POSTED ON: Sunday, May 11, 2014 @ 7:08 PM | 0 comments
Apologies for the different fonts in the previous post. Some formatting went wrong somewhere I suppose. And please pardon the lack of nail posts. Will definitely get back to them once I get back to Singapore in July. Keeping long nails and having them painted while travelling is rather troublesome if you know what I mean.
This post will be about my Germany trip from about two or three weeks ago. The weather in Germany was great while we were there. Sunny enough for me to not wear my fluffy woolly jacket anymore but still cold enough for me to wear leggings and cardigans (:
First stop: Hamburg.
We travelled by train from Denmark to Hamburg since it was cheaper as compared to flying although that took a little more time. The view along most train routes I took were pretty good if you'd ask me so the time spent travelling and the money saved from flights was worth it.
Here's a photo of Hamburg's central station (Hamburg Hauptbahnhof).
The lady at the Information counter was not a single bit helpful. Most of her answers to my questions were a simple "I don't know" or she would direct me to the tourist information centre which was already closed when we reached the central station. We only wanted to know where we could get a SIM card with a 3G data plan for our phones (since we didn't know how convenience stores looked liked in Germany and since the stores were starting to close at around 7ish?), and how we could get to our accommodation by public transport. In the end, I approached two punk girls with cool hair and multiple piercings and they totally made my day! Both of them were so kind and helpful they told me exactly the name of the shop and directed me to it where I could get my SIM card, and even pointed out the location of my accommodation on the train map and told me how I should get there etc. They even wished us luck and hope that we will enjoy our holiday in Germany. Thank goodness for these people (never judge a book by its cover), my faith in humanity is restored.
So anyway, in case you were a lost sheep like we were when we first arrived in Germany, here's Rossmann for you. It's on the second floor of the central station. A drugstore (similar to what we find in Singapore's Watsons) where I got my SIM card and some basic daily necessities. Registering and activating the SIM card took some trouble too, which an old lady in a tobacco shop helped me with (albeit a little reluctantly).
The other way is to head out to the shopping streets and search for a mobile phone shop. But they were all closing when we reached there in the evening so Rossmann was our best bet. And to help you out a little more, here's the train map of Hamburg:
(click to view a larger version)
Most of the attractions were along the yellow line if you're only there for a day or two.
Breakfast the next morning was a Cafe Paris. It was quite well reviewed online so we decided to give it a try. A great decision it was! A typical French cafe with beautiful Art Nouveau ceilings in the main hall, warmly illuminated by little lights all around. A great variety on the menu too and very value for money. I tried The Hamburg Breakfast set which came with shrimp salad, smoked salmon, white herring, scrambled eggs, wholemeal nut bread, toast, and a choice of hot drink.
They also have a selection of desserts and macarons at the counter yumyumms. Loved this place and I would definitely recommend it! Here's the website if you'd like to find out more about them: http://www.cafeparis.net/home.html. The address and menu can be found on the website. (:
We roamed around the city a little and visited Hamburg Rathaus and the Miniature Museum (Miniatur Wunderland).
Hamburg Rathaus is the town hall of Hamburg, Germany. It is located in the Altstadt quarter in the city centre, near the lake and the central station. You'll spot it for sure once you exit the train station. A beautiful neo renaissance building with green roofs. According to Wikipedia, the tower is 112metres high with 436 steps. The city hall has 647 rooms, that's 6 rooms more than the Buckingham Palace. Pretty cool huh.
The miniature museum was really interesting. We spent the whole afternoon there observing little trains and cars move around the miniature cities and watching the cities turn from day to night. http://www.miniatur-wunderland.de
The other attraction next to Miniatur Wunderland was the Hamburg Dungeon. With 11 shows, 2 rides and over 900 years of Hamburg history, we were rather interested in it but the whole tour was in German (which we couldn't understand) so we left disappointed.
Visited a few gardens and a little amusement park the next day. Yay we got our first bratwurst!
Berlin was the last stop with my first travel buddy and boy do I like Berlin. There are so many things to see and so much history to soak up. Well-equipped with a train map, it's time to explore!
(click to view a larger version)
[A little secret: nobody checked our train ticket while we were there for 2-3 days so we saved a bit on those... shhhhh...]
I generally like the architecture in Germany so yay! I'll let pictures do the talking here.
Inside the Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom).
Outside the Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom), the largest church in the city.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
Selfie in the memorial.
The Brandenburg Gate.
Horse carriages at Pariser Platz, a square in the centre of Berlin, right in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
A bear statue in front of the Berlin Wall.
Finally some currywursts!
Oh and if it's your first time in Berlin just like us, I'd recommend a little guided tour around the city. The tour itself is free, but the tour guide will ask for a little tip at the end of the tour since that's how he earns his money (as he claims). The tour was good anyway and our tour guide made history lessons extremely interesting and interactive. The free tour covers iconic places like The Brandenburg Gate, The Memorial to the murdered Jews, The Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, TV Tower, Gendarmenmarkt, some museums (just the outside of course) and a few others.
Fluffed up our feathers on one of the nights to explore Görlitzer Park. Rather interesting experience but scary at the same time. Will not do it a second time haha.
Would recommend this restaurant to try their wiener schnitzel. We found it tucked in a corner street near our accommodation and decided to give it a try. Didn't get our hopes high with dinner so this was a pleasant surprise for us. Loved the atmosphere, loved the mains and desserts. Villa Rixdorf is what you should be looking for.
I guess that pretty much sums up my time in Germany. Great place for photos I would say (maybe wedding photos in future?). Good food at reasonable prices too, hence the sudden weight gain and chubby face. Till next time~! (:
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POSTED ON: Sunday, May 11, 2014 @ 7:08 PM | 0 comments
Apologies for the different fonts in the previous post. Some formatting went wrong somewhere I suppose. And please pardon the lack of nail posts. Will definitely get back to them once I get back to Singapore in July. Keeping long nails and having them painted while travelling is rather troublesome if you know what I mean.
This post will be about my Germany trip from about two or three weeks ago. The weather in Germany was great while we were there. Sunny enough for me to not wear my fluffy woolly jacket anymore but still cold enough for me to wear leggings and cardigans (:
First stop: Hamburg.
We travelled by train from Denmark to Hamburg since it was cheaper as compared to flying although that took a little more time. The view along most train routes I took were pretty good if you'd ask me so the time spent travelling and the money saved from flights was worth it.
Here's a photo of Hamburg's central station (Hamburg Hauptbahnhof).
The lady at the Information counter was not a single bit helpful. Most of her answers to my questions were a simple "I don't know" or she would direct me to the tourist information centre which was already closed when we reached the central station. We only wanted to know where we could get a SIM card with a 3G data plan for our phones (since we didn't know how convenience stores looked liked in Germany and since the stores were starting to close at around 7ish?), and how we could get to our accommodation by public transport. In the end, I approached two punk girls with cool hair and multiple piercings and they totally made my day! Both of them were so kind and helpful they told me exactly the name of the shop and directed me to it where I could get my SIM card, and even pointed out the location of my accommodation on the train map and told me how I should get there etc. They even wished us luck and hope that we will enjoy our holiday in Germany. Thank goodness for these people (never judge a book by its cover), my faith in humanity is restored.
So anyway, in case you were a lost sheep like we were when we first arrived in Germany, here's Rossmann for you. It's on the second floor of the central station. A drugstore (similar to what we find in Singapore's Watsons) where I got my SIM card and some basic daily necessities. Registering and activating the SIM card took some trouble too, which an old lady in a tobacco shop helped me with (albeit a little reluctantly).
The other way is to head out to the shopping streets and search for a mobile phone shop. But they were all closing when we reached there in the evening so Rossmann was our best bet. And to help you out a little more, here's the train map of Hamburg:
(click to view a larger version)
Most of the attractions were along the yellow line if you're only there for a day or two.
Breakfast the next morning was a Cafe Paris. It was quite well reviewed online so we decided to give it a try. A great decision it was! A typical French cafe with beautiful Art Nouveau ceilings in the main hall, warmly illuminated by little lights all around. A great variety on the menu too and very value for money. I tried The Hamburg Breakfast set which came with shrimp salad, smoked salmon, white herring, scrambled eggs, wholemeal nut bread, toast, and a choice of hot drink.
They also have a selection of desserts and macarons at the counter yumyumms. Loved this place and I would definitely recommend it! Here's the website if you'd like to find out more about them: http://www.cafeparis.net/home.html. The address and menu can be found on the website. (:
We roamed around the city a little and visited Hamburg Rathaus and the Miniature Museum (Miniatur Wunderland).
Hamburg Rathaus is the town hall of Hamburg, Germany. It is located in the Altstadt quarter in the city centre, near the lake and the central station. You'll spot it for sure once you exit the train station. A beautiful neo renaissance building with green roofs. According to Wikipedia, the tower is 112metres high with 436 steps. The city hall has 647 rooms, that's 6 rooms more than the Buckingham Palace. Pretty cool huh.
The miniature museum was really interesting. We spent the whole afternoon there observing little trains and cars move around the miniature cities and watching the cities turn from day to night. http://www.miniatur-wunderland.de
The other attraction next to Miniatur Wunderland was the Hamburg Dungeon. With 11 shows, 2 rides and over 900 years of Hamburg history, we were rather interested in it but the whole tour was in German (which we couldn't understand) so we left disappointed.
Visited a few gardens and a little amusement park the next day. Yay we got our first bratwurst!
Berlin was the last stop with my first travel buddy and boy do I like Berlin. There are so many things to see and so much history to soak up. Well-equipped with a train map, it's time to explore!
(click to view a larger version)
[A little secret: nobody checked our train ticket while we were there for 2-3 days so we saved a bit on those... shhhhh...]
I generally like the architecture in Germany so yay! I'll let pictures do the talking here.
Inside the Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom).
Outside the Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom), the largest church in the city.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
Selfie in the memorial.
The Brandenburg Gate.
Horse carriages at Pariser Platz, a square in the centre of Berlin, right in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
A bear statue in front of the Berlin Wall.
Finally some currywursts!
Oh and if it's your first time in Berlin just like us, I'd recommend a little guided tour around the city. The tour itself is free, but the tour guide will ask for a little tip at the end of the tour since that's how he earns his money (as he claims). The tour was good anyway and our tour guide made history lessons extremely interesting and interactive. The free tour covers iconic places like The Brandenburg Gate, The Memorial to the murdered Jews, The Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, TV Tower, Gendarmenmarkt, some museums (just the outside of course) and a few others.
Fluffed up our feathers on one of the nights to explore Görlitzer Park. Rather interesting experience but scary at the same time. Will not do it a second time haha.
Would recommend this restaurant to try their wiener schnitzel. We found it tucked in a corner street near our accommodation and decided to give it a try. Didn't get our hopes high with dinner so this was a pleasant surprise for us. Loved the atmosphere, loved the mains and desserts. Villa Rixdorf is what you should be looking for.
I guess that pretty much sums up my time in Germany. Great place for photos I would say (maybe wedding photos in future?). Good food at reasonable prices too, hence the sudden weight gain and chubby face. Till next time~! (:
