Spring is in the air and as I reflected on Winter in my last “Random Picture Post” I will look forward to Summer today. This is a picture taken on a alpine meadow in the Bregenzer Wald region of Vorarlberg. It shows a little chapel, planned by the Vorarlberg Architects Crukrowicz Nachbaur. In the background you can see Lake Constance.
Filed under random pictures from great places
Saturday I managed to see some amazing places in Berlin. I got up rather late, as the days before were exhausting and I was disappointed to see, that it was raining. But anyways, there is nothing like bad weather for a traveller and I hit the road. First I got myself some breakfast to charge my batteries. Afterwards I walked a rather long distance through the streets of Berlin. First I walked towards the Spree-Insel, where the most famous museums of Berlin are located. They are located next to the Berlin Dom. Unfortunately they were rather busy, and as I had an appointment to visit the Reichstags-/Bundestag Building I decided to do something else. I took the Bus towards Brandenburger Tor.
Brandenburger Tor is the last gate remaining from the old city walls. It is probably the most famous landmark in Berlin and therefore was very busy. It was just on the Eastern Side of the Berlin Wall and the street towards East “Unter den Linden” got a major renovation after the German Unification. You can find the Hotel Adlon there, and there are also a lot of embassies located in this area: e.g. the French, the US or the Russian embassy. Continue reading
Filed under Traveling in Europe
At this years ITB I did not only meet a lot of people and followed some seminars, I was also quite strongly looking at the discussions that were led about this events on Twitter. Looking at very successful travel bloggers I realised how important Twitter is as a tool to follow and also to have discussions. I do not have to many followers, but using the itbberlin hashtag, I got involved into some discussions and it was a great experience, to get instant feedback on my thoughts.
Furthermore I got some new followers, who gave me some great input, when I was doing some sightseeing in Berlin on Saturday. I hope I can support them as much, whenever they hit my area!
I decided to put my Twitter stream onto this page – so you can have some insights in my everyday life. I use it mostly in English, but some things might be in German, too. If you like my tweets, feel free to follow me … I promise I will have a look at your tweets to (and there is a high chance, that I will re-follow). You can see it on the right hand side.
Another tool that came up, somehow surprisingly, was Foursquare.com. I tested foursquare two or even three years ago, but it was not really developed in Europe back than. After Facebook introduced Facebook Places, I almost quit on foursquare.com … Now I discovered, that this well traveled professional travel bloggers are all using foursquare quite heavily. It allows you to share your visits over Facebook and Twitter easily, and itself developed to a really good tool. I decided to return, as I believe this might be something really helpful for people. I will use it quite a lot to develop lists and feedback on the places in my region. So if you ever come to Western Central Europe connect on foursquare and you get my personal opinion about a lot of places.
In the upcoming days I will reflect about my Berlin experience and put on some photos … I hope you will like them!
Filed under Background
After visiting a lot of Blogging and social media Events yesterday at the ITB I went to the networking restaurant of Austria Tourism to meet up with a friend. I was a little bit early and got into a very interesting discussion with the head of marketing at Vorarlberg Tourism, Brigitte.
After this ITB was officially over for me – Sepp, my appointment, and I decided to go to Potsdamer Platz. There we took a peek at some minor parts of the Berlin Wall that stand there and walked on towards Brandenburger Tor. We passed by the Holocaust memorial, but it was to dark, to really see something. I will visit this place today.
Brandenburger Tor was very nice and I thought it was a lot bigger, as I expected. On the other hand, the Bundestagsgebäude looks way smaller …
I had no camera with me, but I am going to visit the Bundestag today and make sure I will get some pictures from this great places.
After that we were done sightseeing, we treated ourselfes with a rather expensive drink at Hotel Adlon – but the great athmosphere and the very good live bar music, made it a worthwhile investment. To balance things out, we went to a “normal” bar afterwards – at FC Magnet Bar, we had a beer and watched a boring draw between Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern.
Filed under Traveling in Europe
I am currently attending the third day of the ITB Berlin. Tomorrow I will have my sightseeing-Berlin day.
Yesterday was rather succesful, meeting a lot of interesting people and I believe I managed to get our start up to another level.
Today I concentrate on the eBusiness aspect and visit some seminars, one just finished – it was about http://www.pocketvillage.com, a Berlin travel-meta-search start up. I will keep that one my list.
But I am more interested in the next seminar, about Blogging for Destinations. Back in the days, when I was Destination Manager in the Brandnertal, we decided, that this needs to much resources (time) and therefore decided to not do it.
Therefore I am quite interested in what other people believe …
UPDATE: The discussion, was more about bigger region, inviting Bloggers to their region. There was the example, of Jordan tourism, who invited 8 bloggers to write about their region. Another example was Great Britain who have a group of Bloggers who write about GB regullary. For their efforts they receive free trips and other things. I believe it would have been interesting, to discuss more about the impacts of this. Are this people any longer independend travel bloggers? I do not think so …
At the moment I am at a seminar a guy from the Costa Brava, who also uses Blogging to create stories about his region. He is interesting in storytellers. They invited 16 bloggers (one was part of the discussion in the other seminar) to Costa Brava for one week … they were chosen, due to relevance, topics and reach. They very thoroughly thought about, what topics and what things to do with the Bloggers. In my oppinion Costa Brava tourism set up the stories rather well and therefore gave a great example for good story telling.
What is happening here is that succesful bloggers develop into journalists, who are led through tourism destinations by the PR officers. This is good for them, and shows how professional they got – but it will reduce their indepence. Not because, they stop writing about their experiences, but because they are getting delivered messages, which are targeted at them and their audience.
What is your oppinion? How will it change the way you see big travel blogs? Are they still really independent?
Filed under Background
Today was the first day of the ITB 2012 and it was a great experience. I had no appontments today, therefore I was free to have a look at the huge fair and discover my personal favorites.
It is rather exhausting walking through the different halls, as the area is just big and very crowded. But it is inspiring to see, how much effort tourist companies and incoming agencies all over the world have put up, to stand out of the crowd.
After lunch I visited some seminars at the webtravel lounge. It is unbelievable how little input some so called social media experts give. I believe I can call myself a social media expert myself, as it seems hard to learn something new.
But the last seminar I attended was great, and this one definitely gave me some valuable input and insights. It was by Adam Medros. Vice President Global Product, at Tripadvisor. He gave some great insights into Tripadvisor and this speech was really inspiring.
After a long day I finally visited the Austrian Tourist Office Networking Café, where I ended a long day with a nice glass of Austrian beer.
Filed under Background
Today I arrived in Berlin, where I will attend the ITB, which starts tomorrow.
I wrote a post about my decision, to take the train to Berlin some weeks ago and it was a long journey, but it was a pleasant one.
Some remarks about the Deutsche Bahn: the staff is very friendly and they know what they are doing. I especially liked the guy from the board restaurant, who invited the passengers to visit his restaurant at every stop, in a quite funny way.
What came as a surprise to me was, that the Wifi was not for free. Its rather difficult for people who are not customers of the German Telecom to use it.
I was especially impressed by the Frankfurt Skyline, which can be seen from the train rather well.
I have not seen to much of Berlin so far, as I only checked in at my Hotel and visited a sports bar to have some dinner and watch Arsenal vs Milan.
Tomorrow I will visit the first day of the ITB – so stay tuned …
Filed under Traveling in Europe
Paris, the City of Light, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe. The entire city is practically a landmark, but there are several key attractions which stand out and should be on every visitor’s must-see list.
Attractions
1.) The Eiffel Tower – Known as the Tour Eiffel by locals, the Eiffel Tower is perhaps the most iconic site in Paris. Trips to the top require a large amount of patience and come with a big price tag. For many tourists these points are not a deterrent, but if you’re on a budget or if you’re short on time, then you should consider experiencing the Eiffel Tower from the outside. There are several grassy areas available in which you can lay down and take in a stunning view of the majestic landmark.
2.) Paris Catacombs – If you enjoy learning about history in a slightly macabre context, then a trip to the Paris Catacombs is definitely recommended. You’ll descend down 130 steps to reach the Catacombs, where you’ll be greeted by an artistic display of the skeletal remains of millions of ancient Parisians. The Catacombs are great for a hot summer day, as the temperature is much cooler when you go that far below the surface.
Image via Wikipedia
The photo above shows a typical view from the Paris Catacombs.
Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paris_catacombes.jpg
3.) Louvre Museum – The Louvre is an art museum which houses some of the most extraordinary works of art that the world has ever seen. Highlights include the enigmatic Mona Lisa and pieces from Raphael and Michelangelo. The Louvre is the most visited museum in the world, and after a day spent within its walls you’ll easily understand why.
Image via Wikipedia
The photo above shows the entrance to the Louvre Museum, Paris.
Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paris_July_2011-27a.jpg
Tips
1.) Getting Around Town – The Metro is an extremely efficient way to travel while you’re in Paris. If you’ll be using the Metro a lot, then you should consider purchasing a carnet, which is a bundle pack of ten tickets. Please note that the automatic Metro ticket machines in the main train stations sometimes have difficulty accepting American credit cards.
2.) Accommodations – Renting one of the many available holiday apartments in Paris is a fantastic way to save money while also experiencing the Paris lifestyle. If you’re looking for more space, there are also several French holiday homes to choose from. With a fully equipped kitchen you’ll be able to prepare your own meals, and you can take a picnic with you when you go to look at the Eiffel Tower. Having a picnic with the iconic landmark in front of you will be a memory that you’ll talk about for years to come; for a romantic twist, have a picnic dinner as the sun is setting.
3.) Free Museum Day – Most Paris museums offer free admission to visitors on the first Sunday of the month. Lines can be extremely long, especially at the Louvre, but if you’re on a budget and you’re able to get in line early in the day, then the savings can be well worth the wait.
4.) Take to the Streets – To truly experience Paris you should definitely spend some time walking through the city’s streets. Taking a stroll along the River Seine is particularly beautiful, and you’ll also encounter several of Paris’ talented street performers.
By following these tips you’re certain to have the vacation experience of a lifetime. Paris is truly unique, and the more time that you plan for your visit there the better, but even if you only have one day Paris is definitely worth visiting.
This article was written by Alan Horton. He is a regular author of travel and social media articles, to view more of Alan’s work click on his Google+ profile
Filed under guest post, Traveling in Europe
On Tuesday I will travel to Berlin as I visit the ITB Berlin, the biggest tourism fair world wide. I am looking forward to this, as I meet a lot of interesting people and hope to get some boost for my business. I will try to give you some insights about the ITB. To start with I will give you some facts and figures, so you know a little bit about the backgrounds of the ITB.
To visit a fair of this extend needs a lot of preparation – I have a lot of meetings on Thursday. Wednesday I will try to visit some of the most interesting stands (in my oppinion) and Friday is my back-up day. I guess I will not attend on Saturday, as I would love to visit some places in Berlin …
Tomorrow I have another guest entry scheduled – the rest of the week will be concentrating on the ITB and Berlin …
If anyone reading here is also attending ITB, please drop me a message, if your available for a cup of coffee. It´s on me …
Filed under Background
The weather is momentarily just great, and this is why I do not write too long postings at the moment. Today I did a nice ski-tour and I thought it would be a nice change to show something personal for a change, as I did a lot of postings about Cities or holiday tipps in the last weeks. As the sun was pretty strong we had to get up, rather early and we started our skitour at 7.30 – reaching the top at about 10.00 … I have no photos of the way down – but the snow got pretty wet, in the last third and I was very knackered, when I arrived back home.
Filed under Winter
Heartland Europe 
