Hanne

10 April 2009

It is good that I am writing about two days at once here because they overlap in the time difference between here and NZ. For example, today it is still the 10th here, approximately 9pm. And the 10th is my sister’s birthday. But I rang her last night, on our 9th, and it is no longer her birthday for her even though it is for me! Time warps.

Yesterday I did very German things. Or rather, very tourist-in-Germany things. Such as sitting in a beer garden with a beer and bretzel, high on a mountain, with snow on the alps in the distance. Apparently quite a few people come here for their holidays. The other fun thing I did was climb a mountain. And then on top of the mountain was a tower. So I climbed the tower. It rocked in the wind like a pirate’s crow’s nest. I am not sure that climbing a mountain is really that German, but I am sure that many Germans enjoy doing it too, so slotting it into that category is permissible.

I also wanted to go to IKEA to see the store that everyone has been raving about but we weren’t sure when it closed and it was already 7pm. I am sure you will hear all about that after I see it though. A shopping centre as a tourist attraction… probably makes this town sound quite quaint. But not nearly so much as Altötting. And I am actually really excited to see it!

Today Judith (Clara’s sister) invited me along to do some ‘geo-caching’. It is really fun, like a grown up’s treasure hunt. You print out the clues from the net, go to each set of coordinates, match the spot to a picture and then match the picture number to the letter of the spot. Eg. A is 45, B 19 etc. At the end you have an equation to solve eg A*C+(D+D+B-K)*L. Yep, algebra and substitution! Then you get a final set of coordinates and put them in a GPS which you follow to find a prize! And if you take a prize with you, you can swap it for one in the box! I would really like to try it at home too. And you can make your own treasure hunts and put them on the net. So really it is like orienteering but more to do with the head and problem solving than running fast.

What else? Well, of course it is Easter here too so everyone is having a holiday, and on Sunday we will go out to lunch. Also I found out that in the Mensa (like a student cafeteria, there are 4 in Freiburg) they serve only Fish on Fridays. Well, Fish or rice pudding. But who wants to eat a huge bowl of rice pudding for lunch and dinner? Too bad if you are vegetarian, really.

One neat thing they have here is Eis-cafes. They sell icecream. All sorts of icecream. And whenever it is sunny, people automatically go t oan Eiscafe. Today I went into one for the first time and ordered spaghetti bolognaise. Made out of icecream. Spaghetti strands of vanilla, strawberry sauce, white chocolate on top.. mmm yum! You can also order steak and fries. Or amazing sundaes, with fruit and umbrellas and sprinkles and sauce and EVERYTHING. We should open one in NZ to rival Mövenpick, it makes Mövenpick look utterly boring in comparison!

I think that’s about all I have to say at the moment, but I am aware that this is the Kiwibiker forum ,so in order to keep this blog SLIGHTLY on topic, I shall add the following:
Brommm. Brooom broom brooooooom BRRROOM.

Schöne Ostern.

Hanne