Vacationing in Berlin, Germany - A Foreigners Review
Posted on October 3, 2007
4 Comments
I had the great chance to briefly visit Berlin for RailsConf Europe 2007 and these are my initial impressions.
City
The city is huge! I wasn’t nearly able to see as much as I wanted to. There are many many areas to visit in Berlin and even many centers. One in the south, north, east and west from what I saw.
Much of the city seemed very clean, very nice and you could even say upscale. But from what I hear that is nothing compared to Munich. There were some ghetto looking places but you’ll see that anywhere and really they aren’t bad places per se at all. You’ll especially find nice buildings, shopping and food around Stadsmitte.
Food
That restaurants I was able to go to were pretty good. I went to a few different ones that had a lot of German specific food and the dishes were a good size and decently priced.
One restaurant in particular I can recommend is a place called “Bombay”, an Indian restaurant. The food was great, I had one of the best salads I’ve ever had and the people I was with liked their dishes as well.
As far as beer goes it was all superb. I had the chance to go a brewery called Lindenbrau in the Sony Center and that was especially memorable. They had all sorts of special varieties such as Banana, Cola and Apple Beer. It may sound nasty but for the most part they were delicious. Even the Pilsner was of a high quality and very smooth. You can also pretty much count on wherever you go to get a nice tall litre or half litre of beer at the minimum.
You’ll also find Café’s and Coffee shops anywhere you go. There is a large variety of Starbucks, Balzac Coffee and Einstein Coffee around the city.
Nightlife
Well, perhaps I was just in the wrong part of town but there really wasn’t anything happening as far as clubs and nightlife that I saw. I know there are some recommended clubs such as Havana’s, 90 Degree’s and AM Bar but I didn’t get a chance to go. But around Statsmitte there plenty of good bars to hang out at. A few friends saw Will-I-Am of the Black Eye Peas one late night.
Price
Generally I found things cheaper than Holland but I guess that is the norm? Smaller things like Coffee seemed a bit pricey but the meals for what you got were well priced. As for clothes just taking a quick look it seemed like things were also priced a bit lower than Holland for shirts and jeans.
Transportation
It was bit confusing at first, but I quickly learned and learned to love the city transit system. Especially the metro’s, they are many and they interconnect throughout the entire city. Add to that all the trams, trains and buses and you can get anywhere at literally anytime. Night trams/busses run every 30min and during normal hours you usually don’t have to wait longer than 5min for a metro which run that way until 12:30am.
Verdict
I love this city from what I’ve seen but because of my short stay that isn’t much. But I liked it enough to come back for a vacation and just to visit.
Tags: Berlin, Germany, RailsConf, RailsConf Europe 2007, Ruby, Vacation.
Posted on October 3, 2007
Filed Under Business, Daily Thoughts, Entertainment, General, Health & Food, Mobile Tech, Ruby on Rails, Tech, Travel, Web
Vacationing in Prague, Czech Republic - A Foreigners Review
Posted on September 17, 2007
1 Comment
I’m hot off the plane back from Prague with my girlfriend and I must say it was a stupendous trip. Even though it could be considered relatively short as we only stayed for 5 days, it felt like I was there for a month.
Check out my Prague pics on Flickr
City
The city itself was pretty big, though if you’re from a place like New York it might not seem so. I found that there was SO MUCH to do. Each part of the city is broken into numbered quadrants.
We mainly went to discover the “Old Prague” as well as the “New Prague”. What is great when discovering the city is that the streets are pretty random in how they were mapped out originally. By that I mean it isn’t like many of the newer major cities where all the streets are laid out in a grid pattern. It might annoy some, but I think it adds a sense of discovery and serendipity to walking around the city.
Of course there are common tourist attractions such as the Charles Bridge, the Castle and the many historic landmarks. One place I would recommend going is the tourture museum, it is at the beginning of the Charles Bridge. There is some pretty crazy stuff in there to say the least.
If your into shopping you’ll be pleasantly surprised I think, though the city takes a two-faced approach to the shopping plaza’s there. On one hand you have the newer shopping areas such as the main strip in “New Prague”, here you will find the department stores you’re used to seeing.
However… There are atleast 3 other “major” malls are in one word, eerie, downright creepy even. I don’t have the names on hand but if you step in one you’ll realize it. You’ll instantly feel like you’re in the 80’s again. They are like giant sears department stores except each “department” is sub-let to different merchant and they all put metal detectors at the entrances. You’ll also probably see most of the things in there look like they came from the “saved by the bell” era. To top it off the escalator navigation looks like it was planned out by Picasso or taking from one of those 4th Dimensional pictures.
I also saw most places had some sign on the outside saying “Air Conditioned”, I soon learned the real meaning was “We have one air conditioner, in the basement, from which a breeze occasionally comes up when the janitor opens the door.”. If you’re in one of the older shopping stores, you’ll notice the difference big time when going up the levels.
Hotel – Corinthia Panorama (Now Ramada)
We stayed at the Corinthia and overall it was fairly pleasant. I got it as a packaged deal and picked it due to its “Four Star” status. It is located near the “Prankrac” (spelling?) metro station so you can easily get to/from the city. The metro ride is about 5 stops and they come every 3 minutes. Be sure to get a 3-day pass if you can, much cheaper.
Be aware, they advertise their fitness area, pool, sauna’s and spa’s at the top of the 24 story hotel, but you have to PAY TO GET IN. Even if you’re a guest and even if you just want to go to the pool. :-
They have breakfast every morning on the 2nd floor and it is pretty good, much better than a regular continental breakfast. It includes an unlimited buffet with eggs, sausage, potatoes and lots of chopped up fruit and veggies.
There is also a “comfortable limo” service as they call it, which transports you from the airport directly to the hotel. I recommend using it both ways. Though they are Mercedes and not really limo’s, the ride is comfy and the total cost is about 30 EURO’s (5 more than a taxi).
Transit
The transit system is pretty good, there are 3 main lines: Orange, Yellow and Green. They all intersect with each other in the city which makes transitioning seamless. At each station there are also clear signs which tell you which side you need to take in order to get where you need to go on that line.
We got the 3-day metro pass which made things a non-issue. There are also busses and trams on the street tops which go all around the city. The bad thing is the metro’s stop at 12, but if you’re clubbing then you can take a night bus or a taxi. Be sure to negotiate your trip price with the driver BEFORE you leave.
Weather
It rained pretty much the whole time we were there, but it didn’t seem to bother us or anyone else. Everyone came packing an umbrella wherever they went.
Eating
The food is DELICIOUS! There are so many good places to eat even though I only got to a few of them. Two places I could recommend:
- Buffalo Bills: It is some good ol’ fashioned American food. Lots of it, and at a great price.
- El Gaucho Steak House: Excellent Argentinean steakhouse in the center.
There is even a T.G.I Friday’s if you want ☺
The People
The people seemed pretty cool. I was expecting much different with it being “East Europe”. I felt it was very easy going and relaxed, I didn’t see any “hoodlums” my entire time there. There you go places with lots of graffiti, I didn’t see anyone who really looked like a thug.
There are plenty of homeless people but they are no harm. Overall I found them polite and interesting.
Night Life
Just with the restaurants, there are plenty of options here. Many in old Prague and in new Prague. A few places I liked:
- Duplex: Kind of gimmicky, but it is a nice venue that overlooks the city on the 6th floor.
- BomBay Lounge: They have amazing martini’s
- Zero: Down the street from BomBay, nice vibe and atmosphere.
Relaxation
I used to be a Hawaiian massage therapist and I can now say that I’ve had the best massage EVER in Prague. If you’re looking to get some real kinks worked out, you need to go to the Thai Ambassadors Wellness Center in the Center of Prague. It is right after Sephora on the main strip and right after the El Guacho Steak House. I got a “Back Special” which was supposed to be 55min but felt like 3 hours. This tiny Asian lady went to work on me and all I can say is “Wow”. I came out in another world and about 5 inches taller. Highly recommended, though do note if you can’t take pain this particular massage isn’t for you.
Verdict
I give it a high 8 out of 10. I will definitely be back and I can say Prague, for me at least, it somewhere I could see myself in for longer stays.
Tags: Czech Republic, Prague, Prague Review, Review, Vacation.
Posted on September 17, 2007
Filed Under Art & Design, Business, Daily Thoughts, Entertainment, General, Health & Food, Quotes, Ranting, Tech, Travel, Web
-
Projects
-
Search it all
-
About
I'm Marston and here you'll find my rantings, rhetoric and other useful info. I dig tech, photography, quantum physics and organic food. I'm the founder of SugarStats.com and thats my days developing.
-
Flickr
www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from Marston A.. Make your own badge here.
-
Twitter
- Just landed in Amsterdam, oh how I missed my 3G. Back from vacation and all refreshed to get back to work 4 hrs ago
- SS Blog: Diabetic Chinese skiier drops out of life after the olympics…: Wow, This is really sad&#.. http://tinyurl.com/5p5ylt 2 days ago
- Yup, still alive on vacation. Finally found an internet cafe. Almost time to come back to 'civilization', but is that a good thing? 3 days ago
- SS Blog: Drivers License……Insulin Dep…bright red and on the front!!!: I happened to pull out my F.. http://tinyurl.com/6zfzys 4 days ago
- SS Blog: The Lesser of Evils? Side Effects and Diabetes Medications: Dearest Readers, do not use .. http://tinyurl.com/56uwmn 6 days ago
- SS Blog: Nick Jonas and Elliott Yamin…..livin out loud with the D: Recently Elliott and Nick have.. http://tinyurl.com/6r5b6f 1 week ago
- SS Blog: Just spoke to another struggling with costs of diabetes healthcare…and I don’t mean just.. http://tinyurl.com/6pzo7m 1 week ago
- SS Blog: Feeling Fine versus Being Fine–do high glucose numbers matter?: “As long as I feel.. http://tinyurl.com/68hfok 2 weeks ago
- More updates...