Kind of boring, but at least it's not ghetto.

Bruges was a nice retreat after leaving Amsterdam.  We stayed in a guestroom at a private home, which was much cleaner than a hostel.  We had our own big bathroom and a TV with lots of English channels.  (We got to watch the Biggest Loser and Room Raiders!)  In the morning they made us a big breakfast with home made yogurt.  It was really delicious.  We got all of this for only 60 euros a night, what a deal!

On our first and only day in Bruges we did quite a bit of sightseeing.  We started by visiting the Museum of Chocolate.  We learned about the history of chocolate and its spread to Europe.  Did you know it only came into popular consumption about 200 years ago?  We also got to see a model of a coco tree, and learn about chocolate production.  The best part was the free sample as we left the museum. 

For lunch we ate some Belgian waffles.  They were pretty good.

Afterwards we visited two churches.  The first was the Church of the Holy Blood.  The church claims to have a drop of Christ’s blood.  We didn’t see the blood for ourselves because it cost 1.50 a person, but we did watch other people look at the relic.  Some of the reactions were pretty intense, one lady was sobbing as she left the church.

The second church was a little less dramatic.  It’s known for its Michelangelo sculpture, one of the only ones to leave Italy. That was pretty cool to see.

Our last stop in Bruges was the Begijnhof.  It is the site of a women’s religious order.  Although the area is a UNESCO world heritage sight, we weren’t able to figure out why.  The compound is basically a group of white houses. I mean it’s nice, but nothing too special.

At this point it was still quite early in the day, but we had already done basically everything there was to do in Bruges.  We decided to buy some Belgian chocolate and sit by a canal.  The chocolate was good, and it was a relaxing break from sightseeing.

Bruges wasn’t the most exciting place we’ve visited, but it was definitely a much-needed break from the chaotic cities. 

The Sin City of Europe

If you replace the gambling and drinking of Las Vegas with prostitutes and marijuana you get Amsterdam.  The city is quite overwhelming, so the first night we wandered around attempting to take it all in.  There are multiple “coffee shops” on every block along with a mix of unique museums, such as the Vodka Museum and the Sex Museum.  The ground is littered with papers of all kinds, and there are sketch balls everywhere.  But despite the oddities, Amsterdam still manages to pull of somewhat of a charm, with its blue canals and friendly locals.

When we could no longer handle the city we headed back to our hostel.  Our hostel, Lucky Lake, was located far outside the city; after a metro ride out to the suburbs we had to take an additional shuttle provided by the hostel.  The commute was kind of a hassle, but was worth it to avoid the chaos of the city.  Lucky Lake was definitely the most unique lodging we’ve encountered.  We stayed in a “caravan” otherwise known as a trailer.  The trailer was small and decorated in a 1970’s motif with wood paneling and brown-carpet chairs.  Along the hostel paths were large colorful animals; across from our caravan was a fat purple hippo.  Pretty intense, huh?  Surprisingly the bathrooms were clean and the breakfast was good, so we didn’t have too many complaints.

On our first full day in Amsterdam we took a free tour provided by New Europe.  The tour began at the National Monument, where we were warned of what was to come later in the day.  For example, we were told to put our cameras away while walking through the Red Light District in order to avoid pee-throwing prostitutes. 

We started the tour by walking down the most crime-ridden street in Europe.  As I clutched tightly to my purse we made our way to the Red Light District.  Walking through the streets we passed girls in windows attempting to sell their wares.  According to our tour guide this site is becoming less common as the national government buys property in the area; all the girls will be gone within the next five.  If you want to visit Amsterdam as it’s known to day you’d better do it soon! 

Leaving the Red Light District we headed to an area just as sketchy.  Our guide led us to a bridge where stolen bikes can be bought for as little as ten euros.  Drug addicts sell stolen bikes and use the money for their next fix.  Sure enough as we stood on the bridge a toothless crack-addict tried to sell us his bike.  Apparently bike theft is such a problem in Amsterdam that most of the city rides around on stolen bikes.  Amsterdam is such a weird city.

Adding to the odd atmosphere is the abundance of crooked houses.  Apparently the houses sink into the ground at a rate of about a millimeter per year, but rather than fixing the foundations people just live in crooked houses.  It’s rather bizarre.  Another interesting note about the architecture is that the steps in Amsterdam are really steep.  It’s almost like climbing a ladder.  In fact the steps are so steep that rather than hauling furniture and other big items up the steps, the people use ropes to pull it up the outside of the building and then through the window.  Moving must be a pain in the butt!

The next stop on the tour was the old Jewish neighborhood.  After WWII the area became known as ‘Funky Town’ (the one in the song.) 

Along the way to our next stop the tour guide pointed out the contraptions the city uses to prevent public urination.  In the corners of buildings are shields that squirt the urine back on the perpetrator.  This may sound bad, but in the past public urinators were shocked by underground electrical wiring.  Only in Amsterdam.

The next stop on the tour was the famous coffee shop Dampkring (it was in a John Travolta movie.)  Through the window we saw the shop’s cat totally zoned out on the counter.

At this point it started down pouring and the tour was cut short.  Josh and I sat out the rain while eating lunch.  Afterwards we visited Anne Franks house.  It was cool to visit the place I’ve read so much about.  After a short exhibit about Anne’s life, we walked behind the bookshelf and into the secret annex.  It was bigger than I imagined, but of course still very small.  It’s amazing that so many people lived there for such a long period of time.

The next day was the 4^th of July and Josh and I were both pretty disappointed to be out of the country.  Luckily Josh saved the day by buying a large array of American food: a watermelon, corn on the cob, hamburgers, and potato chips.  It was a really good Independence Day lunch!

After eating we went to town in search of the internet.  (That was one big problem with Lucky Lake, the wifi didn’t work.)  We walked around until finding a quiet café.  After checking our e-mail we planned to go to the Van Gogh museum, but we found out that museum is surprisingly closed on Saturdays.  Instead we found Amsterdam’s Biomarket.  The market is a big tourist trap with nearly every store selling wooden-shoes and an assortment of tulips.  We also found a cheese store (Holland’s known for gouda) where we got free samples.  Yummy!

On our way back to Lucky Lake we stopped for some famous Dutch French fries.  They were good, but really not any better than McDonald’s.  Interestingly, they use mayonnaise instead of ketchup (it’s your kind of place Austin.) 

Amsterdam is definitely the most unique place we’ve visited on our trip.  I’m glad I was able to experience the chaos first hand, but I have no plans to return in the near future!

Berlin: The not so German capital of Germany.

Due to a busy sightseeing schedule, lack of internet, and pure exhaustion I have fallen quite far behind on my posts (as many of you have probably noticed.)  Thankfully Josh has stepped in to help.  He was very generous and wrote the following post on our visit to Berlin. 

With its history, relatively low prices, and seemingly endless places to go, Berlin was more than worth going to.  Although the city spent most of the twentieth century divided in half, due to its growth and recovery in the last twenty years, East Berlin is arguably more developed and has more to do than the western half.  The city itself is essentially a museum of its own history.  Berlin has restored several of the important buildings that were destroyed in World War Two, intentionally left some other buildings in post-war condition, preserved certain structures from the communist era, and nevertheless continues to be developed with modern architecture that can be difficult to find in many European cities.  Although the city lacks the aspects of German culture that were much more prevalent in Munich, it has transformed into more of a cultural melting pot. Our four days in Berlin were busy but we managed to go to most of the important spots in the city.

On our first day in the Berlin, we went on the New Europe free walking tour, as we’ve started doing in most cities.  The tour started near the Parisier Platz (Parisian Square).  The most famous structure on the square is the Brandenburg Tor, which used to be the gate between East and West Berlin, before the wall was built.  On the top of the gate there is a statue commemorating victory.  According to our tour guide, the statue was put over Parisier Platz to symbolize victory over Paris.  Ironically, one of the other significant buildings on the square is the French embassy.  Another notable building is the hotel on the square that was made famous by Michael Jackson when he held his child over the balcony on the third floor.  As our tour continued, we saw the Reichstaggebäude, where the German parliament is held and the Jewish memorial.  The memorial is about the size of a city block and is full of densely packed gray concrete blocks that randomly vary in height. Later we went to Hitler’s bunker, which is no longer accessible because an apartment complex has been built over it.  Lydia and I both think it’s interesting that people actually live in that location.  We also saw the Nazi book-burning memorial, which is a set of empty bookshelves, only visible through a window in the ground. Later on we saw Checkpoint Charlie and the Berliner dome, and the Berlin TV tower.  The tower is the tallest structure in Berlin, and the second tallest TV tower in the world.  Needless to say, this was probably the most comprehensive tour we have been on over the course of our entire Europe trip.

On our second day we went back to the area near Parisier Platz and walked through the Tiergarten park.  First we went to the glass dome in the Reichstaggebäudegebäude.  Although the skyline in Berlin is not that impressive, we liked the Reichstaggebäude Dome, and it provided us with a nice view.  Also, entrance was free, so it was definitely worth a half-hour wait.  Later we walked through the park, which is huge and nice.  There we saw the Victory column and the “Pregnant Oyster”.  The latter is a really strange building.  It’s in our guidebook, but the book doesn’t say what it actually is, and we couldn’t really figure it out since the building does not seem to be in use.  Later that day we went to the recently rebuilt Neue Synagogue.  To our surprise, it is only used as a museum, and only the front half of the synagogue had been restored.  We also went to Tacheles, which is a bombed out building that used to be a department store.  The entire building is covered with graffiti on the inside and there are art vendors on the third and fourth floors.

To start our next day, we went to another building that has been left damaged after being bombed in World War II.  This time it was a church.  It is free to go inside where there was a museum.  We both thought that the church made a really good anti war memorial.  Later we went to the Topographie des Terrors, another free museum.  The museum documented the Third Reich and didn’t really have any information that we hadn’t already learned about at this point in the trip, so we did not stay for very long.  Later, we went to the Jewish Museum.  This was definitely one of the better museums that we saw in Europe.  The first part of the museum consisted of three axes to walk down: the Axis of Holocaust, the Axis of Exile, and the Axis of Continuity.  The Axis of Holocaust ended with the Holocaust tower, which was a large, dark tower with a small light somewhere near the top of it.  The Axis of Exile ended in the Garden of Exile, which was a lot like the Holocaust memorial we saw on our first day in Berlin.  The Axis of Continuity led into the part of the museum that describes the history of Judaism and Jewish life.

Our last day in Berlin was not quite as ambitious as the other three.  After sleeping in, we went to see the East Side Gallery, the longest remaining portion of the Berlin wall.  It was interesting to see all of the artwork on the wall, and while we were there, a stretch of the wall was being restored and repainted.  We also went to a mall to get coffee and read for a while.  The mall was considerably more normal than those that we have seen in other cities and it was relaxing to stay there for a while.  On the way to the mall, we saw a group of people with candles having a memorial for Michael Jackson.  Also, we saw a large group of women chopping wood in a plaza near the mall.  It was really random.

We definitely did a good job making Berlin one of the least expensive cities that we went to.  As soon as we got there, we went to the grocery store and bought enough food for our entire time there.  We pretty much ate sandwiches every day for lunch.  Also, we avoided most of the sites that charged admission, and we stayed in a really cheap hostel.  The hostel was really not that great.  Our room had terrible lighting and the entire hostel was dirty too.  There were hairs all over our room, and the showers were disgusting.  The worst thing, however, was that our room was overlooking the courtyard, so it was loud and hard to sleep.  However, our accommodations weren’t all bad.  Our room was large enough for our over-packed bags, and it was easy enough to get around the city because we were close a few public transportation lines.

Overall, Berlin was an entertaining city and was very manageable as a tourist.  The public transportation was good, everything was labeled well, and most people spoke English.  Even though it wasn’t as clean as Munich, it had plenty of nicer areas and was a large enough city to have a little something for everyone.

Munich: So much to do, so little time.

In Munich we stayed with our friend Markus.  Despite his busy schedule he was nice to let us use his couch for a few nights.  It was really great to stay in a homey place instead of a hostel.  Adding to the homey atmosphere was a cat, which Josh really enjoyed.  After crashing at Markus’ we were ready for our first day in Munich.  We decided to get a feel for the city by taking a free walking tour with the company New Europe.  These tours were suggested to me by my friend Brette who used the company during her travels in Europe.  The tour proved to be worthwhile.

We started in Marienplatz, the town square.  The tour meets on the hour allowing the participants to watch the Glockenspiel, the town clock, give a little show.  The music starts and a wedding party unfolds.  After the wedding party two jousters take center stage, one represents Germany and the other France.  Keeping in line with history the German jouster wins.  The Glockenspiel goes on for about 15 minutes, but we didn’t stay for the whole show.  I do have to say that the Glockenspiel definitely outdoes the clock in Prague.

The next stop on our tour was the Church of our Lady.  This church has two tall onion domes, which define the Munich skyline; city ordinances prohibit building anything taller.  In the back of the church is a footprint, which, according to tradition, belongs to the devil.  It’s a long story, but the devil apparently had something to do with the building of the church.

As we continued our tour we passed Old Town hall and St. Peter’s church.  Both buildings were bombed during WWII, but have since been restored.

Along the tour several Holocaust Memorials were pointed out; they were all small and almost unrecognizable as memorials. Luckily the tour guide was able to point quite a few  out or we would’ve missed them. According to the tour guide, Munich has the attitude that it’s better to look towards the future rather than dwell on the past, and therefore doesn’t like large in-your-face memorials (this is quite the opposite of Berlin.)

Eventually the tour stopped for a break at a famous market, of which I forget the name, and I got my first view of a beer garden, pretty cool I guess.

After the break we walked down Munich’s most expensive shopping street where the so-called “Shicky-Mickies” (aka Yuppies) can be found. The street was lined with BMWs and Range Rovers.  The stores ranged from Rolex to Prada.

At the end of this shopping road is the Residenz Palace.  We didn’t go inside, but we did peak in through the window for a glance at the famous portrait gallery.

Afterwards we walked down the road where Hitler made his first demonstration.  The tour guide was really informative and I learned a lot about WWII and the Third Reich.

At the end of our tour we joined the guide for beer and unlimited Bavarian soup.  The soup was very good (I couldn’t identify the meat) and also very filling, there was no way I could’ve beat (or even tied) the five-bowl record.

We walked off our big lunch at the Englischer Garten.  According to our guide book the park is typically filled with nude sunbathers. We didn’t find any, probably because it was a rainy day. What we did find was even more interesting.  In the river we found a group of surfers.  The city has created an area with big waves allowing for water sports in a land-locked city.  The surfers were pretty good, but I don’t know if they’d survive the ocean.

On our second day in Munich we visited the concentration camp Dachau.  Dachau was the first concentration camp, and the model for all the others. The memorial was full of information and stories, and we ended up spending our whole day there.   The sights were chilling, but it was definitely worth the trip.  The audio-guide led us through the camp, and also allowed us to listen to the prisoners’ first-hand accounts.  After touring the camp there was also a museum to visit. Overall, I think the memorial is put together well, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to visit.

The next day we said goodbye to Markus (and the cat) and were on our way to Berlin.  Instead of taking a train we drove.  We picked up our Volkswagon Golf from Europcar and drove out of town.

The drive on the autobahn started off slow as we made our way through a long construction project.  Honestly, I think we were driving slower than Manchester on a Saturday.  Eventually the construction ended and we entered a no-speed-limit zone.  The cars in the left lane were flying by us at speeds off about 150mph.  It was intense.  When I took my turn driving I was cruising at a cool 99mph.

Along the way to Berlin we stopped in the medieval town of Rothenburg.  We didn’t have much time, but we were able to try the famous Schneeballs.  Schneballs are fried dough-balls coated in candy.  They sound much better than they taste.  I didn’t finish mine, and I eat anything that’s sweet.  Besides the Schneeballs Rotherburg was a pretty town with rows of colorful storefronts. 

Besides our stop in Rothenburg nothing else of note took place along the drive.  However, when we arrived in Berlin we were met with a big obstacle.  We arrived at the East Train Station, our drop off location, at around 7:55 just in time for our 8 o’clock drop-off time.  Unfortunately we couldn’t find the Europcar location.  After looking around the train station I called the company.  Instead of talking to a local worker I was connected to the corporate offices.  The workers spoke little English and were quite rude.  They informed us that the East Train Station didn’t have a drop off location, and we needed to make our way to the Main Train Station.  They refused to give us driving directions, saying simply that they couldn’t help us further.  Luckily we were able to connect to the internet and find directions online.  We made it to the second train station (luckily before dark) and returned the car.  

P.S.

Happy 4th!  Watch a lot of fireworks for me.

Prague: Not quite eastern, not quite western.

Our time in Prague was cold and wet, but we didn’t let that hold us back.

The first day we got an overview of the city by going on a free walking tour (you still have to tip of course.)  The man who led the tour, Paul, was very knowledgeable of the city.  He’s originally from the UK but has lived in Prague for the past ten years making his living off of the free tours (he must have an inheritance or something.)

Anyway, it was a great tour and we saw lots of the city.  Our first stop was Wenceslas Square.  This is the site where protests were held during the Communist regime.  There is a plaque commemorating two students who set themselves on fire in order to show their dislike of the government.  Paul also pointed out the old communist headquarters in the building now housing the department store Mark’s and Spencer’s. 

After Wenceslas Square we walked to the Old Town Square.  Here we saw the astronomical clock; the clock is reportedly Europe’s number one most overrated tourist attraction.  I have to agree.  At the hour a skeleton pulls a string and the 12 apostles walk in a circle, that’s it!  Besides the clock the Old Town Square is pretty interesting.  It was the site of many executions including Jan Hus, a religious reformer.  There is a large memorial to him in the middle of the square.

Walking off of Old Town Square we entered the Jewish Quarter.  Although the Jewish population fell dramatically after WWII (today there are only 2000 Jews in the entire Czech Republic) there is still a great museum of Jewish history.  Paul pointed the museum out and Josh and I returned the next day.  Paul also showed us the Hebrew Clock displayed in the area.  The numbers are of course in Hebrew and the hands move counter-clockwise.

After examining the clock we continued to the St. Charles Bridge.  This is the most famous, and I think the oldest, bridge in Prague.  The walls are lined with full size statues of saints.  On the bridge vendors sell artwork and postcards leading to traffic-jams of tourists. We made our way across and met Paul on the other side. 

Next he led us down some steps to Kampa Island.  This island has flooded quite a few times over the years, most recently in 2002, when the first floors of the buildings were completely filled with water.  Luckily, the people were able to recover and the island is inhabited today.

As we exited the island we passed by the John Lennon wall, I forget John Lennon’s connection to Prague except that the communist leaders banned his music.  Anyway the wall is covered with messages of peace in the form of graffiti.  It was a cool thing to see.

We ended our tour at the Prague Castle.  Paul showed us around the outside, and pointed out the important parts.  For example, he showed us where the crown jewels are kept inside St. Vitus’ cathedral.  Interestingly, the castle is still used today for government purposes.

The castle is one a hill overlooking the rest of Prague, so before ending the tour Paul pointed out some interesting landmarks.  The first was a replica of the Eiffel Tower (I forget the story behind this) and the second was the communist TV tower.  The communists built the tower as a symbol of their power, and it still stands today.  In an attempt to soften its image an artist has put sculptures of giant babies up and down the structure.  Personally, I think they just add to the creepiness factor.

We were totally exhausted after our three-hour walking tour, so after a quick stop at the church of St. Nicolas we headed home.  Our hostel in Prague was really nice.  Our room was huge!  We had not only a bedroom, but also a kitchen area and a big bathroom.  There was also a balcony over looking the garden outside.  It was definitely one of the coolest places we’ve stayed.

After a restful night we were ready to go out again the next day.  We headed to the Jewish museum that Paul pointed out the day before.  The museum was comprised of several buildings, most of them synagogues throughout the neighborhood.  The buildings contained information about the history of Jews in the Czech Republic and other information about Jewish customs.  There was also a memorial to all the Czechs who lost their lives in WWII.  The museum was really well done, and I learned a lot.

On the way back to the hostel we stopped by Bethlehem Chapel (now part of a University) to see where Jan Hus preached about reforming the Catholic Church.  Besides the nice old lady working there, there wasn’t too much else to see.  Oh well.

That night we went on a Pub Crawl.  After much research we decided “The Crawl” looked like our best bet.  When we met the group in Old Town Square we discovered that about 75 other people thought the same way we did.  It was a fun night, and we met quite a few nice people.  

On our last day in Prague we visited a few more museums.  The first was the Museum of Prague.  I was hoping to learn about the city’s modern history, but it turned out to be more of an anthropology museum.  Its exhibit on Prehistoric times was very nicely done.  The museum also had a huge collection of old coins, which was cool too. 

After the museum we were ready for lunch.  We knew from my dad, who visited Prague in 2005, that there were a few TGIFridays in town.  We found one and enjoyed some American cuisine.  Needless to say, it was delicious!

Leaving the restaurant we crossed the street and entered the Museum of Communism.  Although the museum could use a larger piece of real estate it had some really cool stuff.  Basically the museum teaches its visitors one thing: the leaders of Communism were jerks.

Leaving the communist museum we decided to take advantage of Prague’s (relatively) new capitalist society and made a visit to the mall.  It was one of the best malls we’ve seen in Europe with over 200 stores and lots of restaurants.  After looking around we headed home and packed up for the journey to Munich.