Tag: Cities

Geneva downtown

The weather is not very favorable for me during my stay at Radek’s. Today was more or less the first day with the sun shine long enough to actually get out somewhere further, so we set off to Geneva for a walk. The city itself is not new to us, but you can always discover something unexpected in large places like that.

We started from the old city of Geneva, with its St. Pierre cathedral. We also strolled through the narrow, cobble-stoned allays and enjoyed the first breath of summer.

Old town, although very nice, is not a very extensive one, so after a while we moved to Les Pâquis, the lake side district. First we passed by a must-see in Geneva – a flower clock. It seems like it looks differently in every season, always spectacular though.


Then we moved to the lake side, with an emblem of the city – jet d’eau – a water fountain of 140 m height.
First we marveled at it from the distance, but when we saw the impending rain clouds, we sped up a bit and walked close to the fountain pump. After a short discussion what would happen if someone pulled his hand over the pump, we rushed to the car, as the sky turned pretty gloomy.

Sunny Ségny

Our first day in France. After settling in we went for a walk round the village we are staying. Ségny is really a dot on a map – it has around 1600 inhabitants and there is not much to see or do except for walking or riding a bike. Of course, there is a fromagerie (cheese shop) and a boulangerie (bakery) which are „the musts” in every French city.

 

Did I mention it  was sunny? Seriously, it was. I just love the weather in this region.
Anyway… The village is super calm and super pretty. The view on Jura mountains is spectacular and unbroken by civilization. It’s a pity we will have to move out from the place. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure that other villages in the neighbourhood are equally charming. And even if we find ourselves in a bigger city – it will be still 5 minutes ride from the countryside. The nature is omnipresent here and I love it!

Since the weather was so lovely (did I mention that?), when we reached the end of the village, we decided not to finish our exploring walk and to move to a different place from the neighbourhood. I remembered nice spots from 3 years ago, when I was at CERN so we went to Versoix – a beautiful place on the shore of Geneva lake. But on our way there we saw a sign saying „Chateau Coppet” meaning „Look out for some fancy castle in the village named Coppet”, so we passed by.

As I already said, the villages around are rather petit, even Geneva itself is not a very big city (around 200 000 citizens) so after a moment spent in Coppet we moved to Versoix which is known for chocolate factory „Favarger”. You’ll see many more photos from Versoix soon because in March there will be a chocolate festival that Radek definitely won’t miss. For now just a teaser.

Ozeaneum in Stralsund

After a long walk at the seaside (see: Natureum post) we headed to Stralsund – the main destination of our trip. It’s known for the Baltic See museum called Ozeaneum. Inside one can see a lot of underwater marvels – it’s a place I have wanted to travel to for a long time now. We didn’t see so much of the city. It was freezing cold and gloomy so we went straight to the museum

The exhibition started creepily – with a lot of plastic (to-me-lame) specimen or taxidermized animals or, even worse – shellfish in formalin. We rushed through those rooms, not having a lot of interest in non-organic exhibition. Fortunately, it was just a warm up before the real fun – the multitude of aquariums.

At some point we had a close encounter with a sea monster (an octopus of some kind). It was both, scary and amazing. I was taking a photo of a seemingly calm creature, but apparently it didn’t like my camera and leaped on me! (I am not sure if a creature can leap in water, but for the sake of my dramatic description let it stay as „leap”). After a while the octopus came back to it’s withdrawn position at the back of the aquarium. I have to say I was very surprised by this sudden display of power. Bullies are everywhere!

The biggest aquarium was really huge and looked like a cinema screen. One could watch the wildlife in it from 3 different floors. Schools of fish were amazing. The glass was thick for 50 cm!

At the end of our round we visited penguins. Penguins, yay! I love penguins. They are soooo adorable. It’s a pity it was too bloody cold to stay outside and watch them play under water. Their aquarium was situated on an upper level of the building and we could see Stralsund panorama from there. Having said goodbye to penguins we went to the old town of the city, had a cup of coffee and a bite of cake and went back to our warm car.

Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity in Szczecin

Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity is by no means the most heart warming festivity in Poland. Every year huge amount of charity money (this year around 10 000 000 EUR) is collected all over the world. All of that thanks to one person – Jurek Owsiak.
I really like that day of the year – it was particularly important for me when I was a child. I remember how all the fuss about the event made my spirit elevated, I really could see the cause for all of that. Now it’s the same, maybe without this unlimited, childlike trust in everything.
Anyway, each year Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity is accompanied by events all over the world. We had one in Szczecin as well.

Except for stage attractions (hard music concerts and charity auctions) there was a snow park (I perceive the name a bit over the top as it comprised only of one snowboard ramp – and even that was not really splendid as such) and an ice skating rink. There were also ice sculptures, an exhibition of army vehicles and first aid stands prepared by emergency rescuers.

We also took the occasion to shoot a few Szczecin-at-night photos. Our cathedral looked very pretty at night, with the lanterns put at its entrance. Maybe we don’t have the most spectacular old town in the world, but at least what we have is pretty.

Christmas market in Szczecin

We try to profit from the surrounding Christmas atmosphere as much as possible. Personally, I love all the hustle and bustle at this time of the year. I love „Last Christmas” by Wham, plastic Santa Clauses in shop windows, all the lights in the streets and Christmas advertisements (although this year there is another leitmotive in TV – the end of the world that is supposed to happen 21/12/2012).

Szczecin is not best known for Christmas markets, in fact I think it’s the first time ever we have something organised. Anyway, I saw a reindeer photo on FB and it was obvious to me that I must go there!

I must admit that Ducal Castle in Szczecin is the perfect choice of a place for such an event. In general, it’s a pretty place but it became even better with all the stalls around. Ginger bread, self brewed beer, mulled wine and pottery – these were the most frequent goodies sold on the market. We bought something for us to – a ginger bread hut that will decorate our  Christmas table.

What was the best for me were the animals. Except for the before mentioned reindeer (who were cute but rather motionless and jaded) there was a crib installed. The crib was extraordinary. Maria had nails painted blue and Joseph had an ugly wig. They were both drinking mulled wine. But the animals were awesome.

It was very cold and the event was getting to an end so we didn’t stay very long. Since we had two occasions to celebrate, we went to a sushi restaurant to enjoy the Friday evening and celebrate our successes.

Winter in Szczecin

Winter is a graceful moment for taking pictures. The multitude of glimmering street lights, Christmas instalations and white snow make a decent photo set. Even cold weather doesn’t put us off from going outdoor for a walk.

All the photos were taken in Kasprowicza Park vicinity in two days time. First day it was snowing so badly that all the pictures got blurry and gloomy but I like them anyway. The second day it stopped snowing and Radek could play with a camera a bit – doing collages of our griffin monument (griffin is the emblem of Szczecin) or funky Christmas tree photos.

Weihnachtsmarkt in Berlin

Christmas is coming, on St. Nicholas day I heard „Last Christmas” by Wham on the radio – it’s a definite sign! In order to catch a bit of a Christmas spirit, we decided to go to Berlin. We’ve never seen the city in winter and everyone said it was remarkable in snow and lights. Luckily, Goethe Institut (where we both learn German) organised a trip to Weihnachtsmärkte in the capital city of Germany so we gladly put ourselves on a participants’ list.

We arrived on the Hauptbahnhof – a newly built railway station that cost around 1 billion EUR. All right, it’s quite a cost, but the result is stunning. It’s really a very modern and pretty place (yes, a pretty railway station – how odd is that?). What I liked particularly was the huge Christmas tree placed in front of the glazed front.

The organisers prepared an itinerary for us:
– Hauptbahnhof,
– Reichstag,
– Brandenburger Tor,
– Sony Centre, Potsdamer Platz Weihnachtsmarkt,
– WeihnachtsZauber Gendarmenmarkt

We did the whole route twice – at the day time and in the evening. With no doubt, the evening route was a more attractive one.

At the Reichstag (parliament building of Germany) we did a group photo and moved quite quickly to the Brandenburger Tor where we found a lot of wonders (like an ice sculpture, Mario Bros or a waving bear).

On our way to the first Christmas Market we passed by the remnants of the Berlin Wall, Lego street exhibition and Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

When we reached the first market it was relatively uncrowded. It was still bright and the weather was very cold. I liked the fact that I could stroll around the place quite freely. The stalls were superb! It was exactly what I thought of Weihnachtsmarkt. The aroma of Glühwein (mulled wine), apples in chocolate, hearts from gingerbread, hand-made marvels and freezing cold – it was all there!

At last a photo together…

After some time we went to see the other market – the one that is thought to be the most glamorous in whole Germany – WeihnachtsZauber Gendarmenmarkt. Zauber in German means 'charm’ and I find the name pretty descriptive. However, what I didn’t like about this place was the crowd. It killed the atmosphere a bit, but I reckon that in the working week it must be a really amazing place.

Since it was really crowded, we decided to come back to the Potsdamer Platz Markt where we wanted to buy a souvenir (a wooden Christmas windmill spinning from the candles heat) and see everything again in the dark. It was worth it.

We finished the day (really tired and cold) by seeing again the monuments from the morning – but this time at night. The city looks so much different in the dark.

Ostrava Tour – miniUni, Vitkovice, Viewing Tower

Saturday was a pretty busy day for us. We started by strolling around but soon a decision was taken considering the itinerary. And so the first pitstop was at Mini Uni – the museum of the miniatures.
I found the exhibition pretty educative and fun, especially when I could shout with content: „I’ve seen that in real”. (Un)fortunately, most of the places are yet to be discovered by me.

 Can you recognise all of them? I couldn’t.

 In case you wonder, the models were built at a 1:25 scale.




Ater miniUni we visited the Vitkovice area. The mood changed noticeably – from light fun to industrial awestruck. Why so? Vitkovice is now a graveyard of what used to be a manufactory power. From coal mining up to steel production – Vitkovice witnessed the whole fabrication chain.

I was thrilled by the magnitude of the place, as well as by the inevitable march of time. See yourself.

No wonder the place is on the list of  European Cultural Heritage.

When we finished a guided tour round the Vitkovice area, we headed to the city squere and the viewing tower (which is situated on top of the city hall). The tower is lightened in a lovely blue colour which made all of us look like Smurfs. I also noticed that my coat would look nicer in violet (somehow the pictures don’t show the violet I got after mixing red coat with a blue light).

Ahoj Ostrava!!!

Since Radek is on a business trip to Ostrava, I took the opportunity to visit him during the weekend.
Obviously, because he had been there already for one week, he took some lovely pictures of the city in the dark. I saw them in my hotel room the night I arrived. It was sort of a foretaste for me. I was supposed to see the real images of the city the very next day. So here it comes, a foretaste for you.

Wilkommen in Greifswald

I find it a bit baffling that many people (including me) tend to travel to far away places, without getting to know the obvious vicinity. I tried to figure out the reason why on earth I have never been to Mecklemburg-Vorpommern, a German region just right away the polish border (so let’s say 10-15 km from my place). Frankly speaking, I failed – there’s no reasonable explanation. Anyway, as long as we’re alive, it’s never too late to correct the mistakes. This is why I decided to travel to the nearby places in the upcoming year. Greifswald was the first choice and it just reassured me in my decision.

We went there on Sunday, maybe not the best choice of a day for travelling to Germany, but I have to say that the surrounding void in the city was somehow charming. And we were lucky anyway, because there was a pottery sale / exhibition at the marketplace, which definitely generated some life around.


The pottery sold was really quaint and (I would even say) old-school and artistic. That is why I wouldn’t call the venue a sale, for me it was more of an exhibition with the possibility to buy the exhibits.

When we were done watching the pottery, we went to explore the town. Since Greifswald is rather small, we just tramped along with no specific aim. I was really entranced with the surroundings (as I always am in Germany). Everything was so neat and nice, making me feel very peaceful.

Since Greifswald is situated at the bay, we took the chance to walk along the water. The weather was exceptionally good for September and I guess at the bay the mistery of abandoned Greifswald was solved. Everyone was at the promenade by the canal, many people were sailing. What a lovely way to spend sunny Sunday.


We finished the day with having a lunch in the restaurant. It was a very nice day and it really encouraged me to travel to germany more often. A perfect end of the summer.