Travel Guides

Frankfurt is such a dynamic, modern and active city. It is the only one German Alpha world city.

After the WWII, when Germany was ruined and divided, the first postwar chancellor of the western Germany, Konrad Adenauer, had to choice the capital of the new state. Frankfurt am Main was a serious proposition, but he preferred the tiny city of Bonn, as it was closer to his house!  People say, if he had the choice for Frankfurt, it could have been practically impossible to move the capital after the reunification of 1989.

People have lived in Frankfurt for two thousand years. Roman artifacts are still emerging to light today.

In the middle Age Frankfurt( there is another Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Oder, which is significantly smaller) had trembled history. Prussia, Austria, occupations, destroy after the WWII, West Germany etc.

In 1924 the city of Frankfurt am Main had chosen a Jewish Mair. But this thing did not stop Adolf Hitler to destroy the synagogues, deporting Jews, getting the Jews in a ghetto. The history of the Jewish community from Frankfurt, one of the German’s most important, can be seen in the Jewish Museum.

During the war, the Allies spared only a few building; one is the Dom, as you can see in the above imagine, and the other was was the IG Farben Building, serving today as the University. After the war was the residence of the Allied Commission, and for this reason it was spared. A special mention for this University, the only one in Germany founded by the citizens of Frankfurt in 1914.

In the interbellic period Frankfurt was a beautiful city, preserving many old medieval buildings. Only a few of them have been rebuild after the war.

You can discover Frankfurt in many ways. Basically, do not dream to discover it by your car. It is dangerous and you have no parking places. Better leave your car in a garage, and use the public transportation or even the bike (it is a bike friendly city).

Do not miss in Frankfurt :

- the Museumufer. It is a shore of the Rhine with 13 museums one next to other. And all of these museums are interesting and worth to be seen, believe me: World Museum, German architecture museum, Jewish museum, communication museum. If you get Frankfurt by the end of August, you will see the Festival of the museums shore, when all these museums will be opened until late in the night.

-night life. The techno music was born here in Frankfurt!

-the city dome

-the Stock Exchange, having in the front a famous sculpture(bellow)

Shall I give more reasons for visiting Frankfurt am Main?

I must admit, I like Germany, with no special reason , as I like usually the places and people I visit all over the world.

But shortly, the facts: after having discovered Berlin, I also visited Frankfurt, and I liked it.

I think Frankfurt am Main is much more modern; it is together with Paris and Moscow one of the european cities having skyscrapers. Here in Frankfurt you can get seven skyscrapers higher than 150 meters. These are usually not open to the public, excepting the Fernsehturm which offers a fabulous view. Read the rest of this entry »

Look what I got in Tallin: a really incredible impossible building!

Is this building real or is a fake?

But watch it carefully, please, and don’t give a quick answer. On the plate writes: “Opening today”

Since 30 years Florida has been booming! Only now, after visiting Florida, I understood finally why.

Florida stays under the continue threat of huricanes. It is a low land, with the highest point at 345 meters in Walton County, and strong huricanes( remember huricane Andrew?) are a big danger for Florida’s wonderful beaches.

Florida has a subtropical climate( which turns to tropical in the south Florida) which is very mild, and has also big vacation villages. Florida is entirely a resort, I would say. Very attractive and not very expensive, a real heaven on Earth. I would have stayed longer in Florida, but I couldn’t. Nevertheless, I will come back soon.

During the last decades Florida’s population grew up from 2 millions to 18 millions, and so Florida became one of the most populous U.S. state(the fourth, to be exactly).

I discovered in Florida the Everglades National Park, which is a protected water area, very populated with aligator( do not swim there).

I discovered also the fine Florida’s beaches( beware of sharks). But before all, I discovered a county which is much different than the rest of Florida; it is Walton County by the name, and has a hilly terrain, differing from the rest of Florida.

Over there, in the Village of South Walton, I spent a few days and nights. This is a hidden treasure, one of the newest developpment on 30 A. I fished there, boated, wave ran and other water sport(on the renowned Sea Crest Beach), and also I rode the bike on A 30, which is a 9 km bike path. It was nice and relaxing.

I hope to go back soon, meet you there.

What is a spiritual place? I would try to define it, and I need your help.

First of all, it seems to be easier to define the non spiritual places. A supermarket, or a boutique is all, but a spiritual place. A red light district is not a spiritual place. Spiritual places are mostly the temples. In a spiritual place you feel closer to your God, whatever is his name, and far away from the daily problems. After speaking to a personality, you feel yourself much better, liberated. This means also spirit, and depends very much on the charisma of the man you are talking to.

The holly places of every religion are spiritual for sure. There is something in the air all around, a kind of magic, or an extraterrestrial energy, I think and I mean it, as I experienced it more times.

The following would be in my opinion the most spiritual places:

1. Mount Athos in Greece. Do not try to visit it if you are not orthodox, or if you are a woman. Despite EU pressures, these sexist restrictions are still in power. No female animals allowed, excepting hens!

2. Lhasa in Tibet, the Potala Palace. Unfortunately, the overwhelming presence of Dalai Lama lacks, he fled to India in 1959. But you can still feel his overwhelming spirit.

3. Mecca. If you are not a muslim, do not try to get there. A pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is named the Haji pilgrimage, and lasts only a few days, but the city of Mecca is preparing it all year long and rules a wealthy life based on it.

4. Vatican, the residence of the head of the catholic church.

Dear friends, let me say something very important: I do not want making anyone of you a monk. It is a matter of vocation and charisma, which I personally have not. But sometimes we must remember, that we are something more than animals, having our spirit. Which can facilitate us the understanding of meaning of life. To be more spiritual, visit your favorite temple and talk to charismatic people.

Which are spiritual places you know?

Travelling by car is obsolete and damages the environment. I love more and more the travelling by train, and specially the Orient Express.

Orient Express was first of all managed by Compagnie Internationale des Wagon Lits and lead from Paris to Istanbul, through Switzerland, Austria, Budapest, Bucharest.

Orient Express stands always for high luxury, haute cuisine and high society. It was the favorite way of transportation for state officials, adventurers, business people, bourgeoisie. La creme de la creme.

And it stands also for crimes, intrigues and espionnage. Mata Hari, the famous spy, used to travel by orient Express. A few diplomates died in the train on more or less natural causes. Agatha Christie had a lot of material for its novel “The crime from Orient Express”, which she wrote patially even in the train!

Today the Orient Express still serves, and there are actually more Orient Express. Get one of it, is a fantastic adventure and travel. I would propose you the classical Paris-Istanbul!

It was actually a title of one of Marlene Dietrich’s wonderful songs: “Ich habe noch ein Koffer in Berlin“(I still have a suitcase in Berlin).

Marlene Dietrich was a Berlinerin, born in Schonerberg! She loved desperately her city, even living in Hollywood. And I also liked very much this extravagant cosmopolitan city during my stay in Berlin(Hotel Park Inn in city heart, Alexander Platz).

I still have something to tell about Berlin, the third european tourist destination!

Something about the history:

-Berlin is the capital of Germany since 1700. It lead the destiny of Kingdom of Prussia(1701-1918), German Empire (1871-1918),Weimarer Republik(1918-1933), The third Reich(1933-1945), Eastern Germany(1945-1989). Important mention: everyone of this regime had its own plans and visions for the city’s developpment and led unforgettable traces in Berlin’s architecture

-In 1685 Frederick William issued the Edict of Potsdam, allowing to the french Huguenots to become asylum and settle in the city. By 1700, 20% from the Berlin population was french speaking!

-The immigration goes further even today, Berlin is very attractive for artists and  specialists coming from the all world.

-In my opinion, the eastern Berlin is still neglected. This is although a major point of endless discussions between Ossis and Wessis(east germans and west germans). And I have noticed the differences between the eastern and western men on the traffic lights!(der Ampelmaenchen)

Something about your Berlin Tour: you can do it very well on your own, by foot or by bike, visiting the city’s many museums and interesting places, drinking quietly a coffee or a beer in a terace pub, etc. Try also a all city panoramic sight from the Fernsehturm(TV tower), and enjoy the wonderfull night life.