But I've been remiss and must say a few words about my first two weeks in Germany. My arrival was wonderful, mostly because Marty surprised me by meeting me at the airport and driving me to Aachen, where we went straight to Nico's new flat for some welcome drinks and then spent the weekend hanging out and partying with Nico and Gummi and a whole bunch of their mates. This was actually pretty fantastic because, although of course I was very happy to see Marty and it was nice not to have to take the train, it's also 400km for him to drive each way from Stuttgart where he lives to Aachen. So, to drive 800km to meet me and spend the weekend was really super lovely!
I've written a bit about that first weekend already, but after that, Nico was a brilliant host and tour guide, and we didn't spend more than a few days in one place. He managed to skive off work A LOT (and it wasn't always my fault!), and so went to an awesome football match in Duesseldorf (in which 2nd level Fortuna Duesseldorf drew with 1st level Hamburg who they wouldn't usually play but it was a tournament and it went to kick off after the siren – if that's what it's called – and was very exciting, Gummi reckon the best game he's ever been to!), and spent a few days after that staying in Mettmann, where he grew up and where we went pretty much so that he could work on the house with his dad for a couple of days and I could ride his mum's bike around town and do some Tourism Vic work while sitting in his mum's lovely garden – easy life! And Nico's mum is real, and a fabulous cook!! It was pretty nice to meet them and spend a few days with them. Although, if only I could speak six languages, and actually converse properly with people's familes!!
Nico and I had a pretty cool night out in hot hot hot Duesseldorf drinking Alt Bier and exploring the old city, then headed back to Aachen on a late train for a couple of days of swimming, shopping (needed more summer clothes!) and cycling around town, going to barbeques and hanging out in the park in the evening. We went back to Mettmann on the weekend for a big party, and a day lazing by the pool at Nico's parent s place, where I managed to get stung by a bee grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr and then back to Aachen again on Sunday night. The very next day, after a big sleep-in of course, we caught a bus to Maastricht, in the Netherlands, just to explore another interesting place coz it's only one hour away and something like 5 euros for the bus ticket and is really a world apart – we did a walking tour of the city, had a delicious Dutch brekkie, at around 2pm and did a mini pub crawl, but couldn't actually find any decent bars...shoulda checked the guide book!! I think we stayed in Aachen for the rest of that week, but we did a decent bike ride to the 3-country-point a couple of days later, and so visited briefly both Belgium and the Netherlands again. And had a super active night in the climbing forest, of which you've probably already seen pictures.
It was absolutely wonderful to spend two whole weeks hanging out there with my favourite Germ, and I'd love to have stayed longer, or go back and visit again, but I had a time-limited visa and a plane ticket to Ukraine, an Ola Chiquita Bonita to visit, some Wieners to see (!) and I still haven't worked out what the hell I'm doing after my redundancy present runs out and the thrill is gone. A job is certainly in order, although my small, responsibility-fuelled desire to find one in Melbourne is rapidly diminishing...ah decisions, they're so overrated. I wish I could employ a decision-maker, along with my Sherpa. I wish I could SEE the future! Ha, maybe I'll go to Turkey – they're good at seeing the future there, if I recall rightly...
Fso, mne para ('Done, I have to go') Xx
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