Half-Day Heroes

I've been doing a spot of research since posting about my exciting New Horizons on how to transform the flyBown blog and today I discovered what I think may well be my new favourite travel site.

12HRS is a beautifully designed corner of the internet dedicated to whistle-stop tours in popular destinations. It's a must-see for those of us who love a micro-holiday and want to get under the skin of a city but don't have enough days in their calendar to do it.

This beautifully clean and flowing website was created by Anna Peuckert, a fashion and travel writer from Cologne along with Danish photographer Søren Jepsen (who is also a fan of Eurovision judging by his tweets this month -  and therefore clearly a fine gentleman in my opinion). Jepsen's imagery in particular brings the content to life and is eyewateringly inspiring and emotive.

One of my personal favourites, unsurprisingly, is their 12HRS itinerary for Berlin led by local hipster Herbert Hofmann who is the Creative Director of an über-cool boutique in Kreuzberg. The feature includes a stop for dinner at a little known restaurant called Silberlöffel - after reading about this it's now penciled in for my next trip!

I'm really looking forward to delving further into this superbly innovative take on travel writing and hopefully the team at 12HRS will keep these entertaining reviews flowing in! I'd love to see them whip up a tour of Tallinn or maybe even the great city of Nottingham... If Anna or Søren happen to stumble across these absolute gems I'd be more than happy to be of assistance!

You can jump straight to the 12HRS in Berlin feature by clicking here, or alternatively, see the entire site in all it's glory by heading to http://www.12hrs.net/

Tease Me...

I have stumbled across something amazing this week.... it's called TRIPTEASE.

This new app for the iPad not only looks stunning, but is completely created by its users to give a really personal alternative to travel reviews.

The format helps readers to quickly digest what the writer is trying to say, with short concise reviews of places, restaurants, hotels and anything else you might be interested in whilst on your travels, all backed up with a big focus on imagery. After all - a picture tells a thousand words!

Here are a few of the reviews I have created so far using the app:

And a few of my favourites created by others:

Triptease is available for free on the Apple app store without ads. Here is a link to my profile which you can also view on a standard web browser: http://triptease.com/profile/adam-bown

Berlin Take 4...

I've been at it again!

3 Days in Deutschland were just what I needed after a rather busy Christmas... Here's what I got up to...

(See my other Berlin posts here, here, and here!)

 "RUG-STAR!"

 An amazing new bike shop that's opened up in Mitte on Rosa-Luxembourg Strasse...

 Interflug in the DDR museum... Right up my street!

 Get off my lawn!!

I found this bizarre shop near Alexanderplatz selling old DDR bric-a-brac... I REALLY wanted the 'Exquisit' carrier bag (Exquisit was the old DDR shop selling high-end western products to try and generate some foreign currency for the government...) but the store was closed! :(

Goodbye Lenin!

OK so in my last post I said that the German film Mannerherzen was at the top of my must-see list, but when I was watching the trailer, I stumbled across this. Goodbye Lenin is a moving comedy about a woman who suffers a hear attack just before the fall of the Berlin wall and wakes up from a coma eight months later when her family have to convince her that nothing has happened.

It stars Daniel Bruhl (of Inglorious Basterds fame). You must see this film - its epic!

Berlin, You Are Wonderful... Ich Liebe Berlin!

This is the video for the song Wonderful by Gary Go, filmed on a Berlin rooftop with some great shots of the city and its people... The song was used as part of the production soundtrack to the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf. I think it's a really uplifting and empowering song...

The song was made popular in Germany after it was used on the soundtrack to the film Männerherzen, and is at the top of my must-see list for next week after I hand in my final uni work. Ich Liebe Berlin, Ich Liebe Deutschland...

Back in Berlin

Here are a couple of shots from my 3rd visit to the German capital... This city really is my favorite place in the world - I hope to live here one day.

Installation gone mad - Outside the KW Gallery the curb has been swiveled underneath the building!

Tempelhof metro station

Tempelhof airport - How bizarre to be able to walk down an actual airport runway in the centre of Berlin!?

Apartments opposite my favorite gallery of them all. I would very much like to live here now please :)

Ich Liebe Berlin

This is my first trip to Berlin, back in 2009 with my old housemate. I fell in love with the place straight away...

This is a cute little shop in Mitte called The Early Bird Hype that showcases all-new brands to Berlin from local and international designers and artists. The shop is really low-density so you can appreciate each product individually. The staff were great too...

 Token tourist photo of the Berlin TV Tower...

This is a baby wear shop also in Mitte just around the corner from The Early Bird Hype... I LOVE how the ultra-clinical and minimal store design echoes the functional product offer yet is contrasted on the exterior by a very grungy street looking shop front with graffiti and dirty walls - very cool!

I took this photo through the window of a shop that was unfortunately closed. I was interested in the flooring of the store which had been covered in rolls of pre-production orange juice cartons.