Category: Travelling

If you leave the Randstad (megalopolis in the central-western Netherlands) and drive towards Germany, the country gets wider and the cities smaller. Everywhere there are small forests, farms and even some hills. more

The “Württemberg Mausoleum” is surrounded by numerous vineyards and can be found on the mountain “Rotenberg” close to Stuttgart. The former castle “Wirtemberg” was situated on this mountain until 1819. It is considered the ancestral castle of the House of Württemberg and the cradle of the former state. Its rulers built castles such as the “New Palace” in Stuttgart or the “Solitude Palace”. more

Kenya is poor and rich. Kenya is loud and quiet. Kenya is cool and hot. Situated on the equator, Kenya’s sun almost stands perpendicular at noon. In the evening it cools down in the higher situated capital Nairobi and the savannah and it stays warm and humid at the coast in Mombasa. more

England impresses with ancient oaks, extensive landscape gardens and luminous facades made of sand and limestone. The lively university town of Oxford and the former noble spa town of Bath also attracts visitors with great architecture, beautiful cafés and parks. more

Due to the enormous size of Sicily you forget that you are visiting an island. Rugged coasts and green fields alternating with mountainous landscapes. Everywhere you can find traces of past epochs and cultures. more

When Mozart was born in Salzburg in 1756, the city was still the capital of an independent principality of the Bishop. The prince-bishops built for instance the Hohensalzburg and the cathedral. Last one is the first baroque building north of the Alps and of enormous dimensions. Numerous tourist shops attract tourists in the historic district with souvenirs and the famous “Mozartkugel”. more

The Bernese Highlands impresses with its more than 4,000-meter-high mountains and the crystal clear Thuner lake. The largest city in this area is Bern. The Bernese historic centre belongs to UNESCO World Heritage and consists of countless historic houses that line up like pearls on a chain. The centre is dominated by the tower of the one of the largest churches in Switzerland – the Bern Minster. more

Many castles are located near Paris, where once the aristocracy celebrated, had fun and went hunting. These castles were visited by the nobles to escape the narrowness of Versailles or the stinking streets of Paris. They are surrounded by French gardens with their strict geometric shapes, in which one can still find silence and grace beyond the big city. more

Andalusia was the last region in Spain to be under Islamic rule. Important buildings such as the “Great Mosque” in Córdoba or the “Alhambra” in Granada bear witness to this era. more

The kind of Japan which I imagined before doesn’t exist. I thought there were still a few neighbourhoods with old traditional buildings left, small gardens and a certain small town life. more