Archive for the 'Cosmos Jewels of the Baltic Tour' Category

Berlin’s Empire of Sex – Cosmos Tour

Saturday, June 11th, 2011

Beate Uhse, a woman, runs the largest sex empire in the world – sex shows, shops and the Erotik Museum in Berlin.


Berlin Statues Named – Cosmos Tour

Saturday, June 11th, 2011

Berliners have a real sense of humor and love to rename their statues, monuments and
buildings:

The lipstick and the compact

The Pope’s revenge

Jimmy Carter smile

Cheapest lady in Berlin

Garden of Eden

Communist East Berlin built a huge TV tower (shown here), one of the tallest structures in Europe. There’s a restaurant in the middle in a giant silver globe. One concept that the architects hadn’t factored in was how sunlight strikes the globe. It forms the shape of a cross. In those days of an Atheistic communistic state, this was called “The Pope’s revenge”.

Jobs for East Berliners – Cosmos Tours

Saturday, June 11th, 2011

After the Berlin wall fell and East Berliners flooded into West Berlin, they had a hard time keeping a job, since they were not used to working a full 8-hour day. It really wasn’t their fault, as there weren’t enough goods to keep stores open all day.

Berlin’s Humboldt University – Cosmos Tour

Saturday, June 11th, 2011

Humboldt University in Berlin founded way back in 1810 by Frederic the Great has had 27 Nobel Prize winners. Both Grimm brothers and Einstein taught here.

Swimming in Berlin – Cosmos Tour

Saturday, June 11th, 2011

There is a 1 mile beach on the river Spree in the heart of Berlin.

Toll Castles – Cosmos Tour

Monday, May 30th, 2011

And you thought it was only in modern times that invented the toll booth for cars… In 1207 in Segulda, Latvia, when waterways were the highways, there were 3 toll castles on both banks of the Gauja river. In the summer, operas are staged at the Segulda Castle and there’s a hot air balloon festival here.

Soviet Architecture – Cosmos Tour

Monday, May 30th, 2011

When Stalin was in power Soviet buildings were designed in a classical style. After his death all buildings were designed for function rather than esthetics.

So you could go north to south or east to west in the country and find rows and rows of the same plain concrete apartment or government buildings. These buildings are still very much present on the Baltics.

Love Locks – Cosmos Tour

Monday, May 30th, 2011

In Riga and Segulda, Latvia, you may see padlocks attached to small bridges. These were placed here by lovers who lock them on and then throw the key into the river below to ensure their love is locked forever. This tradition actually started in Italy.

Do you think anyone goes diving to retrieve them?

Baltic or Nordic – Cosmos Tour

Monday, May 30th, 2011
Estonians don’t like to be referred to as a Baltic nation. They prefer Nordic. However the rest of the world calls them Baltic.

Baltic Sea Islands – Cosmos Tour

Monday, May 30th, 2011

Estonia has 1,520 islands (in the Baltic Sea) while Latvia, so close by, has none.