In the end of June my friends and me went to the Schlei – which is a kind of an arm of the sea in the northern parts of Germany.
Actually it was a present for a friend but of course everyone of us enjoyed the trip.
We were five girls and stayed in a small house. So of course we had to cook for ourselves and the first evening we enjoyed dinner in form of a picnic at the baltic sea which was wonderful. We watched the sunset and listened to the waves of the sea.
The next day started late because we stayed in bed and talked, even after the breakfast. But then we decided to go to Kappeln which is a small town. There we walked around, watched the boats and bought some books.
In the afternoon we went to the baltic sea again. It was a windy day and after having coffee and cake in a cute café we went for a walk in a national park.
Just as we came back to our house it started to rain and so we watched a movie in the evening.
The next day it was already time to go back home.
Although we didn’t stay long it was a very nice trip for all of us and we had time to discuss, feel the wind in our hair, walk barefoot in the sand and relax after our graduation.

As I have been to Hamburg in january again, I want to give you some tips for this beautiful city.

The Elbphilharmonie was finally opened and the Plaza is definitely a place to go! by booking a ticket you get one hour (e.g. 8-9 pm) to visit the plaza of the Elbphilharmonie. From there you have a fantastic view over the Speicherstadt, parts of the harbor and  Hamburg in general – and if you book local the tickets are for free!

Another must-see is of course the Speicherstadt. The world largest warehouse district was build from 1883 to 1927. The buildings stand on timber-pile foundations and is part of the HafenCity Hamburg just as the Elbphilharmonie (which is just a little bit junger – like 100 years). It is also the first site of Hamburg which has been awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.

Of course Hamburg was and still is a city with a huge harbor and so there is more than one “Museumshafen” in which old sailing ships and fisher boats can be seen.

Art is another big part of Hamburg and so there are several museums such as the Kunsthalle Hamburg and others.

After walking around the city you should enjoy a coffee in one of the several cafés. I recommend the “Public Coffee Roasters” – high-quality coffee and nice people to meet there.

Enjoy your trip!

At the beginning of October I went to London with my class.

After the long travel we spent our first day London Camden Town. Although there were a lot of people it was really nice there and you get hungry just by walking through the market with all the street food. But we were all really tired and so we stayed in our hotel in the evening and enjoyed playing some games together as a group.

The next day we made a guided tour through London with the bus. It was quite interesting to hear all the facts about the different parts of England´s capital and we got to know the city a bit more. After a short lunch break we went to Tate Modern, which was extreme nice for all the art-interested people in our class like me.

The next morning we went to Shakespeare´s Globe. An actor led us through the world-famous theatre and explained us about the written style of Shakespeare. Afterwards we had time to explore the city by ourselves. I went to Westminster Abbey with two friends to attend the Evensong. In the evening my whole class went to the Globe again to see the play “Imogen”. A modern version of Shakespeare´s Cymbeline. First we were all a bit sceptical – a new version of an ancient play isn´t always that good. But at the end we were all happy to have been there although we had to stand like a groundling in Shakespeare´s time.

The next day we went to Oxford. Oxford is a nice town. It rained a bit we enjoyed our time there nevertheless and had great fun trying streetfood and looking at all the old colleges.

I enjoyed my last day in London together with a friend. We walked through Hyde Park and went shopping on the Oxford Street. The National Gallery  was also a great idea. Afterwards we went to our meeting point but we were too early so we enjoyed a delicious pizza and then met our class to go back to Germany.

All in all the trip was awesome and I enjoyed England again (really sad that the voted for Brexit). In London you can easily take the Underground or walk (important things are close to each other). Food does not have to be expensive too. You can go to the next supermarket and buy a cheap but delicious sandwich or a small salad. Most of the museums have exhibitions for free so you just have to make the decision where to go first what we really enjoyed (there are people who draw on big papers in the National Gallery for example, you won´t find that in Germany because it is too expensive to go to a museum just for drawing). So I must say that if you´ll get the chance to travel to London; do it!!

End of September I went to Hamburg to the 8. Klimawoche (climate week). I worked for the French-German-Office which was great fun.
On Wednesday we (the small team) arrived in Hamburg one after another and we got to know each other.
The next day and on Friday we had a stand in a mall downtown Hamburg. School classes went to learn about the climate (change) through experiments and discussions.
In the evening and on Saturday we had free time to explore Hamburg and take part in podium discussions and other events organized for the Klimawoche. It was very interesting to hear what other people think we can do to save our planet. For example less flying but also not buying stuff in stores we know they produce in bad conditions for human and nature.
On Sunday the other went home but I stayed for another day. The sun was shining in the morning which made a good start into the day. I drank a coffee at Public Coffee Roasters (they make extraordinary good coffee, you should try it when you`re in Hamburg!) and went to the Kunsthalle Hamburg. The Kunsthalle was sort of giant for me and I enjoyed my visit there. Also it isn´t very expensive.

Then – of course – I made a walk through the Speicherstadt. It really looks amazing and if it rains you can quickly walk to the next coffee roasters.

For the last night I stayed at a friends house. She is in Hamburg for a year so we didn’t see each other for a longer tie and had a lot to talk about.

All in all my stay in Hamburg was awesome. I met incredible people and had really nice discussions which gave me a lot to think about. The Klimawoche was very interesting. Although most of the events are for free it is very little frequented, which is sad. Because the climate change is a very important point to think about. So if you’re free for the next Klimawoche go there!

The last week of my summer holidays I spent sailing again.

This time we chartered the beautiful Banjaard and sailed from Rostock to different towns/havens in Denmark and back.

The weather was good with a lot of sun, windy and high temperatures. My favourite day was wednesday and I am going to explain you why:

The day started sunny and I did some yoga with someone from our group. After the breakfast we had the possibility to go swimming before we set the sails. It was warm and we enjoyed the sun on deck of the ship. Even reading a book for school (Faust by J. W. v. Goethe) together with friends made fun on this day. In the evening we could explore the small city Nysted a bit with a beautiful sunset. The evening ended with social games and nice conversations.

The other days were nice as well but I can not tell you everything. But what I can tell you is that sailing is great fun even when the weather isn’t as good as last week. Pictures will come on Instagram of course and maybe on flickr as well.

Summer in Germany seems to be far far away. This week it rained every day and it was not very warm. So how to get in a summer mood?
Summer is life, holidays, freedom and enjoying fresh fruits. It is taking a (short) break from your every day life. Reading a good book while sitting in the garden or at the beach. Long nights outside with friends. It is the part of the year every student waits for.
So here are some tipps how to get in a summer mood:

• Plan your holidays. With the preparation you start to get a good feeling about the summer.
• Buy summer clothes. I mean, why not wearing a summer shirt when it just rains?! (Except it is too cold)
• Buy a good book. You don’t have to be at the beach to read a good book.
• Eat fruits like watermelon, strawberries, pineapple… These are fruits we know as summer fruits. And luckily it does not have to be sunny to eat them.
• It is warm enough to go swimming but it is cloudy? That doesn’t matter! Normally you get wet while swimming, so it is not bad to go swimming while it rains a bit. (Except there is a storm, than you should not go swimming of course!)
• Last but not least: Enjoy your life and be happy!!!

For a friends 18th birthday I made two little giftbags (the present is just impossible to wrap in gift paper). You know this kind of presents too? Here is how you make a creative gift bag:

I draw some mandalas on the paper, but of course you don’t have to. Just be creative 😉

Material: white drawing paper (or any other paper), golden pen/or pencils, tape

This is how it looked like in the end. I hope you can follow my picture instructions and have fun!