RO: In februarie se implineste un an de cand nu am mai urcat in avion. Nu o fi neaparat o vesnicie insa… ne lipseste mult, extrem de mult entuziasmul unei vacante. Sa impachetam cu o saptamana inainte, sa ne trezim cu noaptea in cap sa mergem spre aeroport, sa ne bem cafeaua in lounge-ul din Otopeni, sa ne uitam la avioane, sa simtim miros de kerosen, sa ne imbarcam, sa nu inchidem ochii intregul zbor de fericire ca in sfarsit zburam, sa ajungem la destinatie si sa ne bucuram de un loc nou. Toate aceste ganduri ne dau fiori si parca ne umplu de adrenalina. Este ciudat pentru noi sa nu avem nicio vacanta planificata (desi in anii anteriori stabileam inca de la inceputul anului unde vom merge urmatoarele luni, totul detaliat cu minutiozitate), sa nu avem ce sa planificam, sa nu cautam cazari, sa nu vanam ofertele companiilor aeriene.Stim si speram ca este o perioada temporara, insa trebuie sa recunoastem ca am fost nevoiti sa renuntam la una dintre cele mai mari satisfactii si pasiuni ale vietii noastre 🙂 Suna poate prea dramatic sau prea pompos, insa chiar asa simtim. Intelegem pe deplin efortul si sincer, am fost si suntem extrem de precauti legat de regulile anticovid impuse, insa speram din suflet ca lucrurile sa se imbunatateasca si sa reusim in curand sa calatorim din nou. Nu in acelasi ritm ca inainte, nu cu aceeasi frecventa, dar sa calatorim 🙂 Iar pana atunci, ne “hranim” sufletele cu amintiri 🙂 Este o perioada in care niciunul dintre noi nu mai blameaza faptul ca obisnuim sa facem mult prea multe poze in excursii si suntem recunoscatori ca browsand hardurile pline de amintiri, retraim vacantele avute in trecut.

EN: In February, there will be one year since we haven’t been in an airplane. It might not be too much but… we really miss the excitement of a new vacation. To pack one week before, to wake up early for getting to the airport, to drink our coffee in Otopeni’s business lounge, to watch the airplanes, to feel the smell of kerosene, to board the airplane, to stay wide awake during the flight and feel the happiness of finally flying again, to reach the destination and to enjoy a new place. All these thoughts give us a thrill and they fill us with adrenaline. It is weird that we no longer have a planned vacation (even though in previous years we were always meticulously scheduling our travels for the next months), to have nothing the plan or schedule, to not look for accommodation, to not search for airplane deals. We know and we hope all this is temporary, but we have to admit that we had to give up to one of the biggest satisfactions and passions of our lives 🙂 It might sound a bit dramatic and exaggerated but that’s how we feel. We totally understand the effort and honestly, we have been and we still are very cautious regarding the anti covid restrictions but we truly hope that things will get better and we will soon travel again. Not in the same rhythm as before, not as frequently as we used to, but to travel 🙂 But until then, we “feed” our souls with memories 🙂 It is a time when none of us blames the fact that we take too many pictures during our vacations and we are grateful that we can re-live the vacations we had in the past by browsing our HDDs full of memories.

RO: Uitandu-ne pe statisticile de pe flightmemory.com am realizat ca cele mai multe zboruri in Europa au fost catre Germania si Olanda, iar cele mai multe aterizari in Munchen si Amsterdam. Cum Olanda ne este foarte proaspata in memorie, dupa cele opt luni in care am locuit acolo, vrem sa ne amintim ce ne-a atras atat de mult la Germania si ce locuri ne-au ramas cel mai mult in suflet. Sa redescoperim Germania de acasa, de pe canapea, de unde scriem acest articol cu atata inflacarare 🙂 Sa vorbim despre satucele mici si pitoresti unde ne petreceam weekendurile, despre biergarten-urile galagioase si despre Oktoberfest-ul la care inca nu am reusit sa ajungem, targurile de Craciun, zona de nord cu insulele exclusiviste, zona de sud cu peisajele minunate, despre castelele atat de multe si atat de frumoase (ceea ce ne aminteste de un weekend in care chiar am stat cazati intr-un astfel de castel-hotel), despre Berlin (pentru ca merita un loc fruntas in recomandarile de calatorii) si despre multele noastre roadtripuri printre orase si sate ca scoase din povesti. Va fi un articol lung, in care vom incerca sa adunam toate locurile care ne-au placut noua in Germania, o lista cuprinzatoare (bazata pe amintiri si pe informatiile gasite pe www.germany.travel) care speram sa fie inspiratie pentru viitoare city break-uri 🙂

EN: Looking at our flightmemory.com statistics we realized that the most flights in Europe were to Germany and The Netherlands, having the most landings in Munchen and Amsterdam. As The Netherlands is still very fresh in our memory, after the eight months we lived there, we now want to remember why Germany attracted us so much and what places we cherish the most. We will rediscover Germany from home, from our couch, where we spent so much time eagerly writing this article 🙂 We’ll talk about small and picturesque villages were we used to spend our weekends, about the noisy biergartens and the Oktoberfest we still haven’t had the chance to see, about the Christmas Markets, the area from the north with the exquisite islands, the area from the south with the gorgeous scenery, about the castles, so many and so beautiful (which reminds us of a weekend went we stayed in a hotel-castle), about Berlin (because it totally deserves our recommendation) and our many, many roadtrips to towns and villages that seemed to be taken out of a fairytale. It will be a long article but we will try to gather all the places we loved in Germany, a long list (based on memories and the information found on www.germany.travel) and we hope this can be a good inspiration for future city breaks 🙂

Tubingen

RO: La 30 de minute de condus de Stuttgart este un orasel universitar care ne este extrem de drag. L-am vizitat o singura data, cu niste prieteni foarte dragi, dar ne-a placut atat de mult, ca il punem fruntas in aceasta lista de recomandari. Are una dintre cele mai vechi universitati din Europa si un centru vechi minunat. Partea mea preferata din acest oras este zona caselor colorate de pe malul raului Neckar, cea care de altfel apare in pozele de mai jos 🙂

EN: 30 minutes driving from Sttugart there is an university town that we really loved. We only visited it once, with some dear friends of ours, but we loved it so much that we will mention it at the beginning of this list. It has one of the oldest universities in Europe and a gorgeous old town center. My favorite part of this town is the area of the colorful houses along the Neckar river, which is actually shown in the pictures below 🙂

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

RO: Am fost de trei ori in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, si in timpul targului de Craciun, si pe timp de toamna. Este oraselul ideal, as indrazni sa il numesc chiar cel mai frumos oras de pe Drumul Romantic. Este intr-adevar foarte popular si mai mereu foarte aglomerat, insa pentru noi va ramane intotdeauna unul dintre orasele noastre preferate din Germania.

EN: We’ve been three times in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, both during Christmas time and also in fall. This is the ideal town, I would dare to name it the most beautiful one on the Romantic Road. It is indeed very popular and crowded most of the time, but for us it will remain one of our favorite places in Germany.

Monschau

RO: De Monchau ne leaga multe amintiri frumoase si multe intalniri cu prietenii de peste tot 🙂 Olanda, Belgia, Germania, Canada, cu totii ne-am plimbat pe stradutele pitoresti ale acestui orasel superb. Este extrem de renumit insa parca nu are notorietatea Rothenburg-ului, ceea ce il face cu atat mai interesant.

EN: We have so many beautiful memories and so many meetings with our friends from all over the world in Monschau 🙂 The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Canada, we all wandered the picturesque narrow streets of this lovely town. It is extremely renowned and appreciated but it doesn’t have the notoriety of Rothenburg, which makes it even more interesting.

Rugen Island

RO: Aceasta a fost una dintre cele mai mari surprize pe care ni le-a oferit Germania. Pentru ca este un loc atat de atipic, cum nu am fi crezut ca vom gasi vreodata in partea aceasta a Europei. Ce-i drept am ajuns aici in plina vara, pe o vreme superba, era multa lume in vacanta, satucele pline de turisti (in mare parte nemti) si atmosfera foarte… sudica am zice noi 🙂 In orice caz, Rugen ne va ramane mereu in amintire ca unul dintre cele mai frumoase locuri din Germania.

EN: This was one of the biggest surprises Germany offered us. Because it is such an atypical place, we would never thought we would find something similar in this part of Europe. It is true that we went there during summertime and we had gorgeous weather, there were so many people spending their vacations here, the villages were full of tourists (mostly Germans) and the atmosphere was so… southern we would say 🙂 Anyways, Rugen will remain in our memory as one of the most beautiful places in Germany.

Einbeck

RO: In zona Hanovrei este un orasel adorabil numit Einbeck. Are un centru vechi superb, cu multe cladiri cu barne expuse (face parte din drumul renumit numit Timber Frame Road), stradute intortocheate si biergartenuri traditionale. Noi am vizitat in aceeasi zi si Brunswick, un oras mai mare din apropiere, insa la fel de frumos.

EN: Around Hanover there is an adorable town called Einbeck. It has a gorgeous old town center, with lots of timber frame houses (it is actually part of the so called Timber Frame Road), winding narrow streets and traditional biergartens. We visited Brunswick as well in the same day, a larger town nearby, which was also very nice.

Kettwig

RO: Unul dintre cele mai dragute satuce pe care le-am vazut in Germania este Kettwig. Nu am vazut multe recomandari despre acest loc, asa ca desi l-am vizitat in plina vara, era aproape pustiu. Insa este fix satucul german, plin de farmec, cladiri cu barne si… cafenele unde se serveste mic dejun etajat 🙂 De fapt si de drept, am mers aici intr-un weekend, dupa o perioada obositoare la birou, doar ca sa mancam micul dejun si sa ne plimbam in acest satuc 🙂 Nu am avut aparate foto (doar telefoanele) si nu ne-am propus sa vedem nimic altceva 🙂

EN: One of the nicest villages we’ve ever seen in Germany is Kettwig. We haven’t seen too many recommendations about this place, so when we visited it was almost empty even though it was during summertime. But this is the typical German village, full of charm, timber frame houses and… cafes that serve multi layered breakfast 🙂 Actually, we’ve been there for a weekend, after a tiring period at the office, just to have this kind of breakfast and wander around this village 🙂 We didn’t have cameras with us (only our phones) and we didn’t want to see anything else in particular 🙂

Castles

RO: Sunt atat de multe castele in Germania, fiecare cu farmecul lui, ca pare o misiune imposibila de ales unul singur. Da, Neuschwanstein este fabulos si de departe cel mai cunoscut castel din Germania, insa in ultimii ani am trecut pe lista noastra de vizitat si alte castele mai putin “vedeta”. De mult timp am tot vrut sa ajungem la Castelul Eltz (intre timp devenit foarte renumit in social media) insa nu am reusit. Castelele Hohenzollern si Sigmaringen ne-au placut tare mult (si sunt foarte aproape unul de altul, la 45 minute de condus). Iar castelul Schwerin din nordul Germaniei arata spectaculos. Si chiar daca Munchen nu e neaparat cel mai frumos oras german, are un castel care noua ne va fi mereu, mereu foarte drag (pentru ca este primul loc pe care l-am vazut in prima noastra excursie inafara tarii cu Alexei) si anume Castelul Nymphenburg. Nu, este imposibil, absolut imposibil sa facem o lista sau un top al celor mai frumoase castele din Germania, sunt pur si simplu prea multe! 🙂

EN: There are so many castles in Germany, each having its own charm, it really seems an impossible mission to choose one. Yes, Neuschwanstein is fabulous and by far one of the most famous castles in Germany, but in the last years we added on our to visit list some other less renowned castles. For such a long time we wanted to reach Eltz Castle (in the meanwhile it has become very popular in social media) but we didn’t have the chance. Schwerin Castle in northern Germany looks spectacular. And even though Munchen is not necessarily the most beautiful German town, it has a castle that we will always cherish (because it was the first place we’ve visited in our first trip abroad with Alexei) and that’s Nymphenburg Castle. Well yes, it is impossible to make a list or a top of the most beautiful castles in Germany, there are simply too many of them! 🙂

Targuri de Craciun

RO: Fara niciun dubiu, targurile de Craciun din Germania sunt cele mai frumoase si mai autentice 🙂 Doar ei le-au inventat 🙂 Orice orasel sau satuc german are cate o piata de Craciun si din fericire, am vazut multe, foarte multe astfel de targuri. Ne e un dor nebun de un vin fiert, de o turta dulce si de bunatatile locale vandute la casutele din piete 🙂

EN: Without any doubt, Christmas markets in Germany are the most beautiful and authentic ones 🙂 It couldn’t be different, as they invented them 🙂 Any town or small village has such a Christmas market, and luckily, we’ve seen many of them. We really miss having a mulled wine, some ginger bread and some local goodies from the wooden huts from the markets 🙂

Munchen

RO: Si chiar daca in general preferam locurile mai putin aglomerate, nu putem sa terminam lista fara sa mentionam si trei dintre orasele noastre preferate din Germania. Primul este Munchen, si nu pentru ca ar fi cel mai frumos neaparat, dar pentru ca ne este noua drag. Aici avem niste prieteni extrem de dragi, si datorita lor am vazut orasul cu alti ochi. In Munchen a fost de altfel si prima noastra calatorie cu Alexei pe care am simtit-o ca o gura de aer proaspat, dupa o perioada in care nu mai calatorisem deloc (ultima parte a sarcinii si primele luni postpartum), asa ca pentru noi, Munchen are un loc fruntas 🙂

EN: Even though we generally prefer less crowded places, we can’t finish this list without mentioning three of our favorite big cities in Germany. One of them is Munchen, not because we consider it the most beautiful one, but because we really love it. We have here some dear friends and thanks to them we’ve seen the city through their eyes. Munchen was also the first city we’ve visited after Alexei was born and we felt it like a breath of fresh air, after a long period of time when we couldn’t travel (last months of pregnancy and first months postpartum) so yes, for us, Munchen has a special place in this list 🙂

Berlin

RO: Insa daca ar fi sa alegem un singur oras din Germania despre care sa spunem ca ar fi cel mai reprezentativ tarii (sau cel mai frumos, cel mai interesant) cred ca am alege Berlin. Parca e cel mai intrigant mix de istorie, arta, viata de noapte, mancare. In Berlin sunt de toate pentru toti si are parca un farmec special. Munchen este intr-adevar un oras tipic nemtesc (sau mai corect ar fi sa spunem bavarez, fara a sugera ca cei doi termeni sunt sinonime – vesnica disputa intre landurile germane), cap coada, insa Berlin parca defineste intru totul Germania.

EN: But if we were to choose only one single city in Germany that we consider representative for the country (or the most beautiful one, the most interesting one) I think we would choose Berlin. It seems to be the most intriguing mix of history, art, nightlife, food. Berlin has something for anyone and it really has a special charm. Munchen might be a typical German city (actually it would be more correct to say a typical Bavarian city, without suggesting that the two terms are equal – the eternal argument between the German lands) but Berlin defines Germany completely.

Hamburg

RO: Cel de-al treilea oras Din Germania care ne-a ramas in amintire este Hamburg. Pentru ca este un oras plin de viata, vibrant, cool. Pentru port, pentru arta, pentru istorie, muzica si arhitectura atat de interesanta. Din pacate nu avem atat de multe poze din Hamburg, insa este in topul preferintelor noastre si speram sa ne putem intoarce cat de curand 🙂

EN: The third city in Germany that we loved is Hamburg. Because it is a city full of life, vibrant, cool. We loved the port, the art, the history, the music and the architecture. Unfortunately we do not have so many pictures taken in Hamburg but it is one of our favorite cities and we hope that we will be able to come back soon 🙂