Author: The practical explorer

A WEEKEND IN BERLIN

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Berlin was great – as always.

This was my third time in the city and I still haven’t seen enough. It gives me a reason to come back though.

Berlin is a big city with lots of different neighbourhoods, so there’s lots to explore. We stayed in Alexanderplatz, which is very central.

DO:

Many of the main sights are close together along the river Spree.

Start at Potsdamer Platz then make your way to the Brandenburg Gate, where tourists gather to take pictures. Right nearby is the Holocaust Memorial, with uneven columns that create a sense of unease.

Next, walk to the Reichstag. The building has a transparent dome by British Architect Norman Foster. It’s free to get in but you need to book in advance.

From there walk along the river to reach Museum Island, then stop for a beer in one of the many restaurants by the river.

If you’re so inclined, get on the subway towards Checkpoint Charlie, completing the tour of the main attractions in the city.

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Another highlight is the East-Side Gallery, where large sections of the Berlin Wall have been decorated with colourful paintings.

After taking some pictures (non-optional), head north to Friedrichshain. There are many nice cafes around.

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We were there over the weekend, so on Sunday we learned it was time for brunch. We went to Prenzlauer Berg – there were lots of lovely places around, you can choose anywhere and it will be just perfect!

Nearby is Mauerpark, with a massive market selling all sorts of things. It was packed, and really nice.

HOW TO DO IT:

  • Getting there: lots of flights are available from London, and it only takes 2 hours to get there.
  • Getting around: you can do a lot on foot, but the subway is the easiest way to get places. There are lots of options for tickets, but day passes are probably the most useful for short trips.
  • Stay: Location is key, so choose a neighbourhood before deciding on the accommodation. We stayed at Schoenhouse Aparments, in a very large flat that was just perfect, highly recommended!
  • Drink: There are lots of restaurants, bars and cafes in Berlin, so you’re never out of choice. Mitte, Friedrichsain, Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg are all good neighbourhoods for drinks or a good night out. German beers are great so that is never a problem in Berlin!
  • Eat: German food is nor particularly veggie-friendly, but veganism is quite popular at the moment, so we had no problems. We had perfect samosas at Mama India and a great Vietnamese dinner at Chen Che.

TRAVEL WRITING: THREE FAVOURITES

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Travel blogging is 20 this year (apparently this was the first-ever travel post), so here’s a small selection of a few good travel writing resources (not blogs though, all good old-fashioned print):
  • National Geographic Traveller magazine: I’ve had a subscription for a couple of years now, and it’s still my favourite travel magazine. There are lots of resources, and they always seem to go to places that I want to visit. Plus last year they printed one of my photos!

My photo which was printed on National Geographic Traveller

  • Maps, by Aleksandra Mizielińska and Daniel Mizieliński: I got this as a present recently, and it’s amazing! The illustrations are so beautiful, perfect!

  • Around the World in 80 Days, Jules Verne (available for free, here): A classic. The travel channel is showing a rerun of Michael Palin’s recreation of Phileas Fogg journey, and it is just fantastic. Cheap air travel has changed our perception of distances, but overland travel always offers a different view of places and time.

TRAVEL WISHLIST: JORDAN

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Jordan is one of the top places in my list at the moment, but I want to get it right (which basically means ensuring I have time to see everything I want there).

The main reason I wanted to visit at first was Petra:

Photo from Wikipedia

The place looks absolutely amazing! And you can even see it live through this great Earthcam.

But now that I’ve started doing some research I’ve realised there’s much more to see: a day trip to the Dead Sea is a must, and visiting Wadi Rum must be a surreal experience:

Photo from Wikipedia

HOW TO DO IT:

  • Go: there are plenty of flights from the UK, but tickets are not cheap at around £400 return.
  • Weather: avoid the summer as temperatures get way too hot.
  • Travel around: buses and taxis are the easiest way to travel around in Jordan, are not too expensive, and can be booked when you’re there.
  • Stay: Petra Guesthouse is the best accommodation in Petra in terms of location, but don’t forget to spend a night in a Bedouin tent for a unique experience.

LOOKING BACK: 10 DAYS IN DONETSK

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Today this blog got its very first comment – exciting! And this comment reminded me of an unusual trip from a couple of years ago…

We managed to get (relatively) cheap tickets to the Euros in 2012, which was held in Poland and Ukraine. But there was a catch: we got three tickets to games in Donetsk, which meant we had to spend 10 days there.

We didn’t know anything about Donetsk, but we knew it had a state of the art stadium, the home ground to Shaktar Donetsk. Being the adventurous people that we are, off we went!

Now this was one of those trips where not much goes according to plan:

  • There are no direct flights, so it takes about 8h to get there, with a lengthy stop in Turkey on both ways;
  • Because of the Euros, the very few options for accommodation were already booked. We managed to rent a slightly overpriced flat through Airbnb, in one of those traditional buildings from the Soviet era;
  • On the first night, torrential rain meant the very first match we went to see was postponed for about an hour or so. Not a massive deal, but we got back to our flat only to realise that power cuts are quite common in Ukraine;
  • Ukraine is a massive country, and we didn’t really have time to travel around since every three days we had to be back in Donetsk;
  • So the only thing to do was watch football and walk around the city centre…
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…but we had a great time!

I have no plans of going back, but spending 10 days in a place that not many tourists visit was a really fun experience.

  • People were really nice. We were stopped on the streets, photographed and even interviewed! Locals wanted to know what we thought about Ukraine, and loved when we said we lived in England – Donetsk is the industrial heart of Ukraine, and they are fascinated with anything English.
  • Everything was incredibly cheap. We spent our days sampling the local beers and vodka (at only £6 a bottle – in a restaurant).
  • This was the first time we travelled to a big sporting event, and now we do it as often as we can. We’ve travelled for hockey in Belgium and football in Sweden, and this year we’re going to the World Cup in Brazil.
  • We saw some good matches, including England v. Ukraine. The local fans were incredibly nice given that we were the only England supporters on that side of the stadium.
  • We watched one of the semi-finals in the lobby of a 5-star hotel. At home I probably wouldn’t even be allowed into a 5-star hotel, but in Donetsk we were very welcome. Who would have thought that they’d bring us free crisps with every pint?
  • On that very first night, after the power went out we decided to go to the local convenience store where people were watching the England match (being played in Kiev) on a tiny TV. We talked to local football fans, drank cheap beer, then went back to the flat. It turned out to be quite fun!

TRAVEL RESOURCES: ROME 2 RIO

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I was planning a trip to Eastern Europe recently (details here), and had the chance to try a website that I’d heard about but hadn’t used yet.

Rome 2 Rio tells you how to get from one place to the other, which seems pretty simple but it’s quite handy for trips with many legs or for when you’re not going to major cities with frequent flights.

The site gives you several options through bus, train, plane etc, so you see all options in a single place. The picture below shows how simple it is:
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AMAZING PLACES: MARRAKESH

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I went to Marrakesh for the first time a couple of years ago and it immediately became one of my favourite places. I’ve now been three times, and will go back this October.

Walking through Jemaa el-Fnaa for the first time is a unique experience: the main square of Marrakesh is always full of life, there are lots of cafes and shops, and it’s the best place to watch the sunset behind Koutobia mosque.

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Photo by Antiquote (www.flickr.com/photos/antiquote/)

HOW TO DO IT:

  • Go: Flights from England are widely available, but booking in advance is essential to guarantee good prices.
  • Stay: Staying in a Riad is the best way to enjoy Marrakesh. There are lots of them available at Hostelworld, and the prices are great.
  • Eat: Food in Morocco is amazing and very cheap. Chegrouni in Jemaa el-Fna is one of the best in terms of location, but our favourite for food is the Earth Cafe, with an amazing vegetarian menu.
  • Shop: no trip to Marrakesh is complete if you’re not losing yourself in the souks. There you can buy anything from olives to rugs, all at a very good price (provided you like bargaining, which is not optional).

I can’t wait to go back!

TRAVEL WISHLIST: AMSTERDAM

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Pretty much everyone I know has been to Amsterdam, but somehow I missed the boat.
But with the Rijksmuseum finally reopening after ten years, I decided not to wait anymore, so this August I’m finally going for a long weekend in the city!

HOW TO DO IT:

  • Go: There are lots of options for flights, but it only takes 4h40 on the Eurostar, which is more convenient.
  • Stay: Accommodation is not particularly cheap, but there are options for all tastes.
  • Do: for a cultural break, follow the Rijksmuseum with a visit to Anne Frank’s house and the Van Gogh museum.
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The Rijksmuseum (photo from Wikipedia)

TRIP PLANNING: A WEEK IN EASTERN EUROPE

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This trip has been in the cards for a while, but now we’re finally booking flights and accommodation.

THE ITINERARY:

There were lots of options, but we’ve decided to do the following:

  • Flying from London to Dubrovnik (Croatia): there we’ll spend a couple of days;
  • From Dubrovnik we’ll take a day trip to Montenegro, ideally to visit places like Kotor and Budva. Apparently tours can be easily booked when you’re in Croatia, but Amico Tours seems to be a good option if booking in advance.
  • From there we’re getting on a bus to Mostar (Bosnia). Until recently I didn’t even know this place existed, but now I’m obsessed!
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The bridge in Mostar (Photo from Wikipedia)

  • From there we’re getting on a train to Sarajevo, which I’m really looking forward to.
  • Finally, another bus journey and we end our trip in Belgrade (Serbia), where we’re spending two days before coming back to London.

HOW TO DO IT:

Flights:
Many companies fly from London to Dubrovnik, including Norwegian, Easyjet and Monarch.
From Belgrade to London there are less options, Jat Air being the most frequent.Accommodation:
There are lots of options at very affordable prices. We booked everything from Hostelworld.Getting around:
This is the trickiest past of planning this trip as buses are not available for booking online, but timetables can be found in websites such as  www.libertasdubrovnik.com and www.centrolines.ba.
Forums suggest that this shouldn’t be a problem.

How long to go for:
We’re going for nine days in total, which fits well around work.

When to go:
We’re going in April when it should be warm but not too hot. High season is in the summer but temperatures can be too high, especially if travelling by bus.

2013 TRAVELLING: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

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In 2013 we decided to visit one European per month. We did it! Here’s a short summary of how it went:

  • Our first trip was to Copenhagen in early February. The city was beautiful and not as expensive as we thought, but the weather definitely made it all a bit difficult.
  • Also in February, we went to Ravenna, Italy. There is not much to it, although the mosaics (on the UNESCO Heritage list) are pretty impressive. The main reason why we ended up there was for family though.
  • In March we spent St Patrick’s Day in Cork. It is a very nice and pretty town, but definitely not as mad as Dublin is supposed to be in March.
  • In April we visited friends in Edinburgh. We were very lucky with the weather so we got the chance to climb Arthur’s seat.
  • In May we went to Budapest. My friend Sophie is a local so we had a great time bar-hopping. The Szechenyi baths were great too.
  • In June we went to Brazil for the Confederations Cup (so technically not Europe). Football and riots.
  • In July we went to Stockholm and had a great time sampling super-expensive beer around Gamla Stan.
  • Then in August we went to Antwerp to see some hockey. There was a nice summer festival on.
  • In September we went to Paris and wandered around the beautiful boulevards. Ron Mueck had an amazing exhibition on at the Cartier Foundation, following the success of  his previous show there.
  • In October we went to Venice for the arts biennale. Somehow we still laugh every time we think about the poor tourist who fell straight into a canal!
  • In November we went to Iceland which was amazing! The highlights were the northern lights, but the whole summary of the trip is here.
  • In December we boarded a plane to Ljubljana not really knowing what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised!

opera house