Tag Archives: Germany

My Almost Celebrity Encounter in Berlin

Off Topic, ,
a man pushing a stroller in front of a large building with Berlin Cathedral in the background
Berlin Cathedral

Last year I had an almost close encounter with a pretty well known actor. Kim, Lucas and I were walking from our hotel in Berlin (the Radisson Blu) to Museum Island.

Along the way we stopped to take photos of the Berlin Cathedral. We noticed people walking around, looking a bit peculiar. We walked a bit further in to get a more centered photo of the cathedral before realizing that a film was being shot. All of these random people were movie extras. Continue reading My Almost Celebrity Encounter in Berlin →

Back to The Balkans- Day 1: 20 Hours in Berlin

Trip Reports, Uncategorized, ,

Trip Planning: Back to The Balkans

To start off our trip Back to The Balkans we had a layover of 20+ hours in Berlin. Besides spending the night at a hotel close to the airport, we also had around a half-day to wander around the city.

We had a really nice time during our visit to Berlin last September (including seeing some Amazing Art at the Berlin Wall) so we didn’t mind the time in the city.

We didn’t really arrive with much of a plan besides heading over to one museum that we missed back in September. We decided to head over to the area around Checkpoint Charlie and figure it out from there.

Here is how we spent our time: Continue reading Back to The Balkans- Day 1: 20 Hours in Berlin →

Germany Wins the World Title For… Nudity

Travel Articles, , ,
a group of people in a line
photo from our trip to Berlin @ DDR Museum

I came across Expedia’s Flip Flop Report  in an article from CNBC recently .  

According to Expedia, the report is “an annual study of behavior and preferences among beachgoers in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia/New Zealand.”

In the article (and report) I learned that Germany has won another title this summer. Continue reading Germany Wins the World Title For… Nudity →

Amazing Art At The Berlin Wall

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a man jumping in front of a wall with graffiti

Back in September 2013, Kim, Lucas and I headed to Germany for the main purpose of attending Oktoberfest. Rather than just go for the festival, we started out in Berlin, a city that I we really enjoyed checking out.

When I think of Berlin, the first thing that comes to mind is the Berlin Wall. Although it divided the city for close to 30 years, the remaining segments have been (mostly) turned into works of art. (This was my first time seeing the wall in its original home but I did get to see it in Las Vegas and Albania.) Continue reading Amazing Art At The Berlin Wall →

Close Call: Plane Almost Hits Sunbather

Off Topic, Travel News, ,
a plane landing on a beach
screen capture from video

I came across a pretty crazy story while skimming through the news on Yahoo.

According to GrindTV, a sunbather on a small German island came extremely close to being hit by a small plane. The plane was landing at an air field nearby. Luckily everyone is OK (besides some damage to the fence on the beach) but there is footage to show just how lucky the beachgoer is.

This close call took place on the island of Dune in the Heligoland archipelago. The airport on the island has three short runways, the shortest being just 846 feet. Landings and takeoffs are said to be demanding and require experience.

Continue reading Close Call: Plane Almost Hits Sunbather →

10,000 Gold Points Or Club Carlson Welcome Gift

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On our trip to Germany back in September we stayed in two Club Carlson properties in Berlin. We stayed at the art’otel Berlin Mitte and the Radisson Blu Berlin. Being a Club Carlson Gold member, I expected an In-Room Welcome Gift during our stay. I didn’t think that we received a gift at either property and was a bit surprised.

On previous stays at Club Carlson properties, we’ve received gifts like fruit plates (delivered to our room) and gift bags filled with a generous amount of snacks and water.

This made me wonder if the In-Room Welcome Gift was only available for stays in the United States. I am pretty sure that we received a gift during our stays in Russia (Moscow & Saint Petersburg) earlier in the year but I wasn’t positive.

Continue reading 10,000 Gold Points Or Club Carlson Welcome Gift →

Disappointing Breakfast Menu Items At McDonald’s In Germany

Food, Trip Reports,

IMG_7328

During our trip to Germany (back in September) we visited Berlin before heading to Munich for Oktoberfest, the main reason for our trip. (I’ve been a bit behind on posting about our experience at Oktoberfest but plan to write about it soon.)

While this wasn’t my first trip to Germany, I still had to stop by McDonald’s to see if there were any locally insprired menu items. I know I definitely ate there but don’t recall eating anything out of the ordinary.

We first visited  a McDonald’s for a late snack. It was getting late and we didn’t want to first go in search of a restaurant. Nothing special on the menu caught my eye but I did see that there were some interesting breakfast options to try another time.

A couple of days later, our destination for breakfast was McDonald’s. The photo above shows “Your New Breakfast At McDonald’s” so we went ahead and ordered one of each item.

Continue reading Disappointing Breakfast Menu Items At McDonald’s In Germany →

Recap Of Our Visit To Berlin

Travel with kids, Trip Reports,

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Our trip to Germany started off with a visit to Berlin. We had 3 days there, and probably could have used another day or two to get an even better feel for the city.

Being that it was after the peak summer travel season I expected the city to be relatively quiet but there seemed to be tourists everywhere. Since Berlin is such a big city, with its sites spread out, this wasn’t an issue at all.

Getting around was very easy. We took the trains all over the city and also did a ton of walking.  The trains are pretty simple to figure out (especially when we had wifi to use googlemaps) but buying a train ticket could be a real pain. Machines, which were cash only would not accept our brand new Euros a couple of times. Luckily we were able to buy train tickets at second hotel we stayed in- Radisson Blu Berlin, right from the concierge desk.

Here are some of the things we did:

  • Visited various Berlin Wall segments/ sites
  • Brandenburg Gate
  • Took in some views from the top of the Reichstag
  • Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
  • Pergamon Museum
  • Jewish Museum Berlin
  • DDR Museum  Continue reading Recap Of Our Visit To Berlin →

Lufthansa’s Awesome Oktoberfest Inspired Amenity Kit

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IMG_6759During our flight to the Balkans, I was disappointed with the amenity kit that we received in Lufthansa Business Class. However, they more than made up for it during our flight home.

IMG_6784Kim, Lucas and I spent a chunk of our time, during an 8 hour layover in Frankfurt shopping for tracht (traditional German clothing).  We were buying the tracht for our recent trip to Germany. The main purpose of our trip was to experience Oktoberfest in Munich. (I’ve been a little behind on posting about our trip but will get to that soon.)

IMG_6776Once we took our seats, Kim and I reached back to get our amenity kits. I expected the same, junky plastic case that we received during our flight to Serbia but it was different and an awesome surprise.

Continue reading Lufthansa’s Awesome Oktoberfest Inspired Amenity Kit →

Win A Trip To Germany: The Moustache Madness Sweepstakes

Sweepstakes, Win

moustache

index-moustacheGuyIntel and Toshiba are giving away a trip for two to Germany where you’ll get to attend the World Beard and Moustach Championships.

I first heard about this giveaway from Johnny Jet’s weekly newsletter. I found it pretty funny and wanted to share it with you. As a fan of the IFC show Whisker Wars I think this event would be a lot of fun to attend.

To enter you have to watch a short video. After watching you are then brought to the entry form. Continue reading Win A Trip To Germany: The Moustache Madness Sweepstakes →