The agenda for my second day exploring Estocolmo is to watch the changing guard ceremony at the Royal Palace and go to ABBA Museum. QQ’s recommendation, he said it’s a very interactive Museum with ABBA Avatar, the one I can dance along. I had to remind him that I will go there alone, who will help me recording myself? Hmmm, we shall see!
I arrived few minutes before 12:00, asked the guard where will the changing guards ceremony takes place? “See the stairs? Take it and you can’t miss it, it’s all there”. Spot on! there are many people already, I kind of get the side spot.
The Bell rang at 12:00 however there is no actions other than the bell was ringing. It could be the Church Bell though which has nothing to do with the ceremony. Few minutes later, the side guard started to walk back and forth, still no special things until 12:15. We have more guards coming out from the middle door to start the ceremony. They also have a “moderator” or “MC” or maybe “Captain”? Well, he was the one who announced “Welcome to today’s changing of the guards of Royal Palace” in both Swedish and English.
I was stand by the whole time, I mean…. I got only one job, pay attention! Here is the recap with 3x speed or else you have to watch it for over 10 minutes 😉
I texted Lisa if she could make the time to go to ABBA Museum with me as her agenda for that day was Kayaking in Vaxholm, she will be done in the afternoon, let’s see if our time matched again. While waiting for her WA, I am strolling around the area.
To bad, she couldn’t make it…. here I am, crossed the bridged by my own, off to ABBA 🙂
Allow me to unfold the secret of why I have a shame relationship with one of ABBA song, particularly the Dancing Queen one. This is our (Sissy and I) “aib” for as long as we shall live! we were on ‘oopps’ I meant formed a Band! Oh God! I wish I could wipe it from my memory 😀 I was on 5th Grade, Sissy 6th. I played drum, Sissy keyboard and Rivi is the Dancing Queen singer hahaha! I can’t even fathom why would we ever want to do that. The only good thing coming out from this is Sissy met her BFF Rivi. We love you Rivi! #4eva <3
OK, 5th grade was a century ago, it’s time to face my “aib” demon, enter that Museum door please!
It started with their journey, the clothes they were wearing, achievements, history of them-little did I knew they are all Sweden #All white people looks the same 😉 hihi I was still a child when my father played all the songs through a laser disc player. How should I knew they are all Swedish? I thought all English speaking countries came from America haha
They have a labyrinth dedicated to all their achievements. Besides all of it, they also display the set of Mamma mia, here I go again. Picture on the Mamma mia car?! how can I resist you?
Here are the interactive part where you can sing along-or maybe for me better not, a Karaoke room where you can look over the recording studio, silent disco where you just put a headset so your music could be different from other people’s music. The Avatar I have been waiting for! Audition for the 5th Member of ABBA 😉 Will I make it???
I believe the Avatar was made based on their real size? Supposedly right….I looked at myself on the video, damn! they are all so tall!
Thank you ABBA for your music! You guys were and are still phenomenal!
After more than 3 hours walking on the walking tour, I befriended with a German lady named Lisa. We both not only hungrrryyyyy but also wanting to peeeee hahaha In Stockholm, a free public toilet is almost nonexist, you must pay…with card… honestly speaking, it’s only 5 SEK (0.50 Cents) however it’s annoyed my Asian genes 😉 I’d rather be in a café having Fika and use the facilities there #See my logic.
Moving on to the more interesting theme, eating! We had our lunch in a very cute place which looks like unfinished building. Right after, we went to Vasa Museum via boat.
My smart ass thought I can walk or be inside the ship without thinking that this damn ship is very fragile plus still under continuous renovation, restoration, preservation bli bla blub haha
Once we got in, the ship is directly there, displayed to our naked eyes in his own majestic way. It still indeed have some smell, oceans smell? I don’t know, can’t describe it. For today’s size, I have to say it’s small or rather very small. However, we were talking about year 1626 when they started to built it, it was for sure the biggest ship ever existed. Very “Jumawa” of Gustav II #QQ reference.
Started the visit of the Museum from the bottom floor only to be wowed by it, look at all what engraved there! It is crazy thinking it took them only 2 years to built it!
Although there is actually nothing other than this Ship, you won’t feel bored, all the displayed were very engaging. I really paid attention to every info written there.
They have a 17 minutes film about Vasa in many different languages or a 25 minutes film for child, tell the same story with different illustrations.
FYI, we both watch the adult version too.
They laid each floor with different facts, despite finding 13 skeletons, they suspect the number should reached 40. Well, it wasn’t sail too far to begin with so people could still jump and save themselves. The people who couldn’t run away was the one who stuck between the cannon, such a painful and slow death, I’m very sorry for them. Surprisingly, there wasn’t any people held accountable for this accident.
We decided to go to the 7th floor to see the ornaments on the ship that they managed to restore. In my view, the ornaments decorations was too colorful haha red, gold and bunch of other different color. For sure it will looks “shining” in the middle of the ocean but what purpose does it serve? to scare the enemies or to make you an easy target? hmmmm #Deep thinking
We went back to the lower floor then Lisa passed into a German guided tour, she said to me “they are German, we can hear what they say” haha but the tour guide explained what we already read #We were faster!
They have the model of the ship with ratio 1:10. See how colorful it would have been, had it made it to the sail, we might not have the Museum #Either or 😉
We stayed until the Museum closed, oh yeah they made sure we got out of the gift shop by closing the door so no one could get in anymore.
Left Vasa Museum satisfied 🙂 This museum is a very must go! either you’re a Pirates of The Caribbean fans yohooo yohoo or not, you can’t never miss it. Entrance ticket is not so expensive, around 16 Euro.
Then we went to the city just to have a Fika at Under Kastanjen (under the Chesnut Tree) I need sugar!! Carrot cake to the rescue! Especially after the tension when we realized we might have taken the wrong direction’s boat haha We closed the day with walk around the city.
I do have a learning curve hey…. directly applied it when I do another walking tour in Stockholm, accepted that my memory is faded as time goes by, hence I type type type everything our guide said 🙂
The meeting point is on Monument Gustavus Adolphus or King Gustav II. She said there will be many Kings in Estocolmo with the name Gustav.
What was so special about King Gustav II? He was very success in military battlefield, well known either as “Captain of Military History” or “The Father of Combined Arms Warfare. Not gonna doubt his ability… doch! have to doubt it 😉
He too, was a keen artillerist, saw the potential of ships as gun platforms, gave the order to private entrepreneur to built one of the most powerful armed vessels in the world with richly decorated as a symbol of his ambitions for Sweden and himself. He ordered a series of ships with two full gundecks, outfitted with much heavier guns. It was named The Vasa (or Wasa) Ship.
The making of Vasa took 2 years. Did it work? Was the ship actually sailed? Yes it was! Was it a smooth sail? For 120m before it started to swiftly sank to a depth of 32m. It’s officially out of sight after sailing roughly 1300m into her maiden voyage on 10th of August 1628. Just like that, the Great Vasa sank to the bottom of the ocean in full view of a crowds who had come to see the ship set sail. The crowd included foreign ambassadors, in effect spies of King Gustav II’s allies and enemies. He witnessed his most pride ship sank in 20 minutes. It was sink for 333 years before a team pull it up to put it into the museum. Next thing he was famous for is trying to kill the Germans alone, he failed btw. Which lead us to Gustav III.
Turn around to see the Opera behind you. Gustav III also special person, genes runs in the family. He really likes to party, yet as a King he need to be somewhat protected, we can’t afford losing another Gustav again. Did we? Tragically yes, he died doing what he likes most. He held a Masquerade Ball only to got shot on his left hip by Jacob Johan Anckarström, to which he was sentenced to death and executed. Gustav III was the only king who saw his own assassins’. It is being said that his outfit with a bullet on it or the Assassins’ one are stored in The Royal Armoury. Spoiler about the assassins’ masked, it’s like someone who wears a paper mask.
Leave the monument Gustav II, walk straight to the bridge, turn your head to the right, the Ministry of Finance building. There is a Valkyries without her sword. 4 people below her represents the Swedish society: Nobility, Church, Merchants and Farmers. There are many speculation of what is the meaning of the 3 crowns. It could be representative of 3 Magi who came to visit the birth of Jesus. Nevertheless, nobody can confirm it, they just left it for mystery or open suggestions 😉 #I think.
When the Danish took the 3 crown symbol, Swedish drop it for 333 years, the same exact length as the Vasa was under water #Coincidence or conspiracy theory? Yet, its now serve as a symbol of both countries. Lions symbol associated with a royal family or some kind of royalty.
On the end of the road is the Parliament. There is a tunnel underneath the bridge made out of “glass” didn’t see it no matter how much I concentrated or squinted my eyes, write me if you can find it. Some people who were able to see it said wasn’t really a full glass. The little crown in the middle of Swedish flag meaning the king is there. Yep, backlight, can’t see it from the picture but it was indeed there.
Funny faces on the facade was based on real people, the sculpture asked some people who works in the Ministry if they allowed him to make a statue of his face to put it on the wall. Little did they know know, the sculpture wasn’t planning on engraved a real face rather emphasis some characteristic they have, at the end he was being asked to stop doing it. They also have changing the guard scene on the Parliament area every day at 12:15 but on that day we can’t go through it as they were filming a demonstration scene hihihi
The OG Idea of Stockholm City Hall to be called a Blue City Hall to represents the blue sky, it would have been a gradation of blue color. However, on the making, he falls in love with the red color of the brick, that’s why its a Red City Hall now 🙂 He waited purposefully until the Denmark’s City Hall finished only for him to made his’ 40 cm taller than the Danish one. Put the 3 crowns facing Copenhagen as a slap in the face showing “We have a bigger tower”
Chair is definitely not a part of the sculpture. We are in fact in the area of Stockholm’s WG for the Parliament people.
The condition is not that prima, 3 people in a WG with private bathroom. They shared the common area like kitchen and living room. They’re geographically grouped, consequently, one could be in one WG with his opponent. I mean…. I don’t even want to leave in a WG when I reached 29 years old….the reason behind is to show how open and fair Sweden is. Another fun facts that I managed to wrote half of it, if we see a phone booth with red green and something color, it is a direct call to the Parliament.
They said you can have a “basic” information from hitter.si. How basic is this basic? Not basic at all: name, address, tax return, closest body to water haha are you planning a Dexter move? #Orphan Black reference.
The Swedish likes to put “Sustainability” in every word from make sense to having less sense like Sustainability Bridge blablabla in order to prove their sustainability, they have a public washing machine in every apartment building 🙂 I can confirm that, Erin doesn’t have the Anschluss at her place. They need to booked a time slot to do it, each round is 3 hours. It’s very common excuse in Sweden “sorry, can’t go out, I have to do my laundry”
We stopped at a candy shop because our guide needs to rest her voice, at the same time we can get a sample candy hihihi. She said the real candy cane is straight, but USA put a hook into it to what candy cane we know.
Around that candy shop we saw a Valkyrie symbol with sword. We also walked through the so called “narrow” street which is not narrow at all for some luck or so. There was a statue named Engelen…. something? I tried to surf for him more but couldn’t get more information…. anyhow, I am sure our guide said he was the one who successfully (there were many tried before him to no avail) lead the rebellions of Danish.
Look up at the Gamla Stan area please, there are some buildings that doesn’t have window. Because having more window meaning you are being taxed more. Some people doesn’t want to pay it, to please the eyes, they decided to paint it.
Some house also have a proof that they paid a fire insurance for their house. How do you know it? look at the symbol / ornaments on top of their door. The symbol of Phoenix rises from ashes…. how ironic can you be. In worse case scenario, if 2 houses were on fire. The house with the fire insurance symbol will be saved first. If both have the symbol then the one with colorful symbol will be saved first. Fast forward now, it’s not valid anymore 😉
They have a German Church in Estocolmo whom doesn’t have Gargoyles but rather a north metology.
We visited the little iron boy statue sitting on a kitchen table looking at the moon and dreaming. His head is made from Swedish iron, really easy to be mold meaning a very high quality. During WW Swedish iron is on a very high demand. He gave access to Germany for the iron… for all that, Sweden asked in return for Germany to never step foot in Sweden. That is why Sweden is not bombarded during WW and became a safe heaven for Jewish population.
May peace come to this piece of our beautiful world. A sentence serve as a slide show on the display in front of the Nobel Prize Winner museum. She said if one of your friends got nominated for Nobel, he or she can take 12 friends with him / her to the banquet. So… my friends, maybe it’s time to do your job? hahaha
The Gamla Stan (the one who always come out everytime you type Stockholm) is like a red banquet scene from Game of Thrones, nope I didn’t watch it. So what was happening? The Danish locked the door, only to start the beheaded party of each Swedish Nobel on that evening, it was very gruesome. The ground we are on are uneven, it was believed caused by the blood was running out from the building. The white square in the wall represents the number of the beheaded Swedish high noble, it is that much!! Gustav managed to survived, gathered the crowd, attacked, send back the Danish intruder without clothing to Copenhagen.
The rivalry between Denmark and Sweden is still existing, if you go to IKEA all the name for beautiful decoration will be in Swedish name, on the opposite all the doormat will be in Danish name.
Ongky recommended me to have an additional Zahnversicherung for prevention on real money coming out of pocket haha after giving it some thought…. why not? It’s necessary to do professional teeth cleaning once a year anyway, when you inserted the word “professional” meaning the cost is above 100 Euro. This cost won’t be all cover by my normal health insurance. I’ve done my research, chose the one Astra offered, starting from July.
Went to have a professional teeth cleaning right away, being reminded again that the costs is different from a normal teeth cleaning and not be covered by a normal insurance. Yep I know that is the only reason why I have additional insurance, proceeedddd!
I thought all this time I have a healthy teeth….until it wasn’t haha I have a condition called Periodontitis or gum disease, it’s not super tragic yet need to be treated. When my next appointment? in September! Oh… is it that long? there is no availability within…. next week? The receptionist said because they will write a letter to insurance to ask them to cover for the fee, it could take around 1 month #German efficiency, I need to practice my patience.
In the meantime I received a letter from my insurance saying they need to have a second opinion. Therefore I need to go to a Gutachten to check if I really need the treatment. Rrrghhh they gonna do the same check to my mouth. The Gutachten who also a dentist said “yes, I agree you need the treatment” #Pffff
One day before my appointment, I talked to my colleague Nadine, turns out she had just done it as well. She gave me a very useful insight to which I wouldn’t be able to eat for few days after that. Oh… auch! let me eat everything beforehand! I did eat a lot before my appointment, not regret it at all!
He was injecting numbing medicines things to my gum, after that “Bis gleich” hello?!?! how long? can’t you inform at least? I was confused, this is it? am I done? 15 minutes later they came back in, lucky them I’m still there haha The nurse put the Sauger hang on my mouth whilst Herr Doktor started the treatment.
I visualize all my teeth are being scrapped to the last layer, the nurse kept pulling on other direction. I’m not gonna lie, it seems as if my mouth is going to be ripped, worse case is I can’t say anything. After what I reckon like 20 minutes, they have nailed it, tears coming out from my eyes, the doctor didn’t do something as painful as the nurse. I still don’t have a control over my mouth, bloods were dripping. Had I could talk, it would be “wth yo! you almost ripped my mouth yet you didn’t saug it well” Thanks to you, I can’t wear the clothes anymore! the blood stain stay strong still! pffff
You can see how swallow my lips are plus every gum was bleeding. I can’t even close my lips hahaha! I consider my lips is now similar to Kylie Jenner’s, only mine comes from a natural cause. So, if you want a lip filler, just do the cheap version, go to the dentist, ask about a Periodontitis treatment 😉 #Broke tips.
In the evening it gets better, meaning I can close my lips haha that’s already an achievement I would say. Even for drinking water is uncomfortable, forget about chewing.
Next day in the office I still can’t anything. Krissy gave me a suggestion to perhaps have a Kakao as long as it’s still free (under testing period). What?!?! FREE Kakao?!?!
Say no more I’m getting it! Did I had one? No way man, I’m getting my second Kakao. But when I got the second one, the Kakao Seeds was low haha not as good as the first one.
Teeth insurance is important hey, get one for yourselves! I still have control after another control, it’s painful but since I already paid for it, I’m gonna use it all, we are not a f#3k!ng Charity 😉
Susi will be my niece’s nickname for a long time, it suits her well #Stay with Susi.
Their final destination is Frankfurt Airport, distance from Colmar to Frankfurt is a bit too far, too much car seat time for Susi. Therefore Sissy and Schwager spontaneously decided to stop at Baden-Baden – stay one night in Heidelberg – next morning Frankfurt Airport.
Susi woke up just in time for Schwager to make an exit from the Highway to Baden-Baden. Priority: Susi!
DM has a baby changing corner, complete with wipes and diapers sizes. From all the sizes on the below shelf available, of course Susi’s size was empty!
Credits needs to be given though, it’s my first time seeing a changing station in DM #Thumbs up.
After Susi has changed, we were more relax for sightseeing and lunch.
We walked passed one museum, making fun of the Peaky FUCKING Blinders! #Arthur’s voice. The fans would know it, the Faberge Egg’s scene.
We were very happy at Baden-Baden, not sure why? maybe just because the name is Baden-Baden 😉 we stayed there longer than we planned. Jumping on the stones, visit the church, had ice cream- I ordered Casis, don’t do it, when in doubt, chose Hazelnut #Sissy wejangan.
Suits ourselves, continue drive to Heidelberg. It was a Saturday afternoon, Heidelberg was packed, I meant packed packed PACKED PACKED!!! I still didn’t do the justice of how packed it was. People everywhere, all parking place were full so full to the point we were waiting on the line to get into the Parkhaus. One car out from the Parkhaus = one car move in from our line and so on.
What do we do while waiting? called our Hotel to ask if they have a Parking Place. The receptionist asked under which name the rsvp was made. Only for us to hear “I can’t find your name, please just come here and we will sort it out”
In the meantime Schwager check his mails, we booked the wrong date! Let’s just carry Susi with Björn, go to Hotel maybe they have free room for tonight.
All three we went, no free room. We asked her if there is something today, to this she answered, “nothings happening, it’s just normal Heidelberg on a weekend”
Me and Schwager went to few hotels & restaurants nearby asking if they have a room: zero squared. Only then we realized our attempt to stays at Heidelberg crashed in front of our eyes. It was a sea of Menschen, impossible to find a hotel here.
Let’s make a cut, quit Heidelberg, snap some pictures here as our hotel was exactly on the city center, this is the only chance we got haha so we could say we already went to Heidelberg 😉 The focus at this moment is to find a new hotel for tonight somewhere else. Get out from the Hype-Heidelberg.
Schwager kept driving on the highway direction of Frankfurt. We will passed few cities beforehand. When we read some name like Weinheim, Heppenheim, Bensheim, search on Google- Hotel.
I felt like a Detective in the movie, with 3 phones + 1 GPS looking which directions should we go, should Schwager took an Exit to any Heims-City or keep going. I said the hotel name, Schwager put it on the GPS, responded “no it’s another direction” next, next, next we were like that for def under an hour, although at that time it feels like forever. We do have Stau so Schwager can type something on the GPS.
The call was always “Hallo, wir sind 3 Erwachsene und 1 Baby. Haben Sie zufällig heute ein Zimmer frei?” always got replied “Nein, tut mir leid” fuck fuck fuck! No, don’t take exit on Weinheim as there is no hotel anyway, keep on the lane to next city, Heppenheim. Sissy entertaining Susi or keep feeding her banana. The stakes are high, we all knew the moment Susi cries it’s game over.
We kept driving directionless or we gonna end up at Ashley and Ongky’s couch haha I swear if it’s only 3 of us, without a doubt we would slept on the car, doesn’t really matter, go to a restaurant, use the facilities, we already got spot in the Parkhaus anyway, next morning go to Frankfurt Airport earlier to use their shower room. Since it’s not possible, keep focus!
Just to add some tension, the Benzin could only fit for 60km left. AHA! icing on the cake #face palm. It’s getting dark too hahaha strike after strike after strike, give it full gas to our last day. Relax? what’s that? #Hold my beer.
First priority sofar is unfruitful hotel searching, now our second priority is catching up with our first’s, which is to find the Tankstation. Took an exit, fuel some Benzin, next to it there is a McD, Sissy said “let’s sit down, we need to eat something”
We were not really a big fans of McD but at this point we were already desperado haha
We were still calling many hotels near by to no avail. We know we needed to be in big cities. It’s logic, no way in hell all hotels in big cities are full. The situation now is Susi still happy, we all are full, we are secured. The -Heims are small cities maybe the kind of hotel was family own which only have 4 rooms, that could be one of the reason.
Schwager called one last hotel in Darmstadt, hole in one! We got direction on where to go, finally! Now I look back realizing of how calm we were actually. We were just in disbelief or denial phase but not panic since we all aware there will always be a hotel for us, it’s just how far should we drive. What the hell is happening on this Saturday, is it Oktoberfest? yes it’s the very first day of Oktoberfest but we are not in Münich, why would be the reason of this full-ness?
Btw if you wonder how Susi was doing when we were unter der Druck setzen? She was soooo calm the whole damn time! didn’t scream, she even slept! that makes a loooottt easier. I was very very very proud of Susi for being so considerate as if she understood the situation.
Susi was so happy in the new, bigger hotel 🙂 Plaza Western PLUS you saved 4 asses that night! We will never forget you.
We slept so damn well, happy to have a refreshing shower in a big bathroom. Overall, this hotel is better anyway than the small hotel in Heidelberg.
Checked out is at 12, distance from Darmstadt to Frankfurt Airport was only 20 minutes. My luggage is already done, Sissy hasn’t finished hers. She can’t find her legginggggg yet it’s already time to check out. In order to not get a late check out fee, we just checked out first the re-open Sissy’s Koffer in the lobby haha! Schwager started moving Susi’s travel cot or some other Kram to the car on by one. I played with Susi, meaning: Susi is eating my handy case while in return I got Susi’s headphone. At some point I ask “why Susi only wear diapers?” “Where is her pants?” the hectic has taken all of us, here wear the yellow one! Now we all are decent.
Off to Frankfurt Airport. We were all in one toilet in Baby Room in Airport until we got a knock haha All in! It takes a village 🙂 It was amazing that I met them 3X within one month, always come and go, one weekend, next week and one full week. It was so hard to be parted with this kleine Mote since she’s very menggemazkan hhmmmm.
I witnesses the moment she articulate Papa, Dada, played “hide and seek”, peekabo, screaming, number 2, mingkem, cengegesan. So many once in my lifetime memories created and stored innerhalb der kurzen Zeit I have with small Susi. Next time I see you, you’ll be already able to walk, will be very seru!
Big big big thank you for Sissy and Schwager to include me on their trip. I’ve seen + been on tons places because of you. We had so so so much indescribable fun, I’m very happy 😀
Morning walk with Susi to the Hay, saw horses, wore Flannie together #Matchy matchy. We coincidentally met our Landlord, at first she spoke French to us, none of us understood here, we can’t say Je suis Susi or whatnot right. Schwager replied “Allemand” then she strike a conversation auf Deutsch with French accent. Whoaaa felt like home! it’s very useful to know German hay!
Second try of sightseeing in Colmar. We had our best ice cream so far. Kept coming back to the shop, from three Kugeln on a Becher to one Kugel on a cone to two Kugel on a Becher. The more Kugel in one purchase desto billiger, we should’ve have done the math pffff. Don’t worry, we didn’t overlook Susi, we also gave her some tiny bits 🙂
At some point, the beauty overwhelmed us, let’s drive home, we have some Boci to played. Put Susi to nap, while I prepared our Boci. We made our own rule, hit the ball to the stick. We were laughing a lot because Sissy didn’t even aim, she just hit randomly. It took her 6-7 tries on one stick before she get the grip out of it. See the glitch in Matrix where we laughed the same way 😀 We closed our Boci game after 3 rounds and had our kind of photo session.
It was our last night in this AirBnB, very peaceful, I like the idea of going to Supermarkt, cook at home, eat in the Patio until…. we got unwanted guess. Schwager suddenly said “Hello Buddy!” my back was facing the so genannte “entrance” therefore my first response was who the hell is Buddy coming in this hour?!?! Should I run? break the plate, take the fraction of the plate? In my mind it’s a lost person or thief, be aware it’s dark plus not to mention the obvious, we were in the middle of nowhere. Can you guess who is the Buddy he meant? it’s someone’s dog haha all good! he must have been smelling our food.
Sun rises, we didn’t want to leave the Tiny House but we have too. We need to leave Je suis Susi country to be back to Ich bin Wurst. Not gonna lie, I feel so good to be back to Germany haha the country where I can speak the language!
Before we moved to Wurst, I just want to clarify something. Susi ist the niedlichen version of Sausage or Sosis in Indonesian and here is the blatant proof of “why” 🙂
#Which one should I eat?
So far seems like a relax day closing our trip hey? just wait, it’s about to reveal sooner than later 😉
Back to Susi! can’t be parted long from the cheeky chunk of meat 😉 Our next destination is Colmar. In between there is a castle called Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg, our pit stop.
Where to park? There were many cars parking on the so genannte “Parkplatz” 700 meters before the Chateau, we ain’t gonna park there, noone gonna carry Susi for 700 meters, proceed drive further. We parked 200 meters away, with this distance ist Susi tragbar #Agreed!
Susi was very aufmerksam the whole time, look here and there as if she understood everything whilst zip her mouth hmmmm or pull my hair.
The Chateau is quiet refreshing, was a good decision to stop there. We had a noice lunch at the Chateau’s Restaurant, looked at the cakes, yep we got it too! Susi had a Kindersitz with a little marbles on it for playing. She’s doing super great!
Before we continued our journey, she need to have a new diaper. Oh diapers! Remember I bought her diapers the day before right? it was the damn wrong one, there are two types heyyyy, the real diapers with straps or the pants diaper. Of course I bought the pants diaper which was meant for babies who has been potty trained. How did we changed her pants diaper? #Disaster! Went with Sissy to the bathroom, boah! Sissy said “hold her, hold her” I looked on the other side saying “my hand is holding her body, I think it’s her feet”
She managed it in the end, out from the loo, I felt I was grasping for air, wanted to put her back to either Baby Björn or Pram until she realized there were one dot of residue on Susi’s leg, Sissy scream “Bebesup, Bebesup (read: baby wipes), gimme now now now” Schwager searched for it, I tried to pour water to her leg. I don’t have any water on my bottle left but Susi does! Took her bottle who’s already Childsafe approved, you need to suck the straw, only then the water will come out. It won’t work by turning the bottle upside down hahaha! Well, at least I tried!
What’s more important is…. Susi is now clean, safe and sound, aman sentosa. Get going, makes our way to Colmar-Adjacent.
We need to turn around 2 times as google mislead us. Our second accommodation was in fact in the middle of nowhere, very very very countryside like a tiny house with everything you need! Never have I experienced it! Adults are happy, Susi is happy, everything just fell into place, we need this goddamn relax to close our trip #Slow life.
I chose to sleep on the sofa, it was only around 20:30. Sissy and Schwager decided to have something to eat, yet they rather eat it inside on the small round table next to the Sofa or my feet (if I lay down) than outside on the Patio. What a view they could have.
They prepared the evening + food, closed the curtain, there is still some gap. Schwager did a DIY curtain to block the morning sunniesssss. Hmmm still not enough, moved the table and chair where they supposed to eat, into other side to be able to hold the hanged the clothes. Looks good, all bedeckt…. but…. where will they eat? Right next to my face had I sleep in, so I ate too hihihi
Next morning, went to visit Schwager’s relative in Colmar.
Oh this City is welcoming me! Hello ladies and gentlemen, my name is Mar-Lyn. The Col is on my left hand side which is not something you need to worry about 😉
The food was good, the location is in the middle of city center. Susi is having her fancies Kindersitz ever! All went well!
Will we get a full relax to close our trip though?! That’s a mystery we were about to unfold, brace yourself 😉
Archimedes EUREKA… same same but different… as I was alone strolling inside the Museum, why don’t I do a walking tour like I normally do in every city I travelled to? EUREKAAA! let’s see if they have availability for today in English. It was around 17:30 when I got my Eureka moments, 18:00 is the walking tour, walking distance from the Museum to the Meeting Point is 20 minutes, perfecto!
Saw the tour guide and two more guys plus me…hmm… will the tour keep going? or we need to have a minimum participants? Yes it does! (the first one) wohooo felt like having a private tour 🙂
We started at Monument Kleber. Eric is the name of our guide, he explains very detail about who is Kleber, what did he do in Strasbourg, why there is a monument for him, why Sphinx is behind him. From what I can recall…. he was disobeying one order so his face is turning away from the order (the paper on his hand), he has an important figure during the battle, he faced his faith due to someone disguise as a student walked to his direction then stab him to death!! Why Sphinx is there? I forget pffff
We cannot skip the amazing, number 1 attraction in Strasbourg ever, Cathedrale Notre Dame! He showed us the story from what was engraved on the outside of the Cathedral. It divided into 3 parts, Christmas – Passion of the Christ – ….judgement day? yes I think that’s the third.
The artist freely design the stone based on their own interpretation. Moving on to first door with theme Christmas:
It was only 3 of us, obviously I heard he said the lady statues represents one of parable about: “Ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps”. I only see 4 on each side….. okay we are here to appreciate the detailed, not to challenge 😉 let’s move on from it.
There is one part I couldn’t forget as it blown me away so much, it’s about the story of each biblical character per se. In the Passion of the Christ parts, Eric recognized two parables: Cain and Abel + Jonah who got eaten by a fish. I think I found Saint Peter as he was crucified upside down. Speechless guaranteed!
Last gate which I thought was a judgment day? Yes, I think it is or at least somewhere in that direction…. Eric told Evil comes 3 times in this illustration, in form of a dragon like people being pushed to hell + a “Prince” who actually a disguise Evil, we can see it from snakes behind his robe + the one I forget, I believe it was on the corner of the door, the Gargoyle symbol. Disregard my forgetfulness, it’s still marvelous heiiii
Then we went to the other side of the church where… this time… I’m 100% remember what was that all about. It’s the parable of King Solomon, a story of two women who came to him with two young babies- one alive and one dead. Both claimed that the living child was their own and that the other woman was only pretending to be the mother of the surviving infant. King Solomon solved it by “let’s cut the baby half so each one got one”. To which, the fake mother agreed whilst the real mother prefer to give the baby to her as long as the baby’s alive. That’s how King Solomon know who the real mother is. #Bravo Marlyn! at least one full story you remembered #Proud of moi-self!
How about that? isn’t it breathtaking? I promise for the next walking tour, I won’t forget much things #Better be improved!
Few steps around the Cathedrale, look down, there is a capsule time which will be opened in year 3790 mwahaha who would have known?!?! maybe people couldn’t read the handwritten anymore. Or worse, they ain’t gonna be people! Hiyyy….don’t wanna know…
We walked passed La Petite Alsace again, definitely need to take pictures 🙂 at this moment we already know each other more, they are Michael, Manuel and me, the 3M tourist, just like a 3M Tape.
There is another important statue with important people + important moment engraved like Galileo, the abolished of slavery.
We closed the tour with parting up in the bridge! the same bridge I went this morning, this time with some lights.
Manuel recommended me a place to eat. However, I need to do my job of buying Susi a diaper before the store closed so we didn’t eat together. Once I secure the diaper, don’t know where to eat, went to Manuel’s recommendation: Kitsch ‘n Bar and guess who I found? it’s them!
We connected on Instagram, they told me the water in Dublin is for free, what?!?! I can’t hear the word “free”, my Asian soul is calling, I’m gonna come to take a bath every damn day! haha you two also welcome btw just one thing need to be reconsidered, I paid my water + there is no Bathub, so…. save it! haha Either way, travelling is the essence here.
Definitely book yourself a walking tour wherever it’s available, you got a bit of knowledge…. well…. at that time is a lot but less memory capacity 🙂 with a bonus you can get new friends!
My random memories keep jumping: Angelo is a good place to eat, the statue of St. Martin in front of Martin’s Church, nobody lives on a Dach, Strasbourg was a place of EU Composer like Mozart, this little corner is the best view from Cathedrale Notre Dame.
Oh here is the recommendation from Eric’s, you’re welcome!
We need to get ourselves used to “Bonjour” “Allemand” since we are in French bzw. Strasbourg!
Wawa booked an apartment which is much much much oh sorry we need to say beaucoup beaucoup beaucoup bigger than our pervious Unterkunfts, it’s also in a center-adjacent area. Susi (we are in French, do as the French does, not saying the word S in the end) and I got our own room… although she sleeps in a travel cot on the floor nevertheless 😉
It is boucu boucu boucu hot heyyyy!!!! at the same time boucu pretty! Were totally overwhelmed by the beauty of Strasbourg. Owing to the fact that none of us eingecremt, we went inside the cathedral to “hide” from the sun for a bit.
No…. it won’t cut it…. the heats makes us feels tired, Susi’s too, we decided to go back, do a bit of nap. Snoozed until I heard Susi’s laugh or her crawling sound. The cheeky baby has woken up 🙂 in another word, we need to transfer into “go go go” mode before she shut down again in 3 hours. Clock is ticking! Change clothes, wash face, sunscreen!
Our first destination is La Petite Alsace, instead of following Google maps, we were back to ancient times, pay attention to “sun time” as in where is the shade?!?! the path with shadow is the path we choose.
Oh ice cream, you are so delicious! We had three scoops of ice cream in one Becher. Susi was with her father on Baby Björn, I was taking her pram, left Wawa who’s in charged for feeding us the ice cream, shouldn’t have trusted her, she did cheat sometimes. For example “OK, last Chocolate” “No it’s not, there is still some spoons left, how can it be the last? it ain’t the last scoop yo” #I didn’t born yesterday 😉
Bridge!! you protect us!! we saw two dogs swams on the water, cathing balls, taking sticks, cool down… how I… still not want to do that haha I know it’s very hot yet not to the point I’m gonna jump into the water #facepalm. Few more steps later, I witness something really cool science in this canal. A tourist boat went in between two doors, then the level of water raised until it’s enough for the front gate to be opened so this boat can get through. It’s pretty cool in real life. This La Petite Alsace is very picturesque 🙂 Love it so much!
I think we called it a day, were satisfied already, went back home, bought KFC!
The next morning, we had our learning curve from yesterday, went in the morning right after Susi’s woke up before her first nap to walk to the bridge. The sun wasn’t too strong at that time, no need for sunscreen.
As we walked, we passed again the yesterday La Petite Alsace… Hmm… the geographic of the bridge is right above us…. where is the damn stairs? how about Susi? don’t worry, we carry her! if she could say perhaps she thought “Hello you all Peasant, I’m a Princess”
Before her first nap is her very fresh status, Susi is so kissable. Being kissed by a baby is what I called win in life!
Wait it’s not the bridge we intended to go! don’t let this win distract from the real destination! This is the bridge, we let Susi explore the pavement.
Time for her and ours first nap! zzzzzz. On the second time we awake, we think…. a good lunch would be great, let’s search something. We were back to the cathedral alley thingy. I have just learned that food isn’t the priority for us, rather if a restaurant have a high chair für Susi #Princess.
Susi was a bit uncontrollable, not sure why, maybe too hot? She did calm down when she hear the street performance played some music for a while. Susi touched the pot that still hot for a baby, not for an adult, screamed, huhu she isn’t kissable again, she became cheeky! Grabbing everything, taking my glasses #kiddos!
That was it! our afternoon, went back again for our second nap 😉 yes! travelling with baby is full with up and down sleeping. I am not getting not enough sleeping time, I got it, just in a different way, the accumulated hours way
Third attempt! we went to a Museum close by.
Because Susi went back to sleep, I left in the Museum alone… out of nowhere, I got an Archimedes EUREKA! What exactly is that? that’s story for another time 🙂
One week before the due day, that’s when it hits me, my Marniversary is around the corner! #Panicked, what will I do this year? At the same time, my sister is currently in Germany so the thought of celebrate it with her + Schwager + Moti appears naturally. My original idea was like this, I went to their place on 25th of August for the weekend, work from home on Monday-the Marniversary.
Shortly before the weekend comes, I decided to cancel it as they are having family time while me… busy with my own event. I’d be back to Dortmund on Sunday instead. What, where, who? Haven’t plan any of it!
One by one, email the Cupcakes store, texted the 3 friends I gained in Dortmund haha definitely in the thema! 3 Years in DE = 3 friends. Hmmm… what could be the decoration for the photo purposes? let me bastelt something 🙂 #DIY
My family always says when you have a birthday you need to eat noodle as it represents long life usw. I couldn’t think of other place other than Ippin Ramen. Few reasons: Located in the city center, Silvia for sure will be lost if the restaurant is not in the center. Felicia works there, it’s easier to request something like “can you please put this cake on the fridge”. Andrea loves Ramen. OK! the where is safe.
One important detail is missing, MY CAKE!!! I called the cupcake store, wrote to other places, receiving no reply. Googled the cake shop that opens on Monday…only to receive… so many closed! Damn!
However, I’m not despair, near my home there’s a place called Oma Rosa. I could come on Sunday right before they closed. One of their Menu interest me, it’s called Törtchen Tapas. It’s a small portion of a cake, precisely 1/4 portion from a 12cm diameter cake. There were 6 different cakes left on the Theke so I took all of it.
Fiuhhh! Planning took quite a toll on me or Felicia haha as I consulted her many times about it but everything is manageable in the end 😉 Cakes + Decorations + Place are all gesichert.
What next? Feli asked if there will be a dress code, yaissss! Let’s do this! Totally! Informed the group the night before only if they want they should dress in any color that exists on a German Flag. Silvia suggested a red lipstick, acceptable too! I have all colors on me, they do too! all come with a German color-ish. Andrea wore red + black + blonde hair + German accent haha she’s a complete package. Silvia had a yellow shoulder bag #on point! Feli wore red top. Me so Happy!!!!
We started before Felicia arrived otherwise we all be Hangry, not good to start Marniversary #wink
She arrived when we were on the middle of our Ramen eating 🙂 cakes + picture time!
Won’t be a Marniversary without a Marniversary thing 🙂 I really called it like this, it has a name in my own dictionarlyn 😉
After we finished with the food and cakes, we went to Hbf. Why?!?! as long as my face still there, it’ll be a tourist spot!
Thank you Girls for spending my 3 years birthday in Germany! See you in my 4 years 🙂 yes girls! we will do it every year now, it’s always something to celebrate. Adding one more beautiful day in a year is not bad heyyyy.
P.S: the Sombrero from Andrea now serve the purpose als one of my wall decorations 🙂
