The next series of pictures is from the BRN- Bundesrepublik Neustadt. It was a weekend festival that happened in Dresden while I was there. The good part about it was that it happened in the neighborhood where I lived so we just had to walk out our front door and we were part of the action. There was something like 20,000 people that came to it.
 

There was a huge police presence at the festival- the year before there had been riots and burning cars and stuff. But nothing like that happened this time around. However the police were ready for anything- this was their "daywear", and at night they changed into full riot-gear. 

This poster was hanging above one of the bars (see- there is a bar under the sign!). Sex gegen Nazis means "Sex Against Nazis". I was a bit confused as to what they meant. Like, have sex as a political act against Nazis? Have sex to produce more people who won't be Nazis? There was another poster down the street that said Kein Sex mit Nazis (no sex with Nazis) and at least that one i understood. Nazis are a big issue in Germany. I saw them everywhere.  

Bohne- fruit juice mixed with wine- you could buy it everywhere at the BRN.  

Here are some pictures from the trip. I thought I'd start with the pictures of Dresden- the city where I lived.

The doctors at the oncology clinic .

View of the city from the bridge I rode over every day to get to work. 

My neighborhood in Dresden 

the city of Dresden 

Alex and Charly, my German hosts and roomates for the month 

Update- Well after a long night of sleepnessness I am now in Berlin. Ready for the 2nd leg of the trip. Not a lot of intraspection was done on the flight; mostly I'm just really tired. Really really tired. And I still have 15 hours to go.

Also as soon as I get home I'll post some pictures of the trip for those of you who have been following.

Its my last night in Istanbul, which means its my last night in Europe (or is it Asia?) which means its my last night of holidays. I should be feeling nostalgic or introspective (and come-to-think of it- as soon asI finished typing all those lasts I started feeling it a little). But mostly I'm just relaxed from the Turkish bath. Best bathing experience ever.

So- you walk into the bath- and its very steamy and there are several dozen other naked women lazing around on the marble platform especially designed for lazing. And here-and-there- other naked women are massaging people and bathing the lazing customers. A very large turkish woman gave me a fantastic massage and then exfoliated me (who knew I had that much dead skin? EW) and washed my hair underneath one of the many running taps that was around the marble. The whole bathing area dated back to the 14th century and was marble with vaulted ceilings and skylights.

So NOW that I'm all relaxed I can get on my plane and fly for 30 hours back to Canada (stupid budget airline with its bad connections.) And maybe I can experience some introspection on the plane.

its weird to be in a place that is connected to so much unrest. I mean its not like Turkey is really that dangerous a place-but its strange to come home from a day of sightseeing and flip on CNN and see that one of'> one of the spots you were at a couple hours ago been bombed.Strange, strange living.

So Mykonos was a bit of a party. We were staying at a beach camping place which meant that we were at the beach a lot- and usually took the bus into town for dinner. We had some big nights as well. Then we took the overnight ferry to Kos for a night, and then onto Bodrum in Turkey. We were planning on making Bodrum a pit-stop on our way up the Aegean coast, but then a minibus full of tourists was bombed very close to the town we were in- and the word was that there were plans for more bombs- so we decided to fly straight to Istanbul and spend the last few days of our holiday there. I was expecting Istanbul to be like Dehli but its not- actually more like Paris. Its very clean and green with wide streets. There are a couple noticable differences- prayers over the loudspeakers, women wearing burkas- touts everywhere. Its been very different from what I was expecting. And our hotel is AWESOME.

I"m in Greece now after a whirlwind week of travelling. I met my parents in Paris after an exhausting night train ride from Berlin. But Paris was awesome- I was happy to see my parents again and we spent a lot of time eating in cafes and wandering around the streets. And also some museums, for my mom. ON the last day my Australian cousins showed up- all of them, which is a rare event- and I got to hang out with them for a couple days. I also got to feel somewhat better at language skills as French is something I feel a bit more competent in than German. I was sad to leave Paris.

I took a train back to Berlin, and then a flight to Athens. I wandered around the city for a day on my own- taking in all of the 'main bits' in one day, because there were plans to leave the next morning. So I saw the Acropolis and all of the ruins as well as the Archeology Museum that my Mom raved about on her last trip. The next day I met up with Lara- Yea! And we booked a night- ferry to Santorini.

The night ferry was something. We got 'deck class' seats which meant right on the deck. Not the most comfortable thing for a 9 hour journey. We solved that problem by sleeping in the luggage compartment- right next to some snuggly Grecians who weren"t so thrilled that we interrupted their romantic time in baggage.

We spent 2 days in Santorini- a BEAUTIFUL island. So amazing. The main town is high up on the cliffs and we ate dinner with a view like that I've never seen before. We were staying by the beach in a rented room that was very cute- because the island is a volcano- all of the beaches are black stones, which is strange- it is kind of like beaching in a gigantic charcoal BBQ.

Now we're in Mykonos which is like summer camp except with many bars.

Four days in Paris really didn't feel like enough time. I feel lucky (or spoiled) that I've been to the city before so that I didn't feel the need to rush around to a bunch of sights or feel like I was missing out on stuff. Mostly I just hung out with my parents and my cousins and ate a lot- sat in cafes- walked everywhere.

I arrived on Saturday morning at the hotel and met my dad. It was so nice to see him after a month! We went for breakfast (croissants and espresso- yup we're SO european) and then wandered around. We were staying in the Latin Quarter- a bit touristy, but very close to Notre Dame and some good resturants. Later that night my mom came in and we spent the next couple days exploring the city and eating really well. (Are you noticing that food was a central part of the trip? Because it was. The problem with visiting Paris as a backpacker is that most of the food you consume consists of baguettes and takeaway chinese. I finally understood the whole culinary aspect of Paris that people go on and on about.)

On the second last night my cousins from Australia arrived- all 4 of them, plus their mom and dad- straight off the 38 hour trip from Australia. Needless to say they were pretty tired, but they were troopers and we went out for dinner and out a bit before they went to bed. The next morning my parents left and I hung out with the cousins for a bit before catching my night train. My cousins were staying at the Paris Hilton. Many, many jokes were made.

I caught the night train back into Berlin and I'm spending the morning here before taking a flight to Athens and meeting up with Lara. I can't believe its been 4 days since I've been here- it feels like weeks.

I'm leaving Dresden in about an hour to head off to Paris. Its been a good month! Not only has my German improved (marginally) but I got to see a lot of stuff in the hospital and I made some friends.

Things I will miss:

1. Charlie and Alex- my roomates
2. Being woken up by churchbells
3. The view over the bridge every morning when I bike to the hospital
4. the patients in the hospital (well, some of them anyway)
5. biking everywhere