OUR GERMANY ESCAPADE (PART FOUR)
..............................................................................

Hello dear blog readers,

And so I am finally back with a new blog entry! So much has been happening lately that I just couldn't really find the time or let the alone the inspiration or motivation to blog. If that alone wasn't enough, my laptop always has its cranky days. So... after what seemed pretty much like eternity(haha), here I am finally being able to sit down and just invest the next few hours of my time typing this very blog entry. :) If there are any typo errors, I apologize for that, in advance.
It's the 4th entry from my Germany Escapade, and so... yeah... I hope you'll enjoy reading it. Before I start...

If you've not read Part 1 of my Germany Escapade, please click Click HERE!

If you've not read Part 2 of my Germany Escapade,please click HERE!

& If you've not read Part 3 of my Germany Escapade, please click HERE!

So on the 4th day, Sondra and I awoke to the very unpleasant sound of the phone ringing. That's right. The annoying morning call that we get every day when we were in Germany. So we got our morning call at around 7am or 8am(it's been too long so my memory is failing me. Hahah) and as usual,I'm always the one who has to go and bathe first while Sondra carries on with her beauty sleep.
Did I tell you that the room that was given to us actually had a see through glass door. So if you bathe, you pretty much can see the other party bathing. The only thing blinding us from each other, was the frost on the frosted glass. Yeah THAT HELPS ALOT. Thank you NH Hotel! So whenever I bathe, I have to bathe with the lights turned off! I wish you could see how it looked like for yourself... but yeah..bathing is always such a chore, and also pretty much downright embarrassing. Haha, but of course, we're both not perverts and so we couldn't really care less about looking at each other. So everytime I'm bathing, Sondra is forced to look the other way till the time I'm done. And vice versa! :P

So after I was done showering, it was Sondra's turn. Dressing up in the morning is always so fun because I love the fact that I actually get to put on a real coat without worrying too much about the weather being too hot or anything. If only Singapore had snow. The only thing separating Singapore from being an otherwise perfect country to live in. Seriously. I love Singapore but I hate the weather. I'm sure most Singaporeans would agree with me on this one.

So my outfit of the day was just a simple spaghetti top, my favourite denim high waisted shorts(you probably think I'm retarded for wearing shorts out... but trust me... the weather was still bearable), my brown leather jacket inspired from "The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo" and my spikey flats.
As usual, before heading off to the coach, we'd have our morning hotel buffet breakfast(pictures in the next blog entry - Part 5).



It's always really cold in the morning though I must say. Like really really cold, say... 11 degrees?12-13 degrees or so? But the awesome thing is that it gets hotter as the hours go by. So in the afternoon, it's always about 20 plus degrees.

For today, Sondra and I were headed for Nuremberg, also known as the unofficial capital of the Holy-Roman Empire due to its historical and geographical importance in the Holy Roman History. Later chosen by the Nazi Party as a site of huge Nazi party conventions- the Nuremberg rallies, Nuremberg became a site of propaganda importance and a centre of Nazi ideals.

I found it pretty cool that we were going to visit a historical site in Germany. To be honest, the entire trip was filled with so much history. I love Germany because it's just country filled with so much history behind it. Moreover, the buildings....omg... I've never seen buildings more beautiful than the ones I saw in Germany. Yeah, you may think that what I've shown you so far is nothing really 'WOW' yet but wait till I show you pictures from Wurzburg and Munich. Absolutely beautiful. But of course, that won't be in this entry. So... you're gonna have to wait for that! Haha.



As usual, bus rides are usually really so long because of how huge Germany is. Then again... it was another 2-3 hour bus ride and so Sondra and I usually spend this time sleeping in the bus.Hahah.

And look above, I was jumping and squealing like a little girl to Sondra when I spotted a sushi restaurant!! Hehe.



Breathtakingly beautiful... Imagine if HDB buildings in Singapore were all designed like this? I think Singapore would be so much more beautiful. The government should really do something about the ugly designs of HDB blocks. Painting it green, red or a rainbow colour is NOT going to make it look nice y'know? -.-

So after a terribly long bus ride, we finally reached Nuremberg. The place that we were going to be touring today?... The Nuremberg Castle!! Yes! Another castle! And the best part is that I managed to snap photos! :D





I was the only brave soul in the tour group or pretty much in Germany(HAHA), wearing shorts. But hey.. who cares? :P











A cigarette dispensing machine! How cool is this? But of course...I don't smoke, but I just found this really fascinating. They had this in Perth as well! Zigaretten.

Hahaha so to smokers out there, the next time you need to smoke don't say " I need a Cigarette". Say it like this, "I need a Zigaretten". HAHA, your friends would probably be like, "What the F *censored*".





A little bit of history about the Nuremberg Castle.

"The imperial palace of Nuremberg is one of Germany’s most important medieval fortresses. It can be dated back to at least the year 1000 A.D, although there are no historical documents to prove its existence until at least 1105.
For close to five hundred years, the castle was the residence of the Kaisers (kings) of the Holy Roman Empire. King Conrad II was responsible for building the royal wing of this expansive palace, which boasts three separate sections.
By the 13th century, Nuremberg had the privilege of becoming a Free Imperial City, which meant they had no local regents or rulers. The Emperor himself was their only master. It was during this time of relative freedom that the citizens of Nuremberg decided to further expand the castle. They erected its distinctive tower, the Luginsland, during this time.
One of the more famous tales about Nuremberg Castle involves the convicted robber, who would later become a romantic folk figure, Eppelein von Gailingen. While he was sentenced to death in the gallows, he and his horse, in a stunning fashion, managed to escape by jumping into the castle moat and off towards freedom.
The 20th century was not kind to the castle of Nuremberg. Like so many other majestic structures, it was nearly obliterated by the air raids of World War II.
Happily, it has been reconstructed in its original form. Today some parts of the castle are even used as a youth hostel and many of its rooms are available for special events".

Source: http://www.mygermancity.com/nuremberg-castle

So yes this is my outfit for the day! :)





The tunnel we walked through. It was freezing cold in the tunnel. I guess it's because of the stone that sorta like traps the heat.









Other tourists from all around the world visiting the Nuremberg Castle as well. :)





Walking in here already feels so surreal. I just kept on telling myself "Omg... thousands of years ago... a real King used to walked on this ground... so did knights, horses......".



Amazing how the castle still stands strong after so long!You can tell how old the castle is just by looking at the walls.





I love the cobbled floor. heh







So after touring the outdoor grounds of the castle, we were led in by our tour guide for the day and shown around the castle! :)



The weaponry that the knights used.



View from inside the castle.







Look at how old the sword looks.



As were walking around, our tour guide(the one in blue in the picture above) would be talking and filling us with details about the rich history behind every door, painting, furniture etc.



This place here was split into 3 levels. The upper ground was for the King and the higher class people. The middle ground (the picture above), was for the middle class people. And the very bottom level was for the peasants or poor people.





It was said that the entire castle would be freezing at night(because of the stone that was used to built the castle). Apparently, the king's room was the only room in the castle with a heater. Not sure how that looked like but it was what the tour guide said. Haha.



For the poor people.







So all the rich people would be up there (the picture above). Can you see the windows above?



View from the top.












How chairs used to look back then.











So thankful that Sondra is someone who appreciates history, culture, language, architectural buildings as much as I do. Love you BFF. :))



Super ah lian pose. LOL























A really old door.



This is how the Nuremberg castle looks like as a whole. :)

After touring the castle, we were led to a museum where we saw a lot of the outfits, weaponry, armour from the olden days or during times of war.



A horse saddle.



The armour that they used to put on a horse's head during war.



Some really old swords that are rusting pretty badly. Imagine how many people these swords have slain.





Armour. Here in Singapore what armour do you have? Oh yeah, just a green suit. HAHAH.



I think that's a catapult. Not too sure :S



Crossbows and bows.



The helmets.



Look how cool that is!



Body plates and shields.



Ooooo a knight in shining armour. ;)



So I guess this is something you attach to a horse or something? I'm not too sure but it looks so familiar... like I've seen it before in some medieval war movie. Haha.



Lookie lookie. MY KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR HAS COME TO SAVE ME.. ok maybe not.





I bet these weigh a ton. It looks so damn heavy man.



Guns!

So after touring the museum, it was time to make a move.















More pictures. I'll just let the pictures do the talking. :)













So after this, we all headed back to the coach. The next destination? It was Factory Outlet Shopping! This is a place you definitely do not want to miss if you love shopping and of course...discounts!!
The place has more than 100 designer brands such as Bally, Furla, GUESS, Nike, Adidas, Pepe Jeans, Timberland, True Religion, Fred Perry, Versace and soo many other brands with their items on sales up to 70%!



So we boarded the coach... and off we went... SHOPPING!!



Here we are! We were given about 3-5 hours or so to shop and boy do I have to say that even 3-5 hours is not enough!! There were so many shops! The shopping was so intense that I barely took out my camera to snap any pictures during those few hours and I apologize. Hahah!
Mostly, I bought stuff for my friends and my family. I got for myself a new Raybans sunglasses. Well, I won't say it's must cheaper but I got it for about $190 in SGD. In Singapore, it'll probably cost around $280?

I even managed to buy this Fred Perry leather bag for my brother at about 39 Euros. In Singapore, it'd probably retail at around SGD 200? So yeah.. IT'S THAT CHEAP~





The factory outlet!



How it looks like on the inside. Just rows and rows of shops!



Oh and another thing I want to point out... my spikey shoes in Singapore would look totally normal right? Nothing really that fascinating or weird looking. BUT, in Germany, I think the number of stares and amused faces I got from wearing these pair of shoes is really uncountable. I'd be walking and there'd be a bunch of 'Angmohs' smiling and pointing at my shoes. Some would even laugh in amusement. YES. THERE ARE SPIKES. IT'S A DESIGN. I got pretty annoyed after awhile. But oh well, I guess Germany don't have shoes like these :P



After a tiring 5 hour shopping experience, I went back to the bus with my hands very very full! Did sooo much shopping. It was goooood~ Sadly like I said, I didn't buy alot of things for myself.Mostly for friends and family. Oh and I bought tons of chocolate! The chocolates there are soooooo damn cheap. You know the chocolate brand Lindt? Yeah, it's insanely cheap over there.



Took my jacket off because it was starting to get really warm. And so after such a long and tiring day... it was dinner time!

And guess what we had for dinner....







BURGER KING!!! Sondra was soooo happy when she saw this. She's a huge fast food lover. Haha



I was so disappointed to know that the Burger King joint in Germany did not carry my favourite Mushroom Swiss burger. :( sigh....
Sadly most of the burgers over there sounded so alien to me... guess in every country, it's different. Oh and they sell bacon burgers too :P

So what did I have as a result? I just had a regular cheeseburger and fries - The Kids Meal! :D



Yay my very first KING BOX. They don't have this in Singapore. :(



And the toys are so much more cooler. Will you look at that? the GUESS WHO game - but the mini version.



What Sondra had.





:') the wonders of Mother Nature..





So after that we headed back to the hotel. Reached the hotel at say around 7 or 8pm? In Germany even at 7 or 8, it's still bright. It only gets dark at around 9ish.



Headed back to the room, unloaded all the baggage, relaxed and after that.... we headed to the hotel bar to spend the night there all the way till 1am. :) It was pretty much like that every day. I always enjoyed chilling at the bar with Sondra at night because that's when we finally get to sit down and just talk about everything. Nights are always filled with sooo much laughter. And at that very point of time, there was also this really cute waiter that Sondra and I saw and liked. Okay or maybe it was just me. Hahaha, on the very last night we stayed at the hotel, he actually talked to us. I'll fill you in on more details in the upcoming entries. I even snapped a picture of him. HAHA!



The 'night look' LOL. Me with no makeup and only my glasses. :P
Pictures snapped with my phone.



The table we always sat at.



The bar's always pretty empty sadly. But nevertheless, I miss it so much already. :(


After chilling and talking over chips and some Earl Grey Tea, we headed back to the hotel room at around 1am, washed up one last time and headed to bed! Once again, another perfect end to the night. The next day awaits....


Till the next blog entry guys! If you've any questions you want me to answer regarding my trips, the costs, accommodation etc... feel free to formspring me! You can find me formspring box on the right side of my blog! Just scroll till you see it.
Alternatively you can just go to www.formspring.me/sofiadendroff


Lots of Love,
Sofia Dendroff

OUR GERMANY ESCAPADE (PART FOUR)
..............................................................................

Hello dear blog readers,

And so I am finally back with a new blog entry! So much has been happening lately that I just couldn't really find the time or let the alone the inspiration or motivation to blog. If that alone wasn't enough, my laptop always has its cranky days. So... after what seemed pretty much like eternity(haha), here I am finally being able to sit down and just invest the next few hours of my time typing this very blog entry. :) If there are any typo errors, I apologize for that, in advance.
It's the 4th entry from my Germany Escapade, and so... yeah... I hope you'll enjoy reading it. Before I start...

If you've not read Part 1 of my Germany Escapade, please click Click HERE!

If you've not read Part 2 of my Germany Escapade,please click HERE!

& If you've not read Part 3 of my Germany Escapade, please click HERE!

So on the 4th day, Sondra and I awoke to the very unpleasant sound of the phone ringing. That's right. The annoying morning call that we get every day when we were in Germany. So we got our morning call at around 7am or 8am(it's been too long so my memory is failing me. Hahah) and as usual,I'm always the one who has to go and bathe first while Sondra carries on with her beauty sleep.
Did I tell you that the room that was given to us actually had a see through glass door. So if you bathe, you pretty much can see the other party bathing. The only thing blinding us from each other, was the frost on the frosted glass. Yeah THAT HELPS ALOT. Thank you NH Hotel! So whenever I bathe, I have to bathe with the lights turned off! I wish you could see how it looked like for yourself... but yeah..bathing is always such a chore, and also pretty much downright embarrassing. Haha, but of course, we're both not perverts and so we couldn't really care less about looking at each other. So everytime I'm bathing, Sondra is forced to look the other way till the time I'm done. And vice versa! :P

So after I was done showering, it was Sondra's turn. Dressing up in the morning is always so fun because I love the fact that I actually get to put on a real coat without worrying too much about the weather being too hot or anything. If only Singapore had snow. The only thing separating Singapore from being an otherwise perfect country to live in. Seriously. I love Singapore but I hate the weather. I'm sure most Singaporeans would agree with me on this one.

So my outfit of the day was just a simple spaghetti top, my favourite denim high waisted shorts(you probably think I'm retarded for wearing shorts out... but trust me... the weather was still bearable), my brown leather jacket inspired from "The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo" and my spikey flats.
As usual, before heading off to the coach, we'd have our morning hotel buffet breakfast(pictures in the next blog entry - Part 5).



It's always really cold in the morning though I must say. Like really really cold, say... 11 degrees?12-13 degrees or so? But the awesome thing is that it gets hotter as the hours go by. So in the afternoon, it's always about 20 plus degrees.

For today, Sondra and I were headed for Nuremberg, also known as the unofficial capital of the Holy-Roman Empire due to its historical and geographical importance in the Holy Roman History. Later chosen by the Nazi Party as a site of huge Nazi party conventions- the Nuremberg rallies, Nuremberg became a site of propaganda importance and a centre of Nazi ideals.

I found it pretty cool that we were going to visit a historical site in Germany. To be honest, the entire trip was filled with so much history. I love Germany because it's just country filled with so much history behind it. Moreover, the buildings....omg... I've never seen buildings more beautiful than the ones I saw in Germany. Yeah, you may think that what I've shown you so far is nothing really 'WOW' yet but wait till I show you pictures from Wurzburg and Munich. Absolutely beautiful. But of course, that won't be in this entry. So... you're gonna have to wait for that! Haha.



As usual, bus rides are usually really so long because of how huge Germany is. Then again... it was another 2-3 hour bus ride and so Sondra and I usually spend this time sleeping in the bus.Hahah.

And look above, I was jumping and squealing like a little girl to Sondra when I spotted a sushi restaurant!! Hehe.



Breathtakingly beautiful... Imagine if HDB buildings in Singapore were all designed like this? I think Singapore would be so much more beautiful. The government should really do something about the ugly designs of HDB blocks. Painting it green, red or a rainbow colour is NOT going to make it look nice y'know? -.-

So after a terribly long bus ride, we finally reached Nuremberg. The place that we were going to be touring today?... The Nuremberg Castle!! Yes! Another castle! And the best part is that I managed to snap photos! :D





I was the only brave soul in the tour group or pretty much in Germany(HAHA), wearing shorts. But hey.. who cares? :P











A cigarette dispensing machine! How cool is this? But of course...I don't smoke, but I just found this really fascinating. They had this in Perth as well! Zigaretten.

Hahaha so to smokers out there, the next time you need to smoke don't say " I need a Cigarette". Say it like this, "I need a Zigaretten". HAHA, your friends would probably be like, "What the F *censored*".





A little bit of history about the Nuremberg Castle.

"The imperial palace of Nuremberg is one of Germany’s most important medieval fortresses. It can be dated back to at least the year 1000 A.D, although there are no historical documents to prove its existence until at least 1105.
For close to five hundred years, the castle was the residence of the Kaisers (kings) of the Holy Roman Empire. King Conrad II was responsible for building the royal wing of this expansive palace, which boasts three separate sections.
By the 13th century, Nuremberg had the privilege of becoming a Free Imperial City, which meant they had no local regents or rulers. The Emperor himself was their only master. It was during this time of relative freedom that the citizens of Nuremberg decided to further expand the castle. They erected its distinctive tower, the Luginsland, during this time.
One of the more famous tales about Nuremberg Castle involves the convicted robber, who would later become a romantic folk figure, Eppelein von Gailingen. While he was sentenced to death in the gallows, he and his horse, in a stunning fashion, managed to escape by jumping into the castle moat and off towards freedom.
The 20th century was not kind to the castle of Nuremberg. Like so many other majestic structures, it was nearly obliterated by the air raids of World War II.
Happily, it has been reconstructed in its original form. Today some parts of the castle are even used as a youth hostel and many of its rooms are available for special events".

Source: http://www.mygermancity.com/nuremberg-castle

So yes this is my outfit for the day! :)





The tunnel we walked through. It was freezing cold in the tunnel. I guess it's because of the stone that sorta like traps the heat.









Other tourists from all around the world visiting the Nuremberg Castle as well. :)





Walking in here already feels so surreal. I just kept on telling myself "Omg... thousands of years ago... a real King used to walked on this ground... so did knights, horses......".



Amazing how the castle still stands strong after so long!You can tell how old the castle is just by looking at the walls.





I love the cobbled floor. heh







So after touring the outdoor grounds of the castle, we were led in by our tour guide for the day and shown around the castle! :)



The weaponry that the knights used.



View from inside the castle.







Look at how old the sword looks.



As were walking around, our tour guide(the one in blue in the picture above) would be talking and filling us with details about the rich history behind every door, painting, furniture etc.



This place here was split into 3 levels. The upper ground was for the King and the higher class people. The middle ground (the picture above), was for the middle class people. And the very bottom level was for the peasants or poor people.





It was said that the entire castle would be freezing at night(because of the stone that was used to built the castle). Apparently, the king's room was the only room in the castle with a heater. Not sure how that looked like but it was what the tour guide said. Haha.



For the poor people.







So all the rich people would be up there (the picture above). Can you see the windows above?



View from the top.












How chairs used to look back then.











So thankful that Sondra is someone who appreciates history, culture, language, architectural buildings as much as I do. Love you BFF. :))



Super ah lian pose. LOL























A really old door.



This is how the Nuremberg castle looks like as a whole. :)

After touring the castle, we were led to a museum where we saw a lot of the outfits, weaponry, armour from the olden days or during times of war.



A horse saddle.



The armour that they used to put on a horse's head during war.



Some really old swords that are rusting pretty badly. Imagine how many people these swords have slain.





Armour. Here in Singapore what armour do you have? Oh yeah, just a green suit. HAHAH.



I think that's a catapult. Not too sure :S



Crossbows and bows.



The helmets.



Look how cool that is!



Body plates and shields.



Ooooo a knight in shining armour. ;)



So I guess this is something you attach to a horse or something? I'm not too sure but it looks so familiar... like I've seen it before in some medieval war movie. Haha.



Lookie lookie. MY KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR HAS COME TO SAVE ME.. ok maybe not.





I bet these weigh a ton. It looks so damn heavy man.



Guns!

So after touring the museum, it was time to make a move.















More pictures. I'll just let the pictures do the talking. :)













So after this, we all headed back to the coach. The next destination? It was Factory Outlet Shopping! This is a place you definitely do not want to miss if you love shopping and of course...discounts!!
The place has more than 100 designer brands such as Bally, Furla, GUESS, Nike, Adidas, Pepe Jeans, Timberland, True Religion, Fred Perry, Versace and soo many other brands with their items on sales up to 70%!



So we boarded the coach... and off we went... SHOPPING!!



Here we are! We were given about 3-5 hours or so to shop and boy do I have to say that even 3-5 hours is not enough!! There were so many shops! The shopping was so intense that I barely took out my camera to snap any pictures during those few hours and I apologize. Hahah!
Mostly, I bought stuff for my friends and my family. I got for myself a new Raybans sunglasses. Well, I won't say it's must cheaper but I got it for about $190 in SGD. In Singapore, it'll probably cost around $280?

I even managed to buy this Fred Perry leather bag for my brother at about 39 Euros. In Singapore, it'd probably retail at around SGD 200? So yeah.. IT'S THAT CHEAP~





The factory outlet!



How it looks like on the inside. Just rows and rows of shops!



Oh and another thing I want to point out... my spikey shoes in Singapore would look totally normal right? Nothing really that fascinating or weird looking. BUT, in Germany, I think the number of stares and amused faces I got from wearing these pair of shoes is really uncountable. I'd be walking and there'd be a bunch of 'Angmohs' smiling and pointing at my shoes. Some would even laugh in amusement. YES. THERE ARE SPIKES. IT'S A DESIGN. I got pretty annoyed after awhile. But oh well, I guess Germany don't have shoes like these :P



After a tiring 5 hour shopping experience, I went back to the bus with my hands very very full! Did sooo much shopping. It was goooood~ Sadly like I said, I didn't buy alot of things for myself.Mostly for friends and family. Oh and I bought tons of chocolate! The chocolates there are soooooo damn cheap. You know the chocolate brand Lindt? Yeah, it's insanely cheap over there.



Took my jacket off because it was starting to get really warm. And so after such a long and tiring day... it was dinner time!

And guess what we had for dinner....







BURGER KING!!! Sondra was soooo happy when she saw this. She's a huge fast food lover. Haha



I was so disappointed to know that the Burger King joint in Germany did not carry my favourite Mushroom Swiss burger. :( sigh....
Sadly most of the burgers over there sounded so alien to me... guess in every country, it's different. Oh and they sell bacon burgers too :P

So what did I have as a result? I just had a regular cheeseburger and fries - The Kids Meal! :D



Yay my very first KING BOX. They don't have this in Singapore. :(



And the toys are so much more cooler. Will you look at that? the GUESS WHO game - but the mini version.



What Sondra had.





:') the wonders of Mother Nature..





So after that we headed back to the hotel. Reached the hotel at say around 7 or 8pm? In Germany even at 7 or 8, it's still bright. It only gets dark at around 9ish.



Headed back to the room, unloaded all the baggage, relaxed and after that.... we headed to the hotel bar to spend the night there all the way till 1am. :) It was pretty much like that every day. I always enjoyed chilling at the bar with Sondra at night because that's when we finally get to sit down and just talk about everything. Nights are always filled with sooo much laughter. And at that very point of time, there was also this really cute waiter that Sondra and I saw and liked. Okay or maybe it was just me. Hahaha, on the very last night we stayed at the hotel, he actually talked to us. I'll fill you in on more details in the upcoming entries. I even snapped a picture of him. HAHA!



The 'night look' LOL. Me with no makeup and only my glasses. :P
Pictures snapped with my phone.



The table we always sat at.



The bar's always pretty empty sadly. But nevertheless, I miss it so much already. :(


After chilling and talking over chips and some Earl Grey Tea, we headed back to the hotel room at around 1am, washed up one last time and headed to bed! Once again, another perfect end to the night. The next day awaits....


Till the next blog entry guys! If you've any questions you want me to answer regarding my trips, the costs, accommodation etc... feel free to formspring me! You can find me formspring box on the right side of my blog! Just scroll till you see it.
Alternatively you can just go to www.formspring.me/sofiadendroff


Lots of Love,
Sofia Dendroff