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.

Moving on Up

Moving north into Austria the people have become much more pleasant.   We really enjoyed our time in Vienna, and I think this is in large part due to the welcoming nature of Austrians. 

Our train didn’t arrive in Vienna until 11pm, which in most cities would be kind of sketchy, luckily we found the tram, and made it to our hostel without any problems. 

Wombat’s Hostel was one of the best we’ve stayed in.  There was a large dining area, a comfortable common area with WiFi access, a full bar in the basement, and the rooms were big and clean.  The friendly staff also surprised us; I haven’t seen such great customer service since leaving America.

On our first day in Vienna, we took full advantage of our super hostel situation, and lazed around most of the morning.  After a month of non-stop traveling, we were both pretty exhausted, so it was nice to have a few hours to recuperate.

We did manage to drag ourselves outside later in the day.  Our hostel was on the main shopping road, so there was a lot to see.  They had a few American stores such as Foot Locker and H&M, and a lot of stores that were similar to American stores (they even had a chain similar to Walgreens.)

After wandering around the shops we continued walking towards the city center.  Along the way, we found the river that runs through the city. The Viennese have taken full advantage of the water by placing small sand beaches and bars along the river.  There was also a lot of graffiti on the river walls, which must be legal because we saw a group of kids painting a wall in broad daylight.

Next we stopped at a housing project that was highlighted on our map.  It was a very interesting series of buildings (it reminded me of Gaudi’s work in Barcelona) with very few straight lines and an interesting color scheme.  Although people still live in the building, the site has become a big tourist attraction, with a large group of souvenir shops across the street.  If only the projects in America could be like the ones in Austria.

The next place we visited was an amusement park.  It was easy to find because the Ferris wheel was visible from quite a distance.  I was surprised by the size of the park, it was much larger than I expected.  Despite the size, it was no Six Flags.  The attractions were a mix of small roller coasters and carnival-like theme houses.  The most interesting ride we saw was a carrousel made of real ponies.  (The ponies didn’t look very happy.)  The park was kind of creepy, like something you’d see in a horror movie. We didn’t ride any rides, but we did have an enjoyable dinner of kebab sandwiches.

The next day we visited the gardens surrounding the Hapsburg summer palace.  The gardens were huge; it would have been easy to spend the whole day there.  In addition to the beautiful flowers, there was a zoo, a labyrinth, and a huge Japanese garden.  Unfortunately, due to the high prices of these attractions, we weren’t able to see more than the view from the gates.

After the gardens we decided to rest our weary feet at Starbucks.  It was exciting to have access to Starbucks again; Italy is void of the popular American coffee house.  We hung out at Starbucks for quite a while because we were both in the middle of some pretty intense books, I was rereading the Da Vinici Code (not as good as the first time around) and Josh was reading The Kite Runner.

Later that night we decided to have a typical Austrian meal.  We went to a restaurant that our hostel recommended, and both ordered Wienerschintzel. Wienerschintzel is basically a boneless fried chicken breast, so of course I thought it was really good.  The lady at the restaurant was very nice (just like everyone in Vienna), and was really concerned with the quality of her service.  She didn’t think we got our food fast enough (although it was the fastest I’ve been served in Europe), so she brought us some hazelnut liquor as an apology.  All in all it was a great dinner, and I’ll be happy to eat Wienschintzel again someday.

On our third day in Vienna we visited the Sigmund Freud museum.  Freud is a famous psychologist from Vienna.  The museum was located in his former apartment/office.  The waiting room was set up with the original furniture, which was really cool to see.  Did you know that Freud was an avid collector of Egyptian art?  The rest of the museum contained a collection of pictures, publications, and writings that pertained to Freud’s life.  I was amused to find out that Freud experimented, on his patients and himself, with cocaine.

Next, after a quick bratwurst at a roadside stand, we headed to the Spanish riding school.  The Spanish riding school has been around since the time of King Ferdinand, and still has the same regal atmosphere that it did many years ago.  We had a guided tour through the stables, the Winter riding arena, and the Summer riding arena.  The horses are thoroughbreds – the same family lines have existed for hundreds of years.  All of the performing horses are white stallions.  The tour guide was very knowledgeable, and I learned not only about the riding school, but also a great deal about horses in general.

We liked the Spanish riding school so much, that the next day before catching our train to Prague, we returned to watch the training session.  The training session takes place in the Winter Riding Arena, the same location as the performances.  It was a really nice atmosphere with classical music playing in the background.  It was a fun to see the horses in action. 

After leaving the riding school we visited the Volksgarten, or People’s Park.  Although it wasn’t planned, we saw another show in the park.  There was a large group of people standing around a fountain, so we went to go see what was happening.  It turns out that a dog had jumped in the fountain, and couldn’t find a way out.  He was swimming, and seemed to be quite tired.  A few people offered to jump in after him, but luckily some man pulled the dog out, before anyone else got stuck in the fountain.  After the dog was back on his leash, his owner said, in broken English, “We go home now.”  It was a really funny site to see.  I’m glad the dog is okay.

By this time we had completed almost everything on our Vienna Must Do list, except for one thing, we hadn’t eaten Apple Strudel.  We didn’t think this would be a hard thing to find, considering Austria is known for this dessert.  We found it much harder than we imagined, but after an awkward café experience, we found some at a corner bakery.  It was just as good as expected, and I’m glad that we were able to find it.

Not only were the people nice in Vienna, but the food was good too.  I’ll definitely have  to revisit Vienna someday.

I'm on a boat

Venice is unlike any city I’ve ever seen.  The entire city, as you probably know, is built on water.  As a result, the public transportation is a system of boats.  Josh and I stayed on the island of Lido, not the main island, and were therefore able to enjoy many boat rides.

On the island of Lido we stayed in a very nice bed and breakfast.  It was small, only three rooms, in an apartment building.  The owner was very nice, and made us a big breakfast each morning.

The island itself was just as nice as the bed and breakfast.  It’s apparently known for its beaches, and it reminded me of St. Joseph, Michigan.  There were lots of families and lots of ice cream stands.

We spent a very short time in Venice, only one day, but we hit the main points.  After a long search, and walking in a big circle, we finally found St. Mark’s Basilica.  Unfortunately we got there at 3:50 and it closed at 4, so we weren’t able to see the inside, but the outside was very interesting.  It was different than the other churches we’ve seen; it looked like it had a lot of Eastern influence.

We also visited the island of Murano, the glass capital of the world.  We watched a free demonstration on glass making, and then looked in some shops.  It’s amazing what they can make. Unfortunately, it was so enticing, that my bag is officially bursting at its seams.  Hopefully the souvenirs make it home.

As a celebration for making it halfway through our trip, we visited the Venice Hard Rock café.  I had chicken strips and French fries!  It was so good.

All in all I really liked Venice, it was relaxing after being in Florence and Rome.  I’ll definitely have to go back someday (if only for a gondola ride.)

Rome: So this is where the tourists are!

It terms of lines, crowds, and waiting times, Rome was the worst.  The city was completely overrun with tourists. In fact, I think there were more tourists than Romans.  However, despite this setback, we were able to see everything we planned for.

The first day we visited Trevi Fountain.  Legend has it that if you throw a coin in over your shoulder, you’re guaranteed to return to Rome. So of course we fought our way to the front of the crowd, and threw in a coin.  I really enjoyed the fountain, it was massive, and I liked the way it drowned out the sounds of the city. 

Next we headed to the Pantheon, the ancient Pagan temple.  It’s amazing that it was built so long ago, and that it’s in such good condition.  This is also the place where the artist Raphael is buried, so we visited his tomb as well. 

Afterwards we visited a couple of piazzas that our guidebook suggested. The first was filled with artists selling their paintings.  Here I ate some gelato while admiring the images of many famous Roman sites.   The next piazza was a farmers market where everything from apples to wine to fresh meat was sold.  Unfortunately it was totally overpriced and I wasn’t able to buy a watermelon. 

After leaving the market we walked along the Tibur river towards the Spanish steps.  Surprisingly, the river was really gross, but the walk was nice.  After climbing the steps we headed to our hostel for the night.

The next day we visited the colosseum.  However, it wasn’t as easy as it sounds.  We didn’t have any cash because we couldn’t find an ATM.  We decided to walk around in search of money.

Along the way we decided to stop for lunch.  We ordered some pizza at what seemed to be a nice enough restaurant.  Unfortunately, the wait staff was very rude (they screwed up our order and took about 20 minutes to bring us our check) and the pizza ended up making both of us sick.  To make matters worse we still hadn’t found an ATM.

We decided to go back to the colosseum. I thought that with an entrance fee of 12 euros they would surely accept cards.  I was wrong. 

We were directed to an ATM that was supposedly located just across the street.  It was not an ATM but a Money Exchange. The money exchange not only offered a bad exchange rate but also an additional 10 euro fee.  We decided that it was a total rip off, so we continued to look for an ATM.  After walking a couple of blocks we finally found one!  Unfortunately when we turned around to leave, with our newly acquired cash, we were followed by a beggar.  We took asylum in a store, only to find him waiting for us upon our departure.  We went into the next store, and waited for about 5 minutes, finally he turned around and walked the other way.

We headed back to the Colosseum one more time. After waiting in line, we were finally inside. We looked around and afterwards headed to the Roman Forum.  The ruins were cool, but I was totally exhausted from our ATM search, and it was super hot outside, so we didn’t spend too much time exploring.

We headed back to our hostel pretty early, and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Our hostel in Rome was pretty unconventional.  It was half campsite half hostel.  We had our own little cabin, which was pretty nice, besides the lack of air conditioning.  The campsite had its own restaurant, grocery store, and pool.  Overall it was pretty good, except for the long commute to the city (and the slow internet.)

The next day we went on the tour that Nana and Papa gave me for Christmas.  I thought it was a tour of the Vatican, so I was surprised when they told us we would be visiting a series of churches.  We visited St. Mary Major, St. John the Evangelist (and the Holy steps, the steps Jesus supposedly climbed to his death), St. Paul, and finally St. Peter’s Basilica.  I’m glad we were able to see these churches; they were all on my list for the next day’s itinerary.  My favorite was St. John the Evangelist, it’s a nice mixture of gothic and renaissance design.  St. Paul was also cool because it has a beautiful courtyard outside the entrance, and the inside has a portrait of every pope from St. Peter to the current Pope Benedict.

On our forth and final day in Rome we returned to Vatican city, and visited the Vatican Museum.  Luckily the line didn’t take more than 20 minutes, but the wait was pretty awful.  Lots of people were trying to shove their way to the front, which is incredibly annoying.  Oh well, we made it in eventually. 

The inside of the museum was very crowded, and we were kind of herded through like cattle.  We ended in the Sistine Chapel, where people were packed in like sardines.  Hopefully I can go back someday, maybe in the winter, and it will be less crowded.

Rome was a fun city, and I hope I can go back someday, with better conditions. 

We’re on our way to Venice.  I’m hoping it will be cooler and less crowded, but I’m not counting on it.

Florence: Kind of a Rip Off

Although Florence’s smell of leather and mounds of gelato give a good first impression, the entrance fees to the tourist attractions make you think twice.  Churches cost anywhere from 2.50 – 10 euros and the museums and palaces are upwards of 8.  Making the situation worst, the student discount is only offered to citizens of the EU. Despite the high costs, we were still able to see lots of Florence.

Our first night we found an apertivo (the Italian version of Old Country Buffet) and had a very satisfying dinner.  There were three different kinds of pasta, potato salad, fried zucchini (my favorite), tomato and mozzarella salad, and many other delicious things.  After stuffing ourselves, we decided to walk-off our meal by exploring the city. We discovered the Duomo, with its lovely pink and green marble façade, Ghiberti’s baptistery doors, and Ryan, our Canadian friend we met in Sevilla!

It was quite bizarre, we were walking down the street, spotted Ryan, and had lunch with him the next day.  It was really funny seeing him again, we didn’t even know he was going to Florence. 

After talking with Ryan we went in search of gelato (even though we were still full from dinner) but couldn’t find any; it was about 10pm so I think a lot of gelaterias we already closed.  We settled for ice cream at McDonald’s, and then went to bed.

On a side note, we were quite scared to go to bed the first night.  Arriving at our hostel was quite sketchy. The workers, Mario and Antonio, started talking to us really fast and said they were moving us to a different location.  They loaded our stuff in a car, and drove us across town to an apartment next to the Accademia gallery.  It was a good location, the room was huge, we had a full kitchen; it was too good to be true.  It seemed weird to us that they didn’t make us pay extra (in fact they gave us a discount because we didn’t have the internet), we didn’t have to pay them upfront (as you do in most hostels), and they didn’t take our passport information.  It was also weird because the apartment was pretty bare, there weren’t pictures on the walls and the shelves were empty.  We kind of thought they were in the mob, and were going to take us in the middle of the night. Luckily it all turned out all right, we weren’t kidnapped.

Anyway, on our first day in Florence we decided to check out the inside of the Duomo.  First we headed for the dome, designed by Bruneschelli, because there was no wait.  Well, after paying a total of 16 euros, we found out why there wasn’t a line.  After climbing up 463 stairs, there’s a balcony about 2 feet wide (literally, I’m not exaggerating), with a clear Plexiglas side.  It provides a good view of the paintings on the dome, but also a good view of the cathedral hundreds of feet below.  After climbing to the first terrace, you must continue to the next level, in order to exit.  I was petrified (and so was Josh.)  It was not a good experience.

Back on sturdy ground we entered the cathedral, which was very pretty.  The trip to the top of the dome was a definite rip-off, because you can see it from below. If I wanted to see it up close, I would have brought binoculars.

After the cathedral, we had lunch with Ryan, the Canadian, at a hole-in-the-wall panini shop.  The sandwiches were delicious, and for only 2.50 each they were quite a steal.  We ate some gelato for dessert, I had orange cream, and then went shopping at the flea market.  I bought a cashmere scarf for only 5 euros, and later a leather wallet for 10. 

Next we went to the Accademia gallery (which costs a whopping 14 euros a person), and saw Michelangelo’s David.  It was stunning.  The sculpture is humongous, and very accurate.  It was definitely worth visiting. 

On a side note, the museum workers in Italy, have been very rude.  They don’t like to give directions, they snap at you for entering the wrong side of a gallery, they’re totally unpleasant.  Oh well.

The next day we visited Basilica San Lorenzo, designed by Brunelleschi.  Inside we found a really cool mural of the constellations.  The church was very Renaissance with lots of columns and arches; it had a very simple design.

Afterwards we were planning to visit the Medici chapels, but the entrance fee was 9 euros, so we decided to skip it. 

After pizza for lunch, we went on a Tuscan wine tour.  It was really cool!  We visited a castle, once owned by the Medici family, where wine is now produced.  It’s a family owned company, and the family lives in the castle. The wine is made beneath their living space.  We visited the cellars and saw the wine barrels.  The family also makes olive oil, so we learned a little about that too.  Following the castle tour, we got to taste three different kinds of wine, two Chiantis and a white wine. They were all fabulous.  Not only was the wine good, but Tuscany was beautiful too.  I’m really glad we were able to see the Italian country-side.

Our final day in Florence we did a lot of walking.  Due to rain and odd opening times we walked back and forth through the city.  We planned to visit the Biboli gardens behind the Medici palace, but when we arrived we found the entrance fee was 10 euros a person.  It wasn’t worth the cost, so we took shelter from the rain in Branacci Chapel, they were finishing mass when we snuck in the back.  Nobody seemed to notice us, and we were able to see the church without paying.  It was a good deal.

After we had another pizza and gelato lunch, we visited the Uffizi gallery.  We saw a lot of really cool paintings, my favorite was the Allegory of Spring, by Botechelli.  We also saw art by Giotto, Raphael, DaVinchi, and Titan.  I liked the museum because it was small enough to visit every room.

Next we went to Santa Maria Novella Church, where we saw Mossachio’s painting, The Trinity.  All the artwork wore us out, so after buying a few more things at the leather market, we walked home and went to bed.

Now we’re on the train to Rome!

A Short Stop in Milan

From Barcelona we took at 14 hour train ride to Milan, Italy.  We didn’t have a sleeper car this time, only reclining seats.  It wasn’t as nice as our ride to Madrid, but it got us where we wanted to go.

When we arrived, we checked into our hotel, and went in search of Gelato.  What we found was delicious.

Later we met up with my friend Lauren, who is studying in Milan.  We were lucky to have her show us around the city.  We walked past Castello Sforzesco, an old castle. She also showed us the Galleria, a famous shopping area.  If you stand in the middle and twirl around, it brings you luck.  Next, we visited the Duomo, one of the world’s largest cathedrals.  It’s really pretty, and lucky for us it wasn’t under construction (it’s the first cathedral we’ve seen without any scaffolding.) 

Lauren also took us to a great dinner.  In Italy it’s common for bars to host apertivo happy hours; you buy a drink and it comes with an all-you-can-eat buffet.  The food included everything from pizza and pasta to cooked peppers and corn.  All of it was delicious.  We’re going to be on the look out for more apertivo spots during the rest of our time in Italy. 

After dinner Lauren took us to for more Gelato.  This time we went to Frozen, which Brette recommended to me.  It was also really good.  My goal is to have gelato every day while we are in Italy.

We’re now headed to Florence.  I’m looking forward to the fabulous artwork and architecture.

Are We Still in Spain?

Besides our unfortunate hostel stay, the rest of Barcelona was as great as I remembered.  Barcelona is very different from the rest of Spain; the architecture is more similar to the buildings in France, the language is Catalonian instead of Spanish, and the people aren’t quite as friendly.  Maybe I like it so much because it reminds me of Paris.

On our first day, after a quick trip to Las Ramblas, where we enjoyed the street performers, we visited a Museum of the city’s history.  Did you know that there is an ancient Roman village sitting below the city streets?  We learned about ancient clothes washing (they used urine as a cleaning agent), Roman church building, and the production of wine. It was really cool to see the roman ruins, and the museum had a good audio guide, which made it easy to decipher what we were looking at.

After the museum, we ate some dried papaya that we bought earlier at the Mercat de la Boqueria along Las Ramblas.  The market was very colorful and had everything from fruit to fresh fish (I mean it was still kicking!)  It was quite the experience.

That night for dinner we had a picnic on the beach.  Our hostel, even though it was far from the city, was only a few blocks from the sea.  It was a good ending to our first day in Barcelona.

The next morning we headed for the Picasso museum.  This is my favorite art museum of any I’ve been to.  On the walls they have short excerpts about Picasso’s life, which put the art into context.  The collection focuses on Picasso’s early work, so it’s interesting to see his slow progression to cubism.  If you’re ever in Barcelona, this is a must see.

After the museum we went in search for lunch.  We were hoping to find some cheap paella, but we didn’t have any luck.  Instead we found ourselves walking along a nude beach!  It was quite the shock.  I had never seen so many naked people in my whole life.  After finding our way out, we rode the tram to La Sagrada Famila, the famous cathedral designed by Antoni Gaudi.  It’s amazing how huge it is, and how much detail is crammed into the architecture.  I noticed things, like a Christmas tree in the middle of the façade, that I didn’t notice the last time.  We didn’t visit the inside of the church, because it was a whopping 9 euros a person, we decided we’ll have to go back when it’s finished in 2020.

At this point we were starving and decided to try out the Spanish McDonald’s.  We ate our entire meal off of the euro menu and spent only 7 euros, it was quite the deal!

On Monday we did a lot of walking.  We started at the Arc de Triomph, which isn’t as big as the one in Paris, but it’s still fun to see.  Afterwards we headed to Las Ramblas where we finally found some decently priced paella.  It was delicious!  It’s basically Spanish rice topped with seafood.  It was definitely worth finding.

We walked off our lunch by climbing Montjuïc, the site of the 1992 Olympics.  We visited the stadium and also found some amazing views of the city.  It was quite the climb, and it definitely wore us out.

On the way back down, we stopped at Poble Espanyol, what I thought was going to be a mock Spanish village, kind of like the one in Plymouth Massachusetts.  After paying a 6.50 entrance fee, I found it to be way less than I expected.  It was basically a mall built inside of some old buildings.  It was a rip off.  After all of that walking we headed back to the hostel ready for bed.

The next day, before heading to the train station, we visited Parc Guell.  It was designed by Gaudi to be an ideal living community.  Unfortunately the project failed but today it makes a great park.  There is tiling everywhere and odd tunnels and pathways.  It’s a fun place to have a picnic.

Barcelona is great place, and I hope to have the chance to go back again someday.

Barcelona Dream Hostel? More like Badelona Nightmare Hostel

We arrived in Barcelona Friday night excited to explore the city.  Unfortunately, our hostel was not in the city.  We took an hour tram ride from the city center to Badelona, where we found our hostel.  At this point we were still optimistic, at least the public transportation was easily accessible. 

We climbed the stairs, with our massive bags, only to find a less than friendly staff.  Instead of focusing on our check-in, they were distracted by other kids, asking them questions about the Nintendo Wii (which we found out later didn’t work anyway.)  After five minutes of confusion, they finally found our reservation. 

As we handed them our card to pay, they informed us of a 7% fee for using a Visa.  We decided that was ridiculous, and left to find an ATM (keep in mind it was 11pm at this point.)  We found an ATM, paid the desk, and headed to our room (if it can even be referred to as such.)

Our room was about the size of a typical walk-in closet.  It wasn’t possible to open the door unless the other person was sitting on the bed.  We also found out later that our curtain didn’t close (and we were on the ground floor) and the window didn’t shut securely. 

After unloading in our tiny room we decided to do some laundry.  After washing our clothes we loaded them in the dryer.  An hour later we returned to find our clothes still soaking wet.  When we went to ask the staff member for help, he told us that we weren’t supposed to be doing laundry so late.  Ironically, the same guy had sold us soap only an hour before.  He came to look at the dryer and refused to give us a refund because the dryer was hot.  He didn’t seem to care that our clothes were still wet.  We ended up having clothes hanging in our room to dry for the rest of the stay (as if our room wasn’t small enough already.)

Another interesting thing happened to us while our clothes were washing.  Josh and I were sitting on a couch, using Skype, when three German boys, in their underwear, came and sat next to us.  They proceeded to pull out an ash try and smoke some cigarettes (apparently it was okay to smoke inside.) Needless to say we stood up and walked away.  (We saw the same boys prancing around in their underwear the next day.)

The next morning we woke up and took showers.  Unfortunately for Josh there was mold growing in the men’s bathroom.  Gross.

Another problem with our hostel was the presence of tiny children and their parents.  There was some kind of European kids dance competition going on next door, and apparently the whole group was staying in our hostel; we kind of felt like we were staying in a pre-school.  Not only were they noisy and annoying, they made it impossible to use the kitchen.  They filled up the refrigerator and made messes on the counter.

Despite all the problems we made it through, and are hoping that will be the worst of the trip.

 

*Also weird, we couldn’t find any bad reviews on the internet. 

 

Sevilla: Life as it's Supposed to Be

The contrast between Sevilla and Madrid is unreal.  The streets of Sevilla are lined with orange trees, bright pink bushes grow on porches, and purple trees line the river.  The sky was bright blue and there were beautiful fountains at every corner.

Our visit started wonderfully with our arrival at the hostel.  The reception was bright and sunny, and the walls were decorated with pretty tiles.  After throwing our stuff in the room we went upstairs to check out the roof top terrace.  There were chairs for tanning, a couple of tables, two couches, and a group of hammocks for relaxing.  It was a really fun place to hang out. 

On the day of arrival we spent quite a bit of time on the roof talking with a couple of Canadian guys. They were really proud of Edmonton, their hometown, apparently health-care is completely free, and the taxes are really low.  I’m not really sure how that’s possible, but it was interesting listening to their stories. 

After talking with them for a while, we went out to explore the town.  We walked along the river and were amazed by all the plant life.  It was beautiful.  We also visited Plaza de España where, according to the Canadian guys, Star Wars was filmed.  On the plaza we had fun taking pictures with a collection of parade floats.

The next day we visited the Sevilla Cathedral.  According to Wikipedia it’s the fourth largest cathedral in the world, and I believe it.  It was huge!  There were at least 40 chapels lining the walls of the church, a huge choir area, and two altars.  It was built between 1401 and 1507 on the site of an old mosque.  Interestingly,this is the burial spot of Christopher Columbus.

After the Cathedral we wandered around Barrio de Santa Cruz, the old Jewish quarter.  It was a little area with narrow-winding streets, tapas bars, and lots of tourist shops. 

That night we went to a flamenco bar.  It wasn’t exactly what I expected, but it was lots of fun.  There was only one dancer, and she didn’t have on the full costume, but she was very passionate about the dance.  My favorite part was a cute little girl sitting in the front row.  She had on a flamenco costume, and was totally entranced with the performance.  Every once in a while she would stand up and do a little dance herself.  I’m really glad we were able to watch a flamenco performance.

The next morning we woke up and headed to Alcázar, the palace in Seville.  It was founded in 913 as a Muslim fortress, but has been adapted through the years to be a royal residence.  It was absolutely gorgeous (just like the rest of the city.)  Josh and I were lucky to take a tour of the upper palace.  No one else had signed up for the tour, so it was basically a private viewing.  The rooms were magnificent, and the furniture was beautiful, but the ceilings stole the show.  They were made of wood and had designs carved from them. 

What was even better than the inside of the palace was the outside.  It was like being in a Disney movie.  The trees and plants were so colorful, and they were lots of cool fountains. I could have easily spent half-a-day exploring the gardens.

Next we went to Parque de Maria Luisa.  I felt like I was walking through a tropical forest, I was expecting to see a toucan fly over head.  There were lots of palm trees, other trees, ivy, and colorful flowers. It was a great park.

After the park we decided to partake in a typical Spanish tradition and took a siesta at the hostel.  Most things close in Sevilla between two and five, so there wasn’t much to do anyway. 

After our nap we went to a Moroccan restaurant for dinner.  I’d never had Moroccan food before, and I was a bit skeptical, but it turned out to be delicious.  I’m not sure what it’s called, but my favorite was the first dish, made with chicken in a thin dough and topped with powdered sugar.  The meal was definitely a good ending to our time in Sevilla.  We’re now on the train to Barcelona.  I’m very excited, I visited in March and loved it, so I’m glad I have the chance to return.

The Ring of Terror

Spaniards must be partially crazy.  What other culture kills animals as a public spectacle?  It’s not even a random animal; it’s their national symbol!  What if American’s started shooting Bald Eagles for sport?  I don’t think that’d go over too well.

The bullfight turned out to be much more gory than I expected. It starts out relatively peaceful as the matadors tease the bull with colorful capes.  The bull runs in circles through the pink and yellow fabric, it’s almost pretty.  But then the gore starts. 

A man on a blind horse is brought onto the field.  The bull is directed towards the horse. As the bull jabs the horse with his horns, the man on the horse jabs the bull with a metal point.  During the first round I didn’t realize the bull was getting hurt until I saw the blood oozing down his back. 

Once the horses are led off the field, the matadors have more work to do; they insert colorful sticks, with pointed tips, into the side of the bull.  The goal is to stab the bull deep enough so that the sticks don’t fall out.  The sticks are red, yellow, and white.  It almost looks like the bull is being decorated for a festival except for the fact that blood is spilling from its side. 

After all of the sticks are successfully inserted, the main matador enters the field.  He uses a red cape and runs the bull in circles.  When the matador decides the bull is thoroughly exhausted he’s handed a sword from the sidelines.  He aligns the sword with the bull’s spine, and in a split second it’s in the bull’s back.  If the sword is inserted properly, the bull will die instantly.  If not, he is stabbed in the head until he falls over dead.

We saw some pretty crazy things at our bullfight.  At one point a matador had to jump over the wall!  After trying to stick the bull with a red and yellow stick, the bull started chasing the guy.  Luckily the guy was really fast, and apparently a high-jumper in high school.  After hopping the wall he stood up and ran back into the field.  It was mind-boggling that he was able to recover so quickly.

He wasn’t the only one able to recover. At another point, a different matador made a mistake with his cape and got caught in the bull’s horns, he was jostled around for a few seconds before escaping.  He had a huge gash in his thigh, but  kept on fighting. 

We also saw a horse get knocked over.  The bull was really getting him with his horns, and the horse lost his balance and fell, the man on the horse was able to escape safely. 

The bullfight was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and hopefully like nothing I’ll ever see again.  It was a good cultural experience, but a little too intense for my tastes.

The End of Madrid

I’m on a fancy train to Sevilla. There are outlets, a movie playing, and hardwood floors.  We just had a fantastic lunch of blue cheese, mozzarella, and some kind of Spanish meat.   There was also yogurt, bread, drinks, and coffee.  Way better than flying! 

Anyway, the rest of our time in Madrid was basically spent relaxing. We slept in late, spent some time at Starbucks, and had a couple of picnics. I think we probably allowed ourselves a little bit too much time in the city.  Oh well.

On Sunday we went to a huge flea market, El Rastro.  There were stands selling everything from Madrid souvenirs to gas masks.  We also saw a stand that was promoting communism, kind of weird. 

Sunday night we went to the soccer game.  Our seats were in the nosebleeds but we still had a decent view.  Unfortunately, we had a big group of school kids in front of us who were blowing really loud horns. If we had been in America, they would have been kicked out.  We moved at halftime and it was much more peaceful.

Another thing I noticed was that the people don’t eat or drink during the match, they had a couple of food stands but they weren’t being put to much use. 

Sadly, Real Madrid lost the game. The fans started throwing paper airplanes on the field when the team started losing.  Imagine if people did that at an American baseball game, they would probably be arrested.

After the game we went to a Chocolatería.  It seemed that churros and chocolate were the most popular thing on the menu, so that’s what we got.  The chocolate came in a coffee mug, it was pretty much warm Hershey’s syrup.  The churros were a good way to end the night.

Sunday night at the game my camera stopped working.  Luckily it was just my memory card, so we were able to replace it on Monday.  We went to a huge department store, 9 floors of products, and found the electronics section.  It was cool to see where the Spaniards shop. 

Sunday night was the bullfight.  It was a cultural experience to say the least.  I’ll elaborate in my next post.

All in all Madrid was an okay city.  I think we spent way more time there than was necessary.  The city was dirty and sometimes slightly scary.  We saw a drug deal go down in a metro station, and we saw some guys peeing on cars.  I’m glad I was able to see Guernica and I liked the Parque Buen Retiro, but I don’t think Madrid will be on “must go back” list.

It's Like Mexico, but you can Drink the Water

Written Saturday, 5/23/09

Madrid was definitely a shock after coming from Paris.  It’s a lot hotter and it’s nowhere near as pretty.  However, the people are nice.  Everyone is willing to answer your questions, and they speak Spanish instead of switching to English.

Due to lack of availability we had to switch hostels in the middle of our stay.  The first was very clean, very well done, just like a hotel.  We had our own bathroom, and a daily cleaning service.  The hostel we’re in now is more like a bed and breakfast.  The lady who owns it, Señora Alvaro, definitely enjoys her job.  She doesn’t speak any English, but she speaks Spanish very slowly, and it’s easy to understand.  There’s also a really nice kitchen so we’ve been able to make some good dinners.

The first night we went out to eat (it was my birthday dinner from Josh) at a really fantastic restaurant.  It was a recommendation from our guidebook, and it turned out to be a great deal.  The restaurant had white tablecloths, fast service, and a wonderful atmosphere.  We were able to get a bottle of wine, an appetizer, two main dishes (lamb and chicken), and dessert for only 37 euros, quite the deal (at least compared to Paris.)  Everything in Madrid is quite cheap, which is good for our budget.

Even the museums are reasonably priced; the Prado was only 4 euros a person.  The Prado is really well done; it was easy to find the famous paintings.  I was really happy to have read, History and Art for the Traveler by Rick Steves, because I knew what I wanted to see.  My favorite was the Garden of Delights by Bosch (just like Dad said it would be.)  You can look at it here.  The Rick Steves book is also helpful because it gives a description of the painting, and explains the important parts.

Today we saw Guernica, by Picasso, at the Reina Sofia.  It was a great exhibit.  Before entering the room with the actual painting, there’s a room of Picasso’s studies, which are cool to see.  There’s also a wall of photographs that show the evolution of the painting. 

Overall the museums have been great, except for the fact that you can’t take pictures of the artwork. 

We also visited the Palacio Real, which was modeled after Versailles.  Surprisingly, I liked the one here better. All of the rooms have a different décor; there is a room where all the walls are made of porcelain and another where the walls are tiled.

Near the palace we also visited the Cathedral de Nuestra Señora de la Almudena, which was very cool, different than any church I’ve ever seen.  It is a combination of many different types of art styles.  I really enjoyed it.

Despite the fact that Madrid’s architecture isn’t very pretty, and the main roads don’t have any landscaping, there are a couple of really pretty parks.  The first day we visited the botanical gardens, which have a wide range of plants.  It was a good place to sit in the shade.  Today we visited the Buen Retiro park, which was very green and lush.  We had a picnic on a park bench, and then wandered down the paths.  We ran into some soccer fields, a lake, a glass palace, and an exhibit of really cool sculptures.  I think this may have been my favorite place in Madrid so far.

The nightlife here is very lively.  The first night, after our amazing dinner, we went to Viva Madrid  (also a guidebook recommendation) and had some flavorful mojitos.  Thursday night we went on a pub-crawl with the company New Europe.  It was really fun.  We went to three bars and a seven-story nightclub. We met a guy, Richard, from an island in the English channel, Claus from Germany, a girl from somewhere in Spain who only spoke Spanish, and Phil from Iowa.  Interestingly, Phil’s been living in Minneapolis for the last 3 years.  It was fun to talk to him about things from home.  At the nightclub we also met a group of kids from the University of Illinois.   I talked to them about the Cards and Cubs (one of them was a Cards fan!).  Here’s a picture of the group:

Madrid has been fun so far and it should only get better.  Sunday we’re going to a Real Madrid Soccer game and Monday we’re going to a bullfight.

More soon!