"It's not about seeing beautiful places. It's about seeing the beauty in every place..."
GERMANY DIARY
- June 2013 -
After
my trip to the Netherlands, I visited my Aunt for the next four days. Its
short, but that is the maximum days I can take my leave off work at that time.
I took a flight via KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to Bremen, where my Aunt and family
welcomed me with warm hugs and drove me to their humble home in the Suburbs. It
was my first time to experience the European Suburbs (Checked this out from my
wish list!). Had a welcoming dinner cooked by my Aunt: Home cooked pasta and a
glass of sparkling wine called Prosecco. The next morning I had fruits
and cereal for breakfast. Almost every morning there I have been eating fruits.
Yes, I was going to eat all the fresh fruits I can get as I have been blessed
with this Golden opportunity to Europe! Anyway, my Aunt and cousin Charlotte
spent the day with me in Bremen. I walked to the town streets
of Bremen and loved the whole atmosphere of it. It had a historical look of a
town and it feels like you are just right there in the olden times. I got to
see the Bremen Town Hall, St. Peter’s Cathedral, and
the Parliament.
They are just right next to each other. I got to see the famous statue of the Grimm’s
famous fairy tale: The Bremen Town
Musicians (about a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster which wanted to
become street musicians in Bremen). The statue was right in center of Bremen. I
visited candy shops and ate German Sausages. The real German sausages. Haha. My
Aunt took me to her favourite dessert shop called Café Knigge @Sögestrasse, Bremen.
Their cakes and hot chocolate so darn yummy!!
I had dinner at a nice
cosy restaurant (Sorry, I can’t remember the name of the restaurant), nearby
Aunt’s house and tried Bremen’s local beer Haake Beck Krausen. Their restaurant
is really very country style as they have horse in their backyards. Oh and I
forgot to mention, in Europe there is no such thing is plain water in
restaurants. They only serve sparkling water as their water needs to have taste. I
ordered White Asparagus with Breadcrumbs
Battered Fish. Came back home and took a stroll down the neighbourhood. I went
to Hamburg the following day with the Aunt and family. It was really chilly
that day so I wore a thick sweater, scarf, and a trench coat. Ever since I came
to Europe, my nose was giving me problems due to the cold weather. Due to the
cold, my nose mucus will tend to be more compared to normal. And since it is
cold, the loosen mucus will start to harden and pokes inside my nose until it
is slightly bleeding. As an Asian, my Aunt also has that even though she has
been in Germany for many, many years. So she introduced me MAR plus Nasal Spray, it
contains sea water and dexpanthenol to help moisturize and treat dry nasal
mucus. This cold remedy can help you breathe better.
I
was brought to this really cool concept of a restaurant called Achterbahn
Restaurant @Hamburg, Germany also known as Rollercoaster Restaurant Hamburg.
Yes, a ROLLERCOASTER RESTAURANT! You get seated at a large round table
together with other people. And here is how you order: 1. Select your choice of
food and drinks on a touchscreen monitor
/2. Your food and cold bottled drinks will be delivered by riding down
the rollercoaster track in a secure carrier /3. Once it reaches the bottom to
you, it will land on a table spinner and you spin it to your direction. And,
Bon Appetit! It was a fun experience!
Walked around
Hamburg and did some shopping at Hollister. I like their paper bags.
Hahaha. I got to see the beautiful Town Hall and also the Speicherstadt,
located at the port of Hamburg. It is the largest warehouse district in
the world. I managed to catch a glimpse of the Clock Tower @St. Michaelis Church
Hamburg. I did not managed to go to the top of the clock tower as it
was closed. Darn it. I tried Hamburg’s local specialty brewed beer Kolsch.
They start serving at a small glass and they will keep on refilling it whenever
it gets empty (you have to pay extra, of course). It’s a rule here, keep on
refilling until you cover the top of your beer glass with a coaster to let them
know you don’t want any more refill. There was some kind of beer and wine
festival directly outside the restaurant I ate. So I tried a few cocktails
there. That ended my second day!
I started out earlier the next day to Wattenmeer
(Wadden Sea) to experience MUDFLATS
HIKING. It actually means hiking on
muddy flat ground. To hike there, you need to reach early in the morning as
that is when the tide goes down and mudflats are a great place to walk out over
the land that was just covered by the sea. To be safe, please understand the tide schedule or ask a guide as you don’t
want to get caught out there when the tide comes back. It is really
dangerous. I wore a thick sweater, scarf, a windbreaker, and boots. Preferably
high boots as the mud will start flying around when you walk and get your jeans
dirty. It was an awesome experience out there. It was really chilly and windy
that I can’t control my hair from flipping all over my face. Hahaha. At the
beach they have beach chairs for rental. Cute yellow beach chairs. I had lunch
there at a fisherman’s restaurant. I spend the rest of the evening exploring
the neighbourhood with cousin Charlotte who was skateboarding. I was in awe
when I saw a wheat field! I haven’t seen one real life before. Had dinner at
home and went over to the neighbour’s house as they were having a birthday
party for their children. Great neighbours, everyone is so friendly! And they
say, “Finally we meet Deborah!” Looks like they were counting down the days to
finally meet one of their closest friend’s niece! It was a pleasure to meet
them! I tried their famous homemade cocktail Erdbeer-Bowle that they
insisted I should try, a strawberry
summer punch where the strawberries were soaked in pure liquor. I have to
admit, it was GOOD. That ended my third day!
On
the next day, I had lunch at Gut-Altona Restaurant @Wilderhausen
before visiting cousin Charlotte’s school. Gut-Altona is also a Hotel. I had
pasta and white wine. I love the cheese in the pasta. The few things I missed
about Europe will be the cheese, cheap wine and fresh fruits. Charlotte’s
private school is really huge. They even have horses for horse riding and
ponies for the younger kids. Wow. The entire schooling ground was in the woods,
it reminds me of children’s camp. Because I love the Erdbeer-Bowle so much the
previous day, my Aunt wanted to make it for me as my farewell dinner. Yes, it
was my last day. So sad. So I went to the Farmer’s Market for fresh
strawberries. Everything there was fresh. They pluck their own raspberries and
strawberries. Visitors were allowed to pluck their own strawberries, YAY! So I
plucked my own strawberries! It was fun! I came back home and went out for a
stroll again with Charlotte, this time it was deeper into the woods. My German
Uncle made his famous homemade Kaesespaetzle aka Cheese Spaetzle Noodle Casserole. It
was really yummy!
Here is a video on how Uncle Markus makes his Kaesespaetzle:
It
was a great farewell home cooked meal: Cheese Spaetzle Noodle Casserole, Dumpling
& Meatball Soup, and Strawberry Summer Punch. This whole Europe experience
was great. From Netherlands to Germany, I can’t wait for more future travels! I
want to thank my Aunt, Uncle Markus, and cousin Charlotte for the hospitality
they have given me. I miss them already!
Oh yea, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines lost my luggage when I flew back to Amsterdam for transit. It was so troublesome. Not only that, when they found my luggage and unlocked the bag to check my belongings... They did NOT lock it back. Since it was not locked when it arrived to Malaysia, the Malaysian custom decided to "confiscate" all of my food. Who does that?? Typical Malaysians. They just took it for themselves. So DISAPPOINTED.
♥deborahk.
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