By the way for anyone who hasn’t been, Dresden is a stunning city.
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By the way for anyone who hasn’t been, Dresden is a stunning city.
Slovenia was an undiscovered gem when I visited it many moons ago. (In fact, I have some entries in the Lonely Planet guide as it poorly covered the NW part of the country at that time). Bosnia is beautiful but still suffers greatly from what is effectively ethnic sectarianism. Everyone knows of the charms of Croatia although it's very touristy, of course.
By the way, if anyone has personal experience of Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan I would be grateful for any advice.
Very much depends on your interests. If the Nazi period is your main interest then Topography of Terror, the Berlin Bunker and a tour of Tempelhof Airport are worth doing. The Holocaust memorial near the Brandenburg Gate is very moving - especially the exhibition underneath.
If it is the Cold War and the wall then the Wall Museum on Bernauer Strasse, the Palace of Tears at Friedrichstrasse Station - this was one of the few places where East Germans could cross in West Germany and you can still see the doors they used to go through. The East Side Gallery is a bit disappointing. It is at one of the few remaining bits of wall left and has the famous painting of Honecker and Brezhnev kissing. Much of where the wall stood is marked by a line of cobbles in the road/pavement - easily seen in front of the Brandenburg Gate and down to Potsdamer Platz. The DDR museum is small, but excellent and shows life as it was in East Germany until the wall came down - it was a planned economy without a real plan. The Checkpoint Charlie museum is a commercial one and pretty good. Checkpoint Charlie itself is a bit disappointing, because it is not the original building.
If you are into technology the German Technical Museum is brilliant. For general German history the national museum is excellent as are all the museums on Museum Island. If you are into Egyptology then the famous bust of Nefertiti is in the Neus museum.
Just wandering round Berlin is good as well - such as walking from the Brandenburg Gate along Unter den Linden to AlexanderPlatz. The city itself is enormous and many of the sites are quite a long way apart. However the public transport is brilliant. One thing that is interesting is that the trams are only in what was old East Berlin. West Berlin ripped them all up. The centre of what was West Berlin is mainly along the Ku'Damm which is a couple of miles from the Brandenburg Gate. Most of the best things to see are in what was East Berlin.
Bullshit jobs to be honest, nothing to what i studied. Worked 5 jobs since being here, only 1 was a local company going global, the rest are US and Swiss companies mainly.
Currently in a huge US IT company, helping them in-source what was previously serviced in Malaysia, was easy street that got complicated very quickly as our biggest centre was in Russia (previously acquired company). Effectively lifted about 300 plus people out (with their families and pets) to centres in Spain, Canada, Australia and Bulgaria. But if it was to disappear overnight, nobody would notice. As Murray Bookchin said:
while Social-Democratic and Communist theoreticians babbled about a society with "work for all," the Dadaists, those magnificent madmen, demanded unemployment for everybody.
Go! Immediately
It’s my favourite city in Spain. The food is amazing, it’s just tapas mad and it’s cheap, there’s loads to do. If you find food is expensive, you’re looking in the wrong place! Just get prepared to have your evening meal late, and I mean really late! The museums can be free to go into, both Reina Sofia and Prado are musts in my opinion. 3 days is good, I would really recommend having a day trip to Toledo as well. It’s 45 ish mins on the train, and it is a fascinating place.
I’ve never had an issue in Barca but you have to be aware of pickpockets and stay in the right places. It is a great place but be aware, there are loads of tourist traps. Do Sagrada and Gaudi stuff, they’re great. I went with my partner in 2022, and we got in the same day but it might be worth booking a bit more in advance, as when I went to SF in 2018, we had to book 2 days in advance! You’ll have a great time!
Yeah, work is the least interesting part of the whole 20 odd years, but its a fantastic country and people (Catalans and Spanish), like most places has its issues and not perfect, but as a well traveled man yourself, sometimes you just fit in a place instantly and recognize it.
Soft day in work tomorrow as the rest of Spain are off so will get the restaurants and bars
Hey, these might not be the best, but they are the ones we use. Most will need a reservation. Let me know if you need anything else
Fish / Paella
Ca la Nuri
https://restaurantcalanuri.com/
Barraca
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restau...Catalonia.html
Italian
DONKILO RESTAURANT
Donkilo Restaurant – DonKilo
donkilobarcelona.com
Al Passatore – Not super special but we’ve be going over 20 years
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restau...Catalonia.html
Tapas
La Pepita
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restau...Catalonia.html
Bodegueta (La Bodegueta) (go inside, outside for tourists)
LA BODEGUETA, Barcelona - Rambla de Catalunya 100, La Dreta de l'Eixample - Menú y Precios - Tripadvisor
I love the fact I always find different places to go, places to eat, clubs back in the day etc…helps that an old mate from cardiff lives there, he’s been there about 20 yrs too. Knows all the best spots ( sometimes literally a door in a back alley with no sign on it)
I could wander around Barca for days…..must try Madrid and Valencia too soon