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	<title>SteinBlog &#187; Diving</title>
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	<link>http://www.steinbeck-molecular.de/steinblog</link>
	<description>A molecular informatics weblog</description>
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		<title>The Renaissance Hotel in Cologne</title>
		<link>http://www.steinbeck-molecular.de/steinblog/index.php/2009/02/14/the-renaissance-hotel-in-cologne/</link>
		<comments>http://www.steinbeck-molecular.de/steinblog/index.php/2009/02/14/the-renaissance-hotel-in-cologne/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2009 12:48:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Christoph Steinbeck</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Diving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flying]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hotels]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.steinbeck-molecular.de/travel/?p=21</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m staying for two nights at the Renaissance Hotel in Cologne, Germany. The place is perfectly located just a few steps away from Friesenplatz, since I had some business to do at the University. The Renaissance Hotels belong to the Marriott empire. One thing that struck me with this particular stay was the extremely well [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m staying for two nights at the <a href="http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/cgnrn-renaissance-cologne-hotel/" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/www.marriott.com');" target="_blank">Renaissance Hotel in Cologne</a>, Germany. The place is <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=-&amp;sll=50940167,6942014&amp;cid=50940167,6942014,18400006237093018830&amp;li=lmd&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=50.941556,6.942008&amp;spn=0.006517,0.019312&amp;z=16&amp;iwloc=A" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/maps.google.com');" target="_blank">perfectly located</a> just a few steps away from Friesenplatz, since I had some business to do at the <a href="http://www.uni-koeln.de" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/www.uni-koeln.de');" target="_blank">University</a>. The Renaissance Hotels belong to the Marriott empire. One thing that struck me with this particular stay was the extremely well trained or well selected staff. Whatever request you had was answered in a &#8220;no-problem&#8221; kind of way. Small issues where solved immediately and where a solution could not be found, good alternatives where proposed. The whole hotel was in very good shape (no run-down looking corners, etc) and the room well designed, quiet as requested and cosy. Breakfast buffet offered rich choice. The only minus was that my laundry, dropped off before 8:30 am at the reception, got lost and was not ready the same days, as promised in their guide, and neither the next morning. In compensation for this mistake, they offered me to waive my wireless bill of 24 Euro and a late check-out (with out the need for any fuzz on my side) which I of course happily accepted.</p>
<p>I can whole-heartedly recommend this hotel and will go there again when in Cologne next time.</p>
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		<title>The Navy Dive Center in Kamari, Santorini, Greece</title>
		<link>http://www.steinbeck-molecular.de/steinblog/index.php/2007/10/06/the-navy-dive-center-in-kamari-santorini-greece/</link>
		<comments>http://www.steinbeck-molecular.de/steinblog/index.php/2007/10/06/the-navy-dive-center-in-kamari-santorini-greece/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Oct 2007 09:49:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Christoph Steinbeck</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Diving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leisure]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.steinbeck-molecular.de/travel/?p=5</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On October 5th, we went for a daytrip with two dives with the Navy Dive Center in Kamari, Santorini, Greece.
As a start, it was recommended to put on the dive suits in the center, before going on the jeep, driving 20 min to a different spot on the beach, getting on a very small rubber [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>On October 5th, we went for a daytrip with two dives with the <a href="http://navys.gr/diveCenter/index.html" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/navys.gr');" target="_blank">Navy Dive Center in Kamari</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/en.wikipedia.org');">Santorini</a>, Greece.</p>
<p>As a start, it was recommended to put on the dive suits in the center, before going on the jeep, driving 20 min to a different spot on the beach, getting on a very small rubber dinghy with a total of about 10 people and driving another half an hour to the first dive spot.  I found this inconvenient. Everything was very crammed and it was certainly the least comfortable dive trip that we had since doing our Open Water certificate in Thailand. The first dive spot at the white island in the center of the caldera of Santorini was quite nice and relaxed. It was a wall dive of about 18 m depth and 45 min length. Visibility was very good.</p>
<p>The second one, however, wasn&#8217;t. Without proper briefing, the guide led the group into two caves, which is clearly a violation of good practice. People without training for dives without direct possiblity for ascend should not be led into such situations. Since I felt I had to follow my buddy, who had already entered the first cave, herself following the dive guide, I went into the first but refused to enter the second. The lunch break was too short and unpleasant due to the small, crammed boat.In this particular case, I have to say that I could have asked for these things beforehand and would probably still have gone on this tour if I had known before. It was our first dives since 2003 on Bali and since there are only two dive bases on Santorini (one was already closed), there was not much of a choice.<br />
The dive trip was 60 Euro per person.<br />
If I compare this with almost all other dive trips we had, food, space and guidance was not sufficient. The situation in the cave was nothing but dangerous and I therefore cannot recommend this center.</p>
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