In the tropical forest. From Potsdam

The Celsius degrees are getting lower and lower each day despite the sunny appearances. I feel the autumn running away and me getting more and more annoyed by the prospects of the long winter. With a very busy week of intensive travel ahead, I wanted to say goodbye to Potsdam for a while, with a visit to a place I never been before: the tropical forest of the Biosphere.

I go to Potsdam at least once the month because I love being there more than anywhere else in Germany, but never been to Biosphere as it is relatively far away from the central area. However, with a direct tram from the Central Station, I arrived in less than 30 minutes.

As when I went it was Germany's National Holiday - 3rd of October -, there were plenty of people on the street, especially children that made the most part of the public of the Biosphere. But the Biosphere is for every age category. It combines in a very smart way the complicated scientific explanations with practical experiences.

The tropical forest was full of life: the dinosaurs are moving their head and screaming strange warning, the colourful birds are tweeting in their cages and the kids are running around asking repeatedly their parents if the lizards or the sleeping bats from the ceiling are real or trying to spot the snakes hiding under the sandy pieces of wood in the aquariums. On a table, in the tropical forest, bowls with different spices invite the visitors to touch, smell and taste the various types: ginger, muscat, cinnamon, pepper among them.

I liked wandering in the tropical forest and looking up at the huge trees. The orange fish were jumping in a small lake and the flowers of different colours were bringing more life to the green background. I also spent some long minutes watching the rodents eating or sleeping all together in a small corner. But nothing compared with the experience of staying in the house of butterflies. A small room, with colourful butterflies flying carefree between the visitors ready to take pictures of them. I even saw the next generation of butterflies, some white caterpillars laying lazy on a big green leave.

There are so many flowers in the tropical forest, but unfortunately, there were not too many details about what types of flowers I was looking at. The basic explanations are in German, but I also some presentation leaflets in English. As in the case of Kew Gardens, the Aquarium part is rather modest, but at the scale of the project of the Biosphere, the fish should be only a small part of the plan of explaining the nature. At the beginning and the end of the journey, short movies are introducing the world of the dinosaurs and the situation of the tropical forest, useful but I could not wait to be back in the real green area. Three hours went so fast, but time doesn't matter too much when you enjoy every second of your stay.

For more images, check my Pinterest board: http://www.pinterest.com/ilanaontheroad/biosph%C3%A4re-potsdam/

The visit was kindly facilitated by Biosphere Potsdam, but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Exploring nature and science in Potsdam

After spending almost one full day in the wonderful dream factory of Babelsberg Film Studios, we are too tired to do anything else than taking the train back to Berlin. Although the to-do-list for the day was slightly complex, we preferred rather to delay all the priorities for a new trip, maybe when the weather is better. A couple of days after, here we are, back to my favourite part of Germany. This time, we avoid the urban area and the tempting coffee houses as all we want to do is hiking. The first stop, almost 15 minutes away from the train station, the climbing park - AbenteuerPark.

We are near the Wissenschaftpark/Science park, an area with many interesting science institutes, going fast forward in the woods. Joggers and bikers are outstripping us, but we just walk, enjoying the pleasant ride and the fresh air. Wooden tables and chairs are inviting the exhausted explorers to stop for a pick nick or a stop. Maybe the next time.

As we arrive in an open field, we hear voices amplified by megaphones and we are sane enough to stop and figure out what is going on. It is not an illusion, but something is going on and maybe we would like to join the party too! We see a high yard and a brown bricked building and curious, we enter through the gate. A man hurry us to a small arena, where we sit on benches watching explanations about eagles, hawks and owls. The explanations, in German, are giving insights about the behavior, eating habits and mood of those birds.

We are told, for instance, that the feather up on the head of the owls means that they are in the good mood. Hopefully, the ones we are showed are happy ones, otherwise I don't know how I would have react seeing them flying centimetres away from my head. All the birds from Falkenhof - the name of the place we arrived by accident -  are well trained and friendly and recording them on video is uneventful.

Back to the city - as we apparently went a bit lost, but it was for a good birdy adventure though - we pass the Am Wald street bordered on one side by houses with interesting roofs - reminding me of some interesting sample of architecture in Bad Saarow and on the other side by the forest. At least during the summer, it is good to live here.

We are back at the Central Station area and we go again till the Wissenschaftpark/Science park. Science and research are well appreciated in Germany and very often the research institute benefits of important funds and also interesting architecture. Several institutions, among which of Astrophysics, Weather observatory and also Physics are hosted here. It is situated on the Telegraphberg - the Telegraph mountain - an important standpoint in the newly telegraph line created in this part of Germany at the end of the 19th century.

One of the most famous buildings on the Telegraphberg is Einstein Tower. It was designed by the architects Erwin Finlay Freundlich and Erich Mendelsohn and was aimed to demonstrate that Einstein's theory of relativity doesn't work. Even though the experiment failed, the building remained and it's nowadays often visited by tourists. The science park was given the name of Einstein, who lived for a short while also close from here, at Caputh.

I never leave Potsdam with an easy heart and after so much walking and many interesting discoveries, I want to stay a little bit more. The Latino open air bar El Purto, near the harbor, is my last stop. After a crème brulée and a coffee, I am ready to go. But promise to be back soon. The memories of the summer in Potsdam always keep me warm during the long winters.

For more pictures from Potsdam, including from previous trips, have a look at my dedicated Pinterest board: http://www.pinterest.com/ilanaontheroad/potsdam/

At the Babelsberg Film Studios

I wanted to visit the Babelsberg Film Studio for more than a year, but my schedule rarely fitted the plan of spending one full day in the ambiance of movies, both old and news. The last serious temptation was the last December, but the studios are closed for the public between November and mid-April, so needed to re-schedule. This time, I got ready in time, checked the schedule, succeeding to be I was one of the first visitors of the day, wondering on the alley bordered by mostly children movies characters. Baron Münchhausen was too busy creating a new adventurous story for saying 'hi', but many others were waiting for me on the Boulevard of Giants, including two huge Marx and Engels used as decorations for a German movie, or Maria's robot figure from Metropolis.

If you did not grow up in Germany, you might need sometimes guidance for understanding the story behind the thematic sections you are about to visit. Take, for instance, the Löwenzahn caravan, exhibited near the entrance, taken from the very popular German series with the same name from the 1980s. Or the little green island of Panama, where the visitor - no upper age limit for the visitors - is taking a boat tour while meeting the protagonists of Janosch's Dreamland stories or simply listening to the popular bear character snoring. The trip on the boat reminded me my all time beloved tour on a cup at Disneyland Paris. I had again the confirmation that I will never grow up and feeling good about that.

But beyond the natural German touch, the film studios always were international. Under the brand of UFA (Universal Film Agency) and DEFA (German Film Agency), here were created since 1911 many international products and famous movies, such as Fritz Lang's Metropolis, or the Blue Angel. Later on, productions as 'The Pianist', 'The Reader', 'Inglorious Basterds' or 'The Monuments Men' were hosted here. The park includes different thematic sections - Middle Age, with a lot of scary touch - Western etc., or simply created around famous movies filmed here.

One of the least spectacular areas is the Western Street, that reminds of several thematic productions from the 1960s, such as 'The Sons of the Great Bear' or 'White Wolves'. Ambiance of Western movies was recreated, including a sheriff's office, a barber's shop, a bank or saloon. There is even a donkey that was lying a bit bored in his corner! For moderate action, one can pay 0.50 Euro and try his or her shooting skills.

A popular interactive show is dedicated to the 2011 movie 'The Three Musketeers in 3D', but at the time of our visit, we only saw the decorations, waiting for more life and action later in the day. The interactive part is one of the strongest points of the studios. We've been twice to the Cosmic Kino, attending extraordinary 4D movies: we took our seats and fixed our special glasses, secured the seat bells and got into the roller coaster adventures for the next 15 minutes. The best way to fight my fear of heights, without climbing on the top of the world. Another adventure followed up at the Dome of Babelsberg, shooting  with plastic laser guns mummies and scary monsters in the worldwide first interactive XD-theatre. The round balloon where used previously for hosting a popular TV show by Sabine Christian and was moved from downtown Berlin after 22,000 hours of hard work. There might be long waiting times, especially if you arrive in the middle of the day, but it goes fast and it generally worth the waiting.

When we are not longing for multi-dimensional adventures, we walked the cobbled streets of the Medieval Town. From bloody water to tombs whose earth was moving while uttering special sounds, you have the special cocktails for successful nightmares for the next days.

But there are also friendlier areas, such the Gardens of Little Mook, with pools, fountains and a Sultan's throne - occupied then by a guy reading his newspaper, not too much worried that there might be people looking for a selfie on the same throne, for example - original decorations from the classical movie.

It was plenty of school children visiting, and I could not stop observing some scary scars on the faces or arms of the little kids, wondering how wild they went while visiting the park or even before. However, when you are in the world of movies, expect the imagination to be stronger than the reality. The little ones went in fact before me at the 'Dreamworkers' Atelier, where painters or make-up designers are able to completely modify your appearance.

Near costumes and originally looking paintings, I met some of the characters of one of my favourite story back in time: the Neverending Story - which from now on, is travel.

Sandmann is the icon of the children who grew up in the former GDR - Babelsberg was part of the national pride of the newly created German Democratic Republic anyway. The show featuring little dwarf created in 1959 reached a popularity of 1,5 million daily viewers, in a world without Internet and with relatively limited access to the media - censorship was a popular hobby of the political elites at the time. The section dedicated to Sandmann is not too exciting, focused more on the history and evolution of the character, with snapshots from different successful episodes.

After many hours of checking action movies or spending long minutes wandering what's going on, this Witch's Cottage from Hansel and Gretel made my hungry. Don't expect to be treated with anything delicious inside, as there is only a TV presenting images from the movie. There is the original set from the German movie adaptation of the famous story. The remake was made in 2012 for the TV station rbb. This tasty looking house was used during the shooting of an outdoor scene located very close to Potsdam.

When I took my media accreditation for Babelsberg, I was told that I definitely watch the stuntshow in Volcano Arena, that takes place at specific hours. We waited till 14.00 o'clock and despite the heavy rain, we decided to go, encouraged by the fact that there is a huge covered arena where one can easily stay away from the drops. The show lasts for around 45 minutes, is packed with action that includes car chases, fire stunts and fight scenes and many special effects. The amphitheatre was built in 1998 with around 120 tones of lava brought from the Eiffel Mountains in Germany. The setting was used for the SF Mad Max Trilogy, starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner. It's adrenaline fuelling, although a big violent, but I found the fight scenes a bit ridiculous and not necessarily very 'real'.

Inside the Film Studios, there is also a thematic restaurant, 'Prince Valiant'. Situated close to the medieval quarter, it features the world of Arthur and its cavaliers: there is a round table, and the meals in the menu have interesting names such as the lactose free Lancelot pasta. When we arrived, it was ongoing a show with trained animals - a dog and an eagle - and the place was full of people. However, after waiting a while to be served with something, we gave up and continued the journey without the food tasting part.

The last attraction visited was the original 'Boomer' submarine, from the 1997 film 'Hostile Waters', with Martin Sheen and Rutger Hauer. Set in the complicated Cold War context the movie has  nuclear balistic adventures. A guided German tour of the submarine was provided, explaining the technicalities of the machine, as well as the details of the movie. Interesting, but not as exciting as our last 4D adventure at Cosmic Kino: a roller coaster adventure set on the heights of the Great Wall of China.

Our world nowadays is more creative than it used to be centuries ago. When we might feel that things are going too unexpectedly, one day in the film studios will give you hope that things can go pleasantly wild from time to time.

For more insights from Babelsberg Film Studios, have a look at the dedicated Pinterest board too: http://www.pinterest.com/ilanaontheroad/filmspark-babelsberg-brandenburg/