Einstein Tower, Potsdam

Einstein Tower (Einsteinturm auf Deutsch) is a solar observatory located in the Albert Einstein Science Park in Potsdam, Germany. Designed by Erich Mendelsohn, it has a very unusual shape for buildings designed in 1920s. It is one of the landmarks of expressionist architecture. Einstein Tower, side view

I love how unusual the tower design is. Reminded me of submarines.

See how beautiful it is? And the lovely surroundings too!

We went there on foot, walking from Potsdam’s main train station. It wasn’t that far, only around 1km, but it was a steady uphill climb. We didn’t mind, but please put it into consideration if you decide to do the same. It seemed like everybody else either took a car or a bike.

There also supposed to be a bus going there, although it doesn’t go on weekends (at least at the time I went – last year).

Nice sceneries are guaranteed. Along the way you’ll walk pass some nice apartment buildings, woods, and an adventure park. Refreshing break from Berlin city buzz ;) .

Now, the Einstein Tower itself is located inside a University/Research complex. The complex has an entrance gate, so I’m not sure if you could take the car in. From there, it’s still quite a walk to get to the building. I remember going “Oh noez!” but no worries, there’s plenty of pretty buildings and sceneries for a nice distraction.

Link to Google map for the location of Einstein Tower.

I would recommend going here if you love unusual architecture and you have an extra half day in Potsdam. If you only have a day, go to Sans Souci and the city center first!

 

Grom – The Most Fabulous Ice Cream

I realized that whenever I said I love a holiday destination, it usually has a lot to do with the food there. Figures it’s one reason why I love going to Italy so much.

No, I’m not there recently, the last time I went was last summer. But I was digging through my post drafts and I found this one. Something about ice cream and it made me ache with the promise of warm weather!

The first time we found the place was when we went to Milan, July 2009. It was a very warm summer night, we were walking around the area of Piazza Duomo and we came across an ice cream place with a long queue of people in suit. I thought the place must be fabulous, as the suited people must be some sort of locals. Needless to say, we were intrigued enough to start queuing as well. Tourists!

It was the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted. Ice cream-gasm!! Man, I’m drooling right now. The good thing was they are a chain, and you could find them in lots of places in Italy. I think they even have a branch in Paris, not sure. The bad thing is… there’s still none in Berlin. If you guys read this, maybe take it as a hint ;) .

You can’t go wrong with the flavors. Pick any flavors you like and they tasted great. Or pick a random one (like me, because I hadn’t got a clue what the tag meant and instead of asking, I just took a random pick). Just one word of warning: it’s addicting!

Now I know where the drip on my bag came from. :D

Here’s the link to their website: Grom. Last time my favorite flavors were Nocciola & Cafe. Share me yours :)

My Andrea Bocelli Groupie Moment

I always thought of myself as someone who is quite composed in almost everything. I rarely jumped up and down screaming and stuff. Not really easily panicking over something (except firecrackers. I hate firecrackers!). Okay, I know some of you would say, “Yeah right, Astrid, we don’t believe it.” Ehm… yeah perhaps it’s true, sometimes I think too much of myself…

Anyways, at least I *used* to believe I won’t ever going to get starstruck, that I would remain poised whenever I get to meet a star. After all, being in Berlin with its film festival events get me some chances to see some movie stars up close. So far so good, I guess. At least there’s no proof saying otherwise.

Until the night we went to the concert in Lajatico on Sunday July 25th, 2010. We had this one amazing moment when Andrea Bocelli happens to walk within my arm reach. OMG!!!

I’m going to show you screenshots since the whole moment is captured on video. Darling hubs happened to be blocking Andrea’s way (lucky hubs!!!). Technically hubs was actually even closer to Andrea than me, just too bad we didn’t have hubs’ face on camera ;) . Continue reading

World Cup 2010 – Falling In Love With Deutschland

I love the Football World Cup. No secrets. If you happen to follow me in twitter/plurk/facebook or know me in person, you might already know that I went crazy these past weeks.

Why do I love football? First, it’s hard to miss the world cup if you lived in Indonesia. I think people there are crazier about football then here in Germany. Probably England could top that. Probably.

Second, it started for me as a bonding time with my dad. Therefore my favorite team is dad’s favorite team, England. In fact, it had grown to be my football home. Mark my words: England will win the world cup in my lifetime! (note: I wasn’t born yet in 1966)

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