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Pfaueninsel – Peacock Island
Last week, we finally paid a visit to a tourist spot for the locals in Berlin… the UNESCO World Heritage Site — Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island). The island is located in the middle of Havel river in Wannsee, just in the south-west of Berlin and not too far from the L&A headquarters. In order to get to the island, you have to have to take a bus (or cycle) from Wannsee station to a small jetty where a ferry pops back and forth over the 200m stretch of water between the mainland and island every few minutes. It costs just 4 EUR for a return trip on the ferry, and it is your only…
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Croatia – Plitvice Lakes
Maybe it’s the chemistry, the sparks that fly… I won’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of the Plitvice Lakes in Croatia. They’ve not been used as a set for Game of Thrones (yet?) and they are a bit out of the way to get to. But this UNESCO site needs to be seen to be believed (my favourite photo is at the bottom of the post). It all started with Tufa. And a bit of chemistry. I shall try and make this simple – basically Tufa is a fragile kind of stone that needs special conditions for creation: clean water and warm summer temperatures. I will leave out the…
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Croatia – Split
Banana Split for my baby… Split was my favourite place in Croatia. It didn’t have the same ‘WOW’ factor of Dubrovnik, but there’s something special about this city. The south of Croatia feels a bit like Italy – the people look fabulous, the sun shines and it’s all coastal with people enjoying the beaches and swimming. Everyone is so friendly and helpful and they all seem to know each other. Everyone is healthy as well – they eat so much fresh fish from the Adriatic Coast, swim daily, go for jobs up into the hills… it’s great to see and really made me want to move here immediately. We drove…
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Croatia – Dubrovnik
You know nothing, Jon Snow… For those of you who watch Game of Thrones, I’m sure you are itching to visit the stunning city of Dubrovnik already, so I don’t need to try and convert you. For those of you who haven’t yet watched the most thrilling and recently quite horrifying GoT series… well… you just have to go here. I feel quite lucky to have seen so much of the world. My parents took us on trips constantly and it just rubbed off on me and I have continued the tradition. It means my eyes have glimpsed beautiful scenery many times, however the UNESCO city of Dubrovnik was only…
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The Spreewald
You’re beautiful… After deciding to stay at the ridiculous pickled gherkin barrel accommodation, we had to find something to do in the local area of the Spreewald. Luckily, there are lots of things to choose from and it’s a stunning area to check out just one hour outside of Berlin. The main town is Luebbenau and it’s small enough to walk everywhere. This UNESCO area is full of lakes, forests and canals. Bike rental is available on every corner and there are ample bike lanes and routes to choose from. You absolutely cannot leave without being punted on the canals. It was lovely just floating slowly along the water. The trip lasts…
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Sleeping in a Cucumber Barrel
As cool as a cucumber… Well, we did it yet again. We saw the most hilarious accommodation ever and decided to visit the surrounding area because of it. Yup, you guessed it, we stayed in a pickled gherkin barrel (Gurkenfass) in the Spreewald, a UNESCO area just one hour south of Berlin by car. I have to say I was a bit apprehensive of four people squashing together in one of these little vessels and when the owner suggested we take two huts we nearly caved in, but it’s an adventure and I thought it would be a giggle with Jason and I on the bottom and my brother and his…
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Müritz National Park – The perfect weekend trip from Berlin
I will give you 24 hours baby… We love exploring and finding new things in Berlin, however even in London we used to grab our stuff, jump in the car and go off to somewhere random for the weekend. We have carried on this tradition in Germany too and luckily for you this is one wonderful trip we are going to share with you all. I think it may have actually been my favourite mini-trip in Germany yet! We rented a car and drove up to Waren, a small town in the UNESCO area of the Müritz National Park. The drive up was pretty in surroundings and pretty crazy in weather…
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Harz National Park – Holiday with Dog!
The one with the wagg-ly tail… OMG I’m mortified. I just realised it has been over a year since we went to the Harz National Park in Germany and we still haven’t told you about our lovely little holiday with dog. Five of us squeezed into a car and Jason drove us to the middle of Germany. We stayed in a tiny town called Quedlinburg – a medival town with UNESCO status. We rented out a lovely and very odd house – some of the furniture was hundreds of years old and it meant we could cook and play games all night if we wanted to. The town is quaint and the houses…