Shabby but fun

Ostsee-Therme, Scharbeutz

What to do if you’re at the Baltic sea in winter times, the wind is blowing hard and it is really cold outside? A good idea is to look out for a spa and a sauna to relax and get some heat back that you lost at the chilly beach. If you’re in the triangle of Lübeck, Fehmarn and Kiel, a visit to the Ostsee-Therme in Scharbeutz, Germany may be right for you. Continue reading “Shabby but fun”

Campus suite

Campus suite, Kiel

For seven years of my life I was working in different positions for the Studentenwerk in my hometown – an organisation providing social, financial and cultural support services to students. It is partially state funded, students pay a fee every half year and the organization is only dedicated to assist students and provide them with room to live in, food and drinks at the campus and many more necessary things. I really believe that such an organization is necessary and should be supported. Continue reading “Campus suite”

Seals and stars

Aquarium Geomar, Kiel

The GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung is a research facility located in Kiel, Germany – they work on topics concerning the biological, physical and chemical dynamics of the ocean. You’ll come across this scientific organization located at the Kieler Förde mostly because of the publicly accessible basins containing five cute seals that attract a lot of spectators. Continue reading “Seals and stars”

Hanseatic pearl

Lübeck, Germany

The city of Lübeck, Germany is a very old town that became rich by trading goods. The old city center which looks like an island and is surrounded by arms of the river Trave became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1987. Famous is also a small town belonging to Lübeck: Travemünde. It is a well-known beach with a very high and ugly hotel complex directly at the shore.

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A slant gate

Holsten gate, Lübeck

The Holsten gate (“Holstentor“) is a city gate of Lübeck, Germany. It is located in the west of the old city center just across the river Trave. Holsten in that case means the region of Holstein, an area forming part of the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. The city gate is four levels high and contains today a museum about the history of the city.

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Hawaii at the Baltic

Kailua lodge, Pelzerhaken

Finding a good away home isn’t that easy. Even as the Internet has made it much simpler to search for landlords you won’t always get what you expect and need; and most times you’ll have to book almost a year in advance. The Kailua Lodge in Pelzerhaken, Germany is a very recommendable place if you want a high-class away home directly at the shore. The place consists of several houses and flats which are 80 to 150 meters away from the beach – one of the facts why a lot of surfers tend to rent these houses.

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Northern Italy at the time of Santa Lucia

Piazza Bra, Verona

Northern Italy is always a wonderful place to be, but it is especially great during the time of Santa Lucia, when the towns are enlighted and the falling snow mixes with the fragrance of mulled wine. In Verona there is a huge christmas market on the Piazza Brà (including a giant metal shooting star leading out of the Arena) and a traditional German christmas market at the Piazza dei Signori. Maybe it is the best time of the year to pass by and enjoy a prolongued weekend at this share of the country.

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The big fish

Laguna, Venezia

I’ve got ambivalent feelings about Venezia, Italy. I really love the concept of living with water, of having a city in a laguna. I like the idea to travel by boat instead of a bus. I appreciate standing at places with water masses surrounding me. But most times of the year Venezia is simply overcrowded and the city feels much to artificial. That is why I tend to go there in autumn and winter times when – apart from San Marco – you also have the possibility to roam through nearly empty streets.

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