Blogs from Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Europe
May 21st 2012
I have been checking the Canadian Embassy's website in like a crazy person - double checking how many work and travel visas they have left to issue for 2012. The count stands at 144. 144 from 5, 530. That's a really small chance that I'm going to be issued one. Still, I am keeping my fingers crossed and continuing to work, save and plan for my trip. I also received an email from the Emabassy last week, informing me that a decision will be made in the next two weeks. I have another ten days to wait. I really hate waiting for things!... read more
May 5th 2012
Today we went to the spring festival but I’ll get to that later. First we went to get souvenirs for people back home. We went to a gigantic toy store to buy some things for Uncle Chris and little babbies (that’s meant to be spelled like that). I (josh) wanted to find some Rokenbok - that thing with the remote control cars and blue and red balls, sadly there were none. There were a bunch of cool remote controlled vehicles (including a working submarine). The best part of the store was a race track up on the roof with jumps for rc cars on it. The next store we went to was for kitchen appliances all boring. We bought stuff. Next we went to get traditional dresses and lederhosen, I was very excited to get one ... read more
May 2nd 2012
After leaving Australia and arriving back in the Uk, I quickly realised that the UK was not where I wanted to be. To cut a long story short, I worked in the Uk for 4 months and saved my cash before moving to the south of Germany - where I have continued to live for the last 19 months. See! That story got cut so short, it fitted into two sentences! Life in Germany has been pretty decent at times and pretty awful at others. Nonetheless, I wish I had blogged more about my time spent here as it is (hopefully) coming to an end in the next few months. I have decided to apply for a work and travel permit for Canada and I will know in the next 8-10 weeks if I am able ... read more
April 28th 2012
Hello, tis I josh. Today we went to the Mercedes museum. Guess what we saw cars! We went through the museum in a weird way. We took an elevator to the top of the museum, then spiralled to the bottom with each floor we went through a different time period. So there was lots of stuff we saw. Some of the highlights where, the architecture of the building it was all wonky father might post a picture of it, next was the guide he was fairly old and seemed to like breathing really hard into his microphone (*sarcasm* that was actually a bad part). Okay I can’t really appreciate the cars so the next thing I found interesting was the fact that Mercedes supported Hitler, they produced engines for war planes and used forced labourers. One ... read more
Driving Through the Black Forest
Published: April 28th 2012Europe » Germany » Baden-Württemberg » Baden-Baden
April 27th 2012
Had another great day. We had breakfast with our new friends from Boise Idaho then hit the open road. We did not really have much of a plan. We headed to Baden-Baden. Managed a few minutes on the autobahn. The car hit 215 km per hour without breaking a sweat (or any traffic laws). In Baden-Baden we explored the ruins of a castle on the hills overlooking the spa town below. We then took a wander by car around the town. It was a very posh place. Lots of gorgeous homes. A river runs through the town. After Baden-Baden we headed south through the Black Forest. We found a number of excellent roads, including K5370 from Ruhestein to Oppeneau. A very steep road with lots of switchbacks with a 100 km speed limit. It is a ... read more
April 26th 2012
After months of waiting, we finally got to see the car. We were up at 7:00 am, had a hurried breakfast and took a cab to the Porsche factory. There was a bit of initial confusion which required a brief round of charades to sort out, due to our pathetic German – the only thing that I can usefully manage is: Ich spreche Deutsche nicht. I also know “ich ein Berliner” but it appears to have rather limited application outside Berlin. We did our initial paperwork in a comfortable lounge with a caffe latte and Porsche branded gummy bears – technically, they were shaped like cars but the rest was the same. Gummy bears seem to be oddly popular over here. We then escorted to the delivery room where our car was nestled amongst a dozen ... read more
April 20th 2012
Hello all, It has been too long since my last entry but some recent thoughts have prompted an entry. Why does it always come back around to sensations... It seems like the answer to everything. Go ahead think of a question that doesn't boil down to sensations. Why did I do this? Why did I act like that? Why did I think, experience, attempt, acquire, act, or react. If you examine yourself close enough I would imagine that you might find as I have that you did such thing for a sensation, either one that you were experiencing at that moment or one that you hoped to acquire thru said action. As babies we all spend the first few years of our lives learning the lessons of sensation... and reacting to them. In most cases we ... read more
Green christmas in the Black Forest
Published: December 29th 2011Europe » Germany » Baden-Württemberg » Bad Teinach-Zavelstein
December 29th 2011
(Deutsch siehe unten) This year, we had decided with our family that we wanted a relaxed and fun christmas time without the usual hassle and stress. That is why we all met in a very nice hotel in the northern part of the black forest, in Bad Teinach. We are not really used to staying in such a luxurious place but we have to admit that we quite enjoyed it. We - that was my mum Petra and Manuel, my granny Edith, our dear friend Cashlee, Miguel and the two of us. Unfortunately, it was the first christma in a lot of years without any snow. It was kind of strange celebrating green christmas in the Black Forest. Instead of doing some cross country skiing, we went for some nice walks through the countryside. Bad Teinach ... read more
November 7th 2011
Rechberg, 07.11.2011. Rechberg, unser vorübergehendes Domizil liegt im Klettgau unweit der Schweizer Grenze. Wir haben das Glück hier in einer wunderschönen Ferienwohnung zu wohnen, bis wir in Beringen unsere Wohnung beziehen können. Die Wohnung liegt an einem leichten Südhang, in einem ruhigen und sonnigen Einfamilienhausquartier. Sie bietet alles was das Herz begehrt und noch etwas mehr. Wir haben hier ein Wohn-Esszimmer (mit Sat. TV und Internetanschluss), ein Schlafzimmer sowie eine Dusche mit WC und nicht zu vergessen einen schönen Gartensitzplatz, vor unserem Wohnzimmer. Die Wohnung ist für uns ein Glücksgriff. Die Vermieterin, Frau Pies, ist sehr nett und hilfsbereit. Es ist schön wieder vier feste Wände und mehr „Auslauf“ als im Wohnmobil zu haben. Auch können wir uns hier an die Komfortlüftung und Bodenheizung gewöhnen. Dies, neben eigener Stromproduktion auf... read more
October 5th 2011
Stuttgart is the home of Porsche. On my way back to London, I dropped in on Stuttgart to see the Porsche Museum and then went for a walk in old town. It is a very charming place. You can see why Germany is leading the pack economy wise in Europe. I bought my first Porsche in high school, at age 16. It was a 914. I bought my first 911 Targa at age 19, and have missed it ever since. I bought it for my 19th birthday. I have owned about 5 different Porsches along the way. My sisters had thrown a surprise birthday party for me but I didn’t know. So I was out buying myself a Targa for my birthday present and almost missed my birthday party. But I made it home around midnight, ... read more
