I remember that a couple of years ago the most striking and widely known characteristic of Kreuzberg was its high Turkish population, in fact the largest Turkish population in Germany. Low rent prices attracted students, artists, expats and immigrants likewise seeking apartments in Berlin; as a consequence many businesses, especially unique bars, shops and restaurants followed.

When you’re in Kreuzberg there are certain things that you can’t miss:

Görlitzer Park/ Oranienstrasse

Görlitzer Park

Photo courtesy of Tasmo

The Oranienstrasse is a great place to start off a night in Berlin. It is one of the most important streets in Kreuzberg. You will find many bars, clubs and pubs along this street. The Görlitzer Park is the place to go when the weather is nice. It used to be a train station. Now you can see picnics, barbecues, spontaneous parties, jam sessions etc. In the park you will also find the bar Edelweiss.

Turkish Market

Turkish Market

Photo courtesy of William D

Berlin’s biggest Turkish market takes place in this neighborhood. Every Tuesday and Friday from 11am to about 6.30pm you can get all sorts of products, however the dominating products are foods. Try delicious Turkish snacks like gözlem, pide or döner kebab or bring home some spices, cheese, olives, etc. The market stretches along the Maybachufer Strasse. To get there with public transportation you can take the subway line 8 and got off at Schönleinstrasse or line 7 until Kottbusser Tor.

Bergmannstrasse

Bergmannstrasse

Photo courtesy of Oh Berlin

This street is an excellent place to take a stroll, shop and eat. The many different charming dining and shopping options show the variety in ethnicities present in this neighborhood. Especially during the summer this street is very lively. Every year in June “Kreuzberg jazzt” takes place, the most important jazz festival in Berlin. Walking this street you will pass Marheinekeplatz, a square where you will find one of Berlin’s market halls.

If you’re staying in Berlin apartments it is already a given that you will visit Kreuzberg. And now you already have some good points of orientation for when you’re there… Enjoy!

Home Sweet Home

I have always loved my hometown. Since I haven’t lived there in a couple of years it is always special for me to be there and this time for Easter, as corny as this may sound I fell in love with my hometown all over again.

So, as a love letter to my hometown I would like to tell you a little bit about. When you are traveling to Germany, don’t merely rely on apartments in Berlin or Munich thinking you saw everything there is to see! Discover what some people call the most romantic city in Germany.

Although it is a rather small city, Heidelberg has a lot to show for: An internationally renowned university, a picturesque Altstadt (old town) at the banks of the Neckar River, a beautiful castle overlooking the city and Europe’s longest car free zone.

3 Things Not to be Missed

Here are three things that I did and saw during my last visit which are highly recommended:

1. The district Neuenheim is one of the most beautiful parts of the city. From the city center it is across the river Neckar. When it’s warm outside you will find many people enjoying the sun right by the river at the Neckarwiese. It’s a great meeting point. If it gets a little too warm and you need refreshment get ice-cream at Eiscafé Capri (Brückenstraße 19). There is always a line, but usually it moves a long quickly and this is just a sign of how good the ice-cream is.

2. A true Heidelberg institution is the Heidelberger Zuckerladen (Plöck 52) which is a one-of-a-kind candy store. You are definitely in for a treat and I am not just talking about the sweets. Apart from sweets in jars which the owners personally hand-pick out for you according to your liking, you can order special arrangements. Before you leave you also get to play a dice game where you can win a little surprise. It used to be on my way back from school so you can imagine how much time I used to spend there.

3. From this next spot in town you have so many possibilities: The Altstadt bares most of the beautiful monuments in Heidelberg and is the part of town I grew up in. From the Alte Brücke (Old Bridge) you have beautiful views to the Castle and over the river. If you walk up the Steingasse you will get to the Market Square where you will find the Church of the Holy Ghost and City Hall. If you cross the bridge, walk up the Schlangenweg (Snake’s Path) to get to the Philosophenweg (Philosphers’ Path) from which you will have a gorgeous view over the entire city.

I didn’t have time to walk up to the castle this time, but needless to say that the castle is an absolute must-see for anyone traveling to Heidelberg.

Are you planning a trip to Germany soon? If so, you probably have already checked for Berlin apartments or other accommodation in your destinations. If it isn’t already on your itinerary, I highly suggest you add Heidelberg on it. It’ll steal your heart away.

Photo Credits: 1, 2, 3, 4,

We loaded the coach and headed out around 8:00AM to head for St. Goar which is located in Northern Germany in the Rhine Valley. The trip is just over 600 Kilometers so it’s quite a ride. We expected about seven or eight hours driving before arriving in St. Goar.

We drove about three and a half hours before our first service stop in Germany. As usual with most places in Europe you have to pay to use the bathroom. Today it was 50 Cents. Through out this whole trip I’ve noticed that the prices of toliet visits have ranged anywhere from 20 Cents, to 1 Euro (approx. $1.55 Dollars) per visit. Pretty rediculous if you ask me. If you were to charge to use the restrooms back home in the US, people would burn the place down. It’s robbery!

We spent about 45 minutes at the rest stop and everyone grabbed some food and drinks for the road. We had another three and a half hours to go. The good thing is that we’re doing really well for time so our tour manager told us that he changed the plans around a little for tonight. We’ll be going to a shop in Germany where you can buy the official beer stein’s, and all sorts of other german souvenirs. After that we’ll be heading to a unexpected river cruise on the Rhine River before checking into our hotel and having some dinner.

The Beer Stein demonstration/shop was okay. Although the steins were outrageously priced at anywhere between 50 – 120 Euro. They also had the largest beer stein in the world inside of the shop. There was also a cuckoo clock shop, and Birkenstock shop across the street. The cuckoo clock store had the largest cuckoo clock in the world. There wasn’t too much to see in the area. We boarded our Rhine River cruise about an hour after arriving in the Rhine Valley. A few of us grabbed a beer and relaxed as we cruised down the Rhine River. The scenery was pretty cool, there were lots of castles up in the hills along the river.

After the cruise we boarded the bus to head to our hotel. When we arrived at the hotel, everyone thought our tour manager was messing with us. It looked like the size of a house, with a few extra rooms attached. We checked in and the rooms weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. They had everything that was necessary, a shower, a door, and 2 beds. Sweet. Only problem was that it was so hot and humid in the room all day, and all through the night.

We went down to the Contiki Included dinner at our hotel around 5:30PM and it was alright. There was Pork Schnitzel, Potatoes, Pasta, and Turkey mixed with Rice. The food was better than previous dinners on the trip so I can’t complain. I think most people enjoyed the meal.

After dinner we headed to the Contiki Optional: Wine Tasting. St. Goar (Rhine Valley) is famous for their Riesling Wine and Eiswine (Ice Wine). The wine tasting demonstration was great. If you are visitng St. Goar, you have to do this optional, whether you’re a fan of wine or not. I’m not a wine drinker myself, but I decided to attend this optional. I never drank wine before joining this Contiki tour and since the beginning of the trip we’ve been getting wine with most of our meals whether it’s white or red and I’ve enjoyed a few glasses so far. Tonight we tasted a few different wines like the famous Riesling, Eiswine (Ice Wine), a red wine, and a few others. Everyone had a great time at the tasting. Most people ended up buying a bottle or three after the tasting. Some finished the bottles tonight, and some bought them as gifts.

I cannot believe that tomorrow marks two more nights left on this trip. It has absolutely flown. We’ll all be spending our last 2 nights in Amsterdam and I’m really looking forward to it. We have quite a bit planned so far including a bike ride through the countryside, a walking tour of Amsterdam (including the Red Light District), dinner at the Sea Palace, and an Amsterdam Canal Cruise on our last night.

Sunday I fly back to Dublin where I’ll spend about 3 days before I’m off again to Southern Italy/Croatia for three and a half more weeks. I can’t wait! This trip might be over, but my travels are no where near over…

After breakfast we loaded up the coach to head to Munich! Our first stop on the way to Munich was only about 45 minutes from Hopfgarten. Before leaving Austria, we had to see the Swarovski Factory here in Austira!

The girls were freaking out due to excitement of being able to visit the actual Swarovski Factory. I was just envisioning the prices the whole time. We unloaded the coach and headed inside for a closer look. We had an hour to waste so I walked around the shop a bit and window shopped. Supposedly the prices are lower than the actual retail value, but I wouldn’t know the difference. All I know is that that stuff is crazy expensive!

After daydreaming of my trip to Europe ending today due to being absolutely broke, I decided to walk towards the exit. We all loaded the bus and now we’re headed to Munich. Our next stop will be Dachau, a concentration here in Germany.

We arrived at Dachau and walked about 5 minutes until we arrived at the entrance. The words in german on the iron gate to enter Dachau say: Arbeit Macht Frei which means with work comes freedom.

I will only say that Dachau is a place that you need to experience for yourself. I won’t get into it because explaining the camp doesn’t do it justice. We watched a 30 minute film about Dachau after walking through different parts of the camp. Admission to Dachau is free, and everything inside is free, including the 30 minute video in the theatre. This is a must see if you’re in the area.

We left Dachau and headed to our hotel. Hotel Apart in Munich.

The rooms were really nice, beds were somewhat comfy and the although the hotel was about 25 minutes drive from the city, the metro was just 2 minutes walk from the front door of the hotel.

After checking in and dropping our bags we had about 25 minutes to get ready to head into Munich. We took the bus in and headed to one of the most famous beer halls in the world called the Hofbrauhaus.

It was a great time. We had dinner, and 1 Liter beers!

Insanity! I had Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes for dinner, and although I thought it would be disghusting, it was actually great. Or maybe it was the giant beers that made it taste better? Who knows…