Train ride home and great music.

Julia and I had to catch our train at 10.17am to get back to Marburg. We woke up at 9am, Peter cam over and brought breakfast, so we sat down and ate bread rolls and drank tea together. We had to get dressed and shove the rest of our things in our bags, then leave.

I took a few photos from the balcony of the flat and then we walked to the train station.

We didn't have to go very far to get the station we had to leave from. We walked to the platform and put down all of our heavy bags. Our train was a little bit delayed, so we had to wait a bit longer. When our train came, we said goodbye to Peter and then got all our bags and got on the train. There were no seats left, so Julia and I walked further through the train and then had to stand for about 20 minutes until people got off.

We finally got seats and relaxed for a bit. Julia slept and I wrote in my travel diary. After about an hour and a half, we got off and ended up at Madgneburg... I think. We got coffee and some food, then walked to our platform and waited.

We got on the train quite quickly and sat down. It was a very small train, only one carriage. We got seats and then more people piled in and we had to moved a bit. A man and his son sat down next to us, once again, laughing at the food that we had on the table beside us. We offered it to them and they declined. We ended up talking a lot and when they found out I was Australian, they were quite surprised. The man spoke English because he lived in American for 14 years, so he spoke mixed Engish and German and I spoke back in German. We spent the whole train trip talking and then ended up worrying about whether we would make or next train because we only have 7 minutes between them.

Both trains ended up being delayed and we made it with a lot of time. We got on the train, which was quite old and sat down together. We all shared food and kept talking a lot. Our train ended up being delayed getting into Kassel. We sat and talked about cars and when we finally got off, we walked with them both to outside because the man wanted to show me this monument in Kassel. It was too foggy to see, but I ended up taking a photo anyway.

Julia and I went back inside and walked to our platform and waited. Our train came soon, but it was completyl full and we had to walk through half of the train to finally find a two seater and pled all of our bags on top on us. The train was really over heated, but the trip was only an hour and the train was delyaed. We got off and carried all of our bags to the car with Julia's mum and Pual waiting for us. We got home at about 6pm and then collapsed inside.

I had a shower and got dressed because I have going out to a concert with Julia's mum, their aunty and a family friend. We had something to eat and then at about 8pm or so, we walked to the train station together and bought tickets, then waited for the train. We were really early, but it wasn't too cold outside. We got on the train and went into Kirchain, which was about 3 stops away.

We got off, walked through the station and into where the shops are. There was a market on that day and everyone was cleaning up the street. There were a lot of drunk people around too, one man is particaular who was crying because the security guards wanted to take his dog off him. We got Glühwein and then walked away from the weird man and t the venue. We waited outside and then finished our drinks. We met one of the other ladies from the village and then ended up walking to a Rockabilly gig down the road.

It was completely packed, we got to hear a few songs by the band. They were good, but we couldn't move. They had a break and we got more drinks. We ended up leaving after a bit to go to the other concert. We finished our drinks and went inside.

We got their just before the main band started to play, Softeis they were called... At first they played two of their own songs, which weren't very good... Then they played all covers and it was a lot better. We got more drinks and danced to the music. They took a few breaks and their was a female singer sometimes too. There was also a bit of an erotic dancer, which was quite scary... Being under 18. I was meant to leave at 12am, I even had a yellow armband to show it, but we were allowed to stay. There were a lot of costume changes between the songs and breaks, It was interesting. The band has been toegther for 27 years and has played a gig on the 30th of December for the last 14.

Closer to the end, there were some younger kids who came out onto the stage and played 2 songs with the bands. They looked abour 14-15 and were really good.

The concert finished at about 1.30am and we left after the encore. We got a lift home with one of the ladies from our village and then came home and basically went to sleep straight away.

Last day in Berlin, made better by Reindeer!

We woke up an hour later than we planned and rushed to get ready. We left and caught the train into Alexander Platz and it took a while to get there. We got out and ended up walking quite a bit to get to the shopping centre that we wanted to go to. We walked past a lot of people selling animal skins hats... It wasn't so pleasant.

We walked around the shopping centre and looked in the shops. We ate there too and then walked around some more. It was a really big place and there were a lot of people there because there are the after Christmas sales.

We probably left at about 1 or 2pm and walked back to the train station. We had to get to the Hauptbahnhof and the U Bahn doesn't go there, so we ended up walking in circles and going to the S Bahn. We ended up catching the train to the Hauptbahnhof and then walked outside to try and find the Hamburger Bahnhof, which is an old train station turned into an exhibition space. They had a really interesting exhibtion on with Reindeers... Live Reindeers. It had something to do with the urine after the Reindeers had eaten those red and white mushrooms... If you drank the urine, it would make you live forever. There is also a bed in the middle of all of the Reindeers and you can pay 1000€ to sleep there for the night.

We finished looking at all of the animals and walked through this big exhibtion space filled with modern art. A lot of it was very simple and I'm not sure if I really liked it. It was interesting though and a lot of it was really funny. We finished in the giant hallway. Walking back to the main area was interesting because you can really tell that it used to be a train station.

There were a few more rooms to go to before we were finished. I bought some postcards at the end and then we left and headed back in the direction og the Hauptbahnhof. We got there, bought something to eat and then headed to back to the S Bahn and caught it to Alexander Platz and then had to take the U Bahn to the main shopping area.

We were walking down the stairs and the most hilarious thing EVER happened... A guy, about 18-20 came up to Julia and said, 'I know this is a little bit strange, but I just wanted to say that I find you really attractive...' This went on for a bit and they had a little conversation, all while I was quietly dying of laughter at the bottom of the stairs.

Julia and I caught the train there and then walked a bit more around the shops. We called Peter and planned to meet at home at 7pm. Julia bought 2 pairs of shoes and then we went to the supermarket and loaded up with food for the train trip back to Marburg.

We caught the train back to the flat and walked there. Only Peter was home and we sat down together. We were all a little bit hungry and Peter suggested that we get pizza, so Julia and I walked down the street to the restuarant with our little map. We ordered our pizza and talked the the man in the shop until it was finished. We walked back home and then sat down with Peter and ate.

We were waiting for Ursula to come over and she finally got there, we all sat down and planned what we were going to do that night. We had been meaning to go to Kreuzberg, so we went there. Linus came home before we left with a new records and Peter, Ursula, Julia and I left the flat and caught the train to Kreuzberg. We had to change train to get there and it look a little while. You could see the different sorts of people on the train to Kreuzberg. The area is what you would call a little bit dodgy, but it's so nice, a lot like Fitzroy or Northcote. We went to one of Ursula's favourite places and sat there, talking and drinking.

After an hour or so, we left and walked around the streets. We saw two ginat graffiti pieces by the artist Blub Blu. (Photos are off the internet, it was too dark for my flash to work.)
The pieces were both huge and on the side of buildings.

We walked around some more and looked at the river that ran through the city. It was really dark, so photos didn't turn out so well.

We took the train home, once again changing trains and then walked back to the flat. We sat down toegther and then Peter and Ursula left to go home after a while. Linus put on his new Arcade Fuire record, which I approve of and we listened to that while reading magazines. I put on our music and after an hour or so, we all started to get ready for bed. Juli and I packed our bags to go home and they were looking pretty full.

Lack of sleep... Ouch.

Julia and I woke up at about 9.30am and started getting ready to go out for the day. Julia and I had a quick breakfast and then left to go into the middle of the city. We walked out of the apartment building and tried to find the train station... Linus was apparentally watching us struggle to find where to go from the balcony. We asked a deliver man where it was, only to see that he was also holding a map, looking confused. We walked further and asked another lady. It was basically right infornt of us, only hard to find because there was construction and no sign up anymore.

We only had to catch the U Bahn two stops to get to what is sort of the main shopping area. First place we went to was KaDeWe, which is now the 2nd largest department store in Europe. We walked around and it was nicely decorated for Christmas. I bought a pair of jeans, which are way cheaper in Germany than in Australia. We eventually left and walked down the street looking in all of the stores.

We walked around, bought some things and then went past Potsdamer Platz and through the Europa centre. They still have the Christmas market open too.

At about 4-4.30pm, Julia and I went back to the train station and caught the train to another area of Berlin. It took a while to get there. There were a lot of little shops along the way nd it was really nice there. I guess it was a little bit like Fitzroy in Melbourne. There was a little secondhand shop and a lot of nice graffiti along the way. We walked quite far and then stopped off in a cafe sort of place and got bread and a drink each. We walked down the whole street with our little map with drawn lines on it. Eventually. we got to the train station we were meant to be at and caught the train to another area close by.

We walked down the street there and eventually stopped off to get a small bit of pizza to eat. We kept walking and we were a little bit late to meet Peter and Ursula. Julia and I ran down the street, linking arms, trying to hurry and get there. We were soon there and the exhibition was in a really nice old building. It was an exhibtion by Peter Lindbergh, who is a fashion photographer. (http://www.peterlindbergh.com/) The C/O gallery in Berlin is completely dedicated to photography and the space is really nice inside. Nearly all of the shotography was black and white. There was also a little part of the exhibition by another artist, Fred Herzog. (http://fredherzog.com/)

We left at closing time, 8pm and then walked across the street to a Thai restuarant and ate there. We spent a while there, sitting and talking. Then we left and walked further down the street to this wonderful building called, Tacheles. (http://super.tacheles.de/cms/)
It used to be the entrance to an old shopping centre in about 1907 and later on was taking over by artists and is now used as a place for performances and exhbitions. We walked through the builind and up masses of stairs. The place was a little bit dodgy, with some funny people walking around, but it was really interesting. They have a nice beer garden outside, but in winter is isn't used as that. The building is most likely going to be pulled down in a year to make room from another shopping centre... There is a big protest against it. It was really nice getting to see such an interesting place in Berlin.

We walked further down the street and past a lot of interesting places. We eventually got to the train station and caught two trains make to the flat.

We got home and relaced, putting away our... Or my masses of shopping bags. We sat with Peter and Ursula and planned what we were doing for the next day and how to get there. They left after a while and I put on some music and Julia and I showered. After an hour or so, Linus came home with a friend who I think leaves in the same building. We all sat and talked for ages, then it turns out to be 3am and then later and later... Julia tried to sleep for a bit, but we all just ended up waking her.

It finally got to nearly 7am and we were all tired. Julia was craving McDonalds, so we all got ready and walked down the street to the train station. We got on the train and went two stops then got off. McDonalds was only serving breakfast, so we walked over the road to Burger King... They didn't open until 8am. We suffered and ate the food there and read magazines.

A bit later, we left and caught the train back to the flat. It was basically light then and we all sat infront of the TV and watched How I met your Mother. Julia and I were both sooo tired and we went to lie in bed and then ended up falling asleep for 2 hours or so.

First (half) day in Berlin!

Today was the day Juli and I headed to Berlin. We had to wake up at about 8am, having packed all of our bags. We took our bags... All 5 of them and drove into Cölbe to the butcher and then to Marburg. We went to Edeka to get food for our 7 hours train trip. We bought coke, baby bell cheese, bread rolls, lollies, chips, chocolate and little sausage things...

We drove to the train station and carried all of our bags to the platform. Luckily, our train wasn't delayed. It came at 10.21am exactly and we said goodbye and got on it. We got a 4 seater straight away and sat around all of our bags. We started getting our food out and putting it on the table. It actually looked ridiculous, we were surrounded by food and people seemed to think it was entertaining.

Our first stop was Kassel, so we got off and had to walk to the main station then got more to drink for Julia and walked to our platform. We sat for only a little bit and then our train came. It was an old one, but it wasn't very full. We got a 4 seater with another man and he thought the amount of food we had was hilarous. I also finished my book on that train trip... :(

The next change over was at Sangerhausen... No one knows what is actually in that little city. We had to wait out in the cold for a little while until our train came. Finally it came and it was tiny with only one 'large' carriage. We all squeezed in and every seat was full, only a few people had to stand. There was graffiti covering all of the windows, so we couldn't see out of them. That train ride was about 1.5 hours, then we had to change again.

We got off at Madgneburg... Something like that. We had to walk to another platform and there were a lot of people waiting for the train. We stood there for ages in the cold. Finally our train came and Julia and I rushed to get seats. We found a 4 seater and were very happy. We filled it up with all of our bags. Then 2 strange ladies came over and wanted to sit, so we moved everything and they sat down. They were speaking half English and half German... It was a very strange conversation. That train trip was about 2 hours and it was very cramped. We got off at the Hauptbahnhof in Berlin and met with Julia's mother's uncle, Peter.

To get back to the flat we were staying in, we had to catch the S Bahn, then the U Bahn... Berlin's train system is a bit weird, but I think I understand it now. We walked through the snow and to the flat. It was basically right in the middle of Berlin and close to everything. We went inside and unpacked everything, then sat down with Peter and planned things we could go for our time here. Soon after, Peter's son, Linus came home. We were staying in the flat with Linus while we were there and Peter was staying with his partner. We sat around and I looked through their music collection, which was really good. I got to choose what to put on too.

Peter's partner, Ursula came over and after a while we all walked a bit down the road and went to dinner at this Route 66 restuarant, whcih is set up like an old American diner. We all ate and then walked home. We sat around in the lounge room and planned what we were going to do the next day and how to actually get there with public transport... We listened to music and then talked about art. Both Peter and Ursula are artists, so it was really interesting.

I looked through a book with art by Pierre Soulages, who paints mostly with black. Then they had an Annie Leb. book about American music and that was also interesting. Peter and Ursula left, then Julia and I got ready for bed because we were both a bit tired. We slept quite early, which is strange for me, so I didn't sleep that well and kept waking.

Average Day.

I don't have much to write about today.

I woke up at 10am, came downstairs and ate cereal like normal. Hannah was at church and Julia was out doing something. I went back upstairs and rested for a while because my back was really sore from the night before.

We all ate lunch later and had salmon and spinach wrapped in pastry with potatoes. It was really good. Paul and Julia's mum were going to the theatre, so they left and the rest of the day I spent around the house, knitting, writing and so on. Hannah, Julia and I watched Happy Feet because it was on TV and then most of Mama Mia for the 3rd time... Julia's mum and Paul came home as Mama Mia finished.

Later on in the evening, we ate dinner. Julia's dad was out working and Julia was horse riding. We had bread with cheese, meat, lovies, avocado, whatever really. I drank a nice cup of tea with Julia's mum and then sat on the couch. When everyone was ready, we played a few games of UNO. Paul went to bed and it was nice and peaceful.

Tomorrow Julia and I are taking the train to Berlin. It is going to take 7 hours and we have to change trains a few times, but it should be good.

Christmas day!

It was a lazy day to start with. I woke up around 10am and came downstairs. Our neighbour, Heinz who is a little bit crazy with here for coffee and to exchange presents. He stayed for a while and talked to us. After an hour or so, Julia's Oma came over for lunch. Heinz left and then we exchanged gifts. I gave a handmade glass Christmas decoration and she gave me a print of a painting I said I liked when I was at her house. She also gave me a lovely bracelet.

We all got dressed... And then set the table for our Chrustmas lunch. When everything was ready, Julia's dad cut the ducks up using garden clippers... I thought it was hilarous, so I took a photo. We set the table and put everything out. We ate soup first... I'm really not sure what it was, perhaps chicken? I know it had little alphabet noodles in it though. Then we ate salad with salmon, prawns and cocktail sauce. Then came the duck! We ate it with red sauer kraut, the apple and chestnut stuffing from the duck and these German noodles things...

We sat around and talked for a while, basically to avoid going out into the cold walking. After a while, we all got up and went outside. We walked through the village and then down a track near the railway line. Miak found a log which later broke in half. It was nice because the sun was shining down.

We came home and sat around the table for ages. We talked, drank coffee and ate biscuits. We talked about the trip to Berlin that Julia and I are going on. The coffee machine also broke down, so Julia's parents got out the old one and got it working. Julia's Oma was still here, but a family friend came over to exchnage presents. She sat and drinking coffee for a little while. Everyone left after a bit and we went into the lounge to sit and relax. I got into my pyjamas and then Julia told me at 9pm we were going sledding. The family was wathcing Ice Age 3 together when we left. We walking down the street and met some of the other girls. It was -10 degrees when we left the house. We walked near all the paddocks at the back of the village and near the track line, then found a perfect hill. After going up and down it a few times, smashing into bushes and so on, we walking up further to near a play ground. We went down with giant mountian of snow that was in the middle of it and then walked to another place. It was sort of like a really hilly street at the end of the village. It has a lot of corners in it. We went down it a few times and then had to walk the whole way up again. At about 11pm, we all headed home. Julia and I sledded down the streets home and then finally gave up because it was too slow.

We came home and took off all of our snow clothes, which were really quite attractive. I got to use my hot water bottle for the first time and took it to bed with me. :)