The night train to Berlin was uncomfortable and extremely long. I sat in a cabin with 5 kids who seemed to speak only Dutch until the end of the train ride when one turned to me and said, "You can have this beer if you want it." in perfect English. Anyways, we arrived in Berlin early in the morning and got checked into our hostel.
After dropping off our bags we headed to the Jewish Museum which is supposed to be one of the best things to do in Berlin. However, you can't always believe the books as the museum was not very interesting and definitely not a "must-see" in Berlin. The museum took up most of the end of the day and we headed for a beer garden later that night to sample some German beers. This led to a few people wanting to smoke hookah so we found a hookah bar near our hostel and settled in for the night. At the hookah bar we experienced one of the funniest conversations that I will probably ever have. A 50 year old German guy (very very intoxicated) decided to join us as we sat around and talked. He loved the fact that we were Americans but at the same time didn't think much of our country. Over the two hours that we talked with him he told us that we were the number 1 terrorists in the world and that the Germans were a very peaceful people. Also, he had an obsession with George Best (famous old soccer player from Ireland) which we were able to harp on for a few hours. This interaction made our night in Berlin a success.
The next day we were up early to do another Fat Tire Bike Tour. Again, these tours are excellent. We had a great tour guide who encouraged us to grab a beer at 11 A.M. before the tour started. On this tour we hit all the major points like Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, Hitler's Bunker, Memorial for the Murdered Jews in Europe, and many others. This tour really reconfirmed the idea that Berlin is a city that is still rebuilding following World War II. The entire city feels like a construction project mixed in with a lot of "i'm sorry's" stemming from Hitler's regime. The Memorial for the Murdered Jews in Europe is an extremely odd monument that touches each person differently. In the middle of this tour we got to stop at a beer garden for lunch. After the tour we walked around the city for the remainder of the day and got to bed early as we had to be up extremely early the next morning to catch a train.
Berlin was a great city with much to see. Although I did not like it as much as Paris, it was very interesting to see where the Berlin Wall stood and to hear how different people's lives were on either side of the wall. There are completely different histories on each side and it makes for a remarkable visit. The train to Prague was early the next morning (6:30 A.M.!).
Part 3 and Prague coming soon...
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Two Weeks in Europe and a Volcano: Part 1
I guess I will always know the answer to the question... "Where were you when the volcano in Iceland disrupted the world's air travel for 2 weeks?". I was smack dab in the middle of the trouble.
The last two weeks were some of the most amazing of my entire life. On April 9th me and 4 other friends left Cork, Ireland to set off for Paris, and the first leg of our journey. Our hostel, The Three Ducks, was a dingy place located about a 20 minute walk from the base of the Eiffel Tower. Paris was truly an amazing city with so much to do. The first night we went up in the Eiffel Tower (only a 10 minute line!!) which gave us absolutely amazing views of the entire city at night. The next day we participated in a bike tour from a company named Fat Tire Bike Tours. We proceeded to do this in Berlin and we would have done one in Barcelona if we had ever made it there (story to come). The bike tour takes about 4 hours and covered all the main sites in Paris. We started at the Eiffel Tower and rode by all the major museums. We stopped for lunch at the gardens in front of the Louvre. The bike tour allowed us to see everything in Paris in a very short amount of time. Later that day we went to the military museum which documents weapons and military from ancient times all the way through World War 2. At the end of this museum we were able to see Napoleon's tomb which is absolutely huge despite the fact that he was a pretty tiny guy. After the museum we headed to Notre Dame just late enough so we could not go inside. We walked around the outside and waited for our friends to arrive.
After the military museum we grabbed some dinner and met up with some friends and took an elevator up to the top of the highest, and only, skyscraper in Paris. We spent a few hours up there enjoying the view of the Eiffel Tower and the rest of the city. The next day we woke up early and headed to Versailles to see the Palace of Versailles. This is probably the most magnificent building that I will ever see in my life. Tourists pour in from all over to go see the palace and the lines were pretty long to get in. (We get in for free being EU nationals under the age of 26). It is hard to describe how large and beautiful some of the rooms in Versailles are. The palace is amazing and you can see in my pictures on Facebook just how extravagant this building is. After an audio tour of the building we headed out to the gardens and Marie Antoinette's house which was a great walk. The gardens were not bloomed yet but it was still amazing. After Versailles we headed back into Paris and went to the train station where we were going to get on a night train from Paris to Berlin.
Part 2 to come soon
The last two weeks were some of the most amazing of my entire life. On April 9th me and 4 other friends left Cork, Ireland to set off for Paris, and the first leg of our journey. Our hostel, The Three Ducks, was a dingy place located about a 20 minute walk from the base of the Eiffel Tower. Paris was truly an amazing city with so much to do. The first night we went up in the Eiffel Tower (only a 10 minute line!!) which gave us absolutely amazing views of the entire city at night. The next day we participated in a bike tour from a company named Fat Tire Bike Tours. We proceeded to do this in Berlin and we would have done one in Barcelona if we had ever made it there (story to come). The bike tour takes about 4 hours and covered all the main sites in Paris. We started at the Eiffel Tower and rode by all the major museums. We stopped for lunch at the gardens in front of the Louvre. The bike tour allowed us to see everything in Paris in a very short amount of time. Later that day we went to the military museum which documents weapons and military from ancient times all the way through World War 2. At the end of this museum we were able to see Napoleon's tomb which is absolutely huge despite the fact that he was a pretty tiny guy. After the museum we headed to Notre Dame just late enough so we could not go inside. We walked around the outside and waited for our friends to arrive.
After the military museum we grabbed some dinner and met up with some friends and took an elevator up to the top of the highest, and only, skyscraper in Paris. We spent a few hours up there enjoying the view of the Eiffel Tower and the rest of the city. The next day we woke up early and headed to Versailles to see the Palace of Versailles. This is probably the most magnificent building that I will ever see in my life. Tourists pour in from all over to go see the palace and the lines were pretty long to get in. (We get in for free being EU nationals under the age of 26). It is hard to describe how large and beautiful some of the rooms in Versailles are. The palace is amazing and you can see in my pictures on Facebook just how extravagant this building is. After an audio tour of the building we headed out to the gardens and Marie Antoinette's house which was a great walk. The gardens were not bloomed yet but it was still amazing. After Versailles we headed back into Paris and went to the train station where we were going to get on a night train from Paris to Berlin.
Part 2 to come soon
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
