Merry Christmas Everyone!

With Love from Snowy England xxxxx

I'm having the morning off...

On the whole, I didn't enjoy this week at all. Too much stress for my liking. I had to go to the city pretty much everyday this week, and i still havn't managed to get my long Christmas list finished! Actually I'm sure its not half as long as some peoples but for me it is deffinately enough!! The good thing about going to the city every day, is that I always had the support of Georgie, to help me choose presents, keep me moving past the doors of the shops where I could have spent my entire budget on a piece of clothing for myself - 'No Madi, that is not what Christmas shopping is about!' and for always being up for a coffee in our favourite Café!

3 Years old

I don't remember much from when I was three years old, I have only one memory that has stayed with me for the last 23 years. It was my Birthday and my Godfather gave me a Wicker Chair, just the right size for a three year old. I loved that Chair and I used it for years and years, even when I got far too big for it, I would still bring out the chair at Christmas and sit on it when we were gathered around the Christmas Tree.
Selma turns three today, my beautiful little niece. It seems like just Yesterday when she came home from the hospital with my sister, all tiny and fragile. And now she is running around, falling over, getting back up again and always smiling. Not so small and not so fragile anymore. Happy Birthday Selma.

 

Pop goes the Weasel...

We went to Karlsruhe last weekend, because there was a family gathering at Philipps Aunty and Uncles house. I've been so excited about this for a good few weeks because we were going to eat a Goose. To me it was like the real begining of Christmas and Advent, since at home, in Stuttgart, we havn't done any decorating or anything remotely Christmassy. It was such a great meal, absolutely delicious. We ate Red Cabbage with Chestnuts, mountains of Mash Potato and Goose in a Gravy-like Sauce. It was so good that I had two rather large helpings, and then when no one else could do it, I ate the last of the Mash with a helping of Goose and Sauce to top it off. I was so full, I felt like I was going to Pop! Seriously, it was painful. However, I gave it half an hour and I was able to eat some Fruit Salad too. Yum! There was also cake, of course. I have learnt that in this family, there is always time for cake, whatever the reason, (birthdays, festivals, holiday, Sunday, whatever) cake is always very welcome. Its fantastic because there's always different types of cake, at least three different sorts, so if you're not fond of this kind of cake, you can have a piece of the other one!

The whole afternoon was so lovely, everytime I go there I'm amazed at how comfortable I feel with them and how I feel like a part of their family. And that really means a lot to me, living this far from my own family can be tough and I miss them all the time but to be accepted in Philipps family is an amazing feeling.

Lots of Hugs to everyone xxx

Winter

I always dread Winter. I'm not a person who likes to be cold, in fact, I hate it!! Now imagine having a boyfriend who loves Winter. Philipp is a real Winter person, he loves snowboarding, he loves the first snow to fall, he loves to be outside in Winter, he loves everything about it and he keeps trying to make me love it too! I'm not saying I hate Winter, I'm just not fond of it. I mean sure, I love Snow, the way it sounds when you walk over it, the crisp freshness of the air and a good snowball fight, but I hate being cold!!! I love Summer, and being warm.
However, this year I have the perfect weapon. My Duffle Coat has finally arrived, after weeks of waiting for it to arrive, then having to send it back because it looked like a sack on me, then waiting for it to arrive, again! But now its finally here and I'm ready for Winter! And since today is the first day where we've had a real snowfall, its perfect!

My Wonderful Duffle Coat! Thank you Mummy, it's the best! (Photo Taken by Georgie Moore)

However, Stuttgart has only half the amount of snow they have back home. Here is a picture my Mum sent me:

Home, Sweet Home. (Photo taken by Paule Poole)

And Winter how it used to be in the good old days! (Photo stolen from Seonaidh Reid)

Now this is how I remember Winter. And yes, that is me on the right. (Photo taken by one of the Reids)

Hugs to everyone xxx

Lately...

So I'm pretty behind in the whole posting thing, mostly because I'm lazy but also because there isn't much going on here, life has finally gone back to normal because Georgie is back from Australia and I can't tell you how great that is! Summer was fun because we had visiters from far away and the weather was hot but its all a bit boring when you're best friend is away!! So Welcome back G, I missed you!
Anyway, I thought I'd post a picture or two from recently, because to write about it all would take far too long and I'd probably get bored halfway through, plus not much has really happened!! Sorry to disappoint!

Peeking through at Autumn in the Park

An old broken bike in the park.

A house we found tucked away at the back of a Graveyard in the City.

VFB Stuttgart 0:1 FC Köln

I'm sure you're wondering what on earth the titel is about, and to cut a long description short: Football. I got invited to go and watch our local football team, VFB Stuttgart in the Mercedes Benz Arena and I thought.... Why not?? To be honest I wasn't that up for it this morning since I went to a party last night, and only ended up coming home in the very early hours of the morning! I'm also not a massive Football fan but it's not everyday one gets an opportunity like this and I'm very glad I went! Seriously, I had such a good time! I even had a beer and a Bratwurst in a Bun, like a real Stuttgarter!! I got right into it and sang along to loads of songs, shouted "STUTTGART" as loud as the next person, swore at the referee when he gave us too many yellow cards and it felt fantastic. I've always heard that its a much better experience to watch football live instead of only on the telly and I totally agree. Its so much better and something I'd deffinately recommend even if you arn't a fan!!
We had really good seats, way up high so we could see everything that was going on and at the same time not get trampled by the crazy fans who stand near the pitch! Although we had seats, we stood the entire game, everyone in our block was standing and the atmosphere was great.... untill the other team scored a goal. For me, the whole game was fun but I'm sure for a few out there it was kind of shitty because we played against FC Cologne and they are further down the table then we are, but somehow they still beat us! Funny thing is that, even though I'm not a footy fan, I felt as down as the rest of them when the final whistle blew! Unfortunately, I couldnt take my camera with me because one isn't allowed to, but next time I'll take a throw away camera with me, then I show you all what it's like! I took a couple on my Phone but as expected, they are crap!
Also, I wanted to thank the people who took me: Ute, Jens and Mike!!! And not forgetting Boris, who couldn't be there because he had to work, making it possible for me to go in his place....Thank you Boris!!!

Go Stuttgart, GO!!

England

Philipp and I took an overnight Ferry to England from Amsterdam. What a mistake! Philipp was fine but I was constantly feeling 'almost' sick and whilst walking through the ship that feeling always turned into feeling 'really' sick. Maybe it was the movement of the ship and my own movement combined which made me go green, whatever it was, I was not happy. However when we woke up, all was calm and I began to recover, even smile a bit! (seen here!)
The drive from Newcastle down towards home was very quick and we even arrived in time for Lunch!! It was so lovely to be back home amongst my family and the green fields of the Village. Writing this now, (a good few weeks later) in the middle of a city where one has to search to find green, I find myself feeling extremely homesick! Well, you would if you'd grown up in a place like this:

Home, Sweet Home

To be brutally honest with you, this isn't going to be a very long post or very interesting, because while we were with my family there was so much to do, (my sister moved house during the two weeks we were there) and not a lot of time to get the camera out. It was lovely to see the kids though, and to see how much they have grown. Selma is talking so much and all the time, even in her sleep and Lotta has started to bottom shuffle, which is the sweetest thing I have ever seen.
However I did manage to get out to York to see my friend Vicky, who I hadn't seen in at least two years. Shame on me, I know, but life does have a habit of getting in the way of things. I spent the night at her place and we had great fun, cooking dinner, drinking a glass of wine, catching up and I got to finally meet DanDave (as I like to call him). Also she has just recently got a Puppy, a Rhodesian Ridgeback who is already huge but not scary at all. Those of you who know me, know that I have a bit of a fear of dogs in general, especially if they jump up...... scares the living daylights out of me until I get to know the dog. But Sid was lovely and even though he was kind of excited and jumpy, he didn't scare me at all!

Sid the Rhodesian Ridgeback

So apart from moving house for my sister, not much happened while we were in England, nothing hugely exciting anyway. Oh wait, one thing did happen, something that was very stressful for me but on the other hand, very good for me too. But that's another story and one I'm going to save for a rainy day!

Lotta and I on a walk to the Back of the Dale.

Have a great Friday everyone xxx

And talking of David.....

Happy Birthday David!




 I'm sorry this is late David, but lots of love anyway!
Hugs xxxxxxx

VIVA COLONIA!

Very excited about the fact that we were finally able to go on holiday, Philipp and I set off to Cologne, to visit David. Unfortunately, due to crap planning and general laziness, we all got a bit confused about exactly which week we had planned, and therefor David was working a fair bit of the time we were there. No matter, because the time we got to spend with him were absolute quality, as always!! We arrived in his new shared house, met all his new housemates and played a game of Risk. This is our usual routine. And usually David completely flattens us. For those of you who don't know this game, Risk is a strategy game, played on a simplified map of the World, where the players aim is either to Conquer Continents, or Countries or to simply flatten another player depending on the task card one pulls out at the beginning of the game. One can also play for World Domination but that takes a hell of a lot longer and is much harder. And usually ends in tears.....well on my part!
Over the next few days, Philipp and I did lots of touristy things, like the Cologne Cathedral (not inside - there was some kind of concert going on and we weren't allowed in!), Cologne city centre, watch Davids singing rehearsal, visit his Library Job aaaand the best thing..... go to the bar where he works and drink a lot of alcohol for a little money! That was a very fun night, and I'm sorry to say that I don't have a single photo from it. But I have plenty of other photos!

 

Cologne Cathedral

The night before David had to go somewhere to do a course for something, we decided to have a few drinks at home and only then decide if we were going to go out on the town. It ended up being a lot of drinks and not going out on the town, instead we carried on drinking until it was time for David's early morning train to leave and even dropped him off at the S-Bahn stop. The poor guy must have suffered that day!! Imagine having to sit through some kind of boring lectures while the hangover catches up with you, slowly but surely and painfully! I felt for you David!
That was a crazy night and the rest of the time we spent at Davids was pretty quiet in comparison, we played another game of Risk, (two in fact - one of which I WON!!!!!) and basically hung around until it was time to leave for our ferry to England.

Dear Mr Havana, thank you for making the night very interesting!

Philipp sightseeing!

Stuttgart 21 Demo in Cologne

Also, just randomly, whilst in Cologne, Philipp and I ran into a Stuttgart 21 demonstration, so of course we went along with it!!! It was fun, walking through the streets of Cologne and shouting about something that was happening three hours away!
We also found the wall of padlocks, along the bridge over the Rhine, which runs through Cologne! I found it very romantic because in Cologne its tradition that when you get married to go and buy a special padlock and together you lock it on the wall of the bridge and you will be happy forever! Or something like that - I'll have to check that again!
 Anyway, thank you David for having us, we had a great time at your place, as always! And we will be back to visit very soon!
Hugs to you all xxxxxxxx

Aaaand I'm back

So, since its been such a long time I'm not going to try and catch you up on everything I've been doing, just the exciting things! I think I'm going to do it all in separate posts, just to keeps me busy and to keep you interested!!
Hope you enjoy reading them!

Photo taken by Philipp Linder

Peace out

Pure Enjoyment!!

Ridin' my new bike!!!

Spontaneity that doesnt work!

You know when you want to be Spontaneous but stuff gets in the way, like money and work?? Well, it is such a bummer! Right now I could really use a holiday with a bit of Sand and Sun and no City! And my Godfather is sitting in Greece right now, so I would have had a place to stay but NO...... NO MONEY!!! Well not enough, considering that it would cost me over 600 euros just to get there and back for about three days. I might be rich in Love but definitely not in Money!! Oh well, I guess I'll have to start saving and maybe, just maybe in 5 years I'll have enough to visit him in Australia. Not so spontaneous but whatever.
So today, I guess I'll spontaneously jump on my bike and go for a ride! Because its working now! Yesterday I spent a tiny bit of my savings and went and bought new tyres and inner tubes. Now she rides like a dream!

Well, Happy Tuesday everyone! xxxx

Introducing......

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would formally like to introduce you to my newest friend!! She's a bit rusty, needs a make-over but I love her already. She doesn't have a name yet but any suggestions are welcome!
Here she is:

Tadaaa! isn't she wonderful????

I'm going to start fixing her up as soon as I have a bit of money. I'll keep you posted on how its going!!
Just wanted you all to see....
hugs xxx

What a Weekend!

Last weekend Philipp and I went to Karlsruhe for a party, and since neither of us had too much to do here in Stuttgart we drove over on Thursday - to make a long weekend of it. We arrived and went straight to lunch with Philipps dad and sister, Ina-maria, in a lovely Pizzeria somewhere in Durlach. The problem was that we arrived a bit late and by the time we had sat down and ordered the other two had to rush off. And because Karl (Philipps dad) had already payed the bill we could just eat and go. It was a funny feeling, to be able to go out for lunch, and when you're finished eating, just get up and go. This only ever happens at home, but there you still have to do the washing up and clean the table and blah blah blah!! The Pizza was delicious, just in case you were wondering!
Then we took Philipps car to a workshop, and went to Marie's new flat. We rang the doorbell, went upstairs and who is standing there in the doorway??? Seonaidh Reid!! I thought for a moment that I was in the wrong country, since she had told me that she wasn't coming over this Summer but later in the year! Such a great surprise!! I was smiling from ear to ear for hours after.
The Party was on Friday night, and it was just awesome. All kinds of great people, lots of laughs and a very amazing Camera. Seriously, you have never seen anything like it! It was just so great that I had to take a photo of it! Here it is, in all its glory:

The Best Camera in the World!!

OK, well its not the best Photo of it but at least you can see what I'm talking about! Isn't it great?? So I'm asking now; if any of you are planning to go to China or Japan and you happen to see something like this, please please please get it for me and I will give you the money and probably promise to be your best friend for life! Yes, I still use that childish saying but sometimes, juuuust sometimes it works!
Apart from this photo, I actually didn't take that many, at least no good ones. But then again, I think that's a good sign, it just means that I was off enjoying the party instead!
The weather was just amazing all weekend, and of course I packed for Autumn! All I brought with me was Black Jeans, a Jumper and a skirt which I didn't end up wearing at all! So as you can imagine, I wanted to use this opportunity to go shopping, after all there was a good reason. But in the end I decided, it was far better to borrow something from Philipps mum, for when it was too warm to wear Jeans, then to spend money that I should be saving. So for most of the weekend I ran around in Dagmars Leggings! Much better. On Sunday, Philipp, Dagmar, Ina-Maria, Becci and I rode to Ettlingen on the bikes to have an Ice cream. I was even allowed to ride the Peugeot ladies bike, which is just fantastic! The seat is super comfortable and when you ride it you feel like a Queen. The first time I sat on it, I fell in love! Anyway, eating Ice Cream was real fun, and because we couldn't choose which flavour to have, we had two!! I had 'After Eight' (which is just basically 'Mint Choc Chip') and Mokka (Coffee and Chocolate!). A few years ago I went through an 'I don't like Ice Cream' phase and only ate Sorbets and Juice Ice Creams but recently, its all gone wrong and I'm Lovin' Ice Cream again!

Photo taken by Philipp Linder

On Sunday evening Philipp and I met with Fionn, Seonaidh and Marie in the 'Kippe' for dinner. Its a really cool student pub, where if you order a dish off the daily menu, and a drink to go with it, you get it cheaper, its cheap anyway but this deal has all the students running. When we arrived it was nice and sunny so we sat outside, and then this Massive, (and I mean Massive) cloud rolls in and it starts tipping it down. Then we drove back to Stuttgart in a storm, it was kinda scary because it was such heavy rain so we could hardly see anything out the windscreen, but we made it home in one piece!
 So that was my weekend, it sounds like we did a lot less but mostly because I didn't include everything we did, I'm sure every detail would have bored you to tears!!
I hope you all had a lovely weekend!!
Madi xxx

Forget me not!!

Photo taken by Philipp Linder

I just realised that there wasn't a single photo of me in the last bunch, so here you are. Just to prove that I was there too!!

Hugs xxxx

Even more photos from Philipps visit...

In Strasbourg

Philipp and Jan praying in the Minster.

Jan asleep on the steps of the Minster.

The boys.

The (back of the ) boys.

The end of an awesome but long and hot day discovering Strasbourg!

BBQ

BBQ in the back yard. Next to the bins!! Yuuuum.

Jan playing with Fire.

Mmmmmm Meat!!!

Phillo came too.

There was even Veggie stuff to eat!

All in all, a great visit from Philipp. We had heaps of fun and even though half of our group was missing we thought about you all the time.

Thanks for coming Philipp, maybe one day we'll make it to Canada to visit you! I'm already looking forward to it!

More photos from Philipps visit...

Here is a mixture of photos from Philipps visit:

In the Rosenstein Park

 

Photo taken by Philipp Linder

 At the Zoo

In Soho...

Philipp joined the Stuttgart 21 fighters!

Part 2 coming soon...

Visit from Philipp

Philipp Schulze-Garg arrived last Wednesday and because I had to work in the evening, the boys (Philipp, Philipp and Jan) went off to play Poker at our friend Philipps place! you can imagine how confusing that would have been - three Philipps in one room!
On Thursday we decided to use up the last of the good weather and went off to the 'Rosenstein Park' and lay about on a blanket, eating, smoking Shisha and taking photos for hours. It was great and strangely enough I had that Summer feeling for the first time since winter, stupid really, since the Summer is nearly over but at least I felt it once this year. Then we continued the lazy day with a film in the evening. It was one of those awesome 'dont have to do anything' days, where its actually OK to laze around, usually those days are reserved for Sundays. Here are a few Photos from the park...

It's been a while

It's been a few days, if not weeks, since I last wrote something and I just wanted to let y'all know that I'm not dead, and I haven't forgotten the blog. Recently I've been working every free shift so as to save money for a brand new Mac Book, we have also had a visit from Daniel Kearney and right now Philipp Schulze-Garg is staying with us for a week, so as you can see I ain't got much time for much else. But I promise that when I have a moment, I will tell you all about it and then maybe I'll finally get around to uploading the photos of the (tidy) flat!

Until then, I hope you all have a great week!