Throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. -Mark Twain
Nijmegen. This small but vibrant city, located in the eastern part of the Netherlands close to the German border, has a couple of uncommon claims to fame.
It is the oldest city in the Netherlands and is more than 2,000 years old.
It was carpet bombed during World War II, meaning relatively few buildings more than 50 years old still remain.
And it is the self-described “summer capital of Europe.”
Continue reading “Nijmegen: The Dutch city that was the summer capital of Europe”
After more than a year away from Denmark, I took a weekend trip away from Hamburg to visit my friends in Aarhus.
Aarhus has changed, and it hasn’t. After a 4-and-a-half hour train ride due north, I found myself downtown in a city which I had once called my home. It was a surreal feeling, with everything at once so strange and so familiar.
The EU has designated Aarhus the European Capital of Culture for the calendar year 2017, which means the city will be organizing a series of cultural events in order to draw visitors and make a name for itself.
According to Wikipedia, Preparing a European Capital of Culture can be an opportunity for the city to generate considerable cultural, social and economic benefits and it can help foster urban regeneration, change the city’s image and raise its visibility and profile on an international scale.
You know what another word for “urban regeneration” is? Gentrification. And the gentrification was hard to miss.
Continue reading “Geography lessons, gentrification and unexploded ordinances: a weekend in Aarhus”
Hey there! Long time no blog… I know, I know, I’m bad. Well, to make up for my lack of activity over the past couple of months, I’m going to write you a blog post with LOTS of pictures…
I spent Easter weekend in a rather non-traditional fashion this year: at an anarchist street festival. While Americans were out hiding eggs, Christians were going to church, normal Hamburgers were enjoying bonfires on the beach and Swedes were hanging colorful feathers on trees, the Hamburg neighborhood of Sternschanze was throwing a block party/street festival/demonstration. Continue reading “Easter with the Anarchists (and some tourist stuff too)”
For most Americans, World War II is nothing but a distant history lesson. As the people who lived through it slowly die out, it doesn’t really seem to exist outside of textbooks, tombstones, and the occasional war movie.
But for Germans, memories of the war are a daily reality and cannot be escaped.
One of the biggest draws of Germany in the wintertime are the different Christmas markets that spring up in almost every town, and Hamburg is no exception. Germany’s second-largest city has dozens of different Christmas markets, all with unique themes and styles, and there is scarcely time to see them all in the six weeks leading up to Christmas.
Continue reading “Exploring Hamburg’s various Christmas markets”
Following the Wanderlust 