Standing In Two Countries At One Time

Can one person really be in two places at one time? It’s every busy persons dream to be able to do so but in most cases, for example, being present at two events taking place at different locations, at one time, is just not possible. And no, commuting back and forth between two weddings like Katherine Heigl did in 27 Dresses is not the same. But the ability to be in exactly two places at one time, is not impossible, A Walk to Remember taught us that. 

The weekend that Matt and I were in Füssen, Germany we used our Sunday to go hiking around the city. Hiking isn’t something I generally make a habit of doing, but as I said, it was a Sunday and the only things open on Sundays in Germany are restaurants, some museums, and gas stations. 

We started off by hiking through the trail to get to the Lech Waterfall. It was worth the walk. The waterfall was very pretty, you could see the snowy mountains despite the fog, and it had ducks. 

Lech Waterfall

Matt loves the ducks! And no, they were not falling down the waterfall

But it was when we followed the trail on the other side of the waterfall that we came across this sign:

Republic of Austria

 So we decided to walk to Austria.

I was hoping for some sort of distinguished border, whether it be boarder control, a sign that said “you are now entering Austria” or even a line in the road. Sadly, there was nothing like that. In fact, we weren’t even sure if we wear near the border or not, we consulted our map and it indicated we should be near it if not on top of it but we had difficulty finding proof. Finally, we noticed a sign on the other side of the road facing the traffic driving towards us. I crossed the road the trudged through the snow bank to see what it said and this is what I saw:

Federal Republic of Germany

So if traffic is now entering the Federal Republic of Germany, then that must mean one side is Germany and the other side is Austria. Right? So I had Matt take a photo of me, where I am straddling either side of what I assumed to be the boarder. 

*Hallo Tyler, ich bin in Deutschland und Österreich

I realize the picture would have been better if you could have seen the FRONT of the sign indicating the Federal Republic of Germany, however, the road was busy and I was already standing in the snow bank. My feet were getting wet and I was not about to make Matt walk any further through the snow just to get the sign. But I am telling you, I AM standing in both Austria and Germany at the SAME TIME. I am standing in two places at once.

*I am also dedicating this post to my friend Tyler. He told me when he reached the border of Denmark and Germany, he would take a picture of himself holding up a sign that said, Hallo Katie! So when I reached a border, I felt it necessary to do the same, unfortunately, I had no sign making materials.

DUBLIN

The streets and houses don't look too different than everything else, but only Ireland can get away with naming all of their bars, shops, and funeral homes after their family name and have it sound so great. Vaughn's, Murphy's, Fanigans, Whelan's are just a few places that line the streets.

Friday evening, we made a trip to the cinema. You may think...you can do that at home...but living in Germany, finding a decent movie playing in English is not an easy task. It's almost a novelty to be able to see a film. And I did get to see the sites at night, the christmas decorations and make 4 trips over the Ha' Penny Bridge in one evening trying to figure out the evening public transportation schedule.

Saturday was a successful day of sightseeing. Grafton Street, Photos with Leprechauns, Stephens Green, Trinity College, the Spire, Ha' Penny Bridge (again), O'Connell Bridge, major statues including Molly Malone, Leprechaun Museum, Guinness Storehouse, just to name a few. A certificate in hand to state that I poured a perfect pint of Guinness, although I'll be honest and tell you, apparently I didn't pour the top correctly.
Eggs, toast, and bacon rashers for breakfast, fish and chips for lunch, and a deep fried burger and chips for dinner. That is, a beef patty covered with deep dry batter and eaten with a fork. I was assured that this was just a coincidence to have it twice in one day and that the Irish don't eat like that everyday :)

A night out in Dublin with Julie and her friends where I saw firsthand, just how dressed up the Irish get, even just to go to the bar; fancy dresses, platform heals, and blown out/teased hair.

I came home having had my first ever Guinness, am a hoodie, some christmas decorations, and a bottle of 12 year old Jameson Whiskey richer, and owing the Dublin 6 cents for all the crossing I did over the Ha' Penny Bridge.

A Big THANKS to Julie for letting me stay in her home, introducing me to her family and friends, and taking time off work to show me around the city! Ive got two new passport stamps, lots of memories, pictures and souvenirs, and another country to add to my list. You are a great friend!



Guinness Mustache!

Bamberg!!

This post does not really include any advice but instead is to sum up one of the places I have been visiting, as my friends and family are reading this as well.

I’ve been to Bamberg twice so far with Matt and I am sure there will be many more.
He did a year abroad in Bamberg so this trip included my own personal tour. It’s one of the few cities that was not affected by the war and still has many beautiful buildings and sights. We’ve eaten at Café Express twice and it has easily become one of my favourite restaurants. It’s one of those places where you can have 5 different favourites on the menu because there are so many different things. Each time, I had an amazing meal plus a 0.5l beer for €10 or less. Which shows that you can have a meal, for the price of one cocktail which I still think is ridiculous.
Most to all of the buildings seem to have some sort of Jesus or Mary or another religious figure either carved or just on the top of the stone walls. Matt tells me you can go on a Brewery crawl as there are so many within a short distance although I have not yet taken a tour. I will definitely be taking one eventually and likely in Bamberg as with all the wineries and Breweries in Germany, we’ve managed to live in the city that does not have any...come on Nürnberg!

I went again last week with Matt’s Bamberg friends and we went to Fässla which I understand is the best place to get drinks, especially on a Monday. While we were drinking our beers, one of the locals had noticed we were all speaking English and came over to ask where we were all from and if he could join us for a bit. He had been drawn over by Guillaume’s accent because he said it was exactly how he remembered his own grandfather speaking, turns out, his grandfather had also been from France, like Guillaume. He sat with us while we finished our beers and told us of how he had joined the U.S army when he was younger and how he had been stationed in Germany. While he was terrified to come over here, to a new country where he did not know the language, he ended up loving it. Even though he left the army years ago (he’s currently in his late 50’s I think) he decided to stay in Germany. As Matt missed this trip to Fässla, we told him all about this man and he said he had ran into and talked to him on many occasions. He was an excellent story teller so if you ever find yourself in Bamberg, Germany...you should probably stop by Fässla and see if he’s around. He’ll be the one reading his book by the bar.

Oh and the beer was delicious and they had a few Halloween inspired drinks. We went for the jello shot which they call a “pudding shot”

Berlin, travellers cheques and Visa

On Monday, I took the train to Berlin for my orientation to finding work.
Matt took me to the train station and I marked down the subway line, directions and stops along the way as I would have to get back to the apartment on Tuesday, by myself. I find figuring out the metro to be complicated and stressful. I think I took the Toronto metro by myself twice in my entire life.
I spend most of my time deciding to go places I can walk to so I can avoid the metro, at least if I am by myself. Sooner or later, I am going to have to get over this. just not quite yet.

Sadly, I did not see much of Berlin. After my orientation, which was all of 1.5 hours I had the afternoon and evening to explore. It poured rain the entire time and only get windier as the night went on.
The orientation itself was okay. I learned a number of valuable tips but job search tips did not all apply to Nürnberg and I am struggling to find the Nürnberg equivalents.

Travellers Cheques and Visa
After spending almost all of my cash the Friday I moved into my apartment on rent and the kaution, I needed to find a place to cash my travellers cheques. I spent 3 and a half days with $30 in my wallet and no place to cash the cheques. The banks didnt open until Monday and I spent most of Monday on the train. I was able to use my Visa card at the Walmart equiv when I wanted to get a clothes dry rack and laundry basket...but not at the grocery store. We had to rely on what cash Matt had to tie us over. When I finally got to a bank, the teller told me that regular banks will not cash travellers cheques in Germany. This meant I had to wait until Tuesday to go to a travel bank (at the train stations) to finally cash them.
So when travelling, be mindful of this. Get your travellers cheques cashed at the train station and make sure you always have cash on you...because your Visa card which is suppose to be so international, may be useless.

Köln (and an important point about the ISIC card)

We are one day away from going to Nürnberg and moving into our apartment! Tomorrow will be the last train ride with the BIG suitcases, at least for a while anyway. But of course, life stuck us with two transfers, just to mock me and watch me try and carry that stupid suitcase.

Anyways, Matt and I both went to Köln for 3 days, Matt to complete his job orientation and me to tour around by myself.
Overall, it was a good experience.

I learned how to not only read and follow a map, but to plan my own excursions as well based on their location on the map. Fortunately for me, everything I wanted to see in Köln was within walking distance and I did not need to attempt the metro on my own.

I noticed that the German drivers are much kinder than those in Canada. Traffic always yield to pedestrians. You step out a crosswalk only indicated by the lines on the street, the cars stop. You're on a green traffic light/ cross walk, traffic turning in your direction will always pause mid turn so you can walk across.

I learned my student card (valid until 2014) is also valid in Germany, at least for museums and the like so I managed to grab a few discounts, which brings me to an important point, the ISIC: International Student Identity Card. If you are still a student when you intend on going abroad..and by still I mean even in your last semester as long as you are full time, get an ISIC card. You need to provide your tuition receipt as proof to get it. I missed out on getting this, but Matt was able to get one before he left and he is able to by a half price card in order to get 50 percent off all train tickets! Still with me? Yes he had to purchase a card to get 50 percent off, but if I want a 50 percent off train card...I have to pay double what he did. Think about it.

I learned that I need to practice speaking and listening to German much much more. When the menu was in German or I wanted something simple like coffee with milk, I could attempt to speak proper German, but when the menu is in English and the cashier only speaks German, how do you go about translating those items for them? All I wanted was a mcflurry..

Köln has probably the coolest museums ever, or at least that I have come across so far. They don't just have art museums and history museums which I could personally do without, but a chocolate, a wine, and an olympic museum! Very cool and worth every penny. The chocolate museum also held the Lindt factory and sold Lindt products. I also did the triangle tower to get a panoramic view of the city, a cable car ride across the rhein, the zoo and some cool sight seeing, but many cities will offer things like those.

Düsseldorf !

The worst part about traveling, is the traveling itself. While I can pull suitcases on wheels all at once, I cannot lift them up and down the stairs in the subways. On Friday, Matt and I got up really early and took our small suitcases to the train station and put them in a locker. We came back to the hotel, checked out and went to the train station with our big suitcases. Almost all downstairs which was managable. There was one set of stairs heading up, no elevator. I am really not sure I could have managed this on my own. Fortunately, a random noticed I was struggling and came and lift the back end of my suitcase and we walked it up together. He never looked up or said anything. He read his newspaper as we walked up the stairs. I thanked him but I'm not sure he noticed, I felt like this was a normal habit for him. The train attendant helped me lift it onto the train and Matt lifted it on and off the luggage rack. His friends came to pick us up in their car :)

They toured us around Düsseldorf and we went to the Düsseldorf Oktoberfest! The average age was around 50 years old! But a good time was definitely had! It was different then the one in Kitchener-Waterloo. No one was selling bavarian hats...no one was really wearing bavarian hats. People wore traditional dirndl's and lederhosen and there was not a lot of polka music, instead a band that played both German and English songs. Also, people smoke IN the arena, instead of going outside to a smoking section.

Tomorrow we move onto Köln (Cologne) and Matt and I will separate. Matt will attend a 4 day orientation for his job and I will stay in a hotel and do some sight seeing. Looking forward to it for the most part, just not the traveling part.