Berlin and Beyond...

I know that I am very behind in keeping you all updated on our journey, and I apologize!  We have been so busy, and our internet access is usually less than reliable (if we have it at all).  So, I am bound and determined to catch you all up (almost, at least!). 

After leaving Prague, we headed back into Germany to Berlin.  Jon works with a very nice lady who has a niece there, and she arranged that we would be able to stay with her and her roommates during our time there.  Luise and her roomies, Franzisca and Jenny, were so hospitable and helpful!  They cooked us dinner on our first night there, which was very welcome as it was cold and rainy and we were tired of eating out.  We were also able to watch a German crime drama show that is apparently all the rage!  I think it was about 90 minutes, and get this... not one commercial!  Later on we headed out to check out the neighborhood and found a fun bar where I got dessert... a FRIED Mars bar.  I now understand the "let's fry everything" mindset.

The next day, we headed into downtown Berlin and took a walking tour.  We had a fun and knowledgable guide who led us on our 3-hour tour (I know you're singing the "Gulligan's Island" theme right now).  We saw the Brandenburg Gate, the World War II memorial, Communist propaganda, Checkpoint Charlie, and parts of what was left from the wall.  We also stood on the area above where Hitler's bunker was.  It was interesting to us that there was no marker or sign that stated this was where Hitler died, but it made sense that the Germans would not want reminders of that man or his regime.  The space is now actually a parking lot.  Later that day, we met up with the girls and treated them to dinner at a delicious Vietnamese restaurant.  We went out for a couple drinks afterwards and had a great time laughing and talking about the girls' hometown.  Franzisca told us what she remembered about the wall coming down (she was about 5) and shared stories about how much Berlin has changed since then.  Berlin is known as an "ever-changing" city.

The next day, we slept in, did laundry, and hung around the apartment.  Finally, it was starting to clear up and warm up outside, so in the afternoon we headed down to the river and saw the East Side Gallery, a small portion of the Berlin Wall that has been painted by artists all over the world.  Later on, we again met up with the girls for falafels and to go to a music festival.  It was held all over the city, on a Tuesday evening of all nights.  We saw lots of fun, interesting bands.  We headed back pretty early as we had an early train to catch the next day.  We were so grateful to our hosts in Berlin and hope we're able to visit them again sometime.

Where the wall once stood, people now walk so freely

Brandenburg Gate

Our new friends Luise and Franzisca, minus Jenny

Part of what's left of the wall, the East Side Gallery

The following morning, we headed to the train station on our way to Amsterdam.  I must say, I was not too excited about visiting this city what with all the stigmas associated with it; however,  I will admit I was pleasantly surprised.  When we arrived, it was rainy and cold (of course), and I was a bit grouchy.  But after finding our hostel, which was very centrally located (and only had 1 mouse from what we saw... ewwww), and a cheap sweatshirt, we were off to explore.

Amsterdam has a unique charm to it.  Dutch architecture was so different than anything else we'd seen, and the canals were gorgeous.  We ended up grabbing dinner and then going to see a comedy show called "Boom Chicago," which features American comedians.  It was all about social media and how obsessed our culture is.  I love how I am writing about this in a blog!  Afterwards, we headed over to the Red Light District.  It sounds seedy, and it is, but it was a lot less "dirty" than I thought it would be.  There were policemen present in the area, lots of people, even families wandering around checking out the sight.  Seeing girls in windows was a bit awkward, but we later learned that this system was a way to get girls off the street and into a safe environment (the police department is connected to alarms that the girls have access to).  Definitely a different environment to experience.

The next day, we walked over to the Anne Frank House in a slight drizzle, and by the time we were there and waiting in the line outside, it was raining cats and dogs.  Oh, and it was FREEZING (again).  We finally made it into the museum, which was a very powerful experience.  To be in the house and rooms that the Frank family hid in during the German occupation of Amsterdam was very humbling indeed.  I had read "Anne Frank's Diary" in middle school, and going to the house made it so much more personal and real.  If you ever get to Amsterdam, this museum is a must-see.  In the afternoon, we did a walking tour, where we learned more about Amsterdam's canals, museums, the Red Light District, and the marijuana culture.  After the tour, we headed over to "The Pancake Bakery" to try out a Dutch pancake.  We shared a ham and cheese pancake, which was really quite similar to an omelette, and we ended up topping it with caramel flavored syrup.  I know it sounds gross, but somehow it actually worked (and who wants a pancake without something sweet on top?).  We had a truly enjoyable time in Amsterdam, but it was time to move on!  Speaking of "moving on," I saw an advertisement in the Amsterdam train station that said "I'm almost happy here.  Let's leave."  That is the story of our life on this trip for cry I!

The movable bookcase that concealed the entrance to the Frank's apartment

A facsimile of Anne's diary (illegally taken photograph courtesy of my hubby)

The next day was truly a day of mishaps, but I will have to share about our Rotterdam/Dirksland trip in another post.  We are 3 weeks into our trip as of today, and still have 2 weeks to go and lots to see and experience.  Wish us luck!

Checking Out the Czech Republic (Prague)

Melody of the Day: The Humoresque No 7 in G Flat Major for Piano by Dvorak (a Czech composer).
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmAZoexenx8

We spent two days in lovely Prague, and the city was a delightful surprise.  We didn't know much about the city before we went, and added it to our itinerary shortly before we left because of others' recommendations.  Prague was generally untouched during WWII, lending to it's old-world charm today.  We learned that Hitler actually liked the city and pretty much let it be during the war, and therefore most of the buildings are original (and absolutely lovely).  There is somewhat of a dreariness to the overall skyline, but that only lends to its charm.  There were only 2 bombs that hit the inner city, and one of them destroyed a building that all the locals thought was ugly anyhow (a blessing in disguise?).  Prague is also known as the "City of a Hundred Spires."  The architecture reminded us very much of Russian architecture, with the bulbous building tops and spires at the top.  Unfortunately, it rained for much of our time there (and this rain was apprarently meant to follow us around Europe, but more on that later).  Luckily, we were able to do some exploring.  On our first night, we checked into our hostel and headed out to explore with some bar recommendations from the guy at the front desk.  We checked out a jazz bar (jazz was huge there) and then found a fun place called The Pub.  The tappers were at the tables, and you were able to pour your own beer without waiting for a waiter/waitress.  The coolest part was that there was a screen at the table and you could keep track of how much beer each customer poured and could also order food from it.  I tried the traditional Czech goulash (but wasn't able to eat too much... too meaty) and Jon got a hamburger (he was feeling gutsy lol).  The bar also had a huge screen at the back that kept track of each of the Pub bars in Europe and you could compete with the other bars over how much beer was drunk (binge drinking anyone?).  We headed back to the tram over the Charles Bridge, the most famous bridge in Prague.  It was absolutely stunningly beautiful to see the castle over-looking the town, the water, the full moon.  *Sigh*

The largest bill we've ever seen!

The next day, even though it was rainy and cool, we decided to do a walking tour of the city. Thanks to our hostel, we were able to get a 6-hour walking tour for half off, and I think you all know how we like a good deal!  We were able to see the national museum, the astronomical clock, and a giant metronome with "Tears of Stalin" in huge letters in front of it.  This is where a statue of Stalin once stood, looking tyrannically over the city.  We also were able to take a boat out on the river, eat lunch at a local restaurant (we tried the traditional fried cheese, just like Wisconsin's!), and finished the day off at the Prague castle, which overlooks the city and offers a fantastic view. That evening, we did a bit of resting and then headed out one last time for dinner (pizza...again).  We got a bit lost trying to make our way home as we had to use a different late night tram.  It was cold, and I panicked (just a bit).  Thank goodness Jon is always so calm and reasonable in those situations.  He's constantly reminding me "it's all part of the master plan," and he's right!  We made it back, got a little bit of rest, and in the morning it was off to Berlin!

Prague Castle

The city of Prague from the castle

Much Ado About Munich (and Salzburg, and Vienna...)

Melody of the Day:  Any song of your choosing from "The Sound of Music" soundtrack

Let me fill you all in on our visit to Munich (and Salzburg and Vienna).  I apologize for the dealy, but lack of reliable internet (and time, for that matter), has required that we go out and have fun rather than sit at a computer.  Munich was a lovely city, and I was surprised by how charming and beautiful southern Germany is.  Our first day there was indeed a day of mishaps.  We had taken the night train in from Venice and arrived sleepily in the early morning.  We spent the better part of an hour just trying to figure out how to get to our hostel and which transportation pass we needed. 30 euros later, we arrived at our hostel called The Tent.  True to its name, it really is just a large tent set up in the outskirts of Munich.  We didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into, as we'd stayed in hotels up to this point.  We expected a hippy-ish type of camp, with bonfires and guitars.  We were partially correct, but the vibe here was laid-back and fun.  All the employees were helpful and happy.  The bathrooms were clean, there was a cute little restaurant, and there were lots of people sharing the same room as us. 


We ended up meeting back up with a young brother/sister that we had met on the train and recommended The Tent to based upon what we had heard about it.  We spent a lovely morning just relaxing a bit, getting our bearings, and around 2 finally decided to go explore a bit.  For a good portion of the day, we believed that our 30 Euro transportation tickets weren't necessary as our train passes were supposed to cover the trips (according to said brother and sister), and I was seeing red as we had wasted that much money.  It turned out, however, that we did need them (we found this out after trying to return them to the very (un) friendly lady at the tourist kiosk).  Our passes never got checked, but it did give us peace of mind that we had them if needed and didn't necessarily waste all that cash.  So, we walked around downtown Munich for a short while.  I particularly enjoyed the architecture there.  It was quaint and lovely, windowboxes filled with well-tended flowers in every window.  This was the place, by far, that reminded me the most of home.  For the most part, without our packs, we could blend in here as a local (until somebody tried to talk to us lol).  We had heard that Bon Jovi was playing that evening in town and that there was a grassy area outside the venue where lots of people brought picnics and just listened to the show.  We decided this would be fun, and planned to go with Wes and Maggie (the others we had met).  Since it was a day of mishaps, however, we found out that all the supermarkets were closed as it was Sunday, and would be closed again tomorrow for a bank holiday (strange, isn't it, that a supermarket would close on a bank holiday). We scratched the picnic idea, and just brought some beer bottles with us in our backpack.  First, we ended up on the wrong bus and went completely to the other side of the city.  When Jon took over the map, he was able to get us back on track, but by the time we found the place, most people had gone, and the free concert we found only had 3 songs left in it.  I was not complaining to go back, though, because it was truly FREEZING!  I never did find out what the tempererature dipped down to that night, but I was sure that I would wake up to find myself dead from the cold. On our way back, we again missed our bus stop, leading to more walking in the cold.  I was more than a bit cranky at this time, so I'll move on to something a bit more cheerful.

The next day was rainy (and cool, again), and we headed out of town to see Neuschwaunstein castle,  built by crazy King Ludwig II in the late 1800s.  It is the castle that Walt Disney based the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland on, and is set in a lovely little town called Fusser.  Fusser has another castle, one of the ones that Ludwig had grown up in.  By the time we reached the town after a 2-hour train ride
and short bus ride, we got into line for tickets to find out that they were close to running out for the day.  We crossed our fingers in that line, because we had not come all that way just to take a picture for cry I!  Lucky for us, our friends had gotten into line before us and bought tickets for us when they made it to the window (and saved us 8 Euros to boot with their student discount!).  We had a few hours to
wait before our guided tour, so we climbed up to take pictures outside the other castle, did some shopping, ate a quick lunch, and had a few beers in the local Biergarten.  We trekked up to the castle (which was quite a trek), to be met with a fantastic view of the valley and cities below.  I could live in this castle if it meant waking up to this view each day!

At the Biergartens in Germany, it's never too early to start!

After the tour, we headed back to Munich.  We were on the lookout for a  late dinner, and made our way to the Hofbrauhaus, the famous Biergarten that is just as lively as you would imagine.  Jon looked a bit like a boy on Christmas when we arrived.  We had a wonderful (albeit a bit expensive) meal, a couple drinks, and headed back to The Tent. 

On our third and final day in Munich, we said goodbye to Maggie and Wes who were moving on to Prague.  It was another rainy day, and Jon and I decided to head out of town a bit to visit the memorial sight at the Dachau Concentration Camp.  We took a tour with a very knowledgable guide (highly recommeded if you ever go, it only cost us 6 Euro and lasted almost 3 hours).  The place, understandably, has a very solemn, contemplative tone.  It contains one of the few intact gas chambers in the camps, as Hitler had ordered them all be destroyed at the end of the war. The chambers at Dachau, however, may never have been used as they were built towards the end of the war and Dachau was a work camp, not a death camp.  The crematorium, however, was used extensively, and we were able to visit the mass grave sites and ash graves found on the premises.  The gates at the front of Dachau contain an eerie message as you enter, "Work will set you free."  The same words can be found on the gates outside Auschwitz.  Although it's quite depressing, seeing places like this and learning about them is so important so that atrocities such as these won't be forgotten, and won't happen again.  I was pleased to learn that all German schoolchildren visit a camp at some point during their education, and was touched by our guide's continued message that he hoped these visits would "have an impact on these young people, especially as there are few living survivers left."  On our last night in Munich, we relaxed (and again tried to stay warm) back at The Tent.




In the morning, off to Austria!


Salzburg and Vienna

We took an early train out of Munich and arrived in Salzburg, a lovely little town in the Austrian Alps, of "The Sound of Music" fame.  Unfortunately, that particular tour was much too expensive on our budget (bummer), so we set off to explore on our own and found a few of the places from the movie ourselves (and I won't lie- I did some singing along the way).  I really enjoyed this little town, and it's definitely
one of the places I would enjoy returning to.  It seemed very family-friendly and didn't have a "big city" feel to it at all.  We came across some beautiful gardens and the palace (don't ask me the name), and then trekked across the bridge to find Mozart's birthouse, which is now a museum holding the violin he played when he was 6.  After visiting the museum, we found a great street market with beautiful fruits and
veggies, sausages, and pretzels.  This was probably the best food we've had so far! We enjoyed some fresh cherries, a pretzel, and a kasekraner sausage (a sausage filled with cheese and topped with spicy mustard and fresh horseradish- delish!).  This gave us enough energy to trek up the hill to the fortress.  Unfortunately, after a lot of uphill walking we found that the fortress is closed off unless you buy a ticket,
so we didn't get so much as a good view (only a good workout to burn off that sausage).  Salzburg offered some great activites that we weren't able to get to, such as dinner/concert combos with Mozart music, marionette theater, and the nearby salt mines.  We hope one day to go back with our family!

Gardens in Salzburg with the fortress in the background.

Anybody remember this scene from "The Sound of Music"?  I think the edge of the fountain must have been much shorter when Maria splashed in it, because i could barely reach the water.

We took the afternoon train from Salzburg to Vienna, and since our hotel was quite a bit out of the city we were pretty tired by the time we arrived there.  I must give my thanks publicly to my wonderful, map-reading, subway/bus/tram-line figure-outer husband.  He has gotten very efficient at getting us where we need to be.  Our hotel was a nice change from sleeping in a freezing-cold tent in Munich.  We headed out to
find food, and ended up at a pizzeria. I know, I know... pizza in Vienna?  It was all that was affordable and quick!  I was boring and got a cheese, but Jon ventured out and ordered something from the menu he couldn't read.  He ended up getting a pizza with smoked salmon on it! 

The next day we headed out to explore Vienna.  I must say I was completely lacking in any knowledge about this city, other than the Lippizaner horses.  It was a truly regal city, with palaces and grand buildings literally everywhere you looked.  We found 3 churches before finding the most famous one, St. Stephen's Dom (church), which we were disappointed with after the others we'd seen during the day.  In the evening, we ventured out to find the Haus der Musik, a museum dedicated to sound, hearing, music, and the like.  The highlight was that Jon got to conduct the world-famous Vienna Philharmonic! We considered visiting the Vienna Zoo, which is the oldest and yet most modern zoo in the world, but at the end of the day, we decided that Vienna was a very expensive city and that we ought to just sleep in the next day and get our money's worth on the hotel room. 

Markets are truly the way to eat here.  We had been hearing about kebap sandwiches and tried one in Vienna.  It was HUGE, delicious, and less than 3 Euros!

Jon conducting the Vienna Philharmonic

Time to move on!  Up next... Prague, Czech Republic!

Today's Melody: "Trains" by Porcupine Tree http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmoagjB-S_k

The last few days have been a whirlwind.  On our first night in Florence, we went out for pasta and wine and ended up meeting a nice newlywed couple from Tennessee.  We found a karaoke bar and belted out American tunes with the locals.  Fun! 

At the karaoke bar

Apparently we wore ourselves out, because we set our alarms for 8:30 the next morning, but slept through it and Jon woke me up at 12:30!  We gave ourselves just enough time to do some laundry (in the sink of course)

and headed to the Duomo, a beautiful cathedral in the heart of Florence.  It's dome (duomo) dominates the Florence skyline.  The interior of the church is quite dark and dreary, not very ornate at all.  The highlight, however, is the dome above the altar, painted again by Michelangelo. 

Later that afternoon we had our Italian cooking lessons.  We had a great time at In Tutio cooking school.  We learned from sous chef Allesandro how to prepare a 4-course meal, including homemade tiramisu.  Bon apetito!  We were then able to eat it with the small group that helped us prepare it.  It was by far the best meal we had in Italy, and we actually made it! (P.S. Don't expect any of this at home... making crepes is hard!).  



Apertif made with eggplant, aged fontina, and parmesan.



Allesandro teaches us to make "farmer's chicken."



On Saturday morning, our original plan was to head to Venice for the day because we had a night train to Austria scheduled for that evening.  By the time we got to the train station, however, the earliest available train to Venice was at 3:30.  Not our first mishap, but we are still trying to figure out how these trains work!  So... we got into Venice at 5:30 p.m. and had to leave at 11:00 p.m. Needless to say, we were in a hurry to see what there was to see!  We wandered the enchanting side streets and alleys, looked in the shops filled with Carnival masks and Murano glass, and (of course) ate some gelato.  St. Mark's square was stunning, perhaps my favorite church exterior thus far.  Unfortunately, the church and the Doge's Palace had already closed for the day, but thankfully we had a Rick Steves' audio tour to help us get acquainted with the exteriors of the buildings and the history of the square.  If you haven't been, Venice is just as romantic as you hear it is.  It is peaceful (perhaps because there are no cars?) and it is thrilling to wander through the narrow alleyways and let yourself get lost.  We were reassured by the fact that we were on an island, so whenever we'd come to water, we'd just turn around and go another direction. 

I think the highlight of our day in Venice was that we had a nice British couple take our picture, and they told Jon he looked just like their "prince who just had a wedding."  They said he could make a pretty penny in England as an impersonator.  I still don't see it, but he's definitely my prince charming.

We took the night train to Innsbruck and on to Munich.  We got here early this morning, and are planning fun things to do!  Will fill you in soon. :)  Thanks for reading.

When in Roma

Today's Melodies: 
"The Pines of Rome" by Respighi  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43bDPoRN2xA&feature=related

Note:  This post was written yesterday, but because Blogger was not letting me upload pictures I waited until today to post it.  Be on the lookout for a post about our time in Florence soon!

Buongiorno!  We finally have reliable and quick Wi-Fi, so I am able to update you all on our journeys.  We had such fun in Rome exploring "The Eternal City."  We had a quaint corner hotel room at the Hotel Picasso, overlooking Via Palermo and Via Venezia.  We could peek out our windows at any time and sneak a peek at this gentleman, who stood outside his store all day (from what we could tell). 

The hotel was close to everything.  On our first day there, fighting the jet-lag and pushing on though we'd only gotten about 3-4 hours of disturbed sleep on the plane, we set to exploring this city we'd call home for only the next 2 days.  Where to first?  The Colosseum, or Coloseo.  Of course we stopped on our way to get lunch at a busy piaderia.  These lovely, warm stuffed sandwiches were delicious, and the man we ordered them from was quite understanding of our lack of Italian.

We turned one corner, and there it was!  This huge building you see in pictures and history books, staring us right in the face.  Jon, my ever-thoughtful husband, downloaded lots of audio tours for things we'll be seeing on our trip.  So not only did we save money on the audio tours at the Colosseum, but we kinda-sorta got our own personal tour guide (Rick Steves none the less).  It was so easy to imagine gladiators fighting lions and bears in the huge arena, hearing the crowds cheer as Caesar and the Vestal Virgins watched over the action in their private boxes.  We also got to explore the Arch of Constantine, Palatine Hill, and the Forum, Rome's ancient city center, where Caesar Augustus lived and was assasinated.  "Et tu Brute?"  For real.

Our second day in Rome was no less busy than the first.  We went to the Vatican Museums, which are quite overwhelming. You can't help but feel tiny surrounded by so much history and beauty.  We were able to see Rafael's "School of Athens," in which he included a self-portrait (can you spot him in the black beret?). 

Of course the highlight at the Vatican Museums is the Sistine Chapel.  Jon will probably get arrested but took sneaky pictures inside of Michelangelo's great masterpiece.  

We then headed over to St. Peter's Square and Basilica.  I think this was my favorite thing to see so far.  Absolute jaw-dropping, bigger-than-life beauty.  It actually brought tears to my eyes.  The sheer size of the place is amazing, and the history of it even more so.  We oohed and aahed over Michelangelo's dome and Pieta, and unfortunately got shooed out a bit earlier than we would have liked as they were closing up shop.

At the Vatican Museums.  St. Peter's is in the background.

St. Peter's Basilica

Michelangelo's famous Pieta at St. Peter's.  It's behind bullet-proof glass because in the '70s somebody ran into the Basilica and started chipping away at it with a hammer.  Interestingly, this is the only sculpture signed by Michelangelo.  He carved his name down Mary's robe after hearing that others weren't giving him credit for his work.

We finished the day by hopping on the metro and visiting the Spanish Steps, where we were annoyed with the men selling roses, and wandered down Via Serpenti to the Trevi Fountain, Bernini's beauty that is carved into the back of an old marble building.  We threw in our coins and made a wish!

We left Rome this morning, but only after visiting the Pantheon.  It was a long trek, especially with our packs on our back.  We had planned on taking the bus, but number 64 was packed to the max each time it came around.  Literally packed... faces and arms smooshed against the windows.  The Pantheon is the oldest building we've visited.  It was originally built in 24 BC as a place to worship all (Pan) the gods (theos).  It is massive, and the structure of the dome and oculus at the top is an architectural marvel; it was what Michelangelo used to model the St. Peter's Basilica dome and the Duomo in Florence (Firenze). 

Inside the Pantheon

The Pantheon

We stopped at Santa Maria's church before heading to the train station.  We found a gorgeous Michelangelo statue of Christ's resurrection.  The best part about it is that few tourists know it is even there, so you have it almost all to yourself.  We feel as though we've seen Michelangelo's fingerprints all over this city.

We finally made it to the train station after 2 bus rides and a metro ride.  We got our Eurail passes validated, and literally ran to our first train.  We were sitting at lunch, taking our time, not knowing that our train's platform was FOREVER away.  So leave it to us to be running with 20 pounds on our backs and almost missing the train to Firenze.  After a 4-hour ride (we thought it was going to be 2 hours- blah), we arrived in Florence with no reservations (forgive the Anthony Bourdain reference, but we literally did not have any reservations for a place to sleep).  We found an Internet Cafe and booked the cheapest hotel we could find closest to the city.  Needless to say, we had an interesting time just getting into our room as nobody was at the front desk when we went to check in.  But we ended up with a lovely room overlooking the courtyard rather than the noisy street.  The best part is that we get our own bathroom again.  In the meantime, we'll be enjoying this view.

                                         

Oh, and we'll be doing some more of this.