General Archives ⋆ Page 8 of 43 ⋆ The Passenger

May 29, 2022June 9, 2022

Converging city

Travelling to Bulgaria for most people means to go to beaches at the Black Sea in the East. The beaches there are at least in Germany marketed with special names like Goldstrand (golden beach, Варна) or Sonnenstrand (sun beach, Несебър). As the prices are significantly lower than in Western Europe, many people book cheap travel packages. But in those beach areas you won’t find out much about the country, its past and its culture. Even though the capital city София is not a typical tourist destination it was worth very much to be explored.

May 27, 2022May 30, 2022

Long distances

София has about 1.3 million inhabitants and is with 492 sq km the 10th largest city in Europe. That might be a surprise but you can really feel it while travelling through the city. Fortunately there are many different means of public transport available, from the metro to buses, trolleybuses and tramways. But for sure there are also taxis (you can order via app), motorized scooters from different providers and rental bikes.

May 26, 2022May 30, 2022

Lev

Bulgaria is part of the European Union but doesn’t have the Euro yet. The currency is the Bulgarian Lev (plural Leva; code BGN). Lev means lion and one lev is divided into 100 stotinki. The exchange rate of Lev to Euro is 1.95583 – a magical number for all Germans, a strange number I’ll never forget in my life. It was the exchange rate of Deutsche Mark to Euro. As the Lev was initially bound to the Deutsche Mark, it has the same exchange rate.

May 12, 2022May 13, 2022

Film-Shop

It is a relic from the old times, but someone needs to show the kids of today that there was a world before video streaming and without Netflix. That in the past we had to walk to a video store where we could be VHS (Video Home System), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), BluRay media (and buy drinks, chips and fruit gum). That we needed to pay a penalty fee when we returned them too late. Many video rental stores have been killed by the streaming industry (and us as the customers), but one survived: the first, the world’s oldest.

May 8, 2022May 8, 2022

Im Schacht

The Erzgebirge (ore mountains) or Krušné hory is a mountainous region belonging to Germany and the Czech Republic. People get there to enjoy nature, for skiing, to learn more about mining history or to buy artisan products like Räuchermännchen (incense smokers) or Schwibbögen (candle arches) for their Christmas decorations. For me it was a long trip by car just for watching a soccer match at the Erzgebirgsstadion, home of the FC Erzgebirge Aue.

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.