October 22nd, Chantal messaged me that she and Sophie were planning to celebrate my nachträglicher Geburtstag. She asked if I will be free on 28.12. My initial reaction was “Hä? Dezember? it still far… however knowing I don’t have holiday no more which means I’ll be in Dortmund, I said yes.
I received this message on Christmas. What?!?! was in shocked! #Never see that coming!
Sophie told I need a DE Ticket, maximal I can think is I’m going to their Heimat. This birthday gift was so above & beyond from both of them, voll ins Schwarze getroffen, can’t thank them enough!
Took the train from Dortmund Hbf to Köln at 08:45, mind you they were not from Dortmund ~ both started their journey one hour earlier. Heading to Brühl then took a shuttle bus cost 5 Euro on top pfffff on Lego Land they didn’t charge you more money, I only have 6 Euro on cash #Knapp!
Phantasialand opened at 11:00 we arrived around 11:40 ish. First attraction is Berlin area. We went to Das verrückte Hotel Tartüff, it’s like a fun house where they put furniture upside down, crazy elevator, moving carpet etc. In the end we can slide down only had to took off our shoes, oh yeah, saw it “Sophie, it’s quiet deep” she responded “Ach Marlyn, egal” #Fun 😀
Chantal want take Wellenflug carousel in front of fake ice-ice skating, let’s gooooo. It’s very relaxing to see the view from the top.
Walked passed Mexico, what do they have here? Wasserbahn mehhhh don’t want to get wet; the free fall towers auch mehhh; Talocan 13 x award winning top spin oh neeeee; Colorado Adventure it is! the descriptions were multi award winning family mine roller coaster. I’d say it fits for adults too, the track was outside + inside the dark tunnel, most thrilling was when we were in the dark tunnel, I thought it will go up only it goes down.
Moving on to Deep in Africa, Sophie recommended we must ride Black Mamba ~ the 18 x award winning suspended roller coaster in the heart of the jungle. Bring it on! I like the way we waited for Black Mamba, we do not go to a maze like normal, we “were” in the jungle vibe area, feels like I made a circle to it’s track. Right after, while we casually walking, I said “let’s go here, waiting time is only 5 minutes” it was an Adventure Trail which was easy, yet at the end there is a slide, boy oh boy my Ass hurt! the Slide is not like in das verrückte Hotel Tartüff, it’s made out of round steels like the type where you put your bag into an X-Ray #Poor my bones.
China Town is the area where we sit down in warm inside Restaurant Madschu for refilling our energy. We had a meet & greet with Dragon Wang, went to Europe’s longest underground ghost train Geister Rikscha. It was just sitting, chilling & seeing, we need it for Verdauung.
Reality kicks in, we are still missing 2 areas, Mystery and Fantasy. Los geht’s! Mystery Castle is next, we saw a seat that for me was familiar, reminded me of a screen illusion where they take us to a journey somewhere as if we were flying or tauchen, at least that’s what I expected in mind. We were seated, it was pitch dark, any moment the screen will appears. Holy guacamole! it was a free fall tower to which has awarded 16 times! None of us expected it! My feet clinged onto Chantal’s feet, shocking wasn’t do the justice. Turned on the dim light, we were somewhere on the top, going down, middle back to the top finally back to ground. I thought they will rocketed us again, thank’s God that wasn’t the case. I was gobsmacked “what the hell just happened?!” laughing as it was so much entertainment! The Mystery castle indeed a mystery.
At 17:00 they illuminate whole places, it was wonderful, Christmas spirit’s everywhere, walked around, took some beautiful pictures, absorbing these keepsakes <3
There are still some roller coasters left alas we couldn’t do it, only went in to Fantasy area then gift shop then ab nach Bushaltestelle. Unfortunately we didn’t see any shows, there was a fireworks at the end at 19:50 but since we took public transport, the connection wasn’t in our favor, we need to leave earlier. I think for next time I would stay in one of their theme park hotel and really take the paper Landkarte other than downloading the app. We did have the physical map in the end, only didn’t realized every ride has a descriptions, well! had we read it, we would miss the element of surprise from mystery castle 😉
Really appreciate both of you Chantal & Sophie for thinking to gift me this. What a brilliant way for us ~ me especially to mark the end of the year with Wintertraum.
Wondering what would the three of us would do next year? #alle guten Dinge sind drei.
What kind of Christmas sequence I’ve done this year? Surprisingly didn’t go as much to Dortmunder Weihnachtsmarkt as before, perhaps A. I always passed by City Center every time I visit my doctor or buy something at DM. Therefore B. I didnt feel the necessity to dedicate really some time to physically be there.
Nevertheless I went to two cities 🙂 exploring Soest with Hainka, Lena and Freundin. They know what + where to get. We three #Not Lena did the “challenging” task mwahaha which was went to toilet at Extrablatt because we dont want to pay the fee mwahaha Don’t like to break the rule yo! #Eingedeutsch but still Asian in blood, give my jacket to Lena so they thought Im one of their customer, entered with confidence! Steady, slow #Misschief managed! Only then we can explore in Ruhe, we had Wurst & Chocolates. I also tried some Probe they put in front of the stand.
Our annual Nordwest Weihnachtsfeier! Still remember how we weren’t being picked up from the bus station therefore Monicita & Ignacio drove us there, Hainka also didn’t take the bus. We sat with our QM Thomas, when the dance floor opened, he was very excited to start dancing yes we three were on the Tanzfläche. Hainka spent almost all the time I was there on the Theke drinking Beer. When the strikes hits 00:00 I still want to stay, timeline for bus is either at 00:00 or 02:00. Monicita came to me “I’m going back” “I’m not” “Yes but Aylin drove me back to my place” “Whatt? OK then I’m going back too” Fabian picked us up, he bekommt Beilage 😉 P.S I had some improvement, didn’t get sick this time #Yeay!
We didn’t go to Dortmund Weihnachtsmarkt mainly due to a super unangenehmen conversation PV heard during his time there, urged him to report it to Police. We opted for dinner at Base Kitchen with Weihnachtsspirit ~ Nikolaus sponsored by Freundin 🙂
Andrea made up for missing my birthday & combine it with Münster Weihnachtsmarkt. There is no special Baum like the Dortmund one and quiet separate, there were 6 of it scatter around, we only went to 5 as it was raining. Then we had my favourite cocktail of all time from a Peruvian Restaurant: Pisco Sour! #Baby you’re all that I want. Afterwards went back to her place, took a bit of Pause, I gladly became her Elf on packing Christmas gift. I requested her for a Pasta allo Scoglio dinner #Never better 😀
Heiligabend went to Cafe Helene at Recklinghausen + Weihnachten with Freundinnnn #4 years and keep going. It was amazing wie immer! look at these meat! #Carpaciooooo #Nomnomnom
I got a tons of variety presents, from symbolic to useful to meaningful to ‘so me’ look how creative all my friends are. I am so proud to be able to call them friends. Nothing more perfect other than wrapping the year with counting your blessings.
Shout out to Claudia & Gio, Freundin & Freund, Selina, Julius Mama, Alina Penguina, Andrea, Martin. Professionally to Kubala and Flexport #If they want to keep getting order, better treat me right 😉
My mom has a wide broad collections of fridge magnet for every places she or anyone in the family visited, it’s an absolute souvenir. I do not want to start with the same item / keychain or whatnot because once I did, I need to keep it durch #Couldn’t resist. What kind of Mitbringsel I opted for? mal earrings mal books.
In our family the one who always loves reading is Sissy, almost all books at our house belongs to her, I on the other hand only read Comics Doraemon or Detective Conan, even that’s very little. However, around 14 years ago, can’t simply remember where I bought it, perhaps Singapore ~ got myself two very interesting books consist of short “story” / “activity” although I’d never wrote it down on the book #Don’t want to mess it up haha anyone got the same point of view?
Anyway, out of nowhere I want to sort out my life by getting reading as my new hobby. I knew right away I wanted to start with those two books collections. Number 5: Where will you be five years from today? & Number 7: How many days in a week can be extraordinary? Organically I thought there will be 1-7. Then I realized on the bottom corner there is the website live-inspired.com
What?!?! it has been there all along yet I literally acknowledged it more than a decade later?! pffff if that takes me that long, don’t bother to think where will I be five years from today mwahaha #Hope not, jokes aside 😉
Unfortunately the customs + delivery cost to ship from USA to Germany is more expensive than the books itself. Amazon it is, a used version. Ordered Number 1: How many people does it take to make a diffference? & Number 2: How will you create something beautiful together?
Number 2 arrived, well it’s a book for appreaciating your partner #Don’t have any, can’t say much about it.
By chance, this book shattered me #Tragic. I thought my collection completed, nope! there is a number 10: What’s on your top 10 list?
Dude come on! Cant complete my stash now hey?
Back to their website, didn’t sell it anymore, feasibly they stopped printing it. The used edition from Amazon year 2013 cost 24 Euro! Aiyoyoooo monopolize at its finest. Nevertheless, I should buy it, otherwise FOMO will kick in!
Someday you’ll see my all-inclusive compendiums #Just not happening now bro 🙂
Approaching the end of Eras Tour, traffic of Taylor Swift’s on my IG raised up. Tracy posted sth about it to which I commented “do you know how can I watch the stream?” I thought one must have register somewhere first. Nope, it’s from YouTube! She gave me the YouTuber name: Ammir Shah, pressed that “notify me” button. Spoiler alert: He is A-Ma-Zing!
Taylor’s last shows was in Vancouver started at 03:00 AM German Time. Never had I ever set an alarm at 02:53 AM giving me few minutes to open my laptop, turn on the light, getting into upright position, landing myself in Canada 😉
Of course I didn’t make it on time at 03:00 AM -_- #Delayed. I do woke when it rang yet went back to sleep until around 04:30 AM, do that airline procedure, hearing Gracie Abrams “close to you, close to you, close to youuu just let me be close to you” didn’t catch any other lyrics as it was the end. Directly search it afterwards, now the amount of me repeating that song is unhealthy 😉 Kept reading the chat, we had 20-30 minutes Pause until Taylor appears slightly before 05:00 AM or maybe exactly at 5 AM? #Who knows
Some 1,5 hours later, I fell asleep for 15-20 minutes mwahaha not get used to this 5 AM Club -_- I think I skipped Foklore Eras, woke up to her Champagne Problem, from that song on, managed to keep myself awake #Proud.
It was fun to watch via Stream! Chats was active as all Swifties around the word guessing what Taylor’s dress color, how many points Ammir got it right etc. One Eras after the other, we reached the end, meaning it was 08:30 AM #Rise and Shine!
Ammir has his After Show “dialogue” where he discussed about what just happened, during this session, his subscribers went up, he was starring at his screen, lost of words. He wishes he will reach 100K to receive the Plakat from YouTube. I watched how fast the numbers scrolls until its rounds back to zero, his subscribers pierced 100K! He couldn’t contain his excitement! Even I was nervous, like “can it be now? on live?” Can’t imagine how it must feels for him. Big congratulations to you 😀
Okay, 2nd last shows: done, FOMO kicked in, can’t missed her her last show hey? Perhaps she would announce Reputation Taylors Version or Backstage Film or books or any other hype the Swifties has been swirling themselves ever since the beginning of the Eras hahaha #They wouldn’t let go 😉
Asked Tracy if he will stream the last day, she said “Yes, he does almost every day” Cool! Must witness the historic tours folded out. I have two YouTube tabs, switched between him and other streamers especially when the live people suddenly press the wrong button or what not but mainly back to him.
Next streams, I did the opposite from the day before, I missed Taylor’s grandiose arrival. However, I saw Folklore house 😉 On TTPD The Smallest Man Ever Lived Ammir also fell down with Taylor, look at his hand on his camera streams. On the accoustic sets, she played what everyone wished / guess for: Long Live on the Piano. Genie does exist, we got our song!
Once Karma hat gesungen, they gathered in circle made a group hug then went out to the back of the stage together. A round of applause Taylor Swift for closing such a successful sold out tour in each city! You are an incredible woman! It was rare, I was there, I remember it all too well <3
Yeah, it’s officially end everybody…. on the after show, someone is getting engage, wow so many celebrations here!
When I quit the Stream, Ammir’s follower are keeps adding. Thank you also to the people who were holding their phones for like 5 hours straight, you guys have the strongest arms! I guess TT means TikTok? pffff I’m too old for this shit, here are some of their IDs: Repudaytion, Dontworryjustbreathe, Ashleyschultz87 hmmm sounds German, Tessdear, hollyclarkedu, 1989vinyl, Wendyraehill. Last but not least, Ammir who operates as a fast response operator switching between streamers here & there to make sure we watchers got the best experience. Wish you success and growth on your career Ammir, be that as it may your YouTube channel, content creator or any other zillion things you do on the internet. Thank you for giving me opportunities to watch Taylor Swift Eras Tour again.
Can’t wait to see another streams of yours, you said perhaps you will do Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams or Coldplay, yais please!!! Guys, this is the bio of Ammir, he is unbelievable hey, look at “Ammir’s Creations Drive – Eras Archive” #Encyclopederas 🙂
#It was the end of an Era but the start of an age, long live!
I am one kind of a person who sees importance in “dates” as in Datum, be it as it may: birthday, anniversary landing in Germany or any others possible milestone. I’d cherised and will find a way to celebrate it any how, the catch here is: it has to be precisely on that specific date.
Meine Freundin Claudia texted me in October, “Freundin, let’s have frühstück bei uns to celebrate your belated birthday” I was very touched, it is very sweet of her, didn’t even crossed my mind as I already celebrate my birthday on my birthday date. The day will be just like their normal Saturday schedule, I’ll join them for sport then breakfast at their place.
They have a tradition to mix the Alpenzwerg-Bio Schokomilch until it has no sound, on the lid of the milk there is a “Gewinnspiel” back then when Alina and I looked at the options, clearly there are a big prizes like Camera or bicycle something #Can’t even remember. What stands out was “a day with Simon Brunner” who the hell is he? why a day with him could be counted as a winner? He is a TikToker Sport star lalala. Ever since, it became an internal joke that we need to fill in the code so that Marlyn can win a day with Simon Brunner.
On the breakfast day there is no sticker of the Gewinnspiel again #Oh nein! Unbeknownst to me, they moved it to my birthday card. They are very natural, prepare the tables while I only “dabei sein” #moralische Unterstützung 😉
I was sitting, Julius was lighting the candle on Esstisch then come Claudia carrying the jar with LED lights followed by Alina holding a selfmade card singing “Happy Birthday to you”. I knew it was meant to be Frühstück for my nachträglicher Geburtstag however I was never imagined or wish for them to prepare me a gift! That was indeed a successful surprise. Can’t say anything other than “ihr seid verrückt!” 😀
Freundin: Siehst du die Gelände?
Neee. Ist das nicht seit Dezember schon immer da gewesen?
Neee! Das habe ich um 7 Uhr für dich gehängt.
WOW! Even with the decorations, look at the thought they put to congratulate me, the jar + the card + Simon Brunner Photo haha #Very epic!
Once my adrenaline wears off, we could start the breakfast then made einen Termin #Typisch Deutsch hahaha. It was supposed to be on 16.11 but we postponed it to 23.11. They came to Dortmund, picked me up, went to Phoenix Des Lumieres #Expecto Patronum spell. I always wants to go there a. because it’s literally next to Nordwest; b. no b just a haha. We tried to book an appointment together with Hainka and PV yet it never works. That’s why, the moment I knew I got it as my birthday gift, was very pleased, they got me wirklich ins Schwarze getroffen 🙂
The room was an ex-steel factory which means it is a big broad room but not a flat room, you will see a round pipe in the middle etc. All of it was covered by the digital and immersive arts. The thema is “Wunderwelt Ozean – Ein Immersiver Tauchgang” it makes you feel you really inside a Uboot.
When the first round is finished, we feel it’s a bit too quick, was only 30 Minute-ish. We came in like 2 minutes after the show starts, decided to still stay in. We also walked around to watch it from other perspectives.
Den Abend lassen wir ins Treppchen Restaurant in Hörde ausklingen. I will always be sold to my favourite: Muscheln!!!!
I always planned for my birthday or being on someone’s plan to surprising someone. This is my first time somebody surprising me, let alone successfully surprising me. I used to see someone else speechless, now I am the receiving end, I finally understand that feeling. This surprise wasn’t just about the day, it reminded me how lucky I am to have friends like you, from the bottom of my heart, vielen lieben Dank my friendssss, it mean the world to me.
I stayed at Maria’s for my weekend in Berlin, her door is easily recognized by a cat door haha, it is very practical, her cat can easily in and out the building. Mister Cat is a very active one, he woken me up either by playing around the room or jumping to me whenever I am relaxing, he can’t take anyone is resting. Once I’m ready to roll, it was his sleeping time. I had a habbit of needing to know where he at, Mister Cat must be safe and sound. I looked everywhere for his sign, behind the blanket or so only until I see him whereabout I’ll leave Maria’s place. You woke me up, now it is my turn #Karma.
On Friday evening I had dinner at Maria’s family. Her step-childrens are all very smart, they got into an international school, could speak English fluently at the age of only 6 and 8.
Look at this, very sweet hey!
During dinner, they planned to go to “The Art of the Bricks” on Saturday. The kids asked if I can join, awwwwww… klar! My plan was only meeting Nicolas for lunch + Dinner with Sunny, other than that I would love to join you guys. They picked me up around 10:30 ish, thought we need to be super careful as the Art was made of Legos, nope it’s all glued with more glue than super glue hahaha. The whole place took about one hour to visit. See those little hands haha very cute hey! Oh who took the picture? Gaby did it but he didn’t take picture of our face #Oh well…
We separated for lunch as I will have it with Nick & co. For dinner, I requested Sunny ~ a Koreanish lady we met during our flight to Iceland, to eat at Korean restaurant. I sooooo miss Korean BBQ + their sauce. We had a problematic stove, we waited, hmmm why it’s not getting hotter? Lifted the BBQ plate, oh the fire is off again, happened at least 4 times. Showed Sunny my crazy Russian Tsar hat for tonight’s party, she said “now you also have a costume for Halloween next year” #zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen.
That goes my Saturday, very packed! On Sunday, I was begging “Mister Cat, please go somewhere else, I’m dead tired. RIP me” My agenda was visiting Jüdisches Museum, it is for free! Yeay!
It is indeed a very well-kept Museum, interactive, modern and very big too. You could spend at least 3 hours there or you could also sit a lot like me haha I only fast forward when I want to go to see Nick again 😉
On Monday I joined a free walking tour with our guide Alex, it’s kind of a private one, only Jayleen + his father and me 🙂 Alex mentioned the red traffic lights at Postdamer Platz were the oldest traffic lights in Germany. Aha! Already knew it back then from Sebastian.
We walked passed a 5,5 km Tiergarten which is bigger than Central Park ~ 3,5 km. Thanks to Friedrich Wilhelm II who tore down the wall in Tiergarten so it wasn’t a royal hunting garden only. He is homosexual, at that time his father couldn’t accept it, since he can’t kill his own son, he let Friedrich watch he killed his lover 🙁 In the end he married a Princess, sad for both. We also saw the Monument of the Homosexual people that got killed.
We talked about Facism comes whenever capitalism is threatened, a connection between burning book in 1933 targeting works by Jewis, Marxist, socialist, pacifist and other “un-German”; Kristallnacht in 1938 as a violent pogrom against Jewish people in German and Austria.
Alex explained the Victor Column (Siegessäule) was built to commemorate Prussia’s military victories against Danish, Austria and France. As a matter of facts, it is partially decorated with captured cannons from them. The famous “Dem Deutschen Volke” (To the German People) on the Recihstag building is made from melted French cannons #Interesting.
Moving on to the iconic Brandenburger Tor, where Alex gave some Petty war between Germany and France. Victoria’s Statue on top of the gate seems to gaze indirectly toward the French Embassy; Berlin Fernsehturm was added the third tear so its slightly taller than Eiffel Tower or when during parades and military processions, the German army circle back to create an illusion of a larger force to impress onlookers.
When you’re already in Brandenburger Tor, you can’t miss the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It has paint with anti-graffiti coating from Degussa, a German chemical company. Although later they found out, it was quiet problematic, as Degussa is a subsidiary of Evonik Industries who supplied a chemical used in gas chambers during the Holocaust.
We were on top of Parking place, what’s so special about it is what lies beneath which was believed as Hitler’s bunker! Honestly, I would like to see where he spent his last hours though, at the same time I could also understand that none normal Germans wants to have a place where people could “pay a tribute” for him.
I have to ended the tour earlier as I have last dinner with Nick, thank you Alex for the guide. I thought this “Rude Bastards Tour of Berlin” will take or tell me somewhere something I haven’t heard before. Nope, it’s a similar route like classical Berlin only he doesn’t need to be careful with his language. I’m not complaining, I could be more relaxed in terms of absorbing all the stories. Jayleen was “what are you doing here? you seems to know it already” haha Btw congratulations on finishing your studies, hope the best for your App-Airport development, can’t wait to use it. We will see us again when I visit UK 🙂
FYI, there are many providers like Get Your Guide or Booking who charge a small booking fee for Free Walking Tour like 2,5 or 3,5 Euro or so but it didn’t go to the tourguide. Alex informed me, for future better to book direclty from the website.
After dinner, I went back, get myself ready while Maria still at work. Can’t say thank you enough to you for opening your home for me. Will I repeatedly coming to Berlin again? #Easy answer
On my first anniversary in Germany I’ve done mostly all beginners tourist in Berlin, except for one: visiting Reichstag. Since I’m meeting Nicolas for the weekend, I used this chance to close the circle. Booked myself an appointment on Friday 08.11 when they have real meeting in the Plenarsitzung. My colleague Hainka said “it is the correct time for you to be on the Sitzung, there are many hot topics” Maria also agreed with the timing “wow, it’s very cool, bring a popcorn”.
Passed their security checked, before they let us in to the visitors’ level, we need to gave up our coat & bag. The security lady was very strict “No clapping, no waving, you must only sit in silence; Handy komplett aus, kein Flugmodus, aus aus” I forget how to turn off my iPhone, I don’t think I ever turn it off, no time to spare, flight mode is the best offer + never took it out.
It was definitely an experience, seeing some party speaking while others shout back. The meeting ended sooner than scheduled. Well, I don’t understand anyway therefore it doesn’t matter haha I’m here for the vibe, it was fun to watch.
Then we have a guide for question session, she gave explanations about who sits where. Of course in the middle is our Bundestag President. On the left side, the first seat with higher backrest, that’s our Chancellor’s seat. The Adler is 58 sqm like my apartment! it’s weigh approximately 2,5 tons. The color of the seats are called Reichstags-Blue, a deep blue color with a violet touch. When they are all gone, we were allowed to take pictures.
Besides the Plenary Chamber, we could also visit the Glass Dome. My first impression was it gives me a Chainsmokers “Takeaway” vibes haha well can’t afford to go to USA that’s why I have the economic version first 🙂
We got Audioguide which explains Berlin Panorama to your ears. Had I got a better clothing, I would enjoy more. I was close to freezing, saw everything quickly as I so want to be inside again!
I am a very active Instagram user which brings me to Nicolas’ story, one day he post something in die Richtung of showing his plan to visit Europe, replied “which part?” with a lingering hope it could be Germany. My wish came true, Berlin it is! Never have I ever book DB Bahn so quickly, gotta catch him there #Mission.
He arrived Thursday morning while I was on evening however we didn’t meet until Saturday lunch time. I was staying at Maria’s apartment, did home office on Friday as I only have one day-off left this year. I really don’t have any plan other than meet him 😀 To my knowledge there will only be him + Rick + Sebastian. When I arrived at Scheers Schnitzel this is the exact order of who I saw: Sebastian, Nick, Rick, Anderson, Davide? Whattttt?!?! there are more people??? I don’t mind at all, to the opposite it was a nice surprise! I knew Anderson & Davide from Shanghai but we never really talk much, I’m so glad we had this opportunity! Thank you Nick!
Turns out, there were 19 of them! haha The birthday boy Ty who played archery regularly after Covid hence I didn’t get to know him at all #Rookie vs OG a.k.a us 😉 On the table where I sit there was a new friend called Mischa. In summarize our table were Archery + Mischa, well…. Sebastian is not in Archery ~ he is Nick’s brother #Same same but different.
Then Ty came out to us, casually asking me if I would come to the party, I replied awkwardly “I do not know I was allowed to join you” Being a friendly OZ “Yes, you can come of course” Definitely I’m in. He said the theme party is Cruella de Vil. What?!?! There is a theme?!?! The guys said they would gonna wear nothing too far from black or white. I gotta be creative, had black shirt, need to mention they knew the matter for quiet some time, in addition we have Anderson, he’s always TOTAL. I must at least try to match them #FOMO.
After eating, we originally would go to the Wall Museum, until we realized they charged 14 Euro for entrance. Hell no! Sebs + Davide + me opposed to it, what could be a wall museum when the wall is literally outside and we have walked passed it? Sebs said “OK, if we are in a democracy they already lose the vote”.
Moving on to the board game cafe, apart from our Board Game King-Rick, none of us know much of it. We played Saboteur, Dopple OG + Dopple Animals which I don’t even know the name of each animal. Saboteur was really the fun game especially when we put our suspection to the wrong people. Sebs won all the game even though he barely know how to play anything, quote “it’s hard but I won so I don’t care” haha
During our game, Nick went back to his AirBnB. Nate wanted to go to some second hand shop for tonight’s ocassion. I wanted to go to Uniqlo, hearing that brand Davide was shocked “They have Uniqlo here? I miss that Brand so much!” Yes, the feeling is the same! I must buy another layer because I definitely not prepared for Berlin’s weather. Exactly on Aleksander Platz I found some property for tonight! Reported to Nick, saved for the partyyyyyyy. Doubt if I should wear the hat, had the temperature wasn’t that cold, I wouldn’t do it.
I went dinner with my friend Sunny then join them to “Süss war gestern” Club, Vicky will be there too! Yippii another Shanghai connection. Saw Nate near the entrance door, he immediately recognize my hat fits the essence of tonight’s celebration. I gave up my jacket, Nate said “take a picture of your number” doing it, Nick came out saying “hey, you stole my friend’s hat”.
We were quiet split up, don’t know where we were going. The guys keep saying “let’s go downstairs” Sebs replied “where is downstairs?” we were walking in circle, in theory we just need to look for stairs thats going down. How hard could it be? #Failed! stay where we were until close to midnight when that secret doors open, we finally went downstairs haha.
Where are the Cruella de Vil people?!?! They only wear normal black shirt and black jeans. There is no one, literrally no one with Cruella de Vil, not even Ty. Cruellnah de Vil it is! I’m the only one with the crazy hat that makes me looks like a Russian Tsar. Nick said it fits Mischa perfectly due to he was half Russian.
Davide loves my hat! Sebs commented “You’re hat is the best” Then Anderson said “I’d like to take picture of everyone with your hat”
No no, let’s say “Happy Birthday Ty” in our mother tounge with this hat. He agrees, who has a better iPhone? Nick was around us, thus he became the videographer.
Once we finished, Mischa had a brilliant idea: “we should go ask random people to do it too”. Split second to think, let’s do it, we are tourist anyway, they won’t remember us. It felt sooooo challenging to tap someone’s shoulder, asking “Hi where are you from? can you please do this for our friend?”
Then some of the groups going downstairs joining us, one girl said “it smells like a Pizza” I understood it as “do you want a Pizza?” “No I already eat” realized immediately we didn’t talk the same language, Mischa was laughing his ass off. Hey! it was a loud club of course I could get the wrong interpretation haha.
I wasn’t really planning to stay longer yet I did once they have Super Mario Bross!!!! The couple before me didn’t know how to play it gimme gimme gimme! The video didn’t do the justice 😉 I did get better after some screaming + concentrating + guidance from Rick on where to go #Efforts!
The other guys still continue, according to Nick until 5AM, hufff I need my beauty sleep, me and Rick went home perhaps at 01:00 max. Next day I went to their apartment, only Nick + Rick + Sebs were alive, the other were still sleeping, jetlag hit the OZs hard!
We played three card games, couldn’t remember what’s the game called, I prefer Rick’s card game other than the one from the Cafe. Sebs analyzed the game, asked can we only play these with 2 people? #We don’t have many friends. 100% Sebs! totally agree haha we need a board game where we can play with as less participants as possible 😉
One by one; a divers game which we do not like haha; we do like the 8 animals drinking water game, I was on fire when we weren’t played according to the house rule. On our last straw, we played monkey vs manager game where explanation regarding the meaning of “over-sell” really needed #Facepalm. Once Sebs took notes on his phone about what he thought his card is, we did the same. Rick was “guys, come on it’s not that hard” we didn’t even play the wild card where we can switch the fruits, no no no too many mathematics after a night out, we were not in our 20s anymore, our brain works differently now #Adulting.
My last day before I took my train back, we had dinner at Maximilians then walk to Tophography of Terror when I said “we need to have a picture to show exactly we were in Berlin” what else other than Check Point Charlie!
Thank you so much guys for the weekend! Keep posting so I can follow your next plan #Not a stalker! Just want to put it out there so everybody is conscious 😉
Sightseeing in Florence day 5: Last day 🙁 don’t be disheartened, I will give my full gas! #Planned
I arrived before our meeting point for walking tour about Medici Family with Gabriela, giving me some time to soaks in the Renaissance beauty.
We gathered in front of “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” church at Piazza San Lorenzo. Gabi’s theory is if the church is not so pretty from the outside, it will be pretty on the inside, vice versa. Any proof?
We went to one corner where Palazzo Medici Riccardi located, yep they owned a palace ~ doesn’t mean they were royal residence, instead just a very wealthy person who can own an impressive formal building. They started as a humble shepherd family from selling wool to one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Europe, playing a major role in banking, politics and art. They realized the great power of art, if he wants to ties some business in another city, he would sent Michelangelo and Botticelli for example to decorate Sistine Chapel.
Gabi talked about the entrance of the bank is in the corner to be easily spotted as in the past they don’t have street name. The palace was normal lookalike from the outside with a reason: Medici wants to be liked by people of Florence, spreading their subtle message “I am just a normal people like you all, I also want my voices to be heard by government”.
Next is the heart of Florence, Duomo di Firenze. The exterior of Duomo is a collections of marbles: green from Prato symbolized hope; white from Carrara symbolized faith; red from Maremma symbolized charity or love. The 16 people are not Apostles #Math ain’t mathing 🙂 they are notable citizens such as Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo, Dante, Leonardo da Vinci. At the center of the façade, there’s Virgin Mary and baby Jesus surrounded by 12 Apostles.
No one died #officially during the building of the Cupola owing to Brunelleschi’s engineering methods and his attention to worker safety. Not officially is one died because he drinks too much wine. We do want to live a longer life, therefore Gabi brought us to the lucky boar ~ Il Porcellino which obviously a replica, the real one is in Museo Bardini, do not under any circumstances tried to touch his snout, no luck gonna come to you. You can only touch the replica ones 😉
There is a secret passage near Uffizi connects Palazzo Vecchio to the Pitti Palace. All we need to do is look up haha #Not so secrets anymore.
Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici was the last of the Medici family, she was a smart woman, every reason why Florence still have everything is thank to her. Before she passed away she signed a packed to keep the Medici’s belonging inside Florence, it can’t be sold elsewhere. 18th February is celebrated as her day, many museums are free of charge.
I decided to go to Piazza Michelangelo, tried to use bus initially, in the end taking the same mode of transportation for the past 5 days: on foot. The view does pretty up here, some says at sunset it will be very good, seeing view of Florence from the other side. This is the Economic slash budget version for someone who wants to enjoy sunset from a higher ground. I however, will be on the Cupola 😉
I bought the Brunelleschi Pass for the Duomo cost 30 Euro consist of Cathedral, Santa Reparata, Baptistery, Bell Tower, Cupola. I am dead at this point #Too many walking. Seeing the line to get inside the Cathedral, hmmm I have bought the complete pass yo, can’t be waiting with all this free people #Devil’s laugh who only wants to get inside the Duomo.
I went first to Santa Reparata, using the other entrance, you will get inside the Cathedral as it’s located in the basement, make sense since it’s an archeological site. Back to first meeting with Gabi, she does has some point though, idk if it’s due to the Duomo is still under construction or is it only this simple hmmmm. In the Santa Reparata there is a bench, great! I sat there for 40 minutes before I move on to Baptistery.
Once I got inside, it is almost all covered due to construction. I really need to come back hey! Door of Heaven, why? Fun version: it was named by Michelangelo, it has taken ages to finish the door, he said he might have been in heaven when the door is complete. Once it’s done, he still not yet in heaven 😉 The serious version: baptistery is a crucial site for Christian initiation. Baptism is viewed as a rite of passage into the Christian faith, symbolizing the entry into a new life and the Kingdom of Heaven. Real fact: None of the door is original for there was a flood in Florence, they moved it to the Museum of Duomo.
Rest from my pass is Giotto’s Campanile Bell Tower, Cupola (got the timeslot) and Museum. I calculated if I managed to climbed the bell Tower prior my time slot to go to the Cupola. I can’t, I cannot, I am unable to can. #Reality is different from planned. What’s fortunate is this ticket valid for 3 days, meaning I can still go tomorrow morning before my flight back to Dortmund. I choose the later, went to a coffee shop, sat again for another hour, preparing my legs for 463 steps to Cupola.
While waiting on the line, I leaned on the barricade, suddenly snapped “we haven’t even started and I already tired” if I can get refund I would #First thought
Climb started, it’s all spiral, at some point I could need some seconds, sat in between the hole, letting all other people to go through. After gathered up some muscles back, I continued my journey in between a couple from Amsterdam and USA in front of me and USA Family behind me which later becomes my motivation to still continue the journey. Gabi said “if in the end you can’t going on anymore, drop it guys, its not worthy, you want to have fun on your holiday, don’t torture yourself”. Nope Gabi, I’m gonna make my money’s worth! #Dedication…or economic logic.
Finally I reached the top, the father from the USA family behind me said “if you want some pictures let me know” oh don’t worry I will have every pictures on every angle, I’m gonna make my money’s worth #Mantra. Jon and Rianne alas the couple in front of me patiently took every pictures of me + holding my bag. Without a doubt we were the loudest there on top, I don’t care, I paid for it, repeating my mantra over and over again until it’s being heard.
Thanks God I have an Asian mentality in my blood, I didn’t follow my first thought otherwise I wouldn’t have met Jon and Rianne. Leute, we really into this, we’ve got it all, all views only and view with ourselves #Were very busy!
We were second to last groups that went up at 18:00, the guide shouted “continue to go down please, its over, time for next group”. Walked passed a room of handgun or something, its not even pretty yet I’m still gonna take picture of it as a proof, chanting my mantra. We were back to inside the cathedral, one higher level in comparison to when we went up to the Cupola, what I want to express is we could see the frescoes clearly and the bottom of the frescos are so ugly fulls of devils or so. I said this to Tracy at home she commented “yeah hell is a scary place”. Stimmt!
OK we got out from the church now, we do live by our mantra on that evening. As if all the thousands pictures on the Cupola weren’t enough, we must make a picture with the truck too hahaha
Rianne is dead tired, nevertheless I brought them to the front side where you can see 4 buildings in one: Baptistery, Cathedral, Cupola and Bell Tower. She gained some energy for last couple of pictures.
Only Jon lived by the Mantra ~ he followed a YouTuber with all money’s worth tip 😉 he solely will come up to Bell Tower the next day while Rianne wait downstairs. Usually the wife is the one who comes up whereas the husband wait, well, its time for a change now hahaha. They will start later while I need to be there once they opened.
Big shoutout to Jon & Rianne, I’m really grateful we met, my Duomo experience would be totally different had I not met you two! Climbed up solo, climbed down with friends 🙂 Since we are geographically neighbor, I really do hope to see you guys again in the near future!
On my last evening, I went to have dinner with Tracy, she said once you were on the top of the Cupola, you don’t need to go to Bell Tower, it will be with Grid plus its lower anyway. Oh girl, no way, I am not only FOMO but on a mission to make my money’s worth, I still coming up hahaha. I was very happy I didn’t go on the same day to both tower or else my leg might get amputated hahaha #For real.
Next day it is! On the way to Bell Tower there is also some benches to rest, I took advantage of it. I’m not in a hurry anyway, this and Museum then I crossed all my list.
Last pass! Everything you see from outside is the replica hahaha the real one is in the museum. It is a three floor museum with statues of the churches. The idea of Duomo, look at this the “possibility” of how the Cupola might looks like based on different architect.
There is also a movie where I watched two times in Italian and English so I sat longer hahaha
Then a Poem from Michelangelo, I think was good, well he’s a legend 🙂
Michelangelo Buonarroti, Rime.
Sonnet written in the years he was working on the Pieta.
The course of my life has brought me now through a stormy sea, in a frail ship, to the common port where, landing, we account for every deed, wretched or holy.
So that finally I see how wrong the found illusion was that made art my idol and my king, leading me to want what harmed me.
My amorous fancies, once foolish and happy: what sense have they, now that I approach two deaths-the first if which I know sure, the second threatening.
Let neither painting nor carving any longer calm my soul turned to that divine love who to embrace us opened his arms upon the cross.
Closing the day with some shopping, I need to get myself something yo, reward after all this one million steps hahaha. Tracy said about a gloves leather shop called Madova and a pendant charm store at Santo Spirito called Giuliano Ricchi.
The experience at Madova was amazing, she held my hand, in an instant knew exactly my size ~ it’s 6,5, like Tracy described. The price cost either 47 Euro for Silk or 53,50 Euro for Cashmere. I don’t ask if they have any other style, I choose the silk one.
The Giuliano Ricchi Jewelry is a normal house you need to ring the bell, I bought a necklace with one charm, it cost 25 Euro.
Yes I managed to get it all, in additon sip my last Hugo.
Once more, regardless of many Baustelle, Italy has my heart. I will come back for sure, until next time Firenze!
Tips: The Duomo is a must, I strongly suggest to buy all the Brunelleschi Pass like me, yes its cost 30 Euro. Need to mentioned, other than the time slot to Cupola, it’s valid for three days, you can do one each in Ruhe.
Sightseeing in Florence day 4: meeting Kate in Rome, skip Tuscany sky for a bit, moving on to Eternal City. Was on the way to train station when the sun rises at 07:35 AM, finally I see the daylight!
What a coincidence that her flight from Russia landed Rome during my stay in Florence, the train distance is only 1,5 hours, our half day in Rome planned 🙂
Kate really understand the ultimate point, this is what I’m talking! People who knows how to take pictures and how to do a boot camp whilst travelling! We are in the same frequency! Rome wasn’t built in a day, but with her plan, we’ll try to see it all hahaha
If you haven’t been to Rome, it’s a must as in M.U.S.T! It’s where every street feels like a storybook. I am fortunate I was with her, she never gets annoyed at my comment “oh, what’s that?” her responses were always “let’s go closer, make picture there”, it could be very south if I go with other people. That’s my girllll!!!! you got me and you got me good 🙂
Trace back our more than 20K steps:
What else other than….. Trevi fountain! oh hello Baustelle Julius informed me about the upcoming events, jubilees ~ the holy year in 2025, caused Rome under numerous construction and restoration projects. This is the Trevi Fountain without any water guys, nevertheless you can’t take away the beauty of it. I asked her to take picture of only building, she was… you could also do it, then she got my point “you asked me because i’m taller?” yessss! if I do the picture I will get the fence only haha
Next on our list is Pantheon Rome, while walking I found an interesting Pillars, undoubtedly she is ready with her camera + squat position. I like my first photos, she replied let’s do it one more time until I like it. #That’s the spirit!
I went in to one of ancient Roman buildings, renowned for its massive domed ceiling. With the oculus – about 9 meters diameter, it allows natural light to illuminate the interior. It has symbolic meaning which represents the connection between the temple and the heavens. Wooooo amazing hey!
The outside view of Pantheon equally astounding. You can feel this building does have history! beckoning you to come inside, you will bow to.
We walked passed two historic landmarks ~ under constructions too haha church Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza: a church symbolizing wisdom and learning with famous spiral-shaped lantern; Piazza Navona: an ancient stadium turned into a square with three Baroque fountains ~ Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, Fontana del Moro and Fontana del Nettuno.
I did zero research about Rome, I just went there because of meeting Kate. We stopped seeing the view at on of the Ponte until I questioned something…..
Kate…. that building… is it where Angel & Demons movie takes place?
I don’t watch the movie but it’s Vatican
Are we going there?
Yes we can go to the border, you can see from outside. Vatican is in Rome.
I AM GOING TO VATICAN CITY!!!! #Beyond believe.
Still on the journey to Vatican 😉 another landmarks show up: Castel Sant’Angelo / Castle of the Holy Angel which has serve a lot of function since it was built 2000 years ago from mausoleum, military fortress, papal residence, prison and now it’s a museum.
In front of the Vatican ~ still under Rome jurisdiction, there is Piazza Pio XII, a public space before entering the sacred boundaries of Vatican City. Kate took sooooo many picture until I got the IT picture.
In the end asked Sissy to removed all of people in the background mwahaha, my fav is the Air Jordan style 🙂 What do you think?
Stepping on at Piazza San Pietro / St. Peter’s Square which is one of the most famous squares in the world, located in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City! Let me repeat: I am LITERALLY ON THE GROUND OF VATICAN CITY!!! The place where Papa Francesco holds Mass! Felt a rush of emotions words barely capture, realizing how lucky I was to be here. The place I’d only seen in “Angels & Demons” was now right before me, it was no longer just part of a movie, rather a vivid reality, a tangible experience, one I could see, feel and remember forever. In some way, I was in a sense of disbelief realizing I was truly here. #Lost of words.
I remember when I was 16 years old in Bandung, my housemate, she is a Catholic, she was very very proud ~ borderline arrogant way saying “I’m going to Vatican” I was just listened. 17 years later, here I am, witnessing this majestic building. Never have I ever thought I would be able to be present at this awe-inspiring square.
I managed to put one feet on Vatican + one in Rome hahaha I promised myself I will come back to both Rome and Vatican, do the research so I can be inside! #Me want! One more thing to look forward too.
This dazzling experience leads me to hungrrryyyyyy we just eat somewhere, pasta in Italy = never wrong. We enjoyed the view of what we have accomplished so far from Janiculum Hill, we have walked quite a bit heyyyy! At Trastevere we could see Zara’s national war hero haha.
It’s not finised yet people, we still have got some hours before our trains departs 🙂 Kate took a silhouette picture of me inside the Church of Our Lady of Consolation near the Forum Romanum / Roman Forum a.k.a Ruins. Although the Forum now is archaeological site, back then it served as the political, social, economic and religious center of ancient Rome; lived beyond the Imperial Era of Augustus, Vespasian and Trajan.
It is forbidden to miss the most iconic symbols of ancient Rome and a masterpiece of engineering and architecture: The Colosseum we are saving the best for the last 🙂 we were talking the fact that it was a gladiator contest places, however at that time it wasn’t consider inhumane. There is no time to go inside, we just saw it from the hill.
Let me correct it, the Gelato is the best for the last! We were separated after this on Rome train station 🙂
Kate, it’s been five years, at the same time it felt like no time had passed at all, we were picking up exactly where we left off. Thank you not only for our tour in Rome, for the real conversations we had, and for being the friend I can reconnect with, no matter the years in between. I wish you all the best as you settle into this amazing chapter of life in Italy! Buona Fortuna!
‘Till we meet again 🙂
Tips: buy the ticket of Pantheon online to save some time waiting in line for ticket office. I bought the entrance on 13:00 and get in at 11:00. We asked them, she said OK, they didn’t really control the time. It cost 5 Euro but online fee 0,95 Euro so 5,95 Euro.
