gevelsberg im sommer

Let the backpeddling begin! Here is a lovely pic of my 'exchange sister' Karina, and her Dad, Martin. I did a highschool exchange with Karina when I was 15, and we've remained buddies ever since. Needless to say, when I arrived in Germany I was welcomed into their cosy home with open arms and a pot of tea.

Karina's parents live in Gevelsberg, which is a little town in the North-West of Germany - near Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and the like. It was previously a very industrial area, and the skeletal remains of several coal power stations (for example) have been preserved as monuments to this area's proud history of manual labour.

While I was in 'G-Berg', their local carnival (or 'Kirmes') was held, so I got stuck into the beers and developed a love of Bratwurst in Brötchen mit Senf (a long sausage smeared with mustard and clamped in the middle by a small round roll). Although on several occasions we foolishly decided to ride the Breakdance after our beer & bratwurst combo meal deal and (perhaps unsurprisingly) felt rather 'wrong' afterwards. Ahhh good times!

Karina, me and her boyfriend Marc
on the ferris wheel at Kirmes -->

It was blisteringly hot during my stay in the North-West too. Everyone was covered by a thin film of sweat at all times. And there was no Melbourne-style 'cool change' to speak of. So, what do you do in Germany when the weather is so schön und heiß? You swim at a lake! I went to two with Karina and Marc, here are them now:


<-- Karina &

me at Silbersee

<-- A lovely lake in the middle of a forest. (Sorry for the sideways action, I'm not yet 'down' with all this kerazy blogging technology.)