Hints Archives ⋆ Page 104 of 259 ⋆ The Passenger

November 9, 2019February 19, 2020

Schloß Rheydt

To be honest, the city of Mönchengladbach, Germany, isn’t such a beauty. If you want to visit a wonderful building you’ll have to travel a bit and search the castle Schloß Rheydt in the outskirts of the city. No worries: buses from the train stations (Hauptbahnhof, Rheydt) bring you there easily. It is a water castle created in Renaissance style between 1558 and 1591. The manor house is very beautiful and it is especially nice to get here in the evening hours when it is enlighted in warm colours. In 1940 Joseph Goebbels wanted to use it as a guest house, today you’ll find a good restaurant and an interesting museum here.

November 9, 2019December 3, 2019

Stars of the Galaxy

If you’re a fan of the epic Star Wars saga (and who isn’t?) the exhibition Stars of the Galaxy at Mönchengladbach, Germany might be the right place for you to visit. In 2005 collectors started to exhibit their Star Wars collections in an old cinema at the city quarter Rheydt. In 2011 the combined collections moved to an even more bizarre location: the Berliner Bad or Kaiserbad – a former indoor swimming pool. Within the old pool itself you can now see a giant scene on the ice planet Hoth. The AT-AT dominating this battle scene is 4.5 meters high.

November 9, 2019February 19, 2020

Abteiberg

The Abteiberg is a hill next to the city centre of Mönchengladbach, Germany, which received its name when the Münster St. Vitus was built on top. Visiting the Abteiberg can also mean to visit the Städtisches Museum Abteiberg not far away from the church – which I recommend. It is a museum with interesting modern architecture and a lot of modern art within. It was founded somewhen between 1901 and 1904, the current building is in use since 1982. It is one of the most important museums for contemporary in Germany and has a focus on works of the 20th and 21st century.

November 9, 2019December 3, 2019

Fair Hotel

The Fair Hotel is a surprisingly good hotel next to the railway station of Mönchengladbach, Germany. It rather feels like a house with different modern and quite spacious apartments. The reception is not open around the clock but there is a giant red door you can’t miss and which opens with a key you receive when checking in. I had the feeling of living in the city, a situation I absolutely like.

November 9, 2019February 19, 2020

Münster St. Vitus

The city of Mönchengladbach, Germany, is still today sometimes called Vitusstadt (city of Vitus). It is said that Vitus was a Pagan child in Sicilia, Italy and was converted to Christianity. Already as a small child, he is said to have worked wonders as a miracle healer. His father and also the Roman emperor Diocletian tried to punish and kill him – but they all failed. Torture didn’t work, boiling oil couldn’t kill him, lions wouldn’t eat him. He became one of the fourteen holy helpers and relics from his remains were considered really powerful.

November 1, 2019January 21, 2024

Schlichte Hof

The Schlichte Hof is an ancient guesthouse from the year 1492 at Bielefeld, Germany. Within the half-timbered house you will find a hotel with few rooms and a good restaurant serving traditional dishes of Westphalia. But this place seems to be mostly known for family events and especially wedding parties. The former horse stable offers enough space on two levels for many guests.

October 30, 2019April 15, 2022

Notting Hill

It is an interesting phenomenon how a movie can shape the image of a complete city quarter and bring many tourists there. Well, Notting Hill would be anyhow worth a trip – but because of the 1999 movie with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant this city quarter of London, United Kingdom gets much attention. People search for blue doors, the ‘Travel Book Co.‘ bookshop (which is in fact The Notting Hill Book Shop) and private gardens with high fences.

October 30, 2019February 19, 2020

Pizza Pilgrims

I found a recommendation on the Internet that if you want to have a good pizza in London, United Kingdom, you should look out for Pizza Pilgrims. It is a pizza restaurant with many branches throughout London and they serve good Italian pizza – even a lot of vegetarian versions. And their speciality is a ring of pizza dough filled with Nutella and decorated with ice cream; that calls for a lot of sport afterwards. I searched for one of their locations nearby and what I didn’t know – I didn’t choose one of their restaurants but ended up in the Westfield shopping mall.

October 29, 2019December 4, 2019

The Sherlock Holmes

In between all those pubs in London, England there are some that stand out. One of them I like most is The Sherlock Holmes in Northumberland Street. You can find it between Trafalgar square and river Thames, next to the Charing Cross and Embankment stations. Downstairs you can enjoy a pint while watching some Sherlock Holmes movies. Upstairs it is a cosy restaurant and you can find a detailed reproduction of the study within Baker Street 221b.

October 29, 2019February 19, 2020

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Who doesn’t remember the film Forrest Gump by Robert Zemeckis from the year 1994? Tom Hanks brilliantly played the US-citizen with a low IQ of just 75 telling the story of his life. Unfortunately, nobody knows that this story is based on the book by Winston Groom – but that is a different story. During the Vietnam war, Forrest Gump meets a guy called Benjamin Buford Blue (with the nickname Bubba) and he gives him the promise to become a shrimp fisher after the war. Of course, he keeps his promise and opens up the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Two years after the movie somebody decided to open up a restaurant with the same name styled in Forrest Gump style.