Pet-Sitting 101

I have now settled into my apartment in Berlin where I am staying for the next week while I pet-sit a Springer Spaniel named George and a snobby Persian cat named Basil.

The apartment is great, although it is only 1 bedroom there is no lack of space by any means, and it has a great big kitchen that I can cook in!

It's in a really nice poncy area about a 15 min train ride into the centre of Berlin and walking distance to the city's forest & lakes at 'Grunewald'. 

My street

The animals are both little characters as George is super sweet while Basil always looks grumpy but sometimes let's me pat him. All in all I've done really well with this place.

 

Basil doing his best 'I couldn't care less' impression...

...he will sit where he wants when he wants

Sweet little Georgie

Yesterday I wanted to explore Grunewald for the 1st time with George and it looked like a nice day outside from the apartment windows as the sun was shining, so I still wore all my layers, but didn't bother with my beanie or scarf. 

 

George with his shoes on ready for an adventure

 It turned out there was actually a light wind outside and it was below zero so the wind felt like it was burning the bare skin on my face and I imagined that's what it must feel like to be in Antarctica. Plus George's shoes, as cute as they might be, kept falling off and I was worried I'd loose one so we turned back after only about 10minutes at the most.

Today on the other hand we left the apartment more prepared (and left George's little shoes at home) and it turned out to be a really nice day outside, still cold ofcourse, but not a drop of wind and the sun was shining, so we made it to Grunewald. Grunewald is doggie heaven particularly on Sundays, which happens to be today, and there were dogs of all kinds everywhere. We walked through the forest to the lake (Grunewaldsee) which was frozen except for right around the edges and it was all so beautiful to see. It was a crack-up looking at all the other dogs, some wore jackets, some had ribbons in their hair, while others just looked like normal dogs and they were all running free, greeting each other and playing with one another.

 

Cute :-)

Grunewaldsee

George all pooped out after our big adventure

The only downside to today is that I broke the coffee machine glass jug in the kitchen. I was eating my porridge out of it because I couldn't find a bowl (yes I know - that idea was never going to end well!) and it's so delicate that it cracked. I found another on Amazon I'm gonna have to buy to replace it that costs 17,95 Euros (about $28 Aussie), could've been worse, but still turned out to be the most expensive bowl of oats I've ever eaten...

With Still a Euro to Spare!

One of my favorite things about being here is the reduced cost of living, certainly as far as food is concerned, and certainly compared to New Zealand at least. Now that I have no income until 'I don't know when' (which is quite scary - eep!) paying attention to what things cost has become rather important.

My friend Christina cooked me lunch on the weekend and so on my last day staying with her I wanted to return the favor - so I went to the local supermarket 'Penny' to buy some ingredients for our big lunch (as lunch is ofcourse the main meal of the day for most people here):

So for only 5 Euros which Google's currency convertor tells me is:

• 5 EUR = $7.76 NZ or $6.19 AUS 

I was able to buy all this:

Which in turn made this:

Linsen mit Pilze und Kartoffeln Kroketten

Which was really yummy and filling and was more than enough for four people!

In NZ it's difficult to spend less than $20 at the supermarket when all you really end up with is milk & bread (ok slight exaggeration maybe!)

The Land of Chocolate

So chocolate has become a daily part of my diet, eating some everyday is the only way I can possibly stand a chance of trying every single type in this wonderful country, a country so famous for its chocolate.
And you'll never guess what I found...

That's right it is the Brandenburg Gate made out of chocolate! Is there anything they can't do?

And while we're on the subject, this is probably a good time to share with you the other cute Easter time insects I have found for sale at local supermarkets.

Ostern Bienen - Easter Bees

Cute little baby lambs

And it all tastes SO good -yum!

Berlin on foot

The last few days I have spent exploring the city and the area immediately surrounding where I am staying in Moabit. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to stay with my friend here as it is such a central location with great transport links and surrounded by awesome food. On Friday I explored the area on foot and found that at the end of Turmstraße (the main street where I am staying) there is a nice park and cute little graveyard which all looked pretty covered in snow.

On Saturday my friend Christina had an essay to finish for uni so after she got us a beautiful breakfast of fresh bread rolls from one of the local bakeries I went exploring in Berlin to give her some peace and quiet to work by. 
I caught the bus and got off at Alexander Platz and walked around for ages in awe of the amazing buildings and history all right in front of me. I've been lucky with the weather as, even though it's freezing cold, it's still so lovely when the sun is shining.

Our Saturday breakfast - including chocolate croissant -yum!

Looking down straße des 17. Juni at Siegessäule , the monument commemorating the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian war, at sunset (no I'm not a smarty pants - I had no idea what it was so I checked Wikipedia)

It's snowing in Germany!

I was told by a German traveler I met in Singapore that Frankfurt airport was closed due to a snow-storm the day before, so naturally I had my fingers crossed that the weather had subsided for my arrival, which it had. The pilot informed us the temperature for our arrival was minus ten degrees and everything looked so beautiful blanketed in white!

The glass roof of Frankfurt airport train station covered in snow

 The train to Berlin took around five hours which originally I thought would give me an opportunity to sleep but I was way too excited and spent the whole time perched up at the window with my camera not able to look away from the perfect winter scenes outside in case I missed any of it.

After arriving in Berlin and checking into my hotel I spent my last couple of hours before I finally crashed out walking the streets in the snow and buying some fresh bread and cheese for my dinner. As it's almost Easter the supermarket was full of German Easter chocolates when I noticed some cute little Glückskäfer (lady-birds) which are sold as part of Easters celebrations here. I HAD to buy some as

1. I love chocolate and am in the land of chocolate;
2. Australia doesn't celebrate Easter with the insects (not matter how cute they might be); and 
3. I couldn't think of a more perfect end to my 1st day in Germany.

Super cute Glückskäfer Easter chocolates

Can now tick 'visit Singapore' off my bucket-list

WOW what an awesome start to the trip and a hectic couple of days.Yesterday I spent my day at the Singapore botanic gardens, I asked for advice on how to get there from the hostel staff before leaving o make sure I was on the right track. I got off the MRT train as advised and started the walk up to the botanic gardens. It must've been close to 99% humidity in Singapore yesterday and I had my pack on and the road was on an incline but still I walked for what turned out to be quite a long way and the worst part was that when I finally arrived, with bruised shoulders from the weight of my pack and sweat absolutely dripping off me, there was a train station right there to greet me. Not impressed with advice given at the hostel! I must say though the gardens were worth the effort, went to the orchid garden which is just heaven for somebody who loves macro photography with one of my favorite subjects being flowers and if it wasn't for the weight of my pack I could've stayed much longer.

 The hostel itself was nice though, well as far as hostels go, as with most things it's the people that make it and this place had some top people staying who I had the pleasure of meeting. One night only cost me $25 Aussie dollars and that included a simple breakfast but it's not for everybody seeing as I slept in a coffin. Well they don't like to call it a coffin, rather a "capsule" and as long as your not claustrophobic it is a great idea as you still get cheap hostel prices but with more privacy while you sleep.

My "Capsule"

Got to the airport with plenty of time to spare but still almost missed my flight to Frankfurt as it turns out they don't make boarding calls in Singapore airport! I was wondering why it was so peaceful!

Last Day in WA (hey that rhymes!)

The past year and a bit has been challenging spending a LOT of time away from home and from my family at home. Working on a mine-site in the Pilbara region of Western Australia on a two weeks on-site and one week off-site roster catching 3 planes to get to and from my home in New Zealand to work (sometimes 4!). This sounds especially crazy when you consider the fact that I am a REALLY nervous flyer and believe I am going to die almost everytime I am in the air and several times I have had to restrain myself from jumping onto my neighbours lap screaming "what the hell was that noise? Must be an engine fault - we're all gonna die!".

Me in the Pilbara

Tomorrow is my last day on-site before I take that dreaded three flight trip home back to NZ for the final time. I'm very excited because offcourse that means this time next week I will be freezing my ass off in Germany, but it's also sad to leave behind some really great friends I have made here. We can't have it all can we? Here's to the next very exciting chapter in my life! Hooray!

Goodbye to Obie Kinobe

Yesterday my beautiful 'furry baby' passed away after 13 years on this planet. He could be such a pain in the ass spreading garbage from the bin throughout the house etc but I could never be angry at him for long with his sad droopy eyes and long ears.

I remember it was no more than 6 months after Zac and I had moved out together and were living in our house in Geelong that I saw the newspaper classified ad giving away a four year old basset hound to good home. I had always loved basset hounds with their funny faces and silly ears and was already missing our family dog that I had left behind at my mums 700 kms away. I called the advertiser and was surprised to find they hadn't yet found a home so my husband and I went to meet 'Obie' and I fell in love with him immediately! He was so playful and looked hilarious when he would run and his ears would flap in the wind and his belly would sway from side to side almost touching the ground. The first night Obie spent in our house he pee-ed all over the walls and seemed to think he was king from that moment on. He fitted in perfectly with our transient lives moving from state to state as work required, the 3500 km move from Victoria to Western Australia Obie just snored his head off in the back-seat.

We planned to do a few house/pet-sitting jobs while in Europe and now I am only looking forward to them even more as I so love animals and hope hanging out with them and meeting them might ease my sadness for poor Obie. We will miss you :-(


RIP Obie Kinobe