Germany

Hallo!

And welcome to today's post on Germany! Germany is one of the most popular countries in Central Europe. I have been to Germany several times, visiting different cities and places each time, such as Munich, Dresden, Europa Park and Legoland. The reason that I have been to Germany so many times is that when my family and I lived in the Czech Republic, it was only about a two-hour drive to the border of Germany and for example, a  four-hour drive to Munich. In this post, I will talk about places to see all around Germany, so keep in mind that you cannot just walk to all of these places in one day :) If you want to make the most out of your trip to Germany (or Central Europe in general), I would definitely suggest renting a car. This way, you can drive to more locations easily and won't have to worry about getting on the right bus or tram etc. You can easily rent cars from companies like Hertz  and Europcar. For more information on this click here.

The first place in Germany I will talk about is Europa Park, which is located in the South of Germany in a Rust , close to the French border. Europa Park is a huge amusement park, divided into 4 different sections. Europa Park is an excellent place to go, especially if you have kids travelling with you. The rides they offer are for both, younger and older people, making the target audience of the park very large. The general atmosphere in Europa Park is very lovely and the lines to the rides weren't as long as you would expect. If you're a rollercoaster lover like myself, you will be happy to hear that the rollercoasters in Europa Park are really good and long, and definitely worth it. Europa park is the most popular and also biggest amusement park in all of Europe. For more information on tickets and location you can click here. Below, you can see some pictures from when my family and I went to Europa Park in the autumn of 2011. Since then, the park has changed a bit, but you can get a picture of what it's like.

It was Halloween when we went, hence all the pumpkins :) 

Another must see place in Germany is the Neushwanstein castle located in South-West Germany in Hohenschwangau, near Fussen. The castle is an 19th century Romanesque Revival palace, the a shy king Ludvig II. When I went there, it was a very snowy day so we couldn't really see the castle properly, but even from what we saw it was amazing. The castle is on a hill, and from what I can remember you have to walk quite a bit to get up there, but it is definitely worth it. Today, the castle is one of the most visited castles in Europe. For more information on the castle and prices to get into the castle, can be found by clicking here.

This picture is from the internet, but you can see more clearly what the castle looks like and the stunning environment it is located in.

As you can tell, the day was very snowy so the pictures didn't turn out that well. 

The last thing I would recommend doing is just going into the different cities (like Munich, Dresden, Berlin and Frankfurt). All of these cities have amazing shopping destinations and things to see, such as the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Dresden Frauenkirche and many more. Personally, I have been to Munich and Dresden and very much enjoyed both of these cities. Whilst you're going around and shopping, you will definitely have to stop for a wiener-scnitzel ;)

Dresden

Munich

Hopefully this post gave you an idea on what to do in Germany. Of course there are many more things to do and places to see, but this was just what I would recommend from personal experience. Sorry for this post being so short, but as always, leave your questions and improvements in the comment section below.

Thank you for reading and Happy New Year 2016 to all my readers!

Karoliina

Hong Kong

你好，

And welcome to today's post about Hong Kong (香港)!

As some of you may already know, Hong Kong is a "Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China". It is a former British colony and this can be seen in things such as left-hand traffic and the plugs. Hong Kong is a very densely populated city, and apartments and housing in general, is very small. Hong Kong offers a great variety of things to do and foods to eat. I have been to Hong Kong three times in the past year, and really enjoyed each stay. Since I live in Shanghai, flights to Hong Kong are pretty cheap. The first time I went to Hong Kong was October break in 2014 with my family, then with my schools dance company in June 2015 and then once more with my best friend and her family for October break 2015. 

A typical Hong Kong view

So what can you do in Hong Kong? 

One of my absolute favourite places in Hong Kong is of course, Disneyland. Disney is a must-see place at least once in your life, no matter what age you are. The Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney in the world, which also means that it is pretty crowded at times, but you can still have a fun time there even if there are a lot of people. Disneyland is especially good if you have small children travelling with you. The Disneyland is also very easy to access, since you can actually take the metro with the pink line, to the stop Disneyland. My school's dance company actually performed in this Disneyland and it was an amazing experience :) On both times that I went to Disney, the weather was extremely hot and humid, so I would suggest bringing a lot of water and even energy drinks like gatorade with you when you go. 

Disneyland at night

Our performance at Disney

Toy Story Land

Night parade

Disney at night

Another must see place in Hong Kong is the Victoria Peak. The mountain excels in almost a vertical slope and the tram that you take to the top is an old tram that is dependent on just one cable. It was pretty scary, because it felt like the tram would fall but we made it out alive :). The view from the top was amazing; you could see the whole city of Hong Kong. On top of the mountain, there was a huge shopping mall with a lot of restaurants and stores. We actually went to a restaurant called Bubba Gump Shrimp (from Forrest Gump) and it was really nice (but only go if you like shrimps, because that's the only thing you'll be eating). Overall Victoria Peak was really nice and the views were, as I already said, amazing.

Panorama from the top

The tram

The tram

View from the tram

The last place I would suggest going is the Lamma Island. The Lamma Island is one of Hong Kong's many islands, and this one is a lot more undeveloped than, for example, the Hong Kong island. The Lamma Island is known for it's "hippie-like" people. A lot of expats even live on this island. There were no cars, minimal water pipes and electricity. A lot of the people living on the Lamma island work on the Hong Kong island, and it takes around 40 minutes to get there with a boat. It was very interesting to see a completely different side of Hong Kong and I would very much suggest going here. There was also a very lovely beach, where a lot of people (including my brothers) went swimming.

The beach 

Streets of the Lamma Island

Some boats and houses

My brothers collecting rocks :) 

Of course, you when you're in Hong Kong, you have to go shopping. The best place to go shopping is the IFC mall (and the area around it) and the Causeway Bay area. There are a lot of Western and Asian stores, and also restaurants in case you get hungry. As for moving around, I would suggest always taking the metro, because it is a very good and cheap way to go around. You could also take a taxi, but that is more expensive.

Admiralty area at night

Admiralty

More of admiralty 

The Hong Kong skyline

Metro

That's it for this post! And as you already know, leave questions and improvements in the comment section below and I will definitely do my best to answer them. And hopefully you are all enjoying this blog, we only have four more locations left.

Thank you for reading,

Karoliina