So, Saturday night, July 21st, I bid adieu to Prague and set out for Paris, an EASY €89 flight on EasyJet!
First off... The positives! EasyJet is wonderful! If only the States had budget airlines like this (great service, cheap, and quick), I would have seen all 50 states by now!
As far as my FIRST real experience in Paris, it was a miserable cab ride in which the driver did not speak English and I did not speak French! The crazy thing was, the cabbie then asked ME for directions (yeah, like I know!) He then dropped me off at the WRONG hotel and I had to get a ride over to the right one by a Parisian who worked there! The ride STILL cost me €65! Ugh! I tried to stay positive that night, knowing I was in Paris!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Mona Lisa Smile!
Yes... I saw it! the Mona Lisa is beautiful, along with the rest of the Louvre! The Museum itself is soooooooooo overwhelming, and I could have spent days there! As it was, four hours was more than enough for me before my brain fried!! I have pics of the Mona Lisa, Code of Hammurabi, and Sphinx, to name three of the hundreds :)!
Tour D' .............BUFFALO!?
So, my main reason for going to Paris on the 22nd was to see the end of the Tour D'France. Now, who would have thought that, during the race, I heard chants of "Let's go BUFFALO!" That's what happens though when I wear my BILLS shirt and hat proudly to the Louvre and the Tour! I ran into people FROM Buffalo there and the only people who were louder were the Danes and the Norwegians! Man, Tim Russert would have been sooooooo proud!
I fell... Off the EIFFEL!
Not really, but at least I hope I got a laugh out of ya! Anyway, the end of my first day in Paris brought me to outside of the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Jewish neighborhood I nicknamed "Falaffelville", the only monument to the Bastille (yeah, it no longer exists), and ultimately, the top of the Eiffel Tower at midnight!
Now, for all of the Parisian bashing I have done and will continue to do, I give them credit for one thing and one thing only...they know how to build the most beautiful city in the world, and it looks especially beautiful at night!
I have always wanted to go of the top of the Eiffel Tower, and seeing it up at night was especially amazing! I can't really describe it! I was just awed!
Now, for all of the Parisian bashing I have done and will continue to do, I give them credit for one thing and one thing only...they know how to build the most beautiful city in the world, and it looks especially beautiful at night!
I have always wanted to go of the top of the Eiffel Tower, and seeing it up at night was especially amazing! I can't really describe it! I was just awed!
Good BYE PARIS, and GOOD RIDDANCE!
So, Tuesday, July 24th saw me say goodbye to Paris and happy to leave! First off, I TRIED going to the Catacombs, but the line was at least three hours long and there was no way I was waiting in the heat amongst misery, so I bailed! I then spent the rest of my last day walking around, visiting both the Jardins du Luxembourg and the top of the Arch De Triumph. To me, that was fine! I needed to leave!
Monday, July 30, 2012
Prague... Europe's BEST city ( and one of the cheapest!)
So, the city itself was the most beautiful city ever! It is big but it has been largely unscathed by the centuries of war that have decimate so many other European cities!
Prague Castle is a MUST SEE and you can spend days on end exploring it. It traces its routes back to the 1100s and has medieval torture chambers, gothic cathedrals, and cobblestone streets (my foot felt the brunt of one of the streets when I twisted it running one morning!) The city is literally a scene out of a fairy tale though.
Here's a factoid about Prague too... One of the reasons it was left unscathed by the Nazis was because Hitler wanted to keep the city as a museum for Jewish life after the Jews had become "extinct"! Just something else to remind people how messed up the Holocaust was!
Of all the places I could have spent my 32nd birthday though, Prague was definitely my top choice! My CouchSurfing host took me out, we drank a bunch of beers, and I saw the city lit up, which was amazing!
In Prague, beer is literally cheaper than bottled water; unfortunately, Pilsner Urquell is LIKE drinking water. That's what happens when Miller now owns them!
Prague Castle is a MUST SEE and you can spend days on end exploring it. It traces its routes back to the 1100s and has medieval torture chambers, gothic cathedrals, and cobblestone streets (my foot felt the brunt of one of the streets when I twisted it running one morning!) The city is literally a scene out of a fairy tale though.
Here's a factoid about Prague too... One of the reasons it was left unscathed by the Nazis was because Hitler wanted to keep the city as a museum for Jewish life after the Jews had become "extinct"! Just something else to remind people how messed up the Holocaust was!
Of all the places I could have spent my 32nd birthday though, Prague was definitely my top choice! My CouchSurfing host took me out, we drank a bunch of beers, and I saw the city lit up, which was amazing!
In Prague, beer is literally cheaper than bottled water; unfortunately, Pilsner Urquell is LIKE drinking water. That's what happens when Miller now owns them!
Probst a Prague
July 18th- July 20th!
Since taking AP European my senior year of high school and learning about the Defenstration of Prague, I had ALWAYS wanted to go to the Czech Republic! I mean, how crazy is it that the 30-years war, which was started there, was sparked because a few princes were pushed out of a castle window, survived, and Catholics and Protestants disagreeing how they survived (Catholics claiming it was divine intervention and Prots claiming they survived because they landed in horse dung... I have a feeling it was the latter!) I think that little anecdote sums up Prague and the Czechs in general...
Self-deprecating, funny, yet proud! I mean, this country assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, stood proudly against the Soviets in 1968, and had one of the few peaceful revolutions after the Cold War, amicably separating from their Slovak brethren and still maintaining peace with them. I had a feeling Prague would be my favorite city, and so far, it definitely has been!
First off... Getting there! Eurolines wa easy and there are no border stops when traveling within Europe; I really didn't even know I crossed into the Czech Republic (Too bad I cannot collect passport stamps)!
It was also my first CouchSurfing experience, and it was great! Vladka picked me up from the bus station and we went back to her apartment, which was beautiful and five stops away from downtown! CouchSurfing is legit too! I was fed, has a place to crash, and was treated sooooooo well (can you imagine this in the States!?)! It Is a great way to travel and meet people and I am excited to pay it forward!
More next post....
Since taking AP European my senior year of high school and learning about the Defenstration of Prague, I had ALWAYS wanted to go to the Czech Republic! I mean, how crazy is it that the 30-years war, which was started there, was sparked because a few princes were pushed out of a castle window, survived, and Catholics and Protestants disagreeing how they survived (Catholics claiming it was divine intervention and Prots claiming they survived because they landed in horse dung... I have a feeling it was the latter!) I think that little anecdote sums up Prague and the Czechs in general...
Self-deprecating, funny, yet proud! I mean, this country assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, stood proudly against the Soviets in 1968, and had one of the few peaceful revolutions after the Cold War, amicably separating from their Slovak brethren and still maintaining peace with them. I had a feeling Prague would be my favorite city, and so far, it definitely has been!
First off... Getting there! Eurolines wa easy and there are no border stops when traveling within Europe; I really didn't even know I crossed into the Czech Republic (Too bad I cannot collect passport stamps)!
It was also my first CouchSurfing experience, and it was great! Vladka picked me up from the bus station and we went back to her apartment, which was beautiful and five stops away from downtown! CouchSurfing is legit too! I was fed, has a place to crash, and was treated sooooooo well (can you imagine this in the States!?)! It Is a great way to travel and meet people and I am excited to pay it forward!
More next post....
You say Munchen, I say Munich!
So, going back to July 17th.. After going to Dachau, I went and had a few beers at the Hofbrau House in Munich, where I also spend the night at the less-than-fabulous HOTEL MARIA (try taking a shower in a bathroom down the hall with no shower curtain and simply a bathtub! Thats what you get for €49 on Hotwire last minute)
Okay, so going back... What is so significant about the Hofbrau House!? Well, it is where Hitler launched his beer hall putsch in 1923 and tried to overthrow the Weimar Gov't. It is also one of the oldest beer halls in the world (and is now a chain with outlets in Miami, Newport, and NYC... To name a few)
Okay, so going back... What is so significant about the Hofbrau House!? Well, it is where Hitler launched his beer hall putsch in 1923 and tried to overthrow the Weimar Gov't. It is also one of the oldest beer halls in the world (and is now a chain with outlets in Miami, Newport, and NYC... To name a few)
Nothing says F-d up, like DACHAU!
This goes back two weeks ago, to July 17th, two days before my 32nd birthday! After Nuremburg, I took a train down to Munich, where I ultimately connected and went to Dachau, site of the first Nazi concentration camp! First off, words never describe what I felt or saw when I went; I think it's something everyone just needs to see to understand! For the first time in my trip, I actually became ANGRY at all of Germany! That was not my intent; it just happened!
Dachau itself is a beautiful suburb of Munich, or as the Germans call Munchen! This describes so much it Germany though! As I have said, the country is a paradox.
When I was there, I almost got sick! To actually see a Brausebad (gas chamber) and crematorium and realize what took place here, well, you just have to see it. There were many things that bothered me when I was there, one of which was seeing people actually playing and joking near the "Arbet Macht Frei" sign! They wanted their picture taken there and acted like they were behind bars... Umm, it is clear they haven't a clue what barbarism actually took place here! It is just a very eerie site!
On the grounds, there are memorials to the thousands that were mercilessly killed there, and honestly, that is one thing the Germans do well, they go out of their way to acknowledge and memorialize their messed up past, unlike the Japanese, Turks, or, dare I say, even, Americans!? Still... After learning about and studying the Holocaust, for the first time in my life, the history actually came alive! I mean, this shit actually happened, within the past 70-75 years, by, on all accounts, was one of the most civilized nations in the modern world!
Dachau itself is a beautiful suburb of Munich, or as the Germans call Munchen! This describes so much it Germany though! As I have said, the country is a paradox.
When I was there, I almost got sick! To actually see a Brausebad (gas chamber) and crematorium and realize what took place here, well, you just have to see it. There were many things that bothered me when I was there, one of which was seeing people actually playing and joking near the "Arbet Macht Frei" sign! They wanted their picture taken there and acted like they were behind bars... Umm, it is clear they haven't a clue what barbarism actually took place here! It is just a very eerie site!
On the grounds, there are memorials to the thousands that were mercilessly killed there, and honestly, that is one thing the Germans do well, they go out of their way to acknowledge and memorialize their messed up past, unlike the Japanese, Turks, or, dare I say, even, Americans!? Still... After learning about and studying the Holocaust, for the first time in my life, the history actually came alive! I mean, this shit actually happened, within the past 70-75 years, by, on all accounts, was one of the most civilized nations in the modern world!
Europe... Wow!
First off, updating this thing is much harder than I thought, especially when typing on an IPhone, having spotty Internet access, and running literally on fumes and tons of caffeine! As I type this, using my iPhone, I am on a train for Maastricht, after spending four days in Belgium! The past two days have been at Ypres, site of three of the worst battles of WWI, one of which I'd where Hitler got injured in a gas attack! My plan was to spend a few hours there, but, as I have learned throughout traveling in Europe, plans change in seconds! As soon as I got there, I realized I needed more time and decided to make another day of it. That is for another post though!
Now, Where to begin... I should backtrack to two weeks ago today, when I was in Nuremburg! My real purpose for going there was to see the courtroom, number 600, where the infamous Nazi war crimes trials were held! Let's just say it was really weird! Here I am, standing in this court room where some of history's worst criminals were tried, and ultimately, hanged! The courthouse is still in use today as are the jails! So, some nutcase actually occupies Hermann Goering's cell!
What is crazy about Nuremburg is if really is this beautiful medieval city with such rich history and architecture. Such is the nature of Germany though; the whole nation is a paradox! People there were some of the friendliest I have met ( much nicer than Parisians) and, I really appreciate German culture, not just the beer!
Now, Where to begin... I should backtrack to two weeks ago today, when I was in Nuremburg! My real purpose for going there was to see the courtroom, number 600, where the infamous Nazi war crimes trials were held! Let's just say it was really weird! Here I am, standing in this court room where some of history's worst criminals were tried, and ultimately, hanged! The courthouse is still in use today as are the jails! So, some nutcase actually occupies Hermann Goering's cell!
What is crazy about Nuremburg is if really is this beautiful medieval city with such rich history and architecture. Such is the nature of Germany though; the whole nation is a paradox! People there were some of the friendliest I have met ( much nicer than Parisians) and, I really appreciate German culture, not just the beer!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Wannsee Houae-- What can I say!? One of the weirdest, and most sickening, feelings, I have ever had was today when I stood in the same room where the "Final Solution" was mapped out. The Wannsee House is a BEAUTIFUL mansion on Lake Wannsee, about 15 minutes south of Berlin. It is on this amazing lake, replete with yachts and other mansions. Yet, I stood in the same spot where 15 beaurocrats decided to attempt to wipe the world free of Jews. Just completely messed up!
So, I have now been in Berlin for little more than a day, and man, what an experience this is. First off, I struggled getting use.d to public transportation here (it sucks when you do not know ANY German) and I have gotten lost multiple times already!
With that being said, people here are extremely friendly and this city IS amazing! It is such a confluence between old and new, modern and classical, dirty (east side) and clean (west side). Yes, many of the discrepenicies from the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall have faded, but, you notiice a difference!
Yesterday, my first day here, I did a walking tour of Berlin's NAZI past. Hitler's bunker has been turned into a parking lot and there is a beautiful, yet confusing, Holocaust memorial in the midst of the city. It is so weird right now to see such a modern, accepting city and think it was one of the cradles of anti-semetism!
With that being said, people here are extremely friendly and this city IS amazing! It is such a confluence between old and new, modern and classical, dirty (east side) and clean (west side). Yes, many of the discrepenicies from the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall have faded, but, you notiice a difference!
Yesterday, my first day here, I did a walking tour of Berlin's NAZI past. Hitler's bunker has been turned into a parking lot and there is a beautiful, yet confusing, Holocaust memorial in the midst of the city. It is so weird right now to see such a modern, accepting city and think it was one of the cradles of anti-semetism!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
My initial itinerary (subject to change):
- July 12th: Train from Boston to NYC, then flight out of JFK at 4:20 aboard Delta for Amsterdam
- July 13th: Layover in Amsterdam and then ultimately head for Berlin
- July 13th-July 14th: Two nights in hostel in Berlin
- July 15th: CouchSurfing (I Think) in Leipzig
- July 16th-July 18th: Prague
- July 18th-July 19th: Nuremburg
- July 19th-July 21st: Munich
- July 21st-July 24th: Paris (Yes, WATCHING END OF TOUR D'FRANCE!!!!!)
- July 24th- July 26th: Normandy (paying my respects at the American cemetery)
- EVERYTHING ELSE UP IN THE AIR UNTIL AUGUST 18th :)!
Monday, July 9, 2012
I got my FIRST CouchSurfing acceptance today, and I am hoping to just have my reservations in Berlin FINALIZED by the end of the day today... PHEW :)! Less than FOUR days until I leave, and yes, I AM NERVOUS!
As of now, I will be in Berlin on Friday- Sunday, Prague until Wednesday, and Munich and Nuremburg through Sunday, July 22nd. Not a baaaaad first week!
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