Spike's Travel Blog

Alright people, its a long time ago I used this Blog, but I decided now is a good time to start again. I just came back from a 2 week travel to Istanbul. It wasnt vacation, but a study trip with University. My University has a cooperation with Bahcesehir University in Istanbul. Last fall 10 turkish students came to Berlin for a 2 week media workshop and now it was our turn to go and learn about the cultural and media landscape of Istanbul.

We were 7 girls and 2 guys, we were put in dorms, so the boys lived in Etiler (kinda rich far away neigborhood) and we stayed in Osmanbey, which was close to the Metro and all interesting districts, like Beyoglu, Tophane, Shishane, Taksim Square, etc. So we were the lucky ones.

We had a tight schedule, everyday 3 or even 4 appointments with experts of the media and cultural field. We visited galeries, Istanbul Modern Museum, saw 2 performances, visited different newspapers, internet platforms, an advertising agency, internet agency, TV companies and producers, listened to lectures, etc etc etc. The turkish students were always around and were very good hosts.

Our only days off were the sundays. After partying with our turkish friends on saturday night (and making a lot of new friends at our favorite club Otto :)) we slept in and made our way to the Golden Horn. But since it was the first of May, we had to walk half way, cause there was no Metro going. Everyone in Istanbul was out on the streets, peacefully protesting. A group of blond girls attracted some attention...When we finally arrived at the Golden Horn we visited the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. The Blue Mosque was not as astonishing as a though it would be, it smelled pretty horrible, since everyone had to take off their shoes...
people were praying and tourists were running around, which in combination was a bit disturbing. Hagia Sophia was amazing, its a museum today, so you can walk around everywhere and its very beautiful. Manu and I ended our day in the Hamam, where we let ourselves be peeled, washed, oiled and spoiled! Naked big bellied Turkish women were playing music and dancing on the marble stone and it was quiet the "real" experience!

In our free time we went to the spice bazar and the grand bazar and probably got ripped off at all these places ;). At the spice bazar we didnt even have to speak english, since everyone was speaking German anyways. Hjördis and I even managed to get invited to tea in a place and left without having to buy something, we were pretty proud of ourselves! :) On our last sunday we went on a ferry which took us to the island Heybeliada. We walked around in that quiet place, which we enjoyed a lot after spending 2 weeks in the 13 million people city, which never sleeps.

Food and weatherwise we were pretty disappointed alltogether. From 25 degree Berlin to 12 degree Istanbul. It was really cold and rainy most of the time, two or 3 days we had some sun, but it wasnt really warm. Our farewell party we had on Deniz terrace with an amazing view on Istanbul but without the fire in the grill and Effes beer we probably wouldnt have survied the cold! Breakfast was 2 weeks exactly the same: Olives, hard boiled egg, cheese, cucumber, tomato, old white bread and tea. Awesome for me, who doesnt like salty stuff for breakfast. Since we all had to look after our money, we mostly had lunch in a Büfet (where the serve Turkish food) or a kebab place. So 2 weeks long a lot of bread and meat! Our stomachs werent so happy in the end. It was a pretty hilarious scene at the airport in Istanbul on our way back to Berlin. Every 2 seconds someone else stormed to the bathrooms, came back with crackers and coke.

Istanbul is a very crazy, loud and busy city. Next to a nice historical building there is the most ugly modern building, next to that a ruin or a shopping mall. Culture of preserving basically doesnt exist. If something is too old, its not being restored but torn down, which is quiet sad and doenst make the city more beautiful. But one thing is for sure. People of Istanbul are proud! Everyone, really everyone asked us: You like Istanbul?

Sorry, its been a while. And this wont be very long either, but just a short entry to say that I am well and actually will be going home tomorrow. I am in London which is my last stop on this tour. Its been 7 months now, hard to believe. After Costa Rica I spend 3 weeks in Colorado with Maslowskis and Christa. I mainly hung out with my great and very sweet hostsisters, went to "hot yoga" with Karen and never sweated more in my life, spend hours and hours with Christa in coffee shops and took Dan skiing and made him get a really baaaaad sunburn on his nose, which was of course his own fault (since I offered sunscreen to him before we went...), and tried to figure out what I wanna do with my life when I am back in the "real world". It was a great time and it was a lot like coming home.

Then my marathon started, which was a marathon of city sightseeing. I went to Boston to meet up with Brendan and JR. Brendan acutally ran the Boston marathon and did very well. JR and I went to the Red Sox baseball game instead and ate pizza and drank beer :) I also met up with Felix in Boston, who was also visiting a friend there. We went together by bus to NYC. Spend some great 2 days there, running around and soaking up the crazy atmosphere of that city. Loved Soho, the Lower Eastside, walking over the Brooklyn bridge and the MomA.

Then I flew back to EUROPE! I had a stopover in Dublin and used Euros for the first time in a long time!! It felt really good to enter thru the "EU Passport" line. Came to London on friday and will fly home tomorrow. Had an amazing time here, met up with some people and the weather is great!! This is a different city when the sun is out. Really like my time here, but am really looking forward to GO HOME! :)

PS: My german phone will work again from tomorrow evening on, its still the same number as always.

La pura vida. This is whats its all about in Costa Rica. Now I am in the middle of it and love it. I dont think that more relaxation is even possible. Most days there is only one thing you need to do and its mostly things like: I need to go get milk. Or: I need to send off some postcards. Thost things would be the hardest things to do in a day here in Santa Teresa. Cause mostly its all about chillin in a hammock, sleeping, reading, eating, going to the beach. This place is where people from all over the meet to relax and to go surfing because of the pretty consistent waves coming in. 

After I spend a day in San Jose, I went on a bus to Jaco. First thing that came to my mind was: I hope this is not how Costa Rica is like. ONLY American Spring break kids running around and the street is lined up with American fast food restaurants. I spend one night there and left the next morning to Manuel Antonio. I found a beautiful Hostel, where I had my onw room and spend some days there enjoying the beach and the National Park which is right there. I then left to make my way to Montezuma on the Nicoya Peninsula, where I also spend some days. My main activity was going for walks and going to the beach. They have a great waterfall there, where I decided to jump down from, which my body didnt like too much. But I am recovering. The jump was fun, but it was a good thing I only did it once. I then came here  to Santa Teresa, Mal Pais for the monday night Raggae Party. I met awesome people here and the Hostel people are just one big family. Since I was looking for a place like this for a while, where I can just stay and not feel like moving on, I will stay right here for the next week before my flight goes to Colorado.

This place really changed my mood from: I am homesick and dont feel like traveling anymore to I feel so relaxed and happy its hard to believe.

Sorry about the missing NZ news. Just a quick summary. Mats and I went to Queenstown, where we had beautiful sunshine. We invested in a sightseeing flight to Milford Sound. The view from above was spectacular! We went on a cruise in the fjord and then flew back to Queenstown, all in one day. It was worth the money. Then weather changed back to rain and we made our way to Dunedin, where we witnessed a scottish parade (poor dressed up people and to march in the rain...). Then off to Moeraki, a magical place which doenst seem to be from this world. Rocks shaped like round perfect balls in the sea, very unreal. Then off to Christchurch and to Kaikoura where we went Whalewatching. After our first tour got cancelled we were lucky the next day. We saw 5 whales and the rare hector dolphins, which are really tiny. From Christchuch we took the Tranzalpine train to Greymouth with beautiful mountain views. Hamish took us back to Christchurch and made sure we make it to the airport and on our flights on time :) Mats went straight back to Germany and I spend a couple days with Ana, Thom and the girls in LA. Went to my favorite art gallery Norton Simon in Pasadena and played with the kids. I slept a lot and loved being in familar surroundings, being around friends. Thom and Ana took me to a great restaurant on Rodeo Drive as a good bye dinner and then I was off to Costa Rica.

5 more weeks to go til I come home and til Colorado I only say one thing: Pura Vida.

For all the people that hate me by now, because I am following the summer around the globe: My plan didnt really work for this country I have to say, cause summer is just not summer! We have had 10 degrees and rain for days! Thats not much fun when all you own is one fleece and a scarf to keep you warm and no rainjacket...

But we are being good tourists and are going to all the places we wanna see anyways and try to image how nice it would be and look like in sunshine. So when we left Wellington we took the rain with us and it was a shame cause the ferry ride across is supposed to be great because you are going trough the fjords. But all we were able to see was fog. When we arrived we drove along the shore and it was great scenery all the way to Nelson. From there we went to go see the Abel Tasman National Park. We booked "A great day in the park", where a water taxi took us up the coast and we walked back 4 hours. It was a little bit different of how we imagined it would be, walking and going for a swim. It was more like: lets walk faster, its freezing cold. Reminded me a whole lot of my time in Vietnam with Juliette when we also walked through the rain in the rainforests...

We tried to leave the rain behind and drove further south on the westcoast. We were so happy when it cleared and we enjoyed one of the most beautiful roads I have ever been on, highway 6. Its not even a scenic route, its just a normal state highway, but it looks like Malborough country, mountains and rivers and you expect a cowboy to come a long any second.

We then went to Greymouth where Hamish lives and stayed at his house for a night before the three of us drove to the glaciers. First we went to the Franz Joseph glacier. We walked all the way to the front of the glacier, which was beautiful to see. The next day we drove to Fox glacier and walked to the Matheson lake, where you are supposed to see the reflection of the mountains in the lake --> we didnt. Then Hamish had to go back to work and we drover further south to Haast. This is where I need to say something important. I HATE SANDFLIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These little things are the WORST insects on earth, they bite and itch worse than any mosquito bite and will itch for EVER and they are EVERYWHERE in Haast and around the Westcoast. So even though its soo pretty and you would wanna stay somewhere at some beach or something you just cant, beacuse of these things. As you see I am in war with sandflies.

More about the South Island adventures soon.

Since I wrote last time Mats and I already discovered some of the North Island and we are already on the South Island.

First we went to the Bay of Islands, which was just beautiful, also because we had great sunny warm weather. We went to see Russel, which is cute town where about 3 people live (most towns in NZ have the size for three people living in it). We went on a jetboat to go to the "famous" hole in the rock. We saw about 100000000000000 fish in the water out there. It looked like a fish farm, but was natural, I guess the fish liked that place...

We also went to the west coast of the northern part of the North Island. We saw huge dunes and more 3 people towns (you will always find a pub and a fish and chips place, so no worries). Then we drove all the way to the Coromandal, which was one of our favorite places. The coast is so rough and beautiful. We went the best beach ever in Hahei and to "hot water beach", where we almost burned our feet, digging them into the sand (there used to be vulcanic action or something).

From there we drove to Rotorua, the stinky town. Because of the vulcanic action it smells like sulphur everywhere!! In the park in the city are bubbling mud pools that smell revolting, but are crazy looking. The hot steaming lakes are very beautiful (when you hold your breath). We couldnt spend more than 2 days there, cause our Camper starting smelling bad.

We then went to Lake Taupo where we went SKYDIVING!!! THAT was for sure my highlight so far, if it wouldnt be so expensive I would do it again straight away. We had a great view on the lake and the mountains, then we fell out of the plane, 40 secs of freefall, just AMAZING and very unreal. I was thinking: Am I really falling out of a plane? And after a while: Wow, I wouldnt mind when the parachute opens up now.. And afterwards: Thank god I am not dead.

From then on we had bad luck with the weather since it started raining and getting pretty cold. We couldnt do the Tongariro Crossing (a big walk over the mountain ranges), which I really wanted to do. But cant change the weather so we drove straight to Wellington. The city has come cool cafes and the "TE PAPA Museum" was pretty cool and a good thing to see when it rains outside.

Since I wrote so much already, I will write about the South Island some other time.

CHEERS (like the Kiwis say...)

Before I tell you all about Kiwi country I will let you know about my further plans, cause now I actually know the day I will come home :)

Mats and I will spend the rest of February in New Zealand and on the first of March he will fly home to Germany and I will fly to L.A.

In L.A. I will spend a couple days visiting Ana and Thom and their girls. From there I will fly to San Jose, Costa Rica. I will spend 3 weeks there by myself, unless Felix will make it down there on time. We will see.

From San Jose I fly to Denver on the 27th of March and will stay in Colorado for 3 weeks, until the 16th of April.

From Denver I will fly to Boston to see Brendan from Lund times and Felix will also be there and hopefully J.R. will make his way down to Boston as well.

Then taking the bus to NYC and will see Christas brother Jeff who lives there and hang out for a couple days and then fly straight to London. Hopefully will catch up with some people there too and then on the 27th of April I will land in Hamburg!!!

The summer I will spend working (if anyone knows about a job let me know..) in Munich and applying for Master programms.

Thats all for now :)

I have had a few "big city life" days now. First 4 days in Sydney, now 2 days Auckland. Maybe thats why I am so unbelievably tired. So there is probably gonna be alot of mistakes in this update, but oh well. I really loved Sydney, we had great weather, which makes everything good. My first day I wlaked around quite alot, to the botanical garden,the harbour, the Opera house, then went on a ferry to Balmain. Walked around there too and loved it. Although you are in a big city like Sydney you feel like you are in a small cute town. Beautiful houses and nice boutiques and cafes. The next day Mats arrived and we did the opera house again and then went to see darling harbour and the Aquarium. We also went to Manly one day and walked all the way to Spit Bridge, which took a whole lot longer than we thought. It was 9 km, but thru the National Park, which took us 3 hours in the end. Manly was really beautiful, especially the walk had some great views. We saw about 100000 lizards, but huge ones! Also went to Bondi beach, which was hilarious. So many idiots running around at that beach. Never seen a beach more crowded, we started laughing when we saw it. But it was worth the experience.

The next day Mats left in the morning to Auckland and I went shopping once more and to the market in "The Rocks". One last view on the harbour and then back to the hostel to take the airport shuttle to the airport. Arrived really late in Auckland, but my former Lund roommate from the Old firestation who lives in Auckland picked me up and gave me a ride to the hostel. THANKS PAUL! The welcome gift was a disgsutingly smelling room. We had to change the next day, we didnt get much sleep with that smell in the room...

In Auckland we went to the harbour and the beautiful neighborhood Parnell, which has some great cafes and the best bakery in the world (we will go there tomorrow for cheese cake :)). Then we took the ferry across to Devenport and from the hill there we had an amazing view over Auckland and the islands. In the evening we went to Mission bay with Paul and his girlfriend Jess to have some Belgium dinner (biggest mussles I have ever seen...) and some swiss Moevenpick ice cream (globalization or what?!).

We are getting our Camper Van tomorrow and then hit the road. Our first destination will be Bay of Islands. Yey.

PS: My Aussie mobile phone does not work anymore, my new number (New Zealand mobile) is: 0064 210 272 6647.

After spending 10 hours on a bus from Agnes Water to Airlie Beach, I arrived pretty tired at 6 in the morning. Airlie Beach is just beautiful, a tropical paradise. There is not much more than one street though and a lagoon (basically a big pool, cause you cant swim in the sea because of all these disgusting jellyfish). It feels like this city has been made for backpackers. Lots of hostels and pubs, but in the end not that exciting...unless you wanna get drunk every day. My first day I spend sleeping and preparing for my departure the next day. I was lucky, the weather was great and I had 2 really good days and nights on that boat. We were 26 people and 3 of the Crew. 4 Germans altogether, which is not much, because all I heard in Airlie Beach was german words all the time. The three others were really nice and we all had a good time. Went sailing around the Islands, went snorkeling and I also went scuba diving. It was good to do a dive, since my last time was went I got certified in a murky lake in Augsburg 2 years ago. Saw turtles, sting rays, colorful fish and beautiful corals. Of course stopped at famous Whitehaven Beach too. Had a cloudy morning, but the water is just amazing and the sand so white. I polished my silver heart with the fine sand, and it worked :) Nice and shiny.

Now I have been in Melbourne for a couple of days. Actually we spend the whole weekend , which involved my birthday and Australia day (26th of January) at Merricks Beach. On the 24th the girls took me to the Montealto Winery, which was very beautiful. Good views and beautiful weather. On the 25th I got a huge and delicious birthday cake and that was a great start of the day. Then we went to the beach and later played tennis. Awesome having my birthday in sunny warm weather for a change. On Australia day we went back to Melbourne and hung out at the pool. It was a great birthday weekend. Still I missed all of you guys lots and I wanted to say thanks for all the sweet mails, sms and letters you sent me. Loved all of them, thank you so much for that! Its good to know that although I am on the other side of the world you guys still think of me (from time to time )) :)

Off to Sydney tomorrow, and then one day later I will see Mats. So much looking forward to that!

Alright, now I really feel like I am on the other side of the world, with out any reception for days... I came back from Fraser Island yesterday and loved it. The island is just beautiful and now that the Christmas crowd is gone it was much quiter too. The guide knew what he was doing, since he took us to places that werent crowded and just beautiful. The fresh water lakes are awesome and there are so many different ones on this sandy island. One is just so nice, cause the water is warm and feels like silk on your skin and the next one has the whitest sand I have ever seen and the clearest and most refreshing water and the next has red water, which gets that color from the surrounding teatrees. Long walks on the beach in the evening watching the sun go down without any people there was one of my highlights. There you feel so relaxed without any contact to the rest of the world and the calming sound of the ocean.

Yesterday I stayed in a place called Rainbow Beach. What a name. The beach there also very pretty, but the place so small that I would go nuts if I would have to live there. For a day it was fine :) Now I am in Agnes Water, which is next to the Town of 1770. Its called like that because this is where Captain Cook landed in 1770. Have to put some historical infos in here too from time to time (which is quite difficult, since there is not much history in this country). But the beautiful landscapes make up for the lack of that I guess.

Next stop will be Airlie Beach from where I am hopefully leaving for my sailing trip to the Whitsunday Islands (if the weather permits it). I am still travelling by myself. I always thought of me of a very social person, but now that I am on my own I find myself trying to stay by myself. Getting quite tired of Hostels full of Backpackers ( 90% Germans anyways...!!). But I am loving just not having to talk if I dont feel like it. And if I feel like it there is always someone around I could tell my life too I guess. What i am trying to say is I am having a good time and loving the weather and the country.

Last time you have heard from me was before Christmas, now its already 2009. I drove down to Canberra with Georgies family and spend Christmas with them. They treated me like their Exchange student and it was tons of fun. I was even invited to Georgies Grandpas 80th birthday. And even though it wasnt even my Grandfather some speaches even made me cry. We had a Christmastree and traditional Aussie Christmas food and everything. It was really hot, which made it quite a different experience.

On the 28th Georgie and I flew to Ballina, which is close to Bayron Bay, where we were heading to. There we met her 5 girlfriends. We shared a great appartment just across from the main beach. New Years Eve we had a table in the Pacific Dining Room in the Beach Hotel. We had some good food and then were able to go to the pub and see the band play. During that week we spend in Bayron we spend most of our time at the beach and the Beach Hotel. We had some good home cooked food and altogether a blast.

On the 3rd Georgie and I took the bus up to Noosa Heads and spend some days at the Youth Hostel which is right in the centre. We caught up with some of her friends and actually also with some of my friends, since Martin and Laura, who I know from my Augsburg times (more precise Barium times), were also in Noosa. They are in Australia for 4 weeks for vacation. Small world...one more proof of that.

My plans for the next two weeks are to head north. Georgie left to go back to Melbourne, so I will be on my own for a bit. I will go check out Fraser Island (the sand island) and make my way all the way to the Whitsunday Islands. I will go on a sailing trip to go snorchel and hopefully go for a dive...Why else did I do my PADI in Augsburg??

To some it all up: Life is a beach.