Cold Hannover

My first day of proper snow this winter, Hannover, Germany
January 2012
All pics taken with my phone camera, hence the low quality and the need for collages



NL insisted that I must try Schnitzel at its birthplace even though i've already had it in Switzerland
i did.. and didn't love it
What i did love though was the smoked fish for breakfast



the conference was held at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover..
it reminded me of my postgrad days spent at SGH Block 9 - Department of Experimental Medicine
the corridors were just like this - lined with all forms of anatomical parts
and one fateful day, on our way back from lunch, we encountered someone pushing out a body from the morgue

My first trip to Germany was full of lessons though -
1. Always know the German name of the place you're going - Immigration officer might confuse University with High School.. because contrary to popular belief, people don't always speak English
2. Never choose a hotel in a quiet neighbourhood - much better to commute than to find that you can't go out after dark (which is fairly early in the middle of winter)
3. Never choose a small hotel - even if you don't care about facilities, the bigger hotels would be at better locations
3. Have at least a hundred Euros in cash even for 2 days- ATMs are rare, supermarkets won't take most foreign cards, and you'd get lost looking for an ATM (See Point 1 above)
Oh, and the GPS isn't up to date either
4. When travelling with luggage, don't rely on public transport as you would in England or most other European countries
5. When it snows, and you have to walk 2km, just order a taxi! - no matter how good you're at reading maps, it's useless when the street signs are covered in snow

.. and i thought i was a seasoned traveller

8 days
5 towns/cities
2 countries
snow, subzero weather, black ice
by the time Day 8 came around, I had a burning sore throat and a fever
it's the price i pay for hopping indiscriminately between places
I'm so cold i seem to be stuck to my bed