General Archives ⋆ Page 6 of 42 ⋆ The Passenger

July 13, 2022December 7, 2022

Boulders, birches and the Baltic sea

I’ve always enjoyed being at Scandinavia. Maybe it is because of the special nature of this region, the large forests and many lakes, the rocks and the quietness of the countryside. Or it is because of the friendly people and special animals living there. Who knows? After several trips to Sweden I had still not yet seen Finland and thought that this is a gap worth to be closed. I just needed the right point in time to pack my bag.

July 10, 2022December 4, 2022

HelsinkiCard

When you visit Helsinki you should consider buying a HelsinkiCard from your hotel. It is available for one to three days and gives you free access to public transport and all major sights. It is nothing for people sleeping long and having a relaxed day; but if you like to really explore the city and you’re interested in the museums it can save you a lot of money.

July 9, 2022November 29, 2022

This is the end

Sunrise Avenue, Olympiastadion, Helsinki

I can’t estimate how many times I sang the song Fairytale Gone Bad by the Finnish band Sunrise Avenue on SingStar (remember the karaoke game on PlayStation?). It is one of the two songs I’m able to perform quite acceptable (with the other one being Du schreibst Geschichte by the German Indie Rock band Madsen). But I had also heard songs like Hollywood Hills, Heartbreak Century or Thank You For Everything numerous times on radio.

July 6, 2022November 20, 2022

Alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt

Since 1986 the Kulturzelt is a tradition at Kassel. Every year in summer well-known and lesser known artists fill a large tent close to the orangery with music. And the area next to river Fulda gives you the chance to spend a nice evening outside with friends and a good drink. This year I came here to see a solo performance of Daniel Pongratz, also known as Danger Dan, the singer of the left-wing hip-hop band Antilopen Gang.

July 5, 2022November 20, 2022

Chili Peppers

There are many good bands that contributed to the soundtrack of my life. One of them are the Red Hot Chili Peppers from Los Angeles and one day I had to simply see them live on stage. This year they were playing on my birthday at the Müngersdorfer Stadion of Köln, Germany. And as I tend to travel on birthdays to avoid the classic celebrations I couldn’t resist partying with the RHCP.

June 21, 2022September 21, 2022

documenta fifteen

The fifteenth version of the contemporary art exhibition documenta happened in Kassel from June 18th to September 25th, 2022. It was curated by ruangrupa, an Indonesian artist collective that applied the principle of lumbung, the Indonesian tradition of a collectively used rice barn.

June 19, 2022November 20, 2022

Pearl of the Adriatic

Visiting Dubrovnik, Croatia, is a special pleasure. It is a medieval trade city with high walls, beautiful houses and streets made of ancient stones. A place with two wonderful harbors and an atmosphere that makes it easy for you to travel back in time. A place that is for very good reasons listed in the UNESCO world heritage site list as a whole. And it is an amazing place for canoeing around historic sights. As much as you need to see Venezia once in a lifetime you need to see Dubrovnik.

June 17, 2022October 10, 2022

How to play the game

Libertas (freedom), that is the motto of Dubrovnik and it is also the name of the company providing the local bus system. From 1910 to 1970 Dubrovnik also had a tramway system with orange tramways; the only thing that survived is the color which is now used for the buses. The network isn’t too large and therefore it is easy to hop around – especially as most routes stop at the city gates called Pile and Ploče (which give you direct access to the touristic highlights).

June 17, 2022November 30, 2022

DubrovnikCard

Like in every city visited by many tourists there is also a tourist card for Dubrovnik. It is available in many hotels and also at the tourist offices. You can buy the DubrovnikCard or Dubrovnik Pass for one day, three days or a whole week and it is worth the money. The card is your entrance to the city walls, the Franciscan monastery, the Rector’s Palace and different museums like the maritime museum, the ethnographic museum, the small but good natural history museum and the great museum of modern art.

June 16, 2022October 10, 2022

Hakuna matata

Since 1994 the official currency of Croatia is the Kuna (divided into 100 Lipa). The name dates back to the time when the fur of martens had been used as a currency – the Croatian word for marten is kuna. So you’re paying with martens in Croatia. 😉 But that will all end in 2023 when the Euro becomes the currency of the country. Fortunately the marten will stay – it is shown on the Croatian Euro coins.