Valentinas Travels

It took me a looong time to find a title for this blog. Why? Beause "Paris - la vie en rose" or "Paris, je t'aime" or "A weekend in the city of love" were the first things that came on my mind. But that's how every article about Paris is called, right? And why that? Well... Because it's true!!  Paris is simply amazing and  would definitely deserve such a kitschy, clichéd title! :-)  Even if it's not very far away from where I live (approx. 4.5 h by train), it was in 2008 when I was there the last time. Much too long!  Last weekend my boyfriend and I finally made it back to Paris for a wonderful weekend. ******************************************* We took the fast train (a TGV ("train à grande vitesse") which can speed up to 320 kmh) and arrived in Paris at around noon. After checking-in into our cute hotel in the Montmartre-district, we directly started our sightseeing tour.  Well, ok - right after a delicious lun...

A week ago, I spent a family-weekend in Hamburg, Germany. I had visited this city before but only for 2 hours, so I was very happy to have 4 days to explore it again - and I wasn't disappointed! Even if we had rain for almost 2.5 days without stop, we got to know the city quite well. And let me tell you: Also in grey, Hamburg is very worth to visit! :-)  We took the night train from Basel at about 9 p.m. I love this way of travelling as it gives you time to prepare mentally for the destination. Aaaand the other good thing: I always sleep like a log in trains! That's why we arrived happily and with enough energy in Hamburg the next morning at 8 a.m.  On our way to our Air B'n'B, we crossed the Mönckeberg-street, some beautiful old brick houses and the city hall with its big square.  We also crossed the Alsterarkaden . Don't these arcades remind you a bit of Venice? Actually the prices of a coffee there is really similar to the ones at Mar...