The Passenger ⋆ Page 122 of 308 ⋆ Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.

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.

October 26, 2019January 26, 2020

Wacht am Rhein

There aren’t too many good places to sit at the shore of river Rhein at Leverkusen, Germany. A lot of the space along the river is cover by chemical factories. But if you make your way from Leverkusen-Mitte to the river, leave the shopping malls behind and pass through and endless number of residential homes you will find the Neuland-Park (a vast garden) and next to it a nice restaurant called ‘Wacht am Rhein‘ (Watch on the Rhine) – named after an ancient German song and anthem.

October 26, 2019December 3, 2019

BayArena

The BayArena at Leverkusen, Germany is a soccer stadium I saw multiple times – when passing by on motorway A1 directly next to it. As Leverkusen itself feels like a giant chemical plant with a city around it, I never had the desire to go there. Doing it nevertheless was a good decision as the stadium is really great in its design and services. It is home to the ‘Werkself‘, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, a club owned by this giant chemical plant (the Bayer AG). A club that never won the German championship but ended five times on the second place – and is therefore often called ‘Vizekusen‘.

October 26, 2019February 20, 2020

Museum Morsbroich

The Museum Morsbroich is a museum for contemporary art in Leverkusen, Germany. It is located within the baroque castle Schloss Morsbroich from the year 1389 – later belonging to the German Order. The castle is beautiful and around it, you can find an English landscape garden. The museum was founded in 1951 as the first German museum for contemporary art after World War II. I didn’t know what to expect when coming here, but it really was worth a visit. When I came there an exhibition of Belgian photographer Francis Alÿs was presented there.

October 26, 2019February 20, 2020

Japanese oasis

One of the most beautiful places in Leverkusen, Germany, is the Japanese garden. It dates back to the year 1912 and is part of the Chempark – the collection of companies producing chemical products in the city. Since 1950 it is publicly accessible and you can enjoy having the feeling of being in Japan. There are nice lakes, Japanese temples, red maple trees, koi carps, and different statues. It is simply a wonderful place to relax, discover and enjoy life.

October 26, 2019February 19, 2020

Best Western Leoso

Leverkusen, Germany, is somehow a strange city: a giant chemical factory, some pure residential zones, a city centre with shopping opportunities – all lined up along river Rhein, a major street and the railway tracks. If you’re travelling by train you might want to have a hotel close to the station and then the Best Western Leoso is a good choice. It is located just 500 meters north of the station and is easily accessible on foot. Don’t expect a beauty – it is a huge hotel block and getting into it feels like travelling in time.

October 20, 2019October 21, 2019

Main tower

If you want to enjoy good views on the skyline of ‚Mainhattan‘ the Main tower in Frankfurt, Germany is your best choice. A high-speed elevator brings you to the 54th floor and after taking stairs to the 56th floor you‘ll be on a partially roofed viewing platform with unhindered views on the skyline, the river Main and the complete city. On good days you cannot only see the Waldstation but also catch a glimpse on Feldberg mountain in the Taunus mountain range.

October 7, 2019April 19, 2022

Green Island

Ireland (or Éire) is a wonderful island in the North of central Europe. It has beautiful landscapes, real natural highlights (like the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher) and many, many sheep. The capital Dublin has a high density of interesting places, but in 2020 also Galway became a centre of attraction as the European Capital of Culture. But Ireland is also interesting in its history and the division into the mainly Catholic Republic of Ireland and the Protestant Northern Ireland as a part of the United Kingdom.