General Archives ⋆ Page 10 of 44 ⋆ The Passenger

April 18, 2022April 29, 2022

Museums, Gardens, Atoms & Europe

ICE International, Gare du Nord, Bruxelles

The decision to visit Bruxelles was taken by the collector in me, wanting to visit all capital cities in Europe. I’ve been to Belgium in my youth and later visited Bruges on my way to the Mont-Saint-Michel, but so far, I had only been stuck in the traffic jam around Bruxelles. By that time, I didn’t know what kind of beautiful city I was surrounding and how many wonderful places I didn’t visit because I hadn’t planned a stop at the Belgian capital.

April 16, 2022April 25, 2022

BrusselsCard

It is one of the standard questions upfront to every city trip: Shall I pay the entrance to all sights individually or buy a package upfront? In case of my typical museum marathons, it is most often good to search for cards and packages. In case of Bruxelles, the BrusselsCard was the perfect choice for me. It offers a package of forty-nine museums covering nearly all I wanted to see, and it also has an option for visiting the Atomium without waiting in line.

April 15, 2022April 25, 2022

Local transport

Getting around using public transport in Bruxelles is easy and hassle-free. The system consists of a combination of metro, tramway, and bus lines. What I really enjoyed was the consistency of ticketing options throughout all systems: you can always either use your credit card or VPay debit card as a ticket (blue validation machines) or buy a special multiticket pass and validate it on the red machines when entering a vehicle.

November 27, 2021April 13, 2022

Three islands

Malta is a set of islands in the Mediterranean Sea between Italy and Northern Africa. Once connected to Sicily it developed a rich cultural heritage. Because of its strategic position it saw many rulers come and go, including the Knights Hospitaller and the British leaving their visible traces on the islands. As an important base during the Crusades or as an unsinkable air-carrier during World War II, war has always shaped the past of the islands.

November 26, 2021April 13, 2022

Fun with ferries

When you’re visiting Malta, you shouldn’t leave at the two smaller islands: Comino and Gozo. Comino is free of cars and has the wonderful blue lagoon as its main site. Gozo is much larger, offers amazing flat-top mountains, rocky beaches, and lots of history. If you want to get there you need to take ferry boats, all starting in Cirkewwa at the northern end of the main island.

November 24, 2021April 13, 2022

Car or coach?

Malta is a small country, and the size is nearly equal to the city of Bremen, Germany. If you want to explore it the obvious question is: shall I take a rental car or is public transport sufficient? The answer is dependent on your preferences, driving skills and the time you intend to spend on the islands.

November 22, 2021February 10, 2022

Lift me up

Valletta has been created on the Mount Sciberras and therefore you’re confronted with some inclination when you visit it. Especially when you arrive by cruise ship or want to pass by ferry boat to the Three Cities you need to climb up next to the Upper Barrakka Gardens. To make life easier the Barrakka Lift was created there and operated from 1905 to 1973.

November 22, 2021April 22, 2022

Ferry time

The capital city of Malta, Valletta, is located on a headland facing the Mediterranean sea North and south of it are harbors and important cities can be found on the land behind. In the north it is Sliema and St. Julians that are modern cities with lots of hotels. In the south the Three Cities Cospicua, Senglea and Vittoriosa can be found with their ancient city structures. Maybe you choose a hotel in these areas, for sure you want to visit them and best to do so is taking one of the ferry boats.

November 14, 2021February 9, 2023

Gloria

Over the last decades cinemas have been facing a lot of concentration. Smaller ones are often lost and instead people visit larger multiplex movie theaters with the most modern technology, good catering, and most comfortable seats. But something gets lost if cinema would only mean multiplex cinemas. Fortunately, in Kassel smaller cinemas remained and one of them is the Gloria at the Ständeplatz, close to the city center.

October 31, 2021April 14, 2022

Sigá, sigá

Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and currently the most eastern part of the European Union. In fact, it is incredibly close to states like Syria or Lebanon. It is known as the island of Aphrodite (or Venus) and it has an interesting history. The whole island is part of the EU, but it is a divided island with an occupied Turkish northern part. Cyprus is a good place for a summer holiday, and it seems to be to the Russians what Mallorca means to the Germans. And it is a place for relaxation which can already be seen in the local philosophy of life: sigá, sigá; always slowly, always relaxed.