Has it already been a week since my last post? And my gawd, is it really March already? So much has happened in the last seven days, i'll try and do a short recap of what what happened.
So last Friday, we decided it would be date night at the movies again. But this time we checked out another very small cinema called, Off Broadway. It was near the university area and nearby were various cafés and bars.
On our way from the tram stop to the cinema, we came across La Barra, a restaurant specialising in Tapas and Spanish Prosecco. We had about 45 minutes until our movie started and both J and i were hungry.
The place was packed when we walked in but luckily there was a table for two available. We ordered a combination of five tapas to share and a bottle of Spanish Rosat Semi Seco - super yummy and tasted like a sparkling fruity rosé.
It didn't take us long to finish the bottle and before we knew it we were giggling like a bunch of school kids.
We arrived just as the movie was started and ended up sitting on the second row, which kind of sucked cause my neck hurt after. But despite closing my eyes a few times when the scenes got a bit scary, i thought Natalie Portman did a great job. I'm not much of a fan of thrillers but i have to say, i quite liked the movie.
Then on Saturday afternoon we went to Dieters - a store that sells costumes. It's Carnival season in Colone and what better to experience the true essence of Köln and Karneval than to dress up and join in on the fun. They say, there's an estimated one million people celebrating.
Wooooh.
We ended up spending more than we wanted to at Dieters, so there's no turning back and now we have no choice but to dress up.
I won't tell you what i'm going to be dressed up as but lets just say, there's gonna be fishnet stockings involved.
o.O
What!?
My thoughts exactly! I blame J.
Don't worry, i'll be sure to take lots of photos on Monday. Fingers crossed for warmer temperatures and a sunny sky.
"Carnival in Cologne is above all a festival of fancy dress. There are no limits to imagination: the brighter the better. Carnival costumes don't have to be "elegant", the important thing is to show your good intentions and to feel comfortable. The Kölner wears a costume he can identify with, he likes to play the role he presents." [source]
Everybody dresses up for Carnival and everybody celebrates with parties on the streets, in public squares and in pubs. The reason being is it's Carnival season and on Carnival Monday also known as Rosenmontag there's a huge parade in the city where people line the streets and those on the passing floats throw candy and chocolate out towards the crowd.
The festival runs for five days but "the highlight of the street carnival is Rose Monday with the march of "Cologne's Dreigestirn" or Triumvirate - the Prince, the Peasant and the Maiden - in the kilometre-long Rosenmontag procession going through the city. Carnival ends two days later on Ash Wednesday." [source]
Here's a youtube video i found of last years' Carnival;
And no, i don't know any of the songs, so i can't sing along.
We were told there's a mini parade down the road from where we live, so that might save us a tram ride and being caught up in the hustle and bustle of all the drunkards.
Anyway, last Saturday i forgot to take photos when J's brother came down but this what we started the night with...
Obviously, we didn't finish all of it since it was only three of us and we had a whole night ahead of us.
But we took the tram and ended up at a Mexican restaurant where we had beers, tequila shots, i had cheese nachos and the boys had their fajitas.
We then spent the rest of the night at Electroküche, where we danced till the break of dawn.
Then on Tuesday morning i woke up and decided i wanted to register for a German course. I hadn't studied and figured the last time i did a placement test i didn't do too bad plus i didn't think it would be too hard.
So after traveling close to 30 minutes by train i finally arrived at the Volkshochschule.
After being told by random strangers to go from one room to another, i eventually got to the room i needed to go to. So when i spoke to the lady in German and told her i wasn't sure which level German i was supposed to register for, she gave me a test to complete. There were about 3 other girls doing the test and all seemed to be at different levels.
I soon realised after skimming over the test, the test was too hard. I was only able to answer one complete question and the few that i did answer were merely guesses.
So when i told the lady the test was too difficult, she was really nice and gave me another one, which i'm assuming was the level lower. I ended up getting 27 out of 60, which in my opinion is actually pretty bad but i guess that's what happens when one takes a year long break from German classes and doesn't bother studying.
There i thought all VHS German placement tests were the same, boy was i wrong.
So anyway, i didn't "fail", i've just been bumped down to a lower level, one that i've already done. But if i think about it in a positive way, it's not so bad since it's almost like i'm doing a refresher course. Except this time instead of the intensive course, i've registered for a course that runs only twice a week. With ongoing projects and the possibility of a new client, i need to focus the rest of my energy on getting my work done.
All i can say is i'm glad that i got it over and done with. Now i just have to wait 5 weeks till the course actually begins. My fingers are crossed i get some nice people in my group.
Oh and here's a picture of the church that looks like a mini castle nestled between rows of four-storey buildings just down the road from where i'll be doing my course.
Ain't it pretty?
So last Friday, we decided it would be date night at the movies again. But this time we checked out another very small cinema called, Off Broadway. It was near the university area and nearby were various cafés and bars.
On our way from the tram stop to the cinema, we came across La Barra, a restaurant specialising in Tapas and Spanish Prosecco. We had about 45 minutes until our movie started and both J and i were hungry.
The place was packed when we walked in but luckily there was a table for two available. We ordered a combination of five tapas to share and a bottle of Spanish Rosat Semi Seco - super yummy and tasted like a sparkling fruity rosé.
It didn't take us long to finish the bottle and before we knew it we were giggling like a bunch of school kids.
We arrived just as the movie was started and ended up sitting on the second row, which kind of sucked cause my neck hurt after. But despite closing my eyes a few times when the scenes got a bit scary, i thought Natalie Portman did a great job. I'm not much of a fan of thrillers but i have to say, i quite liked the movie.
***
Then on Saturday afternoon we went to Dieters - a store that sells costumes. It's Carnival season in Colone and what better to experience the true essence of Köln and Karneval than to dress up and join in on the fun. They say, there's an estimated one million people celebrating.
Wooooh.
We ended up spending more than we wanted to at Dieters, so there's no turning back and now we have no choice but to dress up.
I won't tell you what i'm going to be dressed up as but lets just say, there's gonna be fishnet stockings involved.
o.O
What!?
My thoughts exactly! I blame J.
Don't worry, i'll be sure to take lots of photos on Monday. Fingers crossed for warmer temperatures and a sunny sky.
"Carnival in Cologne is above all a festival of fancy dress. There are no limits to imagination: the brighter the better. Carnival costumes don't have to be "elegant", the important thing is to show your good intentions and to feel comfortable. The Kölner wears a costume he can identify with, he likes to play the role he presents." [source]
Everybody dresses up for Carnival and everybody celebrates with parties on the streets, in public squares and in pubs. The reason being is it's Carnival season and on Carnival Monday also known as Rosenmontag there's a huge parade in the city where people line the streets and those on the passing floats throw candy and chocolate out towards the crowd.
The festival runs for five days but "the highlight of the street carnival is Rose Monday with the march of "Cologne's Dreigestirn" or Triumvirate - the Prince, the Peasant and the Maiden - in the kilometre-long Rosenmontag procession going through the city. Carnival ends two days later on Ash Wednesday." [source]
Here's a youtube video i found of last years' Carnival;
And no, i don't know any of the songs, so i can't sing along.
We were told there's a mini parade down the road from where we live, so that might save us a tram ride and being caught up in the hustle and bustle of all the drunkards.
***
Anyway, last Saturday i forgot to take photos when J's brother came down but this what we started the night with...
Obviously, we didn't finish all of it since it was only three of us and we had a whole night ahead of us.
But we took the tram and ended up at a Mexican restaurant where we had beers, tequila shots, i had cheese nachos and the boys had their fajitas.
We then spent the rest of the night at Electroküche, where we danced till the break of dawn.
***
Then on Tuesday morning i woke up and decided i wanted to register for a German course. I hadn't studied and figured the last time i did a placement test i didn't do too bad plus i didn't think it would be too hard.
So after traveling close to 30 minutes by train i finally arrived at the Volkshochschule.
After being told by random strangers to go from one room to another, i eventually got to the room i needed to go to. So when i spoke to the lady in German and told her i wasn't sure which level German i was supposed to register for, she gave me a test to complete. There were about 3 other girls doing the test and all seemed to be at different levels.
I soon realised after skimming over the test, the test was too hard. I was only able to answer one complete question and the few that i did answer were merely guesses.
So when i told the lady the test was too difficult, she was really nice and gave me another one, which i'm assuming was the level lower. I ended up getting 27 out of 60, which in my opinion is actually pretty bad but i guess that's what happens when one takes a year long break from German classes and doesn't bother studying.
There i thought all VHS German placement tests were the same, boy was i wrong.
So anyway, i didn't "fail", i've just been bumped down to a lower level, one that i've already done. But if i think about it in a positive way, it's not so bad since it's almost like i'm doing a refresher course. Except this time instead of the intensive course, i've registered for a course that runs only twice a week. With ongoing projects and the possibility of a new client, i need to focus the rest of my energy on getting my work done.
All i can say is i'm glad that i got it over and done with. Now i just have to wait 5 weeks till the course actually begins. My fingers are crossed i get some nice people in my group.
Oh and here's a picture of the church that looks like a mini castle nestled between rows of four-storey buildings just down the road from where i'll be doing my course.
Ain't it pretty?
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