Europe part 3 Germany (Berlin) - Odyssey 2014

Berlin!!!!
Travelling across Germany by bus (with Wifi) is highly recommended. Not only did we see a good chunk of Germany, we saw snow and tonnes of the white stuff that most Aussies dont regularly see, if at all.

Stopping in Hannover i jumped out and played in the snow, much to the bemusement of the Bus driver who almost left without the Aussie :)

We expected it to be much colder in Berlin and watching the outside temperature reading plummet to -11 when we neared Berlin i knew i was in for an experience that I have never had.

Even with five layers of clothes, two of which were thermal, the heat still went away from my body quickly and we were thankfully picked up by Noras Dad promptly and before my eyeballs completely froze to over.

We took a short night tour around Berlin and were whisked away to a part of West Berlin, close to East Berlin to stay with Inga, Noras mother.  We were greeted warmly with warmth haa, and were treated to a traditional German dish from the Black Forest part of Germany, which is where Inga hails from.  Afterwards Nora, Manny, Antonio ( Ingas homestay student from Spain) ventured out into the cold to an alternative club nearby.

I loved the place, it was packed, playing metal music and a scene from Berlin that i had read about.  The Beer and schnapps are very cheap, not overpriced like in Oz. Afterwards and with a cheesy Jagermeister grin on my face we left the club into what had become a near -14 degree night to seek out good German Currywurst, the was simply good tucker :) .

Afterwards the cold started to effect me and i didnt cope with the evening too well, and was happy to go back to Ingas place and sleep everything off.

On Sunday 26 January (Australia Day) I experienced the coldest day of my life, -14 degrees and in the wind down to -20 degrees.. Wow, I did enjoy it in a weird way, however could really begin to appreciate the people who experience this weather regularly, and the respect I have for them. 

 

I had to add several more layers and just put up with it. On this day I was taken to the Berlin Wall in East Berlin. It was a place that holds quite a lot of significance to me, and I am sure millions of more people. For me, the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 was the start of the Harmonic Convergence, a time when hope and light began to shine again on the Earth, where love began to overcome the dark. I remembered in 1989 when my Father woke my sister and I up and was saying to my Mum that it was important for us to see this change in the world. Thanks Dad, it was, and is and I am grateful for you to signal that curiosity in my heart, to seek this out and to my friends to take me there. We then ventured to many other places in East Berlin, stopping reguarly to defrost and warm up. Afterwards, I was taken to the Brandenburg Gates, another place that I had studied and was facinated to see and feel the history that had passed through those gates. From Napolean to the Nazis, to the Cold war when it was in East Berlin, the point of the Harmonic Convergence and the sights seen on the TV when I was 15 years old and so far away in Australia. Next to the Brandenburg Gates is the Bundenstag (the capital building) or the former Reichstag building that was the home of facinating facist politics for this nation in the dark days of the 1930's and 40's. I feel we should all look back to look forward sometimes, and I do see in my country the reemergence of facist styes of laws that is a little bit frightening. I send into the future love for guidance and rememberence, it cannot happen again. 

Travelling on the Berlin transit system is quite fun, there are several modes, trams and trains, above ground and below ground and always a welcomed place of warmth. I awoke on Monday, to the view of it starting to snow, and ventured out into the day, that was much warmer at -3 degrees and easier to cope with.

 It was just simply so beautiful to see the city become covered in Snow, the roads, the trees the sidewalks. I have never been in a big city where it snows, only in mountains at resorts. We went to Checkpoint Charlie, another place I wished to visit and see, as it held a lot of modern history. It was snowing quite heavily, nice dry snow that crunched under the feet. I always remember the joy of going to see the snow, and the excitement in my Mother about Snow, thanks Mum :) It snowed about 15 cms and we went to a large park in the middle of Berlin at which people were sledding down and enjoying the conditions. I had the mandatory snowball fight with Manuel and was great to have that kind of fun. 

 I am always facinated to see how other cultures cope with their weather, and to see everyone just getting about, driving in the snow, walking in the snow, just another day for sure, and just the best experience to add to this Odyssey 2014.

 On Tuesday morning I took a short walking meditation through a park nearby, there were drifts of snow to make fresh tracks in and a ride on a large swing that I enjoyed. I am such a big kid, and enjoy swinging as high as I can, and felt so comfortable and happy in this solitude in the snow, in Berlin. We then took a quick tour to other places around Berlin before being dropped off at the Busstop for our journey back to Cologne. 

 Berlin I love you, thanks for turning on the Weather for this Aussie. I shall return for sure :)

Europe part 2 Germany (Cologne) - Odyssey 2014

Arriving via Cologne/Bonn Airport on Tuesday 21 Jan. I was absolutly thrilled to meet my old buddy Manuel (Manny) with with whom I studied Bahasa Indonesian with in Yogyakarta nearly 4 years ago. As with all my good buddies and friends, even though there is 1000,s of KMS between us, time sort of stands still - and I found myself immediatly at ease with my German brother from another Mother.  

Having slightly aclimatised myself to the weather in the UK I still found it freezing cold in Cologne (it stayed around zero degrees all day). We travelled by train from the airport to Cologne and then by tram to Manuels rather large two bedroom flat in an old pre-ww2 apartment block. Having settled a bit we embarked out on a walking daw trip to see the Cologne Cathedral and surrounding areas, we endulged in traditional local foods and walked quite a lone distance around the city seeing many sites and in the night enjoyed a great rest at a traditional coffee shop here. I arrived in Germany with quite a sore shoulder (a result of the transition from Indoesian heat to European cold) it was suggested that I go to Claudius Hermes, which is a traditional German pool, spa and sauna experience. Manuel needed to go to work, so I was doing this by myself. He explained to me and with a little bit of nervousness we embarked on bikes for the 20 minute cycle alone the great Rhine River to the centre. I have to say this place was absolutly amazing, it was clean and full of many different pools indoors and outdoors of varying temperatures and with strong jets, fountains and whirlpools to help ease the muscles in my shoulder. The outdoor saunas were something I had never experienced, as it was pointed out to me that these were naked. Soooo, into the sauna I went in the nuddy, overcoming my slightly western resistance to the aspect of being completely unclothed and in a "public" facility..well as they say, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". After my first stint I went back into the pools for more soaking and in a bath that was quite hot, then back into the Saunas. There were many different types of Saunas of varying heat.. And when back in the main one and while I had just started a meditation (as I normally do in my Goodlife Gym Saunas in Oz) in came about 30 naked people. Hmmm...double Hmmmm well I lasted another 20 minutes and exited back to the pools and then showered and changed, feeling great and my shoulder much much better. 

 With yesterday being such a nice sunny plue sky day I decided to ride along the Rhine River for about 5kms to see a bit of the river and to take some tourist snaps. It is a clean and fast flowing river and quite busy with industrial craft on it, and one taking quite a few brand new cars up the river somewhere. The bike ride was great, I love exploring new places on my own and managed to get my bearings quite easily and arrived safely back to Manuels apartment. :)

Europe part 1 UK - Odyssey 2014

Arriving in the UK after acclimatising to the warmth of Australia and the humidity of Indonesia I always knew that preparation for the change was a must. I ventured initially outside the airport terminal at Heathrow to the rush of frigid conditions and new that I needed all the special thermals, gloves etc that are a must for these conditions, plus some vitamins a nutrition to help my body adjust. I jumped on the Tube and went straight across central London underground (in peak hour) to Liverpool Street Station in an effort to get to my friends place in Essex ASAP. With jetlag hitting I was slammed by the virtual waves of people flowing through the station and while disorientated I managed to get on the correct Greater Anglia train out to Chelmsford. Passing the 2012 Olympic site, I became quite excited, as I do..haaa. I arrived at Chelmsford station to be picked up by my good mate Dave and was whisked away to the warmth of his home just out of town. I spent the day resting and being amazed by the change of conditions and rested. The evening was spent driving across to Milton Keynes to collect my daughter to spend the weekend with her and my mates fiancé Claire. It was great to see Zoe, who I hadn't seen since last September, when she started studying at Thornton College in the countryside just outside of Milton Keynes. I didn't know it was such a long drive and on the way back the jetlag hit and I literally kept passing out in the car..haaa On Saturday I met the other lads in Dave's wedding party and we ventured out to buy the suits we will be wearing at his Wedding in August, where I'm sure it will be much warmer. It was a great day chatting and getting to know them and discussing the ins and outs of what was needed to ensure we bought the correct suits and matched with what Dave and Claire were desiring for their special day. After two shopping centres and about 7 hours shopping ( a new record for me to be spent inside shopping centres) we bought the suits. On Sunday we ventured out to see the wedding reception venue that reminded me of Downton Abby, and was an absolutely exquisite venue, then we drove to Cambridge University to walk around that beautiful medieval looking campuses that make up the University. After a great low calorie lunch we drove back to Milton Keynes to drop Zoe back at boarding school and then back to Chelmsford. TO be honest I completely underestimated the distance and grateful to Claire and Dave to accommodate the need to drop Zoe back. This morning (Monday 20 January) it is a fresh 0 degrees outside, with lots of frost about. So bizarre for this Aussie to have these temps in January...haaa.. Today I start to focus in on the special diet I need to maintain for my course in Peru that will have me prepare foods for the flight to South America. Tomorrow I fly from Stansted Airport to Cologne/Bonn in Germany to commence part 2 of this Odyssey 2014 Stay happy and warm or cool wherever you are good people :)

Indonesia the Finale - Odyssey 2014

Well, my final final days in Indonesia ( Yogya and Solo) have been like the rest, awesome and full of unique experiences one does not get from a tourist bus. I  definatly recommend Parmitran tours out of Yogya, who offer a one stop shop for experiences for the novice to the experienced traveller. Operated by my friend and his wife, they will get you sorted from accommodation, touring the sites, motor bikes, cars and guides.

The wet season has hit and I was drenched on the back of Budi motor bike on the way to discuss business with his friend.  The village experience I had with him, visiting and sitting with his friends, attending a fishing competition, is beyond words... There is a book alone in the detail that I could write there.  

I attended another day's school at Alam Bahasa in Yogya and surprised myself with the level of Bahasa I can understand
.    Speaking is back involves my Western tounge twisting and hitting the teeth, I did find myself accidentally biting my tongue just to get pronunciations correct... Thanks Mbak Herlin :)

I squeezed in as much Indonesian food as possible during my last days. From Grilled fish , Tahu Kehut, Gado-Gado, to the uninitiated Indonesian food is much more than Indomie we find in the Supermarkets and nasi goreng... While I do enjoy a good Nasi Teylor for Breakfast.
Every experience here is an assault of the senses, from the humidity and heat, and the chilli hot food, the village smells, and the symbiotic ways all animals live together amongst the villages and cities of SOLO and Yogya.
After two weeks it is exhausting, most probably as this is just the start of the Odyssey 2014, so my focus has also been on arranging and discussing the various other destinations I am travelling to.

Tomorrow I see my daughter for the first time in many months, and I'm sure to shed a tear and want to hold onto that little terror closely. I'm seeing many other good good mates ony journey. I am blessed, I am grateful,  I am so very lucky to be given these experiences that make my heart sing.

Living life through adventure... What a place to be hey ;)

Indonesia - a paradise part 2 (Yogyakarta)

Travelling by train from Solo City to Yogyakarta on Monday bought me back to another place that I hold close to my heart.

Three years ago I studied here and met some of my best friends and made so many new ones.

Yogya is a student city with a population of over 5 million people and home to many Universities, collages and schools. This influences the demographic immensely as there is a large proportion of students from all over Indonesia and the world that converge here. This also makes for an abundant amount of Warungs (places to eat) on the street with an amazing variety of fresh foods.

It's always good to step outside of your comfort zone and sit at a Warung and talk with the locals and eat the same food, immersing ones self into the daily food culture here.

On my first day back here, I ran into two Aussies ( Wally and Mick) who were studying at the same school as me. Us Aussies stick out easily and we all instantly clicked and it has been great to learn of their jobs as mining managers in West Papua, quite fascinating work.

Today ( Thursday) my friends took me to the beach (pantai) wow wow wow... Such an awesome day and I am grateful.

To swim in the Javanese Indian Ocean when last week I swam in the Perth Indian Ocean, I am one lucky man.

The beach and surrounds here are very beautiful, with little to no similarity to the beaches in Austraila, here the beaches are not tainted with too much tourism and very traditional. 

We walked along the beach with many asking to have their photo taken with me, of which I was happy to oblige haaa. I was the only person swimming, and I later found out that there was a permanent severe rip and that it was super dangerous to swim out further than 5 metres as people get sucked down and die On the coral and rocks.... Point noted I kept in close, I love the salt water it is invigorating.

There were busloads of school kids enjoying the beach ( but not swimming) and we went hassled by sellers on the beach like in Bali, where they are an absolute annoyance.

What us so cool, is the abundance of food and drink supplies available on the beach. My friend Aji, bought fresh coconut which definatly did the trick... I get tired easily in the weather here and this drink picked me up.

I was then taken to the local fish markets to select our food and took it to the beach to be cooked for us. It was some of the best seafood I have eaten. Fresh, tasty and spicy :)

I am starting to feel the message from Gaia for me, as I am seeking guidance and answers from within me to be unearthed and unmasked so I can see, hear and feel them clearly, with my eyes, ears and heart.

Today I again felt relaxed in the company of my new friends..

Making new friends and seeking out old ones, it is a life joy for me. Perhaps this is the life message...  keep on doing this.

I caught up with an old friend last night and his beautiful wife, they operate a travel, motorbike and car business here in Yogyakarta. We discussed business opportunities here and investments.

 I would sooner invest here in a partnership and for rewarding work and life than invest in my country any day. Most steps forward for growth in my country seem to be forged by one getting in debt for long periods and I feel that that is not a wise move for me now at my age.

I know I'll never be homeless with so many friends, so why subscribe to having to buy a house with walls that isolate me from being amongst a community, as is the Norm in my country. Walls that create am energetic block that create atmosphere of separation from others..

I feel in Australia we fail in fostering intimate local communities and insist on placing pressures that create stresses across numerous seams of life... And for what?

Is that living life? Or simply subscribing to a dictated form of life drilled in through control driven curriculum... Really... Are you making your own choices or measuring up to the social norms dictated to you?  

I am grateful :)