Tag Archives: Discovery

Berlin, Germany: Alexanderplatz, A Little Shop & Communist Remains

Why going to Alexanderplatz?

For its architectural remains of the communist era. See how the architecture of the late sixties (even restaured) remains an absolute ugliness! It’s so ugly that it could lead to a kind of aesthetic which reminds me of the excellent German film Good bye Lenin by Wolfgang Becker with Daniel Brühl! 

Picture below: The Urania-Weltzeituhr, the universal clock dating from 1969. You can also go there for very practical reasons: the Park Inn (hotel opened in 1970!), The Kaufhof Galeria department store (for his food center), near the quaint streets of the trendy Mitte.

And the little souvenir gift shop, Aus Berlin: Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 17, open from 10am to 10pm (pictured above).

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DESTINATIONS

Sintra, Portugal: Tivoli Palacio De Seteais, The Enchanting Gardens

May and its long week-ends in Europe… Here a fantastic adress, one of this places incredibly good for your soul. I love Sintra, its climate in summer, its heights, its beautiful gardens and the view to the ocean. Where time has stopped. Away from the bustle, the Tivoli Palacio De Seteais is a 18th century palace beautifully restored into an elegant hotel, where every detail is simply perfect, without any ostentation. European refinement. For the pictures of the room, click here. My main activity: dreaming in its beautiful gardens and its long corridors, worthy of Resnais movie (I know I’m repeating myself, but the compliment is huge): “L’Année dernière à Marienbad“.

Tivoli Palacio De Seteais

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Sintra, Portugal: Tivoli Palacio De Seteais, A Room 

Sintra, Portugal: Tivoli Palacio De Seteais, The Precious Hotel

DESTINATIONS

 

Brussels: Sakura @ The Royal Greenhouses in Laeken

You lost: I’m not in Japan! 

I celebrated hanami with two Japanese friends from Osaka @ the Royal Greenhouses in Laeken (Brussels).

We enjoyed sakura in flowers (the cherry blossom) that represents the beginning of spring in Japan… and now in Brussels too (lol!). 

Night tour of the superb monumental greenhouses, 

designed by Alphonse Balat (between 1874-1890), the Belgian architecte and teacher of Victor Horta, famous pioneer of the Art nouveau (picture 3).

We discovered an exotic and luxuriant vegetation inside the greenhouses and a Japanese pavilion in the gardens (picture below). If you wish to get there now, you will have to wait till next year!

Related posts : DESTINATIONS