Prague

Tyn Cathedral

     Despite this trip happening almost a month ago, I'm finally getting around to writing about Prague. We arrived in Prague at a decent hour of the night, and with the help of a really nice couple exiting the opera we found our hostel quickly. Prague is a small city with narrow streets and it might seem easy to get lost but really everything is pretty close so if you wander you're bound stumble upon some landmark and figure out where you're going. Our hostel was right by the Old Town Square and the rooms had a rustic feel, as in our door was locked with a skeleton key and the entrance to the bathroom was only four feet high. But it put us right where we needed to be. The next day we hit the town for a free tour of the city.

Astronomical Clock

    We had very good luck with weather and Prague is a beautiful town. The Tyn Cathedral dominates the skyline by the Old Town Square and the Astronomical Clock is great to see in action. All the figures move, the windows open up and the Apostles parade, and its capped by a gold rooster crowing. The inventor of the clock had his eyes put out by the leader of the city in the 1400's so that he would never make a clock like that for another city. Also each day of the year has a name associated with it, so the last wheel of the clock is really hard to read, but if its you're name day you get to take all your friends out for a drink. Like Berlin, communism is still very much present in the city. They are still recovering from the economic loss and brain drain caused by Soviet occupation and puppet governments. The city is thriving though, and despite the stigma of being in "Eastern Europe" is actually really safe, most people out at night are just drunk.

Propaganda: Communist Bar

     The Czech drink more beer per capita than any other nation, so of course we had a to take a beer tour of the city. Our guide Lucas was a local Czech who grew up in the city and liked leading the tour "Because I love beer." We went to all different pubs and got to try different varieties of their famous Pilsner (unpastuerized, makes a huge difference) and even the original Budweiser. Budweiser is actually a type of beer, the American company just took the name for itself, there's some bitterness left despite all these years. The beer was amazing, and so was the company. We met a lot of other people our age who were travelling abroad. Apparently its the thing to do in Australia. We met fives Australians on the beer tour and none of them had travelled together. They left Australia by themselves, some as much as 6 months ago. They just save up and ship out. Its an interesting way to see the world, since being alone means you're kind of forced to meet new people and out yourself out there. One girl was telling us she was so desperate to speak English with someone that she knocked on the door of the hotel room next to hers and asked if they wouldn't mind her joining them for dinner, simply because she heard them speaking English in the lobby earlier. The tour ended at a bar that was Communism themed. It had all the old communist propaganda as well as some symbols of the new freedom the Czech feel they now have.

Beer tour friends

Palace Cathedral

     The next day we visited the palace, which is really a collection of buildings but still a sight to behold. The cathedral at the castle was started in the 1300's or so, I may be off, there, but wasn't finished until the 20th century. At the front of the cathedral, amid all the images of saints and angels, are four men in business suits, since they paid for the cathedral to be finished they wanted to be on it as well. We went to the National Museum as well, which is really just an odd natural history museum with rooms upon rooms of rocks and stuffed animals. It was a little underwhelming, but the building itself was worth the admission.

National Museum

     Earlier in our tours a guide mentioned that to see the Charle's Bridge (one of the focal points of the city and the connection between the main town and the palace town) as it was in the middle ages, one would have to go on it early in the morning, when there were no tourists and the bridge was by itself. So we did, getting up extremely early we had the whole place to ourselves.









 Prague was one of my favorite cities on this trip. The food was good (dumplings and goulash) and the  whole place extremely friendly. The way our tour guide put it was that every visitor helped Prague shrug off communism and get back into a good economic standing, we were happy to help.

Palace from Charles Bridge

    

Berlin

      We only stayed two whole days in Berlin but it was time well spent. We got in around 5:00am from our overnight train ride with little sleep and no chance of checking into our hostel until at least three that afternoon. We lounged around for a bit and then headed off to take a walking tour of the city. In each place we went we encountered a group called Sandeman's New Europe which is an organization that offers free tours of European cities. The tours are always in English and usually given by people who speak English as a first language but have some sort of connection to the city. To get to the meeting point for the tour we had to take the metro. Unlike London, Berliner's aren't sticklers about the public transportation and since its  such a huge city taking some sort of underground or bus is a must. I only paid for a ticket once during the entire trip and we had to take the metro at least 5 or 6 times.

Brandenburg Gate statue of Victory

      So we met up with Samantha, a spritely British blonde who had moved to Berlin with her boyfriend a few years ago. The tour was excellent, we got to see all the cool places Berlin has to offer while Samantha chirped stories and facts about each place. It was interesting to see how prevalent the old communist split still is. Its in the architecture and the stories behind a lot of the places. It should seem obvious, but it never really hit me until I was there, and in places like Prague or Amsterdam they had histories much older than still affected the makeup of the city, not really true in Berlin. The oldest monument is the Brandenburg Gate, which is from the 1700's. The gate has a funny story behind it. When Napoleon took the city he brought the statue on top of the gate back to Paris. Back then it was a statue of a goddess of peace. After Napoleon was deposed the German's got their statue back, and changed it from a statue of peace to a statue of victory. They then named the square the statue looks over "Paris Square" so from now on the victory is always looking over Paris. Otherwise the entire city was blown up during the second World War so there isn't much left in terms of older buildings.

According to our tour guide this is the "Michael Jackson Baby Dangling Over Balcony Hotel"

Holocaust Memorial

     On our way back from the tour we walked through the Tiergarten, or the Central Park of Berlin and it took us quite a while to get back, Berlin, as I said, is really big. That night we decided to find the Berlin Oktoberfest. The only reason we came to Berlin in the first place was because Munich was too packed for us to get to the Oktoberfest there, and online it said that Berlin itself does indeed have an Oktoberfest. 2 hours of walking through the sketchiest parts of Berlin later we realized that there probably was not an Oktoberfest in Berlin. We ended up on the outskirts of the city near the airport. We stopped by a Burger King to ask for directions or the nearest bus stop and the woman behind the counter told us we had to go to Munich for Oktoberfest. Luckily for us the guy next to us in line heard our problem and offered to give us a lift back to the city. Now, hitch hiking from one of the worst parts of Berlin back to the city center might not sound like a good idea but we were tired so we accepted. He ended being a very nice guy who gave us another semi-tour of the city as he dropped us off at a restaurant packed with locals that served Bavarian beer by the litre. The food was delicious, sausages over cabbage, potato soup, apple turnovers, it was really good and we were so tired we were willing to shell out a little extra dough for comfort food.

Reichstag

      The next day we went to the Reichstag and waited in line for an hour and a half to get inside. It was worth it though, as a free tour its pretty cool on top and offers some nice views of the city. Then we relaxed and enjoyed our vacation for the rest of the day and took our train to Prague at 4:00 in the afternoon.

Amsterdam

      The first stop on our week long break was Amsterdam. Its a charming city that feels more like a big town with a lot of canals. Its a pretty city but in a relaxed sense, like if Paris didn't take itself so seriously. We arrived late at night after two long train rides so we went to bed early, much to the disapproval of Lola, the British girl who shared our hostel room with us. The next day we did a tour of the city by ourselves, just waling around and looking for interesting things. It only takes two hours to walk the entire city, meaning that wherever you stay, you're close to something. We've had terrible luck with places being under construction when we visit and in Amsterdam both the Royal Palace and the Rijksmuseum were being repaired. In the case of the palace the entire thing was covered with sheets and scaffolding so it was hard to tell there was a building there. The Rijksmuseum was great, a whole lot of Rembrandt and a few Vermeers. On the first floor they had a whole exhibit to Dutch maritime history which was really interesting.
      The best part of the day though, was the Heineken Experience. Heineken started in Amsterdam and still has their global HQ there. The beer is no longer brewed at the Amsterdam site so they turned it into a museum/attraction. The entrance fee got you two free drinks at the bar at the end of the tour and you also got a free drink at a tasting halfway through. We got to look at the brewing process and taste the beer at different stages as well as some of the ingredients. By the time we got out it was happy hour at the bar in our hostel. We met some Austrians and joined them for Amsterdam nightlife.
       The next day was more relaxed sightseeing and then we walked around Amsterdam at night, including the famous Red Light district, which is actually not very sketchy and is a big party scene. We found a sports bar that played American football so we got stayed there and got a little taste of home. The next day we saw Westerkerk, one of the tallest buildings in Amsterdam and got good panoramic views of the city. The Anne Frank house was crowded with tourists and the building that people walk through is actually not the house that she lived in. I think part of the tour walks through there but its mostly in a   museum. There are cats in every bar and cafe in Amsterdam. Its just what they do. We were tired and hung out for a while in a cafe while waiting for our train and the whole time right next to us was this cat just hanging out.

      The attitude of Amsterdam is relaxed and a little slower than back in the states. People don't go to bed till 3am and don't wake up till late morning. When we went out we had to actively try to get our check, they're content to let you sit and relax, no hurry. Also they bike everywhere, and really enjoy their bikes. Little things make Amsterdam interesting. There are rows of houseboats and even a museum dedicated to tulips.
    

Trafalgar Square, National Gallery, Stonehenge and Old Sarum

       This is my last week in London before the big trip to Northern Europe and then to Lancaster. Despite papers and presentations we've actually had a good amount of free time and took some trips. This weekend we went to Trafalgar Square, a busy intersection where the National Gallery is located as well as a big fountain and a fair number of shops and pubs. There was some sort of robotic display going on that I couldn't really figure out, but otherwise there were statues and a bunch of street performers.

Phase 1 of the takeover

       The National Gallery was excellent. Obviously it had the standard Italian Renaissance painters including some unfinished Michelangelo's and a couple really excellent Da Vinci pieces (they have another version of the Madonna of the Rocks). They have some great Impressionist stuff too, Degas, Monet, etc. The best though was their Northern European stuff, specifically Dutch painters. They have a good number of Rembrants and his constituents, and some Vermeers as well. The Dutch are a little overlooked when you aren't talking about still life but this was definitely one of the strongest couple of rooms in museum. The British section was again, obviously strong and also interesting since Brits aren't the most talked about painters but they did have some really good landscapes.
      Later in the week was a trip to Stonehenge. The little town of Salisbury that you take the train into to get to Stonehenge is a really small, countryside village with a lot of charm. We went to a pub right by one of the many small rivers that run through the town and it was nice and relaxing. The bus cost about 15 pounds to get to Stonehenge but that included our admission to see the stones as well as admission to the ruins of an old castle nearby. Stonehenge was impressive, its still mind boggling to think about how people actually moved those huge stones so far without power tools. We had perfect weather and the whole place is surrounded by plains and farmland, making it seem isolated and as if the lanscape hasn't changed. Near the site are a few scattered burial mounds that are a nice walk, but they were closed off to prevent erosion. The trip included these little audio devices that really didn't offer much information, especially for someone who knows a thing or two about Stonehenge anyway. Also they just offer speculation, and kind of ruin the whole feel of the place if you choose to listen to them

      The next stop was Old Sarum, a castle and cathedral that has roots to even before William the Conquerer. It's closer to Salisbury than Stonehenge and was the original site of the town. The ruins were really cool, there was a good amount of the older foundations left and its all on the top of a large mound with steep ditches surrounding it, offering a great view of the little town down the valley. It was less touristy that Stonehenge, and offered more freedom to walk around (at Stonehenge you're on a little track). Down from the upper levels of the castle lie the remains of a cathedral. You can see where the pillars would hold the whole place up and there is a really well preserved part of the old treasury left over as well.

      I really like the older history, so this week was a blast. Its our last in London and we finally made the trip to the Icebar as well. It was really cold in there, so we didn't mind that our cover charge only let us in for forty minutes. Not something I would do again because of the cost, but definitely worth visiting.

Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace

     So the past two days have been Royalty charged starting with the Changing of the Guard on Thursday followed by Westminster Abbey that same day and then touring Buckingham Palace today.
     The Guards at Buckingham Palace change every other day with a big parade and ceremony with horses and trumpets, the whole nine yards. Its odd to think they do that 4 times a week the entire year through but tradition is tradition. It was cool to see the march and all the guards decked out in regalia and in some cases armor, but the crowd was a little too big.

Pretty sure they trade those for guns when they get inside

Don't mess

      From Buckingham Palace its only a three minute walk to Westminster Abbey, the place where every British king or queen since the time of William the Conqueror has been coronated. Its a beautiful gothic church built by St. Edward the Confessor, one of the rulers of England before the Norman conquest, so the place is old, however the facades that are seen today are additions to the old church from subsequent monarchs, as are the large towers at the end. One of the biggest draws to Westminster Abbey is the celebrity of the people buried there. I walked past the tombs of Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Charles Darwin, Chaucer, Lewis Carroll, Edward the Confessor, Henry III, Henry VI, William and Mary, Queen Anne and countless other nobles. Standing so near these people is quite an experience, especially for any history buff, the figures from textbooks and worldwide household names (globally known before even the telephone was invented) are suddenly right there in front of you, brought down to earth. Subtract the overwhelming number of Asian tourists and it was actually a pretty personal experience. Even if you aren't excited by the names on the coffins the architecture and grandeur of the place are enough. The Pope just gave mass there today as part of a four day long tour of the UK.

Pope Tour Venue 2010

     Today we went on a tour of Buckingham Palace. As the residence and offices of the Queen it is only open for public visitors a few weeks in the summer, and this tour was added on rather hastily and was probably one of the last of the season. The whole walkthrough was a rather strictly regimented audio tour and only covered a small, albeit grand portion of the palace. It was like walking through a combination fancy hotel and museum without the labels. We were only allowed to walk through the State Rooms and each had its own color scheme (Green Drawing Room, Blue Silk Room, etc.) and we also saw the ballroom, a dining room and the throne room. Every inch of the place was covered with gilded carvings and moldings, the ceilings particularly were really impressive. One room was all white walls with gold accents, as in gold lamps, chairs, candlesticks, you name it, it was gold. The monarchy also houses a large number of artworks which were on display in a few galleries. The whole place screamed opulence and had that royal air we were all craving. No pictures were allowed inside the rooms but that was alright since the real treasure was outside.

Opulence, I has it

        Buckingham sits on 30+ acres of land, right in the middle of London. The gardens feature exotic trees that have been gifts to the crown from dignitaries as well as a large lake. The grass was immaculate and with the shade from the trees as well all we wanted to do was hop the little fence and lay down. That would have been bad though since the whole place is patrolled by a small army of cloaked individuals who act as guides as well as sheep herders, making sure we went along the route.

     All in all it was a great couple of days seeing how one of the few active monarchies in the world goes about its business.

The VnA, Jack the Ripper and Arsenal

       Yesterday started with a trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum. The museum focuses in the decorative arts and has a good amount of sculpture but clothing and architectural pieces as well. There were a lot of interactive games and things to do there, making it seem like being in a kids museum again. I made my own monogram and coat of arms, as well as tried on a Tudor period collar ruffle, a Victorian neck tie and two different types of Medieval gauntlet. At the price of, well, free, there really isn't a reason not to go there. They also have a impressive Medieval and British collections.

Style.

       After that was a Jack the Ripper tour with the whole group. It was a little cold and rained right up until the tour started, making it the perfect night to hear a creepy story. Our tour guide was brilliant, he definitely knew what he was doing and didn't exaggerate anything, he told the stories with eerie precision but kept it less than flat out scary. I didn't realize how gruesome the murders were and he told us what made Jack special wasn't that he was a crazy murderer but that he had a good brand name and the press made him famous. At the end of the tour he offered three different theories (out of hundreds) as to who Jack the Ripper was, all of which have their good points and their holes.
       Today we went to Camden, the punked-out market to the North of the city. Everything was pretty cheap and could be easily bargained down. We found a little sandwich shop right outside the Tube station that offered basically a Philly cheese steak but with ethnic flair that was delicious albeit hard to eat since it wouldn't stay together there was so much meat. After that it was on to the Arsenal game. The Tube was packed with people headed out to the stadium and once during the match the screen flashed saying that close to 60,000 people were there. This was a Champions League match, which is between European nations and is not taken as seriously as the Premier League, between British teams. We sat close to the grass and the opposing team's side. It was S.C. Braga, out of Portugal and their fans were few in number but very serious about their team. At one point one of the British guys on our side got up and chanted "It's Champions League, we're all havin a laugh" which only made the Braga fans cheer louder since now they knew this game wasn't being taken seriously. Arsenal destroyed Braga 6-0 and I've realized the best part of a football match in Europe is the fans. Some of the best cheers were:

-Whooooo are ya? (whenever an opposing player was named)
-We love you Arsenal, we do! We love you Arsenal, we do! We love you Arsenal, we do! Aaaaaarsenal we love you!
-We have Fabregas, We have Fabregas (they have Fabregas, a Spanish World Cup team player)

As we left two of the guys sitting behind us told us to bring football and Arsenal back to the States and we definitely will.

Because I don't think we have a choice...

Paris

    First trip outside of London, Paris. Its a quick Chunnel ride, and while the tickets are expensive we got an ok student/youth discount on them We got in late on Thursday and after wandering around Gare de Lyon we passed out in our tiny hostel room. We were up bright and early on Friday to get to the Louvre by the time it opened at 9:30. The Louvre is a little overwhelming, it has a lot of stuff, but its not as cluttered as the British Museum. Getting there early in the morning was a good call, we skipped the line and was almost a block long by noon. The Mona Lisa is a lot smaller than you would think and you can't get very close to it, in fact a lot of the other paintings might be considered more impressive until you take into account DA VINCI painted the thing. The Venus de Milo was also really cool, and had less of a crowd around it than the Mona Lisa. The other galleries are equally impressive, especially their French paintings which have some really good Delacroixs. 

Then we, you know, solved the Da Vinci Code

     After the Louvre we went up the Champs Elysees to L'Arc de Triomphe, then south from there to the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. We walked the whole thing, the city is really pedestrian friendly but we still walked close to 15-20 miles between the two full days we were there. The Eiffel Tower is everything its cracked up to be. It was cheap to take the stairs up to the 2nd "floor" meaning the second level that you can stand on and that is 43 stories high. Really great views of the city, and walking up means you dont have to wait in three hour long line for the lifts. Pictures really don't capture whatever it is that makes the Eiffel Tower so impressive, all the crisscrossing beams make it look hollow but its really solid. Every time you get a view of the city the Eiffel tower is there somewhere and it weaseled its way into probably half the pictures I took that weekend.

Sneaky...

     That night, instead of going to an expensive bar or club we decided to get wine and drink along the Seine. There are walkways right on the Seine everywhere and we just happened upon this one that was really well lit and full of people. There were guys with drums, a guy with a guitar and some people with stereos on different parts of the quay. We sat by these people who played swing music and danced near the river. When we ran out of wine we ran over to the nearest group of French people and asked where we could buy some more and they invited us to join them. My highschool French actually did really well and the Parisiens aren't as nasty as they're made out to be. They gave us French wine and even brought out some cheese for us to try and we swapped stories and talked about what French people thought of Americans and vice-versa.

Right by the Seine

    The next day we took the Metro up north to the Sacre Coure church. The church was pretty but up a big hill, and the Metro is terrible in Paris. It's slow and smells really bad. They don't give you a lot of information either. We were all excited when we got back to London for the British public transportation. Anyway, the church was great and the views worth the hill climb. We were assaulted by these men calling themselves artists who would make a bracelet on your wrist and wait till its done to charge you. They got us on the Champs Elysees so we knew to avoid them at Sacre Coure but they were stubborn and a little rude. From there we went down to Notre Dame and waited in line for an hour to take a tour up the towers. It was worth the wait and really cheap for students. The gargoyles are really cool up close and there are parts of the church you can't see from ground level. The inside is Gothic medieval architecture at its finest, the windows are beautiful and the ceiling crazy high.

    That night we went out for a fancy French dinner, I got a starter of duck pate and my entree was tomatoes stuffed with beef, rice and as a table we shared a cheese platter and a bottle of wine. It was delicious, also the girls all got desserts so I got to try those as well. Then we saw the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night and then we hit Notre Dame again to see it all lit up. The city is gorgeous at night, everything is well lit and people are always walking around.
Glad to be back in London though, especially to a place where I can shower and have a much more comfortable bed. When you hostel you really get what you pay for, not much.