Die Cocci

Advantages: Great food, spectacular surroundings
Disadvantages: Not cheap

...On my latest trip to Hamburg I asked my boss if I should arrange a team night out and he said 'Sure, just don't pick anything too expensive'. Fortunately before I could scout around for something reasonably priced, another colleague stepped in and booked Die Bank and invited me along. Having been warned to watch the pennies, this wasn't a place I'd have dared book - so hoorah for Laurent who booked it regardless. We set off in two taxis - two Brits, two Americans and three French. Die Bank is in the centre of Hamburg on Hohe Bleichen, and, as the name would suggest, it used to be a bank. Not your grotty little suburban sub-branch though; this was a grand city bank. From the outside there's little clue of what's inside, just a big doorway onto a lobby with a beautiful mosaic floor and a grand staircase. Once upstairs you enter Die Bank... Read review

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Advantages: english movies in Berlin
Disadvantages: nope

...Die Kurbel (the winder) is one of the many UFA-cinemas in Berlin. But there is one difference. Die Kurbel is specialised on original (mostly English) speaking movies. No syncronisation, no subtitles. In 3 cinemas they show the up-to-date Hollywood-movies and also small indepentend productions. The publicum is mostly mixed, English nativ speakers and Germans. In cinema 2 and 3 the seats are really good, you have chairs with a drink holder and enough space for you feet. Entry is normal Berlin standard prices, roundabout 12 DM (6 Euro). If you listen to Radio Fritz, a local radio station, saturdays 7 - 8pm you will hear Puttin' on the Fritz, a english speaking radio show by Trevor Wilson. They mostly give away some free tickets for Die Kurbel. http://www.fritz.de/potf/ Tuesdays and wednesdays is "Kinotag" (cinema day) and you... Read review

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Advantages: A truly fascinating piece of living history
Disadvantages: Not a thing

...~ ~ The original Jeanie Johnston was a ‘famine ship’ built in Quebec in Canada in 1847, by a Scottish-born shipbuilder called John Munn. The new Jeanie Johnston is a totally authentic, full-size reproduction of the original sailing ship built right here in Ireland, at Blennerville, near Tralee, County Kerry. The new ship was built by the young people of Ireland, both North and South, and from both the Unionist and Nationalist traditions, to commemorate the countless thousands of Irish people who sailed (and the many who died!) on ships like the Jeanie Johnston to start a new life in the USA and Canada during the Great Famine of the mid-19th Century. ~ ~ To even begin to understand the background as to why this new ship was built, you really have to first understand a little about Irish history, and in particular the Great Famine... Read review

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