Salzburg

From Munich, i hopped on the train and headed to Vienna, via Salzburg, Austria. After fighting with german train authorities (a v. bad idea) i had a very quick meader around the city centre and found perhaps the world's most amazing pretzel. that and some stunning scenery. highlights of the train ride and my two-hour jaunt:


the alps from the train in germany


closer to austria


new town, near the train station


the salzbach river with a view of old town


the alps


pretzel stand with the uber grumpy pretzel man


an apple strudel flavoured pretzel the size of my arm!

my umbrella got a lot of use on austrian leg of the trip though this is not quite apparent from all the photos...

Dachau and Munich day 2

It goes without saying that Dachau was entirely haunting and sad. I spent the morning learning the history of the city and getting lost trying to find the concentration camp. What's sad is that many of the residents of the beautiful little town knew nothing of the atrocities taking place at the camp. I took some photos in the camp, but i'm feeling like it's not quite appropriate to post most of them here.


front gate


tribute outside the crematorium


in the village of dachau


view from the palace in dachau


watch out for elves with rucksacks?

I somberly left Dachau in need of a happiness boost but very glad that i went, if that makes sense. i, again, got very, very, very lost and encountered city buses and an old german man who was baffled at my lack of ability to speak german. he countered this by shouting and wildly gesticulating--at me, the sky, my inappropriate footwear (flip flops).

Once back on the train i decided to counter all sadness with copious amounts of beer, walking and exploration. In the end I encountered rainy weather, a man peeing off the top of a bridge and more beautiful architecture. I made my way to the Neuhausen-Nymphenburg district of the city--a part apparently rarely encountered by tourists. It was dotted with more beer gardens, canals and scads of joggers. I'm pretty sure i could happily live there.


Nymphenburg Palace (the biggest Baroque palace in Germany)...so this very rich (royal?) and important man built the extension to this palace after his wife gave him a male heir


palace from the back...followed by acres and acres of free to wander around gardens



onto the beer!

hacker-pschorr


spaten


at the hoffbrauhaus with a pretzel(the only vegetarian food i could find in munchen) and a litre of beer(hoffbrau)...cannot be lifted with one hand. this may have been my shining social moment...there's nothing like drinking a litre of beer by yourself, behind a table of rowdy, brash, rude americans, at a picnic table made for twelve


later


getting slightly incoherent


completely blitzed




the bitter end

and off to bed in a hostel full of loud, snorey people. onto Salzburg and Vienna!

Munich day 1

My trip to Munich and Vienna in May half term signaled the beginning of many things in my life, namely of a more independent jennifer. Due to various snafus and miscommunications, my trip became a solo one. I stepped onto my easyjet flight with shaking legs and unsteady spirit convinced i would have a horrible time.

But I'm a stubborn person and i went to prove to myself, and others, that i could exist solo.
And indeed i did.

My sense of wanderlust hit me as soon as i dropped into central munich with its markets, beer gardens, good weather and lovely outdoor spaces. Ipod in ears, i wandered from edge to edge of the city meeting people from all over the place. Travelling solo=brilliant (minus dinner time where everyone around you is on romantic dates).


the fountain right by my hostel, just on the edge of the pedestrian centre


side views of one of the cathedrals


Rathaus--the 'new' (gothic) town hall...there's supposedly a famous clock that chimes every fifteen minutes but i always managed to miss this display...apparently it's important


all the centre is colourful and pedestrian


cultivating my love for foreign street signs


the beer hall in the main market


bratwurst and half a litre of beer...a really, really, really bad idea





german beer=yum


surfers in englischer garten...the coolest park in the middle of the city with a beach, river, manmade surf...purely and wowly amazing




i love, love mexican restaurants in foreign countries...not sure why i get such a kick out of them, but i do

Oxford, Kent and other day trippiness

These photos are definitely not very exciting, but they sum up my 2009 Easter Holidays. We moved from south to north london in the middle of the break and thus i did not venture anywhere further than about an hour away from the local environs. Dawn and I day tripped to her old university stomping grounds at Oxford, then Jen and I journeyed to rainy Brighton for a few hours and finally i spent the Easter weekend with Jen's family where we drank red wine, ate more cheese and drove around looking for bunny rabbits. I kid you not.

These photos are far from touristy, and that's what I love about them. I often forget that i'm in a lovely and culturally different country with lots of charms. And it's great to see England through the eyes of my friends who've grown up there all their lives.

Oxford

i thought it only appropriate to take a picture outside OUP as i applied, without hope, for roughly thirty-seven jobs here


apparently this is the society to end all societies at Oxford


inside a fantastic dimly lit and nooky pub near the grand union canal...


in a lovely french restaurant...everything a cheese plate should be

Brighton



only in England

Kent

nearly as exciting as Rochester, Michigan


cool pondy, lake thing near Jen's house...no bunnies but lots of cool water fowl


face off between the farm animals...both funny and incredibly scary


i'm making some serious progress with this blogger thing. i could be grading papers so this clearly seems like the better option. more to come soon.

London Snow Days

Back to February 2009...London's public transport network ground to a halt for two days after an inch (ish?) of snow fell, and then wind drifted, in a matter of about ten hours. It was brilliant and the perfect panacea for a city in the midst of recession. A lot of londoners couldn't get to work, many others claimed to not be able to and instead built snowmen, sledded down the street, stayed in and drunk tea. For two days people smiled and smiled and smiled.

I got halfway to work, only to be turned around by stalled trains and no buses. Thus, I made my way back down south of the river and climbed into bed with my stuffed moose, a cup of coffee and a book.

Jen and I made the most of the snow later in the day and trudged, in wellies, to our favourite Italian in Tooting Bec. We sat with a bottle of wine and watched the snow lazily stumble across the sky. perfecto!


view from my front window


down our street


our mini back garden


our Foulser Road adopted snowman

Budapest

Once the centre of empire, Budapest made its lasting impression on me. We ventured there back in October 2008 (i'm only 14 months late) and stayed for five days over half term.

The people were hospitable and the city was a mixture of beatifully cosmopolitan, grand, quiet and antique. In the end we mostly wandered through markets old and new, soaked in geothermal goodness and drank v good (and cheap) Hungarian wine.

Szechenyi Baths (a big outdoor pool, followed by rooms and rooms and rooms of jacuzzis, saunas and pools all naturally heated to scaldingly perfect temperatures...we spent two afternoons there, along with the old, young and middle aged of Pest)

the palace in City Park

something goulashy and vegetarian...tasted like not much but looked pretty cool

tribute to the Jews shot and killed on the Danube near the end of WWII

part of the royal palace in Buda

Parliament from Buda

view of pest from buda

Chain Bridge--oldest bridge connecting Buda with Pest

on the bridge

near the museum quarter

view from the church in the cave on top of the hill in Buda