Skip to Content

Since living in Germany I’ve learned more than a handful of new German words. I arrived knowing “gesundheit” and “kindergarten” but something else I’ve added to my lexicon: marzipan. Marzipan isn’t completely a foreign thing to Americans, but it’s not something I was very familiar with until I visited Lübeck, Germany back in December. The …

Read More about What is marzipan? Niederegger’s chocolate marzipan

Sachsenhausen concentration camp memorial Just outside Berlin is the Sachsenhausen concentration camp memorial. Under Nazi Germany, the concentration camp was used first as a work camp for political prisoners until eventually it was expanded and enlarged to also include facilities for mass murder. After WWII, Sachsenhausen was briefly used by the Soviets to house Nazi …

Read More about Visiting the Sachsenhausen concentration camp memorial

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park in Iceland When I visited Iceland in September 2009 (read how my trip to Iceland changed my life here) I did one of the popular day trips to all the tourist sites within a short bus ride away from downtown Reykjavik. I was reminded of the Golden Circle tour when I …

Read More about Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park in Iceland

Sorry if the photo is a bit blurry but my hands were cold. This is a shot of one of the many stands at the Christmas market (or Weihnachtsmarkt in German) in Schmalkalden, Germany. I was visiting this central German town on part of a chocolate & candy tour through Germany. Schmalkalden is in a …

Read More about German Christmas Market in Schmalkalden, Germany

Whether it’s the crappy weather or just my sorry mood, inspiration has been lacking in my life since the new year. So to fight it off, I spent this past weekend trying to improve my mood. First with the first plane ticket purchase I’ve made in MONTHS (hellllooo Norway in March!) and second with a …

Read More about A winter weekend in Berlin by Instagram photo

I’ve pretty much spent the past week hanging out in a theater seat. It was the Berlinale / Berlin International Film Festival here for the past 10 days, and thanks to some friends who sorted out my tickets, I managed to see four different films. Here’s my recap: Dictado / “Childish Games” There was a …

Read More about One week in the kino: Berlin International Film Festival

hey hey – some architecture for you: The German Reichstag building houses the German parliament (Bundestag), equivalent of the U.S. Congress. The building is open to the public and it’s fairly simple to arrange a visit to the dome (designed by Norman Foster). You just have to register online in advance with your personal information …

Read More about Inside the German Reichstag dome by Norman Foster