Blog. Failure. I started this entry over a month ago... I was writing brief descriptions and putting up pictures of our last few destinations (with Margaret and Sarah), I may just finish with pictures.... Enjoy! Maybe I'll put up some Aix posts in the near future...?
-----------------------------------------
Our past four destinations: Salzburg, Austria; Lake Bled, Slovenia; Plitvice Lakes & Dubrovnik, Croatia, have been one fairy tale after the other. It's hard to believe this chapter of my adventure [traveling with Margaret & Sarah] is about to come to an end! Here's a (hopefully) brief update of our latest tales, really I think the pictures tell a much better story than my words.
Salzburg: August 19-21
As you may or may not realize the majority of the Sound of Music movie was filmmed here in Salzburg! After the movie came out the tourism industry in Salzburg boomed and of course we couldn't come all this way without going on the "Original Sound of Music Tour". We only had a day or so actually in Salzburg, but we loved it. The tour was great and a nice change of pace to have someone else in charge of the map/directions/information etc. And we definitely embraced the tourist stereotype by posing for Sound of Music pictures.
Lake Bled: August 21-22
We had a little less than 24 hours in the beautiful Lake Bled area of Slovenia. You probably haven't heard of it, but we found it--courtesy of Rick Steves I think, and it was definitely worth the trip. We took the train from Salzburg, changed once, and had to take a taxi to our hostel. We spent the rest of the day on the lake with lots of Slovenians, and ate some pizza for dinner--actually I ate an entire pizza... oops.
Plitvice Lakes: August 22-24
Woke up early... Hiked around the beautiful national park with TONS of waterfalls.
Dubrovnik, islands, and Korcula: August ??
Incredible finale to an incredible trip!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Prague, Budapest, Vienna: imperial entities.
Prague: August 9-14
Our five-day sojourn in the Czech Republic began unexpectedly in the city of Pardubice when we accidentally missed our stop in Prague and went 115 km past! Life lesson #729: Don’t trust the train workers with limited English who tell you that the train stops twice in Prague! We eventually made it to Prague and to our favorite hostel yet: Sir Toby’s.
Prague was great. We decided before arriving that we wanted to stay there a little longer in order to take it easy, catch our breath after the whirlwind first three cities, and enjoy the atmosphere of the city. People talk about the magical aura that hovers over the unique city of Prague—the latest hotspot for tourists these days. After having been there I’m not sure I fully tapped into the aura that you hear about—I very much enjoyed the city, but I’d say what really made it unforgettable for Margaret, Sarah, and me were the people we met and experiences we shared. Our hostel was full of characters—we met all kinds of people from all walks of life: British, Australian, American, French, Bosnian, Czech, to name a few. Meeting people in this way has been an incredibly eye-opening experience. There is a sort of instant bond between us, regardless of how different they may be from me, it exists because of being fellow travelers on a journey somewhere. Many people, I think, are looking for more than just the next site, city or pub, but in fact they are searching for something greater to fill the empty God-shaped void inside of everyone. I think I am learning more from these traveling peers than I realize even right now.
Other highlights of Prague were: Stumbling upon a park of apples, pears, and peacocks! It is a rare treat to be able to walk through a park and get free snacks growing from the trees! Also, exploring the Jewish Quarter and the synagogues and memorials in that area. We took a free walking tour, went to the Prague castle, John Lennon Wall, Mucha museum, and climbed the hill to the famous beer garden/café. We also did laundry, slept-in, and ate McDonalds—(yeah, we did, and it was awesome).
On Friday morning we said au revoir to Sir Toby’s and our new friends and took the train to Budapest!
Budapest: August 14-16
We arrived in Budapest on the Friday of their biggest weekend music festival of the year, the “Sziget Festival” (sp?). Consequently, we had a hard time finding a place to stay, but got lucky and ended up having our own room in a small B&B-style hostel. First of all, I had a completely incorrect mental image of this city. Mainly due to my own ignorance, but anyway, I was blown away by the beautiful architecture and historic look of everything. We spent the afternoon/evening exploring the Buda side of the city and then ate my favorite traditional dish so far: Chicken Goulash with Goulaska—delicious, especially the Hungarian pasta over which it was served.
On our full day in Budapest we started with the famous cakes and coffee at Lukos (sp?). Yum. Then we went to the House of Terror museum. No, not a haunted house or London Dungeon type tourist trap, it’s an actual legit museum, and by far one of the most magnificent I’ve ever been to. The house on Andrassy Boulevard (the Champs Elysée of Budapest) was the former headquarters of the Nazi and Soviet regimes in Budapest and the site of interrogation, torture, and completely inhumane treatment of people. The museum depicted Budapest’s tragic history dominated by the occupation of the Nazis and then the Soviets. It was a lot of history to take in—and I’m sure I still don’t really understand exactly how it all happened, but the museum was effectively moving and thought-provoking—truly a must see if you or anyone you know is going there.
We spent the rest of the day exploring, the riverbank area. I went inside the Four Seasons [Trey], and it was beautiful occupying the former Gresham Palace. Dinner was discouraging because when we finally found a place to eat, we were turned away because the waiter said we had to order three full [huge] meals, and we really just wanted soup and salad [tourist-exploitation at its finest]. We found somewhere else eventually. One of THE things to do in Budapest is to “bathe” at one the mineral bathhouses sprinkled throughout the city. Our hostel recommended one “where the locals go” and after dinner we decided to rally, and check it out. This particular bath is open from 10pm-4am on the weekends, so you can imagine the crowd we found there. But we had so much fun! It was really relaxing and a great experience to go down in the books. The next day we went to the WAMP market before taking our afternoon train to Vienna. Our hostel owner recommended this so called “fashion market” which is only open one Sunday a month, and it was not a disappointment. Tons of really beautiful handmade jewelry, clothes, paintings, etc, and lots of fun since we haven’t bought anything this whole trip.
Vienna: August 16-19
In my opinion, going to Vienna from Prague and Budapest was definitely a rung up on the ladder of developed countries. We were overjoyed to switch back to the Euro after using Czech and Hungarian currencies, but not as much overjoyed about everything being more expensive.
Great dinner our first night in Vienna with the first green food (salad) I’d had in while. The next day we walked around the Hapburg palace area, museum quarter, and Rathaus park. We took the tram to see Kunst Haus—the house with no straight lines with a permanent exhibit of Hundertwasser’s work. It was interesting, but I’m glad to say that we went on half price ticket day. Afterwards we went to the famous Demels Café for the classic mélange and Sacher Torte (coffee and chocolate cake).
Because the Vienna Opera, Boys Choir, Philharmonic etc. all go on vacation for July and August, the city has an incredible film festival where each night they play a different opera, ballet, or concert in the park. We made a picnic from the grocery store and went back to Rathaus Park to claim our seats for the evening. A gigantic screen was set up in front of the Rathaus (parliament building) and with incredible high quality audio and video we watched/heard a 2008 concert filmed in Berlin: Waldebühne 2008- Los Ritmos de la Noche, Gustavo Dudamel. It was outstanding… and best of all, completely free! We came back to our hostel to find that we now had two roommates who happen to be from Paris! It was so fun chatting with them, two girls traveling around together—definitely made me grateful for the French practice I’ve had.
Our last day was similar to the first, more exploring of Vienna. We ate some bizarre but famous open-faced sandwiches from Trzesniewski, took a tour of the Opera house, St. Stephen’s, and found a wine tavern outside the center. We couldn’t resist going back to the film festival for another show, which turned out to be Mozart’s Requiem—amazing. Low point of today: everything I ate was in the beige/brown-color family, that’s no good…
And that pretty much brings me here, on the train to Salzburg sitting with two older retired Austrian and Swiss women who just finished a 10-day bike trip along the Danube—so legit. I’m riding past vibrant green countryside, farmhouses, barns, trees, and cottages. The sky is blue…and our train has air conditioning! Am I dreaming or is this real?!
Thanks for reading,
c.
Our five-day sojourn in the Czech Republic began unexpectedly in the city of Pardubice when we accidentally missed our stop in Prague and went 115 km past! Life lesson #729: Don’t trust the train workers with limited English who tell you that the train stops twice in Prague! We eventually made it to Prague and to our favorite hostel yet: Sir Toby’s.
Prague was great. We decided before arriving that we wanted to stay there a little longer in order to take it easy, catch our breath after the whirlwind first three cities, and enjoy the atmosphere of the city. People talk about the magical aura that hovers over the unique city of Prague—the latest hotspot for tourists these days. After having been there I’m not sure I fully tapped into the aura that you hear about—I very much enjoyed the city, but I’d say what really made it unforgettable for Margaret, Sarah, and me were the people we met and experiences we shared. Our hostel was full of characters—we met all kinds of people from all walks of life: British, Australian, American, French, Bosnian, Czech, to name a few. Meeting people in this way has been an incredibly eye-opening experience. There is a sort of instant bond between us, regardless of how different they may be from me, it exists because of being fellow travelers on a journey somewhere. Many people, I think, are looking for more than just the next site, city or pub, but in fact they are searching for something greater to fill the empty God-shaped void inside of everyone. I think I am learning more from these traveling peers than I realize even right now.
Other highlights of Prague were: Stumbling upon a park of apples, pears, and peacocks! It is a rare treat to be able to walk through a park and get free snacks growing from the trees! Also, exploring the Jewish Quarter and the synagogues and memorials in that area. We took a free walking tour, went to the Prague castle, John Lennon Wall, Mucha museum, and climbed the hill to the famous beer garden/café. We also did laundry, slept-in, and ate McDonalds—(yeah, we did, and it was awesome).
On Friday morning we said au revoir to Sir Toby’s and our new friends and took the train to Budapest!
Budapest: August 14-16
**Had some camera issues lately. All of the Budapest Pictures, and lots of the others are courtesy of Sarah N.!
We arrived in Budapest on the Friday of their biggest weekend music festival of the year, the “Sziget Festival” (sp?). Consequently, we had a hard time finding a place to stay, but got lucky and ended up having our own room in a small B&B-style hostel. First of all, I had a completely incorrect mental image of this city. Mainly due to my own ignorance, but anyway, I was blown away by the beautiful architecture and historic look of everything. We spent the afternoon/evening exploring the Buda side of the city and then ate my favorite traditional dish so far: Chicken Goulash with Goulaska—delicious, especially the Hungarian pasta over which it was served.
On our full day in Budapest we started with the famous cakes and coffee at Lukos (sp?). Yum. Then we went to the House of Terror museum. No, not a haunted house or London Dungeon type tourist trap, it’s an actual legit museum, and by far one of the most magnificent I’ve ever been to. The house on Andrassy Boulevard (the Champs Elysée of Budapest) was the former headquarters of the Nazi and Soviet regimes in Budapest and the site of interrogation, torture, and completely inhumane treatment of people. The museum depicted Budapest’s tragic history dominated by the occupation of the Nazis and then the Soviets. It was a lot of history to take in—and I’m sure I still don’t really understand exactly how it all happened, but the museum was effectively moving and thought-provoking—truly a must see if you or anyone you know is going there.
We spent the rest of the day exploring, the riverbank area. I went inside the Four Seasons [Trey], and it was beautiful occupying the former Gresham Palace. Dinner was discouraging because when we finally found a place to eat, we were turned away because the waiter said we had to order three full [huge] meals, and we really just wanted soup and salad [tourist-exploitation at its finest]. We found somewhere else eventually. One of THE things to do in Budapest is to “bathe” at one the mineral bathhouses sprinkled throughout the city. Our hostel recommended one “where the locals go” and after dinner we decided to rally, and check it out. This particular bath is open from 10pm-4am on the weekends, so you can imagine the crowd we found there. But we had so much fun! It was really relaxing and a great experience to go down in the books. The next day we went to the WAMP market before taking our afternoon train to Vienna. Our hostel owner recommended this so called “fashion market” which is only open one Sunday a month, and it was not a disappointment. Tons of really beautiful handmade jewelry, clothes, paintings, etc, and lots of fun since we haven’t bought anything this whole trip.
Vienna: August 16-19
In my opinion, going to Vienna from Prague and Budapest was definitely a rung up on the ladder of developed countries. We were overjoyed to switch back to the Euro after using Czech and Hungarian currencies, but not as much overjoyed about everything being more expensive.
Great dinner our first night in Vienna with the first green food (salad) I’d had in while. The next day we walked around the Hapburg palace area, museum quarter, and Rathaus park. We took the tram to see Kunst Haus—the house with no straight lines with a permanent exhibit of Hundertwasser’s work. It was interesting, but I’m glad to say that we went on half price ticket day. Afterwards we went to the famous Demels Café for the classic mélange and Sacher Torte (coffee and chocolate cake).
Because the Vienna Opera, Boys Choir, Philharmonic etc. all go on vacation for July and August, the city has an incredible film festival where each night they play a different opera, ballet, or concert in the park. We made a picnic from the grocery store and went back to Rathaus Park to claim our seats for the evening. A gigantic screen was set up in front of the Rathaus (parliament building) and with incredible high quality audio and video we watched/heard a 2008 concert filmed in Berlin: Waldebühne 2008- Los Ritmos de la Noche, Gustavo Dudamel. It was outstanding… and best of all, completely free! We came back to our hostel to find that we now had two roommates who happen to be from Paris! It was so fun chatting with them, two girls traveling around together—definitely made me grateful for the French practice I’ve had.
Our last day was similar to the first, more exploring of Vienna. We ate some bizarre but famous open-faced sandwiches from Trzesniewski, took a tour of the Opera house, St. Stephen’s, and found a wine tavern outside the center. We couldn’t resist going back to the film festival for another show, which turned out to be Mozart’s Requiem—amazing. Low point of today: everything I ate was in the beige/brown-color family, that’s no good…
And that pretty much brings me here, on the train to Salzburg sitting with two older retired Austrian and Swiss women who just finished a 10-day bike trip along the Danube—so legit. I’m riding past vibrant green countryside, farmhouses, barns, trees, and cottages. The sky is blue…and our train has air conditioning! Am I dreaming or is this real?!
Thanks for reading,
c.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
London, Amsterdam, Berlin... my my my
I think I can officially be deemed the “worst-blogger-ever”! It has been so hard to find/make the time to update my blog since I left France, even though I really do enjoy doing it. Here I guess is where I try to mentally go back in time to the 4 or so days I was in London, then Amsterdam and Berlin, and attempt to pretend that I’m not actually on the train from Berlin to Prague… even though I am.
London: July 30-August 4
*A lot of these pictures are from Sarah and Margaret's camera! I wish I had a way to distinguish them (because they're much better than mine), but thank you Sarah and Margaret for sharing!
I had a somewhat bumpy arrival into London late Thursday night (or rather, early Friday morning). I won’t bore you all with the series of events that led to my landing in London, but can sum it up with: a malfunctioned metro on the way to the airport; overweight baggage-rearrange; an escort past the security line; one hour flight delay, oh wait “we were just kidding, four hour flight delay!” (putting me leaving Marseille at 11:30pm); got on the wrong plane, yep that happened, then got off the wrong plane “Mademoiselle Urley, this is not your flight!”; train into London Central at 1:30am, taxi queue at 2:30; arrival at Graham’s dorm: 2:45am. Needless to say I was EXTREMELY happy to see Margaret and Sarah when I got there who had been so sweet to wait up for me even though they were extremely tired and jet-lagged themselves.
We kicked off our August adventure with a bang the next day, seeing the British Museum (even getting there before it opened!) and then afterwards I took the bus to Oxford to see my friend Morgan before she left the next day to go home! Oxford was SUCH a highlight of the London trip for me. It felt as though you could breathe in the academic air that seemed to be flowing through the spires, gardens, streets, and 39 colleges of Oxford University and somehow exhale as a scholar (if only it were that easy). Being with Morgan was a dream and she was the best tour guide I could have asked for!
Saturday was a morning at the National Gallery, highlight for me was the Arnolfini Wedding Portrait by Van Eyck that we studied pretty intensly in Art History 111. They had a great collection there that gave a good sense of how painting progressed over the years. We saw the afternoon matinee showing of Les Miserables, beautiful and more moving than I remember it from when I saw it at age 10! That night we happened upon a true gem, “Gordon’s Wines from the Woods” it was supposedly the “oldest” wine bar in England, but the basement setting with low arched, cave-like ceilings and candlelit atmosphere was truly remarkable.
Sunday we went to All Souls church, which we really enjoyed and met a lovely family from Chattanooga! We had a picnic lunch before going to the Tate Modern, which we all loved! Later we relocated from Graham’s dorm because they were back in town, we were so blessed because Will Parker’s host family in Notting Hill invited the three of us to stay in their classic Notting Hill 1800s house.
Our last day in London was a roller coaster of funny logistical mishaps—we keep referring to the street smarts learning curve that we are steadily climbing as we continually learn from (and pay for) our mistakes. The day was concluded with arriving to Wicked (which we were SO excited about) 45 minutes late! Never trust directions from just anyone—lesson learned. But for the majority of the production that we did see, it was phenomenal, really great acting, singing, dancing, etc. Just great.
I came into London with a bit of culture shock honestly. I didn’t realize how much I had settled into my comfortable routine in the South of France, and didn’t expect how much London would feel comparatively similar to the US. It was a great adjustment though: back into the Anglophone world and into friendships with Margaret and Sarah for which I am incredibly grateful. I hav a feeling that we are not alone on this journey with much to learn, experience and understand as we continue on our trek around Europe!
Amsterdam: August 4-7
We left London accompanied by Will Parker, headed for Amsterdam excited to move on our journey, but at the same time it wasn’t necessarily easy to leave “our home” in Notting Hill and the English-speaking familiarity. We made it there and to the apartment we had found via Craig’s List! The “apartment” was great—really more of a big room in this “historic mansion” as they called it. But we had a fridge and beds, it was clean, and the guy who owned it was friendly and helpful.
We spent our two days in Amsterdam seeing the Anne Frank Museum, walking around the city, and then on the second day biking outside the city. We rented bikes, hopped on the ferry across the canal and rode in some beautiful countryside and farmland—and I rocked a helmet for Uncle Chuck, even though everyone said I didn’t need one! I loved the uniquely quaint Dutch houses that we passed by and tried to take pictures of upside-down with my left hand while riding the bike—almost took out some locals in the process.
We ate pancakes and biked through the disheartening red light district later on, and we just took in the “scene” of Amsterdam; very different from London, a much younger crowd and heavily sprinkled with hippies. No, we didn’t go to any “coffee” shops in case you were wondering, we got enough out of our Amsterdam experience just being there, people watching, and trying to understand and appreciate our cultural differences. And then before we knew it, it was time to catch the train to Berlin!
Berlin: August 7-9
When telling people (back in the US and abroad) that we were going to visit Berlin I often got a variety of responses, usually though, a quizzical expression wondering why we were going there. And to tell you the truth, I wasn’t really sure myself except that it made for a nice stop in between Amsterdam and Prague. After having been there for the past two days I can now tell you whole-heartedly why we went to Berlin—we went to encounter a city unlike any other; a city still trying to crawl out of the hole it fell into years ago, a city with a bizarre and unfinished history disguised by building facades made from gigantic posters and characterized by countless attempts to appear better/more successful/more competitive than it really is.
We came to Berlin with no expectations, but we were ecstatic with what we found there. The first night we ate at an organic restaurant called “Foodorama” which was great and a nice change of pace after pancakes with not-so-organic meats etc in Amsterdam. The best thing we decided to do was to go on the Fat Tire Bike Tour of Berlin the next day. It was GREAT. So nice to not have to worry about navigating the maps on our own and looking at buildings wondering, oh I bet that’s significant, but I don’t know what it is. Our guide, “Wolf” apparently is the owner of the company and decided to take a break from the office work to lead our tour! We definitely lucked out with him, as he told us all about what we were seeing and what had happened there, and it was fascinating to see the city, the remnants of East and West Berlin, the parking lot now in the place of Hitler’s Bunker, Museum Island, Checkpoint Charlie, and of course the “Wall” just to name a few of our stops. I would highly recommend anyone to take a Fat Tire tour if you ever have a chance!
We also happened to be in Berlin for the weekend of the “World’s Largest Beer Fest”. Who knew?! There was a mile of road taken up by over 400 something different brewers of beer. There were SO many people there, I heard the number 800,000 from somebody. But we stuck it out, enjoyed the scene and not being huge beer fans, we tasted a few, and turns out they aren’t all that bad!
And that brings me to today, as I am on the train from Berlin to Prague enjoying the view from our window and the chance to catch up on sleep—and the blog. I’m feeling blessed to be here and to have the opportunity to explore Europe like this. I am so grateful for my travel companions, Sarah and Margaret, and their flexibility, patience and sense of adventure that is making this trip better than I could have imagined. And mostly I am grateful that we aren’t alone on this—that everywhere we go the Lord goes with us and is watching over us constantly. I am looking to grow in my understanding of the Kingdom of God along this trip, and the reminder of His presence is encouraging in that process. Thank you for your prayers…
Blessings and peace from Europa!
catherine
London: July 30-August 4
*A lot of these pictures are from Sarah and Margaret's camera! I wish I had a way to distinguish them (because they're much better than mine), but thank you Sarah and Margaret for sharing!
I had a somewhat bumpy arrival into London late Thursday night (or rather, early Friday morning). I won’t bore you all with the series of events that led to my landing in London, but can sum it up with: a malfunctioned metro on the way to the airport; overweight baggage-rearrange; an escort past the security line; one hour flight delay, oh wait “we were just kidding, four hour flight delay!” (putting me leaving Marseille at 11:30pm); got on the wrong plane, yep that happened, then got off the wrong plane “Mademoiselle Urley, this is not your flight!”; train into London Central at 1:30am, taxi queue at 2:30; arrival at Graham’s dorm: 2:45am. Needless to say I was EXTREMELY happy to see Margaret and Sarah when I got there who had been so sweet to wait up for me even though they were extremely tired and jet-lagged themselves.
We kicked off our August adventure with a bang the next day, seeing the British Museum (even getting there before it opened!) and then afterwards I took the bus to Oxford to see my friend Morgan before she left the next day to go home! Oxford was SUCH a highlight of the London trip for me. It felt as though you could breathe in the academic air that seemed to be flowing through the spires, gardens, streets, and 39 colleges of Oxford University and somehow exhale as a scholar (if only it were that easy). Being with Morgan was a dream and she was the best tour guide I could have asked for!
Saturday was a morning at the National Gallery, highlight for me was the Arnolfini Wedding Portrait by Van Eyck that we studied pretty intensly in Art History 111. They had a great collection there that gave a good sense of how painting progressed over the years. We saw the afternoon matinee showing of Les Miserables, beautiful and more moving than I remember it from when I saw it at age 10! That night we happened upon a true gem, “Gordon’s Wines from the Woods” it was supposedly the “oldest” wine bar in England, but the basement setting with low arched, cave-like ceilings and candlelit atmosphere was truly remarkable.
Sunday we went to All Souls church, which we really enjoyed and met a lovely family from Chattanooga! We had a picnic lunch before going to the Tate Modern, which we all loved! Later we relocated from Graham’s dorm because they were back in town, we were so blessed because Will Parker’s host family in Notting Hill invited the three of us to stay in their classic Notting Hill 1800s house.
Our last day in London was a roller coaster of funny logistical mishaps—we keep referring to the street smarts learning curve that we are steadily climbing as we continually learn from (and pay for) our mistakes. The day was concluded with arriving to Wicked (which we were SO excited about) 45 minutes late! Never trust directions from just anyone—lesson learned. But for the majority of the production that we did see, it was phenomenal, really great acting, singing, dancing, etc. Just great.
I came into London with a bit of culture shock honestly. I didn’t realize how much I had settled into my comfortable routine in the South of France, and didn’t expect how much London would feel comparatively similar to the US. It was a great adjustment though: back into the Anglophone world and into friendships with Margaret and Sarah for which I am incredibly grateful. I hav a feeling that we are not alone on this journey with much to learn, experience and understand as we continue on our trek around Europe!
Amsterdam: August 4-7
We left London accompanied by Will Parker, headed for Amsterdam excited to move on our journey, but at the same time it wasn’t necessarily easy to leave “our home” in Notting Hill and the English-speaking familiarity. We made it there and to the apartment we had found via Craig’s List! The “apartment” was great—really more of a big room in this “historic mansion” as they called it. But we had a fridge and beds, it was clean, and the guy who owned it was friendly and helpful.
We spent our two days in Amsterdam seeing the Anne Frank Museum, walking around the city, and then on the second day biking outside the city. We rented bikes, hopped on the ferry across the canal and rode in some beautiful countryside and farmland—and I rocked a helmet for Uncle Chuck, even though everyone said I didn’t need one! I loved the uniquely quaint Dutch houses that we passed by and tried to take pictures of upside-down with my left hand while riding the bike—almost took out some locals in the process.
We ate pancakes and biked through the disheartening red light district later on, and we just took in the “scene” of Amsterdam; very different from London, a much younger crowd and heavily sprinkled with hippies. No, we didn’t go to any “coffee” shops in case you were wondering, we got enough out of our Amsterdam experience just being there, people watching, and trying to understand and appreciate our cultural differences. And then before we knew it, it was time to catch the train to Berlin!
Berlin: August 7-9
When telling people (back in the US and abroad) that we were going to visit Berlin I often got a variety of responses, usually though, a quizzical expression wondering why we were going there. And to tell you the truth, I wasn’t really sure myself except that it made for a nice stop in between Amsterdam and Prague. After having been there for the past two days I can now tell you whole-heartedly why we went to Berlin—we went to encounter a city unlike any other; a city still trying to crawl out of the hole it fell into years ago, a city with a bizarre and unfinished history disguised by building facades made from gigantic posters and characterized by countless attempts to appear better/more successful/more competitive than it really is.
We came to Berlin with no expectations, but we were ecstatic with what we found there. The first night we ate at an organic restaurant called “Foodorama” which was great and a nice change of pace after pancakes with not-so-organic meats etc in Amsterdam. The best thing we decided to do was to go on the Fat Tire Bike Tour of Berlin the next day. It was GREAT. So nice to not have to worry about navigating the maps on our own and looking at buildings wondering, oh I bet that’s significant, but I don’t know what it is. Our guide, “Wolf” apparently is the owner of the company and decided to take a break from the office work to lead our tour! We definitely lucked out with him, as he told us all about what we were seeing and what had happened there, and it was fascinating to see the city, the remnants of East and West Berlin, the parking lot now in the place of Hitler’s Bunker, Museum Island, Checkpoint Charlie, and of course the “Wall” just to name a few of our stops. I would highly recommend anyone to take a Fat Tire tour if you ever have a chance!
We also happened to be in Berlin for the weekend of the “World’s Largest Beer Fest”. Who knew?! There was a mile of road taken up by over 400 something different brewers of beer. There were SO many people there, I heard the number 800,000 from somebody. But we stuck it out, enjoyed the scene and not being huge beer fans, we tasted a few, and turns out they aren’t all that bad!
And that brings me to today, as I am on the train from Berlin to Prague enjoying the view from our window and the chance to catch up on sleep—and the blog. I’m feeling blessed to be here and to have the opportunity to explore Europe like this. I am so grateful for my travel companions, Sarah and Margaret, and their flexibility, patience and sense of adventure that is making this trip better than I could have imagined. And mostly I am grateful that we aren’t alone on this—that everywhere we go the Lord goes with us and is watching over us constantly. I am looking to grow in my understanding of the Kingdom of God along this trip, and the reminder of His presence is encouraging in that process. Thank you for your prayers…
Blessings and peace from Europa!
catherine
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
