Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
I’ve been to Berlin, Germany many times in my life but I’ve only seen Berlin-Mitte and the surrounding areas attracting many visitors. But Berlin has also a rural side you can best explore between Berlin-Spandau and Potsdam: two small cities, Gatow and Kladow, spread a totally different atmosphere. Continue reading “Rural Berlin”
One of those destinations I was visiting most often during my childhood and youth was Amsterdam, the Netherlands. That is because of a very good train connection leading there and my father being an employee of the German railway company (“Deutsche Bundesbahn“, later “Deutsche Bahn“). It was very cheap for us to travel by train, even internationally. Continue reading “Amsterdam again”
There are approximately 200 canals with a length of 80 kilometers in Amsterdam, the Netherlands shaping the image of the city. Most important is the Grachtengordel – a system of four canals (Singel, Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht) surrounding the city core in rings. They are typically 27 meters wide and 2,4 meters in depth. Continue reading “Canal cruising”
I’ve been to Amsterdam, the Netherlands many times during the last ten years but I never got the opportunity to explore the Rijksmuseum in its full beauty. On my last trip is was at least partly opened, since April 2013 the renovation works were finished. And that is why we could finally see every part of it – including “De Nachtwacht” (“The Night Watch“) of Rembrandt van Rijn. Continue reading “Reopened Rijksmuseum”
I came to Ingolstadt, Germany to watch a soccer match – but as always I also explored the city and found a middle-sized and nice city center. Ingolstadt has 133.000 inhabitants and is the #5 city within the federal state of Bavaria. The city was first named in 806 CE and became a state fortress in 1537 – the results can still be seen on the city map. Continue reading “Down in Oberbayern”
After working as an exhibitor for the University of Göttingen on the CeBIT fair for a whole week I was through with fairs and exhibitions. I wasn’t interested in visiting them anymore. But new jobs bring new necessities: nowadays I’m an annual guest to the E-World fair in Essen, Germany – the get-together of the German Energy business. Continue reading “Energy business”
The city of Lübeck, Germany is a very old town that became rich by trading goods. The old city center which looks like an island and is surrounded by arms of the river Trave became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1987. Famous is also a small town belonging to Lübeck: Travemünde. It is a well-known beach with a very high and ugly hotel complex directly at the shore.
Northern Italy is always a wonderful place to be, but it is especially great during the time of Santa Lucia, when the towns are enlighted and the falling snow mixes with the fragrance of mulled wine. In Verona there is a huge christmas market on the Piazza Brà (including a giant metal shooting star leading out of the Arena) and a traditional German christmas market at the Piazza dei Signori. Maybe it is the best time of the year to pass by and enjoy a prolongued weekend at this share of the country.
Continue reading “Northern Italy at the time of Santa Lucia”
The Albergo Torcolo in Verona, Italy is a hotel I returned to multiple times during the last years. It is a very small and narrow hotel with old-style furniture – nothing really special one would say. But there are two reasons why I always love to be there; the first is the very friendly family running the hotel. You immediatly feel at home and it is possible to switch between Italian, English and German in just one sentence at the reception.
One of the most beautiful railway tracks I can imagine is the “Brennerbahn” (Ferrovia del Brennero) crossing the Alps from Germany via Austria to Italy. It dates back to 1864 and has a maximum inclination of 25%. While the train goes in slopes through the mountains you can sit back and enjoy wonderful views. Especially in winter time the fir trees loaded with snow look great.