Berlin River Cruise

Oberbaun Bridge and Berlin Dom On our last full day in Berlin we took the advice of Wolfgang, the conceirge at the Hilton, and did the 4 hour canal cruise around Berlin. I had no idea there was that much waterway and was surprised to learn there are over 100 bridges in Berlin to navigate the waterways, rivers and canals.
We used a company called http://www.sternundkreis.de/ and bought our 17 euro ticket at the canal stop called Freidrichstrasse. It was a circle route down the Spree River to the Landwehrkanal and then hooking up with the Spree River again and back to Freidrichstrasse again. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed the sundeck for most of the trip. During the journey we navigated three locks that raised or lowered the canal boat no more than 3 meters.
The crowd was almost entirely German and the guide gave a running commentary in their native language. I asked for and was given a great 60+ page guide in English with photos and info on all the sites we passed. We were very comfortable witht he guide and never felt lost or out of place.
The architeture of Berlin varies from old world to so modernistic you wonder how they can co exist. They do very nicely, some of them actually in the same structure where an old red brick building has now been added onto with a modern glass addditon. It all looked great and very functional. There is an emphasis on green building as many of the buildings were described as incorporating solar and other energy saving features.
The canal portion of the trip required several warnings as the bridges were literally inches above our heads. The pilot house actually lowered so the boat could get through some of the extremely tight ones. And the neighborhoods were beautiful again. It was possible to buy tickets from one point to another on the trip without making it a full round trip. I didn't check the scheduling for that possibility but it seemed feasible. The website may be of help with that. Regardless, I enjoyed myself more on this cruise than the hop on and off bus the day before. We both loved it and are now wondering about these European River Cruises everyone talks about. We have met several couples that have been on them this year and they rave about them. The cabins are small but we can live with that. You only unpack once which would be nice, and the going in slow and easy.
I wonder how we can work one of those out with frequent flyer miles? Any ideas?

A Little Switzerland in Luxembourg

The tiny travel wonder of Luxembourg, precariously sandwiched between France and Germany at a European crossroads has a woven web of hiking paths that crisscross the country. While the city features excellent historic walks such as the Wenzel Walk, the northern part of Luxembourg offers a tremendous array of walking and hiking options. With maps available from tourist offices and clear signposts with blue triangles marking the paths, hiking is one of Luxembourg’s most popular leisurely pursuits (after all, one-third of the country is forested). And there is no better place to walk than the grandly named Little Switzerland. While there is nothing alpine about this lowland region, the dramatic landscape gives some credibility to its moniker.

Start from the country’s oldest town of Echternach with its sprawling abbey credited to St Willibrord (a wily Yorkshireman who the locals believed cured epilepsy in the seventh century). With little thought over a strong steaming coffee, I selected E1 (see map), a suitable sounding walk of twelve kilometres. After a short but strenuous climb, a nice viewpoint (Troosknäppchen) offers fine vistas of the abbey and town.

The path follows the Müllerthal Trail (the miller’s path named from the numerous watermills that once existed on the river) quickly leading to densely wooded forests, lush verdant valleys and spectacular rock formations. Left over from the Ice Age, roughly hewn rock steps and ladders weave a narrow, twisting path between towering 20 metre high rock walls at times only wide enough for a single file of walkers.


This ancient landscape generates its own steamy microclimate of high humidity producing vegetation unique to Europe with moss coating everything in a carpet of green and ferns sprouting from small rocky crevices.

The trail leads through the evocatively named Wolfsschlucht (the wolves’ lair - top photo) that apparently sheltered wolves in times past. Continuing along a tiny brook, through the Labyrinth and past the giant single rock of Perekop, the trail leads to Hohllay. This is an old cave where traces remain where millstones were cut. Regular performances still run at the nearby amphitheatre, a wonderful natural location for plays, theatre and music.

Sharing lunch with a couple of hikers, climbers clambered up the sheer rock walls, the occasional yelp of a slipping climber being caught by his ropes breaking the peaceful forest ambiance.





Turning back along a small creek with tiny waterfalls, the path
toured via Zig-zag Gorge (photo below right) and an atmospheric cavern called Räuberhöhle (thief’s hideout - photo left) before tracking the Sûre River back to Echternach.

It seems an accident of history that this tiny country exists as an independent country with its history of battles and wars. Indeed, the castles that litter nearly every rocky outcrop, gorge and small hill is a strong reminder of how many battles have been fought over the years for this scenic centre of Europe. It is a gift as the feisty and proud population of the self-promoted “Europe’s smallest big country” offer superb trekking through well-preserved forests broken only by the occasional muffled greeting of moien in the strange sounding German-like dialect.

Beauty Lummus Park on South Beach in Miami

Lummus Park on South Beach is a very nice and beautiful in Miami and state of Florida in United States. Lummus Park is the Mecca of outdoor activities, strap on your Rollerblade, tune on to your favorite play list and go "balding"……this is unbeatable fun and one of the sexiest beaches in the world, where else can you work up a sweat and then enjoy a good book afterward on the shores of the Caribbean sea. I went there and enjoyed a lot. There I stayed in cheap hotels. There they provided the facilities which pampered me. This beach is good facilities in tourist include lots of restaurants line the road by the beach so that is a great way to spend an afternoon sunning, swimming, eating, drinking, cheap hotels in miami, successful parking garage and just generally tourist watching.

Beauty Beach Paradise in Koh Panghan, Thailand

Photographer Johan Vosloo finds paradise on the northern tip of Koh Panghan island in Thailand.