My last couple of weeks in Berlin have been quite relaxing, but at the same time full of things to take care of. Like I wrote in my last article, I'm leaving Berlin with mixed feelings. I've had a great time here and I've made some good friends, that I hope to keep in touch with after I leave. I'm throwing a goodbye party on Friday, where I hope to get say a proper goodbye to the people I've spent my summer with. It will be a goodbye for a while, hopefully not for forever.
Last week I acquired some things that I'll need on my coming InterRail trip. I found this great outdoors store, Globetrotter. It's a huge store with everything you might need for outdoors activities. I got myself a foldaway backpack and travel pillow, both from Meru, which is quite the good manufacturer of outdoors equipment. How the quality really is, well, I might be able to tell you that after the trip. The store also has its house label, which is funny because it has a finnish name: Kaikkialla. It is apparently developed together with some Nordic countries and it seems the name is made up by a Finnish associate. I am still looking for sandals for the trip, and I'm starting to lean towards Birkenstocks, of which I at least know that they are of good quality.
My colleague Ana had her last day at the office last Thursday, so she invited me to a barbeque at her place on Wednesday. Her American flatmate was flying back to the U.S. on the next day as well, so she had also invited some guest. We were all complaining about the crappy weather and had a nice evening with delicious bbq food.
A funny thing happened the next day when Ana and I went to the shopping center in Steglitz. We were walking through the mall when all of a sudden a handsome guy in his underwear came to us. He turned out to be promoting a new underwear shop and offered us a glass of sparkling wine and gave us both a beautiful rose. I wouldn't mind getting roses from a handsome guy more often...
The weekend I mostly spent reading for a essay about social media and actually following the social (and traditional) media on the terrible events in Oslo and Utøya. It is very shocking to hear that someone is capable to such horrible deeds. He performed a massacre on his own people and shows no remorse for what he did. It is scary to hear that everyone seemed to think he was a good and nice guy and nobody could've imagined him doing such a thing. I mean how do we know that the people around us aren't planning such an attack? I feel that there is a false sense of security up in the northern countries and the neutral grounds maybe aren't that neutral after all. I do agree with what the Norwegian Premier Minister Stoltenberg said about not letting such thing scare us away from our northern value and I can with comfort quote the surviving girl how stated in the BBC interview that if one person can show this much hate, think about how much love we can all show together. It is a very comforting thought in there uncertain times that instead of spreading violence and hate, we should concentrate on spreading caring and love. And this thought has to start in each and every one on a personal level in the daily life.
It has been interesting to read about social media and at the same time follow what actually happens in the social media. I mean the news on the attacks were on Twitter and Facebook way before the news hit the international media. There sure is some truth to the fact that news travel fast, but social media faster. I will be sure to include these notes in my essay, which I'm actually looking forward to write.
But back to Berlin. Or well actually we'll make a stop back in Tampere. I have got some interesting news upon my return to Finland. I have been offered a job at a translation office and if all goes well I might start working for them as s freelance translator in September. Which means that I might be able to cut down on working in the restaurants, which then again means that I might have more free weekends in the near future. I really hope it works out because it would be amazing to work in the area that I've studied for four years. I also have news on the studies: if my professors gives a positive answer, I might have a subject for my Masters Thesis. I'm so happy about this, because I've struggled really hard to try to find a subject.
One reason for not doing very much last week, is that the weather has been horrible. It's really cold and rainy, which makes me a bit jealous on Finland for the hot and sunny weather. On Sunday the weather got a bit better and since Matt came back from his parents, we decided to go to Mauerpark, where there's a huge flee market every Sunday. It was just as full as usual there and I enjoyed the atmosphere as usual. I even found myself a hat, which I've been trying to find for weeks!
I might post one more text this week but then I'm not sure when the next one will be. I'm hoping to be able to report about the InterRail adventure in eastern Europe, but I can't promise anything. Til then and see you later.
Oh and I might add some photos to this article later, so have another look in a few days!
maanantai 25. heinäkuuta 2011
keskiviikko 20. heinäkuuta 2011
Buongiorno, mi chiamo Katja e sono finlandese
My second last week has begun and I am working with mixed feelings. On the other side I'm happy to go on holiday and eventually going home to Finland. I'm even looking forward to being at the university, and most of all: I miss my friends! Last week I took a look at the courses that are being offered in the fall, and it looks quite good. Hopefully all the course will actually be organized... I have a lot to do at the moment with organizing the Interrail trip (I got the tickets last week!): getting all equipment, organizing accommodation, planning the route... There's also some things to take care of considering leaving Germany: packing, sending things back, trying to find a job back in Tampere and I naturally have to organize a farewell party! Well there are a few things. And I still have to work every day! I'm actually looking forward to the weekend, because I haven't planned anything special. All the same, today I initially wanted to write about my weekend in Venice.
Starting on Friday morning at 6 am with the bus, we arrived in Venice at our hotel 12 (!) hours later. And we flew there! Actually the flight was almost the shortest time to travel; the bus and train ride to Schönefeld airport took almost an hour and the bus rides and train ride from Bergamo airport to the hotel took 4,5 hours altogether... Upon arriving at the airport in Bergamo, the difference in climate was noticable. Even though Berlin is only about 800 km south of Venice (air route), it was so much warmer and you could notice the humid Mediterranean air.
Our bus from the airport to Bergamo was 15 minutes late and we were sure that we would miss our train. As we arrived at the bus station and saw the horribly long lines at the ticket counter, we decided to just run to the train and ask if it was possible to buy a ticket in the train. The train conductor couldn't speak a word English and our (well my) Italian wasn't good enough to understand what he was saying. It was a funny situation where everyone was talking and waving and finally the man just told us to get in. The ticket was 5 euros more expensive than it would've been at the ticket counter, but the train got us there more than 2,5 hours earlier than the other train, that would've left one hour later. We were really hungry when we got to Mestre, which is the mainland of Venice, and after getting a small bite we got to our hotel at about 4.30 pm.
After a quick shower we took the local bus to Venice. Our tourist guide from 2003 made us realize how much more expensive everything has gotten. According to the guide a 72-hour-ticket was supposed to cost 18 euros, we paid 33. But for that money we were able to use the public transports as much as we wanted, so we decided to start our Venice-tour with a ride around the island with a Vaporetto, which is the boat version of a subway or a tram. On the other side of the island we took a short walk on Murano, which is a tiny island next to Venice, famous for its glass art. There were so much beautiful things there, sculptures, glasses, plates, jewellery - you name it! I got myself a small glass magnet in the shape of a bird.
One thing about Vaporettos that differentiate them from trams (except for the fact that they're boats) is that they aren't really very fast. It takes little over an hours to go around the island and taking one of the Vaporettos on the Canale Grande, that goes through the island, takes about 30 minutes. And as you might know, the island isn't that big. So by the time we got back from Murano, we were already quite hungry. We had dinner at a small restaurant on the north side of the island. It was very cozy, but you have to be careful that you get what you order. When you eat fish, the price usually is written for the amount of 100 grams. Well, naturally they don't serve you just a piece of a fish, but a whole one, so the price can be even three to four times what it says on the menu.
We hadn't really planned anything special for the weekend, so on the next day we came to Venice at about eleven and just strolled around in the city, taking a look at the beautiful small streets and the canals. We saw the Rialto Market and the Rialto Bridge, St. Mark's Square, the Doge's Palace and the St. Mark's Basilica. In the afternoon it was so hot and we got really tired, so we decided to go to the park and take it easy for a while. We found a nice park bench at the Biennale and I took a little nap. Luckily Matt stayed awake, because upon leaving he told me that there were some strange guys walking around the park. One time he closed his eyes for a few seconds and when he opened them, he saw that this guy was coming closer. When the guy noticed that Matt wasn't sleeping he turned back... Probably pickpockets! Well, we were lucky (or smart) enough to not have anything stolen from us. In the evening we had dinner at the most amazing little pizzeria. The waiters were amazing and the service outstanding! One of the waiters actually brought the whole dessert cart outside, just to show us the different cakes upon ordering dessert.
On Saturday we took an earlier start heading to Lido, a long island just outside of Venice. It is a popular luxury resort for famous and rich people, but most of all it is famous for its long long beach. We rented bikes, paying only 8 euros for the entire day and started by biking along the beach. In the middle of the east side of the island there are the tourist beaches with cabins, restaurants, cafes and all kind of touristy stuff. We headed towards the south end of the island and discovered a beautiful part with a lot less people. We went almost to the south end where we took a break enjoying the sun and swimming in the Adriatic sea. It was divine, even though I didn't like the salty water that much, it left a layer on the skin that wasn't very enjoyable. Yet again I realized how careful I have to be with enjoying the sun. Even though I put on sunscreen, after biking around for a few hours, my arms and face were quite red. Luckily it turned out not to be that bad: after bathing my arms and face in aprés sun cream, the red turned into a deep beautiful brown - probably browner than ever! Matt wasn't as lucky - when I told him in the morning to put on some sunscreen, he refused and suffered from an aching back and arms the next night...
On our last day we took care of getting some gifts and souvenirs. I got myself a beautiful Venetian mask and we bought some colorful pasta. We had to check out from the hotel already in the morning so we were forced to bring our bags with us to the city. After queuing at the railway station for 20 minutes to put our bags to storage I asked at the information point if there's another possibility to store our things for the day. She told us that there was another "left luggage" (like the Italians beautifully have translated it) at the bus terminal, but probably the queues would be just as long because of the people coming from the cruise ships. How wrong she was! There was no queues at all and the only thing we regretted was not asking about that right away. The last day was nice and sunny and we just took it easy, after running around the islands for three days. The last 3 hours we spent on the waterbuses just enjoying the sea breeze and protecting our burned skins from the sun.
Starting on Friday morning at 6 am with the bus, we arrived in Venice at our hotel 12 (!) hours later. And we flew there! Actually the flight was almost the shortest time to travel; the bus and train ride to Schönefeld airport took almost an hour and the bus rides and train ride from Bergamo airport to the hotel took 4,5 hours altogether... Upon arriving at the airport in Bergamo, the difference in climate was noticable. Even though Berlin is only about 800 km south of Venice (air route), it was so much warmer and you could notice the humid Mediterranean air.
Our "kitschy" hotel Villa Dori on the Venetian Riviera.
Our bus from the airport to Bergamo was 15 minutes late and we were sure that we would miss our train. As we arrived at the bus station and saw the horribly long lines at the ticket counter, we decided to just run to the train and ask if it was possible to buy a ticket in the train. The train conductor couldn't speak a word English and our (well my) Italian wasn't good enough to understand what he was saying. It was a funny situation where everyone was talking and waving and finally the man just told us to get in. The ticket was 5 euros more expensive than it would've been at the ticket counter, but the train got us there more than 2,5 hours earlier than the other train, that would've left one hour later. We were really hungry when we got to Mestre, which is the mainland of Venice, and after getting a small bite we got to our hotel at about 4.30 pm.
It would've been amazing to do a gondola ride, but the prices weren't really
suitable for students: 100 euros for 50 minutes... That's what I call a good hours salary!
suitable for students: 100 euros for 50 minutes... That's what I call a good hours salary!
Most streets in Venice aren't actually streets, but canals.
After a quick shower we took the local bus to Venice. Our tourist guide from 2003 made us realize how much more expensive everything has gotten. According to the guide a 72-hour-ticket was supposed to cost 18 euros, we paid 33. But for that money we were able to use the public transports as much as we wanted, so we decided to start our Venice-tour with a ride around the island with a Vaporetto, which is the boat version of a subway or a tram. On the other side of the island we took a short walk on Murano, which is a tiny island next to Venice, famous for its glass art. There were so much beautiful things there, sculptures, glasses, plates, jewellery - you name it! I got myself a small glass magnet in the shape of a bird.
Murano island is the home of many glass manufacturers.
I really need to go back to Venice in February to see the carneval!
A happy tourist
One thing about Vaporettos that differentiate them from trams (except for the fact that they're boats) is that they aren't really very fast. It takes little over an hours to go around the island and taking one of the Vaporettos on the Canale Grande, that goes through the island, takes about 30 minutes. And as you might know, the island isn't that big. So by the time we got back from Murano, we were already quite hungry. We had dinner at a small restaurant on the north side of the island. It was very cozy, but you have to be careful that you get what you order. When you eat fish, the price usually is written for the amount of 100 grams. Well, naturally they don't serve you just a piece of a fish, but a whole one, so the price can be even three to four times what it says on the menu.
The Canale Grande at nighttime...
...and at daytime.
We hadn't really planned anything special for the weekend, so on the next day we came to Venice at about eleven and just strolled around in the city, taking a look at the beautiful small streets and the canals. We saw the Rialto Market and the Rialto Bridge, St. Mark's Square, the Doge's Palace and the St. Mark's Basilica. In the afternoon it was so hot and we got really tired, so we decided to go to the park and take it easy for a while. We found a nice park bench at the Biennale and I took a little nap. Luckily Matt stayed awake, because upon leaving he told me that there were some strange guys walking around the park. One time he closed his eyes for a few seconds and when he opened them, he saw that this guy was coming closer. When the guy noticed that Matt wasn't sleeping he turned back... Probably pickpockets! Well, we were lucky (or smart) enough to not have anything stolen from us. In the evening we had dinner at the most amazing little pizzeria. The waiters were amazing and the service outstanding! One of the waiters actually brought the whole dessert cart outside, just to show us the different cakes upon ordering dessert.
One of the most amazing pizzas I've ever had. With horse meat!
Party people waiting for the fireworks of the Redentore (redeemer) festival.
The Redentore cathedral in the background.
The Redentore cathedral in the background.
The Rialto Bridge and its tourists.
On Saturday we took an earlier start heading to Lido, a long island just outside of Venice. It is a popular luxury resort for famous and rich people, but most of all it is famous for its long long beach. We rented bikes, paying only 8 euros for the entire day and started by biking along the beach. In the middle of the east side of the island there are the tourist beaches with cabins, restaurants, cafes and all kind of touristy stuff. We headed towards the south end of the island and discovered a beautiful part with a lot less people. We went almost to the south end where we took a break enjoying the sun and swimming in the Adriatic sea. It was divine, even though I didn't like the salty water that much, it left a layer on the skin that wasn't very enjoyable. Yet again I realized how careful I have to be with enjoying the sun. Even though I put on sunscreen, after biking around for a few hours, my arms and face were quite red. Luckily it turned out not to be that bad: after bathing my arms and face in aprés sun cream, the red turned into a deep beautiful brown - probably browner than ever! Matt wasn't as lucky - when I told him in the morning to put on some sunscreen, he refused and suffered from an aching back and arms the next night...
The eastern coastline of Lido isn't just sand.
On our last day we took care of getting some gifts and souvenirs. I got myself a beautiful Venetian mask and we bought some colorful pasta. We had to check out from the hotel already in the morning so we were forced to bring our bags with us to the city. After queuing at the railway station for 20 minutes to put our bags to storage I asked at the information point if there's another possibility to store our things for the day. She told us that there was another "left luggage" (like the Italians beautifully have translated it) at the bus terminal, but probably the queues would be just as long because of the people coming from the cruise ships. How wrong she was! There was no queues at all and the only thing we regretted was not asking about that right away. The last day was nice and sunny and we just took it easy, after running around the islands for three days. The last 3 hours we spent on the waterbuses just enjoying the sea breeze and protecting our burned skins from the sun.
Water, water and more water. It's all about boats in Venice.
Looking out over the roofs from the Doge's Palace
The Doge's Palace from the inside. Yes, we did some sightseeing as well.
The Venetian lagoon from above
Fishy business
tiistai 12. heinäkuuta 2011
Hanover my love (now with photos!)
Last week, after starting to recover from Vienna, I spontaneously decided to go to Hanover for the weekend. I was planning on doing that during the summer anyway, and I noticed that I was running out of time. The week wasn't all about resting though, I went to see the dome with a colleague one day and on another we went to the theatre at Park Monbijou again, this time to see the play Winter's Tale by Shakespear.
On Thursday, after stuffing my 30-hour-week into four days, I took the train to Lower Saxony. I arrived late in he city and one hour even later I came to aunts house in Letter, a small village close to the city. I say village, since that's what they call it here, in Finland they would call them suburbs... Letter is a very cozy suburb of Hanover, only half an hour bus ride away from the city centre. I lived with my aunt for 6 months in 2006, so it is quite the comfortable feeling to go there, almost like going home. My aunt lives in a big villa next to her mother-in-law. Both houses are on the same land lot, which makes a beautiful garden. My aunt loves to work at her garden, but last Christmas she had a heart attack, so she's recovering at the moment and doesn't have the energy to work at the garden. It didn't look that way though, it was just as beautiful as ever.
The next day my cousin brought her dog to daycare at my aunts, and I was happy to get the chance to see them both. I love my cousin, but she was very stressed at the moment, because she has a lot going on at work. I hope she will have the chance to take some time off and come and visit us relatives in Finland very soon. Me and my aunt (and the cutest Labrador ever) made us a comfy day doing mostly nothing. We played some Skip-Bo, cooked and took a walk with the dog. In the afternoon I headed to the city to spend the rest of the weekend there. First I went to see my Croatian friend Ana. Her family was visiting and I was happy to see them all again. A bit later we headed to the city to meet some other friends. Starting with a wine at Extrablatt where my old colleague Rami works, continuing to Colosseum with Ana's sister Dragana to have some ice cream with strawberries, and finally ending up in Linden, the part of the city where I used to live, at the cafe Stubenwechsel with our friend Alexander. My friend Janina got off work at half past ten, and after getting my bags at Ana's place, Janina and me sat down on the sofa, had a glass of sparkling wine and remembering good old times. At half past twelve we were exhausted and went to bed like two old ladies - well certainly not as two young girlfriends who haven't seen each other in quite the while...
There was a reason for getting to bed early though - for Saturday we had made quite the plans. After enjoying breakfast at the bagel shop next door we headed to Janina's office to borrow bikes. In the morning it was quite cloudy, but just in time for getting the bikes, the sun came out and it turned out to be an amazing day! We biked around the lake Maschsee and headed for the beautiful green area Ricklinger Teiche, where there's many ponds and great swimming opportunities to swim during the summer. We biked around for a while after which we found a nice place to lie down and enjoy the sun. We were quite annoyed though that we hadn't thought of bringing swimming suits and towels... Not that the ponds are that inviting, when you compare with the beautifully clean lakes in Finland, but in that heat it would've still been refreshing.
When we came home we were starving, so we made a delicious wok with glass noodles and chicken. We took it easy, freshened up and headed out on the town. We met up with Lena, a good friend and old colleague of mine and her friend Jasper. Our first stop was a cocktail bar called Heaven, where the cocktails are delicious and quite cheap, especially during happy hour... After being in Heaven we came back to the ground and headed to a bar called Peanuts, which was one of Jasper's favourite places. It was quite cozy and nice and we enjoyed a few drinks there before continuing to Steintor, which is a bar area in Hanover. First we hit Sansibar, which brought up a lot of memories, since I used to go there quite frequently while living in Hanover. Our last stop was a rock bar called Rocker (very innovative...), where we just had one more drink. Before going home we stopped at one of the best kebab restaurants in Hanover, Öz Urfa. I think it's open almost 24/7, at least I've never seen in being closed, and they have delicious Turkish food. We finally came home at about 4.30 in the morning, and fell dead in bed.
The next morning we slept long and had breakfast at about 2.30 in the afternoon. The weather was quite nice, so we decided to go out, to get the chance to enjoy it even a little. It turned out to be quite warm, so we went to a cafe called Bar Celona, where we experienced one the most rude waiters ever! I ordered an ice cream with fruit, and when it came the ice cream was melted. Of course I sent it back and after two minutes the waiter came back with the same portion saying that there were two scoops of ice cream like promised in the menu, and it wasn't his fault that it was already melted! I've never experienced anything as rude! So I went to the bar with the ice cream and told them what happened. The waitress was totally nice and brought the ice cream to the kitchen and after like two minutes I had two new scoops of ice cream. I do have to say, the waiter didn't get a tip from me and I will probably never go back to that cafe. A little later we went to a sushi bar with all you can eat sushi for 12,90 euros. Again we experienced totally rude service and not so good sushi. The selection was crappy in comparison to what they had on the menu, and we got the same things all the time. That's one more place I will never go to again!
Well, if you don't consider the bad service, I had a great time in Hanover, all thanks to my amazing friends. I got kind of "home sick", if you can call missing Hanover that. Part of me wished that I could live there again, but then again, there are so many other places I'd like to live, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to enjoy Hanover again as a citizen of the city. But you never know what the future will bring. I will hopefully be finished with my studies in one year, and then I have the world at my feet, and a lot of adventures ahead of me.
Speaking of adventures, I have one coming up in the near future. This coming weekend Matt and me are going to Venice. We'll be there for four days and hopefully I will have a lot of great stories to tell when I get back. Til then...
A Winter's Tale by William Shakespear
On Thursday, after stuffing my 30-hour-week into four days, I took the train to Lower Saxony. I arrived late in he city and one hour even later I came to aunts house in Letter, a small village close to the city. I say village, since that's what they call it here, in Finland they would call them suburbs... Letter is a very cozy suburb of Hanover, only half an hour bus ride away from the city centre. I lived with my aunt for 6 months in 2006, so it is quite the comfortable feeling to go there, almost like going home. My aunt lives in a big villa next to her mother-in-law. Both houses are on the same land lot, which makes a beautiful garden. My aunt loves to work at her garden, but last Christmas she had a heart attack, so she's recovering at the moment and doesn't have the energy to work at the garden. It didn't look that way though, it was just as beautiful as ever.
Love at first sight
The next day my cousin brought her dog to daycare at my aunts, and I was happy to get the chance to see them both. I love my cousin, but she was very stressed at the moment, because she has a lot going on at work. I hope she will have the chance to take some time off and come and visit us relatives in Finland very soon. Me and my aunt (and the cutest Labrador ever) made us a comfy day doing mostly nothing. We played some Skip-Bo, cooked and took a walk with the dog. In the afternoon I headed to the city to spend the rest of the weekend there. First I went to see my Croatian friend Ana. Her family was visiting and I was happy to see them all again. A bit later we headed to the city to meet some other friends. Starting with a wine at Extrablatt where my old colleague Rami works, continuing to Colosseum with Ana's sister Dragana to have some ice cream with strawberries, and finally ending up in Linden, the part of the city where I used to live, at the cafe Stubenwechsel with our friend Alexander. My friend Janina got off work at half past ten, and after getting my bags at Ana's place, Janina and me sat down on the sofa, had a glass of sparkling wine and remembering good old times. At half past twelve we were exhausted and went to bed like two old ladies - well certainly not as two young girlfriends who haven't seen each other in quite the while...
Anas beautiful granddaughter Alicia
There was a reason for getting to bed early though - for Saturday we had made quite the plans. After enjoying breakfast at the bagel shop next door we headed to Janina's office to borrow bikes. In the morning it was quite cloudy, but just in time for getting the bikes, the sun came out and it turned out to be an amazing day! We biked around the lake Maschsee and headed for the beautiful green area Ricklinger Teiche, where there's many ponds and great swimming opportunities to swim during the summer. We biked around for a while after which we found a nice place to lie down and enjoy the sun. We were quite annoyed though that we hadn't thought of bringing swimming suits and towels... Not that the ponds are that inviting, when you compare with the beautifully clean lakes in Finland, but in that heat it would've still been refreshing.
Taking a break was absolutely necessary on that hot summer day!
When we came home we were starving, so we made a delicious wok with glass noodles and chicken. We took it easy, freshened up and headed out on the town. We met up with Lena, a good friend and old colleague of mine and her friend Jasper. Our first stop was a cocktail bar called Heaven, where the cocktails are delicious and quite cheap, especially during happy hour... After being in Heaven we came back to the ground and headed to a bar called Peanuts, which was one of Jasper's favourite places. It was quite cozy and nice and we enjoyed a few drinks there before continuing to Steintor, which is a bar area in Hanover. First we hit Sansibar, which brought up a lot of memories, since I used to go there quite frequently while living in Hanover. Our last stop was a rock bar called Rocker (very innovative...), where we just had one more drink. Before going home we stopped at one of the best kebab restaurants in Hanover, Öz Urfa. I think it's open almost 24/7, at least I've never seen in being closed, and they have delicious Turkish food. We finally came home at about 4.30 in the morning, and fell dead in bed.
Delicious wok food
The next morning we slept long and had breakfast at about 2.30 in the afternoon. The weather was quite nice, so we decided to go out, to get the chance to enjoy it even a little. It turned out to be quite warm, so we went to a cafe called Bar Celona, where we experienced one the most rude waiters ever! I ordered an ice cream with fruit, and when it came the ice cream was melted. Of course I sent it back and after two minutes the waiter came back with the same portion saying that there were two scoops of ice cream like promised in the menu, and it wasn't his fault that it was already melted! I've never experienced anything as rude! So I went to the bar with the ice cream and told them what happened. The waitress was totally nice and brought the ice cream to the kitchen and after like two minutes I had two new scoops of ice cream. I do have to say, the waiter didn't get a tip from me and I will probably never go back to that cafe. A little later we went to a sushi bar with all you can eat sushi for 12,90 euros. Again we experienced totally rude service and not so good sushi. The selection was crappy in comparison to what they had on the menu, and we got the same things all the time. That's one more place I will never go to again!
Those people who say that Hanover is ugly, haven't ever REALLY been theree!
Well, if you don't consider the bad service, I had a great time in Hanover, all thanks to my amazing friends. I got kind of "home sick", if you can call missing Hanover that. Part of me wished that I could live there again, but then again, there are so many other places I'd like to live, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to enjoy Hanover again as a citizen of the city. But you never know what the future will bring. I will hopefully be finished with my studies in one year, and then I have the world at my feet, and a lot of adventures ahead of me.
A view over the Nazi-lake Maschsee in Hanover (Hitler was the one who commissioned it)
Speaking of adventures, I have one coming up in the near future. This coming weekend Matt and me are going to Venice. We'll be there for four days and hopefully I will have a lot of great stories to tell when I get back. Til then...
keskiviikko 6. heinäkuuta 2011
Kaisers and other royals
I gotta tell you, flying with another airline than Ryanair feels quite luxurious. I've had the possibility to compare a couple of airline since I'm here, and I do have to say that AirBerlin is not bad when you consider the relatively cheap price. Sure, it isn't quite as cheap as Ryanair, but the service is considerably better. Upon boarding (on European flights) you get to choose from various magazines, the seats are relatively large, they offer a drink and a snack and there is a screen where they show films and tv-series. I was all in all very happy about flying with AirBerlin. When coming back from Southern Germany we flew with easyjet, which could very much be compared with Ryanair.
I arrived in Vienna late, my flight landed at half past ten and Alina picked me up. After getting my bag and taking the train to the center, Alina lives in the 3rd district, it was already half past eleven and we were completely exhausted. Very unlike of young girls, we decided to go to bed, so that we could get up early in the morning. Alina lives in a beautiful 4-room-apartment together with two guys, Lex and Benji. Vienna is divided in 23 districts of which the city centre with the royal buildings is the 1st district. Like I said before, Alina lives in the 3rd district, which is also called the embassy district, because most of the embassies are situated there, including the Finnish embassy.
On Saturday our plan was to go see the Spanish Royal Riding School of Vienna. The Lipizzaner horses are on summer holiday at the moment, but they have a practice called "morning work", which takes place from 10-12. I have to give it to the Austrians, they are generous enough to offer a student discount almost everywhere, which of course is amazing. On morning work the riding school gives you a 50 % student discount, and I think on most other events as well. On Thursday 07.07. they would have had a huge ball at the riding school, which made me very sad, since I was there one week to early. The ticket for the ball would have been very expensive, but I'm sure it would have been a night to remember. I decided to do it at some point though. In the future.
After seeing the beautiful white horses (and one black) we were starving, so we headed to the museum quartier to have breakfast. At the Leopold-museum there was a restaurant and they had the most delicious breakfast. We went there on Sunday as well... Upon planning the weekend I had told Alina that I didn't have any other special wishes on the program, except for the riding school, but I didn't want to do shopping. Still we decided to go to the Maria-Hilfer-Straße, which is the main shopping street in Vienna. There was a beautiful church called Mariahilfer Church, from which I somehow got a very Italian feeling. Running around on the shopping street we at some point noticed that it was already late, so we decided to get a coffee at a coffee shop called das Möbel, which means as much as "the piece of furniture". The reason for the name is the fact that you can actually buy the furniture in the cafe. The furniture is made by young designers and the concept is also created by them.
In the evening we got ready for a night on the town with Alinas friend Amber. After having a few drinks we headed to the Naschmarkt, which is the most popular market in Vienna. It is really big and there are both restaurants and stands where you can buy food. When we got there at about eleven in the evening, all the stands were naturally closed, but there were some restaurants open and we stayed at one which name I don't remember. The food was fantastic though, I had lamb chops with rosemary potatoes and veggies and it was totally delicious. After dinner we went to a club which Alinas colleague had suggested, she had said that it is THE place to go while in Vienna and that it was a must. Well, we were totally disappointed. The club was called Passage and at that night there was the 30 Seconds To Mars after party. We paid 15 euros entrance and it sucked. The music was bad, the people were too drunk and the service was horrible. On the way out I told the guys at the wardrobe that if they wanted to get tips they should help the ladies with their jackets instead of just standing there chatting with each other.
When we came home the boys were watching a film - well Lex was, Benji was napping on the couch. Alina stayed and watched the movie for a bit, but I went to bed, I was exhausted! I guess I'm getting too old for the party scene...
For Sunday we had planned a big sightseeing tour, but the weather wasn't on our side. We started off with breakfast in Leopold - again. While there it started raining - no pouring, so we ran across the yard to the museum quartier and had a look at the gift shop and the book store. We got an umbrella and I found a great book on photography. Next we headed to the cathedral Stephansdom and had a look inside. It is a very beautiful church, but I liked the Maria Hilfer Church a lot more, because of its simple facade. At that point we noticed getting hungry again so we went to a place called Maschu Maschu to have the best falafel in town. On the way there our NEW umbrella broke down - well spent 10 euros, I was pissed! Amber met us at the restaurant, and she (amazing Amber) brought us each an umbrella. Which naturally resulted in it not raining at all anymore.
At this point we were totally frozen so we decided to go home to get more clothes. On the way we stumbled upon the Hundertwasserhaus that we had planned on seeing anyway. We had a look at this amazing house that was designed by the architects Josef Krawina and Peter Pelikan and the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. It is a beautiful building with 52 apartments, 4 offices, 16 private and 3 shared roof terasses. Unfortunately it isn't possible to see how the building looks like on the inside, since the apartments are private. How amazing would it be to know someone who lives there, that way it would be possible to see how it looks like on the inside. The artist Hundertwasser has designed several other buildings that are also called Hundertwasser houses, but the one in Vienna is the most famous one.
With some warmer clothes we continued to Wiener Prater, which is a a huge public park close to Vienna city centre. The name most likely derives from the Latin word pratum which means meadow, but there are also other more unlikely explanations for of the name. The park is situated in the 2nd district and on one corner of it there is a amusement area called Wurstelprater, which also is the home of the famous ferris wheel, Wiener Riesenrad.
After having dinner at a Balkan restaurant we finished off the evening at the royal part of Vienna having a look at the Hofburg Palace area, which has been the documented seat of government since 1279 for various empires and republics.
Vienna is a beautiful city and way too big to discover in just two days. I saw very much, but still there was so much that I didn't see. The history of the Austria and Vienna is amazingly interesting and of grave importance to European history. Austria was a portal between Prussia and Rome and the roots of the royal families go way back. I am sure to go back one day to see more of this beautiful but windy city (with some more clothes the next time...) But firstly I will see to that I watch the Sisi-movies, which give a good look into Austrian history. Finally I have to say that even though the weather wasn't co-operating, I had a great time and fell in love with this charming capital.
I love these small streets, it would be great to get to live by one of these some day.
I arrived in Vienna late, my flight landed at half past ten and Alina picked me up. After getting my bag and taking the train to the center, Alina lives in the 3rd district, it was already half past eleven and we were completely exhausted. Very unlike of young girls, we decided to go to bed, so that we could get up early in the morning. Alina lives in a beautiful 4-room-apartment together with two guys, Lex and Benji. Vienna is divided in 23 districts of which the city centre with the royal buildings is the 1st district. Like I said before, Alina lives in the 3rd district, which is also called the embassy district, because most of the embassies are situated there, including the Finnish embassy.
Horror-bathroom in Vienna.
Old-style stairs.
On Saturday our plan was to go see the Spanish Royal Riding School of Vienna. The Lipizzaner horses are on summer holiday at the moment, but they have a practice called "morning work", which takes place from 10-12. I have to give it to the Austrians, they are generous enough to offer a student discount almost everywhere, which of course is amazing. On morning work the riding school gives you a 50 % student discount, and I think on most other events as well. On Thursday 07.07. they would have had a huge ball at the riding school, which made me very sad, since I was there one week to early. The ticket for the ball would have been very expensive, but I'm sure it would have been a night to remember. I decided to do it at some point though. In the future.
I want one of those hats too!
The manege at morning practice.
Birdie watching the horses practice.
After seeing the beautiful white horses (and one black) we were starving, so we headed to the museum quartier to have breakfast. At the Leopold-museum there was a restaurant and they had the most delicious breakfast. We went there on Sunday as well... Upon planning the weekend I had told Alina that I didn't have any other special wishes on the program, except for the riding school, but I didn't want to do shopping. Still we decided to go to the Maria-Hilfer-Straße, which is the main shopping street in Vienna. There was a beautiful church called Mariahilfer Church, from which I somehow got a very Italian feeling. Running around on the shopping street we at some point noticed that it was already late, so we decided to get a coffee at a coffee shop called das Möbel, which means as much as "the piece of furniture". The reason for the name is the fact that you can actually buy the furniture in the cafe. The furniture is made by young designers and the concept is also created by them.
You could call Vienna the city of horses:
they are everywhere, on wall, statues, in shops... You name it!
they are everywhere, on wall, statues, in shops... You name it!
The yard at the museum quartier was full of colorful plastic sofas where chilling at sunny weather would've been amazing. Well, I guess the weather didn't want me to try that.
The beautiful Mariahilfer Church was built between 1686 and 1689.
The Mariahilfer Church has an impressive wooden altar.
Ambiente of das Möbel.
In the evening we got ready for a night on the town with Alinas friend Amber. After having a few drinks we headed to the Naschmarkt, which is the most popular market in Vienna. It is really big and there are both restaurants and stands where you can buy food. When we got there at about eleven in the evening, all the stands were naturally closed, but there were some restaurants open and we stayed at one which name I don't remember. The food was fantastic though, I had lamb chops with rosemary potatoes and veggies and it was totally delicious. After dinner we went to a club which Alinas colleague had suggested, she had said that it is THE place to go while in Vienna and that it was a must. Well, we were totally disappointed. The club was called Passage and at that night there was the 30 Seconds To Mars after party. We paid 15 euros entrance and it sucked. The music was bad, the people were too drunk and the service was horrible. On the way out I told the guys at the wardrobe that if they wanted to get tips they should help the ladies with their jackets instead of just standing there chatting with each other.
In Vienna there are a lot of funny commercials at the stations.
When we came home the boys were watching a film - well Lex was, Benji was napping on the couch. Alina stayed and watched the movie for a bit, but I went to bed, I was exhausted! I guess I'm getting too old for the party scene...
For Sunday we had planned a big sightseeing tour, but the weather wasn't on our side. We started off with breakfast in Leopold - again. While there it started raining - no pouring, so we ran across the yard to the museum quartier and had a look at the gift shop and the book store. We got an umbrella and I found a great book on photography. Next we headed to the cathedral Stephansdom and had a look inside. It is a very beautiful church, but I liked the Maria Hilfer Church a lot more, because of its simple facade. At that point we noticed getting hungry again so we went to a place called Maschu Maschu to have the best falafel in town. On the way there our NEW umbrella broke down - well spent 10 euros, I was pissed! Amber met us at the restaurant, and she (amazing Amber) brought us each an umbrella. Which naturally resulted in it not raining at all anymore.
Delicious breakfast at Leopold.
At this point we were totally frozen so we decided to go home to get more clothes. On the way we stumbled upon the Hundertwasserhaus that we had planned on seeing anyway. We had a look at this amazing house that was designed by the architects Josef Krawina and Peter Pelikan and the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. It is a beautiful building with 52 apartments, 4 offices, 16 private and 3 shared roof terasses. Unfortunately it isn't possible to see how the building looks like on the inside, since the apartments are private. How amazing would it be to know someone who lives there, that way it would be possible to see how it looks like on the inside. The artist Hundertwasser has designed several other buildings that are also called Hundertwasser houses, but the one in Vienna is the most famous one.
The Hundertwasserhaus has a beautiful colorful facade.
With some warmer clothes we continued to Wiener Prater, which is a a huge public park close to Vienna city centre. The name most likely derives from the Latin word pratum which means meadow, but there are also other more unlikely explanations for of the name. The park is situated in the 2nd district and on one corner of it there is a amusement area called Wurstelprater, which also is the home of the famous ferris wheel, Wiener Riesenrad.
The Wiener Riesenrad was one of the earliest Ferris wheels,
erected in 1897 to celebrate Emperor Franz Josef I's golden jubilee.
erected in 1897 to celebrate Emperor Franz Josef I's golden jubilee.
Vienna hovering in wind and rain.
Two friends enjoying the warmth of the ferris wheel cabin.
After having dinner at a Balkan restaurant we finished off the evening at the royal part of Vienna having a look at the Hofburg Palace area, which has been the documented seat of government since 1279 for various empires and republics.
The Hofburg Palace was supposed to be built as a round fortress, but the construction
was interrupted by the war, and then they hadn't an empire anymore...
was interrupted by the war, and then they hadn't an empire anymore...
The subway station at the royal area is called Herrengasse,
which means as much as the lords alley.
which means as much as the lords alley.
Vienna is a beautiful city and way too big to discover in just two days. I saw very much, but still there was so much that I didn't see. The history of the Austria and Vienna is amazingly interesting and of grave importance to European history. Austria was a portal between Prussia and Rome and the roots of the royal families go way back. I am sure to go back one day to see more of this beautiful but windy city (with some more clothes the next time...) But firstly I will see to that I watch the Sisi-movies, which give a good look into Austrian history. Finally I have to say that even though the weather wasn't co-operating, I had a great time and fell in love with this charming capital.
Little time and a lot to do.
torstai 30. kesäkuuta 2011
Culture and other fun
This week was kind of stressful. I was actually going to go dancing tonight at Clärchen's like every Thursday, but I decided to take one night off. This upcoming weekend I will have enough to do anyway. I am going to Vienna to visit my friend Alina this weekend. But first I will tell you a bit about my week.
On Monday I googled free things to do in Berlin, and I found something great. Every Monday you can visit Deutsche Guggenheim for free. So I asked my spanish co-worker Ana if she wanted to go, she was thrilled! That day it was very hot again and the way to the city was a bit tiring. When we arrived we were quit disapponted to find that the museum was inbetween exhibitions. We were one week too late... Luckily the next exhibiton will open on the 8th of July, so I will get the chance to see it.
The next evening I was invited to the birthday party from my dancing friend Thomas. The party was held in the bar Graues Kloster which I told you about earlier and we had great fun! There was a lot of people in that small bar, we had chocolate cake and sparkling wine. All in all a very nice evening with wonderful people. I am so happy to have had the opportunity to get to know such fabulous people and I sincerely hope to keep in touch with them even after I leave Berlin. Which is already in one month! Terrible how fast time goes.
Yesterday the amazing week went on. Me and my flatmate Miriam had planned to go to the theatre, well to one of the many in Berlin. The theathre is just next to the Monbijou park where I go dancing on Tuesdays. It is called Hexenkessel, which means as much as the witch's pot. It is an amphitheatre just next to the river Spree and they play comedies. The theatre is build out of wood and the stage is a beautiful three-storie stairway-like construction. I loved it! The play we saw was the Servant of Two Masters which is the most famous play by the italian playwright Carlo Coldoni. It was a great play with completely exaggerated colorful characters and energetic acting. You can read about the plot here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_of_Two_Masters. It was a blast! I really intend to see the two other plays that run there this summer: The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare and The Imaginary Invalid, a three-act comédie-ballet byt the French playwright Molière.
While waiting to be let into the theatre I discovered a cool van, where you could buy frozen yoghurt. The ice cream was made of sweetend natur yoghurt, there were a lot of choices for toppings and it was absolutely delicious. It was so much better than regular ice cream, it wasn't all too sweet and I chose the perfect toppings: blueberries and strawberries. The company is called Yo'Munchy and it was founded in 2010. It became extremely popular in just one season - a shooting star, like they say on their website. Like I said, they sell the frozen yoghurt from a van, changing locations frequently. I was thrilled, and I will absolutely go back to get more! Check out the website: http://www.yomunchy.com/
The weather has been playing crazy lately. I don't understand why it can't be some 24 degrees and sunny, no it is either unbearable 30 degrees or freezing 16 degrees. I've noticed by following weather forecasts that Berlin seems to be the warmest city in Germany. It's always colder everywhere else. Except for the winter. My flatmate said that it gets quite cold, even up to 20 degrees at most extreme. Which doesn't seem that much for a finn. Damn greenhouse effect.
Tomorrow I'm going to Vienna like I said. The only thing I planned is to visit the royal spanish riding school, and I am very much excited about it! Everything else will be spontaneous, but I'm sure I will have a lot to tell once I get back.
On Monday I googled free things to do in Berlin, and I found something great. Every Monday you can visit Deutsche Guggenheim for free. So I asked my spanish co-worker Ana if she wanted to go, she was thrilled! That day it was very hot again and the way to the city was a bit tiring. When we arrived we were quit disapponted to find that the museum was inbetween exhibitions. We were one week too late... Luckily the next exhibiton will open on the 8th of July, so I will get the chance to see it.
The next evening I was invited to the birthday party from my dancing friend Thomas. The party was held in the bar Graues Kloster which I told you about earlier and we had great fun! There was a lot of people in that small bar, we had chocolate cake and sparkling wine. All in all a very nice evening with wonderful people. I am so happy to have had the opportunity to get to know such fabulous people and I sincerely hope to keep in touch with them even after I leave Berlin. Which is already in one month! Terrible how fast time goes.
Yesterday the amazing week went on. Me and my flatmate Miriam had planned to go to the theatre, well to one of the many in Berlin. The theathre is just next to the Monbijou park where I go dancing on Tuesdays. It is called Hexenkessel, which means as much as the witch's pot. It is an amphitheatre just next to the river Spree and they play comedies. The theatre is build out of wood and the stage is a beautiful three-storie stairway-like construction. I loved it! The play we saw was the Servant of Two Masters which is the most famous play by the italian playwright Carlo Coldoni. It was a great play with completely exaggerated colorful characters and energetic acting. You can read about the plot here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_of_Two_Masters. It was a blast! I really intend to see the two other plays that run there this summer: The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare and The Imaginary Invalid, a three-act comédie-ballet byt the French playwright Molière.
While waiting to be let into the theatre I discovered a cool van, where you could buy frozen yoghurt. The ice cream was made of sweetend natur yoghurt, there were a lot of choices for toppings and it was absolutely delicious. It was so much better than regular ice cream, it wasn't all too sweet and I chose the perfect toppings: blueberries and strawberries. The company is called Yo'Munchy and it was founded in 2010. It became extremely popular in just one season - a shooting star, like they say on their website. Like I said, they sell the frozen yoghurt from a van, changing locations frequently. I was thrilled, and I will absolutely go back to get more! Check out the website: http://www.yomunchy.com/
The weather has been playing crazy lately. I don't understand why it can't be some 24 degrees and sunny, no it is either unbearable 30 degrees or freezing 16 degrees. I've noticed by following weather forecasts that Berlin seems to be the warmest city in Germany. It's always colder everywhere else. Except for the winter. My flatmate said that it gets quite cold, even up to 20 degrees at most extreme. Which doesn't seem that much for a finn. Damn greenhouse effect.
Tomorrow I'm going to Vienna like I said. The only thing I planned is to visit the royal spanish riding school, and I am very much excited about it! Everything else will be spontaneous, but I'm sure I will have a lot to tell once I get back.
sunnuntai 26. kesäkuuta 2011
Busy busy week
Like I wrote last time, my mum was visiting. She was here for a week and we had a great time. It was a bit stressful because we had so much we wanted to do, and I was exhausted on Friday when she left. But it was all totally worth it! I hadn't planned that much in advance, I just had some thoughts on what we could do and then we did everything quite spontaneously. Me and my mum are very close, so I ha a pretty good idea on what she would like to do.
After taking it quite easily on Sunday we decided to go shopping on Monday. We started of here in Charlottenburg with a couple of shops after which we spent a couple of hours having a look at the Pergamon museum. It was very interesting to look at all the huge pieces of walls and gates from different countries, I couldn't but wonder how they'd got it all into the museum. The museum is situated on the Museum Island and it is the newest one of the museums on the island. It was designed by Ludwig Hoffmann and Alfred Messel and build in thirty years from 1910 to 1930. The Pergamon houses original-sized reconstructed monumental buildings such as the Pergamon altar, the Market Gate of Miletus and the Ishtar Gate, all consisting of parts transported from Turkey. The museum is subdivided into the antiquity collection, the Middle East museum, and the museum of Islamic art and visited by approximately 850,000 people every year, making it the most visited art museum in Germany. It was all very impressive and interesting, at least the buildings and the miniature models. I don't find all the artefacts that great, but I love the miniatures. I find it very interesting to see how the cities looked like and I like to imagine what the life was like. It was the first time for me to see original-sized models though, and I really was full of awe!
Back to shopping, my mum said that she needed a new dress for her goddaughters confirmation ceremony, so we headed to Friedrichstrasse/Hackescher Markt to raid the shops. Since I know my mothers style quite well, I only took her to some chosen shops, and not quite unexpectedly she found some nice things at one of my favourite shops, Mango. The fact that everything was reduced didn't make things worse... After quite the exhausting and long day of shopping we were quite hungry and headed to Alexanderplatz to look for a restaurant. I had planned to introduce my mother to the wonders of the German speciality curry sausage, but I couldn't find a good place, so we decided to have dinner at a italian restaurant just next to the Fernsehturm. It was called Linosa's and it was really worth the search. The food was amazing and the service too. After finishing dinner with an apfelstrudel and fresh strawberries with mascarpone we headed to the tower. The weather was a bit cloudy, but the view was still wonderful! Up there I realized my orientation was a bit wrong, I found that the distance between some place was shorter that I had thought. I like it very much to see a city from above, because that way it's easier to get a good picture of where everything is. Especially in Berlin, the huge city that it is, where you mostly travel underground with the metro and just come up wherever. It's difficult to get the bigger picture that way. Just like I said earlier about the miniature models that I like so much: it's for the same reason. While in the tower it started getting dark and on the way home we stopped at the Brandenburg Gate, which looked beautiful in the dark with all the lights.
On Tuesday we decided to take it a bit easier again, so we headed to the zoo. At the hippo and nyala pen we had an interesting experience. The hippo came out of the water, started chasing the baby nyalas, which didn't make the daddy nyala very happy. He started chasing the hippo and pushed him forward with his horns. It was a very funny situation and quite a lot people gathered around. The zoo also had lion cubs and they were so cute! We came to the wildcat house just in time for the feeding and the big lions were walking around nervously waiting for their food. My favourite animal was although not the lion cubs but the siberian ibex goats. They are mountain habitats and very agile and hardy, able to climb on bare rock and survive on sparse vegetation. I could have watched them all day jumping up the steep rocks. It was amazing how even the babys just jumped around on the high rocks without any trouble.
For Wednesday we had planned to go to Potsdam to see the park Sanssouci, and we were a bit worried that I would rain. We had luck though, the weather was fantastic and we enjoyed a beautiful day in the most amazing park. We started of the with the Neues Palais, which is a palace in the western end of the park. The building was begun in 1763, after the end of the Seven Years War under the reign of Frederick the Great and it was completed in 1769. For the King, the New Palace was not a principal residence, but a display for the reception of important royals and dignitaries. Of the over 200 rooms, four principal gathering rooms and a theater were available for royal functions, balls and state occasions. During his occasional stays at the palace, Frederick occupied a suite of rooms at the southern end of the building, composed of two antechambers, a study, a concert room, a dining salon and a bedroom, among others. The palace was the most amazing building I've ever seen I again I imagined what it would've been like to live, or even visit there. The walls of the hall in the ground floor was covered in shells formed in shapes of see animals and it was the most glorious room I've ever seen. The rooms were decorated mostly in rococo style, which actually wasn't fashionable anymore at that time, but due to the king's admiration of this style. On the second floor there was a 600 sqare metre dancing hall with a 240 square metre painting in the ceiling. The park itself is huge, 289 ha and there are many buildings including the Neptune Grotto, the Antique Temple, the Orangerie Palace and many more. Back in Berlin we went to have dinner at a Greek Restaurant. We took a surprise platter which was huge, and we were so full afterwards that we could have rolled home.
The last day was Thursday and we decided to do some more shopping. We went to Kurfürstendamm walked around a bit, went to see the old and the new church, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche and had a look at KaDeWe. In the evening we had dinner reservation at a restaurant called Lutter & Wegner seit 1811. It is a historical restaurant in southern Charlottenburg that started as a wine store. In 1851 Lutter & Wegner was appointed as the royal supplier of wines and later the store was a popular meeting place for artists like Marlene Dietrich and Josephine Baker. During the war the shop was destroyed and after the war they opened a new shop that later developed into a restaurant. Through its history Lutter & Wegner has become a cult and it is an experience to have dinner there. We started of with a soup and a salad, the main course was schnitzel with potatoe salad and as dessert we had creme brûlee. All very delicious. If you want to have good food in a traditional atmosphere, I can really recommend this restaurant.
When my mother left for the airport on Friday morning I went to work, thinking that I'd sleep all weekend. In the evening I still decided to go to a party with my flat mate and her husband. It was good fun and I met some nice people. On Saturday I went to see the exhibitions of Helmut Newton and Abisag Tüllmann. Helmut Newton was a fashion photographer who raised a lot of controversial feelings with his provocative erotic pictures. He changed the field of fashion photography and got to shoot for Vogue, YSL, Playboy and other large publications and fashion designers. Abisag Tüllman on the other hand was a photojournalist and theatre photographer who took pictures at demonstrations, political events and theatre plays. I found the pictures of Tüllmann more interesting because of the news value, but then again all the beautiful colours of Newtons polaroid pictures were very fascinating.
Yesterday night I had another first one: my first night out in Berlin. We started of at a cocktail bar with some of Matts friends and went to a couple of clubs finally ending up at Graues Kloster. We got home at 5.30 in the morning, but it was a great night! Next weekend will be great as well, I'm going to visit a friend in Vienna... Til then...
After taking it quite easily on Sunday we decided to go shopping on Monday. We started of here in Charlottenburg with a couple of shops after which we spent a couple of hours having a look at the Pergamon museum. It was very interesting to look at all the huge pieces of walls and gates from different countries, I couldn't but wonder how they'd got it all into the museum. The museum is situated on the Museum Island and it is the newest one of the museums on the island. It was designed by Ludwig Hoffmann and Alfred Messel and build in thirty years from 1910 to 1930. The Pergamon houses original-sized reconstructed monumental buildings such as the Pergamon altar, the Market Gate of Miletus and the Ishtar Gate, all consisting of parts transported from Turkey. The museum is subdivided into the antiquity collection, the Middle East museum, and the museum of Islamic art and visited by approximately 850,000 people every year, making it the most visited art museum in Germany. It was all very impressive and interesting, at least the buildings and the miniature models. I don't find all the artefacts that great, but I love the miniatures. I find it very interesting to see how the cities looked like and I like to imagine what the life was like. It was the first time for me to see original-sized models though, and I really was full of awe!
Back to shopping, my mum said that she needed a new dress for her goddaughters confirmation ceremony, so we headed to Friedrichstrasse/Hackescher Markt to raid the shops. Since I know my mothers style quite well, I only took her to some chosen shops, and not quite unexpectedly she found some nice things at one of my favourite shops, Mango. The fact that everything was reduced didn't make things worse... After quite the exhausting and long day of shopping we were quite hungry and headed to Alexanderplatz to look for a restaurant. I had planned to introduce my mother to the wonders of the German speciality curry sausage, but I couldn't find a good place, so we decided to have dinner at a italian restaurant just next to the Fernsehturm. It was called Linosa's and it was really worth the search. The food was amazing and the service too. After finishing dinner with an apfelstrudel and fresh strawberries with mascarpone we headed to the tower. The weather was a bit cloudy, but the view was still wonderful! Up there I realized my orientation was a bit wrong, I found that the distance between some place was shorter that I had thought. I like it very much to see a city from above, because that way it's easier to get a good picture of where everything is. Especially in Berlin, the huge city that it is, where you mostly travel underground with the metro and just come up wherever. It's difficult to get the bigger picture that way. Just like I said earlier about the miniature models that I like so much: it's for the same reason. While in the tower it started getting dark and on the way home we stopped at the Brandenburg Gate, which looked beautiful in the dark with all the lights.
Having dinner at Linosa's
On Tuesday we decided to take it a bit easier again, so we headed to the zoo. At the hippo and nyala pen we had an interesting experience. The hippo came out of the water, started chasing the baby nyalas, which didn't make the daddy nyala very happy. He started chasing the hippo and pushed him forward with his horns. It was a very funny situation and quite a lot people gathered around. The zoo also had lion cubs and they were so cute! We came to the wildcat house just in time for the feeding and the big lions were walking around nervously waiting for their food. My favourite animal was although not the lion cubs but the siberian ibex goats. They are mountain habitats and very agile and hardy, able to climb on bare rock and survive on sparse vegetation. I could have watched them all day jumping up the steep rocks. It was amazing how even the babys just jumped around on the high rocks without any trouble.
The nyala was protecting his kids from the mean mean hippo
A bear enjoying the sun
The pelican was very social and probably would
have bitten me if I had given him my hand
have bitten me if I had given him my hand
For Wednesday we had planned to go to Potsdam to see the park Sanssouci, and we were a bit worried that I would rain. We had luck though, the weather was fantastic and we enjoyed a beautiful day in the most amazing park. We started of the with the Neues Palais, which is a palace in the western end of the park. The building was begun in 1763, after the end of the Seven Years War under the reign of Frederick the Great and it was completed in 1769. For the King, the New Palace was not a principal residence, but a display for the reception of important royals and dignitaries. Of the over 200 rooms, four principal gathering rooms and a theater were available for royal functions, balls and state occasions. During his occasional stays at the palace, Frederick occupied a suite of rooms at the southern end of the building, composed of two antechambers, a study, a concert room, a dining salon and a bedroom, among others. The palace was the most amazing building I've ever seen I again I imagined what it would've been like to live, or even visit there. The walls of the hall in the ground floor was covered in shells formed in shapes of see animals and it was the most glorious room I've ever seen. The rooms were decorated mostly in rococo style, which actually wasn't fashionable anymore at that time, but due to the king's admiration of this style. On the second floor there was a 600 sqare metre dancing hall with a 240 square metre painting in the ceiling. The park itself is huge, 289 ha and there are many buildings including the Neptune Grotto, the Antique Temple, the Orangerie Palace and many more. Back in Berlin we went to have dinner at a Greek Restaurant. We took a surprise platter which was huge, and we were so full afterwards that we could have rolled home.
The chinese tea house in Park Sanssouci
The view upon Potsdam from the tower of the Orangerie Palace
The last day was Thursday and we decided to do some more shopping. We went to Kurfürstendamm walked around a bit, went to see the old and the new church, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche and had a look at KaDeWe. In the evening we had dinner reservation at a restaurant called Lutter & Wegner seit 1811. It is a historical restaurant in southern Charlottenburg that started as a wine store. In 1851 Lutter & Wegner was appointed as the royal supplier of wines and later the store was a popular meeting place for artists like Marlene Dietrich and Josephine Baker. During the war the shop was destroyed and after the war they opened a new shop that later developed into a restaurant. Through its history Lutter & Wegner has become a cult and it is an experience to have dinner there. We started of with a soup and a salad, the main course was schnitzel with potatoe salad and as dessert we had creme brûlee. All very delicious. If you want to have good food in a traditional atmosphere, I can really recommend this restaurant.
Having cake an tea at the dutch quarter in Potsdam
Some dutch style houses in Potsdam
When my mother left for the airport on Friday morning I went to work, thinking that I'd sleep all weekend. In the evening I still decided to go to a party with my flat mate and her husband. It was good fun and I met some nice people. On Saturday I went to see the exhibitions of Helmut Newton and Abisag Tüllmann. Helmut Newton was a fashion photographer who raised a lot of controversial feelings with his provocative erotic pictures. He changed the field of fashion photography and got to shoot for Vogue, YSL, Playboy and other large publications and fashion designers. Abisag Tüllman on the other hand was a photojournalist and theatre photographer who took pictures at demonstrations, political events and theatre plays. I found the pictures of Tüllmann more interesting because of the news value, but then again all the beautiful colours of Newtons polaroid pictures were very fascinating.
Yesterday night I had another first one: my first night out in Berlin. We started of at a cocktail bar with some of Matts friends and went to a couple of clubs finally ending up at Graues Kloster. We got home at 5.30 in the morning, but it was a great night! Next weekend will be great as well, I'm going to visit a friend in Vienna... Til then...
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