Hotel Zum Deutschen Haus Essen

... should have in the states right around the corner. 5 rolls with cheese later we headed to one of my favorite places on the trip so far. When we told people we were going to Germany the most popular response was, "OH! Bring me back some chocolate!" Well, my favorite place happened to be the Chocolate Museum. That's right. An entire museum dedicated to that lovely, creamy, savory treat. Lindt chocolate to be precise. It had everything from the ...

... way.

Annabel isn't coming to Belgium anymore and the tour ended up being booked out. So now I am sitting in an internet cafe in Essen trying to work out what to do for the day. I have been looking on a website to see if I can find a castle to visit. I may have found one too! It's not too far away which is good cos it means I can get back reasonably easily.

So this week has ...

... my last weekend in Essen.
Saturday I am going to Belgium with Annabel (who is also from Melbourne) we'll take the bus and leave early in the morning come back late.
Sun I am going to celebrate karneval in Köln before taking the train to Frankfurt and staying in a hotel and then catching a train Monday morning to the airport where I will come home to Australia.

Wish me a wonderful time and I wish u also a fantastic weekend.
See u next week!!!!!

Sarah

... they hung up! No idea, but damn them whoever they were for calling me in the middle of the night!!!! Who are they and why do they know my name? And who is Janine?? Curiouser and Curiouser...

So that brings be to today. Thismorning we had a test. Everyone was nervous about it and had done a lot of study. Because I went to the ballet last night I couldn't really do that. I set my alarm to wake me up early. But after my early morning phone call, I needed to sleep longer. When ...

... at buying some warm boots. And I might be able to fulfil Michael's wish of building a snowman after all.

A couple of my classmates are going to Neuschwanstein this weekend (It'll look amazing with the snow I am sure), and most people are going to Amsterdam. (It's only 2 hours away.) I would have been happy to go to either place, but I have worked out my own independent itinerary because of the fact that I have to go to Lauterbach on Friday ...

... I bought at Mayersche (the German version of Borders) for only 50 cents and then made brunch for Trevor and myself. Eggs on toast. Because I am the only one who owns a toaster it was a luxury.

I then recruited the help of Rafael to help me work on Backbeat, he has no objections coz it helps him with his English pronunciation and he gets to hear me sing, which he thinks is 'perfekto'

After that I got ready to go out the Opera. I ...

... for others. The music was so different to Rent that it was hard to appreciate it. But at least I knew what was happening.

After the Opera we managed to get back to the hotel with 2 trains, one bus and one tram (and 20 mins of walking). I really hope that the train sytem comes back soon!

Yet again I must depart. In my next installment I will tell u about my trip to the Opera on Sunday night to see Der Zauberflöte.

Tshuss!
Sarah

... the north coast along the sea quite fiercly, winds of up to 150km are blowing across the country. Planes cannot land, train stations have been closed, trees have falled on cars and houses...

Silence fell over the crowd... " Was soll wir tuen?" We were so bored...

It was decided that a party should be had in the cellar, to celebrate the fact that we were all safe. So we went downstairs, played South American music, danced, drank wine ...

... drinks, much to my pleasure, but I didn't get drunk, as I never do... U all know that I am far too sensible (Mum and Aunty Lorraine smile approvingly). The Argentinians spoke with the DJ and got him to play some Latino music, but most was dance. I got a free Southern Comfort lighter, not that I will ever use it to light up a cigarrette ( I don't even know how to spell it!) I walked Trevor home because he had been drinking straight Jack Daniels shots and went to bed at 2.30 which was ...

... do this and we'll have dinner here and I have to show this to Thomas ..." I really liked that. No matter what people say about the Thai being greedy or crazy or whatsoever, this country is a place one can always go back to for a while (like Carla once said to me). The food is good, there are many beautiful places to be discovered and it's cheap and, if you've got the right attitude and go to the right places, people are very friendly. I've uploaded the best photos, so also check the old entries.