Move to Germany - become a fitness model!

Of course anyone who knows me would understand that I am far from the picture of fitness commonly associated with the crazy trainer from Biggest Loser (although I have been working out now that I'm unemployed...sort of...)

But, apparently I was not far off when I said I was skinny in Germany (compared to California standards of course!)

I went out for a run in the Herrengarten (which for those who don't speak German apparently translates loosely to the "man's garden". If I were a feminist I might be annoyed). It's a park across the street from our apartment with a nice pond in the middle, lots of ducks, occasional Herons and a few nice running paths. Usually I can do 3.5 runs around in about half an hour so if I don't feel like walking out to the gym (ie if I get out of bed after 10am and feel lazy) I can at least do some exercise and feel good about myself.

I was just at the beginning of lap number 3 when I turned a corner and saw a man with a very fancy looking camera and another in work out clothes staring at me smiling as I ran up. I was convinced that either the Mormons or Jehovah's witnesses were changing their approach in order to relate to the young people, however, after the usual "blah blah blah" in German and my "Sprechen sie englisch?" we established that a local newspaper was doing an article on a fitness group and were wondering if I minded posing for pictures with the trainer. Who am I to say no to what will undoubtedly be the beginning of my modeling career!

We did a couple of tricep dips and a few photos of us jogging together, exchanged e-mails and I was on my way. If I get copies of the photos I will surely post them (unless I'm not sucking in my gut, in which case forget it!).

The trainers website is www.bartel-personal-trainer.de

Check it out

I'll be sitting at home waiting for my call from Vogue.

I just want 5 minutes alone with whoever stole the GPS out of our car

Mark has tried to claim responsibility for this one since he claims he may have left the car door unlocked, however, I believe, I also have a part to play...

It all started when we moved in. For 60 Euros/month our apartment comes with one parking space. The space just happens to be rented in a garage around the corner. To open the garage, you drive up to a little lock outside the door, insert an odd looking key that looks like it should be for a safety deposit box in Zurich which contains millions of dollars in foreign currency and Jason Bourne's passports, and when the door opens, you head down the drive to the safety of covered parking. (Someone please bring the garage door opener to Germany...it will make my life easier).

Of course we were only given one such mystery key, so it needed to be shared depending on who had the car. In order to make the hand off as easy as possible, the key was placed on its own easy to use (IE loose) key ring. Mark, having more experience with said key ring than I did, had come home on occasion to exclaim "we have to do something about the garage key. The ring keeps sliding off my key ring and I keep dropping it. We might lose it one day." I think you know where this is going...

So last week, when I had to take Stormy to the vet for his ultrasound, I was trusted with the car and the sacred key. Somewhere between lugging a crying cat into the car, out of the car, into the vet, out of the vet, to the first pharmacy, to the second pharmacy (apparently Prednisone is not readily available), to the pet store and finally home - the key took a dive off my key ring and is no more. Despite frantic phone calls to the vet, a trip to the pet store and a phone call to Mark containing strong language only found in R rated movies, it's gone forever.

The landlord has said he can order another key, however, the building manager is on vacation so it will be a while. With our landlord, this likely means we will have a key about a month before we move out (which should be 2 years, but with the rate things are going may be a lot sooner!)

Needless to say, the car now has to be parked on the street. So, last week, while Mark was in Scotland and the car was resting comfortably on the street, the brand new Garmin GPS which was purchased upon arrival in Germany, decided to also go AWOL. Mark assumes the door was accidentally left unlocked, however, none of this would have happened had we not had the stupid garage key. Regardless, I am very annoyed that someone decided to help themselves to something that didn't belong to them, locked car or not. All I'm saying is I want 5 minutes alone with them. I can be very scrappy when I want to be...

The absence of said GPS was realized on Friday evening as we headed out on this weekend's road trip - Luxembourg to see the Pogues play before Shane McGowan bites it. After a quick detour to MediaMarkt for another GPS, we were off. We needed to stop for a quick bite, and were running late, so we hit McDonald's. I've gotta say, it was surprisingly nice. There was wicker.

Luxembourg is a beautiful city and our hotel (the new Sofitel) had a beautiful view from the bar upstairs. Apparently, the band was staying at the same hotel, because a bloke we met at the concert said that Shane was sitting at the bar on the Thursday night drinking pints of gin and signing autographs for fans. Apparently, he wasn't saying much (probably because at this point, I don't think he can!) but he was very nice to fans. Wish we had seen that!

Regardless, the concert was great fun and we sat at the bar at the hotel afterwards for a quick drink. I was even able to speak what I think was superb French to the locals (although apparently, after a few vodka tonics, my French isn't as good as I think it is).

Saturday was a day of shopping at Ikea - an adventure for another post - but I will say that after a month, I'm sadly disappointed that we are still having to make a lot of purchases for this apartment of ours in order to make it livable. It also means many more Sundays spent putting together furniture, putting up shower heads and installing towel racks.

Doesn't make a lot of sense to me for 2 years but what do I know...

One good thing about having to run errands around Germany however, is you get to see a lot of characters. We actually saw someone (with a mullet I might add) drive up to the pet store in the General Lee (which has a for sale sign on it if anyone is interested).

It takes all kinds...

Insert Roman cliche here...

So, I was going to title the post "When in Rome..." or "All roads lead to Rome..." or "Roman Holiday..." but I suppose it's been done and done again, so I will let you decide on the most appropriate Roman cliche!

The weekend plans were to drive to Strasbourg with our newly purchased travel guide (in French I might add...oui oui) but a last minute opportunity presented itself that we couldn't pass up. Our dear friends C&C from California were in Rome for 3 days so we decided, what the hell, let's hop on the plane and join them for dinner.

Quick search and we found flights on Swiss air for 300 Euros return, a hotel around the corner from the Lakey's and a train ride to the city for 11 Euros each. Off we went!

This did mean leaving Stormy at home unattended for 36 hours, which was a little unnerving but again what the hell! We threw his pills down his throat before we left and hoped for the best. (Incidentally, he was quite content sleeping on the couch in his underwear when we got home, surrounded by empty junk food wrappers so I think he had a good weekend!)

Because of the last minute flights, we did have a quick stop over in Zurich (which in the future, we must avoid - direct flights only!). One thing I will say about Swiss air, however, is they serve the BEST Swiss chocolate EVER! I had to take a picture. And, I got Star Alliance miles so I'm well on my way to renewing Premiere Executive status (aka free upgrades to business class!)

A quick train ride to the city and a (long) walk to our hotel and we arrived in Roma! It was a beautiful, rather hot day, but the city was wonderful. We spent the afternoon on the Green Line Tour, a 2 hour bus tour, to see the highlights, and then dinner with the Lakey's for proper Italian!

Sunday morning we hit the Colosseum (I highly recommend paying the extra for a guided tour - the tour was crap, but you skip the 1 hour line just to get through the gates...totally worth it!).

A quick metro ride back to the hotel (an experience I will smell for years to come) to pick up our bags and then off we were home.

I can now say I went to Rome...for dinner.

2 years, 100 weekend trips to plan. 1 down, 99 to go.

Next weekend, Luxembourg to see the Pogues play (assuming Shane McGowan doesn't die before then!) Must start planning!

Who knew so much could happen when you get out of bed before noon?

So the weather has cooled down considerably (finally!).

Stormy has been to the vet and has a clear diagnosis of non functioning liver. We've been doing some reading and I'm not sure if it's hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease) or cholangiohepatitis, but we are still waiting on some blood work results from the vet. My concern is we will have to force feed him, but the prognosis isn't horrible with treatment so we'll see. I have faith in Dr. Michael!

Mark and I have finally joined a gym (Fitness First) so I'm trying to set up some kind of routine. The memberships are horrifically expensive at all the gyms we looked at (I assume it's because there is nowhere near the same competition as there is in California - which probably also explains why I'm skinny in Germany compared to CA!! ;-) This location is a 15 minute walk from home and the facilities are air conditioned and clean, so why not.

The membership includes 5x30 minutes lessons with a trainer so I'm trying to schedule them in the morning just to get me out of bed! The second session today was fun and the trainer I'm working with is super nice - and has even offered to show me around town. Little does she know I will take her up on that!

On my way home, I walked through the Luisenplatz. Since I must look like a lost soul in my sweaty workout gear listening to my ipod, I was approached by 2 girls who were clearly on their mission from the Church of Jesus Christ. Now, I am not particularly religious, and really don't have a problem with other people's religions as long as they are not too preachy about it, right?

Turns out these girls are from California and were super nice. I think I came across as a little desperate to chat since I spilled my life story in about 4 sentences, but, they did say that they offer free German language lessons on Wednesday nights as part of their "service to the community". So, I've decided the Mormons are going to teach me German. Because it's free. And who am I to deprive them of their opportunity to serve? (as long as they are clear about the whole I'm not religious thing...what harm can it do???)

After leaving my new best Mormon friends, I walked through the town square and all hell was breaking loose! The cops were there, and an ambulance, and it appears that a fight had taken place between what I assume were a few residence of the platz (based on the lack of clothes and abundance of beer?) Blood everywhere, and some tall drunken man in hand cuffs being escorted to the ambulance. All this before noon! Who knew Germany was as exciting at the Bourne Identity movies made it out to be!

Tonight is the first meeting of the new Darmstadt book club as organized by a few keeners on ToyTownGermany.com. I'm really looking forward to it (but hope that it becomes a little less about the books and a little more about getting together for drinks once a month with some cool people who speak English!) Anyone interested in joining, just let me know!!

And it looks like we may be heading to ROMA for 24 hours this weekend! Friends from CA will be there for a few days and we found relatively cheap flights so figure we should make the best of it....

My only worry is leaving the Stormy bear for 36hours in his condition. But the decision was made that the point of this little jaunt to Germany was to travel Europe, so here goes...Maybe I can ask the Mormons to pray for him while we're gone?

Best Vet EVER

First of all, my Stormy bear is a monster of the first degree when he goes to the vet. Our last vet in California, who was great, decided on day one that she was no longer going to see our precious baby without a heavy dose of sedatives (for the cat, not her). So began a series of vet visits over 2 years that never cost less than $300.

Stormy's adjustment to Germany has been slow to say the least, and given his apparent liver issues (as seen before leaving CA), it was imperative that we find a reliable vet ASAP who spoke enough English that I could explain his abundant history (blood work, ultrasound results and on and on...) and who would be able to explain to me what was going on (yes, I'm one of THOSE pet owners who needs to be involved in every detail, and yes I do think that just because I have a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry, I know everything there is to know about cat anatomy. Really it's a wonder no vet has yet refused to see me without a heavy dose of sedatives!)

So, the search for a reliable vet began. We were unfortunately thrown off track slightly after Stormy refused to eat anything for 2 days and in a desperate attempt to keep him alive, we went to the vet around the corner who spoke not a word of English. While she did give him a shot that allowed him to eat (God bless her for that!) she flaked on our recheck and apparently no longer worked at the practice when we returned.

Anyway, after much searching online, I found an "All Cats" practice in Oberursel. On paper (read internet), they had all my must haves - website seemed top notch, fancy pictures of the practice showed abundant happy staff, sunny waiting rooms, and for Stormy - no dogs! I tentatively sent an e-mail asking if any of the vets spoke English. Within 20 minutes, I received a response, from the vet himself, that he did speak English. One more e-mail and we had an appointment at 4pm today. I was sold!

Although the location was a bit far - 30 minute drive with a little traffic - it was totally worth it! Sunny waiting room, happy staff (who already knew I was English, by the way and I was able to avoid the awkward - Verstien sie Englisch?). And Dr. Michael was lovely. Despites Stormy's monsterousness (word?) Dr. Michael was able to examine him, get blood, and run the labs on site in 20 minutes! He spent lots of time answering my abundance of questions and didn't seem one bit annoyed!

Although we are still short of a diagnosis (apparently it is not uncommon for cats to suffer from liver issues of unknown cause), we have a course of treatment (antibiotics and steroids - Stormy's thinking of taking up body building) and follow ups scheduled accordingly. Also, he was able to get blood for the rabies titer for his EU/UK passport and recommend a cat sitting service. Not a single sedative required!

SOOO - looking for an excellent vet in the Frankfurt area for your cat - look no further than Katezin-Praxis and Dr. Michael Streicher.

He's a life saver - just ask Stormy!

When in doubt....Shop!

I must admit that today, we found the best shopping mall ever...even better than...wait for it...any shopping mall visited in Southern California. I know, it's hard to believe I am actually admitting to finding something, in Germany, that is better than anything from either the US or Canada!

Our day began with the buzzer ringing at 9am and the nice men from Amazon.de finally delivering our washing machine. I was thrilled at the prospect of finally having clean underwear that had not be hand washed in the bathroom sink! I spoke too early, however, because our old apartment had an old tap that the washer needed to be hooked up to, so of course the fittings didn't work!

Mark decided to head out to the hardware store while I stayed home to make breakfast (ie lie in bed and watch Friends reruns on E4 - they're always on...it's great!). He came home with what he thought was the right fitting, which of course didn't work. But more importantly, was super excited about finding the German equivalent of Home Depot. Like, down to the layout, "hand" written signs and orange smocks! So, since he had to go back anyway for a different fitting, I decided to see for myself.

Sure enough (as the picture will attest to), we found the German equivalent of Home Depot. This lead to a series of purchases for what might eventually be a normal shower (don't get me started on what is currently passing for a shower in this place!) and clean underwear...(For the record, we still don't have the right fitting, so I have planned my Sunday around sink washing once again...).

After finally dragging Mark out of the Home Depot, it was decided that I needed a proper food processor and Garmin GPS if I was going to survive one more day in Darmstadt. The nearest Saturn (read European Best Buy) was just around the corner. What we didn't know was that it was housed in the most glorious shopping mall EVER! Stores abound including Starbucks, Guess, Nail Salons, Hair Salons, Esprit, Clothes, Clothes and More Clothes. I was in heaven and have decided if you need to find me at any point over the next 2 years, look for me there (because now I have Garmin GPS who will show me the way!).

Many hours later, Mark was afraid I would spend all his money (hey - I don't currently have a job, so who else's money will I spend?) so headed out to our planned Saturday destination. IKEA. While much window shopping and planning was accomplished only a few purchases were made (and we still haven't solved the washer or shower problem!).

Eventually, we were both hungry and headed to Wiesbaden to see what it was all about.

We had dinner at a lovely Scottish pub (the Scotch and Soda) and then off to Murphy's Irish pub for Guinness and Strongbow. Wiesbaden has a lovely downtown that remains untouched since before the war and due to the American Army/Air force base is full of English speakers who will tolerate my lack of German skills. Long story short, it was decided that we would be spending many more weekends pub crawling through Wiesbaden (and who knows - may have to move there if it suits us!). Apparently they have the worlds largest cuckoo clock. How can you go wrong!

All in all, today was a good day....which is a great thing to come by!!

God Bless The Rain (and Internet!)

I'm currently at home living through my first German thunder storm and my first storm in at least 5 years (since I left Canada).

I used to hate thunderstorms, but the heat here has been unbearable (30C +) since we arrived so I'm glad that the air has cooled down some and we might actually get some relief. I really don't understand what the German's have against air conditioning! (oops - negative... I'll try to keep that to a minimum!)

Poor Stormy has not weathered the move well and has decided to stop eating. Apparently he also hates thunderstorms and is hiding behind the couch. Hopefully he will come out when the air cools off? Or he can chase the moths that have made their home in our apartment (again, what do people have against window screens??!)

Our first week in Darmstadt is finally complete and we have tried to settle in as best we can. We have a working dishwasher, dryer (but no washer so really what's the point?) and a very large "American" fridge that our landlord ordered but that still needs to be hooked up to the water source to produce ice. Apparently there are parts missing. At least it can be plugged in and keeps things cold!

We find a great British pub around the corner owned by an Indian couple who have been her for 25 years or more. They have Magners and Guinness on tap, the best curry dishes in the country and speak amazing English (super bonus!) so hopefully we can become regulars.

Our internet has been set up (I was so relieved I almost cried - for the 97th time since we arrived!) so I can now waste my time on Facebook and job hunting (with no intention of ever getting a job!) while mark is at work supporting us!

We started to do a little travel over the weekend. We drove to France (Vive la France!) because I begged Mark to take me to a country where I spoke the language. It was oppresively hot there as well, but they have wonderful supermarkets and Hagueneau has good ice cream so it was worth the trip.

We also took the train to Frankfurt, which means I may actually be mobile now! I kind of liked Frankfurt and have decided it is the place I will find German language training and possibly go back to school...or get a job...or go back to school...or be on vacation for 2 years? We'll see...

Must make plans for next weekend getaway. Perhaps a trip to somewhere cool? (never thought I'd say that!)