Hairdresser

A couple weeks back a guy on the streets approached me and Camilla and asked if we wanted to get a free haircut.

Yes, please.

I guess he saw I really really needed one. ;-)

He works as a junior 1 at trendy hair salon White.

Yesterday I got a free haircut from him.

Both him and his boss said that my hair was literally 'f*cked'. Nice, haha!

I hope the cut and care helped.

At least I think the hair looks muuuch healthier now. Nice lighter summer hair.

We cut probably 8cm of the old effed-up hair off, layered the hair and tadaa.

I might go back to color my hair but I'm not sure if I want to...

kinda wanting to grow my own color back and not get into that hair damaging circle of dyed hair.

Lets see.

Trendy salon, young talents and Tenry, who cut my hair, was a lovely guy!

Now I'm off to Finland! Hope I don't have to queue hours at the security check because the guards are still on striiiike.

<3

linda

Berlin 2

Berlin pt 2

Continuation to this.

From the TV tower we went to check out what was left of the Berlin wall. What in other words is known as the East Side Gallery.

We walked from the beginning of the wall to the end, or actually from the end to the beginning.

Some pretty damn cool art, must say. At least on the East side of the wall.

There are a couple of beach bars on the West side of the wall, by the river. Made me think of the beach bars in Bloemendaal/Zandvoort in Holland.

From the East Side Gallery we headed off to find a late lunch/early dinner.

Came across Treinta y seis in Kreuzberg.

I had peanut chicken house special. REALLY delicious.

The whole restaurant/bar was really cosy and chill. Prices weren't bad either. I think we paid a little less than 25€ for two meals and water?

From 30y6 we went to do some grocery shopping. As I said, the organic shelves in Germany are pretty sweeeet. If my luggage would have let me, I'd probably emptied the shelves of the store. This time I had to settle with some muesli and dried cranberries.

The evening was spent at our hotel's mini gym and spa.

We got an invitation to join for some Berlin electro but the granny and grandpa in us won.

Sunday. Berlin is full of really cool street art. It is also full of not so cool graffitis on the walls of houses that could actually look nice if some maintenance were done.

Brunch day!

We were lucky to meet up with my school friends Katrin and Anne for brunch in Kreuzberg.

Later Thomas, my friend from exchange in Holland, joined us with a couple of his friends.

And even later we got my colleague Miranda to join, too.

As the weather was rainy and museums weren't such a tempting idea either, we turned our brunch into a five hour one. Was lovely to catch up with the guys and girls, hear the latest and just see some good old faces for a change.

As we talked with Katrin, when you move somewhere new, you have to start over again and again. Talk that small talk with everyone you meet. In times like these it is so good to see old friends who you can have a relax discussion with. No need to hear the basics because you already know it.

After brunch we headed back to the hotel. Quick stop to see Checkpoint Charlie.

Now that can also be ticked off from the tourist must do/'been there done that' -list.

Naturally we took a late train to the airport leaving us 40min before our flight was due to depart.

It was 3 July, the day Berlin's new airport was supposed to open, and because they delayed the opening with a year, most flights were transferred to the old airport. Luckily the security check line wasn't too long and we made it on our flight right on time.

Though I have to say the Berlin Schönefeld airport was slightly annoying. Very little space to walk (ok maybe there were just many people inside the waiting halls ;-) and having to walk through a bar which was full of people watching some match on TV was...blaaahh. Why build the walking lane through a bar? Me not understandy.

All in all very nice mini-weekend.

Thank you for everyone who gave tips on what to do! I got some really really cool tips when we got back to Norway but at least there's a lot to experience for next time.

Incl. Mauerpark Sunday market, an abandoned fun park, Tiergarten, a couple of clubs, Oranienstraße, Tacheles...

Love,

Linda

PS. Next stop: Helsinki, Finland.

Berlin

1.-3.6.2012

BerLin(da)

Left work a little early in order to catch the bus to the airport.

Norway seems to be having a strike period going on and security guards are one group that are currently demonstrating.

Luckily the airport we flew from, Oslo Rygge, was as peaceful as always.

The flight timing was perfect as I didn't have to take any days off from work. Leave Friday evening, arrive Sunday evening. Perfect mini-holiday.

When arriving to Berlin we had a little trouble on finding the right train. I'd done the travel once before but had noooo memory what so ever how things went. Maybe because I wasn't in charge last time and I just blindly followed others.

Thankfully an elderly lady helped us find the right train and buy the right tickets.

Btw, the first shock was the price of the train ticket. 3€?! In Norway you have to pay at least 10€ to get to the airport. I've gotten so used to the Norwegian prices that everything else seems to come as a surprise. Thankfully as a really positive kind!

We reached the hotel late in the evening and just wanted to go eat and sleep.

Wandered our way to an Italian restaurant by the Kurfürstendamm -street. Food was good but we got it in like 5min which made us a bit sceptic. Also the waiter came to pick up our tips before we had even left the restaurant. In my opinion tips should be gotten after the customer leaves. Habits, habits.

Saturday we woke up early. The elderly tourists Linda and Ingar.

I'd written down manymany tips that I got for Berlin but only by keywords so actually I had no clue what was where. We asked the guy at the hotel reception where we should go for breakfast and he said Prenzlauer Berg is a nice area for that. Calm and peaceful.

We bought day travel cards and headed off for breakfast.

Well, apparently Prenzlauer Berg was calm and peaceful indeed. Nearly everything out of the little we found was closed. Where were all those small and idyllic cafeterias serving delicious sandwiches and smoothies that I imagined the area to have? Not on the roads we walked... :-D

Later I found out that it was actually the place to be on Sundays because of a huge flea market at Mauerpark.

Well, we did find breakfast after a lot of walking. 3,5€ for a breakfast menu including bread, various things to put on top, egg and coffee. Not bad I'd say.

We also found Mauerpark.

The weather got so cold, windy and slightly rainy that we couldn't bare it anymore. Or I couldn't.

Where did that +30°C weather go?

Checking out a 'vintage store' (yes, the only store that was open) didn't help as the only possible thing to buy for me was a wool jumper by some old Finnish brand, and that was far too little by length to keep me warm. I guess anything is when you are wearing 20denim tights? ;-)

Back to the hotel it was.

From the hotel we headed off for some serious tourist time!

The Holocaust memorial.

How cool would have it been to go on a Segway tour!!

I may have forced the poor guy into this picture...

The weather was coooold so instead of walking around in parks the plans changed into hop on and off busses.

Next stop: TV tower.

My classmate Ingrid hinted to go check out the TV tower. Good suggestion btw, especially for someone on a mini-vacation and without time to actually travel from point a to b to c to d that much.

Usually it takes around 2 hours from the purchase of the ticket to actually get to the tower. This due to the queues and regulations of how many can be up in the tower at once.

Lu-lu-lu-luck was our friend.

We went to ask a lady at the souvenir shop about ticket prices and all. She happened to have two tickets to a departure at 4pm. At the time it was 3.55pm. Perfect.

We paid her (12€/pp), ran up to the elevator and went to enjoy the view.

Up in the tower there was a lot of interesting information about the different areas of Berlin as well as different important monuments, buildings and places. For someone who gets exhausted from reading hundreds and hundreds of info boards at museums and all, this was just perfect. Everything was told simply in a few words.

More to follow.

<3: Linda

Kempinski Berlin

Last weekend, the first days of June, I spent in Berlin.

Had only been there for a quick 4 hour visit a few years back when waiting for a train to Schwerin where I attended a youth in politics event, so it was about time to do a proper visit.

We stayed at the hotel Kempinski, situated right by the Uhlandsraße U-bahn station.

Really, really nice hotel situated in what I'd guess was a little wealthier area?

A pretty basic room but three major plusses:

- beds&pillows: if you've ever slept on a Tempur product, you probably understand why I wasn't really thrilled on Sunday when home and my own bed was calling.

- mirrors: there were sooo many mirrors. mirrors everywhere. I love it when you don't have to fight over one, wait to get into the bathroom for one, or have to jump fifty times to see if your shoes fit the outfit because the mirror is too high, etc.

- bathtub: Baths are amazing. It's just so much fun to struggle your way into the hot hot water and finally lean back and relax as your skin goes all granny.

Mr. Tourist and the view from our hotel room.

What also were huge plusses were the spa and gym of the hotel. Though the gym was a mini room with just a spinning bike, treadmill and some weights.

The service was as polite as at the Ritz in London (remember my Ritz visit?;-) and the location was great for a shopaholic. Unfortunately all the shopping I did was a bikini and organic muesli. Germany is amazing when it comes to the organics.

Also, the hotel had a bowl of chewing gum which was a savior of the first night as this Finnish wise girl forgot her toothbrush at home in the morning. At least I had toothpaste...and chewing gum before the opportunity of buying a new toothbrush. :-P

You can find great deals on luxury hotels these days. All you have to do is click on hotels.com or lastminute.com and do a little research.

For example...for this five star hotel we only paid the price of what a hostel can end up being for two people. Spa&gym included. Yaaah, true dat!

<3:

the master of traveling cheap-Linda

Island is Øya

Monday 28th May was a day off in Norway.

I was not aware of it at all. In Finland it's a normal working day.

Thankfully it wasn't difficult to think of something to do. I'd been told the islands of Oslo fjord are worth a visit. That's where we headed off to.

The ferry to the island can be paid with the same card that is used for 'normal' public transport meaning busses and all. It leaves from the end of Skippergata, the peninsula between Akershus Festning and the Opera house.

We got off at the last and main island, Hovedøya. The ferry does a round stopping at least at Bleikøya, Gressholmen and Lindøya of what I can remember.

Unluckily the amazing +30°C weather just ended on Monday. The partly cloudy sky and light wind made us crawl into the warmth of our towels at times (while some people were swimming in the sea). 

I can't wait for the weather to get better again and I'll go on an other island trip with a bikini, book and coconut drink.

xo

Linda