[Travel Thursday #2] Berlin

As I mentioned earlier, I went to Berlin on a conference. It was my first time in Berlin. And although I needed to work, I fell in love with this city.

It wasn't love at first sight because my hotel was in a street which was more or less under construction. Thus it was a little dirty and smelt like rotten eggs.

But other than that the hotel was actually quite nice:

Tryp Hotel Berlin Central ( << click >> )

Chausseestr. 33

D-10115 Berlin

It doesn't look that special from the outside but there's actually a part of the Berlin Wall outside the hotel.

The inside wasn't so bad either. Nothing too special but everything's quite new and clean and it has air conditioning.

On the German National Day we went on a boat trip on the Spree. It was night, not too cold but it was awesome. We saw the Festival of Lights around the Bundestag and the museum's island. On my last day I went for a walk passing all these beautiful huge buildings. I think it will be a hell of a city, when the constructions are finished.

I also went shopping in Lafayette. That was actually quite impressive. Everything is so beautiful inside... AND I finally found a winter jacket. I've wanted to buy one for the longest time. I've hunted it for more than a year already.

There's so much more to Berlin which I haven't seen to due work but I will definitely come back another time to visit the museums and the Bundestag. I once met a politician at a lecture about energy savings who invited me but I can't quite remember in whose party he was. Funny thing though, it was another student's dad who I've known from college.

Anyway, it's worth a week's trip.

 

[Travel Thursday] Hamburg, meine Perle

I have thought a little about blog routines. So far my blog style is more messy than anything else. But let me give this a try. In real life I'm very organized. Really...

This summer I went to Hamburg, one of my favorite German cities. A business training with pleasure leisure time... Some of the girls and me went out for an Alster boat tour. Gotta love the northern humor ;-) Some of my best friends live around Hamburg and they are the funniest people in the world. They could do a comedy show.

I haven't been there in ages... 5 years... Actually, that's not THAT long ago... I just feel like it was more.

The city is gorgeous and shopping is so much fun. It's like Venice or Geneva...

Here is the view from my hotel. There is a bar on the top level which wasn't that expensive.

My room was gorgeous too. What a great bed and bathroom... I like these American counters. There's so much space. I need something like that later in my future apartment/house.

I also went a little crazy on my shopping tour in the Adidas and Douglas store. Finally, I found Ardell lashes and NYX blushes. Uhh, and my very first high-end blush from Illamasqua named Tweak. I still haven't unpacked it because I still want to blog about it... It's probably so yesterday but I love this color...

 

Galletas de Ajo

This is one of my favorite salty snacks in the Dominican Republic: garlic bread chips. They are way better than German bread chips. Not as hard and also more delicious. Also this brand is better than others I've tried... It's where my boyfriend had a part-time job as a student.

 

Almost got a forbidden Souvenir

This is Taina, my boyfriend's mother's turtle pet. She is very old but still quick on her feet. Besides she loves to climb into bags and underneath the laundry.

If we weren't looking for her, I might have taken a forbidden souvenir in my hand luggage...

I can imagine how the police would have reacted...

"Oh you didn't notice the turtle in your bag? Yeah. Sure... She wanted to come by herself... Turtles climb into carry on bags all the time..."

I'm glad, I checked before we left... ;-)

 

Juan Dolio Beach

The best beach around Santo Domingo is Juan Dolio. It's even better than Boca Chica... The beach is cleaner and more quiet than Boca Chica. I even like it better than Punta Cana (Bavaro).

But see for yourself...

This is how you get to the beach, if you're in Santo Domingo. The bus stop is in La Duarte, close to the bus stop to Punta Cana:

Astrapu Bus Stop
Calle Jose Martí
10214 Santo Domingo

This is how the bus stop in Santo Domingo looks like. The last stop is San Pedro where also most of the people go. Therefore, it's important to tell the driver where you would like to go.

Go inside. This is how the ticket office looks like.

The bus is clean and has air-condition. It's also quite large and comfortable. I can highly recommend it.

Be sure to buy the ticket before you enter the bus. The ticket costs 110 Pesos, which are about 2€. Furthermore, tell the driver where you would like to go so he will stop and tell you. The trip lasts about 45-50 minutes depending on traffic. Sit on the right-hand side, if you want to enjoy the scenery. It is quite beautiful, as the route is along the coast.

This is where the bus stops. The bus to Santo Domingo stops on the other side of the road. Be careful when you cross the street! It's dangerous.

When you follow this street and turn left, there's the beach.

Enjoy your stay! There will also be an upcoming blog post about wooden figures which you can buy at the beach...

 

Exotic fruits

These are nispero and zapote, exotic fruits from the Dominican Republic.
From the outside they look a bit like kiwi but they taste completely different. Somehow like papaya but sweeter. They taste similar but zapote is much bigger, almost like a honey melon.
They also taste great as juice or batida (milk mix).

New In... Jewelry

50% on all pieces of the jewelry store "Mariale Accesorios" en el Conde of Santo Domingo. Who could possibly say no?

I don't wear these at work but when going out I love these big earrings...

 

Mr. Crab says hi

Electricity was back within 24 hours. So last night was bliss! :-)

Aren't they cute? I found these little guys at the beach of the Barcelo Bavaro Beach Resort.

The latter walked between my feet when I had breakfast. Before I could take a picture, he tried to get away but I got him before he disappeared.

 

Blackout for over 12 hours

Yesterday we had a really bad thunderstorm. There were so many lightnings that I couldn't count to the thunder because I didn't know to which lightning it belonged. I haven't seen any thunderstorms like that in my life...

As much as I love thunderstorms, I do not like the blackout following the event. Damn, it's freaking hot and the fan wouldn't work...

At least the sun is shining again today but I hope electricity will be on again today... Did you know that the water circuit is connected to the electricity? It's good that my boyfriend's mom has a generator so some of the electric devices still work, such as the internet and the fridge. We also have several containers of water to be able to shower and brush our teeth. Until now I had no idea why we had so many containers in the bathroom...

 

Outdoor Gym

How cool is this outdoor gym with ocean view? It's located at the Malecon in Santo Domingo.

No air conditioning needed. There's wind. Unfortunately, there are no weights but it's still better than nothing...

Outfit #22 New In... Black Tops

Besides mint tops I also bought black airy tops. As I'm into mint recently, I paired them both with my mint pants.

The only downside of these airy tops is that I have to hand wash them.

 

 

Outfit #21 New In... Mint Tops

I love airy colorful tops and blouses. It's simple but still elegant.

These two beauties I've found in el Conde in the Dominican Republic for less than 5€ each. Perfect for my vacation...

 

 

 

 

Vienna, Austria

My first visit to Vienna was for a job interview last year. It was 2 days after my job interview in Switzerland. I drove all the way to both interviews on my own. It took forever - 3 hours to Switzerland and almost a day to Vienna. And I most certainly won't ever drive that much in a day anymore. My nerves were shattered, I was tired and I needed more and more breaks on my way...

The job interview in Vienna wasn't bad but I wasn't at my best state of mind. Take my word for it... Don't ever drive a whole day to have a job interview. Flying would have saved me so much nerves.

If I didn't accept the Swiss offer first, this would have been my second choice. The job would have been interesting as well as I would have traveled a lot all over the world. Even more than I do now. But it would also be more difficult to see my boyfriend. I'm sure I made the right choice.

Vienna has all these amazing huge buildings. Isn't it beautiful?

It is a huge city but it doesn't feel too big.

The food is made for meat lovers. It's great for a couple days but maybe not for every day. Otherwise it's even more difficult to stay in shape...

New wine is called "Sturm" btw. I'm a big fan of it, so fresh and sweet.

 

Bern, Switzerland

When Chinese guests came visiting, we had an appointment in Bern, Switzerland. We were very lucky with the weather as it was quite crappy this summer. It was my second time visiting Bern. Last time it was also only due to business and I couldn't do any sight seeing. This time around we actually stayed downtown and visited these beautiful tiny stores. They are hidden in arcades at the left and right.

As my Chinese guests are used to bargains I also learned two new lessons.

1. You can get 10% discount on almost everything. Just ask. Sometimes even more, if you buy a lot...
2. Also you can get tax refund, if you spend more than 300 CHF in a store.

So here is my new pair of Italian nude leather pumps... I don't know the brand Bagatt but they have really beautiful leather shoes and bags.

This pair was reduced from 200 CHF to 90 CHF and I got them for 75€. They are soooo comfortable! I think they are perfect for work and elegant nights out. Hopefully they are going to last me a long time...

Don't you love them too?

 

Chaotic Start

This trip has started a little chaotic.

First we took the ADAC bus which was 1.5 hours late. Luckily I planned plenty of time to our trip and we still got to the airport more than 2 hours before our flight.

When we got to the Condor check in, it was pretty empty. So far everything was fine until we got our boarding passes. I got a seat but my boyfriend somehow didn't. Maybe some failure in the system?! But the chick told us it's our fault cause we were late. We're supposed to proceed to the gate and ask.

We were almost the first at the gate - still 90 min before our flight... WE - who were supposed to be late... Of course they didn't have any free seats and told us to wait until we were called. The seating area was inside and we had to stand for over an hour.

After some people upgraded their seats and after some yelling, finally we got inside.

The flight was fine. Did you know that Condor has individual touch screens now? They even have USB so you can actually charge your electronic devices in the flight. It's very fancy. Unfortunately they want to charge extra for movies. Everyone is making fun of how cheap everything from Asia is but seriously, service in Asian airlines is a million times better!!!

New In: black purse

Since I'll start working soon, I thought I'll need a more business appropriate black purse. So here's my new baby :-)

I'm so fond of it - the purse is quite sturdy and well-made, although of course it's not made of real leather.

It retails for only 1700 DOP, about 29.50€, in Villa Con in Santo Domingo. For this price you can't expect real leather. But nonetheless it's very lovely.

 

 

 

 

The boutique is:

Comercial Villacon

C\ Manuela Diez No. 86, Esq. hemanos Pinzón

Villa Consuelo, Santo Domingo, RD

Tel: +1 809 538 4591

 

I can't wait to wear her back in Germany. But for now, I'll be enjoying beautiful sunshine in the Dominican Republic...