Category: Germany

24 Hours in Berlin

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Berlin is one of those cities everyone has heard of; it’s full of culture and history with its own unique edge. We had just under 24 hours in Berlin and had considered all the possibilities for what could be accomplished in this time. We thought we could cram a fair bit into our day as long as we checked in right away and got started. And then our train arrived in Berlin, and it was freezing cold and raining. I think I could have dealt with the cold (with my recently purchased jacket and hat) but rain, really? We started by finding our hostel which turned out to be the strangest place ever and I would definitely not recommend staying there during the winter. Continue reading →

Lübeck: Family, Marzipan & the Baltic Sea

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Old men are stubborn. This saying is notoriously true, and was a prominent part of our trip to Lübeck. We stayed with Richard Wolf, who was my grandmother’s neighbour before her and her family left Germany in 1952. Richard turned 90 this year! His wife of over 60 years, Barbara, who I met last time I visited Lübeck in 2008, passed away three years ago. Richard’s English is minimal at best and thus we were thankful that Brigitte, Richard’s current partner, was around to help translate, although sometimes things get lost in translation. Continue reading →

Oktoberfest in Munich

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We booked a flight from Athens to Munich on October 2nd for one reason: be there for the last weekend of Oktoberfest. It’s one of those things you just need to experience, especially if you’re on an around the world trip and happen to be in Europe in the fall. And that minor detail – that it’s fall, not summer – didn’t hit us until we landed in Munich and it was about 20 degrees Celsius colder than everywhere else we had been (Greece and Croatia had been unseasonably hot). It might have had something to do with landing first thing in the morning barely after the sun rose; but at least that gave us time to get settled into our Airbnb room with plenty of time left in the day. (Another reason we love Airbnb: early check-ins are much more likely than with a hotel or hostel). Continue reading →