Staying cool on the road

photography posters uk

Just last month, it rained everyday in Toronto, and now we're in the middle of a heat wave. The other day it was 50 degrees Celsius with the humidity, which feels like living in a sauna. Also, watching guys from Toronto walk around shirtless is also a very unpleasant experience (somehow it's been universally acknowledged that men in Toronto are all very unattractive).

How do you guys stay cool during the hot summer heat?

Here are some of my favourites:

1. Pack a water bottle. 
It's easy and eco-friendly. My favourite trick is to fill it with water and freeze it in the freezer overnight. The water stays cold for majority of the day. Genius.

2. Wear white clothing.
I used to wear a lot of black back in high school (but then again, I also liked Metallica and Nine Inch Nails). Since then, I've developed a love for wearing white, and now I can't live without the pile of white t-shirts I have in my closet. White is great for staying cool on sunny days, and it also looks good on when you have a nice tan!

3. Eat ice cream.
I don't think an explanation is necessary. Freezies and slushies are equally good.

4. Hit the beach!
Ahh, I'd give anything to be on a beach right now in Australia, Spain or Morocco. Not only is it the perfect place to go surfing or swimming, it's the perfect place to get your summer tan and show off your rock hard abs that resulted from your New Years Resolution gym work-out plan. Or if you're like 99% of the population who ditch said resolutions a week later, it's still a prime spot to meet a cute surfer.

Lost in Düsseldorf

One thing I'd say about Düsseldorf is that I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who's bad with directions. I mean, thinking about my time there, the majority of what I remember was asking people where Graf Adolf Strasse was. And to actually remember what this random street in Germany is called now that I'm back home, should give you an estimate of how many times I had to ask for directions.

And it's totally not because I'm incapable of figuring out the complex workings of the German city road system - this one German lady and her son asked me for directions (which ironically I knew because I had passed that street moments ago). They didn't speak any English either, but I managed somehow entirely in German.

German lady: have you lived here all your life?
me: erm, no...actually I've only been here for about an hour

The only photo I ended up taking of Düsseldorf is this one of this street:

The river was really pretty and down the street there were lot's of booths set up selling random things like French books. Somewhere along the way I ended up getting lost and a few hours later, I finally made it back to the hostel I was staying at, exhausted. And of course, I had the best of luck in Düsseldorf  since I walked into my hostel room only to awkwardly walk in on two guys lying intimately close to each other on the bed. Luckily they were heading out, so no threesome activities ensued.

I was supposed to met a friend from Hattingen the next evening for dinner, but I couldn't really bear the idea of spending another day being lost in Düsseldorf, so I ended up rescheduling our plans (for next year, which I still feel bad about) and reserved a morning train to see my friend Martin the next day in...Berlin!

Aachen & Cologne

After being in Paris for what seemed like years (well, actually it was just two and a half days), it felt like such a nice change when everyone around me spoke German on the train to Aachen.

I decided to visit Aachen first since it's only about two hours away from Paris, and my friend Andreas lives there. He's awesome and enjoys reading my blog everyday (Hi Andreas!!). 

Compared to Paris, which is like this huge, sprawling metropolis, Aachen is this little town that is quite cute. Also unlike Paris, when you hesitate to cross the road in fear of death, nobody is shouting "allez!" from behind you. Actually, crossing the road is quite safe in Germany which is nice since we have enough things to worry about in life such as global warming and nuclear bombs.

While I do enjoy French architecture, it was definitely nice to be somewhere more modern looking...and admirably clean. The city centre consists of nice cobblestone paths and some really nice buildings such as the Aachen cathedral.

playle.com

My Lonely Planet guide book listed the "Puppenbrunnen" as a top attraction, so it was pretty surprising when it actually turned out to be this tiny fountain that took about 5 seconds to look at. Although I must admit, it is a nice fountain. Fountains back home would never make it into a Lonely Planet.

While I was visiting Andreas, we also went to Cologne one evening/night/early morning. While the Aachen cathedral was impressive, it's hard to compete with the one in Cologne, which took 600 years or so to build. 

Walking across the bridge to the cathedral, I noticed that there were locks chained on to the fence by couples, like the ones I saw at the Louvre. Of course, Andreas was quick to point out that it actually originated from Cologne, which makes sense since Germans are always inventing cool things like nice cars and gummy bears.

We went to this restaurant where I tried this thing that looked kind of like pizza but isn't for the first time. It was also when I discovered that ice cream in German is just called "Eis" (ice). 

Cologne apparently, is the place to have a bachelor party as we saw groups of guys everywhere wearing matching t-shirts participating in drunken activities. Also I googled it and it seems  that the matching shirts thing is a big deal in those German bachelor parties. How interesting!

We went out for some drinks and to this club which played top 40's music (much to Andreas's dismay and to my secret liking). Although I guess it would be more interesting if the club played very German music instead. I had purchased a German Rail Pass for my trip so it was really easy to take the trains whenever I wanted. After a great first few days in Germany with Andreas, I was on my way to..Düsseldorf.

Top 5 Differences Between Germany and Home

Since I'm planning on moving to Germany next year, of course I had to be very observant about everything during my time there. That way, I can take in all the details, and experience less culture shock when I move (although oddly, I find foreign countries a lot more comforting to be in than home in Toronto).

To be honest, I've been delaying my posts about Germany because I'm not exactly sure where to start. I mean, I loved it. Everything was better than I expected, and I always have really high expectations. But before I venture into some really exciting blog posts in the next few days, here's a list to get everything started....(also, making lists seems like a very German thing to do)

Top 5 Differences Between Germany and Home

1. Germans have really big pillows. Like, huge. They're these massive squares that are about three times the size of the rectangular North American pillows. I quite like them as they're very good for pillow fights.

2. German buses are very clean. HUGE improvement from home, where I'm forced to sanitize my hands anytime I touch one of those bus poles in fear of contacting some incurable disease (Buses also always arrive on time - it's a miracle!)

3. It's hard to find a place that sells just regular bottled water, as everyone seems to like drinking the carbonated version, which I strongly dislike. Actually, everything seems to be carbonated and bubbly. Even apple juice (horrible invention).

4. Cobblestone roads, while very pretty, can be very difficult to walk with heels in. I must master this talent by taking long walks in Montreal before moving to Europe.

5. German doors can be very complicated. Further details can be quite embarrassing so I'll leave it at that.

So now I'm fully prepared to move.

Just have to, you know, find a job there and learn the language.

2 Days In Paris

To be honest, I've never really been attracted to Paris the way most people are. I mean, sure the boys there are cute and the style is impeccable, but the main reason I wanted to go to Paris was to go to the Musée d'Orsay. That's right, I flew a few thousand miles to go to an art museum (well I didn't really, but it sounds a lot more dramatic if I say it like that).

The Orsay Museum

For an impressionist art lover, Paris is like heaven. Aside from the Musée d'Orsay, I also went to the Orangerie and Rodin museums. Montmartre was an amazing neighbourhood to visit as it was the area that the Impressionists worked and lived. Unfortunately I never got a chance to visit the Marmottan Monet Museum or Monet's house and garden at Giverny, but well, I'll have plenty of time for that next year. 

Aside from my self-guided tour of Impressionist Paris, I spent most of my time feeling confused since I forgot all my middle school French, while looking enough like a local that I would get stopped at every interaction by people who needed directions.

While Paris is called the city of love, I really wanted to see the city solo. Aside from the fact that I doubt anyone would agree to come to Paris with me only to stand in front of a Monet painting for 5 hours, I actually really enjoyed reading up on Parisian history while making commentaries in my head in the style of Bill Bryson, as I wondered the same streets that Monet, Renoir, Degas, Manet, Cassatt and so many more have walked before me. 

Here's some things about Paris I found interesting:

• All the guys wear suits. Even if they're dressed casually, they still at least wear a blazer jacket (I love it).
• Everyone on the metro has a set of headphones on.
• There's also way too many "iPad" ads on the metro.
• Bums can be bilingual.
• Free wi-fi at McDonalds can be a total lifesaver.
• All hostels in Paris are overpriced and dirty.
• The French really are bad drivers. I feared for my life every time I crossed the street.
• It is possible to mime out the sentence "I would like to buy some pads because I just got my period" to the non-English speaking lady at the pharmacy (Although I totally think she did speak English and just wanted to be entertained by a non-French speaking tourist). 
• Everyone is skinny. As proved by this photo below:

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day everyone! I can't remember the last time I was actually in Canada for Canada Day but I guess it's nice to celebrate one last Canada Day before moving abroad next year. Anyway, enjoy the fireworks, drink lots of Canadian beer, and check back tomorrow for an actual post, rather than this half-assed attempt at patriotism. :)