When I started this trip in September 2014, I wanted to blog about it right away. More than an initial post about the upcoming itinerary didn’t make it onto this blog. Therefore, I am going to recap first.
TL:DR
Girlfriend and I spent 17 days in Europe with stops in German, Spain and France. Many pictures and many firsts for me and especially my girlfriend.
The Meeting
The initial conditions were great. Silver flew one week earlier to visit some friends in Amsterdam and took the train from there to Hannover and then to Magdeburg, where I wanted to pick her up. I flew into Berlin and was picked up by my mom. For a brief moment Silver and I were even in the same city, because my flight into Berlin was also going via Amsterdam.
Silver left Amsterdam on time and made her way slowly towards Magdeburg. Since she only had to change once in Hannover, the odds of getting lost and missing the connecting train were very small. We looked up building plans of the the Hannover train station to determine the ways from the arriving track to the departing track before even leaving Singapore. This was all rendered moot once the punctuality of the German rail operator Deutsche Bahn was taken into account. From our initial booking there were about 17 minutes to change from track 9 to track 10 in Hannover. Even though both tracks were on the same platform, Silver didn’t make it to the departing train towards Magdeburg. Not because our plan was wrong, but because the arriving train from Amsterdam was delayed and the one bound for Magdeburg had already left.
I wasn’t there, but the rather friendly and somewhat English speaking service personal helped her find a different train to Magdeburg. This one was bound for Wolfsburg and then to Magdeburg. All was well, but the only problem that occurred was that Silver missed her stop at Wolfsburg and only realized it after being almost in Berlin. Anyone who has been to the main train station in Berlin knows that it’s a giant building with countless tracks and directions. The very helpful personnel helped her to find another track and platform for her train back to Magdeburg. In the meantime we finally spoke and I was informed. Then the next unexpected event concerning with the German train system occurred. Sometimes, if the trains are rather short and the platform is long, the train will only stop at a certain section of the platform. This is usually marked with A and B letters. The people at Berlin train station didn’t communicate this to Silver, resulting in her seeing the train she was about to board drive off before her eyes. Luckily, there is rather frequent service between Berlin and Magdeburg and 2 hours later she could take the right train. In the meantime it has become night. My mom, Mike and I decided to drive towards her and make it easier for her to exit at the right stop. Therefore, I drove to a small train station along the way, entered the train at her compartment and exited with her at the next stop where my mom and Mike were waiting. What an exciting and long day it must have been for her and how disappointing her experience with the German train system might have been to her. I on the other hand was surprised that there were a lot of personnel that tried to help her at all the stops where she seemed doomed - the English language was usually the barrier, but with hands and feet it worked.
Burg bei Magdeburg
In my hometown we built up camp for a couple of days and visited friends and family. There was a lot of eating involved and Silver loved most of the food. I have created an entire flickr album, just for all the different food pictures Silver (and I) took during our trip.
Haus Albatros in Hooksiel
Half way though our stay we planned a short trip to the German North Sea. My friends Daniel and Maria joined us to also take a short break from their usual routine.
Daniel drove his then new car and we had the chance to get acquainted with each other. After roughly 4 hours drive we arrived at the house we rented called “Albatros” in Hooksiel.
Settling in and buying some foods for the next day’s was our top priority after arriving. Nonetheless, we decided to drive to the nearby beach and have a look around. The Strandkörbe (roofed wicker beach chair) were all deserted and other people on the beach were also wearing the infamous Jack Wolfskin jackets to withhold the cold breeze (very necessary but I thought it was not cold in Germany so I told Silver not to bring anything at all, but I agree it is great and necessary for others to have Wolfskin jackets).
Since the beach didn’t really offer much else other than cold sand and wet water, we decided to hunt for some fish in the restaurants serving the thousands of tourists on a sunny summer day. The lack of tourists resulted in the fact that there were no kiosks open. Since we were all craving for smoked and pickled fish, we decided to try our luck at the harbor Wilhemlshafen, one of the bigger harbor cities on the German North Sea. The way back from the beach area of Hooksiel led us past the dike with many mowing sheep. We had to stop and pet them (mostly Silver).
The short drive to Wilhemhafen eventually got us some long awaited fish and especially Silver was happy about one of her favorite foods. After a short stroll around the harbor area, we went back to our house and had dinner in a nearby “Mediterranean” restaurant, which basically had the standard German and north German cuisine with some additional Greek, Italian and Spanish dishes.
The next day, we rented some bikes to pedal through the dike in the morning and have a Watwanderung (mud walk) in the North Sea which vanishes completely during low tide. The tide in the North Sea is strong enough to have the entire water recline for 6 hours before coming back for another 6 hours. When the water is gone, many species come to life and out of their hiding in the sea ground (mud). During our bike tour, the wind was blowing hard and cold, and even though we had several layers of clothing it seemed very cold. After dipping our toes into the sea during the bike tour, we decided not to walk in the mud barefoot for 2 hours and expect to get out of it healthy.
Instead of the mud walk, we decided to drive up to a town called Jever and stroll around the city and the beautiful castle gardens. After the cold winds of the morning bike tour, we decided to warm ourselves up with a typical East Frisia tea time. This includes tea, of course, but also a giant piece of homemade cake and East Frisian music playing in the background.
Jever is probably most famous for its beer that shares its name with the city. We were a little too late to do a tour of the brewery, but the smell of roasted malt was ubiquitous throughout the city. After feeding some ducks in the castle garden, a nice meal in the modern maritime restaurant was to be taken. The Haus dear Getreuen offered modern local seaside food at slightly premium prices with a nice ambience.
Following a relatively long way back, the next morning it was time to say goodbye to the house. Before heading back home, we made a boat tour to the island of Spickerogge. This included seeing seals and baby seals on the sand banks.
On the island itself, no motorized transport is allowed; this means the few people that live on the island have to do everything by foot or bicycle. The main source of income for the people there is the tourists that come plentifully during the summer month. Even though it was already late September, the ferries from the mainland to the island were packed. During our 4 hour on the island, we walked though the small town and towards the north. There a very large dune that protects the island’s erosion from the wind coming from the North Sea. Some indulgence in the form of Fishbrötchen was mandatory during the short vacation.
Berlin
Coming back from the North Sea, we spent a couple of days in Burg and its surroundings, before starting off on our real tour though Europe. Our first stop was Berlin. We booked a room through the AirBnB service. This was the first time and so far a pleasant one. We stayed with Alice, a woman in her mid 40s with two cats. We stayed in the typical Berliner apartment in the part of town called Tempelhof. The apartment was 5 minutes from the nearest U-Bahn station, which brought us in 20 minutes into the heart of Berlin. Since we reached during the early evening, we went out hunting for some food. My choice leaned towards Döner Kebab but unfortunately I must say the place we picked turned out to be rather unpleasant. Since Silver has a really strong affection for flea markets, the Mauerpark was our go-to destination on the following day. It is located near a piece of the Berlin Wall (German Mauer) and is an attraction for locals and tourists alike, who wish to score a cheap item or to practice their bargaining skills with the local Berliners. The bright and sunny day invited many people from their homes to hang out at the park area for reading, sunbathing or just having a drink. This was exactly Silver’s crowd and she went to shoot some street style photography.
Since walking around in the flea market makes one hungry, we had some hipster sausage and beer at one of the many eateries. A stroll back along the history-rich Bernauer Straße led us back to an S-bahn station and toward Berlin Mitte. We decided to split up once more and Silver did some more street style photography in the hipster-rich Berlin Mitte. I, in the meantime, had a beer and a sandwich in one of the many small restaurants. Silver really wanted to have a party night out in a club called Berghain and therefore we went home early to get some sleep on. Problem was, we didn’t wake up from our short nap. The next morning was dictated by some general sightseeing. Potsdamer Platz, Reichstagsgebäude and Alexanderplatz were a must. We took a little nap after our improvised lunch, with Herring salad and Pretzels.
The obligatory Currywurst (curry sausage) cannot be missed on a trip to Berlin. Therefore, we went to the infamous Curry36 and waited, as (we) Singaporeans like to do, in the queue before receiving our not more than mediocre Currywurst. The last night in Berlin, was another shooting night for Silver. She met up with some people she got to know in Amsterdam and did a little home-story shooting in their WG in Kreuzberg. The way back to the apartment led us via a small REWE supermarket at the Kottbusser Tor and we bought a lot of chocolate to bring back home to Singapore. After some packing, we left the apartment in the early morning hours to catch our flight to Barcelona - the next stop on our trip though Europe.
Because of the sheer amount of pictures I have split the trip into multiple flickr-Albums. The German part is covered here