getting to know Vancouver

For the last few days I've been settling into Vancouver life and I want to share with you what I've been up to. Top priority is getting to know the city, of course, and so I've done the tourist stuff like

- walking around Stanley Park (the circuit is 9km and it takes about 2-2.5 hours to walk around the city park along the sea dam);
- been to Harbour Centre and took the elevator up to the lookout (impressive views esp. after sunset) and the elevator ride is fun, too (the funny feeling inside your stomach is mandatory);
- done two tours organized by the hostel I am staying with right now and got to see Canadian rainforest, a big suspension bridge some people were too afraid to enter (I wasn't!), and a Salmon hatchery (you get to watch the salmon jumping upstream - poor bastards!);
- been whale watching on a 5 hour long tour that took me to U.S. territory as whales have dual citizenship and they don't care if being in Canadian or American waters - I saw heaps of fins, one or two spy hops and very rarely fluke clapping but had a great time anyway;
- been up Grouse Mountain, 'the peak of Vancouver' with fantastic city vistas, Grizzly Bears in a refuge centre, paragliding for the adventurous (sorry, nothing for me), an entertaining lumberjack show and a sunburn that came as a surprise (well, not really, but I need an excuse for not having any sun lotion with me...);

I also had one or two days where I haven't done much at all except sitting in the hostel, doing online research for jobs, emailing applications, keeping my blog updated and working on my many pictures I've taken during the last few days. I've also managed to open a bank account what took surprisingly little time (only 20 minutes) compared to Melbourne where I've spent almost 2 hours in the bank (!) and I also have a cell phone number now what works quite different to New Zealand or Australia. Down under you just go for a stroll and find heaps of mobile shops selling you all kinds of sim cards but in Canada you actually need to look for them. Buying a prepaid sim card is more expensive than having a contract and so I've signed one for 12 months.

There's not much else to tell you and I am focusing on finding a job and a flat in either Vancouver or in one of the many ski resorts for the coming winter season. Hostel life starts to bore me as I don't like having the same conversations every two days (where are you from?, what are you doing here?, how long are you staying for?), I hate sharing toilet and shower with dozens of other people and the 3 Japanese girls in my room are lovely but don't speak much English. Free wireless internet is an awesome complementary and so I get to do all the stuff that you usually don't have enough time to do when you travel (like writing this blog).

next stop Vancouver

My last night in Germany I haven't spend at home but at my friends place near Frankfurt. I've known Tina from my travels through New Zealand and we've been in contact ever since. She dropped me off at the airport and when I saw her driving away my nervousness -that I had lacked over the last few days - suddenly appeared. As luck would have it I've also met a former travel companion from New Zealand, while I was strolling along the airport. It's a small world we are living in!

Soon I learned that the scheduled departure for my flight to London Heathrow had been moved from 11.20am to 12.15am clock. Reason being the heavy fog in London that had delayed departures from across the ditch. I've already feared the worst and when we finally arrived in London, I ran for my life. Delay was with me wherever I went: passport control (in transit!), re-screening of luggage and people over people. With the final boarding call I arrived at the gate and boarded my flight to Vancouver.

I had two seats for myself during the nearly 10 hours flight to Vancouver and so I made myself comfortable. As I had hoped for the entertainment system was truly awesome and I had the chance to view four current films: Wolverine (I've seen it before but hey, it's Hugh Jackman!), Terminator Salvation, Hangover and The Proposal. I would have loved to sleep but I couldn't as it was bright throughout the entire flight and hence my eyes stayed open.

The view from the window was worth it though and I saw many icebergs floating in the water, not sure if it was Greenland or East Canada. As we flew over the Rocky Mountains, I was blown away and so were the last doubts. I will like this country! The Rockies are stunning and I took heaps of pictures to prove it. After landing, I had the Immigration Service to finally approve my work visa. The Work and Holiday visa had been granted to me already by the embassy in Berlin but somehow the Immigration Officer on the ground speaks the last word. I had to answer many questions about my stay in Canada, my plans, friends or acquaintances, etc., and in the end it turned out that I did not have a bank statement to prove any existing funds to support my stay (bloody hell, I had just forgotten to print it off!). The officer kept me in suspense for quite a while before he issued the work visa. After 30 minutes I was done at immigration and my suitcase went round in circles all by itself.

The airport shuttle took me downtown, dropped me off quite some distance from the hostel what made me dragging my heavy suitcase along Vancouver downtown while looking for my hostel. After checking in, I've just showered quickly, bought food, and went straight to bed because I wouldn't be going anywhere else today!

staying at my brothers place and visiting Rothenburg o.d. Tauber

My last days in Germany had been quite busy; so many things I still had to do and other stuff that needed to be taken care off. But I wouldn't miss the chance of a photo safari in Rothenburg o.b. Tauber, where my brother is working and so I packed my bag to visit him and his girlfriend. Together we would be going home for the weekend to have a last gathering of the family for the next year or so.

My brother lives in the idyllic Vestenbergsgreuth and due to a tea factory in town there is always a light scent of herbal tea filling the air. Every day he commutes to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, where I arrived by train one nice afternoon to explore the city. What I did not know and was positively surprised by, was the city wall, which is fully accessible, and so I was running around the entire city - in stages of course. All buildings inside the city wall are historic old houses painted beautifully and fondly taken care off by their owners. Although, to be quite honest, if I lived there I did not want my house right next to the wall, having tourists taking pictures of my beautifully landscaped garden, plus deckchairs, plus me sunbathing. But anyway.

Rothenburg is very popular amongst tourists from all over the world and quite often I caught something other than German, mostly American English and Japanese. This goes so far that I was addressed in English while buying my fridge magnets in the souvenir shop, probably because no German buys souvenirs in their own country. The Christmas Museum (yes it does exist!) was full of kitsch and the Americans in the shop loved it, as they do! I even paid the 4 euros to get me into the museum itself, which is about the historical development of Christmas, where the custom of the Christmas tree came from (of course from Germany!) how and where the different tree decorations were created, when and where the first Christmas greeting cards where printed and much more. After all this information, I will see this Christmas, perhaps with different eyes.

The Crime Museum was recommended to me by different people and so of course I went out there. It's not only an exhibition that shows torture instruments and equipment for the execution of the body as there is more to see in the museum (it gives a comprehensive insight into laws and punishments of the past 1000 years) but the torture stuff definitely is an eye catcher. Anyone planning a visit to this museum, should bring a lot of time, because all items are described in detail and it takes time to read all the displays in the basement and two additional floors.

Last but not least I climbed the tower of the Town Hall for an exclusive view over the town. And that turned out to be a true adventure! While I was climbing the spiral staircase into the attic it became increasingly tight and narrow. I'm not a big person but even I had to constantly be careful not to push my head at the roof. The staircase was getting steeper and I had to haul myself up the handrail. When I almost reached the top I saw the little cashiers (you pay two Euros) and I felt sorry for her: She does that every day at least once but what happens when nature calls her? I paid my 2 euro, chuckled to myself, climbed the last few yards and then had to get on all fours to climb outside through a small opening that looked almost like a doggy door! The views are amazing but there isn't much space up there. So you waddle after the person infront of you once he finished taking pictures and if you're lucky the person next to him also just finished taking pictures and you eventually make it back down the tower.

If you ever make it to Rothenburg you have to try the local "snowballs", a shortcrust pastry, which looks like snowballs of course. Topped with either cinnamon or other delicious glaze of chocolate, vanilla, caramel, etc and they also come in different sizes if you are afraid of a big sugar rush.

I was very glad that I have squeezed the visit to Rothenburg into my tight schedule as the town is worth a visit and I also had some time with my brother and his girl friend before heading off to Canada.

Gruetzi mitanand.....

..... and that simply means "Good day" in that lovely Swiss German that I hardly understand.

Before I"ll be heading off to Canada I had another mission on my mind. I kept my word that I gave to my long time school friend Claudia to visit her in Switzerland, where she is living now with her boyfriend. She is working on her diploma thesis at the moment so time is short but she still did some extra work beforehand to find some spare time for me - so lovely of her!

I boarded a train to get to Switzerland and it took me about 7 1/2 hours and two unperceived border crossings (Austria and Switzerland) and when Claudia picked me up from the train station she smirked at me and said I had just slipped past the customs officers. Customs officers? Honestly I haven't even seen them so how could I have slipped past? Their fault anyway I would say! Nothing serious as they usually know who they are looking for (have they been tipped off or do people look suspicious when they smuggle stuff??). Anyway, it was good to see Claudia again and we had a lot to talk about, what we've done in different locations (while shopping, on her balcony having a cup of coffee or while going for a short walk through 'Wildhaus' - the little township where she is living).

The next day we had to change plans (what was to go for a hike in the mountains) as it was too cloudy and grey and so we made our way to Chur, the oldest township in Switzerland. Chur had been constantly populated for the last 5000 years but is even older than that. Quite impressive hey? Especially for you folks down under ;-)! Back in Wildhaus we caught up with two of their friends and had an entertaining dinner in one of the many restaurants of Wildhaus. These friends are from Berlin and I loved to hear that hearty Berlin idiom again.

Sunday came and my train would leave in the early afternoon. Claudia had decided she no longer can fight her bad conscience so she had to keep working on her thesis. So her boyfriend showed me around. The weather was adorable and so we took one of the many cablecars to get up the mountains where we had a fantastic view into the Swiss Alps. We hired scooters to take us downhill and that was exeptionally loud thanks to the squeaking brakes but nevertheless fun! He also showed me a waterfall that would have been very pretty if it had carried water but for some time now it's been dry.

Back at base both had convinced me to stay a day longer as weather was too good not to utilize it for another walk and so Claudia's boyfriend and I headed off again up another mountain by the help of a cablecar. From there we started walking back to Wildhaus and as we had heaps of time at hand we stoped a few times for a bite to eat and a coffee. Back in Wildhaus we again caught up with one of their friends and played minigolf what I haven't been doing for many years. Of course I lost but I did so honourably ;-).

Monday came and it was time to say goodbye and catch a train back to Germany. Again I've spend around 7 hours at the train trying to kill some time by .... doing nothing. Not an easy task. But I managed!