Throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. -Mark Twain
At low tide, the North Sea coast is a sea of mud. From the Netherlands to Denmark, the slope of the sea floor is shallow, resulting in huge differences in the water level between the tides. At low tide, the water peels back, sometimes as much as 15 kilometers, revealing acres and acres of intertidal mud flats. This is known as the Wadden Sea, or Wattenmeer in German, and it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Planten un Blomen. The name is low German, or Plattdeutsch, for “plants and flowers.” This beautiful botanical garden is located right in the Hamburg city center, easily reachable by public transit.
Every evening in summer around dusk, an incredible performance takes place here: the Wasserlichtspiel, or water light show.
Continue reading “Something magical happens in this botanical garden in Germany every night”
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”
One of Hamburg’s most popular tourist attractions is the array of boat tours exploring the city’s various waterways. Between the Alster, a large lake in the middle of the city, the Elbe, one of Germany’s three major rivers, and the various canals criss-crossing the city center, there is certainly plenty of water to explore.
Instead of booking a formal boat tour, which can set you behind €15-21, there is another option to get in a boat out on the water, and it’s basically free: ride a ferry. Continue reading “Ferry rides across the Elbe, or the poor man’s harbor boat tour”
I signed up for a mailing list last semester to get updates on university-sponsored excursions throughout the city. I didn’t really expect anything to come of it, but one week an advertisement for an Alternative Harbor Tour caught my eye.
Experience one of the largest harbors in the world – the Port of Hamburg, also known as the “Gates to the World.” This is no ordinary harbor tour. It will lead you through canals with rusty wharfs and along the state of the art, powerful container facilities, where the warehouse walls and steel scaffolding store the harbor’s treasures: Oriental carpets, southern fruits, coffee and cocoa beans. They are the treasures of the old colonial powers as well as the modern globalization. The containers hide their contents, making the movement of goods invisible. It’s a tour that reveals a new side of the harbor – who wins and who loses in this period of globalization. We look forward to your participation! Continue reading “Exploring Hamburg’s harbor”
Following the Wanderlust 