Here we are in Amsterdam having a lovely time :) The tulips are blooming, the sun is shining and the bikes are invading. But first...Prague and Berlin.
A moonlit night in Prague...
Well, we arrived in Prague hot and tired and hungry. It was windy and dusty, and, you guessed it, we were in a super weird part of town. Let's just say we were a little irritated with the Czech Republic. However, after eating and dropping off our luggage, we made our way into town to see the sights. With the start of Easter weekend the streets and squares were filled with booths selling painted eggs, interesting food and tons of cool paintings. My favorite part, though, were the trees decorated for Easter. They were bare-branched trees with gorgeous pink and white cherry blossom branches discretely tied to them. Then green, white, blue, orange and pink eggs and ribbons hung from the limbs. So festive and cheerful!
Eventually we made our way to the river, climbed to the palace grounds for a great view of the city and waited with hoards of people to see the stupidest clock tower ever chime 8 O'Clock. We love overrated monuments when everyone else is watching too :) We finished the night with dinner overlooking the river and a long metro/tram ride back to the hostel.
Prague is:
-dirty
-twinkling lights reflecting on the river
-funky, modern statues
-confusing streets
-churros and chocolate at the market
-a quick stay
Home sweet home in Berlin...
This past weekend in Berlin was just what we needed! Stephanie Johnson, a friend of Ryan's who is working as a missionary in Berlin, kept, fed and entertained us for 3 nights. Between homecooked meals with her best friends, walking and driving tours and a movie night we felt right at home. Steph welcomed us into her home as well as her heart. We had great talks for hours and laughed and laughed and laughed until it hurt.
One of the best parts of our time in Berlin was the Easter church service. We have really missed church since we've been in Europe the past 4 and 1/2 weeks. (We tried to go in Rome, but the Pope missed our visit!) Anyway, the service began with a Gospel choir from New York, who sang in English. It felt so good to sing along with a large group of Christians. Britt and I have sung along to the chapel cd on her ipod, but it's just not the same as being in corporate worship. The sermon was, of course, in German. Steph translated for us every few minutes, but we loved being there even when we didn't understand. It was a really sweet time and encouraging to see God working in a city like Berlin that has boldly professed Atheism for so many years.
Berlin is:
-laundry, sleeping in, rejuventation.
-learning so much about the Berlin wall and the Cold War from a western Berliner--so fascinating
-riding in a very cool Mercedes with the top open and music blaring (Steph's friend(s) works for them)
-a long dinner and good conversation
-"Lars und de Frauen"
-curry wurst and donor kebab
-Southern hospitality
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Exploring East
Tonight is our third night in Krakow, Poland (we are only staying 1 night in Prague for those of you following our itinerary). We have so enjoyed our time here! Thanks to the awesome recommendation from Jen, Jen and Ashley we are staying in the cutest little hostel. We just had cake night and are getting ready to watch a movie!
Aside from the great place to stay, I simply love the old world feel of Krakow. Poland looks just like I imagined it would--flat farmland, huge piles of firewood, tall and skinny trees, old brick and stone buildings, and everything with a sort of sepia tint. On our first full day here we went on a bike tour through town. The most interesting part for me was seeing the Jewish ghetto and the sights where Schindler's List was filmed. It was also fun to be moving fast on a bike and to see the city from a different point of view.
Today we took the train to Auschwitz concentration camp. It was so different from seeing Dachau in Munich, mostly because of their vastly different purposes. Dachau was a slave labor work camp, while Auschwitz was basically a death camp. It was sad and surreal and a bit scary, especially after hearing so much about the instability of Poland's history yesterday. Grandpa, it gave me so much respect for what you were fighting for during the war. I am so grateful that men and women like you who put their lives in danger to preserve the lives of so many helpless and persecuted people.
Early tomorrow morning we head to Prague, and then we'll spend the weekend in Berlin!
Krakow is...
-Mexican food! (sort of)
-biggest square in Europe, and we think it is the most beautiful too
-excellent hostel
-riding my bike into the bushes
-Polish food that left us feeling kind of sick
-a huge moat turned into a park
-a castle built by the guy who slayed the dragon and got the princess...or so the story goes
Aside from the great place to stay, I simply love the old world feel of Krakow. Poland looks just like I imagined it would--flat farmland, huge piles of firewood, tall and skinny trees, old brick and stone buildings, and everything with a sort of sepia tint. On our first full day here we went on a bike tour through town. The most interesting part for me was seeing the Jewish ghetto and the sights where Schindler's List was filmed. It was also fun to be moving fast on a bike and to see the city from a different point of view.
Today we took the train to Auschwitz concentration camp. It was so different from seeing Dachau in Munich, mostly because of their vastly different purposes. Dachau was a slave labor work camp, while Auschwitz was basically a death camp. It was sad and surreal and a bit scary, especially after hearing so much about the instability of Poland's history yesterday. Grandpa, it gave me so much respect for what you were fighting for during the war. I am so grateful that men and women like you who put their lives in danger to preserve the lives of so many helpless and persecuted people.
Early tomorrow morning we head to Prague, and then we'll spend the weekend in Berlin!
Krakow is...
-Mexican food! (sort of)
-biggest square in Europe, and we think it is the most beautiful too
-excellent hostel
-riding my bike into the bushes
-Polish food that left us feeling kind of sick
-a huge moat turned into a park
-a castle built by the guy who slayed the dragon and got the princess...or so the story goes
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
It's been a long time coming.
Well, friends and family, I'm sorry to have been MIA for a week or so. We have been without internet access (except the occasional wifi access on Britt's ipod). I have sent several e-mails on the ipod, but it is entirely too small to write a whole blog post. So...here we go with Munich, Salzburg and Vienna. I will try to keep it short and sweet, but you can check out Brittney's blog (www.brittneybrowneurope.blogspot.com) for a more detailed account...
Munich:
We had an eventful 3 days in Munich, mostly due to the weirdness of our hostel. We did a ton in and right outside of the city to avoid going to our hostel. However, when we did have to be there it was anything but typical. I won't go into details, but you really should read Britt's Munich post for the whole story. Let's just say I didn't sleep much during our time there.
One of our favorite things about Munich was the free walking tour that we took. Our tour guide was a California native who had studied abroad in Munich and moved back after graduating because she loved it so much. It was great to learn from her because it was obvious how much she cared about Munich's history and it's future. We also enjoyed learning more about the WWII events that happened in Munich. It's amazing how much easier it is to absorb information when you are standing in the very spot where it occurred. We felt that way again a couple days later when we took the train out to Dachau, the Third Reich's first concentration/work camp. It was stark and solemn and definitely made us pause and think about the gravity of the events that took place there such a short time ago.
We also spent one day traveling outside of Munich to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle, which was the model for Disneyland's Cinderella Castle. It was beautiful and still fully furnished.I think historical places are so much more interesting when they are filled with the acutal couches and beds and thrones of the people who resided in them. We have discovered that plaques and "ruins" are just not the same. Overall, Munich was fun and interesting and we laughed at our circumstances, but we learned that paying 10euro for a hostel across the street from the central train station is probably not the best idea. Go figure.
Munich is:
-New paperbacks (in English, of course) to read on the train
-Germany's biggest schnitzel! We shared it. And we ordered the turkey version.
-beer with sprite so that it doesn't taste like beer...so much better this way :)
-buses and trains to the middle of nowhere Bavaria
-a huge and beautiful outdoor market
-Pretzel, which to Germans sounds nothing like Brezel, the German word for pretzel...they always looked at us with such confused stares
-camps and memorials and devastating photographs
-tales of royalty and the reminder that Jesus if the true King of Kings
-waterfalls ?
-40 person dorm room. oh wow.
-roasted nuts like in New York...made me think of you, Mom.
Salzburg:
The best decision we made here was buying the Salzburg tourist card. For 20euro we could basically get into any museum or attraction for 24 hours. So we spent 2 days (from 1pm the first day to 1pm the next day) taking a gondola ride into the snowy Alps, touring the weird trick gardens at Schloss Hellbrun, visiting Mozart's birthplace and family house in town, and riding a steep funicular to the preserved fortress that overlooked the city. We listened to classical music and saw some of the sights from the Sound of the Music, which apparently Austrians despise. Whatever, I had fun pretending to be Maria and singing "The Hills are Alive" all over town. Another great thing about Salzburg was that we were there on Palm Sunday, and we got to see many families dressed in their traditional Austrian outfits. So cute!
Salzburg is...
-slipping and sliding in the snow
-warm, sunny weather
-Mozartkugeln
-super creepy Marionette museum in a dark and dingy cave
-lovely, hand-painted Easter eggs
Vienna:
The first thing we encountered-and loved-about Vienna was the metro. It is so much easier to navigate than the complicated web of buses and trams. Also, we booked a really cheap but nice hotel, which is always a great change from crowded hostel dorms. One of our favorite things in Vienna was going to see La Boheme, even though it was sung entirely in German. We were so lost but still loved being in the beautiful theatre enjoying the incredible voices and orchestra. We also loved seeing the gardens at Schloss Schoenbrun. Not many flowers were in bloom, but the ones we saw were gorgeous. It must be really incredible during the summer. Our time in Vienna was brief but good, and we were excited to keep moving east to Poland.
Vienna is...
-Australian-themed pub--weird, but good.
-SO much construction!
-the beautiful tiled roof of St. Stephen's Cathedral
-giant garden mazes
-clean showers
-the most famous and, perhaps more significantly, the most crappy ferris wheel in the world
-excellent gelato
-culture and opera!
Munich:
We had an eventful 3 days in Munich, mostly due to the weirdness of our hostel. We did a ton in and right outside of the city to avoid going to our hostel. However, when we did have to be there it was anything but typical. I won't go into details, but you really should read Britt's Munich post for the whole story. Let's just say I didn't sleep much during our time there.
One of our favorite things about Munich was the free walking tour that we took. Our tour guide was a California native who had studied abroad in Munich and moved back after graduating because she loved it so much. It was great to learn from her because it was obvious how much she cared about Munich's history and it's future. We also enjoyed learning more about the WWII events that happened in Munich. It's amazing how much easier it is to absorb information when you are standing in the very spot where it occurred. We felt that way again a couple days later when we took the train out to Dachau, the Third Reich's first concentration/work camp. It was stark and solemn and definitely made us pause and think about the gravity of the events that took place there such a short time ago.
We also spent one day traveling outside of Munich to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle, which was the model for Disneyland's Cinderella Castle. It was beautiful and still fully furnished.I think historical places are so much more interesting when they are filled with the acutal couches and beds and thrones of the people who resided in them. We have discovered that plaques and "ruins" are just not the same. Overall, Munich was fun and interesting and we laughed at our circumstances, but we learned that paying 10euro for a hostel across the street from the central train station is probably not the best idea. Go figure.
Munich is:
-New paperbacks (in English, of course) to read on the train
-Germany's biggest schnitzel! We shared it. And we ordered the turkey version.
-beer with sprite so that it doesn't taste like beer...so much better this way :)
-buses and trains to the middle of nowhere Bavaria
-a huge and beautiful outdoor market
-Pretzel, which to Germans sounds nothing like Brezel, the German word for pretzel...they always looked at us with such confused stares
-camps and memorials and devastating photographs
-tales of royalty and the reminder that Jesus if the true King of Kings
-waterfalls ?
-40 person dorm room. oh wow.
-roasted nuts like in New York...made me think of you, Mom.
Salzburg:
The best decision we made here was buying the Salzburg tourist card. For 20euro we could basically get into any museum or attraction for 24 hours. So we spent 2 days (from 1pm the first day to 1pm the next day) taking a gondola ride into the snowy Alps, touring the weird trick gardens at Schloss Hellbrun, visiting Mozart's birthplace and family house in town, and riding a steep funicular to the preserved fortress that overlooked the city. We listened to classical music and saw some of the sights from the Sound of the Music, which apparently Austrians despise. Whatever, I had fun pretending to be Maria and singing "The Hills are Alive" all over town. Another great thing about Salzburg was that we were there on Palm Sunday, and we got to see many families dressed in their traditional Austrian outfits. So cute!
Salzburg is...
-slipping and sliding in the snow
-warm, sunny weather
-Mozartkugeln
-super creepy Marionette museum in a dark and dingy cave
-lovely, hand-painted Easter eggs
Vienna:
The first thing we encountered-and loved-about Vienna was the metro. It is so much easier to navigate than the complicated web of buses and trams. Also, we booked a really cheap but nice hotel, which is always a great change from crowded hostel dorms. One of our favorite things in Vienna was going to see La Boheme, even though it was sung entirely in German. We were so lost but still loved being in the beautiful theatre enjoying the incredible voices and orchestra. We also loved seeing the gardens at Schloss Schoenbrun. Not many flowers were in bloom, but the ones we saw were gorgeous. It must be really incredible during the summer. Our time in Vienna was brief but good, and we were excited to keep moving east to Poland.
Vienna is...
-Australian-themed pub--weird, but good.
-SO much construction!
-the beautiful tiled roof of St. Stephen's Cathedral
-giant garden mazes
-clean showers
-the most famous and, perhaps more significantly, the most crappy ferris wheel in the world
-excellent gelato
-culture and opera!
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