Sights Archives ⋆ Page 64 of 156 ⋆ The Passenger

December 7, 2019January 30, 2020

Gärten der Welt

A fantastic place for a long walk are the Gärten der Welt (gardens of the world) in Berlin, Germany. They are also a good reason to discover the city quarter Marzahn which hasn’t the best reputation. It is the location for the Internationale Gartenausstellung (IGA) 2017 and on the grounds of a park that has already been created in 1987 different gardens in the styles of other countries have been realized: From England and Italy via China to Japan, Bali and Korea.

December 7, 2019January 30, 2020

Heilstätten

Southwest of Berlin, Germany, you can find the Beelitz-Heilstätten – a giant hospital in the forest. They were built between 1898 and 1930 as a sanitorium for lung diseases. During World War I and II the sanitorium was used for soldiers and after 1945 it became the largest Soviet hospital outside the Soviet Union. Then deterioration began, buildings became ruins and nature conquered this place partially – now trees are growing within the ruins.

December 6, 2019December 18, 2019

Teufelsberg

The Teufelsberg (devil’s mountain) at Berlin, Germany, is a lost place. Deteriorating and shabby. A place you can explore, where you can learn about espionage and a location full of anarchy that you might experience in Germany only in Berlin. It is the second highest mountain in the city, and it is artificial – created from the wreckage originating from World War II. Located within the British occupation zone, it was first used by the United States of America to control the air space over the divided German capital.

December 6, 2019January 31, 2020

Jewish cemetery

The Jewish cemetery at Berlin-Weißensee is the largest one in Europe. It was created in 1880 and contains on 42 hectares more than 115,000 graves. Because of the Jewish burial tradition which causes that graves remain forever, you can see very old graves here and very beautiful ones. The continuous deterioration and nature extending over the graves make this a beautiful place. Another good reason to visit this place are the buildings in Italian Renaissance revival style made with yellow bricks.

November 22, 2019November 29, 2019

Bunker

Sometimes you don’t have to travel far to find interesting places. And sometimes they are hidden just around the corner and you’ve passed them many times without noticing. I had this experience with two air-raid shelters (in German often called ‚bunker‘) and a beer-cooling cellar north of the city centre of Kassel, Germany. In the city quarter ‘Vorderer Westen‘ you can find a mountain called Kratzenberg consisting of shell limestone. During the time of the dinosaurs, the area was under water and the remains of shellfish sank down and created this limestone. Within this material many breweries created cellars later.

November 17, 2019February 7, 2020

Ararat brandy

If there would be only one thing that Երևան, Armenia, is known for throughout the world then it would by brandy. The good conditions for growing wine in Armenia have been used for a very long time to produce brandy (in other parts of the world also called cognac). In 1887 a state-owned company was founded that is only allowed to buy grapes from Armenia – in 1998 it became part of the Pernod Ricard Group. Ararat brandy was very famous during Soviet times and is now available all over the world.

November 17, 2019February 13, 2020

Erebuni

The germ cell of the capital city of Armenia is located on a mountain called Arin-Berd south of the city. Erebuni is a fortress created in 782 BC which makes Երևան one of the oldest cities in the world. Next to the mountain, you can today find a museum with a very impressive exterior design referring to the time the castle was built. Within you can learn about the excavations made here, see a lot of items found at this place and get more information about ancient Երևան.

November 17, 2019November 21, 2019

Children‘s railway

The children’s railway is a hidden gem of Երևան, Armenia. It is a narrow-gauge railway for kids opened in 1937, and it was operated according to the standards of normal railways by the communist youth organization. You can find many of these children’s railways throughout the influence sphere of the former Soviet Union. The goal was to create interest in railway employee jobs early – and I guess I would have had fun with that, too.

November 17, 2019February 8, 2020

Zoravor

Sunday morning. A very old small church hidden in a backyard between high houses. Ancient stone, a cat roaming around. I’m sitting down in the first room normally for the non-baptised to not disturb the religious service. Listening to the chants of the worshippers in a non-understandable language. The smell and smoke of olibanum in the air. Every now and then somebody enters, prays, makes the sign of the cross, touches the walls of the church three times. Before he or she continues he ignites a small yellow candle and places it in a very old metal tray full of water. A mystical situation.

November 16, 2019April 15, 2022

Ararat

The Ararat is a mountain in Turkey, close to Armenia, Iran and the exclave Nakhchivan of Azerbaijan. It is 5137 meters high and better referred to as the Greater Ararat as it also has a neighbour: the 3896 meters high Little Ararat. The Armenians once settled around the Ararat and consider it their holy mountain. It is still today part of the coat of arms of Armenia which caused diplomatic problems with Turkey. The response of the Soviet government was convincing: Turkey also has the moon in its flag without the moon being part of Turkey.