High Tea in the lap of luxury, London...

Just a few metres shy of the River Thames, my friends and I made a visit to Corinthia Hotel to have our fill of exquisite sandwiches and fine desserts on our last day in London. It was overall a pleasant experience probably not to be repeated in the immediate future (and perhaps even a tad premature) given my shallow student pockets at the moment. 

However, you won't be hearing any complains from me. The sandwiches were delicious, the champagne good, the treats tasty. But my favourite part was the tea! Oh how evident the time I have spent in this country. I ordered a pot of Darjeeling tea, described on the menu as the champagne of teas. However, my driving factor was to cure the curiosity borne from Wes Anderson's movie The Darjeeling Limited.  Even when my stomach was at the verge of bursting, I continued to drink cups of tea because it was simply just so damn good. 

This ended my weekend getaway to London, which felt very much like putting on stranger's shoes masquerading around a big city. Not to mention avoiding the stresses of work calling at the back of my mind. But now I am back in my little comfort zone of a bubble, facing numbers and words everyday. As shiny the bright lights are in London, I have to admit the sigh of relief as I find myself back in the confines of my sleepy university town.

Onwards and upwards!

The Phantom of the Opera, London...

Nearly a year ago I attended my very first musical, together with my brother, we watched the West End production of Wicked. While entering into the theatre with apprehension, I came out of it so much more than just contented completely mesmerised by the performers with their elaborate dance numbers and songs, serving as both a visual and audio feast.

Impatient for the next time I get to visit West End once more, I made sure to book a ticket to a show for my trip to London. With such a wide variety to choose from, it wasn't hard to decide upon The Phantom of the Opera housed in Her Majesty's Theatre. It is after all the second longest running production in West End with the iconic composition of Andrew Lloyd Webber.  

Her Majesty's Theatre's opulent interior serves well to transport its audience to the setting of the musical itself - Opera Garnier in Paris. The story follows Christine Daae of Swedish descent, an orphan child of a deceased violinist working as a ballet girl in the Opera. In a twisted tale of love and drama, she is taken under the wings of a mysterious Phantom rumoured to roam the opera. She believes him to be the "angel of music" her father once promised her about. The Phantom disturbs the operations of the opera in order to achieve what he wants, which is Christine to be the star of his production. With modern technology, the Phantom appears to be even more ghost like with sound effects and all!

I remember watching the movie version when I was much younger. I didn't understand the premise of the story, neither did the songs register too much in my head. Watching it now at 21 in the theatre proved to be a much more fruitful experience. I am now rummaging through the vast resources of the internet educating myself on all things Phantom of the Opera. It turns out that the part of Christine was written for Sarah Brightman, who was the then wife of Andrew Lloyd Webber. 

Upon surfing through many videos on youtube (which seems to be all gen Y kids can do), I find that I thoroughly enjoy Sierra Boggess's performance as the lead. There is a special performance of the show in Royal Albert Hall that is available to watch on youtube, currently playing in the background of my life.  

It is hard to not find a reason to head down south to London with so much more theatre shows to watch. 

Winter Wonderland, London...

It seems that Christmas markets can't elude me, and I am like a fly attracted to their bright lights. After experiencing the original German ones, Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland wasn't high up on my to do list. Especially not since I was there last year as well. Going with the flow, I told myself to put on new eyes with the new year.

Without fail, the smell of hot drinks and desserts once again grasp my attention and I was soon taking out my pennies to spend on crepes and waffles. A band entertained the crowd in a cute little hut, welcoming people with itchy feet to dance to their tunes. Just before the park closed, I went up on a ride - my first in the UK and first in a rather long time - spun upside down and inside out, screamed my lungs out and had a thoroughly amazing 5 minutes. 

I won't discount Winter Wonderland again.

Maybe its because my father is an engineer, and he gets excited every time he sees an engineering feat (and points it out to us, of course), but this ferris wheel's structural veins fascinates me. I really wished I was with my family, either them with me, or me back home basking in the warm humidity that I will never take for granted again.

ich bin ein Berliner, Germany...

Before you go forward, I must warn you that the collection of photos that follow make no coordinated sense as they are more a random disorganised set of what is left from the blurry images found on my memory card. It reflects somewhat my own mindset roaming through Germany's capital, a little frazzled in the mind coming of intense train tripping of around 15 hours within 3 days.

In comparison to Munich and the other tiny towns we visited beforehand, Berlin was like a large maze much more vast with more secrets hidden in between junctions and corners waiting to be discovered by adventurous souls. It is also less photogenic due to its history with war and destruction. People often come here to reflect on the horrible incident that affected so much of us the world round. The Topography of terror, Checkpoint Charlie, and of course the Berlin Wall comes to mind at the mention of the city. We visited a concentration camp armed with an amazing tour guide who was both knowledgeable and interesting. The weather was a completely different story! During our 3-day stay in Berlin, the weather continued to rain on our parade, but it was manageable, after all we were a bunch of students calling North East England our temporary home where gloom and drizzle are two things we have become well acquainted with. On the day of our concentration camp visit, it rained, it poured, it snowed, and it even managed to hail. 

It was then I discovered how severe the holes in both my shoes were, with ice water seeping in to freeze my feet numb as snow continued to fall so fervently from the sky. It somehow painted a more believable picture of the camp transporting us back to a time where it was still in use. Without, the camp looked pretty much as it was, a now deserted operation for people to visit and imagine its life in the past. In other words, unused. Everyone was pretty much freezing with the chill burning us right down to our bones, we were soaking wet and shivering in the cold, but we were also layered up with modern day technology-infused winter wear. Whereas the prisoners back in the day only had their striped uniform that could hardly keep out any cold, or keep in any warmth. It is no wonder many of them succumbed to exhaustion and brutality of the natural environment.  

Two things that stand out in my memory now back from the trip is the Berlin Cathedral and the Christmas market in Charlottensburg, probably due to the change in menu in contrast to our usual meal consisting of some sort of pork meat variation. There, we feasted on a salmon bun and walked around our very last Christmas market in Deutschland before heading back. The Berlin Cathedral is a sight to be savoured. Unfortunately, we knew not of it and therefore did not get a chance to see the insides, though the exterior was enough to satisfy. 

I think Germany is a magical country. I also think my opinion is biased. But we encountered many beautiful sights and sounds, food and beer, and great wonderful people. Beyond that, they have a deeply meaningful history. Whether bad or good it is all so relevant to modern day life, particularly because of the significance of the country as a whole in the past as well as today. 

ps try the famous Berliner - a jam filled doughnut. 

Schloss Neueschwanstein the fairytale castle, Germany

Schloss Neueschwanstein was a must see on our German voyage for my friends and me. After all, it is this very castle that inspired the creation of Sleeping Beauty's castle now visible through tv screens and amusement parks of Walt Disney's doing.

The town where castle is situated in is a fairytale town of Hohenschwangau. The mist from the mountains adds to the surreal valour that seems to wasp in and out of the atmosphere. A day trip here is sufficient, stopping in Fussen from Munich first, hitching a ride on a bus next to Hohenschwangau. All possible using a single Bavaria ticket, with even lower prices if travelling with company up to five people. The castle itself can only be visited with a tour guide, advisable to be booked in advance to get the preferred tour slots (here). Do allow sufficient time for lots of photos of the picturesque surroundings and of course the castle itself.

Schloss Neueschwanstein, as with many other things in Germany, is accompanied by a fascinating back story. It sits atop a beautiful mountain, with windows that frame picture perfect sceneries from the interior. The castle, built by the tragic King Ludwig II of whom we found out from our guide 2 days earlier had homosexual urges and was utterly adversed to war and violence. Instead, preferring the arts and literature spending much of his days studying them. The King prayed to the Lord to fight his tendencies to no avail and was accused by the public of being too spendthrift. His expenditure towards Schloss Neueschwanstein and Hohenschwangau totalled 34 million in the currency used in those times. King Ludwig II died alone of unknown causes. 

Today, the mystic and beauty of his two works bring millions of visitors, not to mention an annual revenue equal to the amount he spent on their construction. 

 

If you find yourself anywhere nearby, don't miss the chance to step into the pages of a story book and be amazed if nothing less by the architecture of the castle. 

Nuremberg, Germany...

Our curious feet and Christmas-market-whetted-appetite brought us to make a pilgrimage of sorts to the birthplace of all Christmas markets. Taking advantage of cheaper fares with group travel Bavaria ticket, we spent another day trying new foods and getting plump on wurst and mulled wine. 

Nuremberg turns out to be the second largest city in the Bavarian region (who knew?). It also looks like a city out of the pages of a fairy tale. From the train station, it isn't difficult to follow the trail leading to the markets. Not even the dampness of the rain could stop us from reaching peak energy skipping our way through the town. 

This shish kebab was absolutely divine. The curry sauce over the kebab itself was sumptuous and tingled every last tastebud on your tongue. And the pork meat... fall apart tender juicyness, what more can I say without reminiscing with drool threatening to spill over my keyboard? 

At the of the day, we were exhausted and our pockets ran a little shallower. But we loved it, something magical intoxicating us. Maybe we just needed the break from our quaint university town, and the festiveness of Bavaria served as a perfect cure. Nevertheless, I'm sure a visit here would make any heart flutter just a little quicker. 

ps lack of photos due to hands busy occupied eating food! Germans know their way around these things :)

Munich, Germany

Christmas break started with me running away to the capital of Bavaria. I arrived in Munich with little expectations (as with all my other adventures), though harbouring some involuntary preconceived notions about the country. Knowing their famous Christmas markets were going to be up, I prepared my stomach for lots of good food - I was certainly not disappointed. 

Perhaps it was the festivities of Christmas, or even the group of friends I was with, maybe it really is just Germany and Munich in particular, it was magically beautiful. Filled with good experiences, satisfied stomach and many tales to tell, I absolutely fell in love with the country (on the first night as well!).

Our visit to Munich was a very chilled trip (unwinding from a hectic Michaelmas term), not much on the itinerary allowing ourselves the freedom to be swayed by anything that caught our senses. The one thing I planned was a free tour by the Sandemann group. It covered all the important "must-see" places, blessed with an amazing tour guide who filled the walk with insights and anecdotes. It seems that every little action the Germans take has reason, history and a story behind it. This is a place with people who think deeply about the things they do. 

Back to my preconceived notions, I have often heard about Germans being direct and fore-telling, in other words, not the warmest people on the planet. I wasn't bothered about it, since I was only going to be there for 10 days, but kept in mind certain things so as not to offend the locals. What turned out was the exact opposite. They were warm, funny, welcoming, charming, helpful... all good things. Look at this guy below. We were at Haxnbauer to feast on pork knuckles (didn't disappoint!), I was a tad comprehensive on taking photos but clearly the waiters didn't mind, even jumping in to get a little bit of the action. Then there was the lady who walked our lost selves all the way to this restaurant despite waiting for a bus and not speaking English. And a guard at the Neueschwanstein Castle who was pulling funny faces at us - we're 21 year olds and he 40? 50? I love them!

Beautifully divine. If you love pork, don't miss this. I would suggest that this pork knuckle be shared among a few (3-4 possibly 5). We didn't know, we ordered way to much! But it was amazing, so no regrets.

I loved Munich. I would love to go back and experience the city without Christmas cloaking over it to see if it is just as wonderful. I suspect it is.