Kind of slow driving because of US speed limit… but also because of the deer hunting season… a crash with a deer is bad for the car and the driver… all the way long I saw car parts on the side of the road, deer blood, dead deer etc. But I still managed to get to Chicago in a time frame which shocked my colleagues at work they said “oh you Germans and your Autobahn!!!”

Arrival at parking garage, that was recommended by the hostel (http://www.hichicago.org) which is a nice hostel, good security, great location but not much party going on there….

I checked in, immediately took a map of the city and started my trip with a walk through downtown and the financial district:

The financial district has a really nice architecture…. old style buildings mixed with modern:

Reminds you of the Batman movies….

The destination of my walk was the Sears Tower, also known today as the official Willis Tower;

“Willis Tower, formerly named Sears Tower, is a 108-story 1,451 feet (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion in 1974, it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York. Currently, Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world as well as the fifth tallest building in the world to the roof.”

There are two tall towers in Chicago, the Sears Tower and the Hancock Building….. I went to the Sears tower, as I wanted to go to the tallest building, but my friends told me that the view from the Hancock Tower is also pretty good.

Me at the ground in front of the Sears tower:

damn that building is really tall!

Anyway, I bought the ticket, there was not a long queue and I arrived pretty fast at the viewing platform….and look at the view…unbelievable!

and the best thing about the Sears tower are the glass balconies….

Afterward I went to have a lunch at the famous Giordano’s.

The stuffed pizza is the signature dish of Chicago….. I ordered the smallest version but I could not finish it.

From there I straight went to the coast line, where you can find a fantastic open air concert hall and a great park with a special metallic sculpture and a great view at Chicago’s skyline:

“Cloud Gate, a public sculpture by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor, is the centerpiece of the AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park within the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The sculpture and AT&T Plaza are located on top of Park Grill, between the Chase Promenade and McCormick Tribune Plaza & Ice Rink. Constructed between 2004 and 2006, the sculpture is nicknamed “The Bean” because of its bean-like shape. Made up of 168 stainless steel plates welded together, its highly polished exterior has no visible seams. It is 33 feet by 66 feet by 42 feet (10 m × 20 m × 13 m), and weighs 110 short tons (100 t; 98 long tons).

Kapoor’s design was inspired by liquid mercury and the sculpture’s surface reflects and distorts the city’s skyline. Visitors are able to walk around and under Cloud Gate’s 12-foot (3.7 m) high arch. On the underside is the “omphalos” (Greek for “navel”), a concave chamber that warps and multiplies reflections.”

and the open air concert hall:

From there my way took me to the Navy Pier, the most touristic place in Chicago, but also the best place to have a great view of Chicago at night:

“Navy Pier is a 3,300-foot (1,010 m) long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The pier was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million, equivalent to $89.7 million today.”

training going on….

of course the famous Bubba Gump restaurant:

still waiting until it gets really dark….

better….

picture taken from a ride on the famous ferris wheel:

on my way back to the hostel

the metro system is great, does not need much time to get from A to B….

in the evening I relaxed at the hostel, met some fellow travelers. One of them was Elena. An very interesting person, she is a scientist, originated from Ukraine, studying and working now in Florida and her main work is to grow nano pipes. She does know a lot of stuff and is really interested into science. She went to Chicago for a conference where her university paid the stay for the conference, etc. Anyway we had a good chat and decided to do some sightseeing together the next day.

By the way the breakfast at the hostel was pretty good…I can recommend it!

At the Breakfast I met Elena and we both decided to go to the Grant park with the Buckingham fountain,

“Grant Park (originally named Lake Park) is a large park (319 acres or 1.29 km²) in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The park’s most notable features are Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountain and the Art Institute of Chicago. Grant Park is frequently referred to as the city’s front yard. It is bordered on the north by Randolph Street, on the south by Roosevelt Road, on the west by Michigan Avenue and on the east by Lake Shore Drive”

Buckingham fountain, unfortunately turned of, as it was winter…..but check out the cool pics of it in the Internet….

and then we were on our way to the planetarium

“Karel Havlíček Borovský (Czech pronunciation: [ˈkarɛl ˈɦavliːtʃɛk ˈborofskiː]; Borová, today Havlíčkova Borová; October 31, 1821 - Prague, July 29, 1856) was a Czech writer, poet, critic, politician, journalist, and publisher.”

The planetarium was actually quite nice! It is a good plan, especially when the weather is not that great. As you know Chicago is known as the windy city…..During the main session in the planetarium and afterwards, there was a question and answer session, guess who asked over 10 questions? My friend Elena, she was embarrassed by her self, asking so many questions, but it was fun and most people enjoyed it. The real fun fact was that the guy, doing the session was actually also a science student and also participated at the conference where Elena took part. I swear guys, for some 15 minutes I felt like in a episode of The Big Bang Theory, but it was fun and I learned a lot! @Elena, hopefully we meet some other time again and discuss more about culture, living and the sense of life

From the planetarium, we did some more walking along the Michigan Avenue (the main major shopping street of Chicago). Actually there are some great stores which one should visit, such as the Garmin stor (navigation systems and a lot of other toys for us guys!) and Giradeli’s sweet store.

From there we went back to the hostel. I took my stuff from the hostel locker, went to the garage to get my car, got the gas tank full and started the ride back to Rochester Hills, where I arrived around 11 in the evening. I would definitely visit Chicago again if I could.

Until the next trip!

Kawe

after a hard but very interesting and funny week of work I started my Saturday with a day trip to Detroit City.

“Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded on July 24, 1701, by the Frenchman Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. Its name originates from the French word détroit for strait, characterizing its location on the river connecting the Great Lakes.”

But as it is also known as the city with the GM headquarter, Detroit really suffered from the crisis. The world even call it the dead city. Well but I was still curious to explore the city. My colleagues at work gave me some advice on where to go, not to go, where to park my car etc. One thing all of my colleagues had in common, all were wondering why I was going to visit Detroit….

Anyway, street name of parking garage programmed into the navigation system and lets start the ride to Detroit. The ride was quite comfortable and the city did not had that much traffic. I parked in the parking garage of the famous greektown casino, which is quite famous in Detroit (and it is a safe place to park your car.)

Actually I had chosen a really bad time for visiting Michigan and Detroit….. The winter months are always quiet, not much going on except Christmas parades, as the whole state has to deal every year with masses of snow. I learned that Detroit has a lot of festivals and culture highlights going on in the summer…. My bad luck, but still the city had to show some nice places:

GM Headquarters:

Beautiful old buildings that remind me of the scenery of Gotham City in Batman….

The great Hart Plaza:
“Philip A. Hart Plaza is an open, mostly hard-surfaced park in downtown Detroit, Michigan, along the Detroit River. It is located more or less on the site at which Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac landed in 1701 when he founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, the settlement that became Detroit. In 2009, the Detroit-Wayne County Port Authority opened its new cruise ship passenger terminal and dock at Hart Plaza, adjacent to the Renaissance Center.“

And Mr. Cadillac

The tunnel to Canada was a Gateway to freedom to many slaves during the slavery in the United States:

A look over the Detroit River to Windsor, Canada:

I enjoyed a really nice walk along the promenade of the Detroit river:

Afterwards I went to the Greektown casino. The town was pretty empty, no one working on Sunday, but where are all the people? Well I found them all in the casino… I can’t believe that so many people are gambling… the casino was packed and it is not the only casino in Detroit. I just tried out the slot machines and won some dollars, which was enough for me… I am not that big gambler….Walking through the streets of Detroit downtown and especially Greektown was a bit intimidating… a lot of homeless people and wanna be gangsters… you could see people dealing with drugs, I also saw from some distance a robbery where three police cars arrived etc…. Detroit is not the safest place to live….

After the casino I went to a store which is called Fishbone’s. A great restaurant, that serves all kind of foods….but it is specialised in the seafood based on the cooking traditions of the southern states. Well I must admit that I took a chicken burger…but boy that was the best chicken burger of my life!

Unfortunately I couldn’t find some people to hang out with in Detroit or to go for some clubbing…therefore I took my car and made my way back home… It was a nice day trip and Detroit is not that bad…

I also did not had time to see more of Detroit but recommended are also the Easter market (lots of good food), the art museum (I am not that big fan of an art museum). Close to Detroit are the Ford museum (I visited it in January 2010 (highly recommended), there will be later a blog post about it) and I also went to the Detroit autoshow (also covered in a separate blog entry)

Stay tuned!

Then from Frankfurt I had a direct flight to Detroit. It took me around 9 hours. Also we can add 6 hours of time difference (Eastern Standard Time vs. European Central Time).

Actually everything was well prepared. After landing in Detroit I was surprised by the empty “international” airport. Took my luggage, went to a public phone and dialed the number of the taxi company which then would pick me up. Soon the car arrived, the driver was already screaming the name of my companies name… the ride from the Detroit Metropolitan Airport to my place in Rochester Hills takes about 45 minutes by car…. And I can tell you, it was a hell of a ride….

Why? Well first of all my taxi driver was bald and looking a bit crazy. Then the talks started, he tried to program his navigation system via voice and ended up with cursing it endlessly. Then after talking and swearing with people on the phone, he told me stories of the holy land of America of course by using the words f***, a****, and so on. Then he told me about his trips to Windsor, Canada, which is just a couple hundred meters through a tunnel from Detroit. Why did he told me about it? I don’t know, he just started talking about that prostitution is illegal in Michigan, legal in Windsor and so on and so on. During the talks I was really surprised that we did not ended up in some car accidents, or a police car chase with helicopter and cameras….

Well in the end we made it to the apartment. But first we had to pass the gate. Unfortunately the gate key was not working…. so after a car of a resident passed the gate, this crazy head pushed to gas pedal to an edge, ran the car through the gate while it was open and stopped with a drift like you never have seen before. This guy should really work for the police or some gangs….seriously…

Alright, the area where my apartment was, was a quite small safe area known as Oakwood, River Oaks North apartments. This is not usual for the average European. You must know that the living areas are quite separated and located far away. Thus you have small communities living in a secured or less secured area.

Anyway the apartment is quite big, one large living room, kitchen, bathroom with tub, storage room, a walk in closet, a large bedroom, bedroom and living room with a nice TV :-)  and a nice terrace toward the forest.

Here are some pics:

The day I arrived, it was already close to midnight, thus the pictures are from another day. The first interesting thing that happened to me the 2nd day in the US was, when I encountered three deers in front of my terrace…. You must know that the most accidents in Michigan happen with deers.

Of course my company also rented a nice car for me, because without a car….you can do absolutely, and I really mean it…absolutely nothing in Rochester Hills. You even have to take your car to get rid of the garbage bag. So this was my nice car for 3 months:

In a nice covered parking lot, helped a lot when it was snowing….

So day 2 was a Sunday, thus after waking up I checked in the Web where the groceries stores and the company are and then went for a nice ride. I am glad that the car was delivered with a navigation system I shopped at Trader Joes (a tip from Bruce and his wife Susan) which is basically the “Bio” chain of Aldi. Great shopping, good prices and good service with all the packing/bagging. We need something like that in Germany. Although it really took me some time to get adjusted to the sizes of meals, groceries etc. as in the US everything is bigger.

Day 3 was my first day at work. Luckily the company was only 3 minutes (by car) away from my apartment. This is what the company looks like:

and as an average office worker in the US you don’t get an office, you get a cubicle! The thing you know from watching American movies….

Thats my cubicle!

So I was welcomed and introduced to my colleagues by Bruce. Given a security badge to access the company and then after setting up the IT, mobile phone, land line etc. Going out for some lunch with the boss Bruce. One thing which I noted at the lunch which is unique for the US, free refills of soft drinks at most of the restaurants….

As the cantine was really bad (everyone said this) I often went to get my food at places around the area, subway, etc. But my favorite store was Panera bread….great soups and sandwiches. You should check it out when you happen to be in the US.

As first days went by, I was in the routine, working on US and German tasks, learning the American way of working and living… for example don’t take the question “Hi, How are you” not seriously….. short answer and short re-question. And I also got ready for the next weekend to visit the city of Detroit.

Well as some of you guys might know, I also started working within the international department of my company. Therefore I am engaged in supporting a couple of countries regarding internal IT etc.

As part of my new full time position I was also offered a foreign development placement, where I could again expand my horizon I immediately took the opportunity, asked my boss where he would like me to work and after much consideration we decided to go for the US! At the beginning I was not quite sure about this, as I am a big Asia fan and I always wanted to work and spend some time in Japan and China. But in the end one always knows, it does not matter which country you visit

So I packed my things. My destination would be a Rochester Hills, a suburb of Detroit in the State of Michigan. My new boss, Bruce was looking forward to it! So was I, that’s why I started immediately with the preparation of my travel, documents, visa etc. All went well…..

So here some Information about Michigan:
“The State of Michigan is located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe word mishigama, meaning “large water” or “large lake”"

That sounds quite good, but it was a bit different when I started thinking about Detroit. The motor city, city of cars, which nowadays is called sometimes the dead city, due to the crisis that hit GM and other car companies. But even this could stop me from going there

And here some information about Rochester Hills:
“Rochester Hills is a city in northeast Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 68,825. The 2008 census estimate places the population at 69,014. The City of Rochester in bounded on the north, south, and west by Rochester Hills. Rochester Hills is an affluent suburb on the northern outskirts of Metro Detroit. Most residents work in or around either Detroit or Flint, due to its near equal proximity to each.“

So in my next posts you will read about my time in Rochester Hills, the work and social life there, and of course about my trips to some other places in the US

I also tried for the first time Couchsurfing. “The Project is the largest hospitality exchange network, with over 1.6 million members in 234 countries and territories”

There I found a a friendly host, means a student flat with the swiss girls who offered me to stay at their place for 2 nights in Zuerich.

I took pretty early the ICE from Frankfurt to Zürich and arrived just before lunch. One of my hosts (Sarah) picked me up at the central station, took me to the city, where we met her flatmate Denise and directly got a taste of a swiss bakery

We walked through the city and I immediately realized why this city is so expensive and so beautiful. It’s a great combination of a lot of things which I will show you in the following

At the apartment we also met the third flatmate Anna-Lea. I even got a key to the flat…My new swiss friends showed me on a map some places where I could go for sightseeing…..

But first things first… some info on Zürich:

“Zürich or Zurich (see Etymology below) is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. The city is Switzerland’s main commercial and cultural centre and sometimes called the Cultural Capital of Switzerland, the political capital of Switzerland being Berne. Zürich can be counted as one of the world’s pre-eminent global cities. According to several surveys from 2006 to 2008, Zürich was named the city with the best quality of life in the world as well as the wealthiest city in Europe. Zürich is also ranked the sixth most expensive city in the world.”

said that… no expensive price in the city could shock me…everything costs more in Zürich… the bus ticket, the sandwich, the chocolate…everything.

So directly from the place of the girls I took the train to on of Zürich’s hills/mountains. The most famous one is known as the Uetliberg:

“The Üetliberg (also spelled Uetliberg) is a mountain in the Swiss plateau, part of the Albis chain, rising to 873 m (2864 ft). The Uetliberg offers a panoramic view of the entire city of Zürich and the Lake of Zürich. There is also a hotel in the name of “Uto Kulm” on this small mountain. The two towers on the mountain are a look-out tower (rebuilt 1990) and the Uetliberg TV-tower (132 m, rebuilt 1968). The summit is easily accessible by train from Zürich.”

Here are some impressions…

getting up the mountain….

the big viewing tower…. the time when I arrived, it was a bit foggy….

but luckily by the time I got up the tower… the fog was nearly gone…and I had a perfect view over Zürich:

TV tower next to us….

nice view at the lake of Zürich…

and we could see until the alps…..isn’t that wonderful?

the fog looks like a waterfall….

and it goes deep down…:

after that I went back to the city…. and as the nature around the city, the city is also great:

Banks in Switzerland:

After the first day sightseeing and impressions in Zürich I had a nice dinner in the city and then went back to the flat to meet my Swiss couchsurfing friends. There we spent a great evening with movies and talking/chatting…

The second day (25th) started quite rainy… unfortunately…. But still worth walking through the city and visiting the Zürich lake:

after some sightseeing I met again with Sarah and Denise to visit an art museum “Museum für Gestaltung” to see an exhibition of the fashion photograph Michel Comte. Actually I was not sure if I would like it, cause I am not that much into photography and also not into fashion…but surprisingly it was awesome… this guy really has some talent and the photographs were amazing, also the revelation on how the original was a bit photoshoped….

See this is the great part of Couchsurfing. Without my hosts I would never have found out and gone to that exhibition. Sarah, one of my host studies photography, thats why she was interested into that exhibition. I learned a lot about photography and fashion that day. Also about Switzerland, as the Photographer was born in Zürich. You can see, Zürich has a lot to offer….

After the exhibition we went for some shopping so that I could cook a nice dinner for the girls

Day three was my last day…and I was lucky that the weather turned out well again… no rain, yeah!

view from the “Polyterasse”

Swiss federal institute of technology Zurich

typical architecture inside the city….

The “Grossmünster”:

“The Grossmünster (”great minster”) is a Romanesque-style church that played an important role in the history of the Protestant Reformation. It is one of the three major churches of Zürich (the others being the Fraumünster and St. Peterskirche). The core of the present building near the banks of the Limmat River was constructed on the site of a Carolingian church, which was, according to legend, originally commissioned by Charlemagne.^[1] Construction of the present structure commenced around 1100 and it was inaugurated around 1220.”

The best thing is the view that you have from the Grossmünster over Zürich:

I also went to the opposite church with the blue tower, which has the name “Faumünster”

“The Fraumünster abbey of Zürich was founded in 853 by Louis the German for his daughter Hildegard. He endowed the Benedictine convent with the lands of Zürich, Uri, and the Albis forest, and granted the convent immunity, placing it under his direct authority.” I also had the chance to see the famous Chagall windows…..

typical red tower:

you can also have an old faishoned way of visiting the city:

now the view from the other side of the river….

before I left for the central station to catch my train back to Frankfurt…. I had to get some of the famous Swiss chocolate. Everyone knows, Switzerland has the best chocolate in the world.

One of my hosts previously worked in the chocolate heaven which is called “Confiserie Sprüngli“…..Believe me when I say, that you can get the best, the most fresh chocolate, pralines in the world at this place.

So I bought some of the pralines and some of the famous Luxemburgerli. I saved some for my family and the rest helped me to make the train ride back to Frankfurt one of my best train rides ever

So if one of my friends should ever visit Zürich and plan to get me a present…..pleasseeeee get me some of the Sprüngli pralines…..

I love travelling!!!!

So first the preparation, some things I did good, some …well lets say not so good. Well I booked my flight I guess 4 months in advance thus I got a pretty good price to fly with Ryanair from Frankfurt Hahn to Rome Ciampino. I booked a hostel in Rome, pretty close to Termini (it’s the central train station in Rome). And I took an early bus to the airport. Thus all went well. Now the things that were not good organized, actually it’s just one “my shoes”. Yep keep in mind to take with you shoes that give your feet the best comfort and allow you to walk miles over miles without aching feet… believe me, I know what I’m talking about.

So I arrived on the evening of the 6th August around 22:30 at Ciampino airport. I already prebooked my bus to the city, thus it didn’t took me a lot of time to get to the bus and then to the city. The bus stop is directly at Termini and most of the hostels (including mine) are located around Termini. But keep in mind that the area around the central station in every city is pretty bad, thus you have to be careful and use common sense in order to keep yourself out of trouble. Thanks to my map I found my hostel pretty fast and then directly went to bed. By the way the weather was awesome! around 32 degree Celsius…

The next day (7th) I woke up pretty early, as I know the masses of tourists are already running to the tourists sights. As I was staying in a really small hostel, there was actually no breakfast…but in order to get a fresh start it’s good to get a really, I mean really really good breakfast at the bakery which is in the supermarket at the Termini (underground). Also the first thing what you should do is buying the Roma Pass. The Roma Pass offers you 3 days flat rate of using the bus and the subway in Rome, it also offers you two free entries to famous tourists sights, and a lot of discounts. Here is the link

So here is the list of sights, sorted by days (maybe I forgot one or two sights, but believe me, it was hardcore sight seeing!!!) :

Day 1:

Directly from the termini I went to the vatican city. You can reach it pretty easily with the metro:

from there I walked by the St. Peter’s Square, had a quick look at the St. Peter’s Basil,

but went directly to the Vatican museum (with the Sistine Chapel):

Wikipedia says: “The Vatican Museums (Italian: Musei Vaticani), in Viale Vaticano in Rome, inside the Vatican City, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries. Pope Julius IISistine Chapel and the Stanze della SegnaturaRaphael are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums.” founded the museums in the 16th century. The decorated by

and I must say it is huge and really impressive. So many sculptures, paintings….a must see for everyone!!!

a quick look into the vatican city/state ….as you can see, not much going on…

Inside the museum there is also a little park and (who would ever have guessed that) also sculptures from the old egypt and even some modern sculptures…

The highlight of the vatican museum is the Sistine chapel (that’s actually why most people visit the museum):

“Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture, evocative of Solomon’s Temple of the Old Testament, and its decoration which has been frescoed throughout by the greatest Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, and Sandro Botticelli. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted 12,000 square feet (1,100 m²) of the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. He resented the commission, and believed his work only served the Pope’s need for grandeur. However, today the ceiling, and especially The Last Judgement, are widely believed to be Michelangelo’s crowning achievements in painting.“

Unfortunately it is highly protected and forbidden to take photos…. thus I can’t show you the great painted ceiling… but I managed to get some secret shots

i know it is not very good….just skip it and google for better pictures, if you can’t visit that great place…

Next stop is Castel Sant Angelo…. the castle of the Angels…. actually one of my most favourite sights in Rome:

“The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant’Angelo, is a towering cylindrical building in Rome, initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum.”

of course I went inside the castle…luckily there was not a huge queue, well and I got in for free with my roma pass. And also if I would have to pay the entrance fee, I would certainly do it, cause the view from the top of the castle is just amazing!!!!

by the way, for those who have not read the book “illuminati” there is really a direct connection between the St. Peters Basil and the castle…. but can’t be used by us “normal” people….

so from the castle I directly made my way to the even more famous Trevi Fountain:

“The Trevi Fountain (Italian: Fontana di Trevi) is a fountain in the Trevi rione in Rome, Italy. Standing 25.9 meters (85 feet) high and 19.8 meters (65 feet) wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city.”

and you should definitely visit by day, be night, when you are a couple or alone for gelati or vino….

On day one I was there alone for gelati (ice cream), so I threw a coin with my right hand over my left shoulder into the fountain (”A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome.”), sat down with my ice cream and just enjoyed the magnificent architecture of this fountain:

and you guys must know that there are many many, and I mean really many other fountains in Rome, which are worth visiting them. Like for example the Bernini fountain:

So after this first day, I was pretty exhausted. Although Rome has a good metro system, buses and so on, I kept on walking all the time. In such a city you just have to walk to soak in all the different sights, the architecture, the atmosphere….. So I decided to stay the night at the hostel to meet some fellow traveler’s.

I can assure you, I could definitely could cut of my feet that night…. as I said…wrong shoes…..

Day 2:

began quite  early for me, as I wanted to be one of the first person to enter St. Peter’s Basil….before it gets crowded and I have to queue up for hours…. So I got up, bought some good breakfast, took the metro to Vatican city, sat down at St. Peters Sqare (Piazza San Pietro) and first enjoyed my breakfast, the sun, and the wonderful view:

Who of you does remember this sign from a Tom Hanks movie?

Swiss guards in their uniform protecting the pope

View from the Basil at the Piazzo…..

The Basil itself is huge, a lot of sculptures, history and also a lot of gold…..

and guess what, you can go up……

Basically the Basil has 4 levels which you should visit. In the underground there is the Vatican grotto:

“There are over 100 tombs within St. Peter’s Basilica (extant to various extents), many located in the Vatican grotto, beneath the Basilica. These include 91 popes, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II, and the composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Exiled Catholic British royalty James Francis Edward Stuart and his two sons, Charles Edward Stuart and Henry Benedict Stuart, are buried here, having been granted asylum by Pope Clement XI. Also buried here are Maria Clementina Sobieska, wife of Charles Edward Stuart, Queen Christina of Sweden, who abdicated her throne in order to convert to Catholicism, and Countess Matilda of Tuscany, supporter of the Papacy during the Investiture Controversy. The most recent interment was Pope John Paul II, on April 8, 2005. Beneath, near the crypt, is the recently-discovered vaulted fourth-century “Tomb of the Julii“. (See below for some descriptions of tombs)”

Due to the respect to the dead, of course I did not took any photos there. I must say it was quite impressive when people kneed down in front of the tomb of pope Johannes Paul the second to pray and pay their respect. There you could feel the real energy of this religion.

The other three levels are, the basil itself, the rotunda inside the top of the basil, and the top of the dome. As usual the whole visit of the Basil is actually free, but when it comes to the dome… you have to pay a small fee. That means 3 Euros if you want to take all the dangerous steps and 5 Euros if you want to take the lift for half of the way….and I guess what I did??? Of course the steps… believe me I was pretty done after so many steps during that hot weather but the view was worth it:

and look at this whole mosaic artwork….

and the great view from the top:

so that you believe me that I was really on top of that dome….

a couple of levels lower, the statues which you usually see from the piazza…

After exploring the Basil to the fullest… I went to the next tourist destination….

Thats right, it is the Colosseum!!!!  And here you definitely can benefit from your Roma Pass, cause it is free entry, and for the holder of the pass there is a separate queue where you can jump the damn long queue next to you…

“The Colosseum or Roman Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium, Italian Anfiteatro Flavio or Colosseo), is an elliptical amphitheatre in the center of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering.”

Here are some impressions:

and believe me or not… some people knew the TV show “How I met your mother”, saw me in my shirt and always said “Suit up!” or “What up!” and gave me a high five:

In one area of the Colosseum there was also a small open museum build up, where you could read about the history of the Colosseum and also about the dynasty of Vespasian….

Directly next to the Colosseum is the grand Arch of Constantine

“The Arch of Constantine (Italian: Arco di Costantino) is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was erected to commemorate Constantine I’s victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312. Dedicated in 315, it is the latest of the existing triumphal arches in Rome, from which it differs by spolia, the extensive re-use of parts of earlier buildings.”

and like in an amusement park, also the Roman Forum is also next to the Arch and the Colosseum:

“The Roman Forum, also known by its original Latin designation (Latin: Forum Romanum, Italian: Foro Romano), is located between the Palatine Hill and the Capitoline Hill of the city of Rome, Italy. Citizens of the ancient city referred to the location as the “Forum Magnum” or just the “Forum“. It is part of the centralised area around which the ancient Roman civilization developed.

The oldest and most important structures of the ancient city were located in or near the Forum. These include its ancient former royal residency the Regia as well as the surrounding complex of the Vestal Virgins, both of which were rebuilt after the rise of imperial Rome.”

The Forum is huge, I started at Palatine Hill and walked through the whole Forum until I reached the center next to the capitoline museums which includes all the old temples…..Here are some impressions:

like you are in a different world….. and I also enjoyed the look back at the Colosseum:

As I said, from the Roman Forum I directly exited to the capitoline museums where you can see this famous sculpture:

If you don’t know the sculpture, than you should probably  sit down and read the legends about how Rome was created.

By the way: “The Capitoline Museums (Italian Musei Capitolini) are a group of art and archeologicalmuseums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The museums are contained in three palazzi surrounding a central trapezoidal piazza in a plan conceived by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1536 and executed over a period of over 400 years.”

After walking down the steps from capitoline hill you will get directly to an italian architectural masterpiece, which is known as the National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II:

“The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II) or Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) or “Il Vittoriano” is a monument to honour Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy, located in Rome, Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. The monument was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1895; sculpture for it was parceled out to established sculptors all over Italy, such as Angelo Zanelli.^[1] It was inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1935.”

From there I made my way through the city, passing beautiful architecture and fountains,

to the famous Spanish Steps:

“The Spanish Steps (Italian: Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti) are a set of steps in Rome, Italy, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the church of Trinità dei Monti. The Scalinata is the longest and widest staircase in Europe.The monumental stairway of 138 steps was built with French diplomat Étienne Gueffier’s bequeathed funds of 20,000 scudi, in 1723–1725, linking the Bourbon Spanish Embassy to the Holy See, today still located in Palazzo Monaldeschi in the piazza below, with the Trinità dei Montim the church that was under the patronage of the Bourbon kings of France, above.”

and as you can see, it was crowded like hell. So I decided to visit the steps the next day morning and move on to the Trevi Fountain, to enjoy it by night and also have a nice Ice Cream. I will

So it was quite late, the evening/night at the Trevi Fountain was fantastic and I went back to the hostel to get good 5 hours of sleep….

Day 3:

So Day 3 has already arrived, I have visited already the most famous sights of Rome. Now I just had to visit the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon and for the rest of the time, just let the city surprise me on every corner with more wonderful architecture. Also, as this is going to be my last night in Rome, I planned to party without end

So I started at a place which is called “Piazza del Popolo”

“Piazza del Popolo is a large square in Rome. The name in modern Italian literally means “People’s Square”, but historically it derives from the poplars (populus in Latin, pioppo in Italian) after which the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in the northeast corner of the piazza, takes its name.

The Piazza lies inside the northern gate in the Aurelian Walls, once the Porta Flaminia of ancient Rome, and now called Porta del Popolo. This was the starting point of the Via Flaminia, the road to AriminumRimini) and the most important route to the north. At the same time, before the age of railroads, it was the traveller’s first view of Rome upon arrival. For centuries, the Piazza del Popolo was a place for public executions, the last of which took place in 1826.” (modern

beside its history it is for me one of the most beautiful places in room… just look:

the whole piazza is symmetric…..

the church Santa Maria del Popolo is not that great, but still worth visiting it. As you can see in the above picture, directly behind the piazza is Pincian Hill:

“The Pincian Hill (Italian: Pincio, from Latin Mons Pincius) is a hill in the northeast quadrant of the historical center of Rome. The hill lies to the north of the Quirinal, overlooking the Campus Martius. It was outside the original boundaries of the ancient city of Rome, and was not one of the Seven hills of Rome, but it lies within the wall built by Roman Emperor Aurelian between 270 and 273.”

And I must say, the view from that hill is quite nice:

From there I went through the gardens of Villa Borghese:

“Villa Borghese is a large^[1] landscape garden in the naturalistic English manner in Rome, containing a number of buildings, museums (see Galleria Borghese) and attractions. It is the second largest public park in Rome (80 hectares or 148 acres) after that of the Villa Doria Pamphili.”

which is the nice “green” side of Rome and therefore was great to walk through for a change….

From the gardens, the way let me directly to the Trinita dei Monti, which is on the top of the Spanish steps. Don’t worry, I was not that lazy to only walk the steps down, I also walked all of them up. But I don’t know why people are making such an issue about these steps…. there are not that many. 

“Trinità dei Monti (also called Santissima Trinità al Monte Pincio, Trinità del Monte, or Holy Trinity on the Pincio Hill) is a Baroque church in Rome. It is best known for its scenographic dominance above the Spanish Steps that descend to the Piazza di Spagna. The church and its area (including the Villa Medici) are the property of the French State.”

From there I went to the famous Piazza Navona, where you can see artists painting tourists, nice fountains, a church in between of houses, and people enjoying really delicious food:

“Piazza Navona is a city square in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in first century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans came there to watch the agones (”games”), and hence it was known as ‘Circus Agonalis’ (competition arena). It is believed that over time the name changed to ‘in agone’ to ‘navone’ and eventually to ‘navona’.”

I know, you always ask yourself, where should I go for some good food. It is difficult to say in such a city like room. It is really a tourist city. If you want a good restaurant, then you have to make sure that you have a lot of money, as they charge you a lot. If you go to cheaper restaurants, than you have to be aware, that the food will be made to met simple tourist expectations…not more. Well I took some time, sat down at the Piazza Navona and had some good Risotto and Wine. I really recommend it! Just risk it!

Afterwards I went to the Pantheon of Rome:

“The Pantheon (pronounced /pænˈθiː.ən/ or /ˈpænθi.ən/ (UK),^[1] or /ˈpænθiːɑːn/ (USA), Latin: Pantheon,^{[nb 1]} from Greek: Πάνθεον, meaning “Every god”) is a building in Rome, commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD.^[2] A near-contemporary writer, Cassius Dio, speculates that the name comes from the statues of many gods placed around the building, or from the resemblance of the dome to the heavens.^[3] Since the French Revolution, when the church of Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, was deconsecrated and turned into a secular monument, the Panthéon, the generic term pantheon may be applied to any building in which illustrious dead are honoured or buried.”

it was great with all the history and the architecture….but a bit too crowded…

After the Pantheon I passed some other places like Campo de’ Fiori where some of the pubs and bars are, saw quite a lot Obelisks and went back to the hostel to get some rest.

So for the evening I had planned to join a Pub Crawl… as the hostel was quite small, there were no people actually to party with. So I went to a pub, where I retrieved a flyer …so around 8 pm, I arrived at that pub… and it seemed that the Pub Crawl was not that huge, so I skipped it and went directly to the Spanish Steps. You must know, that the best pub crawl of Rome always meets up at the Spanish Steps and then goes to a good range of pubs and clubs in Rome. So I went to the Spanish Steps, but I was not sure if there would be a pub crawl on that day, because it was a Sunday… Usually they meet up around 9 pm, but know one was there around that time… I was getting nervous…but luckily I kept on waiting and they met around 9:30. And we even had a lot of people joining! I especially like the pub crawl shirt that says “I came, I saw, I crawled”

The crawl was sooo good, that we actually never knew where our guide was taking us (blind trust)… but the great thing was that the intelligent crawl ended right at the termini, cause the guide knew that almost everyone was staying at a hostel and all hostels are around the termini

Day 4:

Due to the Pub Crawl last night, which led myself to come home around 5 or 6 in the morning, it was not really possible to get up early to do some sightseeing. Also at the same time, my feet were still hurting so much, that actually it was not possible for me to walk. I also realized, that two days before I had a mosquito stitch at my left ankle , which I scratched, which then got infected…. and as a result I had a swallowed  ankle in a combination with a damn hurting foot sole…. I barely could not walk….

But I am a traveler, thus I got up, packed my bag pack and started the tour…. I went to have a look at the Circus Maximo…

I know it has a lot of history, many many men were killed here… but nowdays….really it is not interesting…just a large area to look at…..

From Circus Maximo I went to a more modern part of Rome where I passed some embassies….. but soon I couldn’t walk anymore…therefore I sat down at a nice open cafe… relaxed and enjoyed a couple of hours…. went to termini to get something to eat and then caught my bus (Terravision) back to Ciampino the Ryan Air airport.

The walk to the gate was like walking through hell. I really was not sure, what was wrong with my foot. Most of the time it felt like my ankle and foot were broken :-S

Anyway, I sat down, put my feet up and kept reading my book (The Swarm, by Frank Schätzing)… My flight was only a bit delayed…. thanks to the taxi which picked me up at the Frankfurt central station I arrived around 2:30 in the night at home, packed my bag as I had to go to Bonn for an event at 7 in the morning…

My foot was not better, even with my home medcine… I was handicapped for the next two days, but somehow managed to survive the event…. (was not able to try salsa dancing though)….

Thursday I finally managed to see the doctor, who gave me a cream for my ankle, and ofter 4 days…it was good again…

All in all it was a fantastic trip! I definitely should take some time and also visit other Italian cities, such like Florence (Firenze) or……..

we will see….

until the next trip!

So as I told you in my last blogentry….after Uni work life got even more intense. Working till late, doing a lot of overtime and almost no free time. That what happens when you like your job und you are pretty encouraged to achieve a lot in little time…

Well and then it was time to take a break and relax for some time. As you might know, here in Germany we have 30 days per year, which we can take off from work… well and as almost half of the year already passed by, the pressure increased for me to get rid of my available holidays.

As my brother also had the chance to take somedays of at work (he is doing a work integrated study where it is really difficult to take some time off) we decided to travel somewhere, where there is a beach and we can just relax, and yeah of course party a bit… so we looked for good deals, it took some time, but then we got a nice deal for flight and hotel to the island Crete, which is the biggest island of Greece.

Here some wikipedia info about Crete:

“Crete (Greek: Κρήτη, transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km² (3,219 square miles). Crete is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece and covers the same area as the Greek region of Crete from before the 1987 administrative reform It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece; while it retains its own local cultural traits (such as its own music and dialect), Cretans identify themselves as Greeks. Heraklion is the largest city and capital of Crete.

Crete was the centre of the Minoan civilization (circa 2600–1454 BC), the oldest Greek civilization. The island is the location of significant ancient history, which provides popular modern day tourist destinations. They include the Minoan sites of Knossos and Phaistos, the classical site of Gortys, the Venetian old city and port of Chania, the Venetian castle at Rethymno and the Samaria Gorge. The Nikos Kazantzakis International Airport is located just outside Heraklion.”

So we flew, early in the morning from Düsseldorf airport to the Nikos Kazantzakis International airport next to Heraklion. There we were picked up by a bus which  drove almost everyone to each of the Neckermann contracted hotels. Our hotel is located in a small town which is called Stalidas. Actually most of the cities in Crete along the beach are the same. You have

the beach,

one main beach road, lots of restaurants, only hotels and always

the same shops along the road. And it was exactly what we wanted. The beach is directly infront of the hotel door

has nice sand, the weather was amazing, and the water

was perfect to just enjoy almost the whole day in the sea……

We spent 5 days there… mostly with just relaxing and enjoying life….enjoying the sun, reading a good book, or even two… and enjoying great food!!!

We did one short trip per bus to the capitol of Crete, which is called Iraklion…..

“Heraklion or Iraklion (Greek: Ηράκλειον IPA: [iˈɾaklio̞]; Venetian: Candia), is the largest city and capital of Crete. It is also the fourth largest city in Greece. Its name is also spelled Herakleion, a transliteration of the ancient Greek and Katharevousa name, Ἡράκλειον, or Iraklio, among other variants. For centuries it was known as Candia, a Venetian adaptation of the earlier Greek name Χάνδαξ (Chandax, “moat”) or Χάνδακας, which in turn came from the Arabic rabḍ al-ḫandaq. The English form Candy, derived from French Candie, meant the city of Candia or all of Crete (as in Twelfth Night 5.1). Under the Ottoman Empire, it was called Kandiye. In the local vernacular, it is often called Κάστρο (Kástro, “castle”) and its inhabitants Καστρινοί (Kastrinoí, “castle dwellers”).”

We went there especially to visit the ruins of Knossos…..

“Knossos (alternative spellings Knossus, Cnossus, Greek Κνωσός pronounced [kno̞ˈso̞s]), also known as Labyrinth, or Knossos Palace, is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and probably the ceremonial and political center of the Minoan civilization and culture. The palace appears as a maze of workrooms, living spaces, and store rooms close to a central square. Detailed images of Cretan life in the late Bronze Age are provided by images on the walls of this palace. It is also a tourist destination today, as it is near the main city of Heraklion and has been substantially restored, by archaeologist Arthur Evans.”

Funny thing is, when you walk around there, that everything was built up, according to that what Arthur Evans thought….like he thought that a room that he found was used as a shrine… but how can we be sure… so it was nice to read the boards…but it strange to have the feeling, that actually he could have interpreted it all wrong…. anyway here you find some nice photos from Knossos:

after visiting Knossos, we took the bus back to the main city… at the port of the city we visited an old venetian castle….

City Center, was ok, little, quiet, nice….

after our city trip, we went back to stalida for a relaxing evening…

On the last days of the week, we met more and more people and of course went for some partyining…
Now you must know that Stalida has two neighbor cities… one is Malia (where all the british, spend their vacations)
and the other town is Hersonisoss which is the main town for Dutch traveler…. so one night we went for partying in
Malia and one night Hersonisoss….. Here are the pictures:

And on one of our last days in Crete we went for a nice boat n’ barbeque tour…. which is actually not expensiv and really fun, as you have also the possibility to snorkle….

At the middle of the tour we also went to a small fisher village which was also ok….

Well what can I say, time flew by and it was again time to fly back home… I must say, that after a night of no sleep, the bus drive from the hotel to the airport was pretty long. And guess what, my brother got so brown by the sun… so that the police checked him twice at the airport in Greece

I would defenately go again to Crete, but I wont take the first best cheapest hotel….

Till the next blog entry….

Kawe

But first I want to give you a little recap, what happened until today:

• After the last post I had the final exams of the last semester at my university in February 2009 (this year). I finished all and since February 2009 I’m working full time with the magenta T.
• Well the first months with working were quite busy… a lot of travelling around Germany, a conference in Berlin, meetings in Bonn, Stuttgart and Frankfurt!
• I must say, work kept me pretty busy and on May 8th 2009 I had my graduation ceremony in the halls of St. Pauls Church in Frankfurt. For those of you, who don’t know anything about the church, here a quote from Wikipedia:

“The Paulskirche is a church in Frankfurt am Main with important political symbolism in Germany. It was opened as a Protestant church in 1789, coincidentally the same year as the French Revolution, and in 1848-1849 it became the seat of the Frankfurt Parliament, the first publicly and freely elected body of Germany.
The church started with the construction of the oval-shaped central church building in 1789. It was completed from 1829 to 1833, whereupon the organ loft was disconnected in 1833.
Because of its centralized form and dome, it was desired as the meeting place for the Frankfurt Parliament in the course of the German revolutions of 1848.
From March 31 until April 3, 1848 it was the meeting place for the Vorparlament, which prepared the election for the National Assembly. On May 18, 1848 the National Assembly met for the first time in the church, and was, therefore, named the Paulskirchenparlament. Until 1849, the National Assembly worked in the church to develop a constitution for a united Germany. The resistance of Prussia and Austria and a number of smaller German states ultimately destroyed the effort. In May 1849, there were a number of uprisings to force the implementation of the constitution, but these were destroyed with the help of Prussia. On May 30, 1849, the Parliament in the Paulskirche was dissolved.
In 1963, US President John F. Kennedy gave a major speech in the Paulskirche during a visit to Germany.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulskirche,_Frankfurt

• So and after all that work, I thought it might be good to get some vacation, some rest from the business life, so me and my brother went to Crete, an island of Greece. Don’t worry, I will write a blog entry on this trip….
• Well and as in Germany we are really lucky to have around 30 days vacation per year…. I decided to do a short 4 day weekendtrip to Rome….as I was curious to see the city! I’ve gotta lot to tell you about this trip! It was amazing!
• Well and after my time in Rome I became in a project called couchsurfing… more on that in another post….
• As I still had some days left, and a voucher for free int. train travelling to Germany’s neighbour countries… I did a couchsurfing visit to Zurich (Zürich), Switzerland! Also a wonderfull trip.

Well and as my company is one of the best companies in the world, I was granted to develop myself during an 3 months foreign placement at my company in the US! The company is located in a suburb of Detroit, called Rochester Hills. And as you might guess….during these 3 months I probably make some trips within the USA…. so I planned the following:

• spent some weekens in and around Detroit (as budget is limited)
• spent a weekend in Chicago (4 hours drive from Detroit, for a German carefull driver)
• spending the long thanksgiving weekend in Washington DC.
• last to weeks of December touring from San Francisco - over Santa Barbara - Los Angeles - to Las Vegas including a daytrip to the Grand Canyon, with celebrating new year in Vegas and then flying back to Detroit….how awesome is that?

So you can see, that I have plenty of blogentries to write and you gotta lot to read (including some nice pictures)

stay tuned!

Kawe

it seems that I have visitied a couple of countries but there are still a lot of places I haven’t been. For instance Africa, Australia, South America, Mexico, China, Russia, and many more…..

visited 16 states (7.11%)
Create your own visited map of The World or try another Douwe Osinga project

I guess I nead to earn more money and travell even more! This year I might organise a trip to Italy…..oh my god I haven’t been to Italy yet…..tzzzzz

endlich kann ich wieder einmal von einer Reise berichten. Vom 17ten Dezember bis zum 22ten Dezember war ein kleiner Trip nach Wien geplant. Um einerseits die gute Ella zu besuchen und andererseits mal wieder aus dem stressigen Leben rauszukommen und zu Reisen In Wien war ich übrigens vorher noch nie.

Also los gings am 17ten. Schnell bei der Arbeit alle letzten Aufgaben erledigt und ab gings Richtung Flughafen……schön wärs. Der Flughafen von dem ich rede heißt Frankfurt Hahn. Falls ihr es nicht wissen solltet, Frankfurt Hahn liegt ungefähr 1 1/2 Stunden entfernt von Frankfurt….naja günstige Flüge haben dann doch noch einen Haken. Ich bin also mit dem Bus Terravision von Offenbach Kaiserlei aus los. Leider hatte der Bus bereits eine halbe Stunde Verspätung, als er unsere Haltestelle erreichte. Damit es nicht zu einfach wird, hat der Bus auch noch während der Fahrt 1 1/2 Stunden weitere Verspätung durch Stau’s etc. auf sich geladen. Super, es war schnell klar, den Flug bekomm ich nicht mehr. Naja die Hoffnung stirbt zu letzt. Angekommen am Flughafen bin ich schnell los zum Ryanair Schalter, denn eingecheckt hatte ich ja bereits. Es waren noch 10 Minuten bis der Flieger abheben sollte, aber NEIN Ryanair Policy, vor 10 Minuten wurde das Gate bereits geschlossen und ich komm nicht mehr rein. Also hab ich mich wieder auf den Weg zum Bus gemacht und gegen Mitternacht war ich völlig k.o. wieder Zuhause in Frankfurt.

Was jetzt tun? Wie komm ich am Besten und vor allem günstig nach Wien? Ich hatte darauf zuerst keine Antwort. Die gute Ella jedoch hat wie wild gesucht und mir den Link für ein ICE Sparticket von der Österreichischen Bundesbahn geschickt. Es waren nur noch 2 Tickets übrig und ich hab natürlich sofort gebucht. Direkt mit dem ICE von Frankfurt nach Wien für den halben Preis eines Ticket bei der DB mit Bahncard 50. Donnerstag konnte ich also noch zur Firmenweihnachtsfeier gehen, war was feines…so und Freitag morgens gings um 06:22 ab nach Wien. Gegen 13 Uhr bin ich dann ca. in Wien (Wien Westbahnhof) angekommen.

Am Wiener Westbahnhof angekommen gabs erste Instruktionen von Ella. “Bin noch bei der Arbeit im Gericht, kauf dir ne 3 Tageskarte und fahr zum Stephansplatz”. Ich bin also sofort runter zur U-Bahn und hab mir mein 3 Tagesticket gekauft, kurz auf den Plan geschaut und ab gings zum Stephansplatz. By the way das U-Bahnnetz Wiens ist richtig gut!

Angekommen beim Stephansplatz war direkt der Blick frei für den Stephansdom:

anbei eine Wiki-Beschreibung:

“Der Stephansdom (eigentlich: Domkirche St. Stephan zu Wien) am Wiener Stephansplatz (Bezirk Innere Stadt) ist seit 1365 Domkirche (Sitz eines Domkapitels), seit 1469/1479 Kathedrale (Bischofssitz) und seit 1723 Metropolitankirche des Erzbischofs von Wien. Der von Wienern mitunter auch kurz Steffl genannte Dom gilt als Wahrzeichen Wiens. Namensgeber ist der Heilige Stephanus, der als erster christlicher Märtyrer gilt.

Das Bauwerk ist 107 Meter lang und 34 Meter breit. Der Dom ist eines der wichtigsten gotischen Bauwerke in Österreich. Teile des spätromanischen Baues von 1230/40-1263 sind noch erhalten. Er besitzt vier Türme: Der höchste davon ist der Südturm mit 136,4 Meter, der Nordturm wurde nicht fertiggestellt und ist nur 68 Meter hoch. Links und rechts vom Haupteingang befinden sich die beiden Heidentürme, die etwa 65 Meter hoch sind. “

Da ich noch 1 Stunde Zeit hatte bis Ella feierabend machen konnte, ging ich a la Tourist direkt in den Stephansdom. Anbei mal ein paar Impressionen:

der Altar

Nach meinem Rundgang hab ich dann endlich Ella getroffen. What next? FLASHMOB! Richtig, Ella berichtete mir, dass auf den Stephansplatz in 10 Minuten ein Flashmob stattfinden würde. Hier nochmal die Definition des Flashmobs:

“Der Begriff Flashmob (flash – Blitz; mob – von mobilis – beweglich), auch Blitzauflauf, bezeichnet einen kurzen, scheinbar spontanen Menschenauflauf auf öffentlichen oder halböffentlichen Plätzen, bei denen sich die Teilnehmer üblicherweise persönlich nicht kennen. Flashmobs werden über Weblogs, Newsgroups, E-Mail-Kettenbriefe oder per Mobiltelefon organisiert. Obwohl die Ursprungsidee explizit unpolitisch war, gibt es mittlerweile auch Flashmobs mit politischem Hintergrund.”

Tja und lustig wie ich nun mal bin hab ich den Flashmob natürlich mitgemacht. Das Motto war Freeze, also 5 Minuten lang einfrieren. Man haben die Touris und die nicht eingeweihten Wiener blöd geguckt. Das Ganze wurde gefilmt und auch im österreichischen Fernsehen gezeigt.

Anbei ein Youtube Video des Events:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5TEaO0Njnk&NR=1

Bei 6:29 mal auf Pause drücken, vielleicht erkennt ihr ja die ein oder andere Person.

Nach dem Flashmob waren wir schon etwas durchgefroren, da das Wetter in Wien net ganz so trocken war. Also gings durch die City (den ersten Bezirk, in Wien ist alles in Bezirken organisiert) zum Cafe Central:

“Das Café Central ist ein Kaffeehaus in Wien. Es befindet sich in der Herrengasse 14 im Ersten Bezirk im ehemaligen Bank- und Börsengebäude, das heute nach seinem Architekten Heinrich von Ferstel Palais Ferstel genannt wird (ein im toskanischen Neorenaissance-Stil errichtetes Gebäude).”

Sehr vornehm eingerichtet und vor allem stilvoll. Man fühlt sich echt wie in der alten Kaiserzeit.Zum Tee bzw. zu der heißen Schokolade mit Schlagobers (Schlagsahne) noch den traditionellen Apfelstrudel.

Nach dem Cafe ging es dann quer durch den 1. Bezirk und mit den Bus ab zu Ella nach Hause erstmal die Tasche ablegen. Danach sind wir in ne echt coole Cocktailbar (unglaublich wie gut die Cocktails dort geschmeckt haben!!!).

Nach dem leckeren Cocktail haben wir dann mal ein gutes Wiener Gasthaus ausprobiert. Wir wollten in keine Touristenfalle oder ähnliches. Das Gasthaus war bei Ella in der Nähe (in der Lerchenfelderstr.)
Da ich kein Rind esse, gabs für mich traditionell ein Wiener Schnitzel (waren 3 kleine die unglaublich dünn und lecker waren) und nen traditionellen Erdäpfelsalat (d.h. Kartoffelsalat mit Charlotten (süß und sauer im Geschmack)) einfach nur lecker. Ich sag mal, dass war wirklich ein gutes Stück Österreichische Welt! (Vor allem die Bestellung aufgeben ohne ausgelacht zu werden)

k.o und satt gings dann wieder ab in die Wohnung, es wurd noch ein film reingeschmissen und man ist relativ schnell eingeschlafen, denn am nächsten Tag soll es ja mit dem richtigen Sightseeing losgehen!

Nach nem guten Frühstück am Samstag morgen gings los. Zu Fuß sind wir die  Lerchenfelderstr. entlang zum Parlament Österreichs…

krass die bauen extra häusschen um statuen/säulen die restauriert werden

Ich vor dem Parlament….herrlich….

Vom Parlament aus sind wir dann vorbei beim Wiener Rathaus…..

bei jedem Bauwerk gabs einen kleinen Weihnachtsmarkt, man könnte meinen die Österreicher lieben Weihnachtsmärkte…oder war es nur für die Touristen?

Auf dem weiteren Weg haben wir noch ein paar Bauwerke gesehen, allerdings war uns schon langsam kühl und ich dachte es wäre jetzt mal an der Zeit ins berühmte Cafe Sacher zu gehen und dort die Sacher Torte zu essen:

“Die Sachertorte ist eine Schokoladentorte mit Marillenmarmelade und Schokoladenglasur. Sie gilt als eine Spezialität der Wiener Küche.

Die Geschichte der eigentlichen Sachertorte beginnt, als Fürst Metternich seine Hofküche im Jahr 1832 beauftragte, für sich und seine hochrangigen Gäste ein besonderes Dessert zu kreieren. „Dass er mir aber keine Schand’ macht, heut Abend!“ sagte er. Doch der Chefkoch war krank und so musste der 16-jährige Bursche Franz Sacher (1816-1907), damals Lehrling im zweiten Jahr, die Aufgabe übernehmen und erfand die Grundform der Sachertorte.

Obwohl die Torte den Gästen anscheinend sehr gemundet hat, schenkte man ihr vorerst keine weitere Beachtung. Nach Jahren in Pressburg und Budapest, kehrte Franz Sacher 1848 nach Wien zurück, wo er einen Feinkostladen mit Weinhandlung eröffnete.

Sein ältester Sohn Eduard (1843-1892) absolvierte eine Ausbildung beim k.u.k. Hofzuckerbäcker Demel und vollendete in dieser Zeit die Sachertorte in ihrer heute bekannten Form. Die Sachertorte wurde zunächst beim Demel und dann auch im von Eduard im Jahre 1876 gegründeten Hotel Sacher angeboten. Seither gilt die Torte als eine der berühmtesten kulinarischen Spezialitäten Wiens.”

Auf der Einkaufsstraße sieht man zuerst den Sacher-Shop, wir sind da rein um mal zu schaun was so ne Torte zum mitnehmen nach Deutschland kostet…relativ teuer….der Shop hat auch ein Café, jedoch vorsicht Leute, dies ist nicht das echte Café Sacher.
Zum Café Sacher muss man vorbei am Shop, vorbei am Eingang des Hotel Sacher und dann erst kommt der Eingang zum edlen Cafe Sacher. Hier kann man nicht so einfach rein. Man muss warten und wird von einer gut gekleideten Platzanweiserin zum Platz geführt…große Gruppen haben hier eher schlechte Karten….2 Grüppchen haben es da schon besser…. und hier seht ihr die Torte die ich verspeist habe:

Das Cafe hat wirklich nen Flair, die ganzen Dekorationen/Verzierungen, die traditionell gekleideten Kellner, Kellnerin mit Spitzen-Schürzen…ein Traum…und ja die Wiener haben es echt drauf in Sachen Essen…..

Nach der Stärkung (die gute Ella war nämlich schon etwas durch ihre Erkältung geschwächt (hat aber auch gut durchgehalten)) gings dann zum Karlsplatz. Unterirdisch findet man dort die dunkle Seite Wiens, nämlich die ganzen Junkies. Oben gibt es weitaus schöneres zu sehen….

z.B. die Karlskirche

“Die Karlskirche liegt an der Südseite des Karlsplatzes in Wien, am Rande der Innenstadt und 200 m außerhalb der Ringstraße. Sie ist einer der bedeutendsten barocken (barockklassizistischen) Kirchenbauten nördlich der Alpen und hat als spektakuläre Besonderheit eine Kuppel in Form eines verlängerten Ellipsoids.

Seit der Karlsplatz Ende der 1980er wieder als Ensemble hergestellt wurde, wirkt die Karlskirche nicht nur durch ihre Kuppel und die zwei flankierenden Reliefsäulen, sondern auch als architektonisches Gegengewicht zu den Gebäuden von Musikverein und Technischer Universität.”

und ich muss sagen, es ist eins der schönsten Bauten Wiens….. anbei ein paar Impressionen:

der prächtige Altar

und wie manche wissen, bin ich ein Fan von höhen und zum Glück stand noch das Gerüst von vorherigen Restaurationsarbeiten und es bestand die Möglichkeit hoch in die Kuppel zu steigen….

so hoch gings, und es war spektakulär mal die ganzen Kuppelmalereien von Nahem zu sehen…

naja die Aussicht aus der Kuppel war dann doch net so toll, denn draußen war kein prickelndes Wetter und die Gitter vor den Fenstern nehmen einen doch irgendwie den Spaß…..

Ach noch als Info, also für die Karlskirche muss man Eintritt zahlen, jedoch gibts da kostenlos nen guten Audioguide dazu und man erfährt so einiges
Von der Karlskirche aus ging es zum Belvedere, genauer gesagt zum oberen Belvedere:

“Das Schloss Belvedere in Wien ist eine von Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt (1668–1745) für Prinz Eugen von Savoyen (1663–1736) erbaute Schlossanlage im Bezirk Landstraße. Das ‚Obere‘ und ‚Untere Belvedere‘ bilden mit der verbindenden Gartenanlage ein barockes Ensemble. Die beiden Schlossbauten beherbergen heute die Sammlungen des Belvedere (Österreichische Galerie Belvedere) und Räumlichkeiten für Wechselausstellungen. Am 15. Mai 1955 wurde im Oberen Belvedere der Österreichische Staatsvertrag unterzeichnet.”

Beeindruckend sind vor allem die Statuen

ist es eine Frau? ein Engel? ein Löwe? I dont know aber es fasziniert…

die Gartenanlage und hintem im Bild das untere Belvedere

n there u go, MEIN SCHLOSS (oberes Belvedere von vorne) und ja wie jede andere Sehenswürdigkeit gabs auch hier einen kleinen Weihnachtsmarkt :-D  Im Belvedere selbst gibts immer viele Kunstausstellungen….diese haben wir dann wohl nicht besucht….

Vom Belvedere aus sind wir als Meister der kulinarischen Künste weiter zum Naschmarkt:

“Der Naschmarkt ist ein Markt im Zentrum Wiens, der schon seit Langem für sein internationales Flair bekannt ist. Er liegt an der Wienzeile, zwischen Getreidemarkt/Secession und Kettenbrücke auf der überbauten Wien. Am Naschmarkt werden vorwiegend Obst, Gemüse, Backwaren, Fisch und Fleisch gehandelt. Bekannt ist der Markt auch für das Angebot an internationalen Waren aus den Ländern des früheren Jugoslawien, Griechenland, der Türkei und zunehmend auch Ostasien, speziell Japan und China. Teils haben sich Gruppen von Geschäften mit ähnlichen Waren herausgebildet. So gibt es am inneren Ende, nahe der Secession mehrere Fischläden und im ersten Drittel des Marktes einige asiatische Geschäfte. Insgesamt umfasst der Markt 172 Stände, Geschäfte und Lokale. Samstags kommen noch 30 Bauernstände hinzu.”

Anscheinend haben die Stände dort gemerkt, dass ich ein Touri bin, jedenfalls meinte Ella, dass man sonst nie so viel probieren konnte…habt ihr z.B. mal getrocknete Erdbeeren gegessen? Verdammt sind die lecker! Wir haben allerlei Formen von Oliven probiert, Falaffel usw. Natürlich haben wir ein paar Snacks für den Abend eingekauft und die Zutaten für das gute Abendessen….denn wenn Ella und ich mal in ner Küche sind, dann muss unbedingt mal gekocht werden!

so Zuhause wurde gekocht und geschlemmt und dann gings ab zum Pepo, nem Arbeitskollegen von der Ella um dann von dort aus zur Party in den Club Skykitchen zu fahren…..macht euch selbst ein Bild

und im Club gings wirklich gut ab…man denkt, man kommt in ne Wohnung, oberste Etage eines Hauses, jedoch ist es ein Club:

irgendjemand meinte, schieß doch mal die Bilder auf Schwarz/Weiß….was soll ich sagen, es sieht so wirklich besser aus

hier die Aussicht aus dem Club!

k.o. sind wir dann gegen halb 6 ab nach Hause und sofort ins Bett gefallen! Übrigens im Club startete schon um 6 Uhr die nächste Party, die dann bis in den Nachmittag ging…..

Der Sonntag wurde dann etwas ruhiger angegangen…. und zwar mit einem Ausflug zur Sommer Residenz des Kaisers Schloss Schönbrunn:

“Das Schloss Schönbrunn ist eines der bedeutendsten Kulturgüter Österreichs und seit den 1960er Jahren eine der meistbesuchten Sehenswürdigkeiten Wiens. Es liegt westlich der Wiener Innenstadt im Bezirk Hietzing. Sein Name geht auf einen Kaiser Matthias zugeschriebenen Ausspruch zurück, der hier auf der Jagd einen artesischen Brunnen „entdeckt“ und ausgerufen haben soll: „Welch’ schöner Brunn“. Aus diesem Brunnen wurde bis zum Bau der Hochquellwasserleitung auch Trinkwasser für den Hof gezapft.1996 wurden das Schloss und seine Gärten von der UNESCO zum Weltkulturerbe erklärt. Heute zählt Schönbrunn 1.441 Zimmer verschiedenster Größe; ein Teil davon ist in Form von 190 Gemeindewohnungen an Privatpersonen vermietet. Der Großteil der Anlage ist jedoch ein Museum.”

im Sommer blüht dann natürlich alles….

Rückseite des Schlosses

mein Schloss…..

Neptunbrunnen mit der Gloriette im Hintergrund

“Eine Gloriette ist ein Gebäude in einer Gartenanlage, das sich auf einem gegenüber der Umgebung erhöhten Standort befindet. Die bauliche Ausführung und Gestalt kann sehr unterschiedlich sein, oft in der Form eines nach den Seiten mehr oder weniger offenen Pavillons oder Tempietto. Die wohl bekannteste (und größte) „Gloriette“ befindet sich im Schlossgarten von Schloss Schönbrunn in Wien.”

Natürlich haben wir uns auch die Prunkräume im Schloss angesehen, leider war das Fotografieren verboten…..Allerdings hatten wir Glück im Unglück….dadurch dass wir relativ spät zum Schloss gefahren sind, hatten wir die Möglichkeit noch die beleuchteten Bauwerke zu sehen

Schloss von vorne beleuchtet….

Gloriette

für einen Moment als Staatsbürger Österreichs gefühlt….

in der Gloriette, also da in der Mitte gibts ein Café…..

von der Gloriette aus haben wir dann noch eine Nachtwanderung durch den Schlosspark hindurch zur U-Bahn Haltestelle gemacht. Dann gings ab zum Prater….ihr wisst schon:

“Der Wiener Prater ist eine sehr weitläufige öffentliche Parkanlage im zweiten Wiener Gemeindebezirk (Leopoldstadt), die noch heute zu großen Teilen aus Aulandschaften besteht. Wenn man außerhalb Wiens vom „Prater“ spricht, ist häufig nur der bekanntere Vergnügungspark im Prater, der „Wurstelprater“, gemeint. Dieser befindet sich an der Westspitze des Areals und macht flächenmäßig nur einen sehr kleinen Teil der gesamten, etwa 6 km² großen Praterlandschaft aus.”

anbei das berühmte Riesenrad:

so und vom Prater aus gings dann auf den Spittelberg mal durch den richtigen Weihnachtsmarkt laufen…..herrliche Gassen….nur zu empfehlen!

wir sind dann ab durch MuseumsQuartier zu einem der besten Chinesischen Restaurants in Europa….so gut hab ich schon lang nicht mehr gegessen….also solltet ihr mal in Wien sein dann geht bei  Ra’mien essen! Dort wird zum Teil auch live vor den Gästen gekocht…. da steht z.B. ein Koch und schabt frisch in einem irrsinnigen Tempo die Nudeln vom Nudelteig in den Topf…. wenn ihr dort essen wollt, dann solltet ihr aber rechtzeitig reservieren…ich hatte Glück, mit Ella’s Charme konnten wir bei nem Prosecco warten und haben tatsächlich ohne Reservierung nen Tisch bekommen…und dass Essen war traumhaft….ich muss aufhören darüber zu reden….sonst wirds schlimm…

Nach dem Essen gings nach Hause, naja wir sind wohl eher nach Hause gerollt…. und den Abend hat man noch gut bei nem Film ausklingen lassen….

Montag morgens war schon der letzte Tag meiner Wien Reise angebrochen… Ella musste relativ schnell los, also bin ich auch aufgestanden hab meine Sachen gepackt und es ging noch mal zu einer letzten Sightseeingtour, schließlich musste ich ja erst um 18:15 den Bus nach Bratislava nehmen…

Zuerst ging es zum Secessions Gebäude:

“Das Ausstellungsgebäude der Wiener Secession, umgangssprachlich einfach Secession genannt, wurde 1897/98 von Joseph Maria Olbrich errichtet. Es ist eines der bedeutendsten Gebäude des österreichischen Secessionsstils (Jugendstil).”

weiter zur Albertina:

“Die Albertina ist ein Museum im Palais Erzherzog Albrecht im Stadtzentrum von Wien. Es beherbergt eine der größten und bedeutendsten grafischen Sammlungen der Welt mit einem Umfang von ungefähr 65.000 Zeichnungen und über 1 Million druckgrafischen Blättern. Der Rahmen der ausgestellten und archivierten Exponate reicht von der Spätgotik bis hin zur zeitgenössischen Kunst. Der Name „Albertina“ stammt von ihrem Begründer Herzog Albert Kasimir von Sachsen-Teschen.”

Die Austellungen habe ich mir dann auch angeschaut!

mit Prunkräumen:

und natürlich konnte ich nicht die Hofburg und das Sissi Museum veräumen, schließlich hab ich ja noch nicht mal den Sissi Film gesehen und musste mir vorwerfen lassen, dass ich ne Bildungslücke hätte:

“Die Hofburg zu Wien war von 1438 bis 1583 und von 1612 bis 1806 die Residenz der Könige und Kaiser des Heiligen Römischen Reiches, anschließend die Residenz der Kaiser von Österreich bis 1918. Heute ist sie der Amtssitz des österreichischen Bundespräsidenten.”

Innenhof

Silberkammer der Hofburg, naja hier wohl eher Gold….

die Hofburg…..

zum Geländer der Hofburg gehören dann auch noch das Naturhistorische und das Kunsthistorische Museums, an denen ich auf dem Weg nach Hause vorbei gelaufen bin:

das Naturhistorische Museum….

Zurück in der Wohnung hab ich dann noch mal Ella getroffen, hab mir noch schnell ne Pizza genehmigt….

Bevor ich euch aber von der Busfahrt zurück und dem Rückflug erzähle…hier noch was kurioses aus Wien

unser Aldi heißt bei denen Hofer…..

und unser Plus:

Sachen gibts, achja der Verkehr in Wien ist tödlich! ehrlich, wenn ich tödlich schreibe, meine ich auch tödlich!

Die Busfahrt zum Bratislava Flughafen war dann jedoch recht angenehm und fix…. der Flieger war pünktlich und ich kam schnell von Frankfurt Hahn nach Offenbach…. es gab dann noch ein paar Probleme noch ein Taxi bis nach Hause zu bekommen….aber letztendlich hab ich es geschafft….

Die Reise war einfach der Hammer!

Alle Bilder gibt es hier –> Bilder Wien

till then,

Kawe