On Arriving in Sweden and a Pair of Fluffy Handcuffs

My face is completely scarlet as I stand at the security line at Standstedt Airport, just outside London. The contents of my bag sit on a counter in front of me, and the security card rips open a box that he finds, like a child eager to discover what his Christmas present is. He shakes his head, smiling, and calls out to his colleague;
"Ah, it's jus' a sex toy mate!"
He dumps the pair of fluffy handcuffs on top of the pile of my stuff, and leaves me to deal with the damage, as well as my red face. Ryanair, you could treat your regular clients with a little bit more dignity, please. I'm not a criminal, I just bought a present for a friend of mine which I thought was funny!

At least he didn't find the Sex Pasta ;-)

Arriving in Malmö, the first thing I had to do was buy a ticket for 'the rainbow bus'. No, it has nothing to do with gay pride. It is simply a bus which takes you to the Central Station. As I waited for this luxurious vehicle, I noticed that there stood nearby a tall, slim young woman wearing a mustard coat. I decided to ask her if she knew how long the bus would take. So I did, and we struck up conversation.

We sat together during the trip, and I got to know that she was British, from a town near Cambridge, and that she had come to visit a friend in Copenhagen. I sensed that there was something else behind this, but I decided not to ask. Sometimes it's just not the right time, no matter how curious you are or how many questions you might have.... Not all questions are meant to be answered.

Within minutes of arriving, saying goodbye to my new friend, and walking outside, I was literally attacked by a midget attempting to jump into a photo I was about to take. I gleefully squashed the midget with a giant hug - my dear friend Mina Tolu, as pictured above, and my host over the coming 6 days. I rejoiced to see a familiar face, and excitedly chattering, together we walked around the main streets of Malmö. I was surprised to find that it was snowing, and hoped that I wouldn't freeze.

An hour later, I was convinced that I had made the wrong choice for Erasmus. Malmö is so beautiful with its graceful, elegant architecture, its carefully planned bicycle infrastructure, quaint little cafés selling organic Fairtrade coffee everywhere - I was literally gobsmacked at how different this city looked compared to the one I was living in!

Once we arrived at the student residence, we planned out how we would spend my trip. A student party on Friday, as well as a visit to Copenhagen, were both on the to-do list, as well as seeing some of the main Malmö sights like the 'Turning Torso' and the Pildammsparken old water tower. In the meantime, after a long day (I had slept for only 2 hours on a warm spot near a heater on the floor of Stanstedt airport)I was grateful to have a hot shower and something to eat.

During that time, I got to meet some of Mina's friends; a bunch of Spanish, several Germans, a Polish and a Lithuanian thrown in just for good measure. We all got along from the start...and ended up having some fun together.

This photo illustrates the kind of people Mina likes to hang around with:

Until next time, dear readers :P

Coming up: What to do when you're in Sweden, and daytripping in Copenhagen!

STAY TUNED.

Love,
Tasha

A Series of Unfortunate Events... First Stop: On Transit to Malmö

I stare with my mouth open, aghast. The sheer magnificence of it all overtook me, and I forgot that it was freezing cold and that I was in want of a hot drink to warm my belly. Standing in front of this palatial building built in a neoclassical style, I imagined the Queen snoring beneth her lavish quilts, a little string of drool daintily connecting her face to her pillow.

Welcome to Buckingham Palace.

On transit to Malmö at Stansted airport, my connecting flight was the following morning. Faced with the prospect of staring blankly at an airport for ten hours, I decided to hop on a coach and explore London - by night.

The fact that it was 10pm and that the city was surrounded by folds of mist did not hinder me. So, I found one of those free maps and boldly (or maybe foolishly) found my way around London. It was relatively easy to navigate, and I walked all around the city with my backpack, taking in the nourishing sights of also Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, the London Eye beside the River Thames, Westminister Abbey, and walked past the Imperial War Rooms. I even made friends with a Russian street artist making caricatures, who wanted to sketch me for free as he said I had the most beautiful of eyes, and besought me to remove my spectacles for a moment.

After 3 hours of walking around, I waited for the coach back to the airport. Lolling against the bus stop, I was suddenly approached by a stick-thin, pale female figure, who began to babble on about being stranded and made homeless and missing a flight. I heard only half her words as I was taken aback by the stare in her eyes; they spoke to me of death. Doubting not her honesty, I offered to her what I could, asking only of her her name and and destination. Jidka, she replied thankfully, a Slovakian heading to her capital, Bratislava.

Still with two hours left to wait at the airport, I found myself a cosy corner of floor to sleep on, not far from some other floor-surfers, who I assumed to be French by their accent. As I dozed off, I thought of Jidka and her wide, staring eyes, and prayed that she would make her flight and safely return home.

Little did I know how soon my small kindness was to be repaid to me...

*story to be continued*

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Once again do I apologize for the much delayed post. Thing is, Life doesn't follow our watch... she speaks in the language of signs, feelings, and coincidences....and the story will unfold to you, one blog post at a time, as though it was written from before... and the reason for my delay will be clear.

See you soon, dear Readers.

All About Aachen...and a German Boot

It's raining as I sit in a train. The weather is trying to show me how German it is, as I haven't seen the sun for two weeks My mother is here. She sits opposite me. I can see her mouth moving, but I tune her out. Thinking that it was a bad idea to take my mother Couchsurfing, I sigh heavily, hoping that the weekend won't end in regrets.

Getting off at the wrong stop, we were lucky enough to have a really sweet host, who picked us up with his car. Looking around his cosy flat, ten minutes from the center of Aachen, I see a guitar in a corner, chocolate in a bowl, an open camera bag with several types of lenses, and I can smell incense. Hmm, I think. This might not be so bad.

Proceeding on what was more or less a night hike around Aachen, my soul was soothed by the sights: the large, well-lit theater with its tall, graceful Ionian columns, the Roman temple style beautifully matched by the Elisenbrunnen, a neoclassical hall which houses one of the city's fountains (see photo). I learned that Aachen had been a famous spa center, known for its natural thermal springs.

The fountain water smelt of rotten eggs, but tasted pretty ok (unlike when I'd done the same thing in Koblenz where the water actually tasted like warm blood!).

We also saw the Puppenbrunnen,or Puppet Fountain, a really cool fountain made with moveable bronze statuettes; we enjoyed a good laugh whilst being immature and moving the hands of the figures into rude postures. On our way to a Mexican restaurant, some locals overheard us speaking in English. One of the men approached us, looked at us seriously. He then proceeded to stretch out his leg, and motioned with his hands towards his foot.

" See", he said, "Zis iss a German boot."

We burst out laughing.

The day after, my mother and I set off, laden with a heavily marked map, and explored the city-center. There were Printen-Bäckerei everywhere, so we obviously realised that they are the typical cookies of the region. We even saw an entire cake made just from the cookies, which was like a metre-high tower!! One of the most memorable things we did was visit the Aachen Cathedral. Officially Northern Europe's oldest cathedral and the first to be registered on the UNESCO list of world heritage in 1978, the Aachen Dom was the church of coronation for 30 German kings and 12 queens. Entering inside, I could see why- all the walls and the entire ceiling were covered in a sparkling mosaic; Jesus and his apostles came alive as the beautiful array of shimmering colours danced in the dimmed light.

It was a joy to stroll at a leisurely pace along the cobbled roads, peeking into the numerous little shops, all with a distinct character of their own. The quaint antique stores with their old-fashioned hat boxes and pocket watches, and heavily perfumed Indie stores selling little wooden Buddhas and crystals, amongst the usual retailer's outlets.

I also took my mother to try the typical food of the region: Currywurst! Though I think she preferred the coffee...We ended the day having dinner at our host's place; some Maltese cheese and galletti. Good wine, some jamming on the guitar, and talking till 2am!

All in all, another great Couchsurfing experience!

Picture below with many thanks, by our lovely host David Wichert

ANNDDD, tune in next time, when I will take you on a trip to..
...sexy SWEDEN!

Home is Where The Heart Is... Christmas in Gelsenkirchen

Hello again, sexy readers. Been awhile since we've seen each other. But not to worry, I have some fantastic tales coming up for you!

A good friend of mine kindly invited me to stay with her and her family for Christmas, and so I was fortunate enough to have the full German Christmas experience. A few things I found out: Germans take Christmas very seriously. Like they do everything else (I kid, I kid). From kilometers of Christmas markets spread around the cities, to mass deforestation of fir trees, to the overconsumption of Spekulatius and mulled wine, Christmas is a big deal here.

Christmas with the Spickermanns

As I waited near a glühwein stand in Buer, I looked out for my friend. I was to meet her family today, to get acquainted with them before I stayed over for Christmas. Suddenly I hear some loud German chattering behind me. It was Lioba and her sister. Shortly we were joined by her parents, her brother, and a tall bearded man with piercing eye and several rings in his ear (her sister's boyfriend). The knots in my stomach slowly undid themselves and they remembered to speak some English every now and then, and as we drank the steaming beverages in the cold, they invited me for dinner, to which I accepted.

On the 23rd I went to watch Lioba sing with her choir. The atmosphere was great, with gospel music and the smell of pine and smoking wood in the air. The day after was of course Christmas eve, so around 2pm I packed my stuff, presents for her and her parents, and a large Maltese dessert called coffee gateux (which we always make for Christmas with my family back in Malta). Later that evening we went to mass, and even though it was in German and I'm not particularly religous, I still enjoyed the ritual. That evening we all had dinner together, with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian fondue and some delicious homemade bread, and I was quite touched by how welcome I felt... I even got some presents!!! :-))) We played some games, and Lioba played the piano and we also sang a German Christmas song together (she taught it to me that afternoon, you can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrhIzHLIr1Q) - it reminded me a little of a Christmas scene in a black and white movie!!

That night we didn't sleept much, as we took some wine up to the bedroom and spent 4 hours talking! Seriously, I kid you not. We got like 3 hours of sleep, then spent the day with her extended family - uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers, sisters, grandparents - there were so many people related to each other it reminded me of Malta.

I never ate so much cheese in all my life.

And home-made white chocolate liquor... they gave me a bottle to take home and I'm enjoying the last of it as I am writing now :)

We also enjoyed some more live music:

and some gift-giving... ( BESCHERUNG!!)

...and some MORE food...

and that concludes my best Christmas ever!! <3

NEXT BLOG will be about my second couchsurfing trip, this time to Aachen! And stay tuned, because next week I will be in Sweden ;-)

Happy New Year y'all!!