Hamburg in a hostel

St Nikolai Kirche

Surprisingly the 14 hour bus trip from Krakow went rather quickly and we arrive at our hostel on Hamburg's famous Reeperbahn at around 7am. Luckily the (rather drunk) guy at reception lets us check in and after having to swap rooms (the first door wouldn't open which he was rather puzzled about) we get a quick nap before heading to the main square for a free walking tour.

Chile Haus

It was quite good - covered a lot of history of the harbour and shipping, architecture and the smaller churches including St Nikolai kirche, which was bombed in WW2 and has been left in its destroyed state as a monument.

Men's premier league handball

After the first (of many) Pfaffengluck (a herbed damper like bread with melted cheese, ham and sour cream on top) we head to the O2 Arena for the men's premier league handball. It's a great game, very fast and physical and after watching Maren play quite a few times I even sort of understand the rules.

The flying sleigh

Next day we stop past der Michel (which is closed for Sunday service) and take a quick look inside the Rathaus (town hall) and wander through the christmas markets - gluhwein, carols, wooden decorations and candles as far as the eye can see. There is even a mechanical sleigh and reindeer suspended above the market that "flys" from one end to the other twice a day - complete with a real life santa and angel inside!

Prost! Another gluhwein..........

Then to my favourite - the ice hockey! Unfortunately I have managed to get us tickets right next to the Berlin cheer squad (and they win) but is still an awesome game - super fast and hockey sticks flying and players getting slammed into the plexi glass and you get cup holders for your 1/2 litre of beer that a guy with a mini keg on his back comes to your seat and pours you a new one for only 4 euros. WIN!!



A look at the alternative St Pauli christmas markets and another room change at the hostel (this time the door wouldn't lock), then we brave the Pulverfass show - boys pretending to be girls pretending to be boys and some very nice male strippers too - something for everyone! A great show (would be even funnier if I understand all the words I'm sure) but a little bit ruined by the minimum 20euro spend and the fact they were charging 19,50 for a cocktail. OUCH!!

Rathaus Chistmas

Last day and we head to the harbour to take a look at Miniature World (my third time this year! but it is great, especially now the airport is up and running) and then catch the number 62 ferry that does a loop of the harbour included in your daily metro ticket which saves the 20euros the harbour trip boats charge!

Hamburg Christmas markets

Then it's time to say goodbye to Ola after 2 weeks together and a brilliant trip (I'm glad I just have to get the train to Maren's and not the overnight bus to Krakow)

NOW what?!

Poland and Pierogi

Krakow - Old Town Square at sunset

First pierogi deliciousness

We arrive around 9pm and I am introduced to pierogi – delicious little boiled dumplings with various fillings – Ola recommends cottage cheese and potato and I am not disappointed. I could live on these things! AND I can afford them, Krakow is ridiculously cheap – a plate of pierogi is less than 3 euros. We take a short walk to the Old Town Main Square, the impressive St Mary’s Basilica (where a bugle player plays the same tune 4 times – once in each direction – every hour), Cloth Hall and Town Hall Tower. Ola’s family is from here and I can hear her love for the city in every word she says
 

Krakow - St Mary's Bascilica

Krakow - Nativity Scene comp.

The next day we walk around the Old Town again, eat some more pierogi (cabbage and mushroom this time) and beetroot soup and check out the Nativity Scene exhibition. People take all year to build these scenes from all types of material – foil, lace, paper toll, even dried food – and some have moving parts. They are pretty special

View over Tatra mountains

Fried sheeps cheese with cranberry

Day 2 we head out to Zakopane, a small town in the Tatra Mountains. It’s really pretty and surprisingly warm for this time of year – much of the snow on the ground has melted and it is around 7 degrees. We walk through the markets and take the funicular up for some spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. Then it’s time for food – we have potato pancakes with garlic butter, bacon and sheeps cheese, bread with lard and bacon and fried sheeps cheese with cranberry jam. All fantastic.

Stroller sleighs in Zakopane

Back in Krakow we head to a piano concert of Chopin music – the pianist is very young but extremely talented and the music is just beautiful. Then to a cute little vodka bar (complete with a cute and friendly bartender) for “one” shot. We try cherry, vanilla, hazelnut and honey vodkas and a shot with bison grass vodka, apple juice and cinnamon. I sleep very well despite being woken up at 2am with the couple next door very loudly getting it on




Day 3 I visit Auschwitz and Birkenau. It has taken me this long to build up the courage to visit a concentration camp and it is very confronting. I still can’t comprehend it, even after actually being in the buildings where so many atrocities were committed. I just can’t understand how humans could do such things to each other.

The Last Supper..........in salt

Later that day I join a tour to the Wielicza Salt Mines. After walking down nearly 400 steps we walk through passageways that are hundreds of years old and see the amazing salt sculptures – there are statues, chandeliers and chapels all made out of salt. In the largest chamber, a huge room featuring 3 chandeliers and a light show, there are sculptures on the wall detailing Jesus Christ’s life – including a remake of the famous Da Vinci painting, The Last Supper. There is also a sculpture of the Polish hero, Pope John Paul II and even the tiles on the floor are made of salt. Well worth a visit

Trabants

Last day and we head out on a Trabant Communist Tour. The Trabant was a car very popular in the 1950’s at the start of the Communist era and built out of fibreglass. It’s quite small and noisy and when I squeeze into the back I find out that they only believe in seatbelts for the front seats – which is apparently fine in crazy driver Poland.

Vodka shots and pickles

We head out past Ola’s auntie’s apartment and stop at a restaurant where her mum and dad used to go on dates. It is original décor from the 1950’s and they still hold dances here on Friday nights. We get a very interesting historical lesson on the creation of the Communist estate and the propaganda that went along with it. Then back in the car and off to view a Communist apartment – everyone was given the same. Here we try vodka shots out of fish shaped shot glasses and pickles. Then we head to a deserted road where we get to try driving the Trabant – first time driving in 9 months and it’s a column shift manual, on the wrong side of the road, after 2 shots of vodka. Safety first in Eastern Europe!

Sure I can drive

We then visit a milk bar – a worker’s canteen where traditional food is sold at government subsidised prices – I try cabbage rolls stuffed with rice and mincemeat with a creamy mushroom sauce – not bad (but nothing beats pierogi). Great tour although I ensure I write “seatbelts” on my feedback form suggestions.

Ginger hot chocolate and chilli praline

We walk past Krakow castle and down the oldest street in the city – many of the cobblestones are still originals from the 13^th century - and head to Ola’s favourite café where I have ginger hot chocolate and a chilli praline. Then it’s time to head to the bus station for our 14 hour overnighter to Hamburg (yuck).

The original winter wonderland – Tromso

Sunset at noon flying into Tromso

Early start to the airport (with correct train tickets purchased) and I awake after a brief nap on the plane to what looks like icebergs floating as far as the eye can see. We have arrived in the Arctic Circle, right up the top of Norway – home of 24 hour darkness in mid-winter and the midnight sun in summer. It is 12pm and I take photos of the sun setting as we land and I am stunned by the beauty of the scenery, it is like nothing I have ever seen before and it is truly breath taking.

Tromso Cathedral

Tromso main street

And I thought there was a lot of snow in Oslo! We have to walk up a reasonably steep hill to our accommodation and I don’t think I will make it with my suitcase but my snow boots (thanks Mum) go well in the fresh powder and we are checked in and asleep in no time, ready for our Northern Lights tour that evening.

Fire on the snow covered beach

We find all you can eat pizza for around AU$16 (never want to eat pizza again either.) and then meet our guide and head out around ½ hour outside Tromso while he informs us that the weather conditions are some of the best for a while and we should see the lights at some stage during the night. No luck at the first stop and it is FREEZING standing out on the ice (only around -5 degrees and luckily no wind but still cold!). We head to the next stop – a beach. Yes, an icy beach – we stand in the snow on the sand while guide Gunnar builds a fire and listen to the waves – it’s amazing. Unfortunately the lights never make an appearance – we have a good time standing around the fire, chatting and marvelling at the surroundings but we are all surprised and disappointed when we finally head home.



View over Tromso from lookout

Next day we reassure ourselves that surely we will see the lights tonight – and head up in a cable car to a lookout over Tromso. What we see from the top is a picture perfect winter scene – snow, water, rows of little houses with lights on and the inky blue of the early afternoon dark. We would have stayed outside forever taking photos if we didn’t lose the feeling in our fingers and have to go inside for hot chocolate.

Ola and I in our survival suits

That night we do what is quite possibly the most amazing thing I have done in my life – head out into the middle of nowhere – the Lyngsfjord Alps – to go Husky sledding. We suit up in survival suits, thermal boots, snow mittens and fur lined hats and head out to meet the dogs. Our team of 4 is very keen to get going, as I climb into the fur lined sled I am convinced they will take off into the wilderness without the guide. Luckily they don’t and Ola is standing behind me “steering” (we don’t really have a choice where we go, the dogs are in charge – but we do have a brake) and as soon as the guide’s sled goes, ours is moving too.

Dashing trough the snow

My huskies

It’s not actually too fast and it is unreal – we really are isolated up here. Both of us have been half joking about running into polar bears – I hope the guide ahead has a gun. We fly through snow as far as the eye can see, past rivers of half ice and through a forest (that has quite a few dips and bumps – I’m sure the dogs go faster here on purpose) and there is snow falling. I actually cry a few tears of happiness and sheer amazement at what I am doing. Halfway through the 15km trail we swap over and I find that I only have 2 bits of skinny wood to stand on whilst the dogs speed us away. It’s quite easy to get used to but I don’t know how I stayed on through the forest – the driver of the pair behind us got thrown off – starfished into the snow! We get up quite a bit of speed on the last downhill part and I have to jump on the brake with both feet to bring us to a stop. We get to play with the dogs for a little while; they are so well trained and friendly.



We then head to a Sami (local people) tent for a traditional meal and make snow angels (I have always wanted to do that!) in the snow outside. We come to a realisation that we won’t get to see the Northern Lights as the sky is covered with cloud, but I don’t mind as much anymore – the trip up here was worth every second.

AMI Hotel left a light on for us

The snow falls all night and all the next day – big, beautiful flakes float down outside the window and pile up in front of it. Unfortunately this is not good news for our flight – the airport closes for an hour when we first arrive and our flight is delayed for 4 hours (which really helps my fear of flying. Almost as much as Ola talking about “oh you remember that plane crash last year when all the Russians were killed” just before we take off. She swears we were talking about Polish/Russian relations and didn’t even think about what she was saying. I think it was the “it’s snowing” in reverse).

Snow all around in Tromso

We finally leave from a gate that is normally used for flights to an island even further north and see two signs as we walk in – one warning of the Rabies outbreak on the island, the other depicting two polar bears mauling a man and warning of the real danger of polar bears! Glad we didn’t see that on the way in!






We land in Oslo after midnight and have to stay at an airport hotel as our hostel reception is already closed. This means we head straight to the other airport on our last day (missing out on ice skating and trying the elk burgers – but maybe that isn’t such a bad thing) for our flight to Krakow

My introduction to Norway - Oslo

Landing in Oslo

I land at Oslo airport and there is snow EVERYWHERE. I have been driving everyone insane with my constant chatter about snow and now there are piles of it all over! I snap away like a crazy person through the airport windows whilst everyone tries to get past me to the arrivals gate.  

Mmmmm Elk burgers

My friend Ola's flight lands and we head to our hostel - which we later rename the men's halfway house, its nice enough but something isn't quite right.... - and then out to explore. The streets are all festively strung with christmas lights and there is an ice skating rink set up in the middle of the city next to the christmas markets. We walk past stalls selling elk burgers, reindeer sausage, mulled wine - but without alcohol - we soon discover that alcohol doesn't seem to be that popular here, mittens, mittens, mittens, waffles (scene of the hilarious comment "coffee, tea or me?" by a very cute young Norwegian) - everyone we meet is SO friendly.

Oslo Harbour

Unfortunately the prices are not - a medium McDonald's meal is around AU$16 and that is what we live on along with pizza (local specialty skink and mushrooms.......ha ha ha skink is Norwegian for ham).........not quite a healthy diet but healthier for our unemployed bank balances!

Holmenkollen

View down the ski jump

Next day we head out to the Holmenkollen ski jump - about 25 minutes by train from the city centre and fairytale winter wonderland scenery along the way. We walk up to the jump and it is so foggy we can barely see the base - but 10 minutes later (after Ola has taken a ride in the downhill skiing "stimulator") it is crystal clear - amazing how quickly the weather can change. We take a look through the Ski Museum which includes a stuffed polar bear, elk and husky and then up a very steep funicular to the top of the ski jump. It is a loooooong way down and the views of the surrounding countryside are amazing (after the fog clears). Despite the snow on the ground we have not yet seen it falling, even though Ola is finding it hilarious to look at the window and tell me it’s snowing every 5 minutes to watch my face light up and then crack up laughing. Bitch. We stay out taking photos until we can’t feel our hands and then walk back down to the train and head back into the city centre.

Oslo Royal Palace

Ticket inspectors await at the gates but we have our valid tickets so no problem – or so we think. Apparently tickets start from the time you buy them at the machine, not when you validate them, so we had purchased 2 tickets each for our journey out and none for the return…………he is very scary and angry explaining all this and that the fine is NOK900 – that is AU$151!!!! Luckily he believes me when I explain that I am a stupid tourist and I manage to escape without the fine – so I can afford dinner after all. We head to McDonald’s (I never want to eat it again.) and I am peacefully sitting there eating my McPepper burger when Ola says very seriously and slowly whilst staring over my shoulder “I don’t want to alarm you, as I’m not quite sure (at this point my heart starts beating like mad and the news reports of the recent and horrific Norwegian gunman start flashing through my head) but…………I think it’s snowing outside!!!!

It's snowing!!!

And it is!! It takes me a few minutes for my heart rate to go back to normal and then we head down to the christmas markets and drink alcohol free mulled wine and watch the ice skaters as the snowflakes fall on us. Beautiful!

London - love or a fling?

Bloody Mary for Sunday breakfast

Generally i don't like London. I've even said I hate it but that's a bit harsh. I find it cold - both temperature and vibe, grey, overcrowded, expensive, too many Australians...........I'm overseas - I want to feel like I'm somewhere DIFFERENT, not just back in Australia but with worse weather.


But then it's charms start to snake their way in - it really feels like christmas here - the lights, store fronts, christmas markets - they all give the city a brightness that brings it alive. The cute little row houses and most people are extremely polite - manners matter here. Sunday roast and bloody marys. The fantastic array of extremely trashy and cheap gossip magazines and television. The fact that I can understand everything and say exactly what I want.




It might sound funny but after being in non-english speaking countries continuously for 8 months, it took me a good 24 hours to get used to everyone talking in english, all the signs being in english and that I didn't have to think of the correct words in german, french, spanish, italian, portugese, dutch or czech for "one cup of coffee please"!

My Christmas masterpiece

I had a great 6 days catching up with old and new friends, sampling some delicious restaurants (chinese banquet with karaoke during the meal as a big highlight), the best sunday roast ever and cute little shopping streets.

So, if I do have to come and work here for a few months before I hit the road again............will it be love or never again?

TBC