Tobago (polski) - 2013/12

Tobago to mała karaibska wyspa odkryta prze Krzysztofa Koluba na Oceanie Atlantyckim, majaca 42km długości. Od 1962 roku jest niezależną republiką razem z sasiadującym większym Trinidadem. 

Tobago jest zamieszkałe przez 60 tys ludzi i setli tysiące corocznie odwiedzających turystów szukających słońca i karaibskiego stylu wypoczynku. W 1963 roku Tobago zostało zniszczone przez huragan Fiona i w ramach odbudowy rząd postanowił postawić na turystykę. Ale w przeciwieństwie do innych wysp karaibskich na Tobago nie ma luksusowych all-inclusive ośrodków wypoczynkowych tylko małe hotele i prywatne kwatery. To jest idealna lokalizacja dla turystów szukających spokoju, plaży, słońca i zimnego piwa. 

Na wyspie jest pare dobrych restauracji ale nie należą do najtańszych i nie jest łatwo je znaleść. Jak przystało na karaiby, zazwyczaj nikt się tu nie spieszy i wiekszość z restauracji ma nieregularne godziny otwarcia. Ale jest mnóstwo małych kiosków serwujacych frytki z kurczakiem czy rybą i roti (placek z mąki razowej).

Tobago było kolonizowane przez Holendrów, Francuzów i Anglików dlatego też do dziś większość miejscowości jest holenderskiego, francuskiego lub angielskiego pochodzenia. Głównym miastem Tobago jest Scarborough. Jest to ruchliwy port i nie wielu turystów zatrzymuje się tutaj. Najwięcej zatrzymuje sie w okolicach lotniska gdyż są tam najładniejsze i najszersze plaże, w innych częściach wyspy plaże sa kamieniste i szare.
Poniżej pare zdjęć z Charlottesville w pln-wsch części wyspy:

My spędziliśmy pierwsze 2 dni w Castara- małej wiosce rybackiej godzinę jazdy przez góry z lotniska mino że to tylko 30km gdzyż droga była kręta a nawierzchnia nie najlepsza.

Zatrzymaliśmy sie w Angels Apartments położonych tuż przy małej plaży. Rano można było obserwować powracające kutry, w dzień życie toczyło sie bardzo wolno i spokojnie a wieczorem z potężnych głośników instalowanych w bagażnikach samochodów zaparkowanych w porcie i na parkingu rozbrzmiewała Caribbean reggae and R&B. Czas upłynął nam bardzo szybko, byliśmy na 8km spacerze do Englishman Zatoki i dużo czasu spędziliśmy na tarasie pijąc zimne piwo.

Na trzeci dzień ruszyliśmy przez góry do kolejnej małej rybackiej wioski Boccoo.  Nasz apartment, The Nest, położony był 15 minutes pieszo od wioski, widok był super ale szum samochodów i głośna muzyka z pobliskiego baru psuła wieczorną atmosferę. Boccoo było małe z paroma sklepami i dwoma restauracjami - włoska, która nam nie przypadla do gustu i El Pescadore serwujacą pyszne krewetki i kraby w sosie kokosowym.  

Boccoo jest znane z wyścigów kóz na specjalnie wybudowanym stadionie. Co niedziele wieczór odbywa się tam sławna na wyspie Sunday School (niedzielna szkoła) - wioska sie ożywia, przed domami pojawiają sie grile a na metalowych bębnach gra localna orkiestra. Zarówno turyści jak i lokalni piją piwo i pokazują zdolności taneczne. Jak my byliśmy to akurat była burza i wyłaczyli prąd w calej wsi co spowodowało, ze impreza nabrała jeszcze więcej uroku.

Tak minęło nam 5 dni na plaży pijąc piwo i podziwiając ocean. Byliśmy na statku ze szklanym dnem podziwiać rafy kolarowe i sanktuarium ptaków.

Ku naszemu zdziwieniu Nowy Rok obchodzono bardzo spokojnie. Celebracje odbywały sie głównie w osrodkach wypoczynkowych a mieszkańcy spędzili wieczór spiewając i słuchając muzyki w ewangelickich kościołach. Więc nasz Nowy Rok też był bardzo spokojny, roti na wynos na plaży z paroma piwami po czym siedzenie na tarasie w apartamęcie i oglądanie pokazów firework i popijając rumem z coca-colą zamiast szampanem. Patrząc wstecz to było całkiem fajne powitanie.

W przedostatni dzień wynajeliśmy taxi i pojechaliśmy objechać wyspę, popłynęliśmy na wyspę Małe Tobago, gdzie znajduje się wielkie sanktuarium ptaków oraz poszliśmy zobaczyć reklamowany Agryl wodospad - aczkolwiek okazał się niezbyt imponujący.

Ostatni dzień spędziliśmy na naszej ulubionej plaży Pigeon Point, pływając, pijąc piwo i ciesząc sie słońcem. To było perfekcyjne zakończenie wakacji.

Wróciliśmy wypoczęci czyli główny cel wyjazdu został spełniony - po dość pracowitym roku dla nas. Czy wrócimy? Nie, mieliśmy fajny czas i odpoczęliśmy ale brakowało tam czegoś co by nas oczarowalo , czegoś niespotkanego nigdzie indziej co by pozostało w pamieci na zawsze.

PS. W Trinidadzie (sąsiednia wyspa, 2 godz promem) znajduje sie jedno z 6 na świecie naturalnych jezior asfaltowych (46ha, 106m głębokości). To asfaltem stąd pokryta jest Pensylwania Ave w Washington DC przy której znajduje sie Biały Dom.

Tobago - 2013/12

Tobago is a small Caribbean island, measuring only 42km in length.  Since 1962 it forms an independent republic together with a larger neighbouring island of Trinidad.  Strangely it's located just outside the boundaries of the Caribbean Sea on the Atlantic Ocean and is the closest Caribbean island to mainland South America.

There are about 60 thousands people living on the island but thousands more visit the island every year as tourists looking for some sun and relaxation Caribbean style.  Since the Fiona hurricane in 1963 destroyed most of the agriculture on the island the government turned to building back the tourism as leading industry on the island.  You would be mistaken to think that it resulted in luxury resorts and world class facilities.  Unlike on other Caribbean islands bustling with night life and covered by all-inclusive resorts Tobago surprises with low key laid back atmosphere small hotels, pensions and private accommodation and narrow windy roads.  It's a place for holidaymakers looking to kick back and relax on a sandy beach with a book and a beer and enjoy some rum and some roti in the evening. 

There are a few good restaurants but they tend to be quite pricey, not easy to find, the menu can be quite limited and generally they all have their own opening times. Nobody is usually in a hurry and everything takes its time so don't expect a western style service.  Aside the expensive tourist restaurants the is a multitude of small food kiosks and bars serving fare based around chicken, fish, chips and roti.

Due to the colonial history of Tobago most of the names of places originate from England, France or Holland.  The main town is called Scarborough. It's busy with traffic and it's a location of the main port on the island.  Not many tourists stop there, instead option to head straight from the airport, located just a few miles away, to one of the destinations on the north shore.  The Northern beaches tent to be nicer, wider and made of a golden colour sand as opposed to the Southern beaches which are narrow and dark.
Below Charlottesville in north-east part of the island:

We decided to spend the first two days in a small village called Castara.  It's a working fishing village located one hour drive from the airport across the mountains covered in tropical rainforest.  The distance is actually only 20 miles but the road is very narrow, hilly and the surface quite bad in places.

We stayed in a Angels Apartments located right on a small beach and overlooking the bay.  In the morning you can observe the fishing boats returning from the sea, during the day the village life seems to be very slow and laid back and in the evening all the small bars open and you can hear Caribbean reggae and R&B music streaming from the bars and big loudspeakers installed in the cars parked in the port.  Our two days passed very quickly with long swims in the sea, a walk to the nearby Englishman's Bay and sitting on the balcony drinking cold beer.

After two days we headed back through the mountains to a small fishing village called Boccoo.  Our apartment, The Nest, was actually located by quite a busy road about 15 minutes walk from the village.  The view from our balcony from the hilltop was spectacular and the lush surroundings were very pleasant but unfortunately we also experienced quite a lot of noise from the busy road and a nearby bar which disturbed the idyllic nature of the place.  The village was nice enough with some shops, a port, a few food stalls and a couple of restaurants which came highly recommended.  We tried both and the Italian was disappointing but the El Pescadore was very nice, if somewhat pricey.  

The Boccoo village also hosts an annual goats race at the especially made for this purpose stadium and every Sunday evening it hosts the famous Sunday School.  Every Sunday evening the village bursts into action with outdoor barbecues and live drums music played by the local Steel Orchestra.  Both tourists and locals after some rum and a few beers take it to the dance floor to show off their best moves.  When we were there coincidentally when the party was just warming up a big storm closed in and the power got cut off which just added to the surreal atmosphere of the event.

The rest of the 5 days we spent mostly on the beach soaking in the atmosphere, drinking cold beer and enjoying the ocean.  One day we took a glass bottom boat trip to the Boccooreef for some snorkelling and visited a bird sanctuary nearby. 

In contrast for New Year's Eve the celebrations were limited to the tourist's resorts with not much happening in the village.  The locals don't really seem to party on that day instead opting to spent time singing and playing music at one of the many gospel churches.  Our New Year's Eve ended up being quiet too with some roti on the seafront and some beers and watching the fireworks from our balcony at midnight toasting with rum instead of champagne.  In a way that was much more fitting than a big party.

On the penultimate day we hired a taxi driver to take us across to the other end of the island to Charlotville, took a glass boat trip to the nearby island of Little Tobago, stopping on the Angel Reef for snorkelling and on the way back hiked to the Agryl waterfalls.

The last day was spent on the beach at Pigeon Point, swimming, drinking cold beer and relaxing in the sun.  It was a perfect end to the holiday.

In the end we are returning much more relaxed, so mission of the holiday accomplished as it was quite a busy year for us.  Would we return?  Probably not, we had a great time and in a way the holiday was perfect for what we needed but as a destination Tobago lacks any special "wow" features that would really amaze you that you could not find anywhere else in the world to make it stand out and make you want to return.

PS. In Trinidad (neighbouring island, 2 hours by ferry) is the largest tar pits (asphalt lakes) covering 40ha and 75m deep. Pennsylvania Ave next to White House in Washington DC is paved with the asphalt from Trinidad. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go and see it ourselves.

Berlin - 2013/10

Berlin according to the travel books is very relaxed city, very laid-back. Unfortunately we usually struggle with the relaxation and always have fully packed schedule and rushing somewhere. We treated Berlin as catching up with the history lessons so we went on 2 tours to learn about the things we should learn in the classroom but never did.

Cecilenhof in Poczdamie - this is the place when big three (US - Truman, UK - Churchill and Russia - Stalin) met on 17 Jul 1945 to discuss post war future of the III Reich, which resulted in the decision to divide Germany and Berlin into 4 occupation zones.

Reichstag is the residence of the German parliament Bundestag. Until the fire in 1933, this baroque building was a residence of the parliament. A young communist from the Netherlands van dee Lubbe, has been blamed for the fire by Nazi party. Newly elected as an Chancellor, Hitler, used this accident to convince president Hindenburg to use article 48 and to call the emergency times, which resulted in suspending most of the civil liberties, burning all publications not called "Nazi" friendly and arresting opposition leaders. This all happened few weeks before the election. Adding the heavy propaganda, Nazi party managed increased number of the seats and with the allies managed to get the majority.

NSDAP  = National Socialist German Workers Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)

Naziz = is an abbreviation of Nationalsozialismus 

After Germany Unification, 3 Oct 1990 the building has be redecorated and became again the residence of the parliament. New glass copula has been built on the roof, which can be visited today free of charge. The in

The story of the photograph showing Russian flag flying over Reichstag taken in May 1945 is interesting - photo used by Red Army as symbol of winning the war as a Reichtag was considered by Red Army as a Nazi symbol. In reality the Reichstag never was re-built after the fire by the Nazi and never used by them, they built new chancery near. Additionally that photo has been censored. On the original photo the soldier has 2 watches so one has been removed to avoid accusation of robbery and additionally the smoke in the background has been copied from another picture to make it look more dramatic.

 


photos from wikipedia one the left original photo (2 watches, smoke) on the right after adjustment

156km Berlin Wall was built overnight on 13 Sep 1961. At the time Berlin was occupied by UK, USA, France and Soviet Union, this was time of the cold war. While UK, US and France invested into the infrastructure the Russian were taking the advantage which resulted in young professionals escaping to Western Berlin to make a better life. To stop it the wall has been erected surrounded by the death strip (all houses in the close proximity to the wall have been destroyed, covered in sand to easily spot the footprints and in same placed mined. The wall survived 28 years until 9-10 Nov 1989, the night the boarders between east and west Berlin opened, it actually was taken down in Oct 1990.
3 Oct is German Unity Day, is public holiday to celebrate the Germany and Berlin being reunified.

piece of wall near Luftwaffe building close to the grounds where SS and Gestapo HQ were

Brandenburg Gate on Pariser Platz - probably the most recognisable future of Berlin with the characteristic quadriga on the top. Originally this was goddess of peace Eirene but after Napoleon concurred Berlin in 1806 he decided to take it to his private museum in Paris. But when Prusia concurred Paris in 1814 it has been returned back to Berlin but since then it's called goddess of victory.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is interesting made of 2711 slabs, each of them different size arranged in the grid pattern. The author newer reveled how to read it and why number 2711 forcing all to have its own interpretation. The pomnik has been opened in 2004.

Fuhrerbunker were air-raid shelters next to the Reich Chancellery. Today there is parking and the Chancellery has been replaced with the residential buildings. The Red Army tried to distroy the bunkers with no much success and they are made of 3.5m concrete. This is the place where Adolf Hitler married Ewa Braun and day later they both committed suicide (Hitler shot himself while Ewa took cyanide. Hitler was paranoid that the Stalin will used his body as a trophy and ordered to be buried. There is many theories - soviet claimed that they found the body of Hitler and the dental assistant could identify him based on the dental records while other theory says that he escaped to South America. It is believed that Hitler was addicted to amphetamines, took many pills and some of them were believed to be prescribed at the time to cure Parkinson's disease. 

Previous bunker is now parking and previous Reich Chancellery is replaced by the residential flats

Around the bunker was the III Reich Chancellery. In 1938 Hitler, decided that he won't be sitting the soap shop charged yound architect Albert Speer with the task of building new chancellery. And within 1 year with huge expense the new building was built (4k workers worked day and night). Speers was told to built the building that would make a impression on the people and was given a blank cheque. The Hitler's gabinet itself had 400m2. All has been destroyed except the red marble walls that were used to restore Mohrenstraße station.

Luftwaffe building, is one of the few buildings that survived and were not destroyed, It has over 2k offices and today it is a headquarter of the Ministry of Finance.

Herman Goring, was a commander-in-chef of the Luftwaffe since 1935. He was highly decorated veteran of World War I. Addicted to morphine since 1923 when he was treated for his injuries. He was known for his extravagant test and parties. He was married to Emma Sonnermann (Hitler was a best man) and has one daughter Edna (Hitler was a godfather). As Hitler was not married Emma often played part of the first lady of the Reich . Gorring was a highest rank officer put before the Nuremburg Tribunal (according to pre-trial documents he was kept in Luxemburg prison where he was put on diet to loose 30kg and at the time he was addicted to 4g morphine a day, he had a high IQ of 138). He was sentenced to death by hanging but committed suicide by taking a cyanide he bough from the american guard.

Joseph Goebbels was a minister of propaganda, excellent speaker. At the tie Nazi party controlled 90% of newspapers so his job was relatively easy. On of his best idea was giving every family radio, which allowed him to use both medias for the propaganda. At the end of 1930 his job was done and his star didn't shine as bright in the eyes of Hitler but he remained loyal and committed suicide in the same bunker as Hitler together with his wife and their 6 kids (they were given cyanide while in sleep).

Heinrich Himmler chef od SS, gestapo, police and internal affairs. He set up the concentration camps, first of which was in Dachau near Munich on grounds of SS. Hitler himself never visited any of the camps himself. It is believed that to keep his importance intact he was behind the few unsuccessful attacks on Hitlers life in order to made him paranoid. After Berlin was taken over by a Red Army he tried to escaped dressed as lower rank gestapo officer but was stopped by the British patrol. During the interrogation he swallowed the cyanide he had hidden in the tooth feeling.

Olympic Stadium, the original plan was to host the 1936 Olympics on the stadium that was built for 1916 Olympics, which never took place due to the I World War. But after Nazi took the power they decided to use the Olympics for the propaganda and ordered building a new stadium in 2 year with the capacity of 50k. Berlin 1936 Olympics were the first olmpics where the relay caring the flame from the Olympia in Greece, which is still cultivated today.  The Nazi tried to stopped from the participation all Jews but under the pressure and fear of boycott they backed off. Although Hitler never presented the medal to the participant of the "wrong" race incl Jassie Owen, who was black American and won 4 gold medals in the sprint and long jump. He has been persuaded by Adi Dasler, the co-founder of Adidas, to wear his shoes - it is believed to be first sponsorship for a Afro-America male sportsman.

In Berlin there is many bears (some of them even jump) - the bear is in the the coat of arms and secondly there was initiative in last few years to take the art to the street and as a results over 300 painted bears appeared on the street of Berlin.

Great place to visit, especially if you can combined it with the family reunion. If there weather is good you bound to have a great time.