In Kyiv at Contract Square at the last weekends there was a street festival dedicated to the start of Ukrainian and German languages year. The event that began from the bike ride and was accompanied by the interactive lessons of German and broadcasting from different Ukrainian cities, came under the auspices of German Embassy in Ukraine and Goethe-Institut.
During the day the guests of festival were able to make the first steps in the study of German because they participated in the free-of-charge language interactive workshops playing football, joining the contest ‘Europe in puzzles’ and even trying the dishes of German cuisine.
The organizers created experimental platforms for children with the workshops from IT-school SMART on the basis of construction Lego Mindstorms and Lego WeDO, the lessons from the Robot School on the basis of construction FISCHERTECHNIK, master class on the robotic science from the school intRobots and even Junior Academy of Sciences with unusual scientific picnic. Also little visitors enjoyed the performances of Doll Theater of German actor Olaf Meller as well as German fairy-tale ‘Paper theater’.
The guests of the festival tried traditional German dishes and beverages. As well, they took part in the culinary workshops. The literature place offered a huge variety of books, poetry workshops with famous writers along with the different entertainments for children.
A characteristic feature of the traditional national German costume has always been considered as the combination of its absolute identity and comfort. Perhaps that is why nowadays one can admire the national clothes of this country not only on various holidays somewhere in the village or in history books but also on the streets of big cities.
What do you imagine when you hear the word "abbey"? I'm sure most people will first of all think of Westminster. But what if I said that in fact it is no longer an abbey? So what makes these medieval buildings so special? Let's look at the example of buildings from different European countries.
Daily life of African tribes may seem bizarre even for the natives of the continent. Only nature and curious travellers dare to met face to face with distinctive local atmosphere and unusual life of ethnic groups residing outside metropolis.
Ice cream with a taste of horse meat, pickled insects, fish with deadly venom, etc – Japanese cuisine has things to surprise, amaze and shock you with. And truth be told, enumeration of these dishes doesn’t help my appetite at all. But we are not after exotic stuff. True culinary tourism is an attempt to comprehend mindset and feel national distinctive color through traditional cuisine – not try most exotic dishes.
Austrian tour operators launched an unusual touristic tourdesigned for fans of singing style called yodel. Hikers wander through the Ziller Valley, a broad trail narrows opening the way for only the most avid travellers, then track leads upwards. Tourists look into the interactive station shaped as a giantsonorous walk-in cowbell, then they go around thelargest alpine horn and head to place...
To visit three countries over one day – it is possible if you are in Aachen. Situated amid Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, small student town took in features of medieval culture that reflected in its astonishing architecture. Yelena Buravtsova visited the town for it to win her heart with its off-beat monuments, streets paved with stone blocks, cozy cafés, one of a kind printed spice cake, museums and spectacular races.
It is said, the easier it is, the better we feel, however, is it always like that? We know that not all the nations follow this principle. OUTLOOK has found out the strangest, toughest and hard in articulation international languages and would like to share it with the readers.
Many places, famous around the globe today, were created by a bunch of enthusiasts without money or outside help. These people lived for their ideas and were doing everything to turn them into reality. Official date of street art appearance is believed to be year 1942, fervor of World War II.
Today OUTLOOK travels along the cities and countries that are considered as the most interesting from the point of view of geography and administrative management. Moreover, they are enclaves as they are located within the territories of other states.
“I’d like some headache elixir, mandrake root extract, heart pills and a bit of morphine, please…” – this is about how patients addressed pharmacists a couple hundred years ago. They, in turn, were preparing various magmas and mixtures in pharmacological laboratories situated as near as in the next room. Sure, nowadays technologies have significantly advanced, “remedy stores” fit in kiosks while drug-containing medicines cannot be bought without prescription…
Experienced tourists believe that one of the best sure-fire ways to quickly tune into the beat of another culture is to try local food. In order not to be at a loss when choosing dishes and save precious time for spiritual food, OUTLOOK gives you selective advice on street gastronomy from seven spots of the globe.
Stores, shopping malls, markets - all these places are an integral part of daily goings-on of almost every person on our planet. It would seem there is nothing special about them: they are all alike, just goods and prices vary depending on country or city. In fact, it is not quite true since some markets are only accessible via waterways. Our today’s story is about them.
Turks all over the world often jokingly refer Berlin as "their" third city after Istanbul and Ankara. So OUTLOOK would like to share with you a story about the legendary Kreuzberg - the unique neighbourhood of the German capital. It so happened that after the sadly known division of Berlin, its historical green area near the hill of Kreuzberg appeared to be...
Sauntering through picturesque nooks of Grand Dame Europe we look around without even suspecting how many interesting things there are beneath our feet. If you are annoyed with standard tours that include marathon race around museums and monuments, we suggest you have a look at good Old World from a different perspective. Or more specifically, look under its feet.
When Bahriddin’s mother was getting ready for work, she was assiduously arranging her hair around her tubeteika. It resulted in some sort of a crown. On holidays she plaited special adornments into her black hair with a tinge of blue. When she walked, they were tinkling slightly to create an aura of a dance. And in evenings little Bahriddin couldn’t fall asleep without holding her tight braid in his hands.
In this day and age, it is difficult to surprise anyone, especially an urban resident, with some large department store or market, since nowadays one can buy everything from a humble convenience store next door. However, the iconic bazaars and flea markets are still operating across the globe, they are famous in legends and described with delight.
The well-known saying goes: east is a delicate matter. All-in-all, it is true as evidenced even by details. Due to specific climate, eastern women have similar type of appearance, and their nations are united by close cultures. Therefore, they prefer the same beauty standards. Women are supposed to be modest, to dress so as to completely or almost completely conceal figure.
Magic dance of a snake in time with flute’s melody often described in Eastern fairy tales and depicted in movies is no fiction but a true symbol of those countries. In Egypt, India, African countries and some other states slithering tribe are tamed to make a spectacular entertainment out of it. Profession of reptile charmers exists there; it is believed to be as nearly as the most amazing on Earth.
What is it that characterizes any nation without much words and long explanations? Dances, of course, because it is these movements, refined over centuries, that can tell a foreigner about other peoples much more than thick history books. If you carefully watch and feel the way people dance in different countries, their mind set will become much more comprehensible. And these aren’t mere words.
