Bernd_L's VirtualTourist Home Page

Who I am

I live in Germany in Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen - a suburb of Karlsruhe which is in the Upper Rhine Valley near the border of France. It is a nice place to live, but every now and then I have to leave it, because I am curious about other places all over the world.

Already at school my favourite lesson has been geography and I can't pass a map on a wall without having a look at it.

Unfortunately my job doesn't offer much travelling. So I have to do it during vacations and weekends. That limits my possibilities. But the title of this page (a song by 'The 5th Dimension') expresses exactly what I'm constantly daydreaming of.

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Our favorite spot in summer - lake near Karlsruhe

Next trips

During the summer I usually do a lot of trips to a neighboring lake for swimming, sunbathing, having fun with friends .... It's only 10 minutes by car, so I can do this even in the evening after work for one or two hours. A friend of mine, who is a pilot, took me on a flight over the region, so I could take a picture of it. Isn't that a fanstastic spot for relaxation?

Now to the real trips:

We are going to visit Sri Lanka in January. This is a country that was on my wish list for a long time. But every time I considered going there another terror attack happened and I went elsewhere. We will arrive on New Years Eve and I've heard that on the same day there is a major buddhist holiday, and that means alcohol can't be bought in public. I guess this is my first New Years Eve party without booze. Let's see if I'll survive this ;o)))

Definitely I will attend the next Euromeet in Krakow in May and I'm considering to do the sidetrip to L'viv as well. I'm already looking forward to meeting all those friends and fellow VTers again. I'm almost sure this meeting will have another record of attendees.

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Niagara Falls - Ontario

My top 5 destinations up to now

It is no easy task to pick out the destinations that impressed me most. There are so many beautiful spots and every place has its own value. But the following 5 destinations have been outstanding in my opinion.

Egypt - I haven't seen more culture anywhere else
Arizona / Utah - most impressive nature experience
Lanzarote - a work of art by the nature
Kenya - wildlife at its best
Ontario - friendly people and lots to see

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Aboard the MSC Orchestra in the port of Stockholm

Recent trips

Below you'll find the trips I made since I joined VT.

10/2009 - Vera Playa / Spain
10/2009 - Madrid / Spain
10/2009 - Marrakech / Morocco
07/2009 - during a cruise in the Baltic Sea I visited
- Kiel / Germany
- Stockholm / Sweden
- Tallinn / Estonia
- St. Petersburg / Russia
- Copenhagen / Denmark
05/2009 - Cascais / Portugal
04/2009 - during a cruise in the Mediterranean Sea we visited
- Palma de Mallorca, Alicante, Valencia and Barcelona / Spain
- Marseille / France
01/2009 - Isla Margarita / Venezuela
11/2008 - Gran Canaria / Spain
09/2008 - London / UK
08/2008 - Lanzarote / Spain
04/2008 - Paris / France
03/2008 - Bad Gögging / Germany
01/2008 - during a cruise in the Caribbean we visited
- Miami / USA
- Samana / Dominican Republic
- Tortola / British Virgin Islands
- Antigua
- Barbados
- St. Lucia
08/2007 - Mallorca / Spain
06/2007 - Leipzig / Germany
05/2007 - Boattrip from Athens to Santorini / Greece
05/2007 - Monaco
04/2007 - Nice / France
01/2007 - Yucatan / Mexico
10/2006 - Gran Canaria / Spain
10/2006 - Arbon / Switzerland
09/2006 - Formentera / Spain
05/2006 - Marbella / Spain
04/2006 - Titisee-Neustadt / Germany
02/2006 - Dubai / United Arab Emirates
01/2006 - New Zealand
01/2006 - Bangkok / Thailand
10/2005 - Gran Canaria / Spain
10/2005 - Karlovy Vary / Czech Republic
09/2005 - Marche Region / Italy and San Marino
05/2005 - Amalfi Coast and Rome / Italy
03/2005 - Bamberg / Germany
01/2005 - during a cruise in the Caribbean we visited
- Cartagena / Colombia
- Panama
- Jamaica
- Isla Cozumel / Mexico
- Honduras
- Belize
- Cayman Islands
11/2004 - Cameroon
06/2004 - Oslo / Norway and Goeteborg / Sweden
06/2004 - Braunschweig / Germany
05/2004 - Bremen / Germany
05/2004 - San Francisco, Arizona, Utah, Las Vegas, New York
12/2003 - Lanzarote / Spain
11/2003 - Gran Canaria / Spain
09/2003 - Ontario / Canada
06/2003 - Albena / Bulgaria
12/2002 - Lanzarote / Spain
10/2002 - Gran Canaria / Spain

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Australia
South Africa
Argentina
Sri Lanka
Vietnam

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Meeting with Pam (kiwi) at Matamata - New Zealand

VT-members I met so far

in chronological order

grazina - Vere' from Page AZ USA
tini58de - Christine
madschick - Heinz - Christine and Heinz live only 500 m from my place.
tessy - Teresa from Mannheim / Germany
knerten - Jan from Molde / Norway
trekki - Ingrid from Darmstadt / Germany
petpaho - Petra from Karlsruhe / Germany
ujamaflip - Charlie from Karlsruhe / Germany
Vixique - Victoria from Karlsruhe / Germany
norbaert - Norbert from Darmstadt / Germany
Kalima2345 - Kathleen and Jim from Campbell / California
Nemorino - Don from Frankfurt / Germany
Danny40 - Danny from Fort Walton Beach / Florida
Leipzig - Christian from Leipzig / Germany
Trillian2005 - Gabrielle from Karlsruhe / Germany
shrimp56 - Sally from Chicago IL USA
hools - Markus from Mannheim / Germany
kiwi - Pam from Matamata / New Zealand

So far it was easy not to lose track of the members I met - but then came the big VT-meeting at Marbella. It wasn't possible to speak to everybody who attended the meeting. So I only mention those, I was able to have at least a short conversation. And if I forgot someone, I hope nobody is offended.

GillianMcLaughlin - Gillian from Brussels / Belgium
sinequanon - Galatea from Athens / Greece
Mahieu - Els from Belgium
nhcram - Natalie from Dover / UK
chrishc - Chris from Dover / UK
Carmela71 - Carmen from Marbella / Spain
Beach_Dog - Stace from Marbella / Spain
HORSCHECK - Holger from Germany
Waalewiener - Hansi from Windsor / Canada
LoriPori - Lori from Windsor / Canada
alusru - Ursula from Vienna / Austria
poons - June from Stafford / UK
cachaseiro - Claus from Denmark
haldane - Kay from London / UK
alucas - Andrew from Essex / UK
elucas - Liz from Essex / UK
sachara - Ali from Emmen / Netherlands
VincentJJ - Vincent from Leidschendam / Netherlands
pakistaniguy - Umer from Zurich / Switzerland
Stephanie - Stephanie from Manhattan Beach / USA
ricky52 - Ricky from Halifax / UK

dila - Diana from Amsterdam / Netherlands
rebibi - Elisabeth from Zurich / Switzerland
myfanwe - Vicki from Cardiff / UK
zweiblumen - Steve from Newport / UK
Igraine - Ingrid from Middenbeemster / Netherlands

Jadefrau - Andrea from Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen / Germany
(with some help form other VTers I finally succeded in convincing my wife to become a VT-member)
yumyum - Sonja from Zurich / Switzerland
JessH - Jessica from Dubai / UAE
blumia - Gabi from Mosbach / Germany
christine.j - Christine from Mannheim / Germany
Gammy1968 - Claudia from Frankfurt / Germany
outforlunch - Jim from Frankfurt / Germany
himalia11 - Angela from Schupbach / Germany
Natrix - Natascha from Friedberg / Germany
euro - David from Frankfurt / Germany

Then came the big Santorini meeting and again I mention only those members I had the chance to talk to at least a few words:

a2lopes - Antonio from Lisbon / Portugal
AussieMadCow - Anita from London / UK
Backpackermoose - Elge from Stavanger / Norway
Belsaita - Isa from Barcelona / Spain
Cnango - Nancy from San Clemente / USA
Co48 - Co from The Netherlands
Princess_Emily - Emily from Frankfurt / Germany
Giampiero6 - Giampiero from Marina del Rey / USA
Gillybob - Gillian from Manchester / UK
Hikerpark - Mark from Baltimore / USA
Janetanne - Janet from Athens / Greece
JennysTravels - Jenny from Niagara Falls / Canada
Johngayton - John from UK
Littlesam1 - Larry from Baltimore / USA
Mavl - Miko from Manila / Philipines
OH_DK - Ove from Denmark
Orkaena - Carlos from Neuquén / Argentina
Revontulet - Sibel from Ankara / Turkey
Ritaz - Rita from Riga / Latvia
Rusket - Marit from Stavanger / Norway
Salsa_Girl - Sandra from Malaga / Spain
Tere1 - Teresa from Lisbon / Portugal
Paulo&Rosario - Paulo and Rosario from Lisbon / Portugal
TheView - Allan from Copenhagen / Denmark
Tuna_ank - Nur from Ankara / Turkey

LKM1018 - Lizabeth form New York / USA
cjg1 - Chris from New York / USA