Every year in May there is a special Blue Night / Die Blaue Nacht in Nuremberg (Bavaria). Many of the sights are lit and there is a special atmosphere because many visitors are wearing little blinking lights.

Highlight is the projection on Nuremberg Castle. In 2010 a local artist named Axel Voss created an impressive lightshow with a collage of cartoons and publicity signs.

"When you go to Sopron, you should visit the best icecream parlour. It's in the old city, in the Szentgyörgy Street. You can ask it there, I think everybody will help you. Just say "I am looking for a place where I can buy very good icecream with little umbrellas.

In Hungarian : "hol van az a cukràszda, ahol nagyon finom fagylaltot lehes enni, és kis esernyökel adnak hozzà?"

July 1: Brussels - Köln

July 2: Köln - Hannover - München

July 3: München - Venezia

July 6: Venezia - Verona - Milano

July 7: Milano - Firenze

July 8: Firenze - Pisa - Firenze

July 9: Firenze - Roma

July 11: Roma - Salerno

July 12: Napoli - Foggia - Bari

July 13: Bari - Brindisi

July 14: Patrai - Olympia

July 15: Olympia - Zeygfolatio - Argos - Athene

July 17: Athens - Inoi - Kalampaka

July 18: Kalampaka - Paleofarsalos

July 19: Thessaloniki - Beograd

July 20: Beograd - Sutomare

July 24: Kardeljevo - Doboj

July 25: Doboj - Zagreb

July 26: Zagreb - Llubjana - Vienna

July 27: Vienna - Zell Am See

July 29: Zell Am See - Innsbruck

July 30: Innsbruck - Basel

July 30: Basel - Brussels

Once upon a time, a long long time ago, I traveled from Stockholm to Turku on a Christmas Eve. The boat trip was included in my InterRail ticket, and the first thing I noticed was that there were no real cabins, just some compartments where you could sleep. The night boat had a reputation with party people, but what I experienced that night went beyond my wildest imagination.

Everybody looked drunk, people were making love in their compartment (it looked like a train compartment but without doors or other means of privacy) and you can imagine I didn't sleep a wink.

Outside it was freezing cold, but inside it was hot like hell

And you, what is your most memorable boat trip?

June 19: Wales - London

June 20: London - Oxford

June 21: Oxford

June 22: Oxford - Birmingham

June 23: Birmingham - Aberdeen

June 24:  Aberdeen - Keith - Inverness

June 25: Inverness - Pitlochry

June 26: Pitlochry - York

June 27: York - London - Dover

June 28: Dover - Brussels

June 30: Proclamation!!!!

June 30: Brussels - Hamburg - Lübeck

July 1 - 5 : Lübeck

July 5 - 6 : Hamburg - München - Salzburg

July 7: Salzburg - Vienna - Budapest

July 7 - 15 : Budapest

July 15: Budapest - Sopron

July 16: Sopron - Vienna

July 18: Vienna - Köln - Brussels

History
The main gate was erected by the city's Master Builder Hinrich Helmsted between 1464 and 1478. Built in 1585 as the front entrance to the city, the Holstentor design was intended to aid the defence of the city's west side. The original gate was later demolished.

The redesigned version was built with insufficient foundation depth. Because the Holstentor was sinking into the ground, the whole structure was in danger of collapse. The subsidence was so severe, that in a 1863 survey, the lowest arrow slits were found 50cm under the ground. The structure was in constant danger of collapse.

It was not until 1871 that the authorities stepped in to try to save it, but it the subsidence continued. A successful refurbishment and stabilisation programme commenced in 1933/34. A similar procedure occurred in 2005/2006.

Since 1950, the Holstentor became a museum dedicated to history of the city it originally protected. In 2002, the museum was significantly modernised. The torture chamber that was installed in the 1950s museum was removed for authenticities sake. Today the museum is managed by the Kulturstiftung Hansestadt Lübeck.

Source: Wikipedia.org

For the fifth time in a row, Berlin is going to rock the beach around Pentacost. Members of several Hospitality Exchange Networks (including BeWelcome.org) will meet again. A splendid time is guaranteed for all!

It's time for a meeting in Berlin again!

Berlin Beach Camp 2009

So - let's get together!

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When: Thursday, May 28th - Monday, June 1st
Where: Berlin, beach side area at Strandbad Tegel
What: celebrating worldwide hospitality, having loads of fun!
Who: heaps of friendly people
Why: why not?

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For detailed information, updates and registration see

www.berlinbeachcamp.org

Let's have some fun, see you there...

Michael (miicoo)
Jens (jenseb)
Manuel (crumbking)

Dear fellow members,

following the tradition of our last Berlin Camps since 2005 we’d like to
celebrate the beginning of summer together with you. This is our 5th years
anniversary!

We have an awesome NEW LOCATION at „Strandbad Tegel“,
situated directly at the water. It has a wonderful beach and all the amenities
we’ll need for a perfect event.

Do you like to meet other friendly people, listen to live music, having
interesting talks and to take part in many cultural activities, excursions and
workshops? Do you enjoy sitting at a bonfire, having a BBQ, to take part in
fun-sports or just sitting lazy in a beachchair and enjoying the sun?

Then you should come! Together with you we’ll have a lot of fun!
You’ll find all detailed information for this event on the website

www.berlinbeachcamp.org

Don't hesitate to speak about the camp to all your friends,
and bring them with you !!

We're looking forward meeting you in Berlin.

We informed the manager about the cockroaches in our room but he didn't even apologize. Even when we told him that under the bed we found crisps from previous guests (many hotelrooms in India are not regularly cleaned - we stayed in many places two nights and never saw a cleaning lady or even traces of something being touched) he didn't budge. The complaint register showed an entry somewhere last year as the last negative feedback, so we imagine that either nobody complains or nobody bothers to write it down. Anyway, if you want to stay in Hotel Saat, you have been warned.

We checked out, got to the station and tried to find a bus to Coimbatore. Again we were not lucky, because the bus never showed up. But there was another one going to Salem (100 km further) so we jumped on that, settled in the back with reclining seats and put in our earplugs when the Bollywood movie started playing on the DVD player in front of the bus.

After almost 5 hours on the bus (bumpy roads, state border controls) we arrived in Coimbatore where Vishnu, another HC member, picked us up. He took us to a very nice place for lunch where we tried Pongal (looks like mashed potatoes but is actualy made from rice, peppercorn and spices) and some dosas with cauliflower. We then drove to his home, met his mum and freshened up to go to a wedding.

A friend of his(Senthil)got married that day to an American girl (Amanda), and we were invited to the reception. Indian weddings are quite different from European, they can last several days (or even a full week) and having more than 1000 guests is not uncommon. Here it was a 'small' wedding with about 500 people showing up during some stage of the day. And most will have their picture taken together with the bride and groom (just like us). This marriage had a walking dinner with starters, main courses and desserts. I tried a carrot halwa (soft sweetmeat) but found it too sweet for my taste. The bride and groom met on the internet and then in Chicago. They promised to listen to our CD when they are going on their honeymoon.

Getting married is serious business in India. Many people still have arranged marriages
, where the parents will choose the bride. Some men and women have the option to refuse twice, the third time they HAVE to marry the partner chosen by their parents. But nowadays there are more and more marriages out of love. And these are often found on the internet or in newspapers. Reading the classified ads in the newspapers is quite an eye-opener. Most people demand that their partner is from the same or similar caste (with more than 1600 castes that can be a bit tricky) and special importance is put on the biodata and horoscope.

If you want to find out more about the pros and cons of arranged marriages : click here

Afterwards we went back to Vishnu's place and he found us accommodation in Ooty (our next destination). Vishnu works in logistics (textile, Coimbatore is the textile capital and often called 'The Manchester of India) but lately he wants to broaden his horizon by importing champagne and European wines. We even got a taste of some Indian wine made from Strawberries which a friend of his makes in the hills around Coonoor.