Berlin

   I went to Berlin over Easter {yes i know its been a while already} with my mom.

It was the first time ever for me to visit Berlin. I have been in various European capitals but never my own country's, shame on me. But i never was really interested in it. I always imagined it to be an ugly city with those terribly ugly huge apartment towers with graffiti on its walls {to be honest, i probably thought it still looked like the eastern part when the wall was still up, again shame on me}.

You can believe my surprise when i saw how pretty Berlin actually is! It was terribly destroyed after the war, but has been rebuild and restored accurately. Those gorgeous rococo and classicism buildings lined up at the sides of an impressive boulevard looked just like originals and i couldn't believe that many of them were completely restored and not one bit original at all.

And then of course the whole city is full of history! So much to see in person instead of the TV. And all those museums and memorial sides are incredibly nice made.

So something i never thought would happen really did happen: I fell in love with Berlin! 

It was just a short 3 day trip and there are so many things left to see:

I am so coming back!

{Reichstag}

{Brandenburg Gate}

{triumphal column}

{Checkpoint Charlie}

{Those cobblestones run all the way through town where the wall used to be}

{Berlin Cathedral}

{Not as pretty as ours, but still ;)}

{The old Synagog}

{Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe}

{Rest of the Wall}

{University}

{A museum. And yes we were so lucky with the weather}

If you ever make it close to Berlin and are interested in history, architecture and modern Europe lifestyle, i can only recommend you a visit.

ECONOMY CLAIMS A FASHION COMPANY

German company Escada is the first fashion company to fall victim to the declining economy this fall.

FRANKFURT -- German fashion company Escada AG filed for bankruptcy after being unable to obtain sufficient financing, a Munich district court said Thursday.

The Munich-based luxury label, famous for women's fashion and accessories, was expected to make the filing this week after it failed to get the necessary support for a bond swap.

Escada, once one of the biggest fashion brands in the world, has seen its sales and earnings decline in recent years.

The company had hoped to reduce debt by offering bondholders a new bond in exchange, made up of two parts plus a cash component. Taken together, the new bond would have carried a total nominal value of €400 ($568) in exchange for every €1,000 in nominal value of the old bond.

Escada said a number of restructuring measures, including a plan to raise €30 million through its bigger investors and a credit extension of more than €13 million, had been contingent on the bond swap, but it didn't get enough support from the bondholders. The minimum acceptance ratio was 80% of bondholders.

A successful swap would have also given the company some immediate liquidity to help it eliminate some of its debt.

The company said earlier this week that the situation was "regrettable," but that it still hoped for a turnaround in its finances and business.

In the fiscal year 2008, the company posted a net loss of €70 million and sales of €528 million. In the first half of the fiscal year ending in April, it lost €92 million.

Escada operates 182 of its own shops and 225 franchise shops in more than 60 countries, employing about 2,300 people.

Shares of Escada fell 6% to 66 European shares in afternoon trading in Frankfurt.

—Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this article.

Copyright © 2009 Associated Press