| Feb 21, 2012 |
| Berlin in Winter |
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| On this cold and rainy morning in Vancouver, it made me smile to read about a sparkling winter’s day in Berlin. Our local guide Penelope (or Pen, as she is usually called) sent me a beautiful written memory that illustrates the spontaneity, creativity and community spirit that embodies what it means to be a Berliner. If someone can convince me to travel to a city, even when that city is in the middle of a historic cold snap...well, it must be someplace special! |
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The last month has been seriously cold here in Berlin, hovering between minus 14 and minus 8 or so every day. But while these kinds of temperatures mean less people visit this wonderful city in winter, it is also a unique and special time to be here. About a week ago it was a cold frozen Sunday, a glorious 'big freeze' day with pale clear sunlight and blue, blue sky. My partner and I and our 2 yr old son wanted to get out of the house, so decided to meet a friend and go for a walk in Treptower Park – a massive park in former East Berlin, right on the edge of the river Spree.
We covered up in our thermals, waterproof boots, wool layers and down jackets, bundled my son into his lambswool lined pram, and took off on the (heated) train. After 15 minutes we were in a winter wonderland. Tramping through the snow, we watched ducks navigate their way through frozen ice slabs on the river, whole flocks of gulls launching themselves into the air as joggers puffed past with ice in their beards. We set a comfortable pace, but fast enough to keep ourselves warm in the low temperatures. We were heading for a cove, a part of the river hidden by a peninsula of land that you wouldn’t be able to find if you didn't already know it was there. We knew by now it would be frozen over, and we would be able to do that special thing of walking on a frozen river. My son, snug as a bug in a rug, fell asleep in his pram.
When we rounded the corner, the scene was quite extraordinary. The Berliners had taken to the ice in droves. People were ice-skating, or even just clearing sections of the snow to have sliding competitions on the ice. People had cleared makeshift ice hockey rinks, people were playing football on the ice, or simply walking around on this massive, frozen landscape. A few enterprising Berliners had set up little stands to sell warm mulled wine, sausages, and homemade cakes. (The mulled wine was a welcome addition at this point!) When my son awoke, we headed to a nearby restaurant for a light meal – which was buzzing with customers coming in to warm up from the ice).
When we headed out again, it was late in the afternoon and we were stopped by the sound of music drifting over the ice. Someone had brought out a set of decks, a small generator and speakers and was playing some really fabulous dance music. As we lingered, more and more people started bobbing, then dancing to this great music on the ice. My son was entranced, as were we all. The scene was so beautiful – the sun clear and beginning to get low in the sky, blue skies, white snow on a frozen river and a spontaneous dance party on the ice. This was no organised event. There were no licenses required, no applications made or approvals given. This was a spontaneous gathering of Berliners who knew a glorious winter’s day like this deserves to be celebrated. This for me is part of the unique spirit of Berlin – this spontaneous creativity and ability to think outside the box combined with an active community spirit and a sense of immediacy that comes with living in a city which is reinventing itself every day. |
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| Feb 20, 2012 |
| Where (and what!) to eat in Beijing |
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| "Chinese food" as we eat it in the West is a pale shadow of the rich and complex flavours that exist in China itself. Our tepid stir-fries and chop-suey simply don't hold a candle to the real deal. But knowing what to eat once you've arrived in China can be a challenge: how do you pick from the vast array of regional cuisines, sauces, and preparations...? How do you know what restaurants will offer you the best, most authentic dining experience? |
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Today our guide Janet from Beijing offers you her favourite places to get a great meal in the Chinese capital - and what dishes to try while you're there!
To visit Beijing, you are not only going to want to enjoy the city's highlights and experience Chinese culture, but also to satisfy your stomach. This means that it is important to choose some good restaurants in which to eat. Beijing-style food is eaten throughout Northern China, and emphasizes light and subtle flavors and the best ingredients.
Here I’d like to give you some suggestions about popular local restaurants in Beijing.
1. Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant.
Beijing (Peking) Roast Duck dates back 300 years, and is now a popular meal in many parts of China. It gives a perfect combination of color, aroma and taste, a crisp thin skin, and a mouth-melting, delicious flavor. This is a great place to the classic meal.
2. Manfulou Hot Pot Restaurant
Hot Pot was created during the Yuan Dynasty, over 1000 years ago.The main ingredient of the modern version of Mongolian-Style hot-pot is prime mutton taken from tiny sheep raised in Inner Mongolia. It supplies sliced beef, chicken, potato, mushroom, spinach, etc, and is considered very healthy. At Manfulou, they will serve you different kinds of sauce as your request, such as green onion, chili oil, shrimp sauce (paste), salt, salted leek buds, and more.
3. Jindingxuan Local Flavor Restaurant
Jindingxuan will serve you 80 kinds of Chinese dishes: Stir-fried chicken, Stir-fried beef with rice noodles, Dim Sum, Sour and spicy noodles, fishes cooked in different way - and many more. Please check the pictures at the top of this article for more details!
4. Xibeiyoumian Restaurant
This restaurant serves you in a nice atmosphere, with the traditional decorations inside. The raw food material is sent from the northwest which gives you a unique regional taste. They cook beef, lamb, fish and chicken in a light way, so you will not find it oily or greasy.
5. Family Cooking
It will be special to have a meal with a local family. You are welcomed to share a meal with a local family as your host; they will cook the food for you, and explain the different ingredients. You can visit with the family, talk together, and they will show you how to cook Chinese food. (If you'd like, you can also show them how you prepare one of your dishes from home!)
Thank you Janet! Dining out tips like these are invaluable for Westerners visiting your city for the first time. If any travelers are headed to Beijing in 2012, consider getting in touch with Janet for more great local insight into the Chinese capital (and to help you arrange an unforgettable meal with a local family!) |
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| Feb 17, 2012 |
| Kids love Auckland: five family-friendly activities for young travelers |
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| Have you ever been to Auckland, New Zealand? Planning to go? Right now is the perfect time of year to experience summer in the Southern Hemisphere, right before the gentle golden days of Fall come to the North Island. We're joined today by our Auckland Guide Louise, who has shared with me all sorts of wonderful tips about her city. I'll dole them out over a few weeks. Today's installment: the best family-friendly activities in Auckland. |
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Kia Ora! Welcome to Tamaki Makaurau, the Isthmus or One Thousand Lovers, more recently known as Auckland, City of Sails. Auckland sits atop more than 50 volcanoes, each one a landmark and unique with a story to tell. Be enchanted by the history, myths and beauty and make sure the view from the top of at least one volcano is one of your great travel moments.
For families traveling to my city, I recommend the following five adventures:
1. Auckland Zoo – see the Kiwi and Tuatara in the Te Wao Nui area dedicated to New Zealand wildlife. The zoo has won lots of environmental awards and has 138 species, 860 happy animals with lots of trees and shade.
2. Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World and Antarctic Encounter – lots of sharks and sting rays as you travel through the acrylic tunnel built in the city's old sewers. Ride the Snowmobile to get up close to penguins and discover how Scott and his men lived in the Antarctic. Get there at feeding times. Swimming with the sharks is an option for the brave.
3. Mission Bay – Auckland’s most popular city beach. Fish and Chips on the beach is a Kiwi tradition. There's a lovely big green so bring some games and a picnic. Swim in the sea or kids can swim in the beautiful fountain. This is a great place to try a Hokey Pokey ice cream!
4. Ambury Farm Regional Park – this is a working farm about 20 minutes from downtown. Cow milking in the mornings, pet animals, lots of sheep, chickens, goats, pigs. Good place for a picnic and a run around. Free entry.
5. The Maritime Museum – interactive displays all about boats and navigation. Lots of fun and lots of space for kids to stretch their legs. The Ted Ashby offers fun sailing trips on the harbour which are hands-on and last about an hour.
Thank you Louise! Parents are always looking for fun, family-friendly activities to do on their travels, so this is great information to pass around. I'm looking forward to sharing all your other tips in the coming weeks! |
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| Feb 15, 2012 |
| Why Budapest? A Local Guide Explains his City's Allure |
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| Budapest now is among the top destinations for Central European city breaks. I hear from more and more tourists that this is the city most first-time travelers to Central Europe want to see. |
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However, Budapest and Hungary are not among the must-do European destinations yet. As a post-Communist country, Hungary needed a long time to convince the global tourist market to think about the country as an attractive destination with quality services. But now we, people from Hungary, hope our time has come! This hope is just confirmed by the stronger dollar or euro vs Hungarian Forint. The current exchange rates make your stay in Budapest extremely affordable. According to Forbes' list Fifteen Cheap Countries to see in the Recession, Hungary is ranked number one!
Budapest looks its most beautiful at dawn (see photos at top right). As the sun slowly rises over the eastern plains, bathing Pest in soft pastel hues, it radiates back from the buildings of Buda as if they were a giant mirror; the windows on Castle Hill positively glisten in golden jubilation.
But Budapest is also spectacularly appealing at night (see more photos). The Chain Bridge is festooned with white lights, and the main public buildings like the Parliament, the Opera and the Royal Palace, as well as the entire panorama of the Castle District, are imaginatively and sensitively floodlit.
There are plenty of other capital cities built on the banks of a river, and in many cases the river runs through the historic centre. But such a wide and majestic river, such as the Danube in Budapest, is more of a rarity. Even more exceptional is the perfect contrast between the right and left banks. Buda is built upon hills, and the feet of two of them - Castle Hill and Gellért Hill - almost stand in the water. Facing it is Pest, as flat as a pancake (or, as a Hungarian might say, as flat as a "lángos", a pita-type bread popular for many centuries).
It's no exaggeration to say that Budapest is one of the finest capital cities in Europe, and also one of the best situated.
Budapest, now home to two million inhabitants, would appear countless times on any list of superlatives. The Continent's first underground railway was built here. From here originated more pioneering Hollywood film makers than from any other European city.
Budapest is built above a labyrinth of caves filled with warm thermal water and many have only partially been explored. You will find in Budapest the biggest active, water-filled underground thermal water cave and hall in the world. There are no other cities of comparable size anywhere where visitors can explore drip-stone (stalactite) caves in the middle of the residential districts. Budapest is known around the world as The City of Spas. It is the only capital city in the world where there are more than 118 hot thermal springs. The richness of the city in thermal water is absolutely unrivaled.
Budapest is home to the third largest Parliament building in the world, once the largest in the world (see photo above). It is also home to Europe's largest synagogue. The success of modern Budapest was significantly due to the diligence and organizational skills of Jewish industrialists. The city has the most populous active Jewish community in Central Europe, who cherish their religious, artistic and historical heritage.
Whoever comes to Hungary today arrives to the one of the smallest countries in the world. But the world that opens up for you here in this small country is something you have most probably not counted on. Hungary awaits everybody with a vibrant intellectual and cultural life, a capital with one of the finest panoramas, awesome architectural heritage, great bath houses, beautiful people, dishes full of character, quality wines, emotional musical heritage and fascinating gypsy music. Hungary awaits everybody who is open-minded about surprises, novelty and exploration.
As a guide it is a real privilege to provide travelers with quality insight into this world.
Thank you András, for such a heartfelt and beautiful depiction of your city. I'm planning a European trip this summer, and in all seriousness, you've inspired me to add Budapest to the itinerary. If other travelers have been similarly inspired, you can learn more about Andras and his tours here: Andras' guide profile page. |
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