|
|
|
|
Dubai
On my way to the Maldives I had to change planes in Dubai.
This time I decided to add a short stopover to take a look at what Dubai had to offer and to finally log a Geocache in the United Arab Emirates ;).
My friends who originally sold me on the dive trip were also staying one day and together we visited the Bubbalicious Brunch buffet, probably one of the most decadent Brunches out there. The cheese selection filled a whole room and there were fresh oysters, lobster, tuna, salmon, Sushi, foie gras and much more.
There were so many options, I only tasted a small set of them. And everything was very delicious.
If you happen to visit Dubai on a Friday, then it is worth a consideration. The high price tag is indeed justified.
Afterwards we needed a bit of exercise and headed over to Dubai Mall to get a look at Burj Kalifa, the currently highest building in the world.
Even though it was very impressive, I didn't realize it's full height until we flew out of Dubai past the skyline and I noticed that the Burj Kalifa was twice as high as the next sky scraper!
Since it was almost dark we stayed in the area to wait for the water fountain show. A beautifully orchestrated show of water jets, lights and music. The show is on every 30 minutes once it is dark and it lasts for 2 to 5 minutes. We enjoyed it so much, we decided to stay for a second helping. And the second show was different from the first!
Afterwards we were tired enough to head back to the hotel. On the way we noticed, that Dubai is not designed for pedestrians, with all the construction sites around we had to illegally walk along a street and cross another main road to get where we were headed.
All in all it was an exciting day. But I probably would not want to stay in Dubai for much longer. It's just too big, busy and crowded.
More pictures can be found in my web album.Labels: city trip, geocaching, pictures, traveling
|
|
Interrail Geocaching Part 3 - Northwards
Traveling from Amsterdam to Copenhagen looked straightforward enough on paper. Changing trains in Ossnabrück and Hamburg, with enough changeover time to look for a Cache in each place. So I didn't do any further research into the geography of this trip and was thus very surprised when the train suddenly boarded a ferry and we were asked to disembark during the crossing!
On the positive side, it offered an opportunity to stretch my legs on this last 5 hour part. At the end of the day I had discovered Caches in three countries: The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark :)
The next day with wonderful weather to boot I started to explore the city. I was surprised by the large number of Caches throughout the center and had a long list of places to visit.
A highlight was Kastellet, the late medieval military fortification with a beautiful moat.
Walking along the shoreline I was surprised to see a tourist bus. The reason for this was soon discovered, the famous Little Mermaid, of which I quickly took a picture and continued onwards.
Oh, wait, that was another sculpture ;)
After passing through the government district, my way led me to Nyhavn, the picturesque old harbor which is now a tourist hotspot.
In the end I found 22 Caches on this day trip, and there are still a couple more around which weren't on my route. So I can definitely recommend a trip to Copenhagen to any Geocacher! :)
More pictures from Copenhagen can be found in this webalbum.
The next day it was time to travel back to Germany. There would have been a direct train from Copenhagen to Berlin, but that would have meant crossing four German states without caching, and that wasn't an option. So I changed trains in Lübeck, Bad Kleinen (to visit the famous egg-tunnel) and Bad Wilsnack. After a late arrival in Berlin I ended up with finds in the following four states: Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg and Berlin :).
To end my epic Interrail trip I continued on to Leipzig to spend a couple of days with good friends, playing board games and finding more Caches ;).
Part 1 - Eastwards
Part 2 - Benelux
Labels: city trip, geocaching, interrail, pictures, traveling
|
|
Interrail Geocaching Part 2 - Benelux
Leaving Prague for Luxembourg was an astonishingly easy thing. With a direct bus from Prague to Mannheim, a train to Saarbrücken and another bus to Luxembourg, I managed the trip in about 11 hours.
Luxembourg City surprised me by it's hilly nature. Walking from the main station to the Youth Hostel turned out to be a bad idea, since Google Maps led me down into a valley, up the next hill and back down again. For the way back I decided to take a cab ;).
In the evening I undertook the first trip around the city looking for some Caches, completing the circle the next morning. On my way I discovered a couple of hidden treasures, such as this small Chapel built into the hill.
More pictures from Luxembourg can be found in my webalbum.
From Luxembourg I headed to Brussels where I arrived late Saturday afternoon. After settling in I went to the city center for some sightseeing and Geocaching. I was overwhelmed by the number of people in the street. It seemed as if the whole of Belgium was up and about. Despite this I did manage to view the main attractions and find some Caches to boot :).
Sunday morning I headed out to the Atomium and its neighboring parks. The queue at Atomium was huge, so I only enjoyed it from the outside.
In the late afternoon it was finally time for one of the reasons of this trip. Scala and Kolacny Brothers had a concert in the Basilica in Koekelberg. That was a fantastic experience :).
Due to the impending strike in Belgium I headed onwards to Amsterdam the same night. Due to some spotty information I ended up buying an extra ticket for the Thalys service, because it wasn't sure whether the regular train would be stopped on the way or not...
More pictures from Belgium can be found in this webalbum.
Geocaching in Amsterdam is a bit more difficult than in other cities. Due to the heritage listing of most of the center the number of possible hiding spots is limited and thus the number of Caches isn't too big. During a long walk along the many canals I still managed to find a handfull.
What I found most amazing were the large number of different bridge types encountered. Next to old drawbridges, there was also a bridge which slid to the side to make room for passing ships.
Another fun find was the Petrus & Paul Church which is in the middle of the shopping mile and which has a revolving door!?!
More pictures from Amsterdam can be found in this webalbum.
Part 1 - Eastwards
Part 3 - Northwards
Labels: city trip, geocaching, interrail, pictures, traveling
|
|
Interrail Geocaching Part 1 - Eastwards
Doing an Interrail trip is one of the things on every European's bucket list. Now I finally found time to tick this off, combining it with Geocaching in a couple of countries I hadn't visited before.
The first part of my trip took me eastwards to Vienna. I'd been in Vienna a couple of years back and had visited some of the sights, so this time I focused on the old town and the area around the brand new main station.
More pictures can be found in this webalbum.
Bratislava is just a short hop from Vienna, so I traveled there next. Bratislava has a beautiful old town in the center and an impressive castle at the edge of the city.
It also features a very interesting museum of old-timers just next to the train station.
More pictures can be found in this webalbum.
My last stop in the East was Prague. There I completed two Where-I-Go-Caches which took me to all the important sights in the old town as well as in the "lesser town".
During my one-day walk around town I managed to find 13 Caches, which is a good number considering the high tourist density in this beautiful city.
More pictures can be found in this webalbum.
Part 2 - Benelux
Part 3 - Northwards
Labels: city trip, geocaching, interrail, pictures, traveling
|
|
Road Trip to Belgium
It all started with a concert. Alexandra wanted to see a show of Within Temptation's latest tour. Unfortunately, they only played in Holland and Belgium. After synchronizing our calendars we decided to go to Antwerpen for the show. And since it is so far we might as well enjoy ourselves and see some more things on the way.
Our first stop was Cologne (Germany), because Subway to Sally was giving one of their rare acoustic concerts there (we would have missed the show in Switzerland because of our trip). And it was well worth the small detour, they played an awesome gig which lasted almost 2.5 hours! Thanks to our friends we got an address of a cool game store in the neighborhood. I was overwhelmed by their selection and even saw some of the games which I painstakingly imported from the US years earlier! Obviously, I couldn't leave the store without "some" souvenirs ;).
Next was Brussels, a must see according to the guidebooks. Well the first thing we saw was the famous traffic congestion, which led us to leave the highway and take the less traveled route "cross-country". That led us through some very charming towns. Anyways, we weren't too thrilled by Brussels itself, too many tourists not that many beautiful buildings, and so we left after only two hours. 
After a couple of hours driving we stopped in a nearby town and hit a gold-mine. The town was Mechelen and absolutely beautiful. Almost no tourists, lots of things to see and amazing food :) 
The next day we reached Antwerpen, the original reason for our journey. After checking into a stunningly charming bed and breakfast, we made a short trip through the city visiting the shopping district and the old town center. Within Temptation's concert was mainly acoustic, which I liked a lot, with a couple of rockier songs. 
On we went to Bruges, a city I wanted to visit because I loved the movie In Bruges, and we were not disappointed. Even though there were many tourists the city was big enough to get away from the crowds and enjoy the feel of the place. A must-see if you are in Belgium! 
Overnight we stayed in Oudenaarde, a small town with a nice city center, but not much else. 
On our long way back we made a detour through Luxembourg to visit Vianden, a small town with a castle. The drive accross Luxembourg was stunning and one of the highlights of the whole trip! Awesome landscapes and forests!
Our last stop was Colmar in the Alsace region, a charming medieval city, which serves delicious Tarte Flambée. 
Overall a fantastic trip which will long remain in my fond memories.
All pictures can be found in my web album.Labels: city trip, Europe, pictures, vacation
|
|
Leipzig
December is always a good time to visit Leipzig, because it is this time of the year that Christian von Aster's famous Christmas Reading takes place. This time it was under the Motto "Buchstabensuppenkasperletheater" (loosely translated: Letter Soup Punch & Judy Show") and the decoration was aptly chosen.
Christian von Aster's big entrance
The reading was a blast even though our dear artist was labouring under a severe cold. I of course used this opportunity to complete my collection with books and accessories which were released while I was away. At the end I had my bags were filled to the brim ;).
On Sunday I had the chance to accompany Christian to his reading in Chemnitz and thus I got two events for the price of one! ;)
All pictures from Leipzig can be seen in my webalbum.Labels: Book, Christian von Aster, christmas, city trip, leipzig
|
|
Exploring Canada
Wednesday morning we drove further North along Lake Erie towards the Canadian border. We were a bit surprised by how late Canada was actually mentioned on the road signs, but fortunately we had a good map and did find the border crossing. Actually crossing the border was a breeze, there were no cars in line, only spent two minutes chatting with the border guard and were then directed to the customs house, where our passports were stamped within a minute. So all in all we spent about ten minutes crossing the border.
Our first stop in Canada was Niagara Falls, because everyone told us that the Falls are much better on the Canadian side and I can whole heartedly agree. For one you get the frontal view of the falls, which is very impressive, for another we got the chance to walk behind the falls in a tunnel and look out at the thundering masses of water flowing past. At first we were afraid that we had to postpone our visit to Niagara Falls. Because for most of our trip northwards we were following a huge storm which produced torrential rainfalls. However, fortune was with us and as soon as we cleared the Canadian border the weather cleared up and the clouds disappeared.
From Niagara Falls we took the scenic route to Niagara-on-the-lake a very picturesque village at the border of Lake Ontario. On our way we passed through many wineries and we even stopped at one to sample the exquisite ice-wine produced there. We were a bit surprised by the hotel prices in Niagara-on-the-lake. Because as it turned out it seemed to be a retreat for wealthier Canadians and thus almost exclusively sported very expensive hotels. Consulting the Lonely Planet my friend carried finally directed us to a cute bed-and-breakfast with two exquisite hosts. The place was decorated with bunnies in all shapes and was aptly called Bunny Hutch. To keep in line with the birding theme of the week I discovered a couple of bird watching magazines in the bathroom!
Next morning we were served a delicious Canadian breakfast and after some sightseeing continued northwards towards Toronto.
In Toronto we again used the Lonely Planet Guidebook to find an exquisite bed-and-breakfast. Located in Chinatown it occupied two old Victorian houses which were immaculately kept and featured impressive rooms and a very big breakfast. We did a lot of sight-seeing and walking around in Toronto and spotted a wide variety of interesting buildings. We also visited CN Tower, currently the structure sporting the highest public platform in the world. We had a great view in all directions and even saw Niagara Falls on the horizon. What we will never forget however, is our trip down the tower. Just when we wanted to take the elevator down, it stopped working. After some debating the guide agreed that it might be better to take the stairs down to the main observation deck (33 stories down). However, we were not allowed to descend the stairs alone. A security guard had to escort us. Of course this security guard first had to climb the 33 stories to reach us! After a notable wait, a couple of tourists started complaining, the security guard arrived with the elevator, that lazy bastard ;), and claimed it safe now. And thus we were finally able to leave the tower using the elevators.
On our trip back to the US we ran into a fair amount of traffic, delaying us almost a full hour, this was then made up at the border crossing where we again breezed through in under ten minutes! And silly me had been worrying about this border crossing for weeks before we started the trip… ;)Labels: Canada, city trip, road trip, vacation
|
|
Boston and back again - a Commuters tale ;)
My trip to Boston started under a bad star. My flight was canceled due to heavy fog in Boston and I was asked to return the next morning for a 5.45am flight to New York, where I could change to a plane to Boston. To conquer my frustration I went to a nearby cinema and watched Ice Age 3 in 3d, the movie was very entertaining and as is common in modern movies did not overuse 3d effects, afterward I felt much better :).
My plane leaving so early on Friday, I had to take a cab to the Airport. As a small compensation for that, I got a first class seat for the leg from New York to Boston and so I could sample the perks of first class, first in and out of the plane, enough space and very attentive flight attendants. However, this doesn't validate the price difference for me.
Saturday marked the American Independence Day, which in Boston is celebrated near Charles River with a free concert at night and fireworks. However, for most Bostonians the celebrations started much earlier and when we arrived on the riverside around 4pm we were surprised to find the place completely packed with lots of people having picnics and family gatherings. With some luck we managed to grab a place on a small jetty and we didn't budge from there till after the fireworks. The fireworks were very impressive and we had a good view, unfortunately we were a bit too far away and missed the music.
On Sunday we went to the Middlesex Fells Reservation near Boston for a leisurely hike. The Cascade Falls Trail took us to a nice waterfall and on to the Rock Circuit Trail, which true to its name was extremely rocky, but also rewarded us with a nice panorama view of Boston.
As usual I took the 7am plane on Monday back to Pittsburgh which left and arrived on time. And now it will take a week to battle the lost sleep ;).
More pictures can be found in my Boston gallery.Labels: boston, city trip, pictures, usa
|
|
Witches, Pirates and History in Salem
The (in)famous Salem Massachusetts is a short drive away from Boston and even accessible by public transport, thus I found myself up there last week on a rainy Friday.
Salem is mostly known for the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and so it is not surprising to find a good half dozen museums dedicated to this topic in town. I visited four of them and am now a much wiser man ;). Overall it is indeed heavily commercialized and the museums are mostly a collection of dioramas, puppets dressed up to represent different scenes, so mostly rather disappointing. I also visited a pirate museum, which had the same concepts but instead focused on Pirates of the area. The highlight of the day was a guided tour of The House of the Seven Gables, which became famous as a story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
As is the case in many towns and cities in New England, Salem also featured a large amount of old houses and so I spent a lot of my time there admiring and taking pictures of them. The results can be found in my online gallery.
Labels: city trip, pictures, usa
|
|
Squirrels in Boston
Last weekend in Boston I encountered the cutest Squirrel ever:
In the Public Garden, a park in the center of Boston, stood a tree which was infested by Squirrels, I counted at least 5 of them, and they were kind enough to pose for my camera ;). More pictures as usual on picasa.Labels: animals, boston, city trip, pictures, usa
|
|
Butterfly Garden @ Boston Science Museum
Springbreak for me happens in Boston, where I try to relax a bit and take in some of the sights. Today I went to the Science Museum, which currently hosts an interesting exhibit about Mythological Creatures such as Dragons, Unicorns, Mermaids and so forth. They also have a Butterfly Garden which boasts an amazing number of butterflies and was well worth a visit. You can find some pictures in my photo album:
Labels: boston, city trip, pictures, usa
|
|
A Weekend in Providence
After several failed attempts to meet Kachiu in Providence during the Fall semester, I finally managed to get to Providence prior to the start of Spring Semester. The first two days were spent sight-seeing in Providence, visiting Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design Museum and Downtown. I also managed to catch a screening of The Spirit in Providence Mall. The strangest thing was that the movie was 10 minutes delayed! The pre-program information screen got into an endless loop and it took us a while to realize the problem and report it to the staff. The movie was OK, but not as thrilling as the trailer led me to believe, even though I'll grant that it was a visually stunning movie.
Saturday evening brought a Snow storm to Providence and thus we delayed our plans for Sunday's day trip. But when we saw that it stopped snowing close to noon, we went ahead and drove all the way into Massachusetts to visit Old Sturbridge Village. Old Sturbridge Village is a village museum with complete houses from around 1830. Many of the houses were populated by staff in period costumes who did everyday things and were very eager to explain what they were doing and how they were living. We had very intriguing discussions with the Potter, the Blacksmith (both of which would have been part-time farmers as well), a farmer's family in the process of butchering a pig, the parson's wife and the merchants in the town's shop, which boasted an amazing array of things. We also got a try at sledding with period sleds. All in all a terrific experience, unfortunately the 3.5 hours we were there weren't enough to see all the exhibits. If your in the neighborhood I strongly recommend a visit, for which you should plan the whole day!
Labels: city trip, history, movie, museum, usa
|
|
Treacle Mine Road Saga: The Pictures
My pictures of the Treacle Mine Road Saga VI can be found in my gallery.
The day after the play I spent wandering around Vienna. I visited Schloss Schönbrunn and the inner city. Pictures of this excursion can also be found in my gallery.Labels: city trip, discworld, LARP, pictures
|
|
Cultural Tour de Suisse
720 kilometres with train, bus and car. That's the distance I covered yesterday on my small cultural tour de Suisse ;).
NeuchâtelThe first leg took me to the Musée d'Archéologie in Neuchâtel, which is famous for its exhibition of Celtic artifacts found in the region. Even though the museum displays some very intriguing pieces, the most impressive part of our visit was the frozen pond just outdoors.
Yverdon-Les-BainsNext up was the center of Yverdon-Les-Bains, which featured picturesque old buildings including a Church and a Castle and also hosted an exhibition with art inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. The quality of the pieces displayed ranged from unspectacular to breathtaking and gave an intriguing overview of the legacy that Lovecraft left behind with his groundbreaking stories.
ThunAfter a "quick" detour home to get the car, I drove to Thun to attend my last concert of this year. Des Königs Halunken, the only Swiss medieval rock band, played in the Late Night Event Bar in Thun. The concert was marked by mishaps: missed cues, slips of the tongue and instruments that weren't audible (especially the didgeridoo). Nevertheless, they took these problems in their stride and did the best they could to entertain us. And entertained we were :) and so when Des Königs Halunken finally left the stage there were loud cries for encores, proving that the audience forgave them these mishaps and had a good time.Labels: city trip, Concert, medieval, Music, Switzerland
|
|
Leipzig, the Christmas Market and the Three Investigators
Two special events with Christian von Aster drew me to Leipzig the last weekend. But first I had a whole Friday to kill before the first event started.
Luckily, Leipzip hosted one of the biggest Christmas markets in Germany these days and so I spent most of the day there. Especially cool was a small medieval market, where excellent food and drinks (hot mead!) was served.
However, I was way too tired to walk around all day; the train ride wasn't too relaxing after all. For a break I went to watch 'The Three Investigators and the Secret of Skeleton Island' in the CineStar Cinema in the Petersbogen. I could have watched 'The Golden Compass' in German but decided to wait and watch it in its original language in Switzerland. Anyways, the movie was very entertaining even though I am not a die-hard Three Investigators fan. The story was action-packed and had enough surprising twists to keep me interested :).Labels: Christian von Aster, christmas, city trip, leipzig, movie
|
|
More Culture in Chicago
After seeing Wicked I was hooked and so I went to more shows the following days.
First was Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit a show which spoofed other Broadway productions. And even though I've rarely seen a Broadway production before, I got most of the jokes. Just hilarious!
Second was War a play by Irish author Roddy Doyle where a weekly Pub Quiy is taking very seriously. I enjoyed this show immensely, it was both funny and moving, cleverly intertwining the life stories of the pub's patrons with the on-going quiz. There were even some scenes which resembled dance routines! All in all a terrific production which you shouldn't miss if it comes to a place near you.
And finally I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in an Imax Theater! Seeing the movie on such a huge screen was pretty impressive in itself, but the last twenty minutes (i.e. the big fight scene at the Department of Mysteries) was even transferred to Imax 3D Technology and that just blew me away! An unforgettable experience and well worth the 15$ admission.Labels: Chicago, city trip, movie, vacation
|
|
Eating in Chicago
I've spent a couple of more days in Chicago and I've come across two awesome places I just had to recommend:
- Pizzeria Uno: try an original Chicago Deep Dish Pizza
- Bubba Gump: a restaurant dedicated to Forrest Gump with excellent food and intriguing decoration.
Labels: Chicago, city trip, Food, vacation
|
|
Leipzig
Christian von Aster receiving a Cabaret Price in Leipzig was a very good reason for me to visit this beautiful city. Meeting Mario in the bargain, was another strong reason for the trip. The old city of Leipzig is very nice with beautiful old buildings and almost no traffic. There are many parks as well and I spent almost one day in one of them. The highlight of course was Christian receiving the Cabinet Cabaret Price on Sunday evening. The audience was the opposite of Christian's normal audiences, nevertheless his performance worked and he earned a warm applause.
A big thank you to Mario, who showed me around the city and offered me a place to spend the night.
I'm sure this wasn't my last trip to Leipzig!Labels: Christian von Aster, city trip, vacation
|
|
|
