12. October 2021

Snapshots – 8/2021

Welcome to the fifth post in my “Snapshots” category. In this post you will find the highlights of the pictures I took with my phone camera within a month. I started this in April and have since published posts for May, June, and July. Accordingly, you will find my photos from August 2021 here. By the way: If you want to be informed about the publication of my posts, I recommend an RSS feed or to follow me on my author page on Facebook.   I was on holiday in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic in August. The last photo I took in August was at a local shooting range. […]
26. October 2018

Hungary – Budapest

Buda and Pest After visiting my family in Romania, Tes and I spent a few days in Hungary’s capital Budapest. The 1.7 million metropolis formerly consisted of two cities, located west and east of the Danube river. One was called Buda, the other Pest. The largest spa town in Europe is, among other things, famous for its bathhouses and thermal springs. Incidentally, in a geotectonic view, the city lies on a fracture point of the earth plates. Therefore, the city (especially Buda) is rich in hot springs, which were already used by the Romans in the second century. In total, there are over 120 hot springs and the water is used […]
5. September 2017

Morocco: Roadtrip to the Sahara – Merzouga

A guided trip – better than expected! To get from Fez to Marrakech, we did some research: Going by train or bus along the coast to the south was too time-consuming and renting a car and driving was too expensive. So, we decided to book a guided tour to Marrakech. It lasted three days and included the pick-up at our accommodation in Fez, the ride to Merzouga, an overnight stay  in Merzouga (including dinner and breakfast), a camel ride to the Sahara, the overnight stay in the same (including dinner and breakfast, of course) as well as the trip to Marrakech – where we were brought to our hotel. All this […]
28. July 2017

Romania: Hunedoara

Hunedoara – a castle from a fairy tale After an hour’s drive, we reached our last planned destination on our tour through Romania: Hunedoara. The German name “Eisenmarkt” (roughly: steel market) derives from the fact, that Romania´s second largest iron works were located in the 60.000 people industrial city. As we drove through town, we could not find any particularities at first glance and therefore only visited the landmark: Castelul Corvinilor (Hunedoara Castle). It was built in the 14th to 15th century and is located on a cliff. Combined with the wooden access bridge and the small creek running below, the building seems to be straight from a fairy tale and […]
23. July 2017

Romania: Bran – Transfagarasan – Sibiu

Castle Bran… We drove about 45 minutes from Brasov to Castle Bran. The building is advertised as Dracula’s castle to tourists. The truth is, however, that Vlad Tepes never set foot in the old walls. Only a description of Bram Stoker in his novel “Dracula” fits its appearance, while the real home of Dracula is the castle of Poenari (allegedly!). It is located about 100 km west of Bran and is popularly known as the “impregnable castle” due to its location on the mountains of the Wallachia. … I wouldn’t recommend As soon as we arrived in Bran, one thing caught our attention immediately : The village is more touristy than […]
4. July 2017

Romania: Sighișoara – Cetatea Rupea – Brașov

Sighișoara – Draculas flair After arriving in Sighișoara in the evening, we put our luggage in our room and went on a discovery tour. The small city has almost 30,000 inhabitants and the city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Strolling through the narrow, paved streets is definitely enough to fall in love with the city. Especially at dusk, the town gives away a flair of Dracula and can creep you out easily. It is said that Vlad Tepes (actually Vlad III Draculea) was born in this city. Tepes is a posthumously given nickname and stands for his favorite way of torture: impaling. As history goes, he did not only […]
3. July 2017

Romania: Cluj Napoca – Salina Turda

A day in Cluj-Napoca, a botanical garden and the Salina Turda The price-performance ratio of the accommodations in Romania are fantastic. We slept partly in apartments for less than 25 euros per night. Our second day started with a delicious breakfast near the St. Michaels Church in Cluj. After visiting the city’s most famous buildings in the previous evening, we decided to explore a relaxed and popular tourist attraction: the Alexandru Borza Garden – a huge botanical garden. The St. Michaels Church The orthodox cathedral The national theater The Alexandru Borza garden The garden was founded in 1920 and is divided into various areas. These include a Japanese and a Roman […]
3. July 2017

Romania: Arad – Scarisoara Cave

The reason for our journey I am born in Romania but moved to Germany when I was four years old. The annual visits to my grandmother gave me a rough insight to the lifestyle, but otherwise, I didn’t know much about the region. Since I wanted to change that, my girlfriend Theresa and I went to my homeland for a road trip. At the end of July 2016 we got going and drove the 1100 km from Germany to Arad (The city of martyrs). I was born there and still got relatives, that I visit from time to time. My favorite tree is also there. He pulls his leaves together every […]