Ok, here's a little collection of photos of Luke and I've taken over the last few weeks. They're all fairly random, but are connected together in the sense that they're all part of the 'cultural experience' that has been the last two months in Germany...First thing's first; public transport in Germany is not as punctual as everyone makes it out to be! I reckon 7 out of the last 10 trains I've taken have been 10 mins
or more late! For example, last night Luke and I got a train from Potsdam to Berlin, which just sat at Potsdam station for 25 mins, without an announcement from Deutsche Bahn telling us passengers what was going on or anything! We got to Berlin half an hour later than we should have...
>> Evidence!
>> more evidence!!
It's possible that we've tried to describe to a few people what the infamous 'red velvet sofa with prince and queen cushions' looks like, but it's the sort of thing you really have to see for yourself. It belongs to Micha, one of our German course teachers. We had our end-of-course party at his place, and the sofa was naturally the centre of attention.
This next photo's from a week or so ago, when we and a few international student friends went bowling. There was 12 of us, and as we are all poor students, we could only afford one lane, so the actual bowling was pretty boring. In the end the most exciting part of the evening was seeing Anders (far left) completely demolish everyone in a few games of kicker... apparently he has a kicker machine thing at home.
>> L-R: Anders (the champ at both bowling and kicker), Martin (a champ), Roberto (you have to roll the R: he comes from Italy), Delia's flatmate, Luke (also a champ), Sabrina (a quietly competitive champ from Italy).
Luke took this photo in the kitchen of his flat. Yes that's right, someone had brought a roadwork blockade home during a (assumedly) big night, complete with a still blinking light. Not something you see everyday...
The next couple of photos are of the Berliner Dom, a place that, if you come to Berlin, you must see. It's fantastic; so intricately decorated, especially on the inside. There are paintings and mosaics everywhere, and a huge gold organ on one wall. I like the contrast between the two photos:
>> Our first trip to Berlin in March
>> On Friday... finally Spring! What a difference!
>> We wished we'd brought sunnies: Katherine and Luke soak up the rays on the lawn in front of the Dom
Walking from the Dom to Alexander Platz on Friday, we went by an Australian Ice Cream shop. Apparently chocolate is an Aboriginal delicacy; there were about 20 different types of chocolate squares, each with a different 'aboriginal art' pattern. The way Australia is portrayed here is so twisted... it's ironic because we could never get away with these sorts of things in Australia. For example, there's an Australian cafe in Potsdamer Platz called Corroboree (according to the menu, corroborees are a celebratory gathering of people, which is still common in Australia today... uh huh). There's also an Australian pub in Potsdam called Kangaroo Island, which we are yet to frequent. We do however have a pamphlet from the pub (free cocktail delivery service!) with a picture of an aboriginal boy holding a boomerang. Uh huh.
>> the politically incorrect chocolate
Finally to last night, when Luke and I met up with my old workmate Gabor, his sister Nadine and his friend Alex. It was great to meet up with Gabor again after about a year and a half, since he moved back to Germany, and it was fun to speak to them in German instead of English!
They took us to an awesome club in East Berlin called Bar 25... it was so typically Berlin; from the outside, it looked like an abandoned construction site, with a high, graffitied corrugated iron fence along the roadside. But you walk up to the right gate and a door guy appears and lets you in. The bar and dancefloor is actually a wooden shack right on the edge of the Spree river; there are swings hanging from trees, where you can swing back and forth over the water. It was fantastic... "total geil!"
>> Luke and Nadine
>> Nadine, me and Gabor
>> Gabor and Luke in Bar 25
Gawd, it's the first of May already, which means we've been here for 2 months now! Where is the time going? Maybe I should go do something productive...
Tchuessi!
Mel
