The Monday Podcast

The Salt Lounge in Oberursel

Graham — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:10:34 +0000

This week the Monday Podcast visited the Salt Lounge in Oberursel. The salt lounge is a place that people can go to, in order to relax and enjoy the salt air. There is one grotto for families and other for business people.

We talked to the owner Sven Warth about how he came up with the idea, why people go there, and where all the salt comes from.

Sven Warth in the Salt Lounge

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Schwebebad Oberursel

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Winter in Germany

Graham — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:50:01 +0000

With Germany experiencing the coldest winter for 13 years we decided to change our plans for the weekend and took our sledge out instead.

This gave us not only a rare chance to go sledging on the hills of Camp King, but also to talk about some of the things that German residents – and possibly long-term visitors – need to know about: Winter tyres, snow-clearing duty and a lack of salt.

Sledging in Camp King

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Christmas Markets in 2009

Graham — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:59:59 +0000

It has not been a good year for the Christmas markets in Germany. With so much damp and wet weather, many people have been staying away from them. After all, it is not much fun drinking Glühwein in the rain.

It has only been the last weekend in December when the temperature sank below zero – actually it sank a long way below zero – and there was some snow on the ground.

So rather than the planned series of podcasts from local Christmas markets, here is a summary of our attempts to visit them during the past weeks:

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Andrea Hitchcock – Outdoor Lanzarote

Graham — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:00:44 +0000

In our last podcast from Lanzarote we talk to Andrea Hitchcock, a British ex-pat who has started a new blog specifically about outdoor activities on the island.

In her first posts she has been writing about walks and hikes that she has tried out and documented, and whilst not many tourists probably take hike boots with them on holiday at the moment, she is opening up a new side of Lanzarote that may well catch on with walkers in the future.

Links
Outdoor Lanzarote

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Nick Ball on Lanzarote

Graham — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:35:55 +0000

This week we continue with our podcasts from Lanzarote. During our recent visit we met up with Nick Ball, the author of the “Lanzarote Guidebook” – a free guide to the island that can be downloaded online and is also distributed by car-hire companies.

He talked to us about how he started the Guidebook, its continuing production and about the future plans that he has for it.

Nick Ball in Puerto del Carmen (Lanzarote)

Links
Lanzarote Guidebook

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Mike Cliffe-Jones on Lanzarote

Graham — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:54:18 +0000

On our recent visit to Lanzarote we visited Mike Cliffe-Jones, a British ex-pat, at the Puerto del Carmen offices of his company ¡Estupendo! We talked to him about his book „Living in Lanzarote”, about moving to the island and the services that his company offers. We also talked about his connections with Germany and touched on a few of his favourite things…

Mike Cliffe-Jones outside the ¡Estupendo! office in Puerto del Carmen (Lanzarote)

Links
¡Estupendo!
Lanzarote Information
@mikecj on Twitter
“Living in Lanzarote” at Amazon.com

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The White Tower of Bad Homburg

Graham — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:08:50 +0000

The White Tower in Bad Homburg

Our last visit to a tower in this summer took us to Bad Homburg where we visited the White Tower (Weißer Turm). The tower is located in the middle of the castle, and it took us a while to find the right entrance and then where to get the key from.

Once we had the key, we had the tower almost to ourselves. The tower contains a museum so that rather than just climb to the top, you can read about its history at different levels on the way up.

Currently the tower costs 1EUR for adults and 50 cents for children to enter. The car park “Schloß” near the entrance and most of the buses that go through the town stop nearby.

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Größere Kartenansicht

A day in Venlo

Graham — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:48:26 +0000

This week the Monday Podcast took a trip to Venlo – a town situated just over the Dutch border.

It is easily reached from Germany via the A40 and A61 motorways and many people go over the border to shop, as some things are considerably cheaper on the Dutch side, coffee being the prime example of this.

The town played a pivotal role in the Second World War, as it was an indicent that took place there between British, Dutch and German intelligence that gave Germany a reason to invade the Netherlands, citing the incident as proof that the country was no longer neutral.

For those wishing to sample the Dutch culture, but not able to speak the language, Venlo offers a good opportunity as most of the people serving in shops and cafés also speak German and the menus in restaurants are often in both languages.

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Größere Kartenansicht

The Hexenturm in Idstein

Graham — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:14:27 +0000

Idsteiner Hexenturm

This week, the Monday Podcast visits the “Hexenturm” in Idstein, which literally translates as the “witches’ tower”.

Parts of the tower date from the 12th Century, but the name comes from events that took place in the town in the 17th Century when a number of people in the area were accused of witchcraft.

The tower itself is normally locked, so the key has to be collected from the tourist information office a short distance away.

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Größere Kartenansicht

A weekend in Sonsbeck

Graham — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:52:17 +0000

Last weekend I was invited to take part in a camp for former leaders and helpers of the Scout Group in the town of Sonsbeck, in the Niederrhein part of Germany.

Although I was never an actual member of that particular group, I have been in contact with them for the past 23 years and have visited them regularly throughout that time.

Find out why, and what happened at the camp, in this week’s podcast:

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