Happy New Year!

We wish you all a very happy and safe and wonderful new year - with as small a hangover as possible ;-)

Key new year's resolution:
* update blog more frequently - we've already managed to update our calendar (see link in sidebar) to be more reflective of where the heck we actually are. So if you're looking to come visit, or meet up, or want to know how best to avoid us - check the calendar.

We've been everywhere, man

Done a spot of traveling lately - colour in your own map that shows where you've left your footprints, old socks, beer cans and general mayhem. See the appropriate song lyrics and check this:



Where have you been, man?

Its SNOWING!

Yay it's snowing! At least that's one good thing about winter here.

So where have we been - and where will we be going. Well tonight we're "Off to england to see the queen" - not quite but London anyways for new year. Catching up with people and drinking tooooo much. All in good spirits *wink wink*

We've been back to Australia - that was great for two weeks, soaking up some warmth and getting some colour back into our ultrawhite skins.
And also to Paris for a few days.

Not much time now so more on those two when we get back from London. And of course all the new year details too.

Hope you all have a great new year!

New York or 18th to 25th November

And so after packing our less than 100mls of liquids into a 20cm x 20cm CLEAR ZIP-LOCK BAG and going through a huge bunch of unnecessary and stupid security procedures we arrived in the land of the free!

To meet us was a big american flag and a line of fellow passengers going through customs. After getting our turn in front of the very serious and bored looking customs person we were fingerprinted and photographed - a first in my life... very exciting. Especially considering the fact that my fingers happened to have very faint prints, so after pushing on my fingers harder and harder, the said security guy said "Rub the finger against your forehead!" to which my natural reaction was "Why?" which was followed by another natural reaction of "Maam, place your finger on your forehead and rub it!". Seeing as I wasn't getting an explanation, I rubbed my finger and then it scanned - finally we could see the amazing land of compulsory tipping and Krispy Kreams.

To get to our hotel in downtown we caught a hotel shuttle bus and while driving out of JFK experienced our next encounter with american law enforcement. A handcuffed guy was accompanied to a police vehicle by two officers - not something you see every day in peaceful Berlin. To give an idea of traffic getting to downtown Manhattan - it took us close to three hours... but I s'pose it was a saturday afternoon. The shuttle driver was everything you expect - yelling "Go! Go! Go!" to the cars in front and pushing in wherever and whenever possible. Also while on our drive we came accross our first fat american - one of the ones made famous by our following photo series entitled "Fat Americans".



Arriving to our hotel and finding out that it is in fact the biggest and most expensive ($100USD a night) hole we've ever stayed in, we had a delicious dinner at a mexican place where they prepared Guacamole (sp?) right by the side of your table - making it the freshest one we've ever tasted.

Following is a quick breakdown of (+)positives and (-)negatives in America:

+ New York subway: it is efficient, fast and runs even at nights.
+ Food: it's like Melbourne; you can get anything, anytime and unless you go somewhere very special it is pretty affordable and tasty
+ Busyness: the city is like a giant beesnest and that is kind of nice - it makes it so impersonal that it makes you feel at home.

- Homeless people: they're everywhere, making the place seem poor and dirty; as well as make you wonder about the state of the social welfare system
- Incredibly expensive hotels, which are not actually any good
- Expensive alcohol: a glass of beer is $6,50 USD
very BIG minus - Compulsory tipping: GURRRR, can't stand it
- Wherever you go, everywhere you hear that something or rather is "something or rather (eg. taller, longer, bigger, better, smellier, etc. etc.) in the world"

Something from an advertisiment in the subway from a guy named Creflo A.Dollar:
"* are you hungry for gods help?
* thirsty for his presence?
* eager for success in every aspect of your life.?"

Oh yeah, another note on security procedures in the airport prior to our flight to LA... before security point the toilet paper in the toilets is only one (1) layer... but after security you get two (2)... I s'pose it's to help you catch all those extra liquids that you took through the checkpoint *boom boom*

And now some photos (in no particular order):







and of course no post would be complete without .... baby turtles!!!

Blogs, babies, marriages and pregnancies explosion!!!

Gees... four blogs in one week - that's tough to manage..

quickie from Melbourne here... last day... blog overload... bbbrrr~!&%$%#$%#

And yeah this weeks total of 2006:
Marriages = 3
Babies born = 4
Pregnancies = 1

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

What's on the Radio

here's one more pic I forgot to put in the previous post. Some will probably think I'm childish and I'm not going to convince them otherwise, but the name of this shop made me smile....


Seeing as we have over 25 Gb of music on our mp3 player, and most of the time not knowing what to choose, or what we actually have for that matter ('cos it's just waaay too much) we find ourselves listening to Triple J live over the web. But due to the time difference we usually end up getting the Mid-Dawn program, or like now - Full Metal Racket, which is not my usual choice of music but it does make it feel like you're closer to home.

The first time I had Triple J on and Jack got home he walked around for a bit and then said "I thought something was wrong - someone is speaking australian!" :) The funniest thing happens when at 10pm they play the 'Triple J news tune' and then Jay & The Doctor go on air, and I remember getting up to this and going to work... it's all about perspective, isn't it?!

Berlin --> Sachsen-Anhalt -->Thüringen --> Niedersachsen -->Hessen --> Berlin

Last weekend was a long one (seeing as Tuesday the 3rd of October was the day of German Unity, Jack took Monday off), we hired a car from Budget and decided to drive around this country for a bit seeing as we haven't really done that before... and our 'lets get tickets to somewhere warm last minute' idea didn't work out, 'cos ... well it was too last minute. Anyhow, we had a great time and you can follow our four days travel on a map I prepared earlier.

Our first stop was Dessau, a city famous for it's interesting architecture (now protected by UNESCO) - the Bauhausgebäude. Perhaps we were expecting something more/else, but the only picture that I present for your amuzement is this plaque with a name of a building - a person who pronounces it correctly (although I don't know what that would be) will get a chocolate from me next time I see them!

We then drove to Bad Frankenstein (aka Bad Frankenhausen) through the Kyffhäuser mountains along a strip of road which was in curvature similar to the Black Spur drive when going from Melbourne to Marysville. There were LOTS of people on motorbikes... herds and herds of them. The town itself was a small pretty german countrytown, and we even scored ourselves a single-bed room, since everything else was booked out (that whole thing about missing out on other travel 'cos of last minute planning...). The following day we went to see the Panorama museum, which is a round building (see pic) housing a single painting which is 14 by 123 meters! The building was actually built specifically for the painting and the picture was painted already inside - it took a bunch of artists a mere 5 years to do it. We also got to take a photo of a group of bikers, who complained that we were walking into their photo :) And the signs for walking tracks are covered by a little roof - very cute. After that we visited the Kyffhäuser Denkmal - as our Lonely Planet guide describes it as a 'spooky memorial' in commemoration of German national unity. The day was beautiful and sunny, so we didn't get all that spooked, but the memorial is indeed very dark and solid. It is built over a site of an old castle (at some point the largest in Germany), and around the monument there are various ruins and remains. In the bottom part of the memorial there's a serious looking dude with a huge beard, which makes any other beard look like mere undercoat on a husky. This place also houses the deepest castle well in the world - something like 176 meters through sheer rock. And if you want to throw in a stone, you gotta buy them at 1EUR a piece. And in case you want to wonder around by yourself without your loved one (eg. a dog), you're welcome to park it in a designated spot (see pic) - ah those Germans, gotta love 'em - thought of everything!



Retiring to the car and having a 'warm-straight-from-the-boot' banana for lunch we headed towards the Harz... this is a nice little mountain range - popular with hikers and skiers. We stayed in a town called Braunlager, in a pansion that was definitely not for vegetarians... all the walls were covered with stuffed animals and animals painted on targets with freshly pumped bullets.




The next day we were going to do a hike through the mountains but it was raining and they promised storms higher up, so we headed towards Kassel instead. The mountains are very pretty and there are little lakes here and there. And we also encountered an interesting looking bike


As we got there we walked around the town for a bit and went into the Brothers Grimm Museum, which took us about 10 minutes to walk around... mainly kids pictures to the fairytales, and their books translated into various languages. A nice old building in the picture is an old entry to a hospital... which I think isn't used anymore but just gives one an idea on the age of these towns. While hunting down some lunch we came accross a place that made baguettes and was called 'Michael Baguettski' - the menu is hilarious, my favourite being a salad called "Taiga Deluxe".


On our last day we went to the Wilhelmshöhe Palace Gardens, which houses an "internationally known" gallery, which indeed was very good, and a big statue of Hercules (which unfortunately was being renovated and we couldn't properly see it). In the gardens there's also a cute little castle Löwenburg which the king built as a toy for himself in the end of 19th century. At about 4pm we set off on our drive back to Berlin. Now we're off to Oldenburg next weekend to celebrate Jack's uncle Wilhelm's 50th birthday.

Oh, and in Africa this... and in Africa that...!!!

Yes Courtney was really here - for one whole week! Yey! It was wonderful to have her over and listen to all the stories from the four months of backpacking through Africa. Did you know that in Africa it is completely normal to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger, and as you are trying to wake up in the morning going for a stroll up the street a total strange can come up to you and ask how you've slept?!... well this happens in Africa. :)))

We spent some good times together drinking around Friedrichsein and smoking shisha. While talking about our favourite books I noted some down and on Tuesday ordered five off Amazon. And we, the girls, did some shopping during the day - we actually did quite a bit of that now that I think about it. And then all good things end and other good things begin, so Courtney left this Monday to go to beautiful Prague. If someone asks - "So Polina, are you now inspired enough to go to Africa?" my answer would be a very definite "Yes."




This is Courtney and I slaving away in the kitchen preparing dinner last Saturday night.






And this is Chie (my japanese friend from my german course), Courtney and I... and shisha.

So what are we really up to?

Here we are in sunny 27 degree Berlin on the 13th of September and some of you might be wondering what are we really up to here apart from travelling? The answer is not much really...

Jack is working full time and I am still doing my German Integration course. On the 26th and 27th of October I have my big exam and then I'm free. I've been looking for work but there doesn't seem to be much that's available. I am considering doing a TEFL certificate but not sure how many opportunities I will have at teaching English, and since the course is not cheap (1000-15000 EURS) it is a tricky decision.

Other than that we have _more_ travel planned:
16-17 Sept - Marburg (Jack's auntie is celebrating 50 years of being a nun)
29 Sept - 3 Oct - last minute something (haven't worked out what yet)
14-15 Oct - Oldenburg (one of Jack's uncles is turning 50)
20-22Oct - Milan
18-25Nov - New York
26-30Nov - Los Angeles
2-16Dec - Melbourne YEY!!!!
22-26 Dec - Paris
28Dec-3Jan - London

And we have two visitors coming - Courtney is stopping over after her big African trip in the next couple of weeks, and then Emmi - Jack's Mum, is here for a couple of days in October.

Here are some adsf rom Russian newspapers for your amuzement, which made me raise my eyebrow...


This one advertises grounded up deer horns as a good remedy for a whole list of illnesses. Although in the end it does say "It won't cure all diseases, but possibly, this is your new way to health!"




This one is just disturbing: "A family of three will take in an elderly woman or man without children, who don't want to go to a nursing home, but want to still happily many years live within a family, garden, fishing, little chickens. Warmth and care guaranteed."




And this one is just selling guns... one can purchase a Kalashnikov for only 300 EURS!

We vodkad and then vodkad some more

Yes - we spent some wonderful time in Russia. First we spent four days in St Petersburg (but I'll leave Jack to write about that)... and then we were in my noble home-town Novosibirsk (Jack was there for a week and I spend an extra week). As our taxi pulled up at my parents' house we saw yet another taxi in front of us and then realised that it was actually my parents, who arrived at the exact time as us (they just got back from their European holiday).

And thus the drinking began...On the day after our arrival we slept ... and drank and then slept some more. And then it was my birthday... lots of preparations and then of course drinking and eating... and then the same over and over the course of the evening. I won't bore you with all the stories, but I'll just say that we had a fantastic time and parents' flat looks very nice and cosy and it was great to see them all together. So here be pictures...:



Here is everyone for my birthday.





A bit later in the night...







Still later in the night - trying on my Mum's winter fur coat... mmmm warm and fluffy!




And finally all of us together :-)



We also went with Dad and Grandma to the zoo... it is actually considered to be a very good one and the forrest in which it is, is not too bad, but some of the cages are pretty small. Although I've seen smaller ones here in the Leipzig Zoo and in the Berlin one also. The funniest things are not the monkeys but the cafes and rides that are also within the zoo grounds. Here is one example of a traditional Russian house with a Coca-Cola signature...

We visited my cousin Andrei and his family one of the sundays. Him and his wife Sveta have their own house just outside of main Novosibirsk. They have four pigs, a whole bunch of bunnies, two dogs ('Малыш, Грэй' - Baby and Gray) and two cats - Muska 1 and Muska 2 (daughter of Muska 1). My nephew Alesha is growing and becoming very dictatorial - giving commands here and there.


This is Gray...






Andrei, Jack and a baby bunny... his daddy became very yummy dinner the following weekend.




Alesha... very cute sitting on the couch.





Muska 2




We also went fishing and Jack caught a "big" fish :) To be fair - the second and last one that Sveta caught was even smaller and both of them got fed to Muska 1 and Muska 2 respectively.




Later in the week we went to my uncle Yakov and auntie Larisa's dacha (countryhouse) in Yagodnaya (Berry Village). There we spent a considerable amount of eating and drinking... and berry picking and berry eating.



We also made shashliks... what you can see on the stove was only for us (ie. 6 people... I think that's about 1,5kgs per person... very yummy though)




In the evening we were involved in the illegal activity of fishing with a net (с бреднем)... My Dad and uncle Yakov look like two Karlsons only without the propellers.




And what did we catch? about two dozen smallish fish and a biggish судачок.



I also got to catch up with my school friend Sveta, whom I know now for 18 years... not a bad record I think. And of course we met up in the old time favourite bar 'Hammer and Sikle', drank some beer and shared stories.


After Jack left to go back to Berlin, parents, Gleb and I went to Akademgorodok (nearby university town) to walk around the nice forrest and go to the beach on Obskoe Sea.



We encountered some cool mushrooms...





amuzing grafitti...




and managed to insert Gleb into a barrel on the beach.







As I was leaving on the 1st of September I got to see Gleb in his first-day-of-school-year suit... looking positively like a New Russian.




And flying out at 7am from Tolmachevo... looking at a beautiful sunrise over the Siberian capital!