Ancient times

Let it go
Visiting Mexico is like taking a crash course in (meso-) American history. Two days after visiting Teotihuacán, we went to the fabulous, enormous Museo Nacional de Antropología. It is simply too big to be visited in one day. So we focussed on the main sections, the Aztecs, the Maya and the pyramids of Teotihuacán. I won’t even […] Read More

Teotihuacán

Let it go
Renato and I got up shortly past 6 o’clock in the morning, to get to Avis when they opened, rent a car and drive to the airport. We collected Lisa and Dennis who arrived on the night flight from San Francisco, and drove off to Teotihuacán. Teotihuacán was a pre-Columbian, Meso-american city located in the Valley of Mexico, some 50 […] Read More

Lost in Tlalpan

Let it go
Tlalpan is one of these once independent towns in the outskirts of Mexico City that have long been swallowed up by the ever-growing metropolis. Like San Angel or Coyoacán, it finds itself in the middle of the city. However, they all preserved their small town character, with small houses, tiny cobble stone streets, and little […] Read More

Sinking city

Let it go
Going to the Zocalo, the main square of Mexico City on a Sunday was not the best of ideas. It was crowded. I wanted to visit the Cathedral of Mexico City, one of the biggest in the world, but of course it was partially closed, due to the Sunday mass. Fair enough, I got a good […] Read More

Castillo de Chapultepec

Let it go
I woke up early in order to meet Jimena. I met here during a dinner at my friend Ignacio’s place in Santiago, back in december. She’s a Portuguese teacher, also learns German, and a traveller like me. We met up at the Auditorio Nacional, and first went for breakfast in the beautiful neighborhood of Polanco. She […] Read More

Independencia (without me)

Let it go
By coincidence, I arrived just in time for the biggest fiesta of the year: 16 September is  the Mexican Independence Day, celebrating the events of 16 September 1810. In the little town of Dolores, the Grito de Dolores (“Cry of Dolores”) marked the beginning of the Independence War. It lasted until 1821, when local Spanish representatives signed […] Read More

1914-2014

Let it go
While I am traveling around the world, I do realize I miss a lot of things in Europe, which I have deliberately left out of this trip. 3 August 2014 though is a day that I regret not spending on my home continent. It’s the centenary of the German declaration of war on France, hours […] Read More

La ville de Québec

Let it go
We decided to get up early and head the 225 km up north towards Québec City, the capital of the region. It is the oldest French settlement in the area, founded in 1608, and later on the Capital of Nouvelle France. Once we left Montreal, the country became all flat. A few massive mountains around […] Read More

Being German in Israel

Let it go
Visiting Israel as a German will never be a totally normal thing to do. Mostly because you do not know what to expect. When I first visited two years ago for the start of the last Madonna tour, I was a bit nervous about people’s reactions. And I would have understood if people acted weird, […] Read More

Baffled in Jerusalem

Let it go
Today, we took the bus to Jerusalem. We only have this one day, as Susanne’s time is limited, but we wanted to maximize everything we could see. We’re both history geeks, Susanne being a real expert in British history (she can easily name the kings of England and Great Britain, explain the stories, feuds, heirs, traitors….) […] Read More

Golden Gate

Let it go
It turns out, not only San Francisco has a Golden Gate. Istanbul does, too. I wanted to make a walk along and on top of the city walls, the part that has been reconstructed… so I headed to the train station and hopped on a train in this direction (more on that adventure later) and […] Read More

Quake

Let it go
It was around half past 11 in the morning and I was just about ready to get out, sitting on my bed in the back of my apartment, when I felt it. That slight rolling and rocking, what you first mistake for a heavy truck passing outside… Just that there is no street outside and […] Read More