germany: berlin

After sleeping off and on during my five hour train from Warsaw, I arrived in Berlin mid morning. My train arrived at the main train station, and I immediately felt at home. (I feel that way every time I am in Germany.)
The train station is big, with a lot of tracks, entries/exits, and stores/food spots. My first task was to find an ATM, then find a bakery. (I adore German bakeries. As far as I'm concerned, it's not possible to spend too much time in a bakery. Or eat too much from a bakery.) Or think too much about going back to a bakery for more treats.

Third, I needed to find a map for the S-bahn/U-bahn system.
I figured out where I needed to go, hopped on the train, and soon after arrived at my stop. My hotel was quite close to the S-bahn stop, yippee! I took a chance and asked if they had a room ready for me to check in early, unfortunately my room wasn't yet clean. The front desk clerk said they could hold my bag, which was perfect.
I started walking back to the S-bahn stop, not very thrilled with the weather. It was dumping snow. And cold. (A side note: I generally love winter/snow/cold, but I wasn't ready mentally or with proper clothes.) Just down the block from the hotel I found a decently priced small restaurant, I decided to have lunch. It was nice to warm up for a little while. (My train wasn't warm, neither was the hauptbahnhof or S-bahn stations, and I wasn't inside my hotel for long.)

After lunch I headed to the S-bahn station when I saw spires and an interesting looking roof not far away.
I made my way toward the roofs, and found the New Synagogue. It is no longer a functioning synagogue, it's now a museum. You can't thank the evil government and WW2 for that. There were some nice displays, including items involved in daily Jewish life. There were historical displays and descriptions of modern day life. After looking through the museum, I climbed up into one of the cupolas, it was nice to see the view over this part of the city.

After the synagogue, I hopped back on the S-bahn, riding it only one stop. Friedrichstraße is a big station, a number of S-bahn lines come together at this station. U-bahn lines too. I walked out one end of the station and walked down friedrichstraße.
Before arriving in Berlin I'd looked at a list of sights, knowing I would only have one afternoon in the city. I'd picked out two sights that were close to each other, both of historical importance.
My walk was only a kilometer or two. It was a straight walk down the street, I walked straight into checkpoint Charlie.

You've probably heard of it.
This was one of the checkpoints set up during the days of the Berlin Wall. This particular checkpoint controlled entrance and exit to the American sector of the city. There is very little left of the checkpoint now, and the area is a major tourist trap. There are several museums there, as well as heaps of souvenirs shops/stalls. HEAPS. The advantage to having so many places selling postcards all together was that the prices were lower than any other area of the city :) Of course I took advantage.
You can also pay money to have your photo taken with a guy dressed in the style of the American soldiers way back when. Another way to spend money is to have some of the 'visa' stamps stamped in your passport. There are stamps for the British sector, the soviet sector, the American sector, and the French sector. Plus two others, I forget what they were for.
Also in this area are the shack that houses the border guards, and the signs (you are now entering the American sector, you are now exiting the American sector...both in four languages) that are so famous.
There is one small section of the wall on display, everyone wants their photo taken with the wall. For whateva reason, I skipped that. Too many people around I think. If I'd been there in early morning with fewer people were around, I would've had my photo taken. There is another area in the city with more sections of the wall to see, I want to go back and see more, and spend more time absorbing the history.

I walked back up the street until I came to a major street called unter den linden. Again I saw an interesting looking roof, so I walked in that direction. Eventually I got to the building, it was the Berlin Cathedral. A very big cathedral. I wanted to go inside, but the entry fee was 7€, I had no desire to pay that much to see the inside of a church, no matter how nice it is. Part of me sees how many people pay that fee and does basic math, the number comes out to be pretty big; I end up wondering how all the money is spent.
On the way back in the other direction on unter den linden I walked across a platz, called lust platz...I kid you not...it's right next to the church!!!
A couple kilometers down the road I came to my other sight of the day...the Brandenburg gate...the Berlin Wall once went right by this gate, it wasn't possible to cross through the gate. The first Berlin marathon course after the fall of the wall specifically went through the gate because it represented more than just a marathon course. (For that and other reasons, I'd like to run the Berlin Marathon one day.)

This is where the city hosts it's new year celebrations. Not surprisingly, there were heaps of people wandering around, including workers setting up for the festivities the next evening. Because of all this, there was no way to get a full, good picture of the gate. Maybe next time!
I walked back to friedrichstraße station, and visited the supermarket in the station, picking up one of my favourite foods: a rather large glass jar of German yoghurt. YUM. That yoghurt ended up being my dinner in my hotel room, not long after. It didn't take long to get back to my hotel, where I checked in and stayed inside for the night.
I flew out of the easyjet terminal the next morning, I loved the German efficiency of the place 😃

poland: warsaw

When I was in the middle of planning my winter holidays, the original plan was to do New Years in Berlin...the cheapest way for me to get there was take a flight to Warsaw, then a train to Berlin...so I ended up with a day to wander around Warsaw...
I've visited the city twice previously, but this was the first time since 2009...it was fun to wander around and see what I remembered...
Warsaw is on the Far East of its time zone, which means the sun goes down EARLY in winter...it was dark at 1530, ARGH...

add that to a temperature of -7C that felt like -12C, I wasn't as happy as I could've been...everytime I've visited Warsaw it has been late fall or winter, I should come back in another season!
My flight arrived on time at Warsaw Chopin airport, I managed to be one of the first people through passport control...they put the entry stamp on an almost full page, yippee! (I'm trying to fill pages before stamping new pages...
You can take a train or bus to the central train station, I opted for the train...it took a bit to figure out the ticket machine, I think I was having an idiot day...once on the train i validated the ticket and the train took off soon after...

Once in the central train station I found a place to store my pack for the day, thank goodness...
And from there, I started walking...the first building I saw upon exiting the train station was a GIANT building called the palace of culture...it was a gift from the soviets, to their brothers...I still remember the first time I saw it, not long after I'd visited Moscow...it immediately reminded me of the so called 'seven sisters' in Moscow...and whaddya know, this was supposed to be just like those buildings...it catches your attention, whether you like the style or not...it is now surrounded by modern sky scrapers...(well, maybe not quite surrounded, but there are plenty of modern skyscrapers nearby)...i think dad and i went inside the 'palace' but i remember thinking the inside wasn't nearly as impressive as the outside...funny how those things dont always match up...(it's the same with churches)

I kept walking down the street, crossing a few intersections by going under the streets...not too far along, I got to an intersection with a palm tree in the middle...I'm sure someone out there knows, how long has this tree been there? Obviously, it isn't real, as I'm pretty sure you don't find Palm trees in places that have really cold temperatures and snow and ice...still, it doesn't look too terribly fake...
From there I turned left, and walked down a street that was still decked out in holiday stuff...lights and trees and such...

Poland has been a catholic country for a long time, the soviets were never able to stamp it out, despite repeated attempts...Christmas and Easter are big here...
This street has a name I don't know how to pronounce, there are way too many vowels...it was the street kings traveled to get to the old city...since I was in the street, does that make me royalty too? I would totally marry a prince :)
I passed the apartment building where dad lived for a semester, I passed the university of Warsaw, I passed A LOT of coffee shops, I passed stores galore...

Eventually I made it to the platz everyone recognizes as the start of the old city...somehow, the old city was not destroyed during all the bombing of WW2...(the rest of the city was flattened)...there is a wide open area, with pretty coloured buildings along 3 sides...
Then I noticed a tower, with a sign pointing 'this way' to the viewing tower...I had never been up the tower, I figured why not? My legs were burning by the time I climbed up, I need to get fit! The views over the city were lovely...I wish I could've stayed up there longer, but the wind was blowing, and I was COLD...i knew it would be cold in warsaw, but i figured i could deal with it since i was only going to be in the city for a day, but it wasn't as easy as i thought it would be...

There was a Christmas market set up along the old city walls, some of the stuff looked quite nice...I walked through the entire market, and entered the old city from a direction new to me...I made a few turns, enjoying the aesthetic appeal of the old buildings, eventually finding the platz in the middle of the old city...
In the middle of the platz was an ice rink, plenty of people practicing their skills...I'm all for outdoor skating, but not in biting wind!
I wandered into two different churches, one of which had awesome  front doors...it was nice to be inside again, even for a short time...some of the shaded areas of the streets in that area were COLD, my fingers and toes were not happy...

I made my way back to the entry platz, took a couple more photos, and started walking back up the street I'd come from earlier...I ducked into a cafe and warmed up for a couple hours (you know when you're cold and just can't seem to shake it? That was me)...by the time I left the cafe it was dark...
I got back to a building belonging to the university (I think) with a statue of Copernicus in front...lit up nicely at night :) ...also lit up were the holiday decorations on the street...did I mention the giant pressies (presents) lit up in various places along the street? Pretty...
Not too long before the palm tree intersection I found an indian restaurant...they didn't have the first dish I wanted, but my second choice ended up being pretty good...spicy too :)

At the Palm tree intersection I Jew to turn right...it seemed as if I was in front of the palace of culture again really quickly...its lit up at night, of course I took photos...colour and black and white :)
I spent the night in the train station...so not a whole lot of sleep...but it wasn't worth getting a room here and having to figure out a way to get to the train station in time for a 0555 departure...
Note to self: visit Warsaw in late spring or summer!!!

turkey: instanbul, with seoullites

i think this was my 3rd visit to istanbul...though when i came to turkey for my winter holidays in 2011-2012 i started and ended my trip in istanbul, so i guess i could say i've been here four times...anywho, the purpose of this visit was to hang out with a girlfriend from my years in korea...
my flight left kyiv at 0640, which meant i didn't get much sleep and was at the airport plenty early...ugh...the benefit of an early flight means i don't waste the day traveling, i landed in istanbul right on time...visa and passport control went really fast, there weren't many people in the queues...the visa guy even put the sticker right where i asked him to, no questions asked! (usually they - passport people and visa people - want to know why i want a stamp or sticker in a particular place)...

my second favourite coffee chain is called caffe nero...i like them because they have good chai lattes and chocolate fudge cake...there are a number of branches in istanbul, including two at the airport...guess what i had for breakfast? :)
i took the havatas airport shuttle bus to their dropoff near taksim square, it's a 40 minute ride or so...(depending on the time of day, of course)...amanda picked me up and we went back to her flat for a while...we've known each other a few years and have some of the same issues going on in our lives right now, so it was great to catch up...

eventually we got moving, and went back to the hotel at the bus dropoff point...there we picked up lancelot, another seoullite...i didn't know him, but we have mutual friends, and he's a traveler, so i figured he was okay...
the three of us hopped in a taxi, amanda told the driver where to go, and asked for the meter...the driver said no, and his fixed price would be 40TL...amanda threw a fit, told him he was dishonourable for trying to gouge foreigners...(she spoke in turkish)...all three of us got out of the taxi, and found another...this one said his set price was 15TL, as there was bad traffic along the way we wanted to go...

amanda said absolutely not, so we climbed out of that taxi as well...eventually we got a third taxi, and the driver agreed to use the meter...our final fare? less than 10TL...
we went to a hotel next to Ciragan Palace, on the Bosphorus river...the setting is lovely...amanda and some of her friends had arranged to gather to enjoy the holiday (Christmas) by having high tea...it was nice, we enjoyed ourselves...at one point we walked out to the edge of the river to take photos as the sun was setting...beautiful...
somehow, we didn't have to pay for any of the three of us...when we asked for our bill, the waiter said there was nothing left to pay...

then we asked for the bill of the other table in our group, to see if they had somehow paid extra...they didn't, and our waiter didn't seem to care...so, happy holidays to us, and we will pay it forward...
we took a taxi to an area of the city known as galata...you have to get up a steep road/stairs to get to the base of the tower, but its not a long way...we didn't go up the tower, maybe next time...i'm told there are great views from up there...galata is an area with heaps of little restaurants and places to hang out...amanda told us the steps in the area are usually covered with young adults on weekends, just hanging out with their friends...

we finally got home around 2300 that night, i crashed fast...since i hadn't had much sleep the night before, then been awake and social most of the day...
the next morning amanda and i got up slowly, it was awesome...after tea and breakfast, amanda searched online to find a hamam for us...she found a great deal for the botanica spa at the radisson blu hotel in pera...IT WAS AWESOME...our ticket got us towels, bathrobes and slippers...we were also able to hang out in the jacuzzi for a while, drink water, and stay warm in the sauna...

our hamam service included a full body scrub, a mini massage, foam bubbles all over, and shampoo...i haven't been that relaxed in a while, it felt soooooo good...plus my skin was super smooth...i would love to do that regularly!!
lancelot met us that night for dinner, i wanted to have tantuni...kinda like a turkish version of a soft burrito...(foodies will scream at me for that comparison, but i don't know what else to say)...sooooo good...plus we found a place with friend mussels, and mussels with rice inside a mussel shell...by the time we got home, we were full...awesome!

the next morning we got moving a little earlier, and went to the organic market not too far from amanda's flat...it was fun to wander around and see what was available...honey, vegetables, fruit, dairy products, etc...
after the market, we hopped on the metro to meet lancelot...amanda noticed we could take the metro a way she hadn't gone before, then we would take a tram afterward...lets just say it took us much longer than it should've to find the connection to the tram after leaving the metro station...eventually we figured out where to go (thanks google maps)...we met lancelot, and made our way to the mosaic museum...

along the way, amanda noticed a carpet store...she's been looking for a carpet, and had already been to the mosaic museum, so she told us she would find us in a little while...the museum was fairly small, she didn't think we would spend much time inside...it was indeed a small museum, but the mosaics were pretty impressive...the mosaics are displayed on the walls, and in a fenced off area in the middle...
after exiting the museum i walked through another market area...lots of jewelry stores, random souvenir stores, and more...

then i found amanda in the carpet store...when i got there, she had one carpet she liked a lot spread out on the floor, but was still looking...she ended up finding another carpet she liked even better, then the negotiations started...amanda had no intentions of buying a carpet that day (she told me later she'd told the salesman from the beginning that she was just shopping) but the salesman kept trying to negotiate...
after leaving the carpet store, amanda and i went to an indian restaurant for snacks...while i'd been in the mosaic museum, lancelot had left to go to the archeology (or is it architecture?) museum, and had agreed with amanda to meet up at 1730...amanda and i had some time to kill before then, and decided we were hungry...that restaurant had an amazing lassi...sooooo good, and big :) ...the top floor was a covered balcony with a fantastic view of the hagia sofia...

we met up with lancelot and started making our way toward dinner...when i first sent a message to amanda asking if she would be around during these holidays, i mentioned i wanted to go to this steak house again, as we had during my first istanbul visit...the steak house is in a mall with fancy shmancy stores, and isn't the cheapest place to eat in the city...but it's sooooo worth it...dry aged steaks: perfectly tender and full of flavour...YUM...two of amanda's friends joined us, dinner was lovely...

the next morning i headed out by myself, as amanda had to do a lot of paperwork...another activity i'd wanted to do during this trip was go on a bosphorus cruise/tour...i chose one that was 2.5 hours, and involved getting off the boat for 30 minutes to visit a palace on the asian side of istanbul...(one of the awesome aspects of istanbul is that it is the only city in the world - i think - on two continents)...
the cruise was nice, though the guide had a peculiar way of speaking english...it was fun to see the palace where we'd had tea a couple days ago from the river, as well as other sights in the city...plus, although it was cold, it was also sunny, which always makes me happy...
the palace we visited is called Kucuksu, and was built by the sultans as a hunting lodge...no one ever spent the night, it wasn't meant as a residence...according to the guide there are also kitchen facilities, he also said no cooking was ever done there...it's relatively small, but very fancy...every room has a fancy ceiling, and a chandelier...

the floors are all wood, and are beautiful...the patterns of the wood are complicated, no nails or glue were used in the building of the floor...no photos are allowed, but i broke that rule, as did plenty of other folks...our group entered through the back side, the front side is on the river...it's quite nice...i asked the guide how many people were in the hunting parties, he said minimum 300, sometimes several thousand...!!!
the boat dropped everyone off at the pier near the spice market...i ate a fish sandwich from a boat docked next to the tour boat, it was good and not as expensive as i expected...i then walked through the spice market, only stopping when i saw a stall with ginger...i liked the guy, he didn't pressure me to buy, he just waited as i looked...
after the spice market i made my way up the hill of sultanahmet...i went back to the indian restaurant, i wanted another lassi :)

i ended up spending too long drinking the lassi, i got to the blue mosque 10 minutes after it closed for the day...booo...i was disappointed, but i've seen the mosque before, and it's not worth getting upset about something i can't change...
i made my way back home, i had some time to relax before picking up lancelot at the metro station and bringing him back to amanda's flat...amanda had told us she would cook dinner, it was really really good...not only was the food awesome, she made it...i love turkish food, so eating out all the time isn't horrible, but who doesn't love yummy homemade food??
lancelot left after a while, and i started packing up...boooo...
my flight leaving istanbul was scheduled for 0555, and the earliest airport shuttle bus was at 0400...i get nervous about being on time for flights and such, i figured it was better to take the 0100 bus, and take no chances...either way, i knew i wouldn't get much sleep...
the lady who checked me in to the flight put me in an exit row, so i had plenty of leg room...i also had all three seats to myself, so i was able to lay down and sleep a little on the flight, yippee!!
i love istanbul...

ukraine: kyiv: winter walking

I love snow. I love winter. I grew up in a place that gets snow a few times every winter but doesn't stay really cold the whole time. I remember when I was a kid, wishing we lived in a place with a 'real' winter. I remember being slightly jealous of people who lived farther north, as I would see news reports of blizzards and the like, I wanted to be there. I still feel that way. Yes, I know plenty of people think that's crazy.

Now I live in Ukraine. Winter is real here. Very very real. My first winter here it didn't go under freezing until mid January, but then it got really cold, really fast, an stayed there. We were under freezing for more than two months, a month of which was at -25C or so. Trust me, that's cold. (And yes, I know there are plenty of people who are regularly in colder weather.)

Every family has a sled, or something on which people can slide on the snow. Everyone has proper winter boots, usually several pairs. (And quite often Ukrainian women wear stiletto winter boots.) when the snow starts there are heaps of people out on the hills of the city, sliding everywhere. I think it's awesome.

Last winter was remarkable only in that it wasn't remarkable. It didn't go below -10C very much, most everyone I know commented on how mild the entire season was.

This year we've already gotten to -10C, we went under freezing for two weeks starting toward the end of November. As I write, temperatures are back above freezing, so ice and snow has melted. Given the current gas/heating situation, (no one is reading this blog to read what I say about the situation with Russia) it's better to have another mild winter. That being said, I'm hoping for another cold winter. I love snow, I like ice (except for when I fall and end up with massive bruises that take weeks to heal.) I hope to see the river freeze over :)

The photos in this post have been taken over the entire time I've lived here.

I think winter is beautiful. I like blue skies a whole lot more than grey skies, but even grey winter skies have their own beauty. My second year here we had a massive snowstorm at the end of march. Everyone remembers, as it dumped 50cm (~20in) in 36 hours. That happened on Friday/Saturday, the city was still shut down the following Monday. That sort of snow isn't shocking here, but no one was ready for it so late in the season.

Winter weather doesn't stop life here. It's just another season, with appropriate activities. People are always outside in the snow, quite often with kids. That first year my flat mate and I thought Ukrainians were crazy, as they would be hanging out outside drinking and being social, when the temperatures were below freezing. Crazy.

my travel map

click on the highlighted words to find out where i've been in the world  ...notice all the empty space, i still have a loooooong way to go!!

ukraine: dnipropetrovsk

My train left kyiv at 2330, arriving in Dnipropetrovsk (southeast of kyiv) at 0700 Saturday morning...as I left the train there were a few people still asleep, and others not making any move to leave the train...I knew Dnipropetrovsk was the end station, so who knows what all of them were up to...this was the first time i'd ever seen people still asleep when the train came to it's final stop...usually the conductor comes through an hour before arrival, then again 20 minutes or so before, making sure everyone is ready to get off the train...

I exited the train into snow...at that point it was snowing lightly, and everything was greyish white...since it is still early in the season, we haven't had any big snows yet. I walked a bit and found the bus station, in which was a hotel where ii'd booked a room...it wasn't marked at all, I wouldn't have found it or seen it if I hadn't looked very carefully...a very basic place, to say the least...i dropped my stuff, and attempted to warm up, but that wasn't really happening...i thought i'd booked a single room, but two other ladies were there, so i figured it was a dorm room...one of them complained to the manager lady that it was cold, so i wasn't the only one feeling that way...

I started walking into the city center...I walked along Karl Marx avenue, which runs a long way...it's one of those streets that has a pedestrian area in the middle...there were heaps of people out, despite the snow, the early hour, and the fact that it was saturday morning...
One of my first sights was the opera building...the outside was not attractive...at all...typical boring soviet style, not like what I expected...so boring I didn't take a photo...if i hadn't looked at a map and known for sure it was an opera house, i never would've guessed...the only visible clue were the opera and theatre schedules posted out front...the statue and would be fountain off to the side were much more interesting...

Not too far away, I found another theatre building, it looked way better...as I looked at that building, I also became aware of men selling stuff in a small non permanent market...I saw buttons, a few old items, etc...behind the men was a building with plenty of graffiti...I couldn't tell if it hadn't been finished, or was falling apart...either way, it was blocked off and I couldn't get close...
Then I walked down teatralna street...a few small shacks with electronics, and more stalls with books...not much else...lonely planet says this is a street worth visiting, i didn't feel the attraction...maybe because it was snowing? and still relatively early saturday morning?

As I continued up Karl Marx street I saw the golden domes of a church and figured out how to get there...(it was behind the building in front of me, I had to walk way around)...very pretty, not big, and rather dark inside since the lights were not turned on...
Lunch was next, though a bit early at only 1100...then back to the Main Street...
Eventually I made it to the end of the street...there was a statue of lemonosov, in front of the national mining university...there was also a tank memorial to general Pushkin...

on the other side of the street was the history museum...the museum was small, but that didn't matter...outside I could see heaps of little statues off to one side of the building...on the other side of the building was a tomb...behind the building was a display of military items...rockets, a tank, trucks, etc...nifty looking in the snow...
I walked to Shevchenko park, with ta grand entrance...as I walked through I saw a couple having their wedding photos taken...in the snow! The wedding party was waiting around...I didn't feel bad for the two ladies wearing miniskirts who looked cold (that's just dumb in snowy windy weather, no matter what the occasion)...I did feel bad for the people dressed appropriately who were clearly cold...

Toward the back of the park I came upon the cathedral of the transfiguration...not big, very nice inside...again, not lit, so it was kinda dark...
After the church I made my way back to my hotel, picked up my stuff, then took the tram to another hotel...I was cold in the first hotel, and the wifi wasn't working...it took me a bit to find the new hotel (what's with the lack of signage??) but it was worth it...heat and wifi, what more could I want??
The next morning I woke up slowly, just because I could...I got out later than planned, not that it mattered...first up was lunch, as I hadn't eaten dinner the night before...

It wasn't snowing anymore, but it was still windy, plus the ice on the streets and sidewalks made walking an adventure...
After lunch I got back to a park I hadn't seen the day before...pretty, with a small amusement park for kids...a pond...a theatre in the middle of the pond...people sledding  down the hills everywhere, it looked like fun :)
I found a small train station, I don't know if the trains actually run...maybe in summer? the trains were covered in snow, and the tracks were blocked off in one direction...
Walking down the street I found another church...not an Orthodox Church...nice and quiet, relaxing :)...

Next up was a hot chocolate and cake stop in a cafe :)...the cafe had plugs and free wifi, yahoo!
After warming up and charging the iPhone I started walking again...this time walking down a street parallel to Karl Marx street...the street was quiet, residential on one side with car repair places on the other side...I bet the views from the tall apartment buildings are nice :)
At some point I realized it was dark...I don't love walking around in the dark, especially when it's cold...I found a lighted area outside another big mall (I've saw heaps in this city) and walked all the way around...then I figured it was time to go back inside, so I found a sushi place for dinner...(heaps of sushi restaurants here too)...

After dinner I killed more time until making my way back to the train station and waiting until my train left at 2225...have I mentioned how much I love the train system in this country?