Deutschland!

I've finally managed to work around my problem of uploading photos (thanks to Lola and Village Boy) so here are a few of my favourite pictures from my trip to Germany in Dec last year.

It was my first time there, and that coupled with the fact that I was gonna see my baby again left me with butterflies and ladybugs playing catch in my tummy. Anyway, I touched down at about 0530hrs on the 10th after a 13 hour flight, to cold cold weather, and sat through a four hour drive to Herbertingen, a beautiful little village, south of Stuttgart, where my sweetie puts up.

It was foggy with very little sun there, due to its close proximity to the Danube, but still very very pretty for everything was blanketed by frost.

The rest of this post I'll divide in sections based on the places I've been. It's gonna be pretty photo-heavy but I hope you'll enjoy them all the same...


MUNICH - 11th to 13th DEC

My first little adventure was to Munich to catch the Stuttgart-Bayern Munich game. A very important one apparently because my sweetie is a huge Stuttgart fan and absolutely detests Bayern-Munich... The train we took was a specially commissioned one to ferry the hardcore Stuttgart supporters to the battlegrounds. Celebrations were well underway by the time we got on board. Beer cans and vodka bottles were at an abundance, with a loud cacophony of 'singing' to accompany them. We chose not to sit in the cabins. Wasn't prepared to get drenched with beer...




Over-enthusiastic fans leaning out of the train at almost every station chanting and singing. Very amusing.




Munich station. It was jammed with bodies and security was tight. Yet, some drunk bugger figured it would be fun to throw a smoke bomb. Sad to say he didn't make it to the game once the police got to him.




My first experience at a football match in a stadium. The atmosphere was so contagious it wasn't long before I was chanting along (or trying to at least) with the Stuttgart fans.




Goal to Stuttgart!! Jochen (L) and Simon looked like little kids who'd just been told they could eat candy all day...




After sitting for almost 2 hours in -3^oC temperatures, (I swear I was frozen!!) it was time to treat ourselves to some Feuerzangen - a type of mulled wine - to defrost ourselves.


The next couple of days were spent walking around the city and taking in the sights. I was also introduced to a typical Bavarian breakfast, consisting of Weiswürst (white sausages), pretzels and weisbier. (I stuck to camomile tea btw... i needed all the warmth i could get!)


ULM - 14th DEC

Ulm is a small town about an hour away from Herbertingen by train, also the birth place of Albert Einstein, and home to the tallest church steeple in the world. Unfortunately we weren't able to climb to the top due to ice on the steps. Was quite diappointed.




Standing at 528 ft, visitors are allowed to ascend up to the 3rd gallery (469ft), after climbing a total of 768 steps.




My 2 favourite pictures of Ulm, the Danube running through the town, and cobblestoned streets, lending a very romantic air to the place.


BERLIN - 15th to 18th DEC

We bunked in with Jochen's best friend, Adam and his Colombian girlfriend, Carina. It was really nice of them to take us in for those 4 days.




Carina busy in the kitchen preparing dinner.


We spent the next few days just walking and visiting the major touristy spots. Our feet were sore and ready to fall off after the 3rd day. Jochen felt it the most since he'd not only been out with me in the days, but spent the nights out with Adam as well. Poor baby...




The Dom zum Berlin resplendent in the rays of the evening sun.





I was strongly requested to have this picture taken :)

Not bad for an amateur...

One of the many WeihnachtsMarkt (Christmas markets) I found myself braving the cold for. There was just so much to see, and the lights literally transformed the place into a fairyland making it so difficult to leave. What can I say, I'm a sucker for the right ambience... Jochen, bless his heart, followed me wherever my fancies beckoned and never once complained...

Schneeball!! These were gorgeous cookie-like munchies the size of large grapefruits. They came in an assortment of flavours, ranging from plain, to ones laden with amaretto. Yum! They also cost €3 each!

HERBERTINGEN

I was hell bent on seeing snow before I came back to Singapore, and up to the 18th, there was absoulutely no inkling of any snow whatsoever. I was starting to get a little worried. And then it happened. The day we were set to leave Berlin, the 4 of us were sitting in McDonalds (coz we missed our train home) when Jochen grabbed my arm and pointed outside. Falling gently from the sky, looking beautiful, soft and fluffy, were millions of snowflakes. It looked so magical, I was almost in awe... I just had to run outside and feel them on my face...

The little village of Herbertingen, looking like something straight out of a Christmas story picture book...

The field seen from his kitchen window at sunset.

My baby whipping us up a couple of unhealthy packets of instant noodles!

A get-together of most of Jochen's good friends at his place.

The remainder of the days were spent doing day-trips to nearby towns. We made a couple more visits to Ulm for Christmas presents, and 1 to Augsberg for a swim at the swimming club. Then as Christmas approached we stayed home more often. Christmas was lovely, as expected, and I particularly enjoyed watching his younger siblings tear open their presents and exclaim in excitement over each new item they received.

Well that's a snippet of my little holiday. Can't wait to see what it would be like in June!