Thursday, October 18, 2012

Berlin, oh Berlin!

Berlin is amazing. It's a city with so many different impressions, interesting people and a beautiful architecture. In the last five days We've seen as much as we could and that was really much. I'm missing this city yet!
After buying two tickets for an Angus Stone (!) Concert in Berlin we decided to use this opporunity to visit the city as well. Luckily my aunt is living here so it wasn't such an expensive trip even though Berlin is not expensive at all. Food and drinks are really cheap so for people with a small budget this city is perfect!
In contracst to Cologne, where I live, Berlin is way cooler! People here are from all over the world and you almost can't find any old people here.

                                         Maybachufer in Kreuzberg

We arrived in Berlin at 2 o'clock in the morning 'cause we have driven the whole evening and night so that we wouldn't waste any time. On Friday we started discovering the district of my aunt: Kreuzberg, a part of the town full of turkish people, artists, alternatives, gays and organic living people. It's also the district which has impressed me the most according to it's inhabitants because the hairstyles, clothes and all the different languages were so great to watch! The market on the Maybachufer was full of fruits, vegetables, turkish specialties and clothes made of alpaca wool. While we were drinking our coffees, we watched young people playing music or doing other stuff to entertain the crowd.




The Oranienstraße is known for its turkish restaurants, grubby cafés, a big subculture and some second-hand shops. Like I said, the people here were interesting too.
The next day we firstly walked through Kreuzberg 61, the other part of this dristrict. One main difference between this one and Kreuzberg 36, the one I've been the day before, are the organic shops and many families with children. I really liked the Bergmanstraße, a street full of amaing shops and cafés and great buildings.

In the afternoon we visited the famous district Prenzlauer Berg. Beirut even wrote a song about it! Here it's good to live, people have money here but aren't rich. In Kreuzberg many Hippies walked around whereas in "Prenzelberg" people with Jute bags, big glasses and short hair lined the streets. Like in whole Berlin, those sweet, very personal cafés were here too, of course.






Kastanienallee


                                               A stunning back yard


On Sunday shops are closed so my mother, my aunt and me went to famous sights like the Brandenburger Tor and the Reichstag. But before we went there we visited a flea market in the Mauerpark. It's a great market with great stuff! I've bought myself a Harem Trouser and my mum found some designer furnitures.
                                         The famous Brandenburger Tor




On Monday we went to the Kufürstendamm which is a huge shopping street in Charlottenburg (a bit pedantic but great buildings though). I'm not a big lover of H&M or Zara but for those who do love them it's perfect. Charlottenburg is rather a calm district with many rich people but, like I said, the streets were full of marvellous, old houses. We even visited the oldest coffee roast house in Berlin.


The last day we spent walking through Berlin Mitte and visited famous sights such as the Berliner Dom or the Museumsinseln. In streets like Auguststraße, Tucholskystraße or Sopienstraße you'll find art galleries, french bookstores, cafés of course, music stores, designer clothes and much more. It's a beautiful atmosphere there especially if the sun shines and you walk along the Spree, the river in Berlin.
                                         The Lustgarten next to the Berliner Dom

Places like the Hackeschen Höfe or the Friedrichsstraße and the Gendarmenmarkt are also a must-see when you are here. In the back yards are some shops and you can walk through four or more back yards.

I really enjoyed my time in Berlin and I hope I'll get the chance to go there soon again. If you have the chance to go there do not hesitate- it's a beautiful city.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Turkey...

Turkey is the country I've probably visited the most because of my turkish parents. It's really a beautiful country with so many great places, cities, beaches and food. Istanbul, for example, is a must-visit if you are in Europe 'cause like all the other metropoles in Europe, every one has its own charme and atmosphere.
This summer I've visited my grandpa in a little town near Izmir...the weather was beautiful  and we even did a tour to a canyon!


 A waterfall at the end of  our canyon tour...
 Black tea of course...

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Into The Wild: Travel Novel/Film

I highly recommend you this book: Into the wild by Jon Krakauer. The film and the movie are brilliant for everyone who likes to read adventure books or just about people who are different than the 'normal' society.

You probably have heard about it yet but if you haven't, a short summary: This real story is about a boy who has actually everything: money and a good college education. But then he wants to escape from this and starts a completely new chapter in his life: he hitch-hikes away from home, along the west coast of America, meets interesting people until he gets to Alaska: Alone in the wild he has to deal with harsh circumstances and has to fight with hunger and lonelyness...

A must-have for every traveler!

Sunday, September 30, 2012

DIY Coconut Necklace

I love doing things by myself; especially jewellery!
So why not making a necklace made of coconuts? It's so easy and looks great-you'll feel a bit like on vacations...I made mine at the atlantic coast of France in 2010.

First Step:

After eating the whole coconut you should only have the shell left over. Then make it into some pieces with a hammer.



-> make it into one little piece.


 Last step:

Then you just need to have some leather strings and your coconut necklace is ready for you!


Thursday, September 27, 2012

travel music...

Sometimes I wish so bad to be anywhere else but here. You can call it wanderlust. If it's raining outside like today or I am reading a bunch of Lonely Planet's in a bookstore, I like to hear music. Then I just close my eyes and imagine myself far, far away...if you are right in that mood you should check out my favorite artists:

Angus Stone

You probably heard of him: His duo with his sister Julia Stone got famous all over the world. But one thing I have to admit: I always liked him much more than Julia even though she's beautiful too. His voice is warm and dreamy- just wonderful!
A few months ago he published his first solo album called "Broken Brights". You'll hear trumpets, panpipes, guitars and right in the middle-the marvelous Angus Stone!


Beirut

Beirut or rather Zach Condon is a very special band. It's a mix of everything: balkan pop, indie, chansons and much more. After being on their concert I've been overwhelmed!  You gonna LOVE it!


The Cat Empire

You aren't able to describe this band in one word. It's like partying on the beach, walking through fresh air- but now I don't want to say much more. Just hear it.




I hope you'll enjoy this musiy wherever you are rigth now!

Asena

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Spain For Beginners

Hola amigos.

Learning spanish is easier than you think- especially if you're learning a language like french or italian.Of course, there are some differences but many vocabularies are much the same.
First you should get an impression of the language; watching spanish films or hearing spanish music (Manu Chao!)

Commom expressions are:

 Hola - Hello
 Buenos días - Good day
 Buenos noches - Good night
 Me llamo ... - My name is...
 Vivo en Alemania - I live in Germany
 Donde vives? - Where do you live?
 Que tal? - Whats up?
 Como estas?- How are you?
 Estoy bien, gracias. -I'm fine, thanks.
 Y tu? - And you?
 Estoy bien también. - I'm fine, too.

So, these were some basics. Just go to a bookstore, there you'll find plenty of spanish learn books- I really recommend the videos by spanishdict.com!




If you're learning spain at school this won't be a problem anymore!

'Cause if you are going abroad you should know the basics of the language especially if your hostfamily is not speaking english...

Hasta la vista

Asena

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Visa & Vaccinations

Hola :D

Fortunatley, there aren't any obligations to get any vaccation, 'cause my mum is absolutley against them. Till 90 days there is no visa required!
3 month away from school, is that possible? If you aren't the worst student it probably won't be a problem missing school. The good thing is that I'm in 10th grade which doesn't count for my education yet.

Flight: I'm not really looking forward to my flight to Buenos Aires. 13 hours flight! Its also the most expensive thing I'm going to pay for this exchange: it costs about 1100€ to 1500€.

Till then,

Asena