Leeds to Mannheim

Hey!

This week’s blog will cover the last two weeks as I flew home last Tuesday to surprise my Mum for her birthday and never got chance to finish the blog. The week before I left was quite busy and included saying goodbye to three of my friends who have now left Mannheim for good: Max, Derek and Natalie. This last week has been spent entirely at home but in between seeing family and revising I also managed a trip to Parklife festival in Manchester.

The first thing I did after writing my last blog was meet Derek for the last time with just us two. We went to a barbecue restaurant called Die Fette Wutz which I was really looking forward to as I haven’t had American style food since I arrived. It was good but quite expensive and you had to order your meat in grams which confused me. I was going to have ribs but didn’t know how many 100g’s were in half a rack and you couldn’t order chips so it would have literally just been a plate of ribs. Instead I had a pulled pork sandwich and BBQ beans which worked out cheaper and seemed more like a proper meal. Afterwards we went for a walk through Mannheim and had ice cream before meeting Eeva for a free showing of Mamma Mia 2 at the uni.

The following day, after a morning of revision, I met Eeva and we went for a walk down the river Neckar. We ended up walking really far as we decided to keep walking until we found a bridge so we could walk back down the other side. We had both forgotten to bring a drink though and it was really warm so on the way back we also stopped for an ice cream. At night I went to the cinema with Eeva and Derek to see Rocketman. It’s a good film but not as good as Bohemian Rhapsody.

In between revision I decided to do some baking to use up the flour and sugar I have here. I made brownies ready for the barbecue I planned for Sunday and then caramel dumplings for myself as I had just enough flour and still far too much sugar. There was a hob incident with the dumplings though as I went to put them in microwave dishes and accidentally placed one of the dishes on a hob that had only just been turned off. The dish melted and the caramel leaked out all over the cooker top leaving a huge mess! To try and get over this, I went for a walk with Antoniya in the afternoon. We went through some of the shops and managed to just about see the whole Quadrate. I had my third ice cream of the week as well, this time rice pudding flavour!

By the weekend it was far too hot, so I stayed in most of the days, revising and trying to cool down. Me and Cecily went to buy a disposable barbecue on the Saturday and then sat at Eis Eis baby for vegan ice cream (recurring theme of the week). As it was evening by this point it was just about cool enough to sit outside so we sat in Paradeplatz and chatted about her week as she had just got back from visiting Annie in Cadiz.

On the Sunday we had the barbecue. We were originally planning to do it by the Neckar on the grass but there was a change of plan and we ended up by a canal in Jungbusch. This was fine as there was seating but there wasn’t much shade and it was 32 degrees. Me and Paisley were in charge of cooking and it got quite stressful as we cooked everything but then barely anyone ate it. At one point we thought we didn’t have enough sausages, so Reuben spent 10 euros at a petrol station buying more only for no one to eat the fresh ones. It was nice to all spend time together though.

Last Monday I had my very last lecture at Mannheim, a revision lecture for e-business, and then Paisley, Cecily, Eeva and I went to the TV tower so we could see Mannheim from above. We walked there as it was a lovely day, and once we were there the views were great. We watched a thunderstorm come in which was really interesting from in the sky. However, we had not factored this in when we left and me and Cecily ended up walking for 30 minutes in torrential rain wearing only shorts, t-shirts and sandals!

In the evening we all went to Enchilada for a meal as that was the last time, I would see Derek, Max and Natalie. Since the restaurant was called Enchilada, I decided that was what I would have to eat, and they were very tasty but not actually what enchiladas are normally like. We spent a few hours there then a few of us sat outside a pub to talk a bit more and say goodbye properly.

Nearly the whole of last Tuesday was spent travelling. I was worried that something wouldn’t be on time, but everything was fine up until Manchester airport. My luggage took too long to come and despite running from terminal 3 to the train station I arrived on the platform just as my train pulled away. Fortunately, that was my best-case train so I had a plan B but it didn’t arrive for another hour. That train was then on time up until Sheffield when it just decided not to move for 20-minutes. I finally arrived at Cosmos in Doncaster about 20 minutes after my family and managed to (sort of) surprise mum. I’m glad I chose Cosmo’s as I was very hungry and could get food straight away! It was also lovely to see everyone again.

The last week has been spent mainly at home. I did quite a lot of revision during the day whilst people were out and got to go out for a few meals with Mum and Nanna. On Sunday I went to Parklife in Manchester with Celine and Rebecca. As soon as we arrived in Manchester it chucked it down, despite the forecast suggesting no rain all day, so we had lunch then went to buy those two coats from Primark. We arrived at the festival around 3 and went straight to see Mabel. It proceeded to switch between heavy rain and sun for the rest of the afternoon which meant we were wet, cold and often squashed between loads of other people in the only stages that were under cover. The music was also not what I expected as I’d only really gone to see George Ezra headlining and didn’t know that it was a techno/alternative festival. Overall though, despite the rain, soggy expensive food and too many people around me taking drugs it was an alright day.

When I got back to Scunthorpe the following morning Nanna took me out for breakfast and then we walked Archie together. Once nanna had left, me and Archie spent the full day cuddling (and with difficulty due to dog on knee, I finished writing my revision notes) then I tutored in the evening. I have now finished tutoring all my tutees for this exam season!

Yesterday I flew back, ready to take my final exams and say bye to people. Cecily’s friend came in on the same flight, so I got to meet Cecily at the airport and travel back with her and her friend Sam which was lovely. This week will be full of revision and exams but also plenty of meals out, partly because I want to try all the restaurants I’ve missed, partly to see people and partly because I can’t be bothered to buy groceries!