➸ NYC in your living room

Even though it wasn’t love at first sight, my favourite city on this planet earth is New York City. A lot of crazy and great memories happened there. So what is the best way to keep these special moments in your everyday life? Of course you can hang up pictures. But another nice option are books. I am obsessed with books. But I am even more obsessed with books about New York City. Therefore, I collected a few of them (and I bet these aren’t the last ones) and today I want to share them with all of you.

Something for everyday: table calendar

This is a calendar with pictures and quotes about the City for every day of the year. The perfect little thing to cheer your day up in the morning or to give you a break from work. This one is the “TASCHEN365, Day-by-Day, New York” from  “Taschen Verlag.

Something for the kitchen: NY Cooking book.

“New YorkCult receipts”,  from Murdoch Books , has all the classic NYC cooking recipes in it. You can choose from a classic cheeseburger, Jewish food to fancy Asian soup. Yummy! … and I think I already found my next cooking book: “I heart NY” 

Something for the eyes: coffee-table books

Flick through these kinds of books and you end up discovering a new place you want to go to or having a nostalgic trip back to the places you’ve been before. I don’t mind either of them.

Here are the three coffee-table books I collected so far: The first one is from “Dumont” 

The second one is from a publisher called “Kunth” 

The last book is about the street art of Banksy ( I think you heard of him) in New York, “Banksy in New York” from “Carnage NYC”.

Something for the next trip: Travel guides

When you love the City just like me, you always wanna plan your next trip, even when you don’t know when it’s gonna happen!  

Here I have two out of many options for you:  the New York guide from “Dorling Kinsley”  or a very old one “ Book of New York Walks”from the Time Out/ Penguin. This is a very old one I got from a flea market, but I love it.

➸ What's in my hand luggage ... the liquid edition

In my last “what’s in my hand luggage” edition I spared out the liquids. So here they are … let’s jump right into it!

Skincare

Firstly, the very important stuff: skincare. I never ever travel (especially fly) without a very rich moisturiser. My skin responds very badly to air cons on planes or trains. Here I have the “aqua balance cremegel” from a German brand called “Alverde”. For my under-eye-area I use the “Balea” roll on, perfect for some refreshment. But before I apply my skin care, I of course take my make-up off. So I always carry around a liquid make-up remover or some wipes. Afterwards I use a facial wash like the “simple – kind to skin moisturising facial wash”.

Hair and body

When I’m away just for a week or a few days I never take a full sized shampoo, conditioner or body wash. I collected a few mini versions and always refill them before I go.  Something which has just recently become a constant travel buddy is my dry shampoo. Let me tell you: after a long flight or a night at the airport it can make a huge difference. Here I have the German version of the “Aussie – Miracle dry shampoo”.

To avoid annoying everybody around you because of a bad smell, I put on a deodorant. I can highly recommend a roll on deodorant, because sometimes they don’t let you on an airplane with an aerosol spray. Additionally, I have travel-sized perfume with me. At the moment it is the “Daydream from Aerie”.  Love it!   

Uncategorized things

What is a tooth brush without its tooth paste? So these two belong definitely in my clear plastic bag.  Just as something for the lips. I love to take a classic:  the “Elisabeth Arden – Eight Hour Cream”. It’s perfect for your lips, not just on long-haul flights, but in general. My last thing I can’t go without is an anti-bacterial hand gel. Travel transportations are covered with tons of bacteria. So it’s nice to use something like the “pocket bag from bath and body works” now and then.

What’s your favourite liquid you can’t miss while you travel the world?

➸ A Postcard from Tübingen

Hello and welcome back to #VideoWednesday! This week you receive a little sneaky postcard from a lovely old town called Tübingen in the south of Germany. It's famous for the old university and the punts on the river "Necker".

Enjoy xxx :) Steffi 

➸ Why Copenhagen is the perfect stopover

You’re off to America or some place in Asia, but you can’t get a direct flight? Here are some reasons why this isn’t a problem at all and why you should consider Copenhagen as a stopover!

Last time I travelled to New York, I had a 6 hours plus layover in this lovely city. It was a little holiday before the holiday, a little extra sweet treat before the actual candy store visit.

The Airport connection

…. Is perfect! You just hop on a train/ on the metro and arrive downtown within 15 minutes. When you drop off at “Kongens Nytorv” you will find yourself right next to the “Strøget” aka the shopping area.

What Copenhagen has to offer you
Where to begin? I created a little walk through the city with the help of a google map picture. You will need a few hours but you can definitely do it in one day! When you wander around the streets you will find a lot of sweet shops or cafés, just keep your eyes open! 

1. Nyhavn – a little channel surrounded by coloured houses, here you will find a lot of restaurants and cafés

2.The Opera

3. Amalienborg – the residence of the royal family

4. Little Mermaid – Denmark’s famous landmark, a statue created based on the fairy tale “The little Mermaid” by Hans Christian Anderson

5. Kastellet

6.Rosenborg – a renaissance castle

7. Pink Area - is the shopping district. Especially the “Strøget” is a very popular street.

8. Tivoli – a very old theme park

9. Gammel Strand – here you find some very old and nice house, by the way “Gammel Strand” just means old beach

10. Christiansborg – a government building that houses the parliament, the supreme court and rooms of the prime minister

11. Christiania – the self-constituted free state

Saving money, kind of

The countries in North Europe are known for not being the cheapest ones. So instead of spending your money on a whole weekend trip, you can have a cheaper one-day-experience without having to pay for an expensive hotel.

Getting around

To get around in Copenhagen very fast you can just walk or can rent a bike. Most of the sights are very close together, so you can see a lot in a short period of time. Another cool option is to go on a boat tour.