel welcome. We headed out to the rental car, a Chevrolet Matiz. Feather-light steering and juddering controls, but at least not as noisy at speed as the Ford Ka was. There was a certain amount of being blown around the lane on the motorway though.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday were spent at David's parents, sitting at the kitchen table identifying birds, eating, chatting and generally having a wonderfully restorative weekend. Did my washing and hung some on the line for the first time in I don't know how long. The weather was bizarre, with bright spells, high winds, sleet and a bit of snow that stuck for a few hours on Sunday morning. David's mom was wished a Happy Christmas at church. Also had my first game of Scrabble in I don't know how long. David helped set up their new laptop and broadband, and I managed to get another pair of jeans. We left just in time to hit the shops on Sunday and I got the PG Tips pyramid tea bags that had been demanded of me.
We weren't sure what to do on Monday - the weather forecast was poor, but we really wanted to go to Longleat safari park. In the end I finished my packing (bringing back an extra piece of luggage to get some more clothes and shoes) and pushed everything into the Matiz' underdeveloped boot to head out past Andover and Stonehenge to Longleat.
We were in luck - the sky cleared on the way there, we made great time and we got in at 9:30 when we thought we'd have to wait until 10:00. We headed into the safari, taking the chance to get out of the car and walk around the wallabies and goats and grab a tea and a sandwich before getting back in the car. (By the way, if you go there beware of the cafes - one seems to be twice the price of the other.)
And then it was giraffes and emus and zebras and camels, oh my! Followed by many different kinds of deer and even a chance to feed them. Well, let me rephrase that. You could avoid feeding them by a) not buying food and b) driving through swiftly with the windows up. Once you pulled over with the window down, you had a deer in each side of the car faster than you could get the food ready. Just as pushy as the sacred deer in Japan! And they drool. Seriously.
We got several photos of the supposedly elusive Bongos, who were happy to be photographed while grazing. Others walking into the spotlight were the camels and some very impressive African cattle. Then it was in to the monkeys, with ample warnings to kiss your car trim goodbye and even an opportunity to U-turn out of it. They weren't interested in the rental car - too rounded - but loved 4x4s, anything with a roof rack or spare tyre and we saw five of them on an old (flat-roofed and flat-bonneted) Jaguar. The babies swung off anything that stuck out when they weren't chasing each other around the trees.
We concluded that the endless stream of cars was the enrichment activity and new toys for the monkeys, and that Nature will have your windscreen wipers.
Carrying on with our CD narrated by one of the presenters of Animal Park, which was a nice touch, we hit the big time - the big cats. Queues of traffic built up as people stopped to stare at and photograph tigers having their mid-morning snack and sleeping on the roof of the hides, and lionesses pacing about their wooded lawns. There are two lion prides, and the second had youngish cubs who were running around and jumping on their elders. Finally we went through Wolf Wood, where most of the residents were lying around doing their own brand of regal. One was tearing apart lunch, but despite signs all over of "CAUTION Wolf pups in road" we didn't see any.
Once out of the safari, we drove around to the grounds and headed for Pets Corner, home of the smaller and fluffier things. The parrot show was on, so we took advantage of the lull to check out the degus and rabbits, ground squirrels and Siberian chipmunks (think little albino squirrels). Ducking through the insect and reptile house got me the chance to hold a Chilean rose tarantula, which was absolutely lovely. The keeper was also very tempting when she said they could be acquired for £15, live in a quite small box lined with earth and only need 2 live crickets a week...
(Later research seems to indicate they don't like handling, which is both confusing and real shame if it is true - I don't want to stress anything. Best quote: "A happy spider is an unseen spider".)
The stars of the area were the otters, proud parents Rosie and Romeo and their two young kits. Six others had already been born and sent to other zoos, and Rosie was due to give birth again in April! She did have a distinct waddle. Very romantically, Romeo was giving her some of his food, just in case her "I'm cute! Feed me!" face failed to work.
We went for some food next, an excellent cottage pie for me and mushroom quiche for David. Expensive, but not bad. Next up was the safari boat, out into the lake with the gregarious Californian sea lions. They had already been fed - 65kg of fish - but were always given treats for chasing the boat. We saw the hippos from a distance (the only way to see the perpetually grumpy animals according to the guide) and also the elderly gorilla Nico, sitting on the porch of his house watching the rain. The guide gave a very moving talk about the status of the gorilla which had us reaching in our pockets for the collection boxes on the pier next to the meercats.
After that we judged we had just enough time to get to the batcave! After a few displays of insects (including my personal squee item, some real live and very large Deaths Head cockroaches) we got into the bat room. They were being fed and seemed to fall elegantly from the ceiling to lie wings out, flat on their stomachs to chew on fruit. They even adopted that position for the water bowl. The fruit kebabs suspended from ropes were a real favourite - one bat was on each, holding on to the top with its feet and munching away while mantling it with its wings. As the keeper said, relax, they're not going to hit you. They're good at this.
Final stop was the butterfly garden, and what a finale. Massive butterflies with wings like owls' faces lined the roof, with ones the colour of mother of pearl or cobalt flapping through the garden. Others were an amazing velvet black and startling red. David got some fantastic photos, even if we couldn't get the glasswing to stay still long enough.
Then we hit the road, just in case we didn't make good time back - all too possible with a combination of ropy weather and Bank Holiday traffic. We did it pretty well, from Longleat to the drop-off at Heathrow Terminal 1 in 3 hours. Back on the plane.
I was oddly tired by the time I got back, and the efficient German S and U-bahns got me home as soon as I figured out what ones I wanted to be on and managed to buy a ticket. Following some loud Americans who were going my way helped. It seemed to be shift change, with loads of police and men in hi-vis jackets in the station. I glared at the stairs, but as there's no option I climbed up. At least my suitcase was comparatively light this time.
Today was all right - up early to go to the bank again as I still don't have my card (I got my pin and some info for online banking, so I know they have the address right) but this time managed to not be understood and had to hand my notes over to the cashier. Money still isn't in my account so I withdrew from my UK account to cover me for another two weeks or so. Worked away on the instructions of A, got a confusing comment from B, A checks with B and realises there has been a misunderstanding, I have to throw away my morning's work. It ended with translators finding all the day's issues between 5:00 and 5:30, which is when I wanted to leave. I did manage to get away soon after.
Right into the snow that had been falling for an hour or so - huge fat wet flakes that were just about sticking on the dual carriageway dividers. It cleared a little, we hit the supermarket (I had given up on my daydream of blowing a stack of Euros in the Asian food shop) and I took the U-bahn back just in case it started up again. Must wear the hiking boots tomorrow, as it's forecast to be -3 tonight and tomorrow night with snow.
It was wonderful to be back in the UK - but I also have a trip to Koln/Cologne to look forward to this weekend! My first trip on the InterCity Express, just over an hour. Shall bring the camera...
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
Ready, steady...
Didn't forget anything! And actually got some work to do that didn't involve playing a game...
Will head out early tomorrow so I can get out early and get to the airport, even more important now that BA are denying me online checkin despite sending me an email inviting me to do so.
We still appear to have no washing machine, or if we do we have no key to the basement to access it. So I will be doing the student thing and taking my washing home with me.
And I may have been paid - someone who started at the same time as me has been - but as I don't have my bank card yet I don't know. May call into the bank tomorrow and see if they can tell me. Another deutsche challenge...
Will be away from tomorrow night until Monday night - have a great long weekend to everyone who has it!
Will head out early tomorrow so I can get out early and get to the airport, even more important now that BA are denying me online checkin despite sending me an email inviting me to do so.
We still appear to have no washing machine, or if we do we have no key to the basement to access it. So I will be doing the student thing and taking my washing home with me.
And I may have been paid - someone who started at the same time as me has been - but as I don't have my bank card yet I don't know. May call into the bank tomorrow and see if they can tell me. Another deutsche challenge...
Will be away from tomorrow night until Monday night - have a great long weekend to everyone who has it!
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
Check your head
After forgetting my wallet yesterday, today I forgot my pass. I decided to go home and get it - it was 9:45, I didn't have to in until 10, and it's only 2 stops on the U-bahn.
I ended up running in at 10:20 - it's not as quick as I thought.
Makes me worry about tomorrow...
I ended up running in at 10:20 - it's not as quick as I thought.
Makes me worry about tomorrow...
Monday, 17 March 2008
New to me
Not a great night's sleep last night - I spent the last ten minutes before leaving going back in and out of the room picking up various things I'd forgotten and still managed to leave my wallet in the flat. I know who my friends are.
We ate at the little Chinese counter/restaurant in the supermarket, where I had a huge plate of noodles with chicken, beansprouts and other vegetables for 4 Euro. There's almost no point in doing your own food with that and the equally reasonable salad bar.
Doing some reading for the last module on the MA - strange to think that the taught part will be over in 6 months. The first set of background reading has been giving me pause - not so much for thought, although there is that too, but for vocabulary.
I've had to look up etiolated (becoming pale and weak), late Ptolemaic effort (no idea), hypostatize (make into a distinct substance; conceive of or treat as an existing being), allomorphism (different forms of the same thing?), apostate (someone who renounces a religion or faith), miscegenation (mixing or blending, esp. of races) and Barmecide feast (no idea). Combined with the trip to the Botanic Gardens, where I can't actually name anything, it's rather humbling.
I also came across the delightful quote by socialist Viktor Adler "Absolutismus gemildert durch Schlamperei" (Absolutism tempered by slovenliness). I'm sure there are many more wonderful quotes out there. I haven't been reading much of any quality for some time. The author of the piece I'm reading also describes The Man Without Qualities as "the great comic novel of our time". His own book isn't that old, revised edition of 1991, but has that lovely old-world slightly cranky yet achingly funny and painfully true professor tone to it.
We ate at the little Chinese counter/restaurant in the supermarket, where I had a huge plate of noodles with chicken, beansprouts and other vegetables for 4 Euro. There's almost no point in doing your own food with that and the equally reasonable salad bar.
Doing some reading for the last module on the MA - strange to think that the taught part will be over in 6 months. The first set of background reading has been giving me pause - not so much for thought, although there is that too, but for vocabulary.
I've had to look up etiolated (becoming pale and weak), late Ptolemaic effort (no idea), hypostatize (make into a distinct substance; conceive of or treat as an existing being), allomorphism (different forms of the same thing?), apostate (someone who renounces a religion or faith), miscegenation (mixing or blending, esp. of races) and Barmecide feast (no idea). Combined with the trip to the Botanic Gardens, where I can't actually name anything, it's rather humbling.
I also came across the delightful quote by socialist Viktor Adler "Absolutismus gemildert durch Schlamperei" (Absolutism tempered by slovenliness). I'm sure there are many more wonderful quotes out there. I haven't been reading much of any quality for some time. The author of the piece I'm reading also describes The Man Without Qualities as "the great comic novel of our time". His own book isn't that old, revised edition of 1991, but has that lovely old-world slightly cranky yet achingly funny and painfully true professor tone to it.
Sunday, 16 March 2008
Blooming marvellous
Slept in until nearly 11am on Sunday. I never do that...
The photos are here!
Sunday I went to the botanical gardens! It's an easy walk from the flat, up a side road off the main road leading to the office, and follow it all the way to a side entrance. I had actually gone halfway there yesterday when finding the local post office. I was on my own, as everyone else was recovering from watching the rugby, recovering from or participating in St. Patricks Weekend, ill or studying. It was drizzling, not enough to stop me, but enough to keep taking the lens cap on and off as I didn't want to get raindrops on the lens.
There was a queue to get in, which I thought was odd on a rainy and cool Sunday, but it turned out to be the last day of a huge gardening fair. That also meant the entrance fee was twice normal (10 Euro instead of 5) but I headed in anyway, armed with my English pamphlet. There were little tents selling everything from seeds and plants to garden ornaments and mini-chainsaws, and stalls with sausages and pretzels. I had a ham and cheese crepe - not very German, but I love them.
I digress for a moment - there really does seem to be sausage worship here. I was exchanging some comedy emails with friends in Reading about it, but it does seem to exist. When I was out at the post office yesterday there weren't too many people about, but there was a crowd of about 20 in front of a sausage van. And when we walked out to the Italian restaurant near G's on Friday night there was a little festival going on in the plaza just before it, with people standing around high tables and eating sausages - the liveliest we've seen Frankfurt so far.
I wandered around the outside areas first, the lawns were full of daffodils, crocuses and other tiny blue or white flowers. Mom would have loved it. There were several cherry trees in bloom, small lakes with white and black swans and ducks, and also tracks for a mini train, which wasn't running (I doubt the geese would have been asleep with their heads under their wings beside if it so). Taking the photo of the goose was funny - the eye opened while I was doing it, but nothing else moved.
There was a small section with seasonal plants, and loads of Easter decorations - they are everywhere. Then a small sub-antarctic glasshouse and finally the biggies - the tropical houses. I failed to make the connection between my glasses instantly steaming up and the camera lens doing the same - hope it's okay. Actually, I'm going to go and take it out of its bag now and let it breathe, which is what I should have done when I got home... Anyway, loads of weird and wonderful plant life and some amazing flowers. Plus the true objects of worship - the cocoa tree and coffee bean tree. There was even a cinnamon tree!
Finally there was the Palmengarten itself, half of which was given over to displaying more garden items such as furniture, and half of which was full of palms, etc. albeit with garden ornaments for sale dotted around. The weather made it very reminiscent of the Botanics in Dublin. It was a great way to spend a few hours, and I'll probably go back in the summer when the outdoors will be nicer.
Speaking of the weather, it's forecast to go sub-zero on Tuesday and Wednesday... BBC forecasts snow although the Frankfurt City website doesn't. Fun. Hope it doesn't affect my flight back on Thursday.
In other news, I'm definitely off to Cologne the weekend after Easter, I've booked my train tickets online - it will take just under an hour and a quarter each way on a direct train. Was also thinking of heading to Dublin as there is a bank holiday here close to Mom's birthday in May.
I spent the afternoon/evening trying to do some German study, and got through the first four units in the BBC Active German course before wandering off to have a look at the BBC Languages website. And there I found some distinctly 'interesting' phrases in the Cool German section. Think of your licence fee and despair - this is definitely Not Safe For Work. I particularly like the claim that the phrase "lick my arse" comes from Goethe.
The photos are here!
Sunday I went to the botanical gardens! It's an easy walk from the flat, up a side road off the main road leading to the office, and follow it all the way to a side entrance. I had actually gone halfway there yesterday when finding the local post office. I was on my own, as everyone else was recovering from watching the rugby, recovering from or participating in St. Patricks Weekend, ill or studying. It was drizzling, not enough to stop me, but enough to keep taking the lens cap on and off as I didn't want to get raindrops on the lens.
There was a queue to get in, which I thought was odd on a rainy and cool Sunday, but it turned out to be the last day of a huge gardening fair. That also meant the entrance fee was twice normal (10 Euro instead of 5) but I headed in anyway, armed with my English pamphlet. There were little tents selling everything from seeds and plants to garden ornaments and mini-chainsaws, and stalls with sausages and pretzels. I had a ham and cheese crepe - not very German, but I love them.
I digress for a moment - there really does seem to be sausage worship here. I was exchanging some comedy emails with friends in Reading about it, but it does seem to exist. When I was out at the post office yesterday there weren't too many people about, but there was a crowd of about 20 in front of a sausage van. And when we walked out to the Italian restaurant near G's on Friday night there was a little festival going on in the plaza just before it, with people standing around high tables and eating sausages - the liveliest we've seen Frankfurt so far.
I wandered around the outside areas first, the lawns were full of daffodils, crocuses and other tiny blue or white flowers. Mom would have loved it. There were several cherry trees in bloom, small lakes with white and black swans and ducks, and also tracks for a mini train, which wasn't running (I doubt the geese would have been asleep with their heads under their wings beside if it so). Taking the photo of the goose was funny - the eye opened while I was doing it, but nothing else moved.
There was a small section with seasonal plants, and loads of Easter decorations - they are everywhere. Then a small sub-antarctic glasshouse and finally the biggies - the tropical houses. I failed to make the connection between my glasses instantly steaming up and the camera lens doing the same - hope it's okay. Actually, I'm going to go and take it out of its bag now and let it breathe, which is what I should have done when I got home... Anyway, loads of weird and wonderful plant life and some amazing flowers. Plus the true objects of worship - the cocoa tree and coffee bean tree. There was even a cinnamon tree!
Finally there was the Palmengarten itself, half of which was given over to displaying more garden items such as furniture, and half of which was full of palms, etc. albeit with garden ornaments for sale dotted around. The weather made it very reminiscent of the Botanics in Dublin. It was a great way to spend a few hours, and I'll probably go back in the summer when the outdoors will be nicer.
Speaking of the weather, it's forecast to go sub-zero on Tuesday and Wednesday... BBC forecasts snow although the Frankfurt City website doesn't. Fun. Hope it doesn't affect my flight back on Thursday.
In other news, I'm definitely off to Cologne the weekend after Easter, I've booked my train tickets online - it will take just under an hour and a quarter each way on a direct train. Was also thinking of heading to Dublin as there is a bank holiday here close to Mom's birthday in May.
I spent the afternoon/evening trying to do some German study, and got through the first four units in the BBC Active German course before wandering off to have a look at the BBC Languages website. And there I found some distinctly 'interesting' phrases in the Cool German section. Think of your licence fee and despair - this is definitely Not Safe For Work. I particularly like the claim that the phrase "lick my arse" comes from Goethe.
Saturday, 15 March 2008
An accidental wonder
Was talking to Z about food on the way home - I threw the contents of my fridge and cupboard into a frying pan and ended up with red (purple) onion, red peppers, yellow sweetcorn, green peas, brown mushrooms and white bamboo shoots. Looks quite impressive. Pity I haven't got any soy sauce.
The corn, which was on the left of the top shelf of the fridge, was partially frozen - but the peas, on the right of the top shelf, were not. Must watch that.
I miss my attempts at Japanese meals - a bowl of rice, a bowl of soup, some stir-fried veg and whatever else I was having (usually whatever Sainsbury's had on special, like prawns). I think I will end up hitting that asian shop when I get paid...
The corn, which was on the left of the top shelf of the fridge, was partially frozen - but the peas, on the right of the top shelf, were not. Must watch that.
I miss my attempts at Japanese meals - a bowl of rice, a bowl of soup, some stir-fried veg and whatever else I was having (usually whatever Sainsbury's had on special, like prawns). I think I will end up hitting that asian shop when I get paid...
More wanderings
Had a nice sleep in this morning - I did wake up before 8am, but turned over and got up around 9:30. Felt much better for it. I finally unrolled the yoga mat I bought last weekend and did just the warmup exercises from my pilates book (I am that out of practise) - but had to stop 2/3 of the way through as I was getting nauseous from the 'new plastic' smell from the mat. I opened the windows and headed out to find the post office and do some shopping as everything will be closed tomorrow.
Found the post office, which was inside a cute stationery shop called "McPaper". I managed to start the conversation in German, but finished it in English as the lady at the till had much better English than my non-existent German. Le sigh. I found yet another Rewe supermarket - they seem to be evenly distributed about every three streets. Also found a health food/chemist where I got some muesli and green tea. They don't seem to do tetra-pak fresh soups here, so I got some tinned ones.
Wrote a few postcards and got a text from Z who was in the town centre, so I walked in and met him. The Japanese restaurant was shut so we ended up looking for a cafe and stumbled upon an asian food shop - udon and soba and miso and even rice cookers! I am so tempted to buy one. They do the best rice, and it's only 45 Euro for a cheap one... also fell in love with a large bowl, and they have very sweet bowls and plates with cherry blossoms on a pale blue background. Must remember I'm not here forever.
We had coffee and cheesecake at a cafe just off Zeil, which was a bit expensive but not too bad. It turned out to be a cafe of a bakery chain, but good nonetheless. I had a plain baked cheesecake with slivered almonds and bits of fruit on top, and Z had one with mandarin segments, which I see a lot. We decided we both had food to use up at home, and swung by the English Shop on the way back (overpriced Maltesers, etc.) but it was closed in true German style. Z went food shopping and I headed home.
I have to say the driving and most certainly the cycling in Frankfurt is insane. If you are enraged by unannounced lane-switching or cutting up, please avoid this place at all costs. The cyclists ignore not only lights but oncoming traffic, and do the hip Oxford thing of cycling at night with dark clothing and no lights. And then there's the bike couriers (one of whom stopped me for directions the other day). Nuff said.
So, enjoying the walking, and having the safety net of the U-Bahn when it's raining or I need to be somewhere quickly. It is reminding me how out of shape I am though, as just walking to work now gives me an incredible pain in my shins. I think I've forgotten how to walk properly... might invest in some heavy-duty shoes when I'm back at Easter. I have walking shoes, but I think they're for people who can already walk...
So, a nice relaxed Saturday, the kind that feels like Sunday. Might head out to the zoo or botanic gardens tomorrow and take the camera.
Found the post office, which was inside a cute stationery shop called "McPaper". I managed to start the conversation in German, but finished it in English as the lady at the till had much better English than my non-existent German. Le sigh. I found yet another Rewe supermarket - they seem to be evenly distributed about every three streets. Also found a health food/chemist where I got some muesli and green tea. They don't seem to do tetra-pak fresh soups here, so I got some tinned ones.
Wrote a few postcards and got a text from Z who was in the town centre, so I walked in and met him. The Japanese restaurant was shut so we ended up looking for a cafe and stumbled upon an asian food shop - udon and soba and miso and even rice cookers! I am so tempted to buy one. They do the best rice, and it's only 45 Euro for a cheap one... also fell in love with a large bowl, and they have very sweet bowls and plates with cherry blossoms on a pale blue background. Must remember I'm not here forever.
We had coffee and cheesecake at a cafe just off Zeil, which was a bit expensive but not too bad. It turned out to be a cafe of a bakery chain, but good nonetheless. I had a plain baked cheesecake with slivered almonds and bits of fruit on top, and Z had one with mandarin segments, which I see a lot. We decided we both had food to use up at home, and swung by the English Shop on the way back (overpriced Maltesers, etc.) but it was closed in true German style. Z went food shopping and I headed home.
I have to say the driving and most certainly the cycling in Frankfurt is insane. If you are enraged by unannounced lane-switching or cutting up, please avoid this place at all costs. The cyclists ignore not only lights but oncoming traffic, and do the hip Oxford thing of cycling at night with dark clothing and no lights. And then there's the bike couriers (one of whom stopped me for directions the other day). Nuff said.
So, enjoying the walking, and having the safety net of the U-Bahn when it's raining or I need to be somewhere quickly. It is reminding me how out of shape I am though, as just walking to work now gives me an incredible pain in my shins. I think I've forgotten how to walk properly... might invest in some heavy-duty shoes when I'm back at Easter. I have walking shoes, but I think they're for people who can already walk...
So, a nice relaxed Saturday, the kind that feels like Sunday. Might head out to the zoo or botanic gardens tomorrow and take the camera.
Thursday, 13 March 2008
Some links
Meandering around the BBC News site and found this article on Chinese manhua and the state. Very interesting.
Also been meaning to link this for my own reference - a discussion of umami, a kind of taste which is unfortunately usually described or translated as 'tasty'. I started looking around for more, and found shibui, another hard to translate one, that had come up at work. There were several more linked from that page, if that kind of thing interests you.
Nearly Friday...
Also been meaning to link this for my own reference - a discussion of umami, a kind of taste which is unfortunately usually described or translated as 'tasty'. I started looking around for more, and found shibui, another hard to translate one, that had come up at work. There were several more linked from that page, if that kind of thing interests you.
Nearly Friday...
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
Almost not
Almost didn't get my washing back yesterday - G locked herself out, and although she was let back in by the landlady, she was going out again for an event leaving me with not enough time to get there by the time I'd finished up at work. Luckily Z was kind enough to bring my washing back with his, so I don't need to do any emergency shopping...
I may be in Cologne at the end of the month, just waiting to hear back from some friends.
Not sure I'm sleeping well, and I'm incredibly stiff. Probably the bed, but possibly the fact they have quite good free coffee at work... and quite strong too.
Anyway, worked a bit late last night so looking forward to getting out a bit early on Friday, assuming that happens! We got the big storm blowing itself out yesterday so hopefully we'll get some brighter weather for the weekend.
Hmm. Boat trip? Zoo? Botanical gardens? So much to see!
I may be in Cologne at the end of the month, just waiting to hear back from some friends.
Not sure I'm sleeping well, and I'm incredibly stiff. Probably the bed, but possibly the fact they have quite good free coffee at work... and quite strong too.
Anyway, worked a bit late last night so looking forward to getting out a bit early on Friday, assuming that happens! We got the big storm blowing itself out yesterday so hopefully we'll get some brighter weather for the weekend.
Hmm. Boat trip? Zoo? Botanical gardens? So much to see!
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Yum
Well, today was another full day. Was at the bank at 9am again as I needed my IBAN number. Asked for it in German and there was enough of a pause that I thought someone was going to have to intervene, and then the cashier smiled and said "Ah, ee-bahn!" Just pronounced differently. I also paid some cash in, as they hadn't asked me for any when I opened the account, there are monthly charges on it and I'm not sure when they will arrive relative to my first invoice being paid.
After a full morning, I had to run back to the flat at lunchtime, as I'd forgotten my e-ticket from my flight to attach to said invoice...
After work, myself and Z went to G's flat to use her washing machine, as ours won't be installed (in the basement of the building) until next week. We put it on and headed out to purchase a DS for her (and the cutest DS-holder bag... hideously expensive but very sweet). I treated myself to a game as well.
Then we went to an Italian restaurant on the way back, and it was one of those wonderful moments when you realise you've just found a new regular place. The staff were lovely, the food was fantastic and it was all very relaxed. And cheap - main course, (soft) drink, desserts all round and two coffees came to 38 Euro.
When we got back to G's, we found that the washing machine hadn't started... so it's probably finishing about now and I need to go back there tomorrow to pick it all up. In the meantime, I'm hoarding my 50-cent pieces as I'll need them when our machines are in in the basement - which we haven't managed to find yet.
The only frustration was I wasn't able to top up my phone at the supermarket. But that may be not completely the fault of my lack of German... having never owned a pay as you go before, I'm not sure how you top them up at a till anyway. You can't scan the phone like you do your milk and bread rolls. I feel I'm missing something...
After a full morning, I had to run back to the flat at lunchtime, as I'd forgotten my e-ticket from my flight to attach to said invoice...
After work, myself and Z went to G's flat to use her washing machine, as ours won't be installed (in the basement of the building) until next week. We put it on and headed out to purchase a DS for her (and the cutest DS-holder bag... hideously expensive but very sweet). I treated myself to a game as well.
Then we went to an Italian restaurant on the way back, and it was one of those wonderful moments when you realise you've just found a new regular place. The staff were lovely, the food was fantastic and it was all very relaxed. And cheap - main course, (soft) drink, desserts all round and two coffees came to 38 Euro.
When we got back to G's, we found that the washing machine hadn't started... so it's probably finishing about now and I need to go back there tomorrow to pick it all up. In the meantime, I'm hoarding my 50-cent pieces as I'll need them when our machines are in in the basement - which we haven't managed to find yet.
The only frustration was I wasn't able to top up my phone at the supermarket. But that may be not completely the fault of my lack of German... having never owned a pay as you go before, I'm not sure how you top them up at a till anyway. You can't scan the phone like you do your milk and bread rolls. I feel I'm missing something...
Monday, 10 March 2008
Keeping it in the family
I am now a Deutsche Bank customer! Undeterred by G's experience of being turned away because she didn't have an appointment, I turned up as they opened, armed only with some phrases hastily translated on the internet, and despite not having an appointment I was seen shortly by a very nice lady whose English was naturally vastly superior to my German. Fifteen minutes later I was armed with my account details.
I'm getting really annoyed about my lack of German. Must a) study and b) get a more comprehensive language course. I feel like one of those people who annoyed me in Japan, who rely on being a dippy foreigner to get by (and I'm not the only person in the office who feels that way).
Tomorrow, I need to go back - first to get my IBAN number which I need for my invoice, and also to actually put some money in the account as there is a monthly charge and they didn't ask me to put any money in to open it. I also need to top up my phone as a rash of texting over the weekend trying to get everyone to the museums has used up the initial 5 Euro.
Had a lovely Japanese meal today - went with G to a place beside some massive roadworks near Eschenheimer Tor, or the Disney Tower as I like to call it. (See it here.) She had katsu-don and I had tempura-don with mushroom miso soup. Yum yum yum. And we didn't have to worry about our German, as we could order in Japanese. Bliss.
Then it was back to the Irish pub and far more silliness - they really are a great bunch of people. My face hurts from laughing.
I'm getting really annoyed about my lack of German. Must a) study and b) get a more comprehensive language course. I feel like one of those people who annoyed me in Japan, who rely on being a dippy foreigner to get by (and I'm not the only person in the office who feels that way).
Tomorrow, I need to go back - first to get my IBAN number which I need for my invoice, and also to actually put some money in the account as there is a monthly charge and they didn't ask me to put any money in to open it. I also need to top up my phone as a rash of texting over the weekend trying to get everyone to the museums has used up the initial 5 Euro.
Had a lovely Japanese meal today - went with G to a place beside some massive roadworks near Eschenheimer Tor, or the Disney Tower as I like to call it. (See it here.) She had katsu-don and I had tempura-don with mushroom miso soup. Yum yum yum. And we didn't have to worry about our German, as we could order in Japanese. Bliss.
Then it was back to the Irish pub and far more silliness - they really are a great bunch of people. My face hurts from laughing.
Sunday, 9 March 2008
Hello Frankfurt
Went out again today, this time with the camera and memory stick! Walked into town, and it's really not far at all. Went through the main shopping street, past some of the historic churches, through a huge plaza with lovely buildings, then over the river to where the museums are clustered.
The anime/manga exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts was a disappointment - there were some old manga, from as early as the late 19th century, but there seemed to be no attempt to draw any continuity between them and the woodblock prints that were also on show. Fairly random cases full of Hello Kitty products, anime models, Nintendo DS games (playable) and a corner full of original and translated manga made it feel like it was thrown together to cater to a fad. The bit I was most looking forward to, what I thought was comment by current fine artists on manga (and particularly the way it's interpreted as being descended from woodblock prints) turned out to be nothing of the sort - there was one room off to the side with pictures "reinterpreting" or vandalising famous prints and cartoony figures that were meant to be some kind of subversive "threatening cute". I really didn't think much of it. The installation (large white tent with random things including faces of anime characters painted on the inside) and video projection (Japanese actor pretending to be a drunk Bin Laden hiding out in Japan) were even more disappointing.
Z accidentally went to the Film Museum, which also had a partner exhibit - after the Museum of Applied Arts G and I decided we didn't want to see any more. The Film exhibit didn't sound too bad though, I might go another time. But overall not very exciting.
We wandered around and ended up in a kebab shop again, they seem to be the staple places open late - and crucially open on Sundays when absolutely everything is closed.
Did get some photos of the area around the flat and the middle of town, although I'm sure there's more to see. Will get them up soon.
The anime/manga exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts was a disappointment - there were some old manga, from as early as the late 19th century, but there seemed to be no attempt to draw any continuity between them and the woodblock prints that were also on show. Fairly random cases full of Hello Kitty products, anime models, Nintendo DS games (playable) and a corner full of original and translated manga made it feel like it was thrown together to cater to a fad. The bit I was most looking forward to, what I thought was comment by current fine artists on manga (and particularly the way it's interpreted as being descended from woodblock prints) turned out to be nothing of the sort - there was one room off to the side with pictures "reinterpreting" or vandalising famous prints and cartoony figures that were meant to be some kind of subversive "threatening cute". I really didn't think much of it. The installation (large white tent with random things including faces of anime characters painted on the inside) and video projection (Japanese actor pretending to be a drunk Bin Laden hiding out in Japan) were even more disappointing.
Z accidentally went to the Film Museum, which also had a partner exhibit - after the Museum of Applied Arts G and I decided we didn't want to see any more. The Film exhibit didn't sound too bad though, I might go another time. But overall not very exciting.
We wandered around and ended up in a kebab shop again, they seem to be the staple places open late - and crucially open on Sundays when absolutely everything is closed.
Did get some photos of the area around the flat and the middle of town, although I'm sure there's more to see. Will get them up soon.
Saturday, 8 March 2008
Doh
Went out to get a German phone with Gemma and Zak - very painless and cheap process, 15 Euro for a Nokia 1600 with 5 Euro credit.
I brought the camera! But not, unfortunately, the memory stick. So, only about 2 photos of Frankfurt. Shall try again tomorrow...
About to head out to Gemma's again for an evening of TV and silliness. There is a very high silliness quotient here. The discussions at the pub (before I got so tired I went home around 9) were positively hysterical. Smarties with milk as breakfast cereal. The pub serves snakebites, which certainly helps the lowering of inhibitions...
I brought the camera! But not, unfortunately, the memory stick. So, only about 2 photos of Frankfurt. Shall try again tomorrow...
About to head out to Gemma's again for an evening of TV and silliness. There is a very high silliness quotient here. The discussions at the pub (before I got so tired I went home around 9) were positively hysterical. Smarties with milk as breakfast cereal. The pub serves snakebites, which certainly helps the lowering of inhibitions...
Thursday, 6 March 2008
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to bed I go
Need to be up early tomorrow to get down to the town hall and register my presence. Everyone needs to do it, even the locals. I just hope I've got the right information, because if I don't I'm missing paperwork.
And is it just me, or is there no semi-skimmed milk in Germany?
Hopefully will be out for a social with the team tomorrow night, then some shopping and sightseeing on Saturday and museums on Sunday.
But definitely need sleep - I think I haven't been sleeping that well, if my desperate struggle to stay awake after lunch is anything to go by.
And is it just me, or is there no semi-skimmed milk in Germany?
Hopefully will be out for a social with the team tomorrow night, then some shopping and sightseeing on Saturday and museums on Sunday.
But definitely need sleep - I think I haven't been sleeping that well, if my desperate struggle to stay awake after lunch is anything to go by.
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
More walking around Frankfurt
Frankfurt seems to have a complete overabundance of chemists and hairdressers and a huge number of dry cleaners. Maybe that says something about the area between here and work.
Although I'd say the gay sauna I passed isn't found with such frequency.
Can't be bothered to cook tonight, so having Wasa (Ryvita) with organic Emmenthal and ham.
Frankfurt also seems to have several anime-related exhibitions on, which I will look into this weekend... as well as hopefully going and getting a yoga mat.
Although I'd say the gay sauna I passed isn't found with such frequency.
Can't be bothered to cook tonight, so having Wasa (Ryvita) with organic Emmenthal and ham.
Frankfurt also seems to have several anime-related exhibitions on, which I will look into this weekend... as well as hopefully going and getting a yoga mat.
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Necessary
Honestly, it was the only mug in the supermarket! I need one for work!
Actually started working on something today, which is far better than doing nothing (aka training). I'm editing rather than translating, which is just as fun but in a different way. I enjoy it, which some people don't. Headed out as a team for salad bar and sandwiches in the supermarket at lunchtime. While it's a certain amount of fun to start at 10am, leaving at 6pm is none whatsoever. At the risk of having no-one to walk in with, I'm going to switch to starting at 9am next week.
One thing I do need to do this week is the Anmeldung, or registration of residence. Obligatory even for German citizens and must be done within a week of being in the country if you're not in a hotel. So Zack and I will be at the town hall bright and early (7:30am!) on Friday to try to get that done and back to work before 10am. We still need leases or contracts for the flats to prove we live here though. Haven't figured out if I'm going to get a German bank account or phone yet, let alone how.
But even though all seems to be going swimmingly, I still felt a bit off today, especially going home. But it's the good old stranger in a strange land feeling, which I haven't really had since the early days in Japan (although it did resurface in a fainter form from time to time). Some things are international...
Actually started working on something today, which is far better than doing nothing (aka training). I'm editing rather than translating, which is just as fun but in a different way. I enjoy it, which some people don't. Headed out as a team for salad bar and sandwiches in the supermarket at lunchtime. While it's a certain amount of fun to start at 10am, leaving at 6pm is none whatsoever. At the risk of having no-one to walk in with, I'm going to switch to starting at 9am next week.
One thing I do need to do this week is the Anmeldung, or registration of residence. Obligatory even for German citizens and must be done within a week of being in the country if you're not in a hotel. So Zack and I will be at the town hall bright and early (7:30am!) on Friday to try to get that done and back to work before 10am. We still need leases or contracts for the flats to prove we live here though. Haven't figured out if I'm going to get a German bank account or phone yet, let alone how.
But even though all seems to be going swimmingly, I still felt a bit off today, especially going home. But it's the good old stranger in a strange land feeling, which I haven't really had since the early days in Japan (although it did resurface in a fainter form from time to time). Some things are international...
Windows
Another thing I noticed while wandering around on Sunday night is that almost no-one seems to have or use curtains, and there are some very nice rooms out there. Lots of interesting paint colours and cool lamps and art and chandeliers. I love looking in windows, I admit.
In other news, I seem to have an old-school whistling kettle. Does anyone know how to use it without killing themselves?
In other news, I seem to have an old-school whistling kettle. Does anyone know how to use it without killing themselves?
Monday, 3 March 2008
Wrong Way and other stories
I headed out of the quiet one-way street and headed for the town centre. Frankfurt was remarkably quiet, but I had heard that it pretty much closed down on Sunday evenings. There were the odd couple going to or from some very nice-looking restaurants - evidently the thing to do as they were uniformly packed. I kept on, enjoying the cool evening and pleasant walking - and causing some inconvenience to drivers as I still can't bring myself to trust that anything is going to stop just because I'm on a zebra crossing. (A Porsche stopped for me this morning! A Porsche!!)
It did seem strange that the neighbourhood didn't seem to be getting any busier. Until I arrived at a major cross street and realised I was nearly at the office. I had been walking the wrong way the whole time. I grabbed some warm food and and something for breakfast the next day at a petrol station shop (the only thing I had seen open) and decided that I may as well continue and find the office. I went past a huge number of purveyors of funerary monuments, opposite the walls of what must have been a massive cemetary. Spotted eight rabbits cavorting in a green area outside an office block. Found the office, and navigated my way back to the flat along the route I'd planned out on google maps - down a pair of one-way streets divided by trees, along the side of a park and coming back onto my road just a few doors away from the flat. Took about 25 minutes.
After using brute force to get my trailing socket with converter plug in, I chatted with David for a bit before turning in.
Luckily I was too wired to sleep very much, as although I had set the time on the clock I'd forgotten to actually turn the alarm function on. Walked in - decided to leave the camera at home as it would just make me late - and arrived at the large supermarket beside the office a few minutes after nine, and had a nougat croissant (tasted and looked like chocolate to me) and coffee. The coffee almost didn't happen - the cashier couldn't understand my attempts at German, but the other customers could and happily repeated them, to which I could only offer an embarrassed danke schon.
Headed in and found my recruiter and ended up waiting around chatting to a Spanish tester as we waited to be paired up with our bosses - I finally hooked up with Nick, who is in charge of the into-UK-English team and the other two new starters Zakim and Geraint. We read boring documentation, attempted to find somewhere to sit and tried to log in for most of the day, as is the wont of first days.
We headed out for lunch with Nick and Patrick and Gemma, two more into-UK translators, and got some Chinese food at a cafe in the supermarket. I was heartened when, while I was trying to figure out if the chef had just called my number (44), a policeman at the counter reassured me she had said 65. Can't be bad when the police interpret for you.
Zack and I turned out to be in the same building, so we went shopping for the essentials (washing up liquid and sponges, milk, fresh pasta/noodles) after leaving and hauled it all home on the U-bahn in the company of one of the Japanese producers. First kind-of proper meal cooked in my mini-kitchen!
All in all, a good day - totally unproductive as first days are, but I have an idea of what I will be working on tomorrow (it's ironic is all I will say for now) and have met a lot of fun and friendly people. May try to fly back to the UK for Easter as the office is closed here.
It did seem strange that the neighbourhood didn't seem to be getting any busier. Until I arrived at a major cross street and realised I was nearly at the office. I had been walking the wrong way the whole time. I grabbed some warm food and and something for breakfast the next day at a petrol station shop (the only thing I had seen open) and decided that I may as well continue and find the office. I went past a huge number of purveyors of funerary monuments, opposite the walls of what must have been a massive cemetary. Spotted eight rabbits cavorting in a green area outside an office block. Found the office, and navigated my way back to the flat along the route I'd planned out on google maps - down a pair of one-way streets divided by trees, along the side of a park and coming back onto my road just a few doors away from the flat. Took about 25 minutes.
After using brute force to get my trailing socket with converter plug in, I chatted with David for a bit before turning in.
Luckily I was too wired to sleep very much, as although I had set the time on the clock I'd forgotten to actually turn the alarm function on. Walked in - decided to leave the camera at home as it would just make me late - and arrived at the large supermarket beside the office a few minutes after nine, and had a nougat croissant (tasted and looked like chocolate to me) and coffee. The coffee almost didn't happen - the cashier couldn't understand my attempts at German, but the other customers could and happily repeated them, to which I could only offer an embarrassed danke schon.
Headed in and found my recruiter and ended up waiting around chatting to a Spanish tester as we waited to be paired up with our bosses - I finally hooked up with Nick, who is in charge of the into-UK-English team and the other two new starters Zakim and Geraint. We read boring documentation, attempted to find somewhere to sit and tried to log in for most of the day, as is the wont of first days.
We headed out for lunch with Nick and Patrick and Gemma, two more into-UK translators, and got some Chinese food at a cafe in the supermarket. I was heartened when, while I was trying to figure out if the chef had just called my number (44), a policeman at the counter reassured me she had said 65. Can't be bad when the police interpret for you.
Zack and I turned out to be in the same building, so we went shopping for the essentials (washing up liquid and sponges, milk, fresh pasta/noodles) after leaving and hauled it all home on the U-bahn in the company of one of the Japanese producers. First kind-of proper meal cooked in my mini-kitchen!
All in all, a good day - totally unproductive as first days are, but I have an idea of what I will be working on tomorrow (it's ironic is all I will say for now) and have met a lot of fun and friendly people. May try to fly back to the UK for Easter as the office is closed here.
Sunday, 2 March 2008
Gifted
We all have unique gifts. Mine is going the wrong way. More on that later.
Credit card stopped for reasons that are still unclear, flight delayed by 2 hours (although it got in pretty much on time) and taxi driver had no idea where my street was (luckily I have a map) and got lost in a warren of one-way streets before I told him to let me out at right-angles to the street I wanted. That's three.
After finding out how to sort out the credit card and calling Mom to wish her a happy Mothers Day, we headed out very early to get across the road before the marathon kicked in, and were in time to see the first wheelchair racer. Then got a bus from the Oxford Road, walked around until we figured there was nowhere we could go because the marathon route cut us off from the town centre, and ended up having coffee at the station before I got the coach. Despite my pleas, himself refused to hide in the luggage section under the bus.
I had already checked in online, so just dropped my bag and proceeded to find that all of the cash machines were out of order. Went through security and found a working cash machine in the duty free area, and picked up some boxes of choccies (always handy) and a Nintendo magazine, plus a hot chocolate. Then the gate was announced and I headed down. There was no boarding by seat row number, just get on as soon as they said boarding was open. And it was only once we were all on board that they told us about the 2 hour delay due to high winds in Frankfurt. Off we taxied to a remote corner of Heathrow to wait to take off.
The captain and crew were very pleasant, and in the end despite taking off about an hour late we weren't that late arriving. Baggage reclaim was fast, and I called the landlady to say I had arrived. She estimated 30 minutes or so to the flat by taxi, so I decided to do that rather than take the train. The taxi driver didn't know where my street was - I pointed it out to him on the map - didn't put his seat belt on for the first five minutes - despite his dashboard beeping at him - and really scared me when he put his glasses on another five minutes after that.
After getting into town, going right the way along the one-way street we were going to and not being able to find his way back, I got him to let me off as we were crossing it. The landlady's husband was to meet me there, but hadn't shown after 10 minutes so I called her again. Judging by how quickly the light went on in the hall, I think he was instant messaging with her from my room.
Dragged the case up to the third story on some very narrow windy stairs made of slippery stone. Ow. The flat is small but nicely decorated and has everything a short-term stay needs. Pictures are here. I handed over a fee for the internet connection and decided to head out for some food - more on that later, as I really need to leave now for my first day at work!
Credit card stopped for reasons that are still unclear, flight delayed by 2 hours (although it got in pretty much on time) and taxi driver had no idea where my street was (luckily I have a map) and got lost in a warren of one-way streets before I told him to let me out at right-angles to the street I wanted. That's three.
After finding out how to sort out the credit card and calling Mom to wish her a happy Mothers Day, we headed out very early to get across the road before the marathon kicked in, and were in time to see the first wheelchair racer. Then got a bus from the Oxford Road, walked around until we figured there was nowhere we could go because the marathon route cut us off from the town centre, and ended up having coffee at the station before I got the coach. Despite my pleas, himself refused to hide in the luggage section under the bus.
I had already checked in online, so just dropped my bag and proceeded to find that all of the cash machines were out of order. Went through security and found a working cash machine in the duty free area, and picked up some boxes of choccies (always handy) and a Nintendo magazine, plus a hot chocolate. Then the gate was announced and I headed down. There was no boarding by seat row number, just get on as soon as they said boarding was open. And it was only once we were all on board that they told us about the 2 hour delay due to high winds in Frankfurt. Off we taxied to a remote corner of Heathrow to wait to take off.
The captain and crew were very pleasant, and in the end despite taking off about an hour late we weren't that late arriving. Baggage reclaim was fast, and I called the landlady to say I had arrived. She estimated 30 minutes or so to the flat by taxi, so I decided to do that rather than take the train. The taxi driver didn't know where my street was - I pointed it out to him on the map - didn't put his seat belt on for the first five minutes - despite his dashboard beeping at him - and really scared me when he put his glasses on another five minutes after that.
After getting into town, going right the way along the one-way street we were going to and not being able to find his way back, I got him to let me off as we were crossing it. The landlady's husband was to meet me there, but hadn't shown after 10 minutes so I called her again. Judging by how quickly the light went on in the hall, I think he was instant messaging with her from my room.
Dragged the case up to the third story on some very narrow windy stairs made of slippery stone. Ow. The flat is small but nicely decorated and has everything a short-term stay needs. Pictures are here. I handed over a fee for the internet connection and decided to head out for some food - more on that later, as I really need to leave now for my first day at work!
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