Neroberg

I figured that as, so far, I come across as utterly unfortunate and ridiculous on this blog I should probably do something to rectify that assumption and prove that I can function like a normal human being would whilst staying in a foreign country for three months.

So on Sunday (yesterday) I went sightseeing with a fellow intern who has very kindly taken pity on me and my lack of social life and befriended me, and her friend, who it turns out is also studying law in Mainz, a neighbouring university town. It really has to be said that the German youth are extremely friendly and welcoming. In Ireland, it's the total opposite. People in my position in Ireland basically have to beg people to be their friend and show them around, whereas here everyone has been so interested in me and how I came to learn German and why I'm here now. In fact, on Sunday I had two invitations to socialise, the first one being this sightseeing outing and the second being a barbecue thrown by two colleagues. Check me, being all popular and in demand!

Anyway, we went up to the Neroberg which is basically a large hill but not quite a mountain (then again it may be, I am no geographer) overlooking the city of Wiesbaden. The views of the city below are stunning, particularly in the sunshine we had yesterday. There's also a Russian Orthodox cathedral with a gold roof that gleams in the sunlight. I looked directly at it and couldn't see properly for purple blotches for about an hour.

I relished the opportunity to make use of my shitty €69.99 Argos digital camera, covertly purchased to replace the one I broke after dropping it on a night out from being too gee'd up on white rum and orange, and took a few snaps. My new acquaintances took a few awkward shots of me standing in front of various things and if you didn't know any better you'd swear I took them myself with a tripod as I am currently the only person to feature in the album on Facebook.

We finished off the excursion by sitting in the sunshine at a hilltop café sipping Diet Coke (well, they did, I had pineapple juice), chatting auf Deutsch and enjoying the view (truth be told I grow weary of views, no matter how magnificent, after about two minutes of looking so I pretended to continue to enjoy the view out of politeness).

Wiesbaden panorama shot. The shitty Argos camera actually has some nifty features, who knew?

Myself. The view.

Russian Orthodox Church with cornea-destroying gold turrets.

This is a strong contender for the title of Most Awkward Photo Taken Of Me, Ever. But then again, is it possible to look anything less whilst stood in front of a water-powered funicular railway?