Abu Dhabi

Since we just couldn’t get enough of the heat in Germany, we decided to book our fall trip to…a desert! Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, to be a bit more exact. We weren’t exactly sure what Abu Dhabi would be like, but we were definitely blown away.  We initially picked this destination because Will’s affinity for travel blogs helped us to figure out a way to redeem frequent flier miles for the chance to ride on Ethiad Airways A380 double decker plane and experience their new first class “apartments,” which take up a good portion of the top level of the plane. They were beautiful!

One of our first activities in Abu Dhabi was a “desert safari.” Our driver picked up our group in a big SUV and drove about an hour outside of the city. After riding up and down the sand dunes, we visited a camel farm and then ended the night with an outdoor dinner and some fun activities like belly dancing and henna painting.

Just an example of what we ate: lots of rice, spicy meat, and amazing hummus

Although we didn’t get the chance to spend a lot of time in the more well-known UAE city of Dubai, but we did take a day trip by bus. While we were there, we visited one of the famous and HUGE shopping malls and went to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.

View from the Burj Khalifa

Don't let all those smiles fool you...it was HOT. I think it topped out at 108 degrees, but it was well over 100 every day. We had to limit our time outside to only necessary transit: hotel to pool, hotel to taxi to mall, etc. I assume this is why malls are so popular and large there!

We tried the ocean once, but it was like bath water...better to stick with the pool!

Our hotel on the right

View from our hotel

View from our hotel

3 floors inside a mall

The fanciest Starbucks I've ever seen

On our last day, we visited the Emirates Palace, one of the most luxurious hotels in Abu Dhabi, and had lunch in their cafe. For dessert, we split a piece of their famous chocolate cake with gold flakes.

After lunch, we took a taxi to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, about a twenty minute drive from our hotel. I have been to a lot of interesting places, but I have to say that this was probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Sheikh Zayed was elected as UAE's first president in 1971 after working to unite the seven previously independent Emirates into one country. As his legacy, he wanted to have this mosque built as a religious and cultural symbol of the country, where people of all faiths could come together to find inspiration and common ground. Unfortunately, Sheikh Zayed passed away before the completion of the mosque. We visited in the late afternoon, so we were able to get pictures both before and during the sunset. I have so many gorgeous photos, it's hard to choose just a few!

View from outside

View from inside the walls

Inside hall

Mosaic wall tiles

Dog Days of Summer

I know that it seems silly to be talking about summer when we’re now deep into sweater and pumpkin spice latte season, but things have been so busy around here that I’ve gotten a bit behind. I don’t remember the summer of 2014 being too bad in Cologne, but this summer was actually record breaking! Read here.  

I believe the hottest time was the weekend around the 4^th of July when it reached 100+ degree Fahrenheit and there were several other weeks where it was well into the 90s. What made this really unbearable is that air conditioning is not very common. We have no air conditioning in our apartment (although luckily it says fairly cool) and none in my office at work. The absolute worst, though, is public transportation. There isn’t any air conditioning on busses or subways and for some reason, people don’t even like to open the window. Passengers will pack into a completely full bus on a 90 degree day and have no ventilation at all! I have yet to reach a point in my integration process where I understand this phenomenon, so there were a few days where I opted to walk instead of ride the bus.

Luckily, we’re well beyond the dog days of summer and have been enjoying seasonable fall temperatures as of late. We change the clocks at the end of this month and then we’ll hunker down for the dark winter. Until then, here's one last look at the summertime. 

 A cooler day...only 93.

Sophie's melting.

Too late for the 4th, but "American Week" at the grocery store...stock up on all your fried foods and maple syrup.

A tiny USB-powered fan at work

A ballet about the life of Freddie Mercury

A summer BBQ in Media Park

Fantasialand

A double-decker carosel

Will trying to kill me on the swings

A quick (weekend) trip back home!

German Food

One of my favorite parts of traveling is the food! Since I did an extensive post on our fantastic food in Paris, I thought I should give equal attention to what we’ve been eating on a day-to-day basis in Germany. To be honest, I really don’t care all that much for traditional German food. Pork is the staple meat and there are more sausage varieties than you can possibly imagine. Not really being much of a connoisseur of pork products, it was a bit of a challenge finding things that I liked at the beginning. However, over time, I did learn to find some German favorites and we have discovered a lot of non-German things that we love.

Traditional German

As I said, I haven’t really fallen in love with the schnitzels and bratwursts which dominate the traditional German food scene, so I can’t really comment too much on those things. But, if you do like those things, by all means, come and visit! The Brauhaus (brewery) is probably the most traditional type of German restaurant. Many regions (and sometimes individual cities) will have their own special type of beer particular to that area. Restaurants will serve that type of beer along with all of the traditional foods of that area. My favorite Brauhaus in Cologne is The Früh. 

Dinner at the Früh on my very first day in Germany in March 2014

Some of the other German foods that I like there are:

Putensteak

Turkey meat seems to be a lot more popular here than in the US and restaurants will often have a grilled turkey breast or turkey tenders on their menu. It does taste different from a Thanksgiving turkey, but it’s still good.

Putensteak at The Früh

Potatoes

With all that meat that’s consumed, you need some nice starchy sides to go with it. Germans are masters of the potato. From baked, to fried, to boiled, topped with cream, bacon, or mayonnaise you can’t go wrong.

Pretzels

Really all of the breads/rolls are great here, but the pretzels are especially good. Although usually reserved for ballpark fare in the US, soft pretzels are readily available here in bakeries, snack shops, and cafeterias to accompany soup or salads or to just be eaten plain.

Currywurst & Pommes

Although I typically steer clear of sausages/bratwursts, I do enjoy the fast food treat, currywurst and pommes. Currywurst is simply a thin sausage (very similar to a US hotdog) sliced into coin-sized pieces and doused in "curry sauce," which falls somewhere between a spicy ketchup and barbecue sauce. It's usually served with a side of pommes (french fries) topped with mayo. It's certainly not the fanciest of dishes, but it's pretty tasty. 

Döner

Döner is a fast food obsession in Germany. Döner shops are like Starbucks in the US—nearly one on every corner.  Döner Kebap is a Turkish-inspired dish that became popular due to the wave of immigration in the 1970s.  It is very similar to a gyro: Chicken or lamb meat, veggies, feta cheese, spicy sauce, and tzatziki dressing all stuffed inside a grilled pita pocket. And when I say stuffed, I mean STUFFED and overflowing. I am still slowly working my way up to being able to eat a full döner sandwich, because they are so large and overwhelming. Most döner places also serve other Middle Eastern dishes like falafel, lentil soups, and spicy meats.

My favorite döner shop is close to our house and called “Sam’s Mexican Döner.” It’s a tiny shop, without any place to sit (just a counter where you can stand and eat) and there’s nothing remotely “Mexican” about it. Instead of the traditional pita bread, they make wraps with flat bread and have about 10 different flavors of sauces that can be added. In a Pittsburgh-esque twist, they also put french fries on some of their sandwiches. My favorite thing to get at Sam’s is called “Pomm Döner” which is a base of fries, topped with chicken and the yogurt sauce (which is so close to ranch). It is super unhealthy, but delicious!

Döner Meat

Pomm Döner

Other Restaurants

We have also found some other great non-German restaurants in Cologne and the surrounding area and I’m sure that you could probably find any type of cuisine you were looking for here. Some of my favorites include: Bugerlich, Bay Area Burritos, Café Extrablatt, Café Von und Zu and Thai Basilikum.

Burgerlich

What's Pizza

Thai Basilikum (Photo Credit: Ankita!)

American Chains

As can be expected, there's also a ton of American fast food chains around to help combat homesickness. It might be caused by nostalgia, but I think they taste better here. :) Some places, like McDonalds and Starbucks, have additional menu items based on the local city that aren't available in the US. 

Not found in the US, this cream cheese muffin is TO DIE FOR.

I also cook a lot at home and have had the time to try a lot of new recipes. It can still be challenging sometimes because some basic ingredients (flour, butter, dairy products like cream, sour cream, and cream cheese) are just a bit different from what's found in the US. They don't react the same way and I've ended up with my fair share of deflated cakes, too thin chocolate chip cookies, and runny cheesecakes. In these cases, you just have to pick yourself up, wash off the feathers off your uncleaned eggs, and keep going!

Who's hungry and ready to visit??

July Updates

New Job

My biggest news as of late is that I found a job! I am working at the “same, large, international company where Will works.” It’s just a secretarial job for now, but it’s at least something to keep me busy during the day and a chance to practice my German. Everyone seems very nice and I like it so far. Hopefully now that I’m working, I won’t run out of interesting things to write about. No one wants to read a blog about going to work all day!

Taylor Swift Concert

For Christmas, Will surprised me with two tickets to see Taylor Swift this June. We were a little surprised that Cologne was one of the few European stops on her 1989 World Tour.  The concert was great and we really had a fun time. We sat in a higher section that seemed to be filled with all of the “older” attendees, people who were actually born in the 1980s. I think most of the concert goers were German and they especially liked when Taylor said a few words in German: “Ich liebe Köln. Ich liebe Deutschland. Ich liebe euch.” or “I love Cologne. I love Germany. I love you (all).” One of the best parts was the wristbands that each attendee received. The bracelets lit up and  flashed different colors, programmed with the show--we all blinked along as part of the special effects. 

Kölner Lichter

One of the best traditions that we’ve begun is going to the Kolner Lichter fireworks show. The fireworks are set off in the middle of the Rhine, in front of the Dom, and thousands of people gather on the banks to watch the show. Last year we had a friend visiting us at the time and this year we happened to have a different friend visiting. It’s definitely a great way to show off the city to visitors! Before the show, we also went to an observation deck of a huge building and got some good photos. 

Other Photos

Spring Photo Blast

I take a lot of photos that I can't always synthesize into one post, so instead, just enjoy this mishmash!

Flowers on the Balcony

A boat named "Christa"

Sophie had a rough day. 

Altstadt

Mülheimer Bridge and Cologne Skyline

Weekend in Frankfurt

Before I started working, we had time for one last weekend trip. We decided to ride the train to Frankfurt and actually visit the city that we normally only connected through in transit. There's an ICE (high-speed) train that connects Cologne to Frankfurt in about an hour, which is very convenient. 

The city's official name is Frankfurt am Main due to its location on the Main River. It's the fifth largest city in Germany (just after Cologne) and is the financial hub of Europe, housing many of the important banking institutions. Few European cities have tall skyscrapers like the ones that are common in the US, but Frankfurt has a beautiful skyline. In its financial district, there are 14 of the only 15 skyscrapers in Germany (Wikipedia). This has earned Frankfurt the nickname of "Main-hatten." 

We did some sightseeing, went to the symphony, and even found a CHIPOTLE! It was so good and tasted exactly the same as at home. Lots of fun!

Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof

Outside of the HBF

Financial District

Still a little bit of traditional German :)

Burritos!!!!

Financial District

Frankfurt Skyline

Our very modern hotel

One Year in Deutschland

I missed the exact date, but as of May 11, we have survived one year in Germany! Although I have always been interesting in travelling, Germany was never even really on my radar as a place to visit. Considering that and all things, I’d say our survival is definitely something to celebrate! Here are some reflections on the best and worst parts of this past year.

The Negative:

• Language: Hands down, the most difficult part of the transition has been the language. At first, we couldn’t even do the simplest things, like understand mail that we received, read the products at the grocery store, or understand the announcements on the bus. Even after a year and lots of German lessons for both of us, there are times when we just don’t understand what’s going on.

• Bureaucracy: As would be expected, there was a huge amount bureaucracy, paperwork, and procedures to complete during the immigration/relocation process. It often seemed like there was a separate form that needed to be filled out for everything that we wanted to do and that Germans were less likely to “budge” on issues where Americans might be more willing to relax the rules. As an example, I needed to change my bus pass subscription from one that was valid only after 9am to all day. After going to the customer service desk (where I thought it could be handled immediately), I found out that I needed to fill out a four page form (in German) and mail it to Frankfurt. I had also already missed the “deadline” for that month, so the change would not take effect for six weeks!

• Car Issues: Although the public transportation is pretty great, there are times when a car is just more practical. In July of last year, we purchased a used car. In October, the check engine light came on and we thought the car would need serious repairs. In a combination of both the language issues and bureaucracy issues mentioned above, as well as other misunderstandings, we ended up being without a functional car for nearly six months. Eventually we realized that the issue was not that serious and was able to be repaired rather easily and cheaply. As least we got a lot of exercise from walking!

The Positive:

• Cologne: I don't think we could have asked for a better city. Cologne is gorgeous, with a beautiful skyline across the Rhine River. There are a lot of activities around town, interesting sites to see, and fun restaurants to try. So far, the people that we have met have all been great and we've frequently been told that people in Cologne are the nicest/friendliest in Germany. I guess that can't really be proven, but they do seem to be down-to-Earth, happy people. The city is much larger than Pittsburgh, but is similarly broken down into smaller, distinct neighborhoods, giving it the "small town within a big town" feel. It's safe, clean, has great public transportation, and tons of opportunities!

• Traveling: While we did travel a lot while in Pittsburgh, moving to Europe has allowed us easier access to so many places. In only a 3 hour time frame, we could get to 3 or 4 different countries by train or car. On top of that, flights within Europe can be cheap (our 20EUR roundtrip to Romania) and plentiful. Six weeks of vacation time from work is sure nice too! Our travel wish list for the upcoming year includes: someplace warm and beachy!(maybe Turkey or Greece?), Prague, and Poland. 

• Overall Experience: Although there was a lot to do in the beginning and some bumps along the way, our overall experience in Germany has been pretty positive. Sometimes we'll be talking about how if we were in Pittsburgh, we'd probably want to visit Europe, but now we live here. We have so much available right at our fingertips. It's definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to dive deeper into a country/culture/lifestyle/language than what otherwise would be possible during a short visit. 

Photo Credit: Our friend, Nadia. Check out her other great photos here: http://www.nadiamianphotography.com/.