Category: People

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Dancing up in Gurten

The Gurten is Bern’s local mountain. It stands at 860 meters over sea level and can be accessed by train or by foot. The mountaintop offers a fantastic view across the entire city of Bern. The view extends even further from the Gurten’s observation tower.

But that’s not all. The Gurten is also a delight for children. The little ones can live it up on the playground and miniature railway. Bigger visitors can also have their share of the fun – on the Gurten’s own toboggan run, newly opened in 2016.

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Växthuset at Skansen

The Greenhouse

Next to Skånegården and Fjärilsträdgården lies Skansen’s two greenhouses. They are both of the Swedish Greenhouse model and are approximately 22 square meters and 26 square meters respectively.

Skansen: The world’s oldest open-air museum

Skansen is a favorite both among Stockholmers and visitors passing through, and it’s a perfect family outing. This is the oldest open-air museum in the world and also the Stockholm zoo, with animals native to Scandinavia. 

Skansen is beautifully located on Royal Djurgården and sports spectacular views over all of Stockholm. This is also a Sweden in miniature. 150 farms and dwellings from different parts of the country were disassembled and transported here. Swedish traditions such as Midsummer, Walpurgis Night and Lucia are celebrated at Skansen.

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Tiergarten

The Tiergarten (formal German name: Großer Tiergarten) is Berlin’s most popular inner-city park, located completely in the district of the same name.

The park is located on the northern and central side of Tiergarten Ortsteil and is bordered, on the northern side, by the river Spree. The little quarter Hansaviertel borders on it at the north-western side and the Zoological Garden is situated on the south-western side. The principal road is the Straße des 17. Juni which ends, in the east, at the Brandenburg Gate. Other main roads are the Altonaer Straße, Spreeweg and Hofjägerallee. In the middle of the park is the square named Großer Stern (“Great Star”) with the Siegessäule (Victory column) located in its centre. In addition to the Brandenburg Gate, other notable buildings and structures located close to the park are the Soviet War Memorial, the Reichstag, the Bundestag (all in the eastern borders), the new central railway station (in the north) and, on the southeastern borders, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma victims of National Socialism and the central square of Potsdamer Platz.

In the northerly neighbouring quarter of Moabit a much smaller park bears the same name, thus both are differentiated as Großer and Kleiner Tiergarten.

The Tiergarten has an area of around 210 hectares (520 acres), and after Tempelhofer Freiheit, it is the second biggest parkland in Berlin and the third biggest inner-city parkland in Germany.

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Reykjadalur Valley

Reykjadalur (literal translation: ‘Steam Valley’) is one of the easiest hot spring areas to reach from Reykjavík. A short drive (45 minutes) brings you to the town Hveragerði and from there you can hike up to the warm river that flows down Reykjadalur valley.

The hike is not very demanding (although it’s not recommended for people that are afraid of heights since at one point you’ll be hiking along the top of a deep gorge) and you reach the warm river after about 45-90 minutes (depending on how fast you walk and how often you stop to take pictures of the waterfall in the gorge and all the pretty bubbling muddy hot springs on the way). There are no facilities for changing your clothes when you get up there.

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Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach (Vik) Iceland

Reynisfjara is a world-famous black-sand beach found on the South Coast of Iceland, just beside the small fishing village of Vík í Mýrdal.

With its enormous basalt stacks, roaring Atlantic waves and stunning panoramas, Reynisfjara is widely considered to be the most beautiful example of Iceland’s black sand beaches. In 1991, National Geographic voted Reynisfjara as one of the Top 10 non-tropical beaches to visit on the planet.

Reynisfjara is found around 180 km from Iceland’s capital city, Reykjavik, and is a popular stop-off for those taking a sightseeing tour along South Coast. Driving to the beach is particularly easy, taking an approximate two and a half hours from the capital.

Folklore

Upon visiting the beach, travellers will immediately observe rocky sea stacks sitting off the shoreline, known as Reynisdrangar. According to local Icelandic folklore, these large basalt columns were once trolls engaged in trying to pull ships from the ocean. However, as bad luck would have it, the dawn quickly arose, turning the trolls into solid stone.

Another legend tells of a husband whose wife was kidnapped and killed by two trolls. The man followed the trolls down to Reynisfjara where he froze them, ensuring that they would never kill again.

The sea stacks themselves are home to thousands of nesting seabirds. Species that can be found here include Puffins, Fulmars and Guillemots, making it a must-see location for all birdwatchers out there.