Ay, to be sure ...

Well, I have spent two relaxing but busy weekends in the Hague, and one out of it in the past 3 weeks, so lots to report!!

After a relatively quiet weekend after Berlin, going to the movies (I recommend 'Notes on a Scandal') and celebrating Emily's birthday with a lunar eclipse and some margaritas, I spent the next weekend enjoying the Hague - I went to the Scheveningen beach both days (not to swim, still waaaay too cold!!) It's actually quite nice to walk along, although nothing on the beaches at home! Lots of house parties and dancing meant very late nights (or early mornings, depending on how you look at it!!) Also some time spent at my new place, relaxing on the couch with my new flatmates - I'm settling in well, so nice to have a proper kitchen and living room, although fun getting used to living with boys again!!

I am also still busy at work, helping sort out our witness statements and facts, which can be a bit tedious sometimes, but then when you see what you're doing actually have a direct effect on the trial, it's worth it!!

So, last Friday night my former flatmate Chelsea and I headed to the lovely city of Cork, Ireland, for a St Patrick's Day weekend! We spent 3 days in the company of a number of drunk Irishmen (with lovely accents!). When watching the parade on Saturday, we bought oversized green hats, which seemed the norm.

Our newly purchased hats at the parade

One of the better floats at the parade

However, when we wore them out that night, we realised that as Cork is not that touristy, we were in a dressed-up minority - this was fun, however, as it ensured we got lots of attention, drinks, new friends!
Crazy girls out on the town!

The atmosphere

On Sunday we visited Blarney Castle, and yes, we kissed the famous Blarney Stone (backbend and all!), so now I am even more eloquent than before! It's a lovely spot, actually, and quite relaxing to wander around, although the random hailing did present the need to head indoors every so often!!

Blarney Castle

Me kissing the stone - ah, the backbend!

View from the top

Sunday night found us being serenaded by a random KISS cover band at a local pub - all part of the travel adventure!


Crazy KISS cover band

Monday Chelsea headed off to Belfast with her friend Kelly, and I stayed in Cork, to visit the Butter Museum - who knew Irish dairy was taking over the world!! Then back to Den Haag on Monday evening.

The St Anne Church at Shandon, above where we stayed

The famous Butter Museum - to quote the flyer, 'worth a scone!'

Alas, no rest for the wicked, so I'm heading to Budapest tomorrow for 4 days - yay!! And then a weekend off, and Rome for Easter - it's a hard life!!

Ich bin ein Berliner

Why, yes, I am a jelly doughnut!! The famous JFK statement means that - take out the 'ein', and you are saying you are a Berliner - which is a good thing to be, I think, as the city is great! I spent 3 days there last weekend, and enjoyed every minute of it!!

I travelled to Berlin with my American friends Acadia and Megan. Firstly, our plane was delayed, which was a tad annoying, as we changed gates 3 times, and got in at 11pm rather than 9, so our first night was a little shorter than planned! However, Acadia's friend Todd met us at the airport, helped us find our hostel and a nightcap drink, so all was well!!

Megan, Acadia and myself at the Brandenberg Gate

On Saturday morning, relatively bright and early, we made our way to the Brandenburg Gate for the start of a 4 hour free walking tour, which had been highly recommended by many previous travellers. They were right - it was a great way to get one's bearings around the city, find out a lot about the history, and see things you otherwise wouldn't notice, such as Hitler's bunker, the monument to the Nazi book burnings (which is actually underground!), and the matching French and German churches. Our guide was lots of fun, informative and entertaining, and although it was cold, the 4 + hours didn't seem that long!! And I must say I learnt a lot - the history of the city is so rich, with wars, the Wall, numerous nationalities coming and going - and when you think it's only been 17 years since the Wall came down, it's quite amazing that the city is functioning so well!! There are reminders everywhere of it's history, however, such as bullet holes in buildings, and sections of the former Berlin Wall still standing.

The Holocaust Memorial

Laura and Berlin wall!!

French Church

German Church - spot the difference!!!

Humboldt University - where the book burnings happened

The Book Burning Memorial - empty shelves, enough to fit all the thousands of books that were burned.

After that, we waited in line then climbed the Reichstag, which is the parliament building, a giant transparent dome, that offers a great view of the city, as well as the parliamentary chamber below, so that the politicians always know that the people are above them!

The Reichstag

The people's view of the parliament from the top of the Reichstag


We had a nap, then headed out to meet my German friend Magdalena, for drinks at a funky bar with a great view of the city. A late dinner later, we waited in line (there's a pattern here!!) to get into a club in a converted brewery - it was worth it, free drinks and 4 different dance floors - a great (but late!) night!!

So after my 5am sleep time, I was a little weary on Sunday morning, when we had to check out, however undaunted we continued to the bombed out church, from WW1, which has been left partly destroyed as a reminder of the horrors of war.

The bombed-out church

We then went to the Berliner Dom, which is a great old church, and climbed that for another wonderful panorama of Berlin!


The Berliner Dom

View from the Berliner Dom

Feeling we hadn't done enough (although after plenty of coffee breaks out of the rain!), we then visited the German History museum, for a quick snapshot of some of the major events in pictures and artefacts. Acadia and Megan then left, as they were flying home Sunday night, while I went to meet Magdalena, with whom I was staying for the night. We had some dinner, then went to a funky Russian themed café in East Berlin, chatting about German and Australian politics – a great Berlin experience!!

On Monday I went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, which details some of the more daring escapes over, under and around the Berlin Wall – it is, however, a curator’s nightmare, as information crowds every space, repetition abounds, and a general feeling of confusion reigns!!
I found the Jewish Museum later that afternoon much clearer and enjoyable – it focused on the overall history of Jewish people in Europe, rather than only the Holocaust, which I found interesting as I didn’t know much about what had happened before. Then, alas, it was time to head back to the Hague, brain full of history and information!

The Jewish museum - old meets new!

The Brandenberg Gate at night


I also moved house last Wednesday, which was great – my new place is highly enjoyable, so nice to have a proper living room and kitchen, still close to everything, still nice flatmates – all is good!!