Paula (Mum) in Germany!! Part 1 - First Week in Mainz

So not long after Addison left, approximately 3 weeks I was very lucky to have my mum come visit! This is what we got up to:

Mum outside my flat when she arrived!

The first day I picked mum up from the airport and worn my Dirndl - the traditional clothing in Baveria. After getting back to Mainz, unpacking and showering I took her down into town for her first look around and to keep her awake! I treated mum to her first bretzel (bread pretzel). After dinner I let her go to bed and I went off to tutoring. 

Down by the Rhein

On Saturday I gave a guided your of Mainz, showing all the highlights like the Dom, the weekly market, the Altstadt (old part of town) and taking mum to a traditional German restuarant for lunch.

Inside the typical German Restaurant

Outside a typical German style house in Mainz

Inside the Mainzer Dom

On Sunday we went to visit Wiesbaden (which mum couldn't get her tongue around to pronounce!) and visited the oldest coffee house in Germany and treated ourselves to a piece of one of their delicious cakes, we also saw the Dom and Kurhaus in Wiesbaden. In the afternoon we took the train to Rüdesheim , where we had a late lunch and a stroll through the small riverside village. Unfortunately it was Sunday so very little was open. However mum decided she had a new favourite tree - the knobbly tree! 

Coffee and Cake from the oldest coffee house in Germany

Outside the worlds biggest Cuckoo Clock!

Me and mum in Wiesbaden

Outside the Wiesbaden Dom

In Ruedesheim

Mum with her favourite knobbly tree

Monday I came down with the flu, so was  extremely tired and wanted to stay on the couch all day, luckily I had my mum there to look after me and I managed in the late afternoon to get out of the house and we had coffee and cake in town.

Marktplatz in Mainz - photo taken by mum on one of her outings alone

Tuesday I was still a bit fluey but we had tickets booked for the theatre in Frankfurt so decided to make a day out of it. After a late start we headed on the train to Frankfurt - about 45min ride. We strolled down the Zeil - which is the shopping street in Frankfurt, visited a few shops then saw the Dom and also the market square. Then it was time to meet my good friend Lauren and her cousin for dinner before the show. We had dinner at a typical Frankfurt/Hessen Restaurant. The show which was Saturday Night Fever was put on my the English Theatre and it was amazing! The actors who are actually German put on American accents and you would never know they weren't native English speakers! It was all the music from the BeeGees so there was singing and dancing all the way through.

Outside the Dom in Frankfurt

On Wednesday I went to the doctor - which happens to be the mum of the girl I tutor English for so she saw me for free which was a bonus and gave me lots of medicine for my flu. Mum came along with me and afterwards we visited a really nice cafe that has lots of house-made cakes and chocolates in the small village/suburb where the doctor is. Afterwards I let mum loose in the city and I went home to rest. Luckily about 5pm mum made it home without getting too lost.

Cafe in Gosenheim 

Coffee and Cake we had! Yes that is a whole banana covered in chocolate!

Thursday we started with a birthday buffet breakfast for mums birthday at the Extra-Blatt in Schillerplatz just down from my house. They have a huge buffet with everything possible for breakfast! Afterwards we had a small walk around town before heading home to pack for Berlin. We headed off to the train station around 5pm to head to Frankfurt airport to catch our plane to Berlin!

Under the Fastnacht Fountain in Schillerplatz - Can you spot the cat?

Mum with her birthday cake!

Waiting at the airport - taking selfies.

Made it to Berlin! 

The rest of January ....

Epppp I know this is super late! But I had my wonderful mum visiting for most of Fenruary so I was super busy showing her around Mainz and some other parts of Germany to sit and write my blog. Hopefully you wont have to wait as long for the next installment which will be of what me and Mum got up to!.

Here goes:

8th - 16th January 

Well we made it home from Paris and were pretty exhausted from the non-stop travelling, but I had to start back at school the very next day and Addison got a nice big sleep in. During the week I took Addison to my gym and rock climbing. The photo below is one route he mastered.




In the weekend we went to a small suburb village of Mainz called Gosenheim and walked in the forest and looked at the animals in a small wildpark enclosure and then in the evening had dinner with one of my good friends Shem (who is also an English Assistant but from the US)

In the last few days before Addison continued on to India we ticked off the last few things on our list including sharing a delicious giant ice cream Sundae creation at an Ice Cream Cafe and having a traditional German meal.

On the 16th I had to take Addison to the airport so he could continue onto India for the last part of his trip. It was really sad to see him go, but we had so much fun travelling together around Europe and we will see each other again in July. So it wasn't a goodbye, just a see you later. 

Our Europe Trip 19/12/13 - 07/01/14 Part 3 - Paris

Day 1: Paris

Our first day in Paris started off with a traditional French breakfast of croissants with jam, juice and coffee (hot chocolate for Addison) before heading over to the Louvre. The line for the Louvre was massive, but we spied some people who already had tickets cutting the line, so we went in search of a tourist office to buy some tickets. After some searching and a delicious lunch of buckwheat crepes we found the tourist office and bought the tickets. Heading back to the Louvre we were able to cut the line and go straight inside. The entrance is via the glass pyramid, but then you under ground and the surrounding buildings are actually the rooms of the museum. The one thing in particular which is most famous in the Louvre is the painting Mona Lisa. Its actually a lot smaller than people think, and people were pushing and shoving towards it just to get a look. After seeing it we looked around a bit more of the museum then headed back out into daylight. Next we walked along to the love lock bridge. There were hundred and thousands of locks on the bridge and really no space wasn't filled. On our way to the Nord de Dame, we got a picture drawn of us. The Nord de Dame was also quite interesting, but we didn't go inside, but instead walked around it and along the river. On our way home we stopped at a supermarket and bought some things for dinner and headed back to the hotel to cook tea.

Outside the entrance to the Louvre courtyard

Addison and I outside the Louvre

Me and Lisa 

Day 2: Paris 

We got up early to head to the Eiffel Tower to try and get in early before the line was massive, but it seemed everyone else had the same idea and the line was about 1,000 people long when we got there. After waiting in line for about 1/2 hour an official came to tell us we could take the stairs, where the line was only 10 mins or wait another 2 hours for the elevator. We decided to take the 690 stairs to level two, which wasn't too bad and at the second level you can take the elevator to the top. At the top we had a wonderful view of all of Paris! After the Eiffel Tower and lots of pictures from the bottom we went to the Hardrock Cafe for lunch and a cocktail. After lunch we spent the afternoon walking back towards the area near the Louvre and found a French bakery with lots of yummy treats and had one for afternoon tea. We then headed home for an early night after an exhausting day of stairs and walking.

At the top of the Eiffel Tower

At the top of the Eiffel Tower together

Day 3: Paris

On our third day in Paris we visited the Montmartre, which is also the old artists quarters of Paris. We took the underground then had to walk uphill to where the Montmartre church sat on a hill. It was such a lovely so we enjoyed walking around the small market and then into the artists square where there were artists selling their artwork and also drawing pictures of you. We were tempted to get another picture done, but decided we would stick with our character one we already had. After some lunch from the market and a delicious waffle that was stuffed with chocolate bars we walked down the hill to see the iconic Moulin Rouge. In the evening we visited the Arch de Triumph which gave us a pretty view of the city. We then revisited the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower to see them lit up at night. 

Montmartre

In the artists quarters at Montmartre

At the Louvre

Eiffel Tower at night

Eiffel Tower at night again

Day 4: Paris/Disneyland

On our last day in Paris we decided to live every child's dream and go to Disneyland - well Paris Disneyland anyway. It wasn't as magical as I had hoped but it didn't rain so we were in luck! The Disney castle was pretty impressive though. We went on almost every ride and the big exciting ride twice. One ride we had to shoot at aliens from our little cart - and surprisingly I won! For lunch we went to a country inn diner and enjoyed some burgers and fries. In the afternoon we got lost in Alice in wonderlands maze and rode the teacups. Then we had to head back to the hotel to pack for our check out the next morning.

Disney Castle

Delicious French bakery treats

The actual last day in Paris was spent searching for an engravers to engrave a padlock to add to the lovelock bridge until we decided to give up. Definitely a niche market lacking in Paris for engravers! We caught our train in the late afternoon and was delayed on our way back into Germany, so weren't home until late that night in Mainz. 

We definitely had a wonderful holiday travelling around Europe and got to see and experience so many amazing and new things! 

Our Europe Trip 19/12/13 - 07/01/14 Part 2 - Hannover, Amsterdam & Antwerpen

2 Days in Hannover

After a bus ride in a double decker bus from Berlin we arrived in Hannover! Our hotel was located right next to the train station which was handy, but we were too early to check in. After stowing our luggage we headed into the city to have a look around. Our first stop was actually the post office to send all the Christmas mugs in Berlin I had collected back to Mainz so we didn't have to lug them around the rest of our trip.  We spent the rest of the day walking around town before stopping for a hot chocolate and coffee. For dinner we went to a Indian Restaurant near our hotel.

The next day we had a big breakfast in a cafe called Extra Blatt and then walked along the river. Mid-afternoon we were physical and mentally tired so headed back to the hotel and spent the afternoon watching movies in bed. Hannover wasn't the most interesting city to visit,but we really needed those two days to recharge before heading out to Amsterdam the next day!

Day 1: Amsterdam

We arrived in Amsterdam just after lunch time on the train from Hannover. We took the tram to our hotel which was called 'The Student Hotel' and was located about 20mins from the train station on the tram. Again we were too early to check in, so we stowed our luggage and then headed into town. We first booked a canal cruise for that evening then went to a Mexican place for lunch. After lunch we went to check out the infamous coffee shops of Amsterdam. We found one called 'Bulldogs' and it was like a bar, except instead of selling alcohol they sold weed. We ordered some and left, once outside we just laughed as it was such a crazy experience to buy weed legally over the counter at a sort of bar. Next we found an actual coffee shop and ordered some 'muffins' and hot chocolates. After devouring them we headed back to the hotel to check in. At around 5 we headed back into the city for dinner, which was delicious! Then took a stroll through the red light district and headed to our canal cruise. It was really pretty to see the canals at night all lit up!

Tunnel on the light cruise

Day 2: Amsterdam

It was the last day of 2013! We started the morning with a bike ride around the back of Amsterdam and then to a park which housed the Van Gough Museum and also the I Amsterdam sign and a small market. We sat and had some delicious waffles at the market and also bought some Amsterdam hats! We also visited a diamond shop where we could watch them cut and polish the diamonds. Unfortunately I left without a diamond. Afterwards we biked to the nearby Hardrock Cafe and had another delicious cocktail before heading back to the hotel. We also stopped on the way home an bought some drinks for that evening while we got ready to go out. At around 7ish we headed back into town and found a cosy wee restaurant for dinner. After dinner we did a bit bar hopping and had a few drinks on the way to the market square where all the fireworks were meant to go off at midnight. Unfortunately it was raining, but luckily I spotted a window ledge we could climb up into and sit and be sheltered from the rain. At midnight the fireworks went crazy and were still going half an hour later! At about 1ish we decided to head back and stopped on the way for some hot chips and waffles. In bed by just before 2!

Outside the diamond place - a extra large clog!

Market Square - Fireworks ar midnight

Hot chips on the way home on New Years Eve

Day 3: Amsterdam

On the our last day in Amsterdam, we had a bit of a sleep in after our late-ish night the night before and then headed into town for some breakfast. We found an English breakfast place and placed our order, but about 45mins we still didn't have our food and we were starving! Turned out the girl forgot to give our order to the kitchen! But 5mins later we were eating. Afterwards we took a stroll down the to docks as Addison wanted to have at look around and then along some more of the canals. After a coffee break we headed to the theatre as we had bought tickets to the Circus! It was really great and there were acts from all over the world including Russia, China, Korea and America. My favourite were the dogs who were trained to do tricks and the Korean Trapeze Team. After the circus we had dinner at Wagamamas before heading home to pack our stuff for our train to Antwerpen in the morning.

Korean boys doing a unicycle/juggling act.

Typical Amsterdam houses

Day Trip to Antwerpen

After short train ride from Amsterdam we arrived in the Belgium city of Antwerpen. We stowed our luggage at the train station and then headed out with a map from the tourist centre. First we walked along a pretty boulevard that was lined with shops and led us into the main centre of town which was also the old part of Antwerpen. Next to the river was a Farris Wheel which we had a go on, but it was soo windy at the top! Afterwards we had lunch at a Italian restaurant and they had a pizza called Pizza Patricia - so I ordered that. After lunch we walked along the river towards a museum, which we were told to visit as on the roof you have a nice view overlooking Antwerpen. The museum was really modern and had about 7-8 floors. We went through each floor and Addison read to me what each floor was about. One floor even had some New Zealand stuff in it about the migration of Maori's and their culture. We were a bit surprised by this being on the other side of the world! Finally we reached the roof and were able to see Antwerpen from above. After walking back into town and feeling quite tired we stopped for a break and used the McDonald's wifi, before heading back to the train station to collect our luggage and get on the train to Paris!

Antwerpen buildings

On the Farris Wheel in Antwerpen

Outside the museum in Antwerpen