Ryan Hellyer

Bandy

I made my first attempt at playing Bandy. For those of you who aren’t aware of what Bandy is, it is a sport which is similar to regular hockey, but is played with 11 players on each side on a huge soccer field sized ice rink with very low boards. The stick is much shorter than a regular hockey stick and you use a small rubber/cork ball instead of a puck. We were only playing in a very small area, more like pond hockey for bandy, but it was very fun. I haven’t quite figured out how you are meant to take the ball off the other person yet as I kept trying to poke check people, but failing as the darned stick was too short!

The photo below is of my lovely new friend Tessa, a Kiwi I met here in Oslo who joined me at Frognerstadion for skating and our unexpected try at Bandy.

Bullet holes in Berlin

I saw a terrible reminder of the history of Berlin whilst walking down the street. Bullet holes left on building walls from World War 2 could be clearly seen.

Berliner Weisse

My friendly tour guide in Berlin kindly suggested to us all that we never try the local brew, called a “Berliner Weisse”. He claimed it was supposedly a horrific abomination of beer and should never be consumed by anyone.

To me, that felt much like telling me not to press a big red button. I must press the big red button! In this case, the big red button was a rather horendously bright red coloured beverage. It was spiked with a pungent raspberry taste. I actually like raspberry, but my tour guide was definitely correct. Beer and raspberry do not mix 😛

Visiting Vikas in Tübingen

I met up with my old chemistry colleague Vikas in Tübingen, Germany. We met at the University of Otago many years ago and it was nice to catch up once again. We had some genuine German food from the region and had a beautiful view of houses beside the Neckar river. Tübingen is a beautiful university city with beautiful old historic buildings; I highly recommend visiting if you are in the area.

München

I visited München (aka Munich) in the heart of Bavaria. I made a new friend called Jen at the hostel I was staying at. With the help of Jen’s amazing timing, we saw the famous Rathaus-Glockenspiel, a strange feature on the München town hall which chimes and re-enacts two stories from the 16th century to amuse passers by.

I tried the famous Oktoberfestbier. It tastes somewhat like other beer except it was served in a mug.

Kölner Dom

I visited the Kölner Dom (aka Cologne Cathedral) in Köln with Julian Münster, an old hockey friend of mine. I went again the morning after and climbed to the top. For future reference, I suggest leaving your luggage behind before deciding to embark on climbing the staircase :/

We also headed to the Gaffel brewery to try the local brew called “Kölsch”, a slightly strange beer which is traditionally served in little 200 mL glasses.