The past two weeks in a nutshell.

WARNING : PICTURE HEAVY*

Yesterday was Friday the 13th and so i thought, what better than to make a comeback. Thinking i could just simply log on as usual and start regurgitating my thoughts, i was wrong. Blogger was down and had apparently been not working for the past two days.

I'll admit it though, i did feel a little guilty leaving you all hanging like that. After all, it has been just over two weeks since my last post. It's amazing how fast time can fly when you don't pay attention to it.

And if it weren't for the fact that i had my camera, i, probably, would have said i didn't do that much.

But in reality the past two weeks were stuffed with various activities like a few bike rides, eating pizza and lots of ice-cream, a night-time barbecue, attending German classes and trying to do some work. But the highlight of the last week has to be going on a random train trip that took an hour and half, which later involved bike riding and trekking through a forest to get to the top.

Oh but that's not all! J and i have agreed that every other day of the week will be "Girlfriend Day" which basically means, NO GAMING ALLOWED on that day. It's only been one week but so far so good.

But as for my absence, i have no real excuse.

I'm just going to blame the lack of motivation and the sudden peak in the temperature. However, it seems like that will be changing. They predict showers and the temperature is said to not push past 20˚C.

It's taken me close to five hours to sort through the photos and write this, so a part from the occasional descriptions, i will let the photos speak for themselves. My fingers are cramping and i need more coffee.

29.04.2011 - Friday


Ate at a new pizza place further up the road. J had his piece of flesh and i indulged in a salmon pizza.

Ate too much but decided to have a quick beer at Vreiheit anyway.

Felt a little sick because we overate, so we rode our bikes to the edge of the Rhine, laid on the concrete wall and stared up at the night sky.

01.05.2011 - Sunday

We checked out another pizza place and found out they cooked their pizzas in a stone oven. And since the weather was so nice, we ate our pizzas in the park near our place.

Spring has an effect on people. Couples are generally more lovey-dovey.

04.05.2011 - Wednesday

On that Monday J left for three days because of his exams. And after two and half years of attending the workshops, he finally completed his Management Development Program.

Go J!

06.05.2011 - Friday

Earlier that week J suggested we go for another barbecue, this time in the nearby by park. But before leaving he insisted on playing one round of Warcraft. By the time we left it was slowly getting dark. The sun sets now around 9 pm, so by the time we got to the park we noticed there weren't that many people left in the park. But those that were left, were already packing up to go home. So decided to make our way to the Rhine.

I didn't think we were going far, so i didn't bring my jacket. So by the time the sun was gone, it got nippy and so J built me a little fire to keep me warm and to keep the mosquitos and flies at bay.

At around 10:30 PM we heard fireworks going off. Apparently in one of the stadiums they were having some kind of talent show, so we assumed the finale involved fireworks.

07.05.2011


After five months, we finally put up some curtains up in our bedroom. There's nothing like having privacy.

Previously, we had put up a roller blind from our previous apartment but to our disappointment it didn't cover the whole window. Kinda ghetto, i know but it sure beat putting up newspapers or a blanket to block their view.

08.05.2011 - Sunday


J suggested we take a train to Bad Münstereifel. One could buy a Weekend ticket that cost 39 Euro a day for 5 people. There was no direct route, so we had to change twice.


Including changing trains and waiting, it took us about an hour and a half to get to our destination.

Old train station.

Surrounding the city/town is a stone wall. As soon as i walked in, it felt like i was walking back in time.


We ate some really good homemade ice-cream. Probably the best yogurt ice-cream i've ever had. The scoops were huge and was half the price than what we usually pay in the city.



Tudor houses line the cobbled streets. I think we were the only ones with "city" bikes. Practically everyone we saw who rode a bike had proper mountain bikes with what looked like a million gears.

A photo opp with my new cap i had just bought minutes before.

As i tried to make my way up the hill and around the corner. I saw J talking to some guy. He was dressed up as one of the gate keepers but lead one of the tour groups. J thought it would be funny if i got a photo taken with him.

Such tourists, i know.


Back in the day, they used to change horses hooves here. I wouldn't be surprised if they still do.


We got up one of the hills but the look out point was closed because the wood was eroding.

We sat up on the wall and looked down over the town.

And before heading down to look for some cake, we roasted on the benches for a little while.


I reckon it was about 28˚C, if not more that day and i remember i was sweating bullets.


We came across a bake sale. A youth group was raising money so they could get to Spain. So we helped them by buying a slice each of apple and rhubarb cake. Home baked cakes are the best!


The next mission was to make our way up the mountain. I could only manage to push my bike up the steep slope.


We got to the stone wall and made our way to the top and peered through the gaps. These gaps were used by the archers to protect the town from intruders or invasions.

We did, however, end up leaving our bikes by the entrance because we knew there was no way we could make it up the steep hill and forest.

Super sweaty, dehydrated and trying to catch up.

We had already finished two litres of water before we made the trek up the mountain.

Word of advice : Be sure you have sufficient water with you before you go on a hike, especially when it's really hot.

After nearly walking about two hours, we eventually get out of the forrest and closer to the top. Entering a residential area, was like walking into another world. We ended up asking a boy on the street for directions to a kiosk but tells us there isn't one nearby. He does, however, tell us where we can go to get to the top of the mountain.

So we're walking down the road and we see a guy in his garage. At which point, i'm about to pass out because i'm so thirsty. So J asks this stranger if he would be so kind to fill up our empty water bottle with some tap water.


He returns and says he's filled it with bubbly water. Nice! And best part was, it wasn't any ordinary kind of bubbly water but the expensive stuff.

See, there are nice people in this world.

Although on a typical ordinary day, i would never accept a drink from a stranger. Especially, if he ran off with my bottle and came back. But at that moment, seriously, it was a case of life and death. I would have drank anything.


We eventually see the path that we need to get to and after passing a perfectly good bench, J persuades me to climb further up.

I'm tired and at the point of exhaustion. We get to the bench at the top and it's covered in mold and insects.

So we opt to lie on the road, which so happened to be on a steep angle.

Two men walked passed us and look at us strange because we laied out our blanket on the hard surface in the middle of the road.

We then found out that further up, not too far away from where we were sitting, there was an even better view.


And lo and behold, there was even a wooden bench. So we lay our blanket over it and sucked in the view.


After about 15 minutes, we decided to make our way down. We were hungry and we weren't sure what time the train back was leaving. And because it was pretty much all down hill, it only took us about half an hour.


And feasted on potato cakes with slices of salmon, shrimps in a garlic + oil sauce, homemade beer bread and a vegetarian flammkuche. But no meal would be complete without a weizen.

We got told the last train had already left but we could take the last bus to the nearest biggest city.

But had we of missed that last bus, J said that he was prepared for us to stay at a hotel.

So whilst waiting for the bus, we treated ourselves with MORE ice-cream.

From below, that's how far up we walked!

On the bus, on a very windy road.

Direction Cologne.

So apart from gaining weight, that's pretty much what i've been up to. I, seriously, need to cut down on my eating/snacking/sweets/ice-cream. Yesterday there was a weighing scale at the pharmacy and it turns out i've gained about six kilos in the last three years.

Yikes!

Oh well. I hope you have a great weekend.