last week after coming back from berlin was for the most part pretty relaxed. went to a wine tasting on boats in zurich on wednesday, that was very good. i really like wine now. i feel like it's an extension of loving food, i can honestly say that i can smell and taste a lot of flavours in good wine. that was pretty fun.
went out to zurich again on thursday, looked for more shoes, ate the worst piece of pizza i have ever had from some really sketchy place. and then went and ate some good indian food after which made up for it. also reserved trains for my christmas trip, i am really excited for that now actually. vienna, budapest, and prague. looong train rides, but with great company, it will be awesome i know already.
friday was a big birthday party at one of the intern houses. it was a great party. like one of the best house parties ever.
saturday, went to this photo exposition just here in baden, stayed only for a little while cause it was in german - i would have really really enjoyed it i think if i understood what was going on. but saw some new cameras and massive lens and some pretty good photography so that was good enough. then went out to zurich on a mission to find a guitar, which i did, and i got. i am so excited to learn to play, my fingers hurt already but i like it. also tried to find a ski shop to rent skis, but me and chris obviously didn't write down directions or addresses, being the men that we are. so we just wandered around zurich hardbrucke for awhile, it was a beautiful day though so i wasn't fazed at all. going home through zurich, we walked down by the lake and saw the alps in behind zurichersee. very cool, reminds me a lot of how you can see the rockies on the horizon from calgary...
yesterday i made some butternut squash soup, and it was pretty good. new john mayer album tomorrow, i am also excited for that.
going to london this weekend, should be fun!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
berlin
last week there was a small christmas market in baden, just alongthe main street badstrasse and there were a lot of stands selling stuff like mittens and sweets like candied almonds and gingerbread and stuff like that, it was very cool, looking forward to going to a big christmas market in germany in a little while.
went to berlin on friday after work from basel, about an hour and a half flight. got there at night, went to the hostel, took awhile cause the s-bahn was a little messed up just then. walked to the reichstag at night, stood in line for a bit, but it was very awesome going up there at night. mirrors, glass, windows, view of the city at night. so it was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall so there as just a ton of stuff set up around brandenburg gate, it was very very cool. something once in a lifetime for sure. proceeded to go eat some kebabs at 'pergamon bistro' where we would end up eating 90% of our meals in berlin. nothing better than 3 euro kebabs, that is about 4.50 chf which is less than half of what a 10 chf kebab is in switzerland. and also ate a currywurst as well as the kebab. it was alright, i expected better. come to think of it i also ate a falafel in addition to that as well. after dinner we pretty much started wandering around. somehow wandered into the most awesome art collective building ever. it's called 'tacheles' and it's an old building that artists have been squatting for years. randomly, we followed these people carrying old beat up brass instruments up these stairs in this completely graffiti-ed building. there were people selling stuff like clothes prints and jewellry, very very cool. i honestly was so taken away in this place. stood there and listened to the band play for a long time. somehow they were so good, so into it, just a great time. there were 4 floors i think in this place, we explored all of them. there was another band playing home pipe instruments including a homemade bagpipe. this other artist's exhibition was really just incredible as well. and just all over the place awesome graffiti. there are also two bars i think that are attached to this place.
the next day, got up and went on a free walking tour of the city. started by brandenburg gate, there were a lot of people there obviously for the whole event thing, but managed to get on the tour. walked around for a good 4.5 hours actually, but it was very good. lots of history, lots of stuff to see. cool city. went to the holocaust memorial again and went through the museum, it was pretty sobering but yea, should probably have gone through it. went for more food, obviously kebabs again, and then went out that night. didn't really stay out too late though.
sunday we went to go see the east side gallery, all of it had been freshly repainted - just a long section of the berlin wall that's now a big outdoor gallery, it was very cool, about the length of an interval between s-bahn stops. it was also pretty cold this weekend just throwing that out there. after this, we went to a great outdoor market, forget what it's called now, but there was a lot of just junk there, but also some really neat stuff. old cameras, food, i bought a couple t shirts, lots of socks, ate some corn. watched some random karaoke, started a dance party in a field with random speakers at 4:30 in the afternoon. it was great. didn't really do too much else this night, just hung out at the kebab place, wandered around some more - the next morning was getting up at 5:00am to get to the airport to get home, and then for work once getting back to baden at 9:30 am. but it was a really cool trip, nothing like i have ever seen before.
the city is somehow so "real". it's kinda dirty, artsy, grungy, just a lot of stuff has happened there, and it definitely shows still, but the people are cool, lots of arts and culture going on. yea, an interesting place, i feel like everyone should visit there.
went to berlin on friday after work from basel, about an hour and a half flight. got there at night, went to the hostel, took awhile cause the s-bahn was a little messed up just then. walked to the reichstag at night, stood in line for a bit, but it was very awesome going up there at night. mirrors, glass, windows, view of the city at night. so it was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall so there as just a ton of stuff set up around brandenburg gate, it was very very cool. something once in a lifetime for sure. proceeded to go eat some kebabs at 'pergamon bistro' where we would end up eating 90% of our meals in berlin. nothing better than 3 euro kebabs, that is about 4.50 chf which is less than half of what a 10 chf kebab is in switzerland. and also ate a currywurst as well as the kebab. it was alright, i expected better. come to think of it i also ate a falafel in addition to that as well. after dinner we pretty much started wandering around. somehow wandered into the most awesome art collective building ever. it's called 'tacheles' and it's an old building that artists have been squatting for years. randomly, we followed these people carrying old beat up brass instruments up these stairs in this completely graffiti-ed building. there were people selling stuff like clothes prints and jewellry, very very cool. i honestly was so taken away in this place. stood there and listened to the band play for a long time. somehow they were so good, so into it, just a great time. there were 4 floors i think in this place, we explored all of them. there was another band playing home pipe instruments including a homemade bagpipe. this other artist's exhibition was really just incredible as well. and just all over the place awesome graffiti. there are also two bars i think that are attached to this place.
the next day, got up and went on a free walking tour of the city. started by brandenburg gate, there were a lot of people there obviously for the whole event thing, but managed to get on the tour. walked around for a good 4.5 hours actually, but it was very good. lots of history, lots of stuff to see. cool city. went to the holocaust memorial again and went through the museum, it was pretty sobering but yea, should probably have gone through it. went for more food, obviously kebabs again, and then went out that night. didn't really stay out too late though.
sunday we went to go see the east side gallery, all of it had been freshly repainted - just a long section of the berlin wall that's now a big outdoor gallery, it was very cool, about the length of an interval between s-bahn stops. it was also pretty cold this weekend just throwing that out there. after this, we went to a great outdoor market, forget what it's called now, but there was a lot of just junk there, but also some really neat stuff. old cameras, food, i bought a couple t shirts, lots of socks, ate some corn. watched some random karaoke, started a dance party in a field with random speakers at 4:30 in the afternoon. it was great. didn't really do too much else this night, just hung out at the kebab place, wandered around some more - the next morning was getting up at 5:00am to get to the airport to get home, and then for work once getting back to baden at 9:30 am. but it was a really cool trip, nothing like i have ever seen before.
the city is somehow so "real". it's kinda dirty, artsy, grungy, just a lot of stuff has happened there, and it definitely shows still, but the people are cool, lots of arts and culture going on. yea, an interesting place, i feel like everyone should visit there.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
nothing that special
last weekend was very relaxing. didn't really do too much, watched the movie "desparado" on friday, it is very ridiculous/good. went to zurich on saturday, walked around, ate some chestnuts, went shopping, there are some cool shops in the old town area of zurich. got a pair of shoes and a sweater. went home and made some noodles, hung out and drank some wine, went back out to zurich to find a halloween party, ended up just wandering around and getting lost and coming back late.
it was one of the best sundays ever, just really chill, went for a walk in the forest which is just beautiful now with all the fall colours and stuff.
went to go see rise against in zurich yesterday! one of my favorite bands and it was a good show in a small bar, it was a good time rockin out.
going to go bowling this week, and then berlin on the weekend!
it was one of the best sundays ever, just really chill, went for a walk in the forest which is just beautiful now with all the fall colours and stuff.
went to go see rise against in zurich yesterday! one of my favorite bands and it was a good show in a small bar, it was a good time rockin out.
going to go bowling this week, and then berlin on the weekend!
Monday, October 26, 2009
wellness weekend
went to ikea the other day and it was quite good, i like just walking around in there. i bought a knife which i have been needing for awhile, i can cook twice as fast again now.
went on this wellness weekend thing on friday night with iaeste. basically hiked through the night, it was snowing for a couple hours, it was cold, i was wet, the trail was deceptively uphill, i was tired. drank a bunch of wine prior as well. stopped for hot soup and stuff, it was good. made it to this shelter thing at like 4 am. the stars came out, there was a fire, i threw a sandwich on the ground, i tried to eat a sandwich and pulled my jaw muscle. ate breakfast, walked down and the sun was coming up, napped for like 20 minutes on the grass. went down to the town brunnen, to this place called swiss holiday park. there are roman baths there, which are basically just nicely set up hot tubs and steam rooms and saunas, it was so relaxing. there was also a nap room that smelled nice, had calming music and comfy chair/bed things. great! after the spa was dinner at this italian restaurant, i had some delicious pasta and soup. took the train home, got stuck in arth goldau for like 45 minutes. went home and still stayed up for a bit to frame some pics and put them up around the house, it's much nicer now with a bit of art on the walls, also dave painted a picture and that is up as well.
had a good sleep in day on sunday, made some delicious breakfast of eggs benedict. nothing better than poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. just chilled all day, went to play some telephone pictionary which is a sweet game, put some pictures up, stuff like that.
it's been a good week so far, just cooking a bunch of food and baking again tonight. no plans for halloween weekend yet, just party somewhere i guess.
went on this wellness weekend thing on friday night with iaeste. basically hiked through the night, it was snowing for a couple hours, it was cold, i was wet, the trail was deceptively uphill, i was tired. drank a bunch of wine prior as well. stopped for hot soup and stuff, it was good. made it to this shelter thing at like 4 am. the stars came out, there was a fire, i threw a sandwich on the ground, i tried to eat a sandwich and pulled my jaw muscle. ate breakfast, walked down and the sun was coming up, napped for like 20 minutes on the grass. went down to the town brunnen, to this place called swiss holiday park. there are roman baths there, which are basically just nicely set up hot tubs and steam rooms and saunas, it was so relaxing. there was also a nap room that smelled nice, had calming music and comfy chair/bed things. great! after the spa was dinner at this italian restaurant, i had some delicious pasta and soup. took the train home, got stuck in arth goldau for like 45 minutes. went home and still stayed up for a bit to frame some pics and put them up around the house, it's much nicer now with a bit of art on the walls, also dave painted a picture and that is up as well.
had a good sleep in day on sunday, made some delicious breakfast of eggs benedict. nothing better than poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. just chilled all day, went to play some telephone pictionary which is a sweet game, put some pictures up, stuff like that.
it's been a good week so far, just cooking a bunch of food and baking again tonight. no plans for halloween weekend yet, just party somewhere i guess.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
eindhoven
last week i baked some chocolate muffins and they were very tasty. it is also very cold here now. i ate some roasted chestnuts from the roasted chestnut stand in the train station.
last thursday i took a plane to dusseldorf and some of my relatives (my dad's cousin and her kids who now also have kids) came and picked me up for the hour drive to eindhoven in holland. it was a great time, i ate so much food. went to go see these giant seawalls in zeeland on the north sea which was like an hour and a half drive away, went on a boat, ate a lot of mussels. these dams were built in the 60's-70's and they are massive. without dams, 65% of the netherlands would be underwater. pretty cool. it is really flat there. holland is famous for windmills, but the only windmills i saw were giant wind turbines. and i saw a lot of them. it was also really windy.
last thursday i took a plane to dusseldorf and some of my relatives (my dad's cousin and her kids who now also have kids) came and picked me up for the hour drive to eindhoven in holland. it was a great time, i ate so much food. went to go see these giant seawalls in zeeland on the north sea which was like an hour and a half drive away, went on a boat, ate a lot of mussels. these dams were built in the 60's-70's and they are massive. without dams, 65% of the netherlands would be underwater. pretty cool. it is really flat there. holland is famous for windmills, but the only windmills i saw were giant wind turbines. and i saw a lot of them. it was also really windy.
came back to the house, ate hot pot for dinner, just ate so much food. shrimp and beef and some crab too and it was just good. stayed up and chatted for awhile and now i know a lot of stories about my dad.
woke up the next day and went to go see one of the kids' football matches, it was pretty cool just to kinda walk around and act like a local. the kid was very good, scored two goals. also after every game they make them take penalty kicks, so that when it comes down to penalties in the world cup or something they will have a lifetime of experience. pretty serious.
after the game i went just for a drive around eindhoven, got some of the stuff pointed out to me, places that my dad used to work and go to school and live and stuff like that. very cool. then went to eat dim sum in this restaurant in the middle of the city. it was also pretty good food. then just walked around town for a bit, some pretty cool art and stuff just around the city. then went to phillips stadium, where PSV plays their matches, there was a game that night but tickets were sold out...next time though.
i got the kids to take me around the neighbourhood and show me their school and parks and stuff, they took me to the bibliotheek. it was fun, kids are cute. also pretty cool seeing a bunch of asian kids running around speaking dutch. went out to the most ridiculous restaurant for dinner, all you can eat pretty much everything that exists. so much fish and seafood, i must have eated 100 shrimps. like sashimi, pickled herring, shrimp, carpaccio, and choose your own grill, so steaks and lamb chops and fish and more shrimp and fish and just. have not eaten that much good food in a long time.
they also took me to a store and i bought some food supplies, like noodles and lemongrass and stuff like that. i went home and just had so much stuff in my backpack. the best were stroopwafels and this dutch black licorice called droop.
i had to get up at like 6 on sunday to drive back to dusseldorf to catch the plane back to zurich, it was such a good weekend though, i'm gonna go back soon.
i came back on sunday morning and pretty much immediately went hiking by kandersteg, it was very cool, green fields, red and yellow trees, and white snowy mountains. a little chilly, but nice fall weather and colours. it was looking really terrible when we walked out the door but i'm glad i went hiking, it was a good short 3 hour one. took a bunch of good pictures too i think.
Monday, October 12, 2009
thanksgiving and europapark
chilled out last week for the most part, went to watch district 9 in perhaps the smallest theater in history, it was a good movie though. went on a tour of a nuclear power plant on saturday morning, it's about 30 minutes away from here, close to germany. very cool to go and stand inside the cooling tower, it's like a big steam room. lots of info that i'm sure i should have remembered from the past 2 years of studying stuff like that. definitely neat to see and something that i would not be able to see at home.
we had thanksgiving dinner on saturday night, got together and ate so much food, chicken, sweet potatoes, pie, just lots of really good food. and some good wine too, nothing better than friends and food and good times really.
had to wake up early on sunday morning, to take the train to freiburg for europapark. apparently the biggest amusement park in germany/europe? in any case it was pretty cool. roller coasters are awesome. after bungee jumping, all of a sudden theme park rides are pretty chill, it's a really cool feeling. of course some carnie food like mini donuts, but i think the ones at the stampede are still pretty good. slept a lot on the 3 hour train ride there and back though, all that food for thanksgiving really took it out of me haha.
flatmates were out for the weekend in istanbul, it was pretty nice to have the place to myself for awhile though. the leaves are falling off the trees, i crunched a bunch of them on my walk to work today.
we had thanksgiving dinner on saturday night, got together and ate so much food, chicken, sweet potatoes, pie, just lots of really good food. and some good wine too, nothing better than friends and food and good times really.
had to wake up early on sunday morning, to take the train to freiburg for europapark. apparently the biggest amusement park in germany/europe? in any case it was pretty cool. roller coasters are awesome. after bungee jumping, all of a sudden theme park rides are pretty chill, it's a really cool feeling. of course some carnie food like mini donuts, but i think the ones at the stampede are still pretty good. slept a lot on the 3 hour train ride there and back though, all that food for thanksgiving really took it out of me haha.
flatmates were out for the weekend in istanbul, it was pretty nice to have the place to myself for awhile though. the leaves are falling off the trees, i crunched a bunch of them on my walk to work today.
Monday, October 5, 2009
oktoberfest
went for all you can eat sushi last wednesday in waldshut in germany, ate far too much and couldn't really breathe. after not having sushi in months i realize now that it could very well be my favorite food, very tasty. and some other asian foods besides sushi too which was also good i have to admit.
oktoberfest is in munich and we took the train there on thursday night, it's like a 5 hour train ride from zurich. drank some beer on the train there in preparation. got there and found our campsite, which i liked a lot actually, there's nothing better than camping period, even if it's not really that legit and it's kinda like camping in your backyard. just something about sleeping outside under the stars.
w0ke up early, head down to the oktoberfest fair grounds by a short tram ride. eat a big pretzel. manage to get seats in the hofbrau tent, proceed to drink 3 liters of very good tasting beer in about half an hour. the atmosphere in the tents is just incredible, people singing, drinking, cheers-ing, in general having a great time. and also the food, the food smells/tastes so delicious. the fair itself is also very cool, pretty much like stampede except for more drinking and different (tastier) food. went on some rides after the beer tent, after eating half chickens. bought a sweet hat. went on the ferris wheel, in a fun house, some spinny ride that was probably not a great idea, and bumper cars. the bumper cars were difficult to drive. kind of slept in a park i think. ate some more random food like popcorn and a sausage. walked into another beer tent which was very rowdy, but unfortunately could not get a seat. by the way you need to be sitting at a table in order to buy beer. went back to the campsite and somehow managed to meet up with everyone else that we separated from after the beer tent at a convenience store on the way. just chilled out and ate some delicious pork roast dinner at the campsite. played some settlers of catan which i won. i like that game. felt great, just chilled out, laid on the grass outside for awhile, i would say that 70% of the group weren't doing that well and were passed out in their tents.
head out to the grounds again on saturday morning. pretty much repeated what happened the previous morning, but this time the tent wasn't the greatest. food in there was still delicious though. went on some more rides after that, roller coaster, giant swings. ate half a roasted duck. left the grounds, wander through some trains to get to this giant park. a standing wave on the river through it had people surfing on it. took a nap in the grass by a small waterfall. the city of munich is very pretty, i really liked the buildings. walked around the center of town for awhile, past the royal palace, some churches, and ended up in some bar/restaurant. it was pretty much like the german equivalent of an irish pub. ate some sausages and sauerkraut for dinner, it was soooo good. and a few more liters of beer obviously, it was really, really good weissbier too, definitely one of my favorites of all time. too bad they don't export augustiner from munich. just means i'll have to go back. some delicious apple strudel for dessert too. wander back to the campsite, singing very loudly on the tram ride back. played this game called telephone pictionary which was very fun.
woke up and packed up, caught a free walking tour. ended up eating and drinking more, in the hofbrauhaus, this big beer hall. caught the train back home.
oktoberfest is in munich and we took the train there on thursday night, it's like a 5 hour train ride from zurich. drank some beer on the train there in preparation. got there and found our campsite, which i liked a lot actually, there's nothing better than camping period, even if it's not really that legit and it's kinda like camping in your backyard. just something about sleeping outside under the stars.
w0ke up early, head down to the oktoberfest fair grounds by a short tram ride. eat a big pretzel. manage to get seats in the hofbrau tent, proceed to drink 3 liters of very good tasting beer in about half an hour. the atmosphere in the tents is just incredible, people singing, drinking, cheers-ing, in general having a great time. and also the food, the food smells/tastes so delicious. the fair itself is also very cool, pretty much like stampede except for more drinking and different (tastier) food. went on some rides after the beer tent, after eating half chickens. bought a sweet hat. went on the ferris wheel, in a fun house, some spinny ride that was probably not a great idea, and bumper cars. the bumper cars were difficult to drive. kind of slept in a park i think. ate some more random food like popcorn and a sausage. walked into another beer tent which was very rowdy, but unfortunately could not get a seat. by the way you need to be sitting at a table in order to buy beer. went back to the campsite and somehow managed to meet up with everyone else that we separated from after the beer tent at a convenience store on the way. just chilled out and ate some delicious pork roast dinner at the campsite. played some settlers of catan which i won. i like that game. felt great, just chilled out, laid on the grass outside for awhile, i would say that 70% of the group weren't doing that well and were passed out in their tents.
head out to the grounds again on saturday morning. pretty much repeated what happened the previous morning, but this time the tent wasn't the greatest. food in there was still delicious though. went on some more rides after that, roller coaster, giant swings. ate half a roasted duck. left the grounds, wander through some trains to get to this giant park. a standing wave on the river through it had people surfing on it. took a nap in the grass by a small waterfall. the city of munich is very pretty, i really liked the buildings. walked around the center of town for awhile, past the royal palace, some churches, and ended up in some bar/restaurant. it was pretty much like the german equivalent of an irish pub. ate some sausages and sauerkraut for dinner, it was soooo good. and a few more liters of beer obviously, it was really, really good weissbier too, definitely one of my favorites of all time. too bad they don't export augustiner from munich. just means i'll have to go back. some delicious apple strudel for dessert too. wander back to the campsite, singing very loudly on the tram ride back. played this game called telephone pictionary which was very fun.
woke up and packed up, caught a free walking tour. ended up eating and drinking more, in the hofbrauhaus, this big beer hall. caught the train back home.
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