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Alternative Berlin Street Art Tour

Berlin is known for its art scene and from the moment we booked the trip, I was keen to immerse myself in that side of the city. Therefore, we chose (I might have pushed!) to take the street art tour as a way to see some of the work adorning the streets of Berlin, as well as getting to see some parts of the city that we wouldn’t usually head to on a typical city tour.

Ben was our tour guide and, as the weather wasn’t great, we had a tiny tour group of 3 – great for asking questions and getting a really good discussion going about the street art scene. I was really pleased to learn that Ben is an artist himself and therefore really well placed to share his insights on the work that we were about to see.

The first couple of pieces helped to outline the two main groups in Berlin: 1UP and Bione (also known as Paradox or Berlin Zidz). After learning about some of their stunts and coverage, it was easy to spot their tags across most of the city. We’ve since spotted 1UP tags across other European cities, it’s now a regular mission to try and find as many as we can!

*Tags showing well know groups: 1UP and Bione*

Following this, we moved on to check out some of the incredible art work across the city. Each one was very different, but showed so much talent and skill. Slowly, I began to learn more about the street art etiquette, the styles being used and the meanings behind the artwork. Ben told us about the differences between ‘tags’ (something quick and simple, almost a signature), a ‘throw up’ (something a little more elaborate, but could still be completed quickly) and the more detailed pieces that would have taken a longer time to complete.

From the complex to the simple, each image had a story. One of the most important things I learned on the tour was the assumption that the viewer will see the art from their own perspective. I found that really interesting and it changed my view on the creation of art – it doesn’t have to be perfect to create a reaction or invoke a feeling, it just has to be.

We also discussed the permanence, or lack thereof of street art and how this might help to keep ego in check. I thought that it was a nice thought that imagery may differ over time, due to weather, other artist contributions, or may even be permanently erased, resulting in a limited number of people seeing something that had been freshly created, with the rest experiencing an evolving image.

In addition to the painted art, there was also time for recognition of the smaller art installations hiding amongst walls and street signs. These were really cool and super easy to spot once you were made aware of them. I spent the remainder of my time in the city keeping my eyes peeled for more.

I loved the tour from start to finish. Ben was a brilliant guide, so down to earth and knowledgeable – a really cool guy. He had loads of knowledge to share, making each bit of the tour come to life. As an artist himself, it really lent credibility to the information being shared and it was great to see some of their work up on show too. It was like getting a sense of the city’s culture straight from someone who lived and breathed it. By the end of the tour, I was really ready to learn more about graffiti, street art and developing my own tag!

To round off our visit, the tour ended with a visit to the incredible Urban Nation contemporary art museum. With a range of incredible art works on display, and a graffiti toilet(!!), it was the perfect way to end the trip.

I still look back at this tour as one of the best I’ve been on, and it’s encouraged me to think about seeking out graffiti tours on other city breaks. They are a great way to get to know the heartbeat of the city, and for an art lover, they tell a story about a city’s history and culture. You get to wander off the usual tourist paths and really see a different side of the city.

You can check out some of our guide’s work on Insta @bulky-savage

Walking Tour of Vienna

When on a short city break, it can sometimes feel like you are trying to cram everything in. One of the best ways of seeing a lot in a short space of time is to take a walking tour.

Luckily, on our trip to Vienna, the hotel was offering a free walking tour of the city and we decided to make the most of it. When picking a tour, I like to look for ones that don’t just visit the popular tourist spots; I can do that perfectly well on my own. Instead, I like to pick tours that offer something a little different, usually places that are just off the beaten path. The free tour we joined was just the ticket as it was centred around the Jewish quarter and surrounding areas, slightly out of the main shopping areas.

We spent a couple of hours hearing tales of historical sites down the twisty streets next to the Danube. The architecture was incredible, often showing glimpses of the changes made to buildings across the years: Art Deco, Baroque and Gothic in places, splattered with an array of Roman style statues.

Stories of bar tenders who were so drunk they were mistaken for Plague victims and thrown into mass graves, visits to the places Mozart studied and incredibly ornate churches behind plain wooden doors: the tour was excellent and gave a sense of Vienna’s history.

As this tour took place on the coldest day of our trip in Vienna, we rounded off the morning with a hot drink in a toasty café. Once we’d suitably warmed up, we were off again; this time making up our own little tour locations as we found out way back towards the Danube.

Road Trip Pit Stops

Often when we travel, if there are a few of us, we’ll hire a car to get about. The flexibility it gives us is well worth the money and allows us to see things that are a little off the beaten track. It also means that if we see something interesting, we can just pull over and investigate – on a bus or a train that’s much harder to do!

This weeks post is dedicated to some of those little pit stops, sights and experiences we’ve had that were unplanned but added to our adventure.

Sea Lions on the Big Sur

Driving down the stunning coastline of the Big Sur, we spotted a group of sea lions hanging out on the beach. We pulled over for about half an hour, watching them from a safe distance.

Ghost Town Near Vegas

Much of the surrounding area of Vegas is rock, dust and highway. To break up our long and dry drive, we followed a road sign to a small ghost town – an abandoned town rising out of the dust. It was one of the smaller towns and I’d love to go back and check out one of the larger ones at some point.

Model Town Near Zion

Stopping for a much-needed loo break, we pulled into a store which had a large scale model town outside. It was certainly pulling in the visitors and the inside of the store was also really cool, with lots of interesting trinkets.

Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara was one of our best finds. We needed somewhere to pull in to take a rest on a long trip from San Francisco to LA and Santa Barbara was it. It was beautiful and I could have stayed for so much longer. You can read more out our stop in Santa Barbara here.

Boulder

Boulder was an interesting stop over. After a long day driving, we stopped at a hotel in Boulder before continuing our route the next day. With not much around, the stand out feature of Boulder was the sunset – although the Shining-esque hotel corridors were a big talking point – we spent the night listening out for echos of ‘Redrum’!!

Cliffs Overlooking San Francisco

This was one of the most beautiful pit stops I remember. Heading out of San Francisco, the winding roads stretching out before us, we pulled over to the side of the road to check out the views.

The cliff edges floated out into misty nothingness and it felt like we were standing above the clouds. We could hear the water below and glimpses of the stunning drops peaked through the clouds.

Where has been your best unscheduled pit stop?

The Colosseum, Rome

The Colosseum is easily one of the most recognisable landmarks in Italy. Outlined against blue skies, it looms over Piazza del Colossel, imposing and inviting in equal measures. Home to gladiatorial games, the Colosseum’s history is steeped in blood.

The amphitheater is a huge structure, capable of holding around 50,000 – 87,000 people and widely known for displays of public combat and slaughter of gladiators and animals for public entertainment. It’s one of those places that you absolutely have to visit if you are in Rome and Wandering Beeb’s love of all things resembling Roman ruins meant that it was one of the first places on our hit list when we arrived in Italy.

We had booked on to the evening tour in advance and paid the extra fee to take a trip down to the bottom floors, which aren’t always included on the standard visit. It’s well worth booking ahead as you get to skip some of the line (which can be fairly long) and are guaranteed a place on the limited evening tour.

Inside, the structure feels bigger than its outside appearance and it’s much easier to make comparisons to more modern arenas, imagining crowds of people gathered to watch the latest entertainment.

From the bottom of the arena floor, looking up created a feeling of dizziness as each layer of the structure twisted away towards the sky. The layers underneath the main performance area were a warren of corridors, lined by the ruins of the cages where fighters and animals were held until their time on the arena floor. It was a very different view from the top of the arena, with huge arches creating a stunning silhouette.

We learned on the tour that they flooded the arena on occasion to stage boat shows and battles – something I wasn’t aware of. It must have been an incredible site to watch – imagine that happening in an arena in today’s time – it would take huge mechanics to make that happen!

The tour was well organised and gave us plenty of time to wander round the ruins. Standing on the top floor, we could see over to the ruins of the Roman fort, giving a helicopter view of the site.

Today, the arena is sometimes used for concerts and opera performances. Unfortunately, on the day we went, there were no performances taking place, although it’s something that we’d definitely go back to see.

Tickets into the Colosseum can be booked here. An entrance ticket and the underground tour usually cost around £25 per person.