Skip to main content

Holiday in Berlin

Red candles - checked.. Deep asana tea with cinnamon and warm ginger notes - checked.. Ambient music - checked.. I'm ready to write about my past vacation.
I'm back since one week and I wasn't able to write about it. Why? Due to post-vacation blues. This is also known as post-travel depression (PTD). "A person may suffer from post vacation blues after returning home or to a normal routine from a long vacation, especially if it was a pleasurable one. The longer a trip lasts, the more intense the post vacation blues may be." [1]
Yes.. The few days spent in Berlin were great.
Let's go to the beginning.
Thursday morning. I'm requesting an Uber ride. While waiting for my Uber driver to pick me up, I read Iulia's post (my trainer from Public Speaking Workshop) and she was talking about a pink ball of goodness to pass around to make a better world. This made me think.. how can I do that? My car arrives, I get in, and I start an entertaining discussion with the driver about the joy of travelling. That's a good start. I pass by the security check, and then at the passport control I put on my face a shy smile and say "Good morning!". The man looks at me and he says: "May your heart be good!". Yes.. I'm on the right way..
Moving on.. The boarding is completed and get in the plane. My first flight with Ryanair. What can I say.. you get what you pay. Fast forwarding, everything was ok and I landed on Schönefeld airport. Florin gave me instructions how to get to his office and in ~50 minutes I was there.
The rest of day I spent it in Park am Gleisdreieck.
West side of the park
Sunset view from TorEins Restaurant, on East side of the Park
Quiche and fresh mint tea @ TorEins Restaurant
Friday begins with a great cappuccino & hot tomato bagel. It's very funny how my brain works. When I read on the menu hot I thought first to warmth. The bagel was first spicy..
Breakfast @ Impala Coffee
The day goes on and I get to Charlottenburg Palace, which is the largest palace in Berlin. What I liked most here: the large gardens. I didn't notice till now how big and fat are the swans. I think I start to understand the phrase: "Graceful as a swan".
The palace viewed from the gardens, the facade under construction 

Another photo with view over the lake
From the palace I went to check a place recommended by a friend, Super is called, near Zoo. I won't spoil it, you have to check it yourself. Hint: the bathroom.
End of day
Saturday can't start without coffee. Florin joins me and after we walk till Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten. From there we take the train and go to Potsdam. 
Photo from when we got there. Wait to see the difference when we left
The city looks a lot like Sibiu or Brasov. The Christmas spirit is in the atmosphere. The main street (Brandenburger Straße) was invaded by shops selling all kind of souvenirs. Guess what? On this street there is another Brandenburger Tor.

Following the path


Schloss Sanssouci appears, the summer palace of  Frederick the Great, King of Prussia.

After walking that much we found a cozy place to rest our feet and enjoy a cup of tea.
@Bio-Café Kieselstein
Meanwhile it started to rain.. I realized is more fun walking in the rain when you are not alone.
Can you spot the difference? Photo taken on our way back
A lazy Sunday starts with a double cappuccino at the same place I was in the days before. 
Another building with graffiti in sunset
On Monday morning I decided to try another coffee place, not that I didn't like the other one but I have saved a lot of places. 
Cappuccino, a vegan muffin (no sugar) @ Coffee & Deli, Queen of Muffins
With this energy boost I go ahead to East Side Gallery, the final destination being Treptower Park.
View from Elsenbrücke
Building with big flowers
The largest Soviet Memorial is located in Treptower Park
After a simple google search I found out that this park is serving as cemetery for 5000 Soviet soldiers.
Tuesday was the last day in. It started with.. Yes.. coffee and a vegan carrot cake at.. yes.. that place where I was each morning. I had lunch with Florin. I had a last walk through Park am Gleisdreieck. In this time I discovered the manual controls of my phone camera and I was able to capture this:

Till next time, enjoy some graffiti work captured while wandering around:



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Croatia: Dreamy Northern Dalmatia

We spent the last days of our holiday exploring the classic Dalmatian cocktail of historic towns, jewel-like waters, rugged limestone mountains, gorgeous climate and Mediterranean cuisine of the Northern Dalmatia. Plitvice Lakes In order to have a full day to spend exploring Plitvice Lakes we stayed overnight in the area. It was so quiet and peaceful there! I wish we could have stayed more days to enjoy that serenity state of the place. Being in some way a remote place it wasn't easy to find a restaurant to have dinner, but when we did it was the best. Cevapi, traditional grilled minced meat with ajvar (roasted red peppers sauce) I don't have a sweet tooth but I enjoy trying local deserts. Traditional strudel with cherries - a touch of chocolate makes this simple desert in a delicacy  Morning coffee with a view Love is in the air! From the accommodation we had 15-20 minutes drive to the Entrance 1 of the park. We have researched which trails to take and the best views are start
Post a Comment
Read more

Bustling Ho Chi Minh City & tranquil Mekong Delta

  My 3 weeks itinerary through Vietnam ends in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) or Saigon (as the locals know it). I had 2 days and a half to spend here. Here I met again with Leroy, who got to the city one day before me and left one day before I. From Mui Ne I took another bus to reach the big city. As I mentioned before, buses are the most convenient way to travel. If you arrange it through your hotel/hostel the bus will come and pick you up from there. Usually I prefer traveling by train because I can read and stretch my legs whenever I want, but during my stay in Vietnam I got to enjoy the conversations that you can have in the bus. On the bus to HCMC I met a woman who is teaching English to staff of a resort in Mui Ne. She wasn't a teacher but she did this for the past years, traveling around and teaching locals basic English. She was finding these opportunities through  https://www.workaway.info/ , a website who connects travellers who like to travel and do volunteer work in the place
Post a Comment
Read more

Croatia: The Magical Istria

After the short stop in Trogir we drove to Pula where booked accommodation for 3 nights to explore the city and surroundings.  The country side on the way to Pula The drive took around 6h with some stops on the way. After we checked in we went directly in the city center for dinner. One speciality I saw it on the menu in the area is grilled squid with Swiss chard and potatoes. I was hesitant with the green leafs because they waiters were saying it's like spinach and I'm not a big fan of it. But this one was really tasty!   Grilled squid with Swiss chard and potatoes @  Kantina Restaurant The next day we went to one beach in Pula in the morning, another beach in Rovinj in the afternoon and stayed for dinner in Rovinj and explored a bit the city center. Hawaii Beach   Hawaii is a pebbly beach, with big rocks but it's worth it! The water is crystal clean and a good spot for snorkeling. It also has some high cliffs that attract the adventurous ones who want to jump in the water
Post a Comment
Read more