Saturday, July 24, 2010

Lazy days in the Sun

After all my travels around Germany I was happy to unpack my suitcase for a while and really looking forward to spending my days in the sun, going out with friends and working on my tan. But I ended up getting a silly cold, so I spent my days at home. Sitting in the shade or on the sofa, jumping into the pool for a quick refreshment and playing with my mom's little kitty called... wanna guess??? Nimo! Ha :)
I'm feeling much better by now, finally got my normal voice back and just finished packing - again! This time I'm heading north. Really far north. Destination Bodø, Norway (where Mikki was born).
Hope you're all having a wonderful summer, xx
Detail at my boyfriend's place.
The new family member: Nimo, the crazy little cat.
hmmm... cold melon with jamón serrano (cured ham)...



Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Berlin, baby!

Well hello again. Here's the promised picture section on Berlin, where I was from monday to wednesday last week. I went to meet up with my long time friend Viola. We had such a great time: talking to the wee hours of the morning, exploring her friend's neighborhood "Kreuzberg", eating ice cream and sweating like crazy (it was extremely hot, let me tell 'ya). But we also managed to sneak in an amazing trip to a Frida Kahlo exhibit. I should say "the" instead of "a". Wow, what a breathtaking adventure. Totally worth standing in line for about an hour. Once we had seen all the paintings, photographs, sketches, clothes, etc we were both deeply moved and completely exhausted! We topped off our stay in the capital with a small improvised class reunion: four former classmates reunited in Berlin ten years after graduating!
Here are my impressions of Berlin

Imagine my joy, when the on flight snack turned out to be my all time favorite on my summer trips as a kid. The Austrian "Manner Schnitten". Hmmmm.... sooo good ;)
The pretty view just before landing: Berlin is surrounded by lakes!
The modern train station
When it's almost 40C in a german city (read: no a.c.), people have to head out: either sitting in the local beer garden, or seeking the shade of the trees in a park.
I was absolutely baffled by this daring (crazy, if you ask me) girl! She opted for relaxing on the top of the building, look at the first picture to see how high up she wasYeay, we made it to the Frida Kahlo Retrospective!!!!
Bikes. Everywhere.
"Corpus for all Delicti" a very creative way of saying that you can throw all kinds of trash in this trashcan ;)
One of the old border posts.
Artificial beach.
Nighttime refreshments :)
















Sunday, July 18, 2010

Munich in Pics

After spending a few days with my dad in Düsseldorf, getting over the slight culture shock and acclimatizing to the heat wave, it was time to move on to Munich. There, I spent a long weekend with one of my dearest friends and helped her move to a new apartment. I had a great time, even though we we're moving stuff from a 5th (american 6th!) floor with no elevator (I was so thankful that she was moving out of there, at least that way we only had to carry stuff down, not up!). We managed to sneak in some jewelry shop scouting, refreshing drinks, watching some soccer games and a whole day at a local lake!
I really liked the jewelry shop Patrik Muff. The jewelry is quite pricey, but the whole store and their catalogs have an crazy cool vibe. I wish I could just take all their props and use them forNIMO.Click here to get a glimpse of the shop.
This is where I had some of my german breakfasts :) First at my friend's mom's place, then at in the Glockenbach district.

My friend Laura taking possession of her new apartment.
The "pay" for the friends who helped her moveDetails of the super cute Schneewittchen Café (Snow-white) in her block.
New neighbors. View onto the street from her new french balcony.
The living room, before filling it up with boxes and furniture.
Orchids on the windowsill.
"Special" Tablenumbers. Don't you love little details that remind you of special dates, birthdays of special people, etc? I do.
Ginourmous "Bretzel"
The neighborhood at night. Munich
On Sunday we spent the day at one of the lakes in Munich's surroundings: the Ammersee. It was a perfect day for relaxing in the sun, going for a swim and a stroll along the lake. Monday I packed my things and left for Berlin, so make sure to come back to see the pictures of Germany's capital some time next week, xx