Posts in category: Feature

Paris: The stage of a glamorous Montmartre Show.

Paris. Montmartre – a sphere in its own right

16.04.2025

The Making of a Bohemian Microcosm

Montmartre evolved following a massive urban reconstruction and relocation scheme initiated by a great man of the 19th century: Napoleon III. Together with his ambitious town planning prefect Baron Haussmann, he aimed at creating a mundane Paris of dazzling allure and wanted it to become „the most beautiful city of Europe“ – not without granting spacious plots of land in prime locations to Haussmann, his many friends and financial supporters. By rigorously stomping unsightly areas into the ground and by replacing humble housing by posh manorial edifices and narrow crooked alleyways by grandiose and airy boulevards and squares, Paris’s face was substantially lifted and embellished – albeit at the expense of the less privileged population, who became early victims of gentrification.

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Berlin-Neukölln: From problem child to prodigy?

6.03.2025

It is presumed to be the most colourful, multinational and omnicultural of Berlin’s districts: Neukölln, whose reputation – up to the not too distant past – could be considered controversial at best. Predominantly low-income (German) residents alongside a high rate of immigrants touching the 40 per cent mark have been benefitting from affordable rents and been trying to make ends meet remote from posh Berlin areas. Diverse beliefs; traditions; habits; tongues; skins or dress codes hailing from alien ethnic backgrounds not seldom ignite the precarious potential for social conflict. Better-off Berliners and visitors to the city alike preferred to stay at a safe distance for a reason. Yet, by avoiding the confrontation with a challenging reality, they simultaneously missed out on “glamour” of a quality only thriving in microcosms such as Neukölln.

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Cheetah - South Africa. Copyright Christina Feyerke_2020

Limpopo: About rockefants, soaked cats and kidnapped termites

28.01.2025

Murphy’s law. Sometimes – no matter how much goodwill may have been invested into planning – things just don’t work out the way they should. Take a wildlife safari, for instance and imagine this scenario: At the ungodly hour of four-thirty in the morning, when it is still pitch dark outside, one’s proper physical system has not gained momentum yet, the game reserve is 90 minutes away from the hotel, vision is limited, the vehicle’s irritated GPS fabricates unfathomable directions once the smoothly paved stretch ends and we turn off-road. Rain is pouring (pouring!). Aboard a forlorn minibus a bunch of drowsy journalists are resting their exhausted frames against foggy window panes and limply jump out of their seats involuntarily each time the bus rattles into a pothole with a thud. Or conquers another especially mean hump. And another. 

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Horses galopping in the snow: The White Turf Horse Race in St. Moritz.

White Turf: The „St. Moritz Roar“

19.01.2025

Few places come to mind when the state of “perfect symbiosis” between a resort and its guests is being satisfied. St. Moritz is one of them. In by-gone decades, the glamorous guest list included Charles Chaplin, Greta Garbo, the Kennedy’s and the controversial Shah of Persia. Or actress Brigitte Bardot and Gunter Sachs in each other’s tow. All of them readily showcased themselves on this elitist alpine merry-go-round under the scrutinizing eye of the rainbow press. Whereas generations, nationalities and names on the sophisticated society chart prove exchangeable, the denomination „St. Moritz“ has reliably positioned itself as a sparkling gem safely embedded in craggy mountainous surroundings.

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Feasting in the streets: Adelaide's Food and Wine Festivals are legendary.

South Australia: All-rounder Adelaide

8.11.2024

Where the living is easy, fish are jumping and the conferencing is green

The dynamic city of Adelaide, situated west of where the cotton is high on the Australian continent, seems to have struck it lucky in many respects. Blessed not only with a mild, mediterranean climate and the flattering reputation of being cultured and inspiring, its fortunate citizens also benefit from a value-for-money ratio that allows them to maintain a pleasant and easy-going existence in a safe and clean environment close to a deep-blue sea brimming with resources. Adelaide also throws the frequent mouth-watering feast or festival, lushly catering to the gourmet side of life, and is thus rightly considered South Australia’s undisputed capital of fine cuisine and a good drop of wine here and there. Renowned wine regions – such as the Barossa – are a mere stone’s throw from the city.

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