January 18, 2011

LAST MEAL OF MY 20's!!!!

 So, here I am, sitting at my wrapped table having my last dinner before I turn 30 in a few hours. I'm actually on my way to volleyball. Jan was in class and I was at home. I had a home made pizza with peppers, salami, & cheese. hehehe. It was yummy.
I had a lot of fun playing until 11:30 when I had to go. I know Jan had something up his sleeve.

So after I got out of the shower, he had candles lite and a letter for me.
I've never had a birthday start right at the min of midnight. It was special! Turning 30 has been special. I didn't expect it to be a big deal, but not being able to celebrate it with friends and family is a bit different on a special day turning the big THREE-ZERO. None the less, it was a great start to being 30. Jan had a full day prepared for me. We needed a good nights rest so that we can have a full day of fun. The letter was a big hint, but I was so excited about being 30 that I didn't really look at the clue. Not until we got to the location!!!


We had a long hike up the mountain to a castle.

HOHENZELLERN CASTLE

We walked up 217 stairs plus some to get to the top. It's low season so not many people going up and down. I think it was forbidden to go on the trails. But we did anyway. No one to stop us. I think it's mainly closed due to the snow and ice. No snow and ice that day. Just coldness!!

I wanted to climb up the side of the wall to get to the castle. Perhaps my prince is waiting for me! Oh wait, he's right beside me. No need to climb up the rocks!






It was a beautiful castle. There wasn't a lot of people around so I could take pictures without waiting for people to go by. It was great. I felt like a princess having her own personal tour all to herself. It felt like my castle that I lived in. But i'm not sure if i really wanted to live there. It was way to cold. No heating system or something. hahhaa

This Castle was built in 3 stages. The 1st stage was destroyed by one of the wars, but then the rest was build for the royal people. We definitely felt royal. :)
We went on a tour inside and we hoped it was just the 2 of us. But then there was other people who joined in at the last minute. Bummer!

I couldn't believe how beautiful it is. The picture on the right with Jan in it, you can see the different colour of the building. That is the difference of the 2 stages of when the castle was built. I believe that the last stage was finished in the 19th century.

We had to wear these funny looking, warm shoes over our shoes so that we don't bring in the dirt into the castle. We weren't allowed to take pictures but I did manage to take one of the family tree.
The royal family still exists today. But they live in Berlin. If they do visit, there is a room that they stay in at the castle since everything else is for tourist. What a beautiful place.

Then, Jan took me to a another small town near by. We had some time to shop and then we went back to Tuebingen, return some books, bought some baked goods and went home to relax before we went out for dinner. We made some more pearls for bubble tea after our dinner.  We went to a Greek Restaurant just around the corner from our house. Therefore, we would be able to have a glass of wine and not having to drive home. We want to try all the different places in our small town to see what it's like to give in a small town. We already tired all 3 restaurants in out town. I believe that's it. We only like one of them. The other 2 are not on our list to go back to. Sorry....they didn't impress us enough.

The beginning of my 30's wasn't so bad. This is a year of transition and more great things for me. I'm glad to have had the time in Germany to reflect and to live each day with a smile on my face. It's great to wake up every morning to be with someone that you love and willing to cherish every moment with them. It's that what life is about! Living it!!!

My 30th Birthday Party

TIME HAS COME! I am now 30! A New beginning....30's is the new 20's!!! :)
The start of my 30's have been a blast. The Germans think it's bad luck to wish someone a happy birthday before their birthday....well, what if someone celebrated it before their birthday!!! I sure did, the Canadian way I guess. If your birthday is on a weekday, then it needs to be celebrated on the weekend either the week before or the week after depending on when the actual birthday is. hehehe. None the less, I had a great celebrations with my new friends here in Germany. I'm glad the party was tame and we didn't drink until we got sick. It was just perfect. A great way to start my 30's.


So being that I am hosting a party, there has to be a cake. So I made my own. Yes, not ideal, but I want a good cake. It's important to me to have a cake. Perhaps it's because I have had a cake every birthday and a birthday without a cake isn't right.

 This is a healthy cake since I've been on this health crazze for the last year or so...but it's not 100% healthy. hahaha. It does have a load of sugar....especially the icing. It's Nutella. Chrystyna, your favorite. :)
It's Choclate Zucchini Cake. YES!!! There are 2 Zucchini's in it. It sure was yummy. My guests wanted the recipe. hehhe.

The waffles was my idea from Vienna....oh right. I didn't talk about my holidays. I guess that would be tomorrow's post. Vienna pictures.
So in Vienna, they are known for making waffles. The Manner brand. It's Austria's trade mark....I think.  It's on Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manner

 So, Jan and I were brain stroming what else I should do at my party. Jan misses Bubble Tea. So he searched the internet to find a German provider. We looked all over town first but kind of gave up. He then found a provider so we decided to order 3kg since the small package wasn't available. We got 80 straws as well. I wonder how many we can use with 3kg of perals. I'm not sure if we can do it, but it's worth a try. So on the day of the party, we gave it a try so that my guests who haven't had this before would be able to try something new. :) THANKS Stella for putting bubble tea in my christmas package. I wasn't sure what you had in store for me. We went a head to get it before your package got to me. :) I wonder what tastes better. 5 min bubble tea or 25 min bubble tea. HEHEHE.

 So here are some of the decorations.
Sorry Chrystyna, I've been meaning to take pictures of my place for you. I have them in my files. I just haven't had the time to send them to you...or did I? I forget. I'll get on it.

 My new found friends. hehhee. Virgina who is actually from Vancouver, living in Munich now. :) Zain, who is from Jordan. Very fun gal. Nikola, who is a German. :) Finishing off her P.H.D....I'm among all these high educated people. Zain is also doing her P.H.D.

So I didn't want to stare my guests so I made bread. It was the best batch ever. YUM. I should make more today, but I think we are all out of yeast. Bummer. Next week I guess.

 So here we are, hanging out after our fondue. It was delicious. A lot of chocolate to ring in my 30's. So the gal on the end is Sonia. Another pure German. hehehe. Besides Nikola and Jan. hehehe. I met Sonia at a circuit training class. She was brave enough to come talk to me. Not many people do since I look so Asian.

A picture of our first celebration. :) Jan has been very supportive and amazing during my stay. He's the greatest boyfriend I have ever had....well, only had.  

So as the night went on, we had a drink. Not to many as I had volleyball the next day. 2 other people arrived to celebrate with me. Yu-Chun from China and Chris from London. We ended up playing Rummy-o, they got me a new game (Halligalli Extreme) and then Karoke. You got to check this out on FB. I will post the video there. 

And so at the end of the night, we had a great Mango Fig Liquor Bubble tea. Who would ever know that I would have bubble tea on my birthday this year....in Germany. hehhee.

AND this is the mess after the party. What a day.
Thanks Jan for cleaning up the mess.
A day I won't forget.....but the best day was the actual day where I got to spend the whole day with my boyfriend.

Pictures in the next post.

2nd last of my Italy Trip

CATANIA, ITALY
This is our next destination from Praia a Mare. The ferry ride was very interested. The train goes on the ferry. I've never been on a train that goes on the ferry. IT just made me think about the move I watched last night. DEJAVU. A ferry with a bomb. Action movie.

Anyhow, a picture of the bug bites i got..not sure if it's bed bugs, but I actually don't want to know. So itchy. So gross. Sorry to gross you out. Just to let you know that travelling can be hard. Not always fun.

A view from the ferry.

Italy can be very nice, but so many buildings on the hillside.

So Catania was all about food. Here is the 1st bite of the chocolate croissant at this cafe we went to breakfast, lunch and dinner. hahaha.

The market right by our hostel. We went there almost every morning for breakfast. Fresh fruit, veggies, fish and meat. Where are the figs!!!! Catania is a beautiful place. We did some site seeing, but it wasn't the only reason to come all the way here.

BEACH is what we wanted. We had another great Italian pastry from the cafe.

Alright, beach story. So we want to go to the beach during our last few days in Italy. We weren't sure how long the walk would be but we were willing to try. So as we were walking along the road, we saw the water. We headed towards the water only to see many bushes to get through before the water. There was a small dock that would be a way to get to the beach. But instead, we thought that we would beat the bush and bulldoze our way through.
Before we started out trek into the bushes, an Italian old man....OLD MAN, waved us down. He was taking a wizzz on the side of the road and we thought that was odd. So this man wanted to talk to us. We went to talk to him, thinking what could he possibility do to us. So with the little Italian we new, we tried to tell him where we wanted to go. He understood and was willing to take us there. So we got into the car and off we went. What could possibility go wrong when it's early in the morning and that there are 2 of us. HUMMMM.....A LOT actually.
So he took us to the beach but all the beaches were closed. It's not summer anymore for the Italians....but for Canadians, it's still hot. He found a blanket for us and we all sat to tan. We told him that we are fine now and it's all good. So as we slow de-layer to our bathing suits, he stayed to watch. He wanted to give us massages. He wanted to watch us swim and everything. It started to be creepy. He started to touch Tanya. She got us and took a walk. I was alone with him....which isn't a good choice. He started to touch me. YIKES! What did we get ourselves into. He so wanted more. YUCK. Did I say he was an OLD MAN! So I took our stuff and started to walk further away from his car and saying NO. He almost pulled down my bathing suit. I was ready to fight. Not cool. I'm so glad I started to walk away when I did and get out of here. I can't believe it can happen in broad daylight. NEVER TRUST ITALIAN MEN. I don't agree with their approach. So glad to get away and leave that place. Never get into a car with an old man. I learned my lesson.

Alright, back to the pictures. Here is a famous food that is from Catania. This is one of their mascots I guess.  But it's a great food. Deep fried with rice and tomato sauce.

It was yummy. More food in Italy.

Bike rally of some sort during the evening. I thought it was rather interesting at that time of day.

A nice garden in the city of Catania.










A statue in the garden. What am I trying to do....what is my hand doing there???

Alright, so in this garden, there were many famous people. Many that I don't know. Perhaps they were mayors of the city or something. But one of the statue was missing.

So low and behold, I tried to get up.


My first try, only a bit of my head. I'm trying to be Frontini.

2nd try, almost there. But still wasn't high enough. I had to pause for a bit as there were guards or people walking around.










Low and behold, I was up. I'm one of them...except i'm still alive. hehehe. It was fun to be a statue for a few seconds.

 So some more site seeing in the area.

Some more food that I had to try before I leave Italy. YUMMMM! One of those pistachio cannoli known in the Sicily area.

One of the servers who was there every morning to greet us. :) Our last Gelato before leaving Italy.

There are more pictures I remember, but next time. Gotta move on to other posts. A start of a new year. Wrapping up Italy.