Day 4 - waterworld

For Thursday the plan was to go to the summer house of the Bantwal family. As the travel agent told me the day before to pay in cash I decided to go to a bank to get some money and meet the others later for lunch when we got picked up. So here is the neardy deal:

You need to get 24.000 Rupees. The cash machine only has notes of 100 Rupees and gives a maximum of 40 notes per transaction. Inserting your card into the machine takes 10 seconds, getting it out 7 seconds. Hitting of a key takes about 1 second and you have to go through a menu of 4 levels to get to the screen where you can enter the amount and your PIN, which has 4 digits. The machine needs 25 seconds to validate your entries and needs another 15 seconds to count the money and open the slot where you can take it. How long do you need to realize you will be late for lunch?

So in the end it took me about 20 embarrassing minutes at the cash machine to get the money. The embarrassing part was the queue behind me who probably still are puzzled what this Gori did there for 20 minutes.

Here is a photo of my trip with a bag full of cash through the city. Notice the sign for the “SUN Shoppe” opposite good luck hotel on f.c. road? The city was full of painted signs for this shop, but unfortunately I did not make it to shop itself. Still – the money spent on the paint was probably worth it as I noticed it a million times while going through the city.



I also passed by the world famous Ruby Hall Clinic, where the preetiest Indian girl was born not so long ago.



So anyway I picked up the flight tickets and the confirmation for the hotels and headed to Preetis place. I have forgotten to take photos of her doggies but they were a sight. One of them was completely sweet and the other one totally pretty aggressive. Needless to say I spent most of the time with the non-aggressive one.

After lunch Preeti, her middle sister Prattiti and I headed back to pick up the others in a van. As a silent sign of protest against the brutally strict driver license exam people in Germany I am posting the following picture of some friendly Indian citizens waiting for a green light upside down. If the world was a fair place, Preetis examiner would be brought to India and forced to drive through Pune with that van showing Preeti how to properly keep distance to other vehicles on the road. Shame on you, German TÜV-approved driver license examiners!!!



We met the others in the Prabhat road residence and headed to the country house. Preeti, Blanca and Pratitti were sitting in the front, Maike, Estelle and Simone in the back; Christian, Eugenio, me and the luggage for 2 days in the very back. Preeti was driving. This was Blanca’s view in the car.



We drove for a while out of the city and finally arrived at splendour country – a kind of water park with a magnificent swimming pool and nobody around. This is us totally excited at the entrance gate (well, most of us anyway):



We clad our luxury – bodies in silk swimming gear and headed for the pool. Too late did we notice the sharks and piranhas around so the girls jumped high to flee from the sharp teeth of death… We have all survived by the way.



We finally arrived at the summer residence of the Bantwal family. Here is a catalogue photo of it from a well-known travel magazine:



The house was simply fantastic. Two big bedrooms on the ground floor, each with a separate bathroom, separated by the stairs cutting into the building running up to the first floor – a magnificent room with windows on each side and surrounded by a balcony from all sides.



In the middle the stairs and parallel to them a kitchen.



There was also a beautiful garden full of exotic plants right next to the building. Of course we got a tour by the proud owner of the place through the gardens.



Here is the picture of the day:



Almost too late did we realize we were missing the most crucial part of the sunset – here is a photo proving we have witnessed it in the end:



We spent the rest of the evening practicing for our big dance performance Friday night and handing out presents to our hosts.



Good night everybody!

Here are the pictures of Day 4

Day 3 – Palazzo of India

We were told Wednesday we would be going out tonight so we woke up late and had our usual tanning session on the balcony. As I still had no clue what to do on the second week of my stay, Preetis dad arranged for me to go to a travel agency to figure it out and make the booking. I spent about 2 hours there and planned my week after in the end spending twice as much as I wanted originally but booking a perfect trip with pickups, five star hotels, etc. So I was very happy. This was the plan:

- Monday fly from Pune to Delhi, drive to Agra with driver, see the Taj Mahal
- Tuesday visit Agra Fort and Fatherpur Sikri, drive back to Delhi and fly back to Pune
- Wednesday drive to Aurangabad with driver, visit city
- Thursday drive to Ajanta, visit caves
- Friday drive to Ellora, visit caves, dropoff in Aurangabad and fly to Mumbai

So anyway – after the travel agency we met Preetis family for lunch in another sizzler (according to a slimy-me a much better one as the one we went to with Paritosh and Kasturi – at least for incredibly delicious fried and spicy chicken pieces we had for appetizers). Here is a very pretty girl with some great food:



After our fight for the small pieces of meat off some bones of a lamb we were exhausted and so went home and relaxed a bit as we were promised a great night out in the buzzing clubbing scene of Pune. We met Christian at our place who had just arrived from Goa beach telling us all about cold showers, happy people and all the other fun he had over there. This is Maike showing him the invitation to the various festivities which were part of the wedding of Kasturi & Paritosh.



We spent the evening in “The Palazzo” shakin-it as you could say. With the Bantwal sisters fully present, Blanca showing us how not to be a granny and free water at the bar this evening was one of the best disco nights of the season. There are some pics that were made with Maikes camera but I don’t have them yet, so you have to use your imagination here.

Here are my photos of Day 3

Day 2 - Pune

We started the day by relaxing on the balcony. Yes, we had a balcony also. With a palm tree. This is how we spent pretty much every morning after crawling out of bed. Sweet!



After the early morning tanning lesson we headed downtown for more money-spending activities. This time to Laxmi road.



Laxmi is the goddess of wealth. And boy this street was full of clothes shops. The girlz freaked out, the boys behaved and we all ended up with some proper Indian street ware. Before we come to the highlights of the day, let me show you a typical situation that took place 24/7. Check out this picture of the two fit birds that we have all come to know already. Can you see anything peculiar on this picture?



Yes – those men are actually staring at the girls as if they had just miraculously jumped out of a lotus flower! This happened to us (or just the girls actually) all the time wherever we went around in the city. Must be nice to be stared at like a celebrity, I guess...
While some of us bought everything they liked Simone did a much more efficient way of shopping and after trying on half the shop went for a single outfit.



I guess after a while I was going on the nerves of everybody with my passion of documenting every minute of the trip. Preeti made me aware of this with a single face expression.



So it was time again to start taking photos of the city around us. We found a strange ad for problems “down there” which left both Eugenio and me puzzled as the before and after pictures kind of did not make sense to us (except for some minor anatomical absurdities)



The highlight of the day was this small shop full of bracelets. We spent 3 full days in it and the girls (well mostly Blanca actually) tried on 3,234,762 different sets of bracelets and decided to only buy 1,079,231 pieces which left the shop owners pretty devastated. Here is a picture of happy Blanca after the bracelet-fitting-session which has left her hands scarred for life and temporarily blue from the artificial colours. Oh, almost forgot – Eugenio did manage to kick some bracelets off the counter which smashed into small pieces :-)



We continued towards the male section of the street and passed by a spice lottery. Hmm, what will it be today - hot, hotter or shall I go for the tongue-killers?



As a next obstacle the gods have decided to test my ability to say NO to strange men offering fruits on the street. Needless to say that I failed miserably and decided for the joy of the moment and the pain later… I don’t know what it was that I tried but it was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!



10 minutes later Eugenio and I had chosen our outfits showing the girls how to do proper shopping.



As at this moment Eugenio had spent already 3 consecutive days without proper Italian food we decided to go for La Pizzeria in Pune. I am happy to report that with Maike on our side we were the most Indian looking group at the place. The food was good, the waiters Italian miserable.



We spent the late afternoon shopping in another part of the town, watching wrestling on TV in a bar full of cartoons stolen out of a MAD magazine (a VERY bloody wrestling match I must say) and partly in further clothes shops (mainly done by the girls). For the evening we got invited to Paritosh’s place and so went home to rest a bit and try on the catches of the day.



Unfortunately I did not take my camera with me to Paritoshs, so at this point I have to use a pictures from the internet to describe the place. It looked a little bit like this I think (well, not really, but I like this photo somehow...)



I can pretty much say that if you can call a rickshaw your own, you pretty much made it in India. Needless to say the Sarda family had a rickshaw at the front lawn. Plus we had the best food of the whole trip at this evening – it was simply amazing…

To be continued ...

Here are the photos of Day 2

Day 1 - Feb 13th

Oh, don't worry, Sir. Your flight has been cancelled!

Do you want to be greeted like that at 5 in the morning when you fly from Frankfurt to Mumbai via Milan? I don't. But this is what happened. Due to some technical difficulties my flight from Frankfurt to Milan was cancelled. Yeah right, technical difficulties. I guess more because of lack of passengers, but anyway... So they put us on a Lufthansa plane to Milan an hour later (8 o'clock). No Problem - I should still have enough time changing planes in Milan.

Arriving in Milan they made speaker announcements for all passengers flying onwards to Delhi - urgently come to counter X. I am flying to Mumbai but this sounds odd so I go also. Oh, yes, Sir. Good you came - we meant all passengers flying to India, hihi. Hihi your ass, this is chaos like nothing I have seen before. So they give me my ticket for the flight to Mumbai. Take a good look at it. Anything strange you can see?



Yes - it says No Seat. I have only realised it downstairs when waiting for the plane. And I asked the lady at the counter about this. She said, No problem, Sir. The plane is a free-seater. But people around me all had seats, it seemed. So I was a bit worried. After a quick Abblitzen in the Alitalia Lounge (You have to wait for everybody to board the plane and then look for a free seat) it was clear for me I could not do anything but wait and see. After all, this was my first vacation in a long time and the main thing was to arrive in Mumbai, where I would be picked up. So I waited and in the end got a seat between two fat men flowing over to my seat (No, really). The trip was OK, they even had onboard entertainment. They showed little Manhattan - a lovely movie about a small boy living in NY falling in love for the first time. Ohhhh.

Looking back at how the boarding of the plane went, it was a crashcourse of the chaos of India still to come. First they told people, that only the ones with a seat on the tickets should board (this is when I realized I wasn’t alone …). Makes sense as they don’t want to have people standing around in the plane because they don’t know where they would sit. So what happened? Everyone rushed to the counter including the ones who did not have a seat. This is where I remembered Preetis quote of Indian men being hopeless. The Alitalia ladies also forgot about the first class passengers and started to fill the plane with normal people. When the first class people told them that they would like to also board the plane they were told to wait until all the rest had boarded. So I heard one of the Indian ladies going Come on everybody, back to the lounge – they cannot leave without us, we will delay the plane! Hallelujah!

Arriving in Mumbai is the craziest thing I have ever seen in my whole life (this trip being my first to Asia – I have been to Singapore, but that doesn’t count now …). We finally landed at 23:00; I got my luggage and left the airport. We have been told that there will be a car waiting so all we have to do is find it. Ha! You leave the airport and are greeted by 5000 people waving 7000 shields with names printed on them. They are all shouting also to make this event livelier. What a view! I should have taken a photo but somehow I was a bit worried it would be my last with my new camera so I didn’t. So finally I found my name written on a cardboard with 10 other names! It was a great pickup, they led us to a bus with Air Conditioning, we waited for some other people to arrive, they put all the luggage on the first seat and we left off. I don’t have to mention that the entire luggage fell off in the first curve. After a quick reshuffling exercise we went on. The trip to Pune should take about 4 hours so it was time to sleep. This sounds logical to people used to proper roads. Over there the road from Mumbai to Pune was filled with holes – so it was jumping time!!! I plugged in my radio and listened to some music and watched the side of the road. As it was already pretty late, there was not too much activity; people were sleeping, some stray dogs running around, nothing special. The music on the radio was kind of cool – a perfect introduction to this new country. I don’t remember when but I must have fallen asleep at some time and woke up literally flying in the bus after probably hitting one of those holes. Then some people started to discuss something containing the words “Prabhat road” in a very angry manner. I had to get off at Prabhat road, so I told them in my best English. They calmed down, I have no idea what this was about, but they threw me off the bus at a place and showed me the house called “Nisarg”, which was to be our new home for the week of the wedding. You can imagine my relief of hearing my name once the bus has left – Simone and Blanca were calling me from one of the windows. I have arrived to Pune!



This is my first photo of the traffic in India. You are sitting in a Rickshaw (a 3-wheeler used to rob tourists by driving them from point A to point B for a ridiculous amount of money). You can see a red light and also that nobody is really interested in what that means. You can also see a small Ganesh on the windshield. This was taken on our way downtown to Pune club to meet with Preeti and go shopping for the wedding.



We had a first taste of the delicious food in the The Blue Nile where Preeti ordered for us. What a great place to eat. After lunch we stayed in this area and recorded a new version of It’s my life as a thank you for Preeti in a small studio. I don’t know why, we just did. When the guys started to play our version on the speakers, we quickly moved on … Unfortunately the CD has been lost I am afraid, so I cant put up an mp3 for your listening pleasure ...



Blanca asked me to take a photo of her with some stuff in the background. I don't know why she looks so excited, the Streber ...



Picture of the day:



So we spent the Monday evening in a sizzler place enjoying the hospitality of Paritosh and his future wife, Kasturi. Plus we got introduced to Sujal, Kasturis best friend. This photo was taken by Paritosh, so he is not on it…



Here is another one of the happy couple:



And another photo of another happy couple – Eugenio and his sizzling friend before the cannibalistic event:



What followed after dinner, was a very intense experience for most of us including Simone and Blanca. Unfortunately I have forgotten the name of it but I remember that it contained Rose leafs.



We had very mixed feelings about it ranging from OMG (Simone) to OMG later Wow (me) to Wow (Eugenio).



And this concluded my first very long day spent in India. Like in good old days, Eugenio took on the role of crowd control and collected a very important phone number – that of Sujals, who happened to be a party-tiger as we will see later on…



Coming back to the apartment all alive some of us did not want to go to bed just yet. So we decided to check out the place in more detail. After all, Preeti has stayed at this place for quite some time – there should be some skeletons hidden around here. So it was time to look around the place where we were staying. Preetis family has put us into a great place. 3 bedrooms, each equipped with a bathroom – two of those even had western toilets and a huge living room plus kitchen. Check out these pics of sweet little Preeti with her dad and mum that we found framed in the living room. Oooh!



Plus we found a scandalous third picture hidden in the frame between the two pics above. We have still no idea who these people are but they seem to be getting married … I don’t have to mention who found the photo now, do I? I do anyway...



After these developments it was not easy to go to bed, but we did our best … By the way after this night I started to envy Preeti. When I think of the long afternoon hours that I spent “bed-testing” at IKEA – I can sooo see Preeti walking into IKEA and yelling: “Gimme the hardest bed you have please”. And actually I slept like a baby.

You can check out all the pics of day 1 here.

To be continued…

aller anfang ist schwer ...

mein alitalia flug ist annuiert. punkt. wurde umgebucht auf lufthansa. punkt. komme trotzdem mit dem geichen flug in mumbai an. punkt.

die nacht war sehr kurz. ich weiss nicht warum, aber ich bin total aufgeregt und habe kaum geschlafen. habe gandhi auf dvd angschaut. vielleicht hätte ich doch lieber monsoon wedding oder sowas ähnliches kaufen sollen. na ja ist ja auch egal. es ist jetzt 5:44 und mein flug geht nun um 8:10. ich geh jetzt eine bank suchen...

chalo india!!!

Here we go ...

just finished packing my bag(s). I am sure I have too many t-shirts and not enough something else - like always. Well, who cares - with a host like Preeti and Paritosh, and all the others around everything will be all right I guess.
India - here we go!

watch this space for updates :-)

Sachsen

Another great night out in Sachsenhausen. I am so looking forward to more nights like this one. Found this website on the anglo irish...

1 week to go

only 1 more week until India. I have been reading my new guide all evening. So I have just noticed my friend Mike has updated his blog. Check it out here. I am off to Köln tomorrow, so there will be no updates until Wednesday. Ciao Ciao Ciao

Eissporthalle FFM - eiskalt

an evening of ice-skating with the diverse and the brave. A totally well-spent evening worth repeating. Hopefully they will not close before march ...

of wednesdays and bus drivers

The Eschborn Süd bus-a-stop-a can be a good place to develop world-changing ideas and discuss phylosophies of life. Thus I am proud to present:

The Wednesday-is-the-worst-day-of-the-week theory

- Monday - still dozed from the weekend
- Tuesday - finally waking up and I am all happy and motivated
- Wednesday - realizing the week is still long and officially declaring it as the worst day of the week
- Thursday - this is the most effective day of the week with the weekend ahead and the fear of not having done enough over the last three days
- Friday - totally motivated until about 5 o'clock in the afternoon when you understand that nobody else is actually working and you stop and head home to enjoy another weekend

The Busfahra theory
I am a bus driver. All I do all day is drive a bus from A to B to A. I am smiling in the morning until I relize people will not smile back and than I change my smiley expression. I realize I have the power to influence all people around me. And I can always blame it on a traffic jam. I see people running from the S-Bahn to get the bus and I can simply leave (of course I wait until the first sprinter almost reached the half-open doors :-) I see people who need to catch their train in the evening and can slow down so they are very likely going to miss their train. I am a bastard and I love it!!!

Of course we can make it worse by combining the two theories into the Wednesday bus driver theory. I am sure you know what I am talking about ...

Motivation - Dieter Bohlen

O-Zitat Dieter Bohlen [DSDS]: Lass mich das erklären auf einer Skala von Eins bis Zehn: Eins ist sehr gut und Zehn ist sehr schlecht. Dann bist Du Siebentausendachthundert.

Mike Glotzkowski's Brazil Trip 2006

My friend Mike is in brazil and he has created a blog about it!

Spaziergang at night

nice to walk around FFM with a friend.

bullet shots ...

shit happens

CROP DUSTING -- When farting, you walk briskly around the office so the smell is not in your area and everyone else gets a whiff but doesn't know where it came from. Be careful when you do this. Do not stop until the full fart has been expelled. Walk an extra 30 feet to make sure the smell has left your pants.

FLY BY -- The act of scouting out a bathroom before pooing. Walk in and check for other pooers. If there are others in the bathroom, leave and come back again. Be careful not to become a FREQUENT FLYER. People may become suspicious if they catch you constantly going into the bathroom.

ESCAPEE -- A fart that slips out while taking a leak at the urinal or forcing a poo in a cubicle. This is usually accompanied by a sudden wave of embarrassment. If you release an escapee, do not acknowledge it. Pretend it did not happen. If you are standing next to the farter in the urinal, pretend you did not hear it. No one likes an escapee. It is uncomfortable for all involved. Making a joke or laughing makes both parties feel uneasy.

JAILBREAK -- When forcing a poo, several farts slip out at a machine gun pace. This is usually a side effect of diarrhoea or a hangover. If this should happen, do not panic. Remain in the cubicle until everyone has left the bathroom to spare everyone the awkwardness of what just occurred.

COURTESY FLUSH -- The act of flushing the toilet the instant the poo hits the water. This reduces the amount of airtime the poo has to stink up the bathroom. This can help you avoid being caught doing the WALK OF SHAME.

WALK OF SHAME -- Walking from the cubicle, to the sink, to the door after you have just stunk up the bathroom. This can be a very uncomfortable moment if someone walks in and busts you. As with farts, it is best to pretend that the smell does not exist. Can be avoided with the use of the COURTESY FLUSH.

OUT OF THE CLOSET POOER -- A colleague who poos at work and is proud of it. You will often see an Out Of The Closet pooer enter the bathroom with a newspaper or magazine under his or her arm. Always look around the office for the Out Of The Closet Pooer before entering the bathroom.

THE POOING FRIENDS NETWORK (P.F.N) -- A group of co-workers who band together to ensure emergency pooing goes off without incident. This group can help you to monitor the whereabouts of Out Of The Closet Pooers, and identify SAFE HAVENS.

SAFE HAVENS -- A seldom-used bathroom somewhere in the building where you can least expect visitors. Try floors that are predominantly of the opposite sex. This will reduce the odds of a pooer of your sex entering the bathroom.

TURD BURGLAR -- Someone who does not realise that you are in the cubicle and tries to force the door open. This is one of the most shocking and vulnerable moments that can occur when taking a poo at work. If this occurs, remain in the cubicle until the Turd Burglar leaves. This way you will avoid all uncomfortable eye contact.

CAMO-COUGH -- A phoney cough that alerts all new entrants into the bathroom that you are in a cubicle. This can be used to cover-up a WATERMELON, or to alert potential Turd Burglars. Very effective when used in conjunction with an ASTAIRE.

ASTAIRE -- A subtle toe-tap that is used to alert potential Turd Burglars that you are occupying a cubicle. This will remove all doubt that the cubicle is occupied. If you hear an Astaire, leave the bathroom immediately so the pooer can poo in peace.

WATERMELON -- A poo that creates a loud splash when hitting the toilet
water. This is also an embarrassing incident. If you feel a Watermelon coming on, create a diversion. See CAMO-COUGH.

HAVANAOMELET -- A case of diarrhoea that creates a series of loud splashes in the toilet water. Often accompanied by an Escapee. Try using a Camo-Cough with an Astaire.

UNCLE TED -- A bathroom user who seems to linger around forever. Could spend extended lengths of time in front of the mirror or sitting on the pot. An Uncle Ted makes it difficult to relax while on the crapper, as you should always wait to poo when the bathroom is empty. This benefits you as well as the other bathroom attendees.

lucky bastard ...

Illusions

Wienerisch für Anfänger

Nachdem meine Wiener Freunde mich darauf hingewiesen haben, dass ich zu sehr "wie ein Piefke" rede, hier nun eine Lektion "Wienerisch für Anfänger":

Eine Bestellung am Wiener Würstelstand im Wiener Schmäh:

"A Eitrige mit an Bugl, Zwiebalsüßkren und a 16er Blech von heraussn".
"Mit an Schaas und an Oaschpfeifn".
"Des Aluweckal, owa Dscheniffa!".

Übersetzung
Eine heißgesiedete, kurz angebratene Krainer-Wurst mit Käse (Käsekrainer), einem Anschnitt-Stück Schwarzbrot, in Essig eingelegte Frühlings-Zwiebeln, süßem Senf, einer Portion frischgeriebener Meerrettich, und einer temperierten 1/2-Liter-Dose Ottakringer-Bier (Ottakring = 16. Wiener Gemeindebezirk; in diesem Bezirk befindet sich auch die gleichnamige Ottakringer Brauerei) keinesfalls aus dem Kühlschrank.

"Schaas" (auch "Kinderschaas") ist der Senf, und "Oaschpfeifn" verursacht der (eingelegte) Pfefferoni.

"Aluweckerl" ist eine Dose Bier. (Weckerl ein Brötchen). "Dschenniffa" bedeutet "rasch". (von Jennifer Rush----to rush)

Folgerung
Man bekommt trotzdem eine eiskalte Dose Bier. Diese wird unter leichtem Murren und hämisch-bösen Blickkontakt zum achselzuckend-lächelnden Verkäufer kurz in den Händen gehalten und trotzdem gleich getrunken. (Viele Bauarbeiter, Fiaker und Taxifahrer vertragen kein kaltes Bier - weil sie zuviel Kaffee trinken.)

Anmerkung
Die Schwierigkeit, die Nicht-Wiener und besonders Nicht-Österreicher mit dem Begriff "Schmäh" haben, liegt vor allem darin begründet, dass dieses Wort eigentlich mehrere Bedeutungen hat. So wie ein "Zug" sowohl eine Eisenbahn, ein Windhauch oder auch das Versetzen einer Figur auf dem Schachbrett bedeuten kann, ist "Schmäh" nicht gleich "Schmäh". Manchmal ist damit zwar eine "Lügengeschichte" gemeint ("Erzähl ma kane Schmäh!"), manchmal aber einfach nur Witze ("Mir homn in gonzen Obnd long Schmäh g'fiaht!"), dann wieder der Esprit einer gewitzen Person ("Da Fronz hot an leiwanden Schmäh!"), ein andermal vielleicht eine ironisierende, meist das Gegenteil ausdrückende Bemerkung ... sowie einige - fast widersprüchliche - Nuancen mehr. Am besten erfährt man diese jedoch durch einen (längeren) Wien-Aufenthalt.

KONG is KING

Beauty Killed The Beast

The Da Vinci Code - bad idea

I have already hated this movie since I heard Tom Hanks was playing the main role - and now this...
Although with Audrey Tautou in it I feel a dilemma arising ...

Agathas Letzter Wille

WERBUNG ** WERBUNG ** WERBUNG


Ein sehr unterhaltsames Spiel. Es muss nicht immer Catan sein. Man kann sich bei diesem Spiel gegenseitig abschlachten und dabei unschuldig spielen. Danke, Diana!

Escher and the Droste effect

fax of the day

Guns don't kill people. Chuck Norris kills people.

Two guys - One party

Jack invited for his 29th Birthday to his humble home in Westend. At the same time we said Goodbye to Raffa, who has recently left Frankfurt for some Potatoes. As the party only started at 9:30 Preeti and I had the pleasure of being invited to Maike & Eugenios for dinner & more. Cool place I must say...


ps: yes, we played Catan after the party and Jasmina won ...

Manoya

Diversity Stammtisch in FFM Nordend. Raffa said goodbye to us - and we learned that there are other things to eat in a turkish restaurant than Kebap.

London Calling

L'Auberge Francais - Wiedersehen in London. Estelle and her mates from University met up for the weekend - and I was there to witness it. First we met Clara (who was present at Estelles party at her place - see October pics), Ronen, a colleague of hers, and later Julie, Chris, Michael, Stefano and some more people for breakfast next day (Yes, that is right, I have already forgotten the names). We also ran into an extremely happy - I am living the life I always dreamt of - Wolfram and his ex-FFM-flatmate, Graham - who enjoyed a nice sandwich in Woody's ... London is always a blast.

Plus our first time in an Apple Store = an amazing place. If only I knew how to transfer my Outlook Calendar to my Ipod Nano, I would be the happiest man alive (ok - den letzten Satz bitte vom Protokoll streichen ...)

If anybody is going to London, let me know - I will gladly join :-)

Ok - enough said, here is a group photo with some evil squirrels ...

ps: Thank you Clara for the great hospitality!!!