Following a two-year break, Munich’s Oktoberfest is back! Dhruv Rathee and partner Juli visit the world’s largest Volksfest. The 17-day event kicks off with the traditional ‘parade of Wiesn landlords and breweries”.
Video timeline: 0:00 Intro 0:47 What is the Oktoberfest? 1:48 Parade of Wiesn landlords and breweries 2:58 A brief history of the Oktoberfest 3:39 Getting there 4:50 Dirndl and lederhosen 5:52 O’zaft is! – the opening tradition 7:10 Beer tents 8:28 Food 10:17 Rides and attractions 11:29 Tips for families
Dressed in their dirndls and lederhosen, they explore the many rides and attractions on the Wiesn – the field where it all takes place. Along with sampling some culinary delights, they of course have to drop in to one of the famous beer tents.
Jaafar Abdul Karim travels through one of the smallest countries in Europe: Malta. The Romans, the Arabs, the British and the French have all left their mark here. A sunny country with a multicultural heritage. Jaafar Abdul Karim starts his journey in the capital, Valetta.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city has been extensively restored and renovated. Architect Konrad Buhagiar played a major role in this. He shows Jaafar Valetta’s most beautiful places, where old and new architecture come together. In Siggiewi, the presenter meets Marilu Vella and the two cook a very special local dish: pastizzi. The dumplings are a favorite snack of the Maltese.
The island nation has been a member of the EU since 2008. And here – in a tax haven – people like to show off what they’ve got. But Malta also has its dark sides: At the end of 2017, a murder shook Maltese politics and plunged the country into a crisis. Journalist Daphne Galizia uncovered one of Malta’s biggest corruption scandals. Shortly after, she was the victim of a car bomb.
Deeply shaken by this story, Jaafar takes the ferry to Gozo. The second largest island in the Maltese archipelago is only 14 kilometers long, but it has two large opera houses. Jaafar Abdul Karim finds out why from the artistic director John Galea. This Mediterranean island is one of the sad hotspots in the refugee crisis.
Tens of thousands of people have drowned in recent years trying to reach Europe. Time and again, ships that have rescued survivors from the Mediterranean dock there. Jaafar Abdul Karim talks to survivors and Maltese photographer Darrin Zammit Lupi, who has captured moments of the refugee drama in pictures.
As legend would have it, Aphrodite was born here – on Cyprus. The sea on its southern coastline is said to be the font of all love. The island is one of the oldest cradles of civilization in the Mediterranean: The Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Ottomans and British all lived here at some point in history.
No sooner has our presenter Sineb El Masrar arrived on the island than she sets off for the Troodos mountains, where she tastes some prize-winning Cypriot wine. Next stop on the journey is Ayia Napa, for a meeting with Louis Hadjioannou. The marine biologist is looking for an intruder that really shouldn’t be here at all: the lionfish.
Climate change has lured the creature to the Mediterranean Sea. Just as in many places throughout the world, the Cypriots set great store by good food and drink. For Roddy Damalis, who owns the restaurant “TaPiatakia”, the focus is on breathing new life into traditional dishes by combining them with unusual ingredients. After that, the presenter heads for the beach. More than four million tourists visited Cyprus in 2019, often bringing mountains of plastic waste along with them.
The environmental protection organization Akti campaigns against the increase and the consequences of plastic waste on beaches – by giving talks in schools, for example. During the summer months, student curriculums also include beach clean-ups. Sineb El Masrar talks to Charis Theodorou about the campaign and the microplastics problem blighting the Mediterranean.
Prince Leopold of Bavaria takes you on an exclusive tour of the famous castle commissioned by his ancestor, King Ludwig II, who had the castle built in the picturesque landscape of the Bavarian Allgäu in the 19th century. Today, the castle is one of Germany’s most famous tourist attractions and is famous all over the world. On his guided tour, the prince will share 5 lesser-known facts about Neuschwanstein!
In the Swiss canton of Tessin, a young family is transforming an entire village into a hotel. The abandoned houses of Corippo are being turned into guest rooms, the narrow lanes are becoming the hotel’s corridors. More and more villages in the Alps are dying out, young people are choosing to move to the cities.
At the northern end of artificial lake Lago di Vogorno, Corippo is about 12 kilometers from Locarno. You’ll probably see Corippo on the way to Lavertezzo. Italy is only 20 kilometers away.
Wartburg Castle, located close to Eisenach in Thuringia, is also known as “The Castle of the Germans”. But why? DW’s Hannah Hummel shows you around the castle, which is more than 1,000 years old. A fascinating journey to the times of minstrels, knights and ladies of castles – and to the famous Protestant Martin Luther, who translated the bible at Wartburg Castle.
For many Germans, Golden Sands near the town of Varna in Bulgaria is a more affordable alternative to the Spanish vacation island of Mallorca. Loud music, packed beaches and plenty of cheap booze – an irresistible combo for primarily young tourist revellers. But what’s it really like to holiday on the Black Sea, with the war in Ukraine raging across the water to the north? And is the war having an impact on tourism in Bulgaria? DW’s Lukas Stege asked around. But he also found time to party – and said it felt like home.
Golden Sands is a major seaside resort town on the northern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, adjacent to a national park of the same name in the municipality of Varna. Located 17 km north of downtown Varna, it is virtually connected to the city by a continuous swath of resorts and villa communities.
Bavaria is the German state most popular among tourists. No wonder. Here you can find fairytale castles like Neuschwanstein, huge mountains, clear lakes, baroque churches, and timber-framed villages. Plus… fantastic beer! We will show you what you shouldn’t miss in Bavaria: the three most popular regions and the three most visited Bavarian cities and their highlights. Spoiler alert! Munich is one of them. But what are the other two cities in the ranking?
DW Reporter Lukas Stege explores the Polish city of Gdańsk, where the Eastern Bloc began its decline! Communism‘s deterioration picked up pace when the port workers at Lenin Shipyard went on strike in 1980 and the independent union Solidarity was founded.
00:00 Intro 00:15 The Old City of Gdańsk 01:04 A Port Ride in the Pirate Ship Ferry 01:44 The Old Shipyard and the Solidarność or Solidarity Movement 06:57 Lost Place and Free Space for Artists, Galleries and Bars 07:58 Gallery Mleczny Piotr 08:36 100cnia
Join Lukas on his journey through Europe’s recent history, which was heavily influenced by these events in Gdańsk. And he also brings us to a very special lost place in this port city!
CREDITS Report: Lukas Stege, Anne Termeche Camera: Holm Weber Editing: Klaus Hellmich
@Eva zu Beck takes you on a journey to Cholula and Puebla, two cities in central Mexico designated as Pueblos Mágicos, or Magical Towns. These are places that offer visitors a very special experience, owing to their typical historic character and in some cases, colonial-era architecture. As well as a spectacular pyramid and a miniature volcano, the towns are a great place to experience the Danza de los Voladores, or Dance of the Flyers.
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