No one does the sausage better than the Germans and to celebrate their skill in making these tasty cylindrical morsels the Deutsches Currywurst Museum has been set up in the Deutsch capital Berlin. Berlin is proud of the sausage and claims to be the place where the Germany’s favourite sausage the Currywurst was invented. The brand new museum traces the history and legend of the sausage, its effects on culture, the ingredients (those that are mentionable) and offers all the smells and sights you would expect to experience in a sausage museum, and like any good museum they have a gift shop at the end of the museum where you can pick up some sausage treats and plenty of novelty items. The Currywurst museum is a fun and interactive look at the sausage and has some pretty fun displays including huge sauce drops and giant sausage and fries props, it is fun for young and old. The cinema is sure to be one of the museums highlights showing some great moments in sausage history with adverts, and a funny documentary called “Best of the Wurst”. The museum is self paced but does offer interactive tours which take about 45 minutes, currently they are only held in German but there are plans for English tours in the new year. Located on Schutzenstrabe the museum is very handy for the Berlin visitor being only 100 metres away from Checkpoint Charlie. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the most dominant land marks on the Munich skyline is the two towered Cathedral Church of Our Blessed Lady which is home to the Archbishop of Munich and home to over 500 years of precious artifacts. Located in the heart of the city at the Frauenplatz the church is a very popular tourist attraction in this Bavarian city with many people taking in the spectacular views of the Alps from the 109 metre high towers. The Cathedral can accommodate around 20,000 people under its massive roof and was built in a time when Munich was home to only about 13,000 residents. The Cathedral suffered huge damage during the World War II but 50 years of renovation have brought the building back to its former splendor.
Next week there will be plenty of fun to be had in Suhl, Germany, as the 15th annual European Furry Convention takes place at the Ringburg hotel from Aug 26th to 30th. Known as Eurofurence the event takes its name from the US event known as ConFurence, a event that spun off from sci-fi conventions in the late 1980s, but was dedicated to furry anthropomorphic creatures from a guy in a team mascot suit to cartoons of Buggs Bunny or similar. According to their website Eurofurence is the biggest annual European furry convention, an international gathering of people who share an extraordinary appreciaton for anthropomorphic animal characters, so it sounds like plenty of fun. Check out their site below. Read the rest of this entry »
The 2009 Munich Oktoberfest kicks off on September 19th and celebrates the 176th year of the world’s biggest party. This year reservations are high, even the ‘Global Financial Crisis’ cant dampen the Oktoberfest spirit – so if you are planning to attend get in early and book your table, you don’t want to miss out. This year beer will cost between 8.30 and 8.60 euro a litre or Mass and there is bound to be about 7 million litres of it served, along with half a million chickens, 150,000 sausages, 60,000 pork knuckles and over 100 oxen. Construction of the huge tents are underway and this year there are some new rides and attractions making it bigger and more fun than ever. Some of the services stats are incredible with nearly 1000 toilets needed, 800 metres of urinals, 27 of Munich’s daily water use and 14% of their electricity. About half a million people are expected to attend every day of the 16 day event.
One of the most recognisable images of Berlin is the Victory Column or Siegessaule standing in a roundabout at the Tiergarten. Standing at nearly 67 metres the huge column is topped with a magnificent golden bronze statue of Victoria which alone weighs over 35 tonnes and is 8.3 metres high. The monument was designed by Heinrich Strack to commemorate the Prussian victory in 1864. the monument has been shifted a few times with the last being in 1939 as part of Hitler’s failed Welthauptstadt Germania plans. The column has been used in many movies and video clips including U2’s Stay single and is a focal point of the Berlin Love Parade. Even Barack Obama used the column as a backdrop to his historic visit during the 2008 Election campaign.
The Kehlsteinhaus or “Eagles Nest” as it is commonly known is a small building on top of the German Alps that was originally built as a retreat for Adolf Hiler. Presented to him on his 50th birthday the building sits on a ridge on top of Kehlstein Mountain near Berchtesgarden. The buildings remote location required the construction of an amazing windy 6.5klm road as well as a tunnel and elevator system in the mountain itself. It is said that Hitler rarely visited the building and its this reason the building still stands today, as most of Hitler’s other houses have been torn down since the end of the war to stop them taking on a shrine like use. Today the Kehlsteinhaus is used as a restaurant offering magnificent views of local area as well as tours of the complex. Read the rest of this entry »
Heathrow airport is one of the world’s busiest and with its five different terminals it can be a nightmare to navigate with sometimes huge distances to travel between flights and to the carpark.
Well they have come up with a futuristic and novel way to help move people around, with the trial introduction of a pod system which should move travellers easily and swiftly around the complex.
Starting trials in the next few weeks from the brand new terminal five will be a driver-less pod system which runs on a 4 km track. Each pf the pods carry a family and luggage from the terminal to the airport. The system is that smart all the rider needs to do is swipe tickets, or frequent flyer card onto the computer or type in the flight number and the pod will instantly take them there travelling at speeds of about 40kph.
It is hoped the 4km trial will extend to the whole airport and cover the 48km needed to move between all terminals. The pod is a battery powered vehicle which recharges when not in use and it is environmentally friendly emitting no CO2 and uses about 70 percent less energy than that of a modern vehicle, and with much of the system on elevated rails it keeps away from the nasty traffic of the airport.
Called ULTra Personal Transport System the initial investment has cost in the vicinity of 25 million pounds for the 18 pods and tracks. There are also plans underway for Daventry and Norhamptonshire to use similar systems, and if successful we might see them rolled out throughout the world.
We like off beat museums at tripandom and there are plenty of them around the world, but very few are dedicated to dictators. One such museum is the Stalin Museum in the city of Gori, Georgia. The museum shows the life of the Russian dictator Joseph Stalin who was born in the city and went on to lead the USSR from 1922 to 1953. The museum features his personal train carriage, his childhood home as well as many artifacts from his life as well as plenty of statues and artworks of him. Hit up the next page for a short news video about the museum as well as the link to their website where you can see a few galleries of the exhibits. Read the rest of this entry »
The Christkindlesmarkt or Christmas Markets are in full swing in Germany and the biggest of them all is in Nuremberg where more than 2 million people flock to the Hauptmarkt to buy their goods from the more than 150 stalls. The stalls run for about a month, and close Christmas eve and are one of Europe’s most magical experiences. Snow, bud lights and beautifully decorated stalls, and not forgetting some great gifts. Crafts,wooden toys, ornaments, seasonal foods like gingerbread, Christmas cake and of course the warm Christmas wines. The markets are held in quiet a few centres around Germany including Munich,Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Berlin other European centres like Toulouse France, Salzberg in Austria and even Leeds in London and Birmingham have their own. Chicago and many US cities have them too.
Stuttgart’s Mercedes Benz Museum is probably the best automotive museum in the world with over 160 vehicles all magnificently displayed in a building designed by UNStudio who also designed the New Zealand Te Papa Museum, which can only be described as art. There are over 16500 square metres of exhibition space with some of the world’s finest examples of Mercedes Benz automobiles. The exhibition starts at the top floor and works it’s way down spiral ramps to the bottom with giant showcases of vehicles on all levels. Amongst it’s huge collection are cars, buses, trucks from all eras of the Mercedes Benz timeline all shining like jewelery in the beautiful displays. One highlight is the Gallery of Celebrities where visitors can get up close to the Popemobile, movie and music stars cars and even a Mercedes owned by Princess Diana.
