House Warming & Birthday (Party)

Why not celebrating two great occasions on the same day, preferably on the weekend. One is the birthday of Tobi and the other one the completion of the house we've purchased and renovated last year. Sure there are still things that we need to finish but in time we will get there.

A very warm thank you to all who attended, helped and assisted in organising the event, preparing dishes and cakes. We could not have done it without you guys, you are awesome.  And what a surprise by one very special guest who brought along a home made "birthday cake".

As everyone knows it is the time of the Soccer World Cup yet again, so we had to put the TV outside in order to follow one particular game, France vs Australia. We also followed the other games of the day but not as intense as the Australian game.

At night time we finished the celebration with a bonfire as we still have the fireplace on the property which came with the house and as long as we have it we will use it. The following morning we had a big breakfast with family & friends and around lunch time we finally had a breather, everyone  was gone and we enjoyed some quite time.

On Vacation

Finally, I'm on vacation for one week and I'm not leaving the country. I will stay in Germany and take it easy. So, I got picked up directly from work not wasting any time and heading up north to Ferdinandshof aka "woop woop". Leaving behind the city of Berlin in order get some quite time, fresh and clean air at the countryside is exactly what I need to recharge my batteries.

Having checked the weather forecast it looks like we are in luck of having a sunny and hot week ahead of us, perfect to actually hitting the beach and getting into the water of the Baltic Sea, our sort of "the ocean". Going to the Baltic Sea we just had to drive one hour to get to the island of Usedom which has a German and a Polish part. This time we stayed at the German side of the island. However, I've heard a lot of great feedback for the Polish part of the island which we'll keep in mind for our next trip.

What a fantastic day trip, doing a bit of everything, from sun bathing, swimming, enjoying some food to just walking up and down the promenade.

Fit in front of the Castle - "Fit vorm Schloß"

For the summer season the city of Oranienburg invites everyone each Sunday morning to get fit in form of a light work out in front of the castle of Oranienburg. As I have participated in previous seasons and sometimes motivated even visitors like my brother and kids so I do too this year and get Tobi to accompany me this session. Have I mentioned it's free of charge so it attracts more and more people every year and weekend.

Getting to the castle on our bikes is a pretty great warm up followed by a light to medium workout. Every weekend an instructor voluntarily is present and leads the session. Each year more and more people are joining the trend and the opportunity to get healthy and fit. Believe it or not the other week we were just one person shy of reaching 100 people.

Orangefest in Oranienburg - orange is the colour

Each year Oranienburg celebrates the Orangefest remembering where the city got its name from. It was because of Countess Luise Henriette of Orange-Nassau. Oranienburg also has got a castle because of this Countess likes this place so much.

So, to this day we are enjoying ourselves in early spring when everything comes back to life. In the court yard of the castle will be a market with little stalls selling hand made and home made products just like in the old days.

Adjacent to the castle is a huge garden which attracts many locals and tourists because of its beauty and relaxing atmosphere. Every year a lot of effort is put into planting hundreds and thousands of flowers according to the season.

Countless events are also held in the garden of the castle each year ranging from symphonies, concerts, flower expos and other highlights for adults as well as kids. There is just so much to chose from all year round, something for every one.

Anyway, today we are just walking around enjoying the awesome spring weather with lots of sunshine, hanging around, lying in the gras, gazing around and looking at the beautiful flowers everywhere and have some delicious food on the go. I guess summer is just around the corner, can't wait….bring it on!

2nd Project - Floorboards...to be continued

As we have finished one project we can start another. The stairwell downstairs is done as you could see and read in one of my other posts published earlier this month. Now we are moving upstairs. The floor boards have been delivered and the measuring and calculating is done.

So, Tobi...get your hands dirty and get the job done, please. The reason my other half is putting the floor boards down is, the company we've purchased and installed the staircase from wanted to charge us 1.6K for about 3 square meters. No thank you, that money can be used for another project around the house and there are plenty of them.

So here we go, one more week working on the floorboards and it is all finished. I'm pretty impressed how great it looks. Tobi, you have done an awesome job, I couldn't be happier about the result and the savings on this job, well done!

Finally - Going to the Movies

Being back in Germany more than 2 years I still have not been to the movies over here. One reason is the language (I prefer watching US movies etc. in English than synchronised German) the other one is that not around each corner over here are movie theatres. But hey, I shouldn't complain the next one is just 30 minutes away.

I was actually quite shocked how pricy it is over here watching a movie as well as buying snacks at the candy bar, luckily we had a voucher. The great thing about going to the movies on a Monday evening 5.20 pm, its empty and it felt almost like a private session. I guess the next movie is not too far away not waiting another 2 years being back to the movies.

New Year - New Project

The new year brings new challenges, adventures and projects which we will tackle. One of the first jobs around the house is the entry to be tiled. The tiles were picked at a local warehouse which is not far from the house. It took only three days from start to finish and I guess it looks pretty good considering Tobi is not a tiler.

By the way, to decide on the colour of the grouts we had some arguments but in the end I got it my way. Believe it or not, Tobi likes the colour I chose, he was actually impressed with the end result. One more detail is missing the skirting boards, but that will be another small project which will be done hopefully in the near future.

First Trip in 2018 - Greifswald - Utkiek

To take it a bit easier on the first weekend of the new year we decided on visiting my home village Ferdinandshof where my brother and the kids spend time with my parents, the kid's grand parents. From there we just traveled a little bit further and reached the city of Greifswald, known in Germany for it's University.

The reason we went to Greifswald, I wanted to check out the hotel I was once working and of course having a nice meal for lunch and we did not get disappointed. I can't believe this is now 20 years ago but time really flies.

To finish our trip we just walked for a while along the water. Even in winter it is a quite but nice place however not to compare with the summertime and the beauty of the water, boats, nature and people.

"Tüppelziehen" a Tradition

Before the new year can arrive we just have one more job that needs to be done. Just like any other year on New Years Eve each member of the family has to do "Tüppelziehen" which will tell what the next year will hold for you. This tradition comes from my father's side and I remember from my earliest childhood memories that everyone was excited to take part in this tradition.

All you need is four cups, a piece of bread, a piece of jewellery, a coin, and a piece of cloths. You will then cover the items with the cups and shove the cups around. One person of course turns around so you can't see what is going on. Then this person will pick one cup and takes a look what is underneath. All together each person picks 4 times a cup. So have a go...

Bread = Food

Jewellery = Luck

Coin = Money

Cloths = Trouble

Happy New Year

Wishing you a Merry X-mas

To all of my family, friends and followers or just visitors to my Blogg, we're wishing a Merry Christmas. May your heart be filled with joy, happiness and love. We hope you get safely through the festive season.

Team breakfast @Butterbrot

This year's Christmas Team Event was organised at a Turkish Breakfast & Coffee place called "Butterbrot", not far from work. To keep it simple and not taking too much time off work, we decided on a casual get together. What a feast it was....freshly made orange juice, awesome tasting coffee and the food - just devine.

All in all a fantastic morning in good company even though not all could attend - maybe next time.

Let's go to the X-mas market

One of the most beautiful Christmas Markets here in Berlin is the one at Gendarmenmarkt at the Konzerthaus. As we went there last year around the same time we decided to go there again, this time without my parents.

I guess we pretty much stuck to the same routine like last year. First we had a German Bratwurst followed by Glühwein (mould wine)  followed by Belgian Waffles and then just hanging around following the shows and browsing around.

Once we finished with the x-mas market we went for a stroll down Friedrichstraße checked out the Nespresso store, enjoyed a cup of coffee bought some stuff and off we went home. That pretty much sums up our visit to this year's x-mas market.

I can't wait to do it all over again next year. Maybe and it's just a thought, we could hit another town or city, how about Dresden, Nuremberg or anywhere else.

Day Trips in and around Perth

Each day we planed on going to one of the hotspots and places I loved while living in Perth. Showing those places to Tobi meant a lot to me so it was my pleasure to show him "my" city of Perth. Weather we just went for a walk around Joondalup at lake Joondalup or went to the CBD, Kings Park or going to Fremantle, I thoroughly enjoyed all those places all over again.

Of course we also indulged into the Australian Cuisine or just having a divine coffee (take away) which you get at every corner around here or just snacking away everything felt like being on vacation. No cloud in the sky and nothing to worry about we totally enjoyed every bit and every day.

We also made plans on traveling up north to Broome to stay a couple of days at a resort and going to explore the south west of WA. Both upcoming adventures would be a first for me so even I got excited to see something new.

Bumping into David...Surprise

One of the highlights of my Australian holiday was running into David by surprise, surprise....accident. Just walking around the CBD all of a sudden he was just 10 feet away. My jaw dropped when I spotted David.....and I could see on his face he felt the same way. We both had big smiles on our faces....hugging each other as it was a massive surprise. I quickly introduced David to Tobi and the other way around.

David and I caught up on a couple of news out of our lives. As we quickly realised there is so much to talk about and not enough time, we arranged another meeting of course "at home". So I was already looking forward to meet David again.....and of course Margaret & Laurie.

That was just a perfect start to my holiday, totally unexpected but therefore a moment I will always remember and cherish.

Welcome "Home" - being back in Perth

After more than 2 years I find my way back to Perth and what can I say, it feels like going Home. I'm so excited to see what has happened since I left. I'm even more excited about catching up with my friends & family.


Getting picked up by my Bestie Theresa from the airport is the first highlight and off we go, we are about to start our Australian holiday. It kind of feels wired talking about a holiday in Australia considering living in Perth for almost 12 years. Could I say I was almost 12 years on holiday?!?

Anyways, after a good night sleep we kicked off the day with a typical Aussie breaky at "Dome" followed by going to the Shopping Centre (have I ever mentioned before that Sunday Shopping is so normal in Australia) catching up with my other Bestie Cynthia and enjoying a long overdue damn good massage at a Chinese Massage place, how I missed those great massages over the past 2 years.

All these tensions in my body gone it was time for yet another feast and a great coffee. By the way the coffee culture in Perth is not at a stand still and so I just found out about a great new beverage which is called  "long mac topped up" which is basically a long macchiato with milk topped up to the rim. I also have to mention at this stage that unlike Germany Australia has a great coffee culture.

So, for the first day back in Perth I was with my friends Theresa & Cynthia and my other half got to know an ordinary Sunday with the girls. He was blown away by all the new things he experienced so far...and this is only the beginning, there is more to come which is far more exciting than just a usual Sunday.

Packing for "Down Under"

How exiting, I'm finally packing the suitcases to get to our well-deserved vacation. Let's go to Australia. Having relocated back to Germany in 2015 I was even more exited to visit or should I say return to my adapted home Australia, in fact Perth. I can honestly say I've missed you and I can't wait to touch down. I hope everything is in order, passports, Visa etc...as I have not time for any surprise or mishaps. One more night and we will be on our way.

Pre-birthday cake with the Oldies

As my birthday falls on a Wednesday this year and the Saturday following we will be already in Perth I thought we can enjoy the birthday cake the weekend before. So we invited the "Oldies", my parents to help here and there as we also just moved into our house a week earlier. There was still plenty of work to be done, some boxes needed to be unpacked and some electrical work also need to be performed.

Still, there was time to celebrate my upcoming birthday and even more exciting was that in a couple of days we are going to fly (back) to Perth, Australia. After almost 2 years being absent from Down Under I couldn't wait to hit the ground. Anyway, this is still a couple of days away before we go on that adventure.

New Staircase

As we have finished moving, the next step is to rip out the old staircase and getting the new one in. so, for the next day or so we were getting up and down via the ladder. Luckily the guys who installed the staircase as well as all the doors finished within a day. I was pretty much impressed and very happy not to use the ladder anymore.

I could not believe what a difference it made, having installed the new staircase. I was over the moon., it looked fantastic. We were basically up to the last part that still had to arrive, the piece in the middle of the door. before going on holidays, 10 days to go! I hope it arrives in time.

We're Moving

Finally, the day has come, we're moving out of our 60 square meter apartment into our own house which we have rebuilt, restored and renovated over the past 6 months. And once we've moved in, we're then heading Down Under to enjoy our well-deserved 4 weeks’ vacation.

Off we go from Oranienburg to Germendorf which is a suburb of Oranienburg. We've organised a couple of people including mostly family and friends who gave us a hand in wrapping and packing up the stuff, lifting the heavy boxes and furniture.

We have moved everything by late afternoon and started straight away placing everything in its spot as well as filling up cupboards and furniture. In between we had a BBQ. Before the day was gone, we were almost done.

Exhausted but very happy we spent the first night in our own house had a good nicght sleep before the weekend was coming to a end. One detail, the staircase we left for the day we moved in. However, just one day living in the house we ripped out the old staircase and waited for the brand new one to arrive and be installed. Meanwhile we got up and down via a ladder - scary.

Flooded

What a rainy summer we've had so far and it's not getting better any time soon, in fact it gets worse.

Coming home from work thinking of putting my legs up enjoying the rest of the day with my Dad and Tobi who also had a busy day at our house which we are renovating, I was wrong.

Anyway, arriving at home by taking more turns than usual because of streets are actually under water, the full extent of the flooded cellar is showing up and we are trying to save what we can. Well, not much could be saved as it was raining all day. Sadly, gone is the set of suitcases which I had for more than 15 years. According to the news more than 240 Liters of rainfall per square meter landed in just a couple of hours here in Oranienburg, which is a city close to Berlin. 

To make the best out of this situation, we decided to get some takeaway from the Turkish Kebab around the corner and we walked through the rain.....even singing in the rain. To be honest, it wasn't cold....just wet but it didn't bother us...we had fun. To finish this post, around midnight the fire brigade rang the bell to check if we still have water in the cellar which needs to be pumped out, that's how busy they were and they continued all night till morning to get the water out of people's houses.