Weekends are a nice flight out of mundaneness...they are a nice respite before the plunge into cold, hard reality. This weekend was fun as usual...albeit a tad stressful.

I went over to Leipzig after my Friday morning lecture. Found out that next week's class is cancelled, so I was very happy..because it meant I can go to Leipzig on Thursday night this week! Yay!

The train ride was ok..I read "The French Lieutenant's Woman"..which is ok but I haven't gotten very far yet and they already discussed it on Thursday I think..during the lecture I ponned.

Marcus picked me up from the train station and we went to the big mall again...PC...Paunsdorf Center...cos there's a Kaufland (or Markt) there. Every week we are faced with the question "What shall we eat?" but this week wasn't so bad because we knew we were going to Kassel on Saturday..so we only had to think about 3 meals...dinner with his parents that evening, as well as lunch and dinner on Sunday. We decided to be lazy (as usual) and get marinated turkey filets, potatoes, pre-mixed salad, croutons and a salad dressing. We also wanted to bake an apple cake, so we bought the ingredients for it. The apples were fantastic! I never used proper baking apples..hehe...instead, we had a Royal Gala, a Pink Lady and a..oh no..I forgot the name. Ah well.

We also went shopping a bit after that..bought a set of pyjamas because it's getting colder and I can't wear my shorts anymore. We actually spent quite a long time in the mall because we also ate Bratwurst and just walked around doing nothing.

After that, time really flew and we had to prepare stuff for dinner...his parents came more or less right on time...and Marcus showed them photos and we had dinner...the filets took a long time to cook though. I mean you probably can never trust the packaging...but it said 3 minutes per side..but actual time was probably 20 minutes or so! But at least it was not raw inside anymore. It was really a very pleasant evening :) Marcus did the washing up and I did my homework..then we both fell asleep, tired after an exhausting week.

The next morning, we had to get up early to catch the 8.03am train to Kassel to visit Ruthie. We were travelling on the Schönes Wochenende Ticket and so it meant taking RE and RB trains, which are sometimes clean, sometimes not and often quite crowded and noisy. But before that, we walked around looking for stuff to buy to eat on the train. We both got baguettes (with different fillings) and Marcus had a Schokocroissant and I had a Rosinenschnecke. It's funny because he won't eat raisins and I am not a fan of croissants. But anyway, the Rosinenschnecke was good..there was fresh custard inside. :)

However, this fun was not to last. We had to change trains in Halle...but the train from Halle to Kassel was cancelled because of some construction work..and the next train was in 2 hours! Like what on earth are we supposed to do? We went to ask for an alternative connection...and that one left earlier, but would arrive nearly at the same time as the later one. Well, I didn't really wanna sit around in the train station for 2 whole hours and Marcus said it would take a while to walk down to the city centre, so we decided to take the earlier connection which would not get there earlier but what the heck.

The first train, which headed to Eisenach, was crowded. We played Mühle (which I am really bad at because I cannot visualise different combinations and strategies) Connect 4 and Mensch ärgere dich nicht on the train...Marcus won for the first time since we started playing this game together..but I was not sad. I suppose the reason why many couples do not play games..card, board, etc...together, is because games have this competitive element (ok DUH!) and well, it won't do if couples are mad at each other because one lost to the other. Even if it is fun to win, and easy to "get mad" if you don't...I think it's all in the name of fun and it's important not to forget that.

The next train to Bebra was delayed..and the conductor didn't announce anything..which got me quite annoyed..because people want to know why they are made to wait...even if it doesn't help matters technically. But the train was quite empty..and quiet (I HATE noisy trains)..so it wasn't too bad. We tried to think of car brands starting with all the different letters of the alphabet..as well as all the German states and their capitals.

The final train to Kassel from Bebra was ok too...not too noisy...and I was glad we finally made it. But because we arrived 2 hours later that originally planned, we ended up staying at Ruth's place the whole afternoon and seeing nothing of the town. It was ok for me really, since I've been to Kassel at least 5 times already...but I guess winter does sort of create a sense of inertia. So we ate the delicious fried noodles and wantan soup that Ruth made...and the dessert...and were very full! After looking up our return trip details online and taking photos of Po and Hoppy and Nunkey, we played Ligretto and Mensch ärgere dich nicht..I won both games and Marcus was saying "Well, at least Sam won't give me a hard time on the train ride back!" He is such a teaser. :P

Then it was time to leave already. We again bought some food for the ride...but my stomach wasn't feeling so great, so I only at the Brezel in the end...the ride was close to horrendous...for one, there was a 20 minute delay at some station because some goods train was left on the track or something and had to be cleared! I had cramps and my butt hurt from sitting the whole day. Marcus told me to sleep cos I was tired. I protested, saying I didn't want to, but I guess he can read me as well as I can read him now...we listened to music and I closed my eyes to try and rest. Before that though, we played a bit of Hangman, which sort of evolved into a "try and guess what funny thing I am trying to say" game...haha

When we got to Halle..finally...it was nearly 90 minutes later than we planned to be at Halle...we were supposed to get there at probably 9.10pm or earlier. We got there at nearly 10.30pm. Thankfully, we managed to catch the 10.40pm train..or else we would've had to wait for another 1 hour at Halle. That night, we really just flopped into bed and slept all the way through.

We didn't plan anything big on Sunday, which was good, because we were really exhausted. So we had breakfast, watched Kinsey, had lunch, watched TV a bit, baked the apple cake, played Ligretto for a while, made dinner...watched part of The Fast and the Furious...and went to sleep early because we had to wake up at 4.50am..

So...I guess really, the weekend really flies by, especially when you're having fun...but thankfully I have a short week this week...what with the holiday on Wednesday and the cancelled lecture on Friday. Not that I am going to be soooo super free or anything. I have to catch up on my homework during the break/weekend...but it's still nice to not be obliged to go anywhere.

Hurray for WEEKENDS!! :)



Lovely Ruthie in her lovely kitchen


Me and Marcus with Ruth's fried noodles..yummy!


Me and Ruth with Po and Hoppy...Hoppy had to be restuffed so now he's quite big. Marcus, who has never seen Po, remarked that the difference in colour between the two Hippos is quite striking. :(


A guy who lets himself be photographed with my toy friends definitely earns brownie points with me!


Marcus in his apartment, playing World of Warcraft. Oops..I shouldn't have distracted him!