Diana Elle Blog

Before today's post let me just mention, During March and April I participated in Solidarity Sisters , and I was paired up with Marissa from Called to Mothering . As many of you already know, we moved to Germany because my husband received a scholarship to do his masters here. I rarely talk about what it's like being a mom here, and I took the plunge and participated in Marissa's Real Moms Real Challenges and talked about what it's like raising my child abroad , go read it-ASAP! So this year's 2016 challenge went okay, if I remember correctly, I started out at #624 on the list and ended up on #477, that;s quite a few that dropped out. All though I didn't publish 26 posts in April, I got close. There are some posts I will be publishing and adding to the list once I actually visit the places I'll be talking about! Posts that could use more love: Photo Spots in Hamburg Reeperbahn Altona Fischmarkt Stats General           ...

If you weren't aware, we visited Charlotte this past December, and while it was not our first time there, it was for my mom. As soon as we booked her plane ticket, I started looking into things to do for a first time visitor!  I wrote down a list of possibilities and asked my sister in law which of those options would be best. One of the first things we did once my mom arrived was visit the James K. Polk History Museum in Pineville. This historical site is small but interesting, it is a great place to go to to learn more about the 11th president of the United States. Did you know? James was actually born on this land in 1795. The visitors center features exhibits on Polk's life, his presidency and on early Mecklenburg County, there is enough to keep you busy for around two hours and they offer a tour of the cabins every ..:30 after.  They don't let you take pictures inside the cabin, but it is pretty cool being able to see how they lived and what tools t...

Hi! so todaz I have a guest post brought to you by Sasha. I met her during my first month living in Germany and today she accepted to give this blogging thing a try and will be talking about one of the activities you could do in Hamburg. One of the places we love to visit as a family is Wildpark Schwarze Berge, located in the town of Rosengarten. It is about 15 min by car or 30 min by bus from where we live .  The park was founded in 1969 and is open all year round.  Unlike the Hagenbecks Tierpark, the Wildpark Schwarze Berge is located in a low mountain, forested area and covers around 50 hectares of land. The animals are kept in large natural enclosures and there are about a hundred species of animals at the Wildpark including bisons, European wolves, lynxes and mooses. The Wildpark added the European brown bears in 2009. There are also petting areas with free-ranging goats, potbellied pigs and deers. In these petting areas, you can buy animal food at 1 euro a box ...

Welcome to Travel Tuesday! Since it's the last tuesday of  the month it is a prompt Tuesday and this month's theme is "Hidden Treasures" zoned in on hidden treasures of a particular location or region. Not to be confused with last October's prompt:  What’s a hidden gem that you have stumbled upon while exploring a new place? ------ Whenever somebody tells you "I'm going to Germany" and you ask them "oh, what city are you going to?" the answer is typically Berlin, Munich or Frankfurt, nobody ever really says they are going to visit Hamburg (unless they've previously heard about this wonderful city). So today I'm going to put Hamburg in your radar (if I haven't already). Foto: Pressebild.de/Bertold Fabricius Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and has a population of about 1.8 million. It has the second largest port in Europe and is referred to as the "Gateway to the World" as you may expect it...

S is for Strand Strand is the German word for beach, you can see my day trip to Scharbeutz beach or read on to take a virtual visit to one of Hamburg's Elbe beaches. I happened to visit this one with my German class. You start off at Landungsbrücken  then take either 62 HVV Ferry towards Finkenwerder and get off at Neumuehlen. From the ferry, you have great views of the Hamburg skyline and sprawling port area. You will be able to see port facilities  on the other side of the river and if your lucky, passing container ships up close. Once you get off it's just a matter of walking down towards the beach and you've made it! Enjoy the views and take many pictures! Have you ever visited a "fake" beach? Tweet Check out my other Hamburg posts for the A to Z Challenge:

If you're walking along Hamburg's St. Pauli district, you will find the most famous street (in Hamburg):  Reeperbahn . The Reeperbahn (as I already mentioned) is big in regards to Hamburg's nightlife , you'll find many great bars, restaurants, theaters, and clubs here, but did you know it also houses the city's red-light district? Yes, it's true and although it is very different to the Red Light District in Amsterdam, the area with prostitutes is considerably smaller. and  women are not allowed to walk through it. But it has some similarities, here you will find sex shops/museums, erotic theaters, and strip clubs.  The St. Pauli district is the second most popular attraction in Hamburg, after the Harbor . This wide-ranging mix makes the Reeperbahn a fascinating place to visit for travelers and locals alike.  If you plan on visiting here are a couple of tips: - The nightlife in the Reeperbahn doesn't start until around eight or nine p.m...

So, I was going to skip this letter of the alphabet since my first option for the letter "q" was not inspiring me and I didn't want to bore you with another "meh" post.  But then I saw this post on the A to Z Challenge blog and decided to do a quiz about Hamburg to test your knowledge of this city, and some fun facts at the end of the post. Loading... Here are some fun facts about Hamburg: Hamburg is Germany's second largest city and home to 1,8 million people. It is located in the North of the country. I don't know if it's true or not, but it is said that Hamburg has more bridges than Amsterdam and Venice combined, with more than 2300 bridges. The Hamburg City Hall has six more rooms than Buckingham palace. Hamburg has Germany's largest port and is named the country's "Gateway to the World". Miniature Wonderland holds a world record with over 12.000 meters of model train tracks. How'd you do on the qu...