From Germany, to Paris.

My trip to Germany was fantastic. It was great to catch up with my friend M, got very spoiled being chauffeured around everywhere in new fancy cars - so apprently new Mercedes can talk to you and you can talk back, who knew- and had lots of wonderful food, and visited a new city.

Plane ride over was interesting, I boarded two tiny planes and it always worries me a bit when you can see the propeller out of the window. But I love flying so I took it in stride, and took a photo:

I love Germany, and Germans- they are efficient, and do everything well! Upon my arrival at Frankfurt airpot to get my connecting flight to Nuremberg I found this great fancy shop: Dallmayr

It was a gourmet food shop, a bit like Harrods crossed with the French store i love Oliviers & Co. But They even had Limoncello! yes the famous Italian after dinner liqueur. I could not believe it a traditional German house would make this, but I truly believe there is nothing the Germans can't do. 

As soon as I got off the plane, M and I went shoe shopping. Yes, something only women can do- and as FF would say , that's just how we roll. It was wonderful.. especially because as the Dutch are the tallest people in the world, I can never find my shoe size here- 36 here in Amsterdam. I found great shoes on sale, armed and ready for the weekend.

We went to Bamberg, which is a gorgeous medieval city about an hour away, there was a beer festival there and the town was happening.

 It had a castle and all, this gorgeous river running through the centre of the town..

Party town

Here is the castle, although that's not me pointing up at it:

 The sides of the castle were all decorated and painted:

We walked around to the old square which was full of toursits and admired the goodness of Medieval German and Romanesque architecture.

 

Ye olde Catheral

Even more exciting was the Old Palace-occupied by bishops who kept flour on the top floors for storage and food, and miraculously this is all preserved exceedingly well. I think, don't quote me on this, M and I had walked a lot by then and don't let the clouds full you, it was 26C and very hot. Coming from 14C Dutch weather it was a big shock to the system.

We then kept walking around and it was time for a late lunch and refreshments. Just follow the guy with the pretzels..

 

You know you're in Germany when..

 More shots of the old palace

M knew a great brewery nearby, apparently the beer from there is famous. I wouldn't know because I don't drink beer- I know this would be enough to get me kicked out of Germany! but thankfully M's husband doesn't drink at all and he's German, so I just stick to wine and carry on.

Shot of the famous German steins- big beer glasses

I'm also a vegetarian- I know, this would be enough to get me kicked out of Germany definitely, but we surprisingly found two vegetarian dishes on the menu amongst the 20 other meat ones and we shared it so I could try traditional German food- a rarity at being vegetarian.

We walked around a bit longer and sat by the water to admire the gorgeous scenery and soak up the atmosphere..

Then walked around the old style shops, where we came across this gardening store. I love garden gnomes and these were so cute and different, I wish I had a garden..

Then it was finally time for one last drink- I tried a traditional German drink called Hugo- a very old style recipe- elder flower made into a syrup and then just add Prosecco. Perfect on a hot afternoon..

Sunday was back home to reality of clouds and cold Dutch weather. But I can't complain Germany is so close and has so much to offer, I can't wait to see more of it.

This festival reminded me of the German Christmas market tour we did in December- minus the snow and freezing weather. I will post about that soon.

Upcoming weekend trip: Germany

The weather is always unpredictable here, although you can predict that it will be 95% rainy, cold and cloudy with a slight chance of sunshine. We had about five days of good weather, although it went from 20C to unbearably hot (32C+) and the cool change is welcome.

However, it is still summer and even though we spent a week and a half in the south of France not long ago, I'm not ready to wave it goodbye yet, despite what Holland thinks.
Thankfully I have a trip coming up this weekend which will remind me that summer is still ALIVE in other parts of Europe- I'm going to visit a very good friend of mine in Germany. She lives in Nuremberg which is a really pretty and old historic city.
It's got some interesting history -random facts I remember are:
-The Nuremberg trials were held there which is where the German officials were held accountable for the holocaust and war crimes when WW2 ended.
-Back in the old days of the Roman Empire it was considered an unofficial capital because the castle was used for court meetings.

Street shot in Nuremberg- I must have been walking pretty fast it's a bit crooked..

Castle side shot

The castle is big and impressing and has beautiful grounds. We did some sightseeing the last time we were there but this time it's more of  a catch up trip, so I'll probably not do much sightseeing but I will be wearing skirts and sandals and short sleeve tops outside; ie. get to experience summer for two days!

I have to do something with all those clothes I brought over from Australia.

I will also try to take some better photos. Sometimes I enjoy these kind of visits the most- where there is no pressure to run around and see all the main tourist attractions in two days, and just enjoy time with local people who live there and happen to be our friends. It also helps a lot when you don't speak German, yet I somehow end up learning more German in two days than I have Dutch in 1.5 years, but that's another story.

First three months..

Looking back, the first three months were challenging- I was looking for a job, and we moved twice.. I was lucky enough to find a job within a couple of months, which is good considering there aren't many jobs in my field in English.
We had to move out of our first apartment as we wanted a place that didn't have furniture- our furniture was due to arrive from Australia soon. Rob's work found a good apartment for us we could stay for a few months facing a canal in the Jordaan- my favourite area in Amsterdam (not cheap but they gave us a good rate). Meanwhile, hunting for an apartment was pure hell. This sounds dramatic but it was. Thankfully we had a great support system back home for encouragement, my sister, wonderful friends and family who we Skyped with regularly. This made me happy and kept me on track.

The Jordaan-historic neighbourhood 

View from our balcony-told you it was good!

The problem is this-the Amsterdam property market doesn't always rely on real estates for rentals. It's mostly done via word of mouth network- vis-a-vis. So and so has a place that they're subletting, and you have to be quick..and you have to trust that this random person you've never met will be a good landlord,and that the apartment is in good condition....
No thanks.

 If you want to go through an agent, you have to deal with a makelaar. That's Dutch for lazy, money-hungry real estate agents- you have to pay them two months rent in advance as a commission for nothing other than showing you the place; on top of the deposit for the rental property. I don't like it- but this is a very European thing. You then deal with the landlord directly afterwards for anything you need- so really that's the world's easiest job.. Showing tenants empty apartments and listing them online- sign me up please, people!
It's different to Sydney, where you don't pay real estates anything, and you always deal with agents even after you sign the lease.

Makelaars are for decoration!

Thankfully Rob found a place through a real estate and, no commission had to be paid to the makelaar. This was a scoop!  Even though it was not in the centre of Amsterdam, it's in a very nice suburban area next to the Amsterdamse Bos (a really nice big park that Dutchies love). Full of families, very quiet, not much here. But it has a kick ass shopping centre close by (indoor, this is not common in Holland despite the awful weather), and lots of lovely trees. ..so we took it.

Amsterdamse Bos

Our furniture was not due to arrive for another two weeks.. yet we had German friends visiting the first weekend we were moving in. Thankfully Ikea is here.. and oddly when you walk in there and see the same stuff you saw in Australia; get a good whiff of that Ikea plasticky, fake wood and Swedish sausages while simultaneously getting trampled on by fifty people at the entrance.. you are home, sweet home!

 Four hours, a mad scramble to the check out to make it in time before home delivery closed (I can race people with a full Ikea trolley!) two double sofa beds, copious amounts of other crap useful home wares, and a lot of Euros later we had furniture.

Arrival

It feels like a million years ago, and  yesterday all at the same time.
We arrived on a very sunny, yet chilly early February morning in Amsterdam. It was around -2C which was a big change from the 35C+ heat back in Sydney. It looked so sunny and lovely outside I thought it was a lot warmer than it actually was; and that's when I first learned that sunny days + clear skies = freezing cold weather in winter!
It was a lovely day, and despite our jetlag we were keen to get started.

What I noticed the most was the typical Dutch architecture of narrow houses and decorative gable tops with hooks where pulleys are attached to 'hoist' furniture inside houses.

Gables

Canals and bikes rule this tiny city, and give it a lot of charm.

Houseboats are scattered along canals adding lots of character

Our first night was hectic. We had to buy towels, and linen as the landlord hadn't provided it (or told us to bring it!). After a 20+Hr flight the first thing you want is a hot shower and a clean bead, I can even forego food, but we had to get our jet lagged selves out to the shops and get shopping. Thanks to Hema and other Dutch local shops and since we were staying in the centre, it was easy enough to get things.

However, carrying a duvet, pillows, and bedsheets in narrow streets while dodging  bikes and trying to stay awake was another story! but we made it. Had some food from our favourite falafel place Maoz, and collapsed in bed at around 7pm I think...

Let's get started

It's about time I keep a real log of my travels, finds, and general day-to-day happenings here in Amsterdam. I have been wanting to do this since we arrived. So 1.5 years later here it is..