A few days since I've last posted; here in Vienna the internet is not free...boo. Our last day in Prague I got a semi-early start and headed out to the battlements with Steve and Brenton. It was only about a 15 min. walk from our hostel and greeted us at first with a HUGE wall. I'm going to guess about 25 ft. high, and all brick. Inside there were few battlements left, but there was a really pretty church inside that had tons of paintings of saints all around the walls. I took pictures of some of my favorites. Afterwards we wandered around the graveyard of the church and saw Dvorak's grave (which Angela and Adam told us to be on the lookout for). Our final farewell to Prague was sitting atop a wall (not one of the super tall ones) looking out over the Danube and on the city of Prague. Really nice views, and we watched some rowers in the river. From there it was onto the train station and the worst train ride we've had so far. It was about 90 degrees the entire 5 hours journey, killer. Steve and I felt like we were in Italy again. At least we were slightly better off than Angela and Adam whose car was nonexistant and they had to get a conductor to find new seats for them (this was the case for a bunch of people). After the most dehydrating train ride possible (and meeting 2 UK guys who I had a suspicion I would see again) we made it to our hostel. Along the way we ran into the Indian guys who has stayed at the same hostel in Prague and we both took the same tram out to the west side of town. After checking into our room (which is almost comically small for 3 people) we tried to find an Indian resturant that an Indian man in Vienna had suggested to our Indian friends. We agreed to try and meet up there, but couldn't find it. After a lot of wondering around being very hungry and tired we went into an Indian grocery store and Adam took one for the team and asked the store owner if he knew of an Indian resturant in the area. The shop owner was really nice and gave us detailed directions to a really good place only a few minutes walking away. Needless to say I got buttered chicken and a large coke. One of the best meals I've had on this trip. Then it was back to our hostel for a good long sleep. On the way back we saw a parade of bikers, joggers, and rollerbladers having a party along the roads. They had a car blasting music (at one point it was Switch by Will Smith) and a police escort. It looked like a ton of fun.
Next day we slept in a bit and then took the metro out to Stephanplatz. We went into Stephendom, but couldn't go too far in since Mass was currently in session. Then to Mozart's house and took some pictures from the outside. Steve and I were really proud of ourselves for understanding what the Spanish tourguide outside was saying. More walking over to the Royal Cemetary Church, the Opera House, the Sucession museum, etc. It was a nice walking and orienting day; all of these things we just saw from the outside. From there was the Naschmarket, which was awesome. It's an enormous (several blocks long with multiple rows) market with sections of resturants, food markets, new clothes for sale, yard sale stands, etc. Everything and anything you could think of. We all wished that we lived in Vienna so we could shop here on a daily basis. Angela bought some cool Indian bags (Adam did a good job of bargaining down the price) and I looked at tons of lapis lazurli jewelry, but didn't buy. Also, as Steve pointed out all the food stands seemed to sell something stuffed; usually stuffed olives..but they are big into stuffed foods apparently. To end off our walking tour of Vienna we headed over to Karlsplatz and went to take some pictures of Karlskirche (Karl's Church for you non-German readers). We happened upon a huge wedding and got to see parts of the chruch (from a roped off doorway obviously) that usually you don't get to see. We saw a horse-drawn carraige outside (they are everywhere in this city) and decided to wait until the bride and groom came out. One of the members of the wedding party gave us all some rice to throw, which made us all feel pretty special. It was a ton of fun and I have to wonder now how many tourists have pictures of this random person's wedding. On the metro ride home we ran into the UK guys (my suspicions are always correct) and then took a quick trip to the grocery store and then on a schnitzel adventure. We are starting a pattern of having bad luck trying to find resturants. Angela had read about this really famous schnizel place with the schnizel bigger than the plate. When we got there (about a 30 min walk) we found it was closed for 2 weeks while the family went on holiday (only problem with family owned resturants as Adam pointed out). Ah well, we did get some schnizel after checking out a few resturants in the area. Also a random note, you can get free tap water in Vienna! This is very exciting for us. When we got back to the hostel Steve and I played a very close and intense game of Settlers of Catan (he won...I need a rematch) and while playing a guy played the Simpson's theme on the piano, which completely made my day.
Sunday started with my new standard of apple and bread breakfast, then off towards the center of town again. It is way hotter in Vienna than in either Prague and especially Berlin, so that took a bit of getting used to. We rested in a beautiful rose garden for almost an hour and got to see tons of different types of rose bushes. One of my favorites (and Angela's) was the Piccadilly Rose. One of the very few rose bushes with no blooms was called the Americana rose (we get the hint). After the garden we headed to the Hofburg Palace and checked out the treasury. There were also some relics in there for me (score!). Lots of ridiulous detailing, ornateness, shiny, etc. Everything we like in a museum. For lunch we got some bratwurst. Here it is surved in a bageutte and is about a foot long...I could not finish it, not even close. From there Angela and Adam split off from Steve and I. We went to Stephendom (where we got to go more inside and see more beautiful church architecture), the Royal Crypt (main highlight was the crypt of Franz Josef and Elizabeth) and the Sucession Museum (this time we actually we inside). The Succession museum was....interesting. I think Steve put it best: "it blew our minds with modern art". The main attraction was a 30 meter fresco called the Beethoven Fries which is an interpretation of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. That was pretty cool. The rest was a little freaky (an enormous room dedicated to seal stuffies covered in blood, fur coats covered in blood, dead manniquins admist coke bottles, pictures of dead people who were obviously blown up or shot...etc...). After that we took a nice refreshing break at a huge fountain and memorial dedicated to the USSR, we are guessing for their help in liberating Vienna from the Nazi's. The coolest part was a rainbow that was in the fountain (I have good pics of this). We met up with Angela and Adam and took the tram to a huge graveyard on the outskirts of Vienna. Inside is a section dedicated to musicians and has the graves of Beethoven, Schubert, Strauss, and more! That was very cool and we met up with a US kid there who was a musician. With him (none of us remmeber his name) we took the tram up to St. Mark's cemetary to see Mozart's grave. We got off the tram a stop early since a ticket checked got on and none of us had gotten tickets. I would like to note that this was the first time we had not gotten tickets and the first time we have ever seen anyone check. Not a far walk we found the graveyard...which had closed 20 minutes earlier. Steve made a mock attempt at climbing over the wall, but stopped after we had 1) finished our pictures of him and 2) he completely scraped up his elbow. We metro'd back to the hostel (with a ticket!) and got schnizel (again) from a really nice family owned resturant. The family was Turkish, as are tons of families in this area. Adam and I got some ice cream on the way back which was amazing! I am already planning my trips back there. I got 4 scoops (I didn't finish, eyes way bigger than my stomach): coffee, after eight(the mint candy), nutella (awesome!), and poppy seed (way better than you would think). A fun part about that too was the ice cream guys reaction to Adam and I standing around a crowd of Austrians not really knowing what to do or how to order. He simply looked at our confused faces and said "English?". There are tons of people here who speak English, many more that I expected and a slight relief after Prague.
Today was a lazy day with Angela and Adam splitting off again leaving Steve and I to our shennanigans. First we went to PraterPark to ride the big ferris wheel. It was a small amusement park inside a large garden park. The ride was nice and we got some good panoramic shots of Vienna. We then walked to an apartment complex with a funky and artsy outside decor. All the apartments painted different colors, mosaics, etc. Really cool, I can't remember the name right now though. From there we tried to find some clock in one of the platz's that was supposed to be like a glockenspeil with a show, but couldn't find it. Later we learned Adam and Angela had no better luck. So we just wandered over to Stadtpark and relaxed for a few hours; napping and wandering. It was hot again today, so lethargy was quick to set in. We headed back to the hostel around 5 and got more ice cream along the way (double yum!). Angela and Adam have since returned and we are planning what to do with our evening.
It is kind of weird having been travelling for so long, all these hostels start to feel like home. I am definitely looking forward to coming home, but am already planning my next trip back to Europe. :)
Monday, July 28, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Last Day in Prague
Today was our last full day in Prague and tomorrow we leave mid-day for Vienna. I might try to go see the battlements tomorrow morning if I get ambitious. Im also going to try and find this hotdog vendor who apparently has the best hotdogs in town. We'll see how well I do.
Today Steve, Brenton and I walked all the way back to the Prague Castle area and first went into St. Nick's Church, which Steve and I had not gone into a few days ago. But it was completely worth the 35 crown entrance fee. The inside was gorgeous, with high ceilings and tons of gold plated statues everywhere. There were some relics (which have now become one of my favorite things to see) but they were of saints I've never heard of. Lots of marble statues and intricate everything...too hard to describe, you'll have to wait for pictures. From there it was on to Loreta church to see the Prague Sun and Santa Casa. That was a bit of a let-down. Santa Casa had no signs indicating it as such, but by the end of our tour there we assumed it was the brick building inside a marble building (which had tons of statues on the outside). The Prague Sun was very pretty (we couldn't take pictures, so google it if you want to know what I mean), but after the treasury of the Residence Museum in Munich it paled in comparison. Pretty stuff there, but not worth the 90 crowns to get in.
Tonight I have done my laundry in an actual washer and dryer (huzzah!!) and we made another meal of pasta from the grocery store. My few crowns that I have left I'm going to use for potential excellent hotdogs tomorrow. Unfortunately a good part of today was rainy, so not a nice day to walk around and say goodbye to Prague. But at least the weather reports from Vienna look good, we may even see the temperature go into the 80's!
Today Steve, Brenton and I walked all the way back to the Prague Castle area and first went into St. Nick's Church, which Steve and I had not gone into a few days ago. But it was completely worth the 35 crown entrance fee. The inside was gorgeous, with high ceilings and tons of gold plated statues everywhere. There were some relics (which have now become one of my favorite things to see) but they were of saints I've never heard of. Lots of marble statues and intricate everything...too hard to describe, you'll have to wait for pictures. From there it was on to Loreta church to see the Prague Sun and Santa Casa. That was a bit of a let-down. Santa Casa had no signs indicating it as such, but by the end of our tour there we assumed it was the brick building inside a marble building (which had tons of statues on the outside). The Prague Sun was very pretty (we couldn't take pictures, so google it if you want to know what I mean), but after the treasury of the Residence Museum in Munich it paled in comparison. Pretty stuff there, but not worth the 90 crowns to get in.
Tonight I have done my laundry in an actual washer and dryer (huzzah!!) and we made another meal of pasta from the grocery store. My few crowns that I have left I'm going to use for potential excellent hotdogs tomorrow. Unfortunately a good part of today was rainy, so not a nice day to walk around and say goodbye to Prague. But at least the weather reports from Vienna look good, we may even see the temperature go into the 80's!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Prague Adventures Continue
As I said before, Prague is not full of things to do for a week, so the last 2 days have been pretty laid back. Two days ago we were planning to go to Kutna Hora to see the bone church (Kostnice), but it was pouring and cold. And we all got a little freaked when a lightning bolt came down right next to our hostel. There was a blinding flash of light and then the quickest and loudest thunder clap I've ever heard. I'm pretty sure that is the closest I've ever been to lightning. There was a weird smell afterwards too. Anyways, that day pretty much got chalked up to napping and reading. We met a nice guy in our hostel who we're sharing a room with named Brenton who is from Australia. We spent the evening with him; we went out to dinner (the same place I had gotten beef goulash the night before) and then had a rousing evening of playing the game of Life and Scrabble. We are quite the partiers.
Today we really did go to Kutna Hora and Brenton joined along, it's nice to have new people in our small group. It took us a while to get to Kutna Hora since the walk to the train station was about 40 minutes (including Steve's hot dog break), then we had to wait an hour for the bus, and then the busride was about an hour. Once at the towns bus station we luckily met some tourists who had just been to Kostnice and gave us walking directions to it. Only about a 20 minute walk away was a normal looking church surrounded by a cemetary. Nothing would make you think it was out of the ordinary...except the second you step inside. Pretty much every decoration in this place was made out of human bones. Over 40,000 humans total dating back to the Black Plague. Pretty crazy stuff. There was a chandelier made of bones and it had every bone found in the human body included. There was a shield on the wall made of bones and had a bird made of bones appearing to peck into a human skull. Like I said...crazy stuff. Even though the church was small (basically one big room) it was entirely worth the effort getting there. We also bought a combined ticket so we could go into the cathedral in town too, but unfortunately it was under construction so most things were either not on display or just strewn about. A statue of Jesus (positoned as he would be on a cross) was lying on the floor in plastic wrap looking like something out of CSI. The coolest things to me they had were relics of saints (I'm a sucker for relics). They had the skeletons of St. Felix and St. Vincent, some parts covered in wax (like the face) and some bones exposed (like the ribs).
After a brief stop at the grocery store there (while waiting for the bus) and finding Bueno Bars (a chocolate candy made by Kinder that Angela and I are obsessed with) we got the bus back to Prague. It dropped us off at a different place in Prague so we had to take the metro back near our hostel. Brenton, Steve and I went out for pizza while Angela and Adam went back to the hostel to eat their leftovers from the night before. Now I'm going to go downstairs to the common room where I think there is more Scrabble going on. ;-)
Today we really did go to Kutna Hora and Brenton joined along, it's nice to have new people in our small group. It took us a while to get to Kutna Hora since the walk to the train station was about 40 minutes (including Steve's hot dog break), then we had to wait an hour for the bus, and then the busride was about an hour. Once at the towns bus station we luckily met some tourists who had just been to Kostnice and gave us walking directions to it. Only about a 20 minute walk away was a normal looking church surrounded by a cemetary. Nothing would make you think it was out of the ordinary...except the second you step inside. Pretty much every decoration in this place was made out of human bones. Over 40,000 humans total dating back to the Black Plague. Pretty crazy stuff. There was a chandelier made of bones and it had every bone found in the human body included. There was a shield on the wall made of bones and had a bird made of bones appearing to peck into a human skull. Like I said...crazy stuff. Even though the church was small (basically one big room) it was entirely worth the effort getting there. We also bought a combined ticket so we could go into the cathedral in town too, but unfortunately it was under construction so most things were either not on display or just strewn about. A statue of Jesus (positoned as he would be on a cross) was lying on the floor in plastic wrap looking like something out of CSI. The coolest things to me they had were relics of saints (I'm a sucker for relics). They had the skeletons of St. Felix and St. Vincent, some parts covered in wax (like the face) and some bones exposed (like the ribs).
After a brief stop at the grocery store there (while waiting for the bus) and finding Bueno Bars (a chocolate candy made by Kinder that Angela and I are obsessed with) we got the bus back to Prague. It dropped us off at a different place in Prague so we had to take the metro back near our hostel. Brenton, Steve and I went out for pizza while Angela and Adam went back to the hostel to eat their leftovers from the night before. Now I'm going to go downstairs to the common room where I think there is more Scrabble going on. ;-)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
More Prague!
We're in Prague for a whole week so expect many blog titles about it. Yesterday was a fun filled day of finding out how the Czech like to screw tourists out of their money. First we walked to the Prague Castle, which is the big toursit attraction here. It was quite a long wal from our hostel, almost an hour, but it's a nice walk through town and along the water. The castle is really a castle complex and has tons of things inside, like St. Vitus Cathedral, other churches, Golden Lane (a reconstruction of what a typical road in the days of the castle would look like, kind of like a mini RenFest without people dressed up). We bought out tickets to get into the castle which were 125 Czech crowns (14.5 crowns to 1 US dollar), but then they told us that there was no information signs inside the castle and so highly recommended the audioguide...which was 200 crowns for 2 hours! Yeah, so no audioguides for us. Then we got into the Royal Castle and found out that the majority of it was closed for renovations and much of the open rooms were in a bit if disarray from the renovations. Ah well, we could still get into St. Georges Church, St. Vitus Cathdreal and Golden Lane on our ticket. St.Georges was nice, although rather small. Oh, by the way, it cost an extra 50 crowns for the priveledge to take pictures, so we all snuck pictures behind tour groups. We then went to Golden Lane, which was my favorite part, mainly because you could pay 50 crowns for 5 shots using a real crossbow at a target. That was awesome. I got alright at aiming, but all of my arrows kept bouncing off the target instead of sinking in. But it was still really fun. Lastly we saw St. Vitus Cathedral (after a not so bad wait of 30 minutes to get in), which was very impressive with really awesome stained glass and the creepiest pieta I've ever seen (all the heads and hands were missing).
Since we were already so far out of the center of Prague we decided to go to the Loreta church, which is even further out. Loreta church has the Prague Sun and Santa Casa (which is supposed to be the Virgin Mary's house). When we got there we found it was closed on Mondays, so we get to walk all the way out there another day (we are considering paying to use the public transportation instead). As we were walking out we went back to St. Nick's, which was open this time, but it actually cost money to get into (about 35 crowns). Angela and Adam went in, but Steve and I had seen enough churches for free.
By this point we were all really tired from walking so much and went to an early dinner at the same restaurant we went to the first night. We had a bad start there...we tried to say we had 4 people for dinner and somehow this got interpreted as we wanted 4 coffees. Imagine our surprise when 4 coffees showed up on the table, and our waitress was not pleased when she figured out that we weren't going to drink them or pay for them. Then magically we got a new waitress. The rest of the dinner went smoothly.
We were planning on going to the bone church in Kutna Hora today, but it's raining, so we haven't decided if we want to go yet. Really other than the Loreta church this is the only thing we have planned to do and we have 3 more days, so we may not go anywhere really today. Prague is a nice city to be in, but if you are trying to fit in as many places as possible into a vacation I would say 3 days in Prague is all you need to hit up almost everything.
Since we were already so far out of the center of Prague we decided to go to the Loreta church, which is even further out. Loreta church has the Prague Sun and Santa Casa (which is supposed to be the Virgin Mary's house). When we got there we found it was closed on Mondays, so we get to walk all the way out there another day (we are considering paying to use the public transportation instead). As we were walking out we went back to St. Nick's, which was open this time, but it actually cost money to get into (about 35 crowns). Angela and Adam went in, but Steve and I had seen enough churches for free.
By this point we were all really tired from walking so much and went to an early dinner at the same restaurant we went to the first night. We had a bad start there...we tried to say we had 4 people for dinner and somehow this got interpreted as we wanted 4 coffees. Imagine our surprise when 4 coffees showed up on the table, and our waitress was not pleased when she figured out that we weren't going to drink them or pay for them. Then magically we got a new waitress. The rest of the dinner went smoothly.
We were planning on going to the bone church in Kutna Hora today, but it's raining, so we haven't decided if we want to go yet. Really other than the Loreta church this is the only thing we have planned to do and we have 3 more days, so we may not go anywhere really today. Prague is a nice city to be in, but if you are trying to fit in as many places as possible into a vacation I would say 3 days in Prague is all you need to hit up almost everything.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Prague Day 2
We had a nice slow start to today; I finished my book (What is the What) in our hostel's courtyard so we didn't end up leaving until around noon. We walked to Wenceslas Square and hung around the area for a while. There are lots of shops along the way so we all did a lot of window shopping and comparision shopping since every place here has the same knick knacks. We also got our first Prague hot dogs, which are supposed to be some of the best in the world. I don't really know about that, they were definitely spiced differently than American hotdogs, but in most respects tasted the same. We also got to sample the Prague gelato.
From there it was a nice leisurely walk back through the old town into the Jewish district again since we wanted to see it on a non-Saturday. Mostly we browsed all the little stores and markets along the way. I picked up a traditional czech pastry that I don't know the name of. It's a swirl of toasted sweet bread with nuts and I think cinnamon on top. They smelled so good from the street I had to get one. From the Jewish district we crossed the river and made our way to one of the St.Nick churches, but unfortunately it had closed early for a concert, so we'll have to come back another night. In the same area we saw John Lennon's wall: a tall, painted wall (actually a lot like the Berlin Wall) maybe about 20 meters long. There was the Coexist sign, lots of peace signs, a portrait of Lennon, etc. Also some weird foam confessional outside...we're not sure what that was all about.
When heading back towards out hostel we took the Charles Bridge and Angela picked up some pretty handmade earrings. She also fed the seagulls some bread she found. I have a good picture of the seagulls catching the bread from out of the air. It actually got a little scary as the seagulls were starting to figure out where the bread was coming from.
Back at our hostel tonight we made some pasta for dinner and played a game of scrabble (Angela won...even though this is the first time she's ever played). A nice low-key day with tons of walking again. My legs and feet are starting to worry me cause they ache most of the time now. Tomorrow we are going to see the Prague Castle and the Loreta church (with Santa Casa in it), and St.Nick's if we can fit it in.
From there it was a nice leisurely walk back through the old town into the Jewish district again since we wanted to see it on a non-Saturday. Mostly we browsed all the little stores and markets along the way. I picked up a traditional czech pastry that I don't know the name of. It's a swirl of toasted sweet bread with nuts and I think cinnamon on top. They smelled so good from the street I had to get one. From the Jewish district we crossed the river and made our way to one of the St.Nick churches, but unfortunately it had closed early for a concert, so we'll have to come back another night. In the same area we saw John Lennon's wall: a tall, painted wall (actually a lot like the Berlin Wall) maybe about 20 meters long. There was the Coexist sign, lots of peace signs, a portrait of Lennon, etc. Also some weird foam confessional outside...we're not sure what that was all about.
When heading back towards out hostel we took the Charles Bridge and Angela picked up some pretty handmade earrings. She also fed the seagulls some bread she found. I have a good picture of the seagulls catching the bread from out of the air. It actually got a little scary as the seagulls were starting to figure out where the bread was coming from.
Back at our hostel tonight we made some pasta for dinner and played a game of scrabble (Angela won...even though this is the first time she's ever played). A nice low-key day with tons of walking again. My legs and feet are starting to worry me cause they ache most of the time now. Tomorrow we are going to see the Prague Castle and the Loreta church (with Santa Casa in it), and St.Nick's if we can fit it in.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Prague Day 1
Internet is free in this hostel also, so I'm aiming for daily posts still. AND they have an American keyboard, which is very exciting for me after weeks of learning new configurations. Today we basically took out own walking orientation tour of Prague. Our hostel is on the fringes of the old town, so most everything is within walking distance. We slept in a bit again, although I haven't been getting as much sleep as I should since I started reading What is the What. It is an amazing book about the lost boys of Sudan and follows one's life in particular. It is incredibly depressing at some points, but I completely recommend it if you're looking for a new read. Anyways, back to Prague. First we walked to the dancing house, which is an architectural sight. It looks as if two buildings (one made of concrete, one of glass) are merging together and then separate again at the top. Too bad you can't really go inside. Then we walked along the river admiring the different bridges and the island parks in the river (like in Paris) until we got to Charles Bridge, which is the largest. Steve and I sat and people watched for a while and Angela and Adam checked out what the vendors were peddling on the bridge. We are going to walk more on it when we go see Prague Castle and the Loreta church since they are on the other side of the water. From there we meandered towards the old town square and stopped along the way for lunch. We all got pizza, and unfortunately since we were in a more touristy area it was a bit expensive. Still nothing compared to Switzerland. Last night we got a great dinner at a small resturant near our hostel. Angela got some great traditional Czech foods such as garlic soup and potato pancakes. I will need to try guloush while I am here.
We got to the old town square just in time to see one of the hourly shows of the astronomical clock. Not as intricate as the glockenspeil, but still pretty interesting. They had a skeleton who rang a bell and saints would glide past open windows. In the square we found a place with a Salvador Dali exhibit that we might go back to one day while we are here. It doesn't have any of his painting though, just pictures of him, and some of his ceramics and graphics. So it's on our maybe list. From there we walked into the Jewish district (I have a habit of visiting these on Saturday) and decided to come back some other day, probably tomorrow. We could see all the empty stands where they have lively markets, but it was the wrong time to go.
Like I said, most of our day was just walking around the city. It is a really beautiful city and I am constantly amazed at how beautiful most of the buildings facades are. Lots of different colors and many with paintings on the outside. There is a definite difference though between here and western Europe, I haven't been able to put my finger on it yet, but there is a different feel about eastern Europe. Walking around today we saw two cars that had been broken into and had their radios stolen.
But regardless I really like this city. The only think I don't like is the return of a high percentage of smokers. I had enjoyed the relatively low rate in Germany and especially Switzerland, but now it's back to around how it was in Italy. Although not as bad as in the Netherlands...
Tonight we are keeping it cheap and made dinner in our hostels kitchen (I still had leftover pasta from the restuarant last night). And we bought supplies to cook dinner for another night. And of course we all resupplied our chocolate stores (except Steve who is allergic to chocolate *tear*).
We got to the old town square just in time to see one of the hourly shows of the astronomical clock. Not as intricate as the glockenspeil, but still pretty interesting. They had a skeleton who rang a bell and saints would glide past open windows. In the square we found a place with a Salvador Dali exhibit that we might go back to one day while we are here. It doesn't have any of his painting though, just pictures of him, and some of his ceramics and graphics. So it's on our maybe list. From there we walked into the Jewish district (I have a habit of visiting these on Saturday) and decided to come back some other day, probably tomorrow. We could see all the empty stands where they have lively markets, but it was the wrong time to go.
Like I said, most of our day was just walking around the city. It is a really beautiful city and I am constantly amazed at how beautiful most of the buildings facades are. Lots of different colors and many with paintings on the outside. There is a definite difference though between here and western Europe, I haven't been able to put my finger on it yet, but there is a different feel about eastern Europe. Walking around today we saw two cars that had been broken into and had their radios stolen.
But regardless I really like this city. The only think I don't like is the return of a high percentage of smokers. I had enjoyed the relatively low rate in Germany and especially Switzerland, but now it's back to around how it was in Italy. Although not as bad as in the Netherlands...
Tonight we are keeping it cheap and made dinner in our hostels kitchen (I still had leftover pasta from the restuarant last night). And we bought supplies to cook dinner for another night. And of course we all resupplied our chocolate stores (except Steve who is allergic to chocolate *tear*).
Friday, July 18, 2008
Arrived in Prague!
We just got into our hostel in Prague and I'm already in love with it. Free interenet, breakfast included and until 11am, nice front desk person, informative website, etc. The train ride from Berlin was about 5 hours. Our last morning in Berlin was not very exciting, just packing and being shooed out by the owners of the hostel.
Yesterday we had a lazy start to the day; since we didn't get back until after 3 we slept in. Our first stop was the Pergamon museum (which we did't get to until about 4pm....). It is almost entirely about Babylon, with some old Greek and Roman stutues thrown in. The whole place was split into 2 sections, one on the truth of Babylon and one on the myth. In the truth section was a copy of Hammurabi's code, which was cool for me to see since the original was not in the Louvre when I went. But I enjoyed the myth section more, lots of painting of the tower of Babel, confusion of tongues, etc. Some other interesting exhibits were there too...and were sort of related to Babylon. One was a series of tabloid covers concerning Saddam Hussein all framed and with glitter randomly sprayed on. Upon reading the description beside the exhibit we learned that it was the artist's own semen holding the glitter on.... Another one was a lego concentration camp. One guy took a bunch of different lego sets and made his own concentration camp, crematorium (sp?), etc. He used a lot of skeletons from the pirate lego set. We spent about 4 hours in the museum and then headed back where we had dinner the night before. Steve and I got out last currywurst and Adam and Angela revisited the falafel cafe. After dinner we walked around the neighborhood seeing a vibrant art community/compound with tons of artist exhibitions/shops. Then we also walked by the large synogogue (sp?), which was very pretty (huge gold Star of David on top) but it was too late to go inside.
I am really looking forward to Prague, this hostel seems awesome and I already think I will like it here more than Berlin. We'll see.
Yesterday we had a lazy start to the day; since we didn't get back until after 3 we slept in. Our first stop was the Pergamon museum (which we did't get to until about 4pm....). It is almost entirely about Babylon, with some old Greek and Roman stutues thrown in. The whole place was split into 2 sections, one on the truth of Babylon and one on the myth. In the truth section was a copy of Hammurabi's code, which was cool for me to see since the original was not in the Louvre when I went. But I enjoyed the myth section more, lots of painting of the tower of Babel, confusion of tongues, etc. Some other interesting exhibits were there too...and were sort of related to Babylon. One was a series of tabloid covers concerning Saddam Hussein all framed and with glitter randomly sprayed on. Upon reading the description beside the exhibit we learned that it was the artist's own semen holding the glitter on.... Another one was a lego concentration camp. One guy took a bunch of different lego sets and made his own concentration camp, crematorium (sp?), etc. He used a lot of skeletons from the pirate lego set. We spent about 4 hours in the museum and then headed back where we had dinner the night before. Steve and I got out last currywurst and Adam and Angela revisited the falafel cafe. After dinner we walked around the neighborhood seeing a vibrant art community/compound with tons of artist exhibitions/shops. Then we also walked by the large synogogue (sp?), which was very pretty (huge gold Star of David on top) but it was too late to go inside.
I am really looking forward to Prague, this hostel seems awesome and I already think I will like it here more than Berlin. We'll see.
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