Prague with Zac

Getting to Prague ended being a bit of a mission- the day before and after I wanted to go, A train went there directly from Annaberg, taking a couple of hours. Of course, that day I wanted to go, I needed to catch a train, bus, train then a 5 hour bus. Nice.

I came from a semi-warm Germany and arrived in super-hot weather. My walk to the hotel from the train station was a little ambitious, it didn’t' look far on the map but ended up taking about 45 mins with my bags in the boiling sun and jeans on.

Zac's flight was delayed due to the pilot about to land then deciding he couldn’t make it and quickly pulling up from the tarmac and freaking out all of the passengers. I asked Zac if he played "which character would you be on Lost?" but he didn't, which seems foolish, really, especially if you were in immediate danger like that. I'd get Locke on my side, stat. And probably tie up Hurley so he didn't eat all of my food.

Zac finally arrived, on his birthday, and I was awesome and went and bought beer, for him. Not because I wanted one, that was a coincidence, I’m sure. We went and bought shorts and jandals, sat by a bridge by the river and enjoyed the view. I was pretty impressed by Prague, actually. I hadn't read any Kafka, don't know much about architecture and the language confused the heck out of me, but it really didn't matter. The city itself was stunning, there was so much to see and do- with the rivers passing though, the different areas, the old buildings- there was one place we went to, apparently famous, where the whole inside of the place was covered in mosaic tiles. So cool.

My favourite part, however, was when we sat in a park and relaxed from walking all day. I had a sip of beer then went off the make a phone call. I get back to find that my unopened bottle of water and my beer was missing. Zac looked at me guiltily and told me he'd given it to a homeless man. He then took a sip of HIS beer. Which he didn't give to the homeless man. Dick.

We walked a lot- I got the worst blisters I’ve ever had and it meant limping around covered in plasters for the next week or so. We visited the Kafka gallery and didn't understand any of the references, (however Zac and I later bought one of his books so will be able to make clever jokes next time).

The first night we went to go and find a traditional Czech meal- Zac won, he had a pile of unknown meats and mounds of potatoes and a mystery beer.

We found a cocktail bar by our hotel called Tiki Taky which had awesome cocktails for about AU$3.5, all tiki themed. The whole place was kitted out with Hawaiian kind of stuff, the cups in Tiki mugs, old school rock and roll playing, it was fantastic. It was owned by one guy who worked every day until about 6am. We weren’t cool enough to see it, but apparently it got crazy every night around 3am.

The next day we did a bit of tourist shopping and found a great shop. Unfortunately the lady who owned it was a crazy rude lady- she followed us round, scowling and kept telling us to put things back when he picked them up. I didn't but things from her on principle. Then couldn’t find other stuff available in any other shop. Dumb. We had fun looking for good coffee. We went to a couple of places that Maike's parnets had recommended- the 5 star equivalent that served better espresso.  It was quite funny to look around and see the nicely dressed patrons, then us in shorts and jandals with backpacks. It was still cheap for us, but more than you'd pay anywhere else in the city. Little bit fancy.

Food was an epic fail, other than that first night. Because we walked so much, by the time we were ready to eat lunch, we were so hungry it didn’t matter where. Turns out that KFC's standards in Prague are quite a bit lower than in Australasia. I felt nauseous as soon as I bit into it, lost my appetite quickly as I saw the fat and nerves and other goodies we aren’t' allowed to serve in NZ. Yet we didn't learn our lesson - "Zac, let's eat healthy today, let's make better choices....all you can eat sushi? Heck yes!” Oh wait, all you can eat sushi is TERRIBLE. Okay- Schnitzel King- that sounds awesome, right? No. No it doesn't. Just because your mum's schnitzel is amazing doesn't mean that the King of schnitzel can make it better. Such a fail. On the plus side, our hotel did a free breakfast so we filled up each morning before failing at every other meal.

I drank a lot of beer there. I'm not usually big on beer, but when you've been walking all day, it's hot and Coke is way more expensive, beer definitely has an appeal. Catherine classic.

We headed to the airport en route to Milan and tried to practise our Italian. An Italian guy laughed at us. The end.

German adventure

In Dresden I met Maike at the Train station as her bus had arrived only minutes earlier, coming from Annaberg. Maike has an old friend there who she goes and stays with often. He’s one of those chilled people who leaves a password for his friends and they can come and go from his house as they please, so he was happy for us both to stay there. His name was Marcus, such a fascinating guy.  He’s a real life inventor; (actually) he built his kitchen and bathroom himself. He roasts his own coffee that his sister sends him from Ethiopia, where she lives (usually Harrarr…mmm), just a great guy to get to know.  Maike and I bought Sauerkraut and bratwurst (at my request) and we had a traditional dinner with mashed potatoes.  There was loads of Sauerkraut left over and Maike tricked me into eating it for breakfast with bread and cheese, saying it was a typical German thing to do. It wasn’t so bad, but breakfast is a bit early in the day for it, I think. We ate loads of Milka and I was got excited over Markus’ little coffee grinder and his roasting techniques with coffee.

The next day Maike and I visited the little alleyways throughout Dresden, seeing the little shops and I learned about how felt is trendy there. They have shops dedicated to things made out of coloured felt, literally selling nothing but felt stuff. I gave in a bought a bright green felt ring, which I really liked. Not so much into the bright felt arm wraps they had. Hippies.   We did a tour of the old city, where Maike kept telling me lies about everything we saw and then I’d comment on it to the guide who would tell me I was wrong while Maike laughed. Maike actually knew just as much as the guide did, so next time I’m going to make her do the tour. Though she’ll probably lie. And I’ll definitely fall for it. Dresden has some cool history though. This guy August wanted to be the King of Poland, but didn’t have much money so he borrowed heaps and was all ‘here I am!” and it worked. He has a gold plated statue of himself and is so in love with himself. I’ve found my new goal in life. Anyone want to lend me some money?

That evening, Marcus, Maike and I went to see a play. It was a group from the Baltics who spoke in English. Four boys, four girls, sitting facing each other in chairs and sharing about real life experiences they had. Some were funny, some were really sad, others just made you think. Each story was told by the individual that owned that storey, then they pointed at other actors and gave them characters, for example, then my mother (points) said “you are a bad girl!”- then that actor will say that in their language (I can’t remember where they were from).  When it rained in the story, the actors drummed their fingers on their chairs. When there was music, the actors made the music. I’ve never seen anything like it, especially as the actors were using their real stories, but I really enjoyed it. After the play, we went to visit Marcus’ best friend in an old Dresden pub. I had the best cider I’ve ever had (better than NZ, I have to say) and we chatted for hours in this little local pub. Great fun.

The next day Uwe, (Maike’s boyfriend) Maike and I drove to Welzeim, where her parents live. On the way we stopped to put air in the tyres, when I heard a band playing music. I turned and saw men in random suits playing instruments badly, waving a giant flag.  I quickly got out of the cart to see them marching into the petrol station, with the flag bearer going in, still marching, asking for free beer and cigarettes. The band stopped playing then asked us for money.  Turns out it was Father’s Day in Germany and also Ascension Day, which, in this particular area meant that all of the men go out together, get really drunk and ride around in wagons covered in branches. These guys decided that they were part of a battalion that needed to be honoured with free things.  Maike and I laughed for a long time before they came over to ask for money. We chatted for a while and they learned I was from NZ.  One of the guys ran off and came back with a certificate that stated something along the lines of “I hereby honour and support this battalion, which is part of another fancy Battalion in Germany.   I offer…… in support of this noble cause and promise to do it again next year. Usually I think you get them for giving beer or money, but for me they wrote ‘a little kiss”.  I obliged and kissed one of them on the cheek, they all cheered, then I washed my mouth. It was so weird and hilarious. I love that Father’s day isn’t even spent with their kids. Bloody Germans.

Fun Fact: the German name for the Town Mayor is Burgermeister. I laughed for a very long time when I heard this.  Which makes the townspeople….wait for it….burgers. LOL

 Fun Fact #2: Germans really do drink all of the time.  They have hand bier, literally hand beer, which means a beer that you drink on your way to wherever you’re going. You see people walking around the streets at most times of day drinking beer, which only happens if you’re a hobo or a bogan in NZ.

After each meal (usually with beer or wine) it’s usual to have Schnapps.  At one point I had a sore stomach and Maike suggested that I have schnapps to help it.  I thought she was kidding, but they have herbal liquor that they use to settle the stomach. Or just drink because it’s yum. And it really is. Gave me a newfound appreciation for schnapps, though I still steer clear of the peach kind. Ha.

Staying with Maike’s family was great, I met them in NZ and stayed with them last time I was here. They are so lovely and hospitable and they don’t mind helping me out with my poor German. They taught me how to make homemade liquor

One evening, Uwe, Maike and I went to the Forrest Festival of lights. They had a whole lot of lanterns up and some tea light candles in coloured plastic sups on the grounds.  They had a brass band playing and had set up a beer garden with candyfloss, wurst and lots of beer.  I had my first hand bier on the way and learned a German song about Lanterns. The brass band was funny, they did beach boys’ compilations as well as traditional German songs that only the children and Maike and I danced to.  I got Candyfloss bigger than my face. Yum.

Maike’s Auntie and her partner stayed that weekend with us as well, I had the best one-liner conversation with her auntie; “Sorry my German is terrible, forgive me.” “No, it’s fine, I can understand you fine!” “Ah, but that’s because you are good at understanding”. It seems silly written down but I thought it was such a good response.

That evening we went to go and see a play.  Maike’s parents were great, they’d found a play where no-one speaks, so I could do and understand it okay. The play was so weird. They had made these giant creepy masks and just acted the whole time, with few sounds effects.  Here is the storyline. I’m not kidding.

Three men are in a bar. They are all sad and dreaming about what they wanted to do with their lives, but instead they have work and families that are annoying and controlling wives who make them forget their dreams. At the end, they get into a rocket ship and fly away. The end.

 It was so funny to see people’s reactions; most of the people there were middle-aged and were laughing hysterically. We sort of laughed a little but not too much.  Maike’s family came out and said how much they loved it, how funny it was, how true it was (not the rocket ship part) while Maike ranted about how crap it was. It was so funny.  Maike’s family paid for the tickets so I didn’t want to seem ungrateful but it was really quite a weird play.  The crowd gave about 6 ovations! Uwe and Maike work in the theatre so I guess their standards were higher but perhaps it’s an age thing. Probably that we’re just too intelligent though. That’s usually the case.

The next day Maike’s friend Madeleine came to visit from France.  Madeleine and I spent a little time together in NZ a few years ago so it was good to catch up. I met her Mexican boyfriend, Hector, and they all laughed at me when I pronounced the ‘H’. We all went for a lovely bicycle ride around the countryside.  Maike was worried because last time I visited I was so unfit and couldn’t ride very well. This time I totally won and followed her doing (tiny) wheelies to prove my point.  I got like 2 feet of air that time! The weather was perfect and afterwards we had icecream, so it was an awesome day.

We went home and Maike made me griess, which is semolina pudding sort of with custard. It’s pretty much my favourite thing ever and I really hope I can find the ingredients in Oz. It’s so cheap there and I want to cry with delight every time I eat it.

After a long weekend of amazing food (tried white asparagus, was so yum….Germans call it Aspbergers... Lol) we headed back to Annaberg.  It was in Annaberg that I played the greatest game of my life.  So, imagine this. You own 3 public toilets and charge Roman people to use them.  People pay more or less depending on their social status (slave, burger, (haha) women, senators, and they each use them for different lengths of time.  There are social rules where senators won’t wee next to a slave, for example and you have to follow these.  You form queues and strategically try to get heaps of people to use your toilet quickly and pay you loads. You get chance cards where people get food poisoning, swap around in queues, give your opponents people who do number twos….it’s brilliant. I got so competitive and quickly found that Maike was just as competitive as me.  I lost and disowned all allies.  Later on, Maike suggested that we watch the Cosby Show. I laughed unmtil I relaised they were serious…Uwe owned the whole season.  I gave it a go and it’s brilliant. What a great show- so clever, plus it’ll help me form a better Bill Cosby impression.

Fun fact #3  In Germany, Pepperoni is a type of cheese. Whaaaaat?

I had such a fun time catching up with Maike again and loved thatr we still get on so well despite not seeing each other in a long time. Maike’s friend said that this was because we’re both equally mean to each other. I’ll take that.

London, Paris, Berlin.

Onward from my soggy London travels to Paris by underwater train.  Last trip I got excited because for some reason I thought that the side of the tunnels would be thick glass and we’d be able to see whales. Last trip was 4 years ago, not when I was 4, you read right.  In hindsight this seems like the stupidest idea possible for a number of reasons, but at least this time I was prepared and so not disappointed. I got on the train fine, right time, right place, right day which was good, as my travelling now seems to come with a strong sense of anxiety that I’ve got it wrong, again.  Three times, three wrong flights, too much money fixing it- you’d hope I’d learnt my lesson. I got Erin to help me book it. Haha.

Marie picked me up at the station as she lived only 10 mins away in a place called Jaures. We walked down past about 4 bars called ‘bar Lafayette’, where I made a few True Blood references until I found out it was the name of the street, not just an overly popular name for a pub. We went out for cheese, baguettes and red wine, and then returned to her place, stayed up listening to the Beatles and drinking whiskey with her friend and flatmate. I was stoked to be there and it felt like I got to experience a real Parisian way of life. Last time I was in Paris was with my best friend Erin when she lived there for a year- so we visited amazing places she’d discovered and wanted to share with me, including the Eiffel tower and the touristy stuff, plus local places she’d found. That time, I got shouted at by a stupid lady who attacked my crap French, despite me only ordering a baguette, however this time I OWNED IT.  You should have seen me, ordering coffee and basic things that don’t require any response from either side. Winner.

The next day Marie went to work and I wandered around Montmartre, enjoying the scenes and locals, loving being in a city on my own.  I sipped espressos and felt well cool.  Montmartre is well-known for streets full of people asking to draw your portrait.  I avoided them as I needed to watch my budget, but was eventually approached by a guy I haggled down (as much as you can, anyway) who agreed to draw me. As he drew, we chatted a bit, about him going to painting school, having a mentor etc, and then his friend approached, joined by a fellow painter. All three of them chatted quickly in French while looking back and forth at me and the drawing.  It was a bit awkward at first, knowing they were talking about me but then I heard them say ‘belle’ so I was like, ‘cool, they think I’m beautiful, I’m cool with that” and left them to it. Eventually the older, seemingly eccentric man looks at me and says (and I quote) “I’m sorry, how rude of us- here we are talking about you and you don’t understand. What we are saying is that you are an artist’s dream- you are so beautiful and we would love to draw you naked. Not in a funny way, but that you have a perfect body and would be so wonderful to draw with no clothes on”. Stifling a laugh, I thanked him and saw that he wasn’t being creepy, though it was a fine line.  To make the story even better; the drawing LOOKS NOTHING LIKE ME. Honestly, it’s more like Bella from Twilight, just a plain, normal looking girl; he didn’t even draw my curly hair! I reckon he has a generic girl that he draws to maybe flatter people. I just laughed and left. Such a funny experience.

Walking home with Marie, I saw a real black market. I was pretty excited but tried to play it cool around Marie, who had obviously seen this before.  These guys had lifted up the drain cover by the road and stashed it with cigarettes, which they only opened to sell.  That’s the end of the story. Guess you had to be there. Though Marie was…and she wasn’t excited.  Unfortunately their house was almost broken into (locks broken etc) so we went to the police station in the morning. Marie kept apologising but I enjoyed the local experience. Maybe I’m a nerd. We wandered for hours, eating awesome strawberries and spending loads of time at an amazing coffee shop set up by Aussies…I think. Amazing coffee and I got an awesome coffee print designed by one of their baristas. We visited Pompidou, an awesome looking art gallery (you should wiki it) and had a coffee, before heading home to a rocking party.

That evening Marie had organised a “Catherine is the greatest” party, or something along those lines, that was it, though, I’m sure. She invited friends from heaps of different places who were all so interesting and different from the rest, trying to speak English with me as I said “oui, cava’ as much as it sort of related to conversations. We drank red wine, ate more cheese and everyone chain-smoked. I tried one of those really thin and long French cigarettes, but it’s just a cigarette that’s long and thin. Who would have thought? We listened to music, talked, danced, sang until the early hours of the morning, it was such a fantastic night. The Parisians know how to party.

Marie cooked me a special French meal that I didn’t recognise the name of.  She bought the ingredients that she said were duck but she didn’t know what part of the animal they were from.  They were sort of marinated and stewed in oil and herbs and we round and dark red. I asked her if they were testicles; she said no. I googled them and found out they were gizzards. I did try them, they weren’t bad to taste but the texture was really odd, kind of like a slimy stewed beef- though that description also doesn’t fit. I let Marie finish mine because I’m such a kind a generous person. We hung out with Marie’s flatmate who is an awesome Jazz singer (Marie writes, directs, produces and acts in movies – Google trampo films) so their flat was an awesome Parisian cliché. I missed out on seeing her flatmate perform by a day which was disappointing, but keep an eye out for her, I’ll post a link. She’s just finished a tour.

From there it was onto Berlin in Germany to visit an old friend Niko. He met me at the train station and we walked back to his apartment, which was amazing. Top of the apartment, spacious, awesome house.  In Germany (and in Paris too, I found), apparently landlords don’t care what you do. Niko had covered his walls in red and grey stripes, put up a hammock, paintings, photos, everything. It was such a cool flat. But you can’t see it so you probably don’t care. Just take my word for it.

We met his gf Tulli, who was Finnish, (Niko is German) so we all spoke in English, which I totally won at. Yussss. We went out for Turkish, which is a staple in Berlin, and came back to his place to watch Keinohrhasen, a German movie I had watched 4 years ago. He remembered that I’d watched it and hadn’t understood all of it due to lack of subtitles, so got it for us to watch. What a sweetheart.

The next day Niko had to go and cycle 120kms (as you do) so I wandered around the area, searching for markets and good coffee. I spent a couple of hours looking for markets that weren’t on, had a terrible coffee then an amazing one, plus it was up and down a lovely canal, so I wasn’t too worried.

Berlin finished his cycling, showered and was good to go, which is crazy to me. I would have lain down and died after riding 120kms, but he just walked a little funny then was fine.

We walked for 5 hours, to Berlin Gate, The Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and many tourist shops with terrible postcards. We had currywurst, I ate Pretzels, and life was good.  Berlin was cool; they have bits of the Berlin wall throughout the city and heaps to look at. I was only there a day so will definitely do all I can to go back this trip. We spent the evening at a local pub near his house catching up and being excited about our new relationships. Just like old times. Only there a day, so I left the next morning to Dresden on the bus, where I slept the whole way like a nana.

Stay tuned for Maike, more Germany, Prague and other exciting destinations.