I love Germany. Having spent a week here taught me a few things about Berlin.
You know you are in Berlin when you see people drinking beer out of a bottle on the trains. Beer, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer, is simply part of the culture and it is perfectly legal to drink alcohol in public. No paper bag required.
You also know you are in Berlin when people stare at you for no reason. It’s like law of the jungle in full effect! You go mean to get respect :); or just play along, stare back, or flash your teeth – You either get some teeth back or they look away.
#Germany
@Hamburg
“Free walking tour” is being organized daily in pretty much all major big cities in the world. These walking tours are “free”, meaning the tour guides are not salaried. They are freelance historians who earn their livings through tips only – This is a brilliant way to take advantage of economy of scale to offer quality yet affordable tours. Tour guides, if they do a good job, can earn a decent living offering tour to big groups (usually 20-30 people), while tourists can have an in-depth lesson of the city at a fraction of the cost (compared to private tour). Although tipping is optional, people typically pay around $10 per person (varies depending on size of group and tour quality).
So far I have joined walking tours maybe 5-6 times in Europe. I usually join a walking tour if 1. I want to learn more about the city, or 2. I have been alone exploring for a few days and want to meet new people. Walking tour requires quite a bit of time commitment (usually lasts for 3 hours) so I don’t do it in every city. I chose to do a tour in Berlin because I wanted to learn more the history and specific stories behind the fall of Berlin Wall, which would otherwise be difficult to find on the internet.
@Berlin
When I was in Berlin, I was trying to take Flixbus up north to Hamburg. There were 20+ platforms at the bus station and I needed to find out where the Hamburg bus was departing at. So I went to the Flixbus counter and asked the guy who worked there.
Me: “Hello. Hamburg bus, which platform?”
Guy: Browsed on his screen, then said, “Fi.”
Me: Pretty sure he said “Five”. Just to make sure, I raised 5 fingers to re-confirm with him, “Five?”
Guy: Looked a bit confused, then raised 2 fingers and said, “Fi.”
Turns out “zwei” (pronounced similar to “fi” if you are not listening carefully) means “2” in German! Who knows where I would have ended up at if I were to take the bus at platform 5.
Lesson learned: When you speak to a German and he tells you to go to platform 5, go to platform 2 instead.
@Berlin
The spy tower was built by the US National Security Agency to spy on the Soviet and East German. Its spying operation continued until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall in 1989. Since then the spy tower has been abandoned and has soon become a place for street artists to sneak in and create their works.
Usually abandoned buildings are not easy to get to, especially a spy tower! A spy tower needs to be built away from the city at a discrete location, hiding in the trees so that no one knows about it (Jason Bourne anyone?). Imagine Jason Bourne has to get to his secret bunker that is hidden deep in the forest… We are talking about that level of discretion.
Unlike the abandoned UFO / Communist building I visited in Bulgaria, which involved hiking a snow-covered hill and entering through a small hole in the ground decending down a 3-meter rope, this abandoned spy tower was relatively easy to get to – Just hike 30 minutes deep into the forest and and you are there! Do bring a fully-charged phone and use Google Maps though: The spy tower is not visible from the forest. Getting lost in the forest when no one is around is typically not a good idea.
@Teufelsberg
The spy tower was built by the US National Security Agency to spy on the Soviet and East German. Its spying operation continued until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall in 1989. Since then the spy tower has been abandoned and has soon become a place for street artists to sneak in and create their works.
Usually abandoned buildings are not easy to get to, especially a spy tower! A spy tower needs to be built away from the city at a discrete location, hiding in the trees so that no one knows about it (Jason Bourne anyone?). Imagine Jason Bourne has to get to his secret bunker that is hidden deep in the forest… We are talking about that level of discretion.
Unlike the abandoned UFO / Communist building I visited in Bulgaria, which involved hiking a snow-covered hill and entering through a small hole in the ground decending down a 3-meter rope, this abandoned spy tower was relatively easy to get to – Just hike 30 minutes deep into the forest and and you are there! Do bring a fully-charged phone and use Google Maps though: The spy tower is not visible from the forest. Getting lost in the forest when no one is around is typically not a good idea.
@Teufelsberg
The spy tower was built by the US National Security Agency to spy on the Soviet and East German. Its spying operation continued until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall in 1989. Since then the spy tower has been abandoned and has soon become a place for street artists to sneak in and create their works.
Usually abandoned buildings are not easy to get to, especially a spy tower! A spy tower needs to be built away from the city at a discrete location, hiding in the trees so that no one knows about it (Jason Bourne anyone?). Imagine Jason Bourne has to get to his secret bunker that is hidden deep in the forest… We are talking about that level of discretion.
Unlike the abandoned UFO / Communist building I visited in Bulgaria, which involved hiking a snow-covered hill and entering through a small hole in the ground decending down a 3-meter rope, this abandoned spy tower was relatively easy to get to – Just hike 30 minutes deep into the forest and and you are there! Do bring a fully-charged phone and use Google Maps though: The spy tower is not visible from the forest. Getting lost in the forest when no one is around is typically not a good idea.
@Teufelsberg
The spy tower was built by the US National Security Agency to spy on the Soviet and East German. Its spying operation continued until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall in 1989. Since then the spy tower has been abandoned and has soon become a place for street artists to sneak in and create their works.
Usually abandoned buildings are not easy to get to, especially a spy tower! A spy tower needs to be built away from the city at a discrete location, hiding in the trees so that no one knows about it (Jason Bourne anyone?). Imagine Jason Bourne has to get to his secret bunker that is hidden deep in the forest… We are talking about that level of discretion.
Unlike the abandoned UFO / Communist building I visited in Bulgaria, which involved hiking a snow-covered hill and entering through a small hole in the ground decending down a 3-meter rope, this abandoned spy tower was relatively easy to get to – Just hike 30 minutes deep into the forest and and you are there! Do bring a fully-charged phone and use Google Maps though: The spy tower is not visible from the forest. Getting lost in the forest when no one is around is typically not a good idea.
@Teufelsberg
The spy tower was built by the US National Security Agency to spy on the Soviet and East German. Its spying operation continued until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall in 1989. Since then the spy tower has been abandoned and has soon become a place for street artists to sneak in and create their works.
Usually abandoned buildings are not easy to get to, especially a spy tower! A spy tower needs to be built away from the city at a discrete location, hiding in the trees so that no one knows about it (Jason Bourne anyone?). Imagine Jason Bourne has to get to his secret bunker that is hidden deep in the forest… We are talking about that level of discretion.
Unlike the abandoned UFO / Communist building I visited in Bulgaria, which involved hiking a snow-covered hill and entering through a small hole in the ground decending down a 3-meter rope, this abandoned spy tower was relatively easy to get to – Just hike 30 minutes deep into the forest and and you are there! Do bring a fully-charged phone and use Google Maps though: The spy tower is not visible from the forest. Getting lost in the forest when no one is around is typically not a good idea.
@Teufelsberg
The spy tower was built by the US National Security Agency to spy on the Soviet and East German. Its spying operation continued until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall in 1989. Since then the spy tower has been abandoned and has soon become a place for street artists to sneak in and create their works.
Usually abandoned buildings are not easy to get to, especially a spy tower! A spy tower needs to be built away from the city at a discrete location, hiding in the trees so that no one knows about it (Jason Bourne anyone?). Imagine Jason Bourne has to get to his secret bunker that is hidden deep in the forest… We are talking about that level of discretion.
Unlike the abandoned UFO / Communist building I visited in Bulgaria, which involved hiking a snow-covered hill and entering through a small hole in the ground decending down a 3-meter rope, this abandoned spy tower was relatively easy to get to – Just hike 30 minutes deep into the forest and and you are there! Do bring a fully-charged phone and use Google Maps though: The spy tower is not visible from the forest. Getting lost in the forest when no one is around is typically not a good idea.
@Teufelsberg
The spy tower was built by the US National Security Agency to spy on the Soviet and East German. Its spying operation continued until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall in 1989. Since then the spy tower has been abandoned and has soon become a place for street artists to sneak in and create their works.
Usually abandoned buildings are not easy to get to, especially a spy tower! A spy tower needs to be built away from the city at a discrete location, hiding in the trees so that no one knows about it (Jason Bourne anyone?). Imagine Jason Bourne has to get to his secret bunker that is hidden deep in the forest… We are talking about that level of discretion.
Unlike the abandoned UFO / Communist building I visited in Bulgaria, which involved hiking a snow-covered hill and entering through a small hole in the ground decending down a 3-meter rope, this abandoned spy tower was relatively easy to get to – Just hike 30 minutes deep into the forest and and you are there! Do bring a fully-charged phone and use Google Maps though: The spy tower is not visible from the forest. Getting lost in the forest when no one is around is typically not a good idea.
@Teufelsberg
The spy tower was built by the US National Security Agency to spy on the Soviet and East German. Its spying operation continued until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall in 1989. Since then the spy tower has been abandoned and has soon become a place for street artists to sneak in and create their works.
Usually abandoned buildings are not easy to get to, especially a spy tower! A spy tower needs to be built away from the city at a discrete location, hiding in the trees so that no one knows about it (Jason Bourne anyone?). Imagine Jason Bourne has to get to his secret bunker that is hidden deep in the forest… We are talking about that level of discretion.
Unlike the abandoned UFO / Communist building I visited in Bulgaria, which involved hiking a snow-covered hill and entering through a small hole in the ground decending down a 3-meter rope, this abandoned spy tower was relatively easy to get to – Just hike 30 minutes deep into the forest and and you are there! Do bring a fully-charged phone and use Google Maps though: The spy tower is not visible from the forest. Getting lost in the forest when no one is around is typically not a good idea.
@Teufelsberg
The spy tower was built by the US National Security Agency to spy on the Soviet and East German. Its spying operation continued until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall in 1989. Since then the spy tower has been abandoned and has soon become a place for street artists to sneak in and create their works.
Usually abandoned buildings are not easy to get to, especially a spy tower! A spy tower needs to be built away from the city at a discrete location, hiding in the trees so that no one knows about it (Jason Bourne anyone?). Imagine Jason Bourne has to get to his secret bunker that is hidden deep in the forest… We are talking about that level of discretion.
Unlike the abandoned UFO / Communist building I visited in Bulgaria, which involved hiking a snow-covered hill and entering through a small hole in the ground decending down a 3-meter rope, this abandoned spy tower was relatively easy to get to – Just hike 30 minutes deep into the forest and and you are there! Do bring a fully-charged phone and use Google Maps though: The spy tower is not visible from the forest. Getting lost in the forest when no one is around is typically not a good idea.
@Teufelsberg
The spy tower was built by the US National Security Agency to spy on the Soviet and East German. Its spying operation continued until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall in 1989. Since then the spy tower has been abandoned and has soon become a place for street artists to sneak in and create their works.
Usually abandoned buildings are not easy to get to, especially a spy tower! A spy tower needs to be built away from the city at a discrete location, hiding in the trees so that no one knows about it (Jason Bourne anyone?). Imagine Jason Bourne has to get to his secret bunker that is hidden deep in the forest… We are talking about that level of discretion.
Unlike the abandoned UFO / Communist building I visited in Bulgaria, which involved hiking a snow-covered hill and entering through a small hole in the ground decending down a 3-meter rope, this abandoned spy tower was relatively easy to get to – Just hike 30 minutes deep into the forest and and you are there! Do bring a fully-charged phone and use Google Maps though: The spy tower is not visible from the forest. Getting lost in the forest when no one is around is typically not a good idea.
@Teufelsberg
Another attempt for me to speak proper Mandarin without (too much) Cantonese accent. Failed. But shameless.
@Berchtesgaden
Another attempt for me to speak proper Mandarin without (too much) Cantonese accent. Failed. But shameless.
@Berchtesgaden
@Berchtesgaden
@Berlin
@Berlin
@Berlin
When beer is cheaper than water? Choose beer.
@Berlin
@Hamburg
@Hamburg
@Hamburg
@Hamburg
@Hamburg
@Hamburg
@Hamburg
@Hamburg
@Munich
@Berlin
@Berlin
@Berlin