The powerful Hanseatic League has been mentioned frequently on this blog, and we've covered several Hansa cities: Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck in Germany; Torun, Gdansk and Krakow in Poland; Tallinn and Riga in the Baltic countries. In neighbouring Sweden, there's Stockholm and enchanting Visby. In Belgium, there's Bruges and Antwerp. Finally, there's lively London and beguiling Bergen. And there are [...]
See the bridge here? It is one of several bridges in Park Musakowski/Muskauer Park, crossing the River Neisse. Perhaps that name sounds familiar? You may remember the Oder/Neisse line from history lessons in school: at the Potsdam Conference after World War II, on Stalin's insistence, [...]
It's a warm afternoon in June. I'm walking along a narrow path in a park in the town of Dessau. In the state of Saxony-Anhalt, once part of the now defunct country DDR, the German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany. This is not [...]
Trees! In my search for world heritage, the important places on the planet, those worthy of special protection for the future, I sometimes find myself in somewhat curious situations. This time, I am looking for trees. Beech trees, to be specific. Fagus sylvatica. Of course, [...]
Just 60 km from Berlin, in the state of Brandenburg, is an indoor beach paradise located in one of the world’s largest buildings. On Cat’s school trip to visit concentration camps this summer, we stopped at Tropical Island for a completely different experience. Important to [...]
"Wir sind das Volk!" That was the Leipzig war cry during those world changing weeks in the autumn of 1989: "We are the people!" On 9 October 1989, 70 000 people gathered in Leipzig. This is where it all began, the Peaceful Revolution that ended one month [...]
Dresden is only two hours away from Berlin by train, but do try to find time to spend at least one night in this beautiful Saxon city. Here are 11 reasons why: 1. Altstadt (Old Town) and Brühlsche Terrasse Until World War II, Dresden was [...]
