Weekend in Amsterdam

Had a chance to go to Amsterdam this weekend for a conference and in between some time to meet up with friends. I am amazed at how friendly people in the Netherlands are.. or maybe I am just a tourist and I just think so.

Luckily we could  stay at a friend's house in Utrecht, not really far from Amsterdam about 25 minutes with an Intercity train.

The conference was really inspiring and really motivating .. however also very frustrating at some point. In one of the lectures it was about the advantages of Montessori schools versus classical schooling. My colleague told the lecturer that she is very aware of the advantages of Montessori teaching but she just could not afford to send her son to a Montessori school because at least it remains to be an elitist school.The lecturer did not know what to say and just said I don't know...The lecturer was a representative to United Nations even... hmmm..

So much fun with C, D and S.. prost!

The one in the middle is my colleague S. and the other one is my friend C. who was  so nice to accomodate us at her lovely place in Utrecht

And here's another dear friend O. who I have not seen the last 5 years???! Goodness to think we are just about 400 kilometers away..hope to see him sooner next time .. count down starts now...

Munich Part 2

One of the things I love about Munich was shopping and browsing through the little shops around town. The V. found us  a really charming hotel, centrally located and very quiet nevertheless. The name of the hotel is Das Hotel, in case you find yourselves in Munich - just 10 minutes walking distance to Marienplatz or 5 minutes away from the train station.

The room is so big and spacious - It is much bigger than  the first floor of my house (ok I have a small house). The hotel also offers whole day tea and cake- just help yourself. You can bring it in your room or enjoy it in the tea room which is so quaint and sweet. Lots of very good tea selection.

Just a few meters from the hotel, I found this really interesting shop - Apartment Shop Around the World - this is literally shopping around the world. You can imagine a small shop with so many colourful things from all over the world in it!  It took me a lot of ohs and aahhs.. if you are visiting Munich and don't really have to check all the great museums this is a must place to see!

Just click on the pictures to have a more detailed look into the stuff you see.

All those little corners and those little things -. they all have a story to tell and just waiting to be discovered.

Best of all - service is super friendly. The owner was just chatting with the customers - giving them all the time they want to touch everything! Of course we also had a little chat.. wish we have such a shop like this in Frankfurt.

 

Till next visit----
It seems I just sort of landed in all these nice places without really planning. I wanted to see one of the places in my travel guide when I saw this shop

Spices galore!!! Anything imaginable from all parts of the world.

The good thing about it is you could just take as much as you like as long as it is a minimum of 20 grams. I've cooked some of the spices there this week and they were oh so yummy! Will definitely check this out again - they also have a corner for sweet mixes (drinks, coffee flavouring etc. ) but did not even go to the sweet corner.. so tempting already this part of the shop.

This is the curry corner .. so difficult to choose which to get

Click on this picture to see what different kinds of curry you could find - you have the erotic curry, the sex curry and in between the maharaja wedding curry (",)

This is the salt corner . didn't know salt has so many colours from bright bright red to pink- gray - white and even black!

Of course there were various oils, jams and whatever your heart desires! I could have taken more pictures but the kind saleslady told me not to take so much - I really don't know why because what is the difference between 3 and 10 pictures? Nevertheless she was still friendly so I was happy with what I have. This is definitely a place to go in Munich as well - don't miss it. Beside the spice shop is the chocolate shop! I did not visit that one but judging from this one I think that is also one place to go, Schuhbeck's Spice Store very near Marienplatz (there are actually 2 of them but the bigger one a few blocks  from Marienplatz)

After Exam Anxiety and London

It's been almost a week since I came back from my exam - last week during this time I was writing the answers to those nerve wracking questions - my goodness! They were quite difficult and I did not have enough time to organize my thoughts - at the moment I am actually praying for some sort of miracle to pass the exams. The first was ok - there were still things I have forgotten to write but at least I knew what to write. The second was totally confusing and much more difficult. But oh well - let me throw that worry away. I have prayed and asked all my friends to pray for me as well in the meantime I would be sitting here, waiting for the results till end of September.

The good thing about the exam was - after it I had a chance to spend some time with my friend and finally see a bit of London - at least the main tourist attractions. I did not go to any museums, church, palace as I only have an afternoon. I did have some typical English lunch, afternoon tea and Indian curry ;O)

Here are some pictures my dear friend took. She has a super camera so I just let her do the picture taking.Behind us the famous millenium wheel - did you know this was supposed to be only for the year 2000 (that's why millenium) but it was such a big tourist hit that the city decided to keep it :) you can have a great view on top but I did not dare this time. Maybe next time? London is so near I hope to go back again (but no exams please!).

The Big Ben, our dear friend and former Pastor gave us a tour of London. He lives there now. It was nice to go around the city with a local - who needs a Lonely Planet guide book?

My friend and I on the millenium bridge, behind us St. Paul's Cathedral.

And of course the Buckingham Palace -

It was really a quick tour but we all had so much fun. The sun was also shining - unbelievable because it has been raining the whole time I was there.

Revisiting Bulgaria

Just want to post some pictures from Bulgaria on our last trip 2007 - I am looking forward to going again this mid July and hopefully to see some new places and old familiar faces.

A traditional home which is now turned into a museum

The friendly watermelon man who gave me a free watermelon :)

One of the villages we visited

Homemade jams anyone?

May came and went

It was a very busy month -  I found myself not blogging as always about my whereabouts. I hope my blogger friends, family and friends from all over who frequent this blog have not abandoned me- yet :) I am still here - just getting a bit lazy and neglecting my blog sometimes.

So with the month of May coming and going and me failing to document some of it- I could let you know about some of  our future plans and escapades for the months or weeks ahead.

The V. will have his birthday the coming weekend :) we have not actually made plans yet but would probably enjoy a nice day - hopefully the weather will turn out well. Lately the weather here in Germnay is so unpredictable.. rain and shine and that means literally!

Work will be over this month of June - hurra  for me! But then it would not be spent  lazing out in the sun - I will have my big  written exam for my ongoing Montessori Diploma which means I need to go back to London to do a 2 day exam. Suddenly the city of London only brings me stress. Then back to work again mid August.

However in the mid of my exam preparation The V. and I will go to Bulgaria to celebrate his mom's 70th birthday -  we would be staying there for a week so we are looking forward to that!

Good news indeed - my boss finally gave me a pay increase, it's not really much, it's 10% increase of what I am earning at the moment (which is really, really peanuts) but still it is an increase and like The V. said I should just be thankful. According to my boss - the rest will just get 3% but with their 3% and my 10 - they still have more.. hahaha.. oh well! She did gave me a special bonus last time and still pays half of my tuition.

The V. is doing well with his new job, he is happy with it and so far he is not so much on business trips like in his previous, previous work.

So far those are the things that would keep us busy. I still have a lot of work to do before school year ends - and I hope to finish them all in time.

Nuremberg Christmas Market

One of Germany's most famous tradition during Christmas is the Christmas Market  also known as Weihnachtsmarkt. In most villages and city there is always a Weihnachtsmarkt that starts on the weekend of the first Advent Sunday and lasts till the 4th Advent Sunday. A visit to the Christmas Market includes a bit of shopping, eating and of course drinking mulled wine also known as Glühwein , red wine with spices such as cinnamon, vanilla, cardomon, cloves served warm, just perfect for the chilly December evenings. If you don't like Glühwein you could also get some warm juice (apple, grape or orange)  with salmost the same spices in it.  This year, The V. and I were able to see the famous Nürnberger Weihnachtsmarkt. It is one of the most talked about Christmas Market in Germany. I really didn't know what's more special in it than the ones I have seen in Frankfurt or the nearby towns here. And yes, I must admit, it did look special. The vendors were much more friendlier than the usual ones and there were lots of things to see plus the Christmas cakes and cookies were so good. I don't know how many kinds of Christmas cookies Nürnberg alone has but they do definitely have a lot!

And here's a shop selling different kinds of ceramic houses and buildings which is modelled after traditional German timber houses. The houses do look like this in real life in a lot of places here in Germany. We even almost bought such a house like this but due to our 2 left hands we decided not to :O) such houses need creative hands and spirits.

And just a shop selling different kinds of miniature things. Christmas markets also sell a lot of handicrafts and various Christmas decorations and collectibles.

Here are different stalls selling different kinds of Christmas cookies and cakes- they are really good and much more better than the ones you could get in the supermarkets.

That's the Nürnber Christmas Market, there are other side streets with various stalls, also part of the market but this is taken just in front of the Cathedral, where the centre of the market is. So if you happen to be in the area  have a look. It runs till the 24th of December. Have fun :)Nürnberg /Nuremberg is about 3 hours drive from Frankfurt. There are lots of parking and there are also tourist buses that offer daily trips to there wherever you may be in Germany.

 I

On packing

So I have done my packing which is kind of weird because I really thought I would have lots of extra weight in my luggage but it turned out that I am still over than the 20 kilos limit that I should have - I am not having any carry on luggage except for a backpack with my books in it - Well I was planing to do some shopping in London (mostly books and cds for work and food shopping too) and I wonder how I could do that if my bag is already 22 kilos.. I have to probably check how much it would be to send books/stuff from there to here - and I think the school is giving us a second batch of books! I should have really brought a carry on - the thing is since I will be on my own and have no idea how I will be moving from point A - B - it would not be good to be pulling 2 luggages. Maybe I should really open that luggage and see what I can take from it...( to think that I carefully planned every piece of item in it) First I thought I should not be bringing clothes for 19 days - but then that means I have to wash my clothes somewhere and dry them too. My clothes are not dryer friendly - well most of them I think so they would probaby all shrink!

Sunday in the vineyard

The V. and I went last Sunday to Bodenheim, one of the regions around Rhine where they grow wine. It's up in the mountains and you can take a walk along the vines and have a lovely meal too.
Nope we didn't drink all these bottles .. I just thought it would make a nice picture.
The grapes still growing, I didn't know they are this tiny...
The V. striking a pose for me :D
This is the sauvignon blanc grape one of the numerous varieties they grow here...
The V. and I didn't manage to go up that hill but the walk was worth it..