Though I suppose we didn’t forget so much as we got sidetracked with everything else happening once we got back to Paris. But I didn’t want to leave the six of you that actually read these posts wondering so I want to put a few (belated) experiences up here anyway.
So, in 1200 words or less I present to you:
Amsterdam
Perfect weather for our first day in Amsterdam!
First stop on the trip was the gorgeous city of Amsterdam. Every backpacker we met along the trip had told us it was a must see of Europe and once we were there it was easy to see why. The entire city is jam packed with apartments, canals, coffee shops and a thousand bikers all out on the roads at once. The canals were larger than Venice, the boats too, and the apartment building style houses towered above. The foundations have weakened over time making them slanted giving the whole city a tospy-turvy feeling.
Our first night there we got an amazing tour from our host at the apartment we rented for the weekend. We were splitting it with David’s cousins who came up with us for the weekend. It was a bit pricy but a gorgeous place. We made sure to do all the main touristy things: Anne Frank Museum, walk around all of the canals, Sex Museum, Canal Tour, we even got to see the Portuguese synagogue which is from the 18th century and still uses no electricity, just candles, until today!
But the best part about Amsterdam is just walking around and looking at the beautiful architecture. Every building is similar yet uniquely different giving the whole city a really creative and cohesive. The spring weather stayed perfect all weekend long for us but before we knew it our time to head to Berlin had come!
Berlin
Selfie with Brandenburg gate, one of Berlin’s most famous landmarks!
Berlin is truly a young person’s city, especially since it’s really only like 25 years old. David and I couldn’t get enough of exploring it! We stayed in a Plus Hostel, which are highly rated all across Europe, and if there was ever a party hostel this was it! Jam packed with over 700 guests, all of them twenty-somethings, with it’s own bar, restaurant, recreation rooms, pool, sauna and two clubs across the street there was so much going on you almost didn’t have to leave!
We started our first full day in Berlin with a NewEurope tour. I can not recommend these enough. They are free tours all over Europe that take you to all of the city’s highlights in about three hours and give you the history and personal stories for everything! We were able to see over ten monuments of Berlin in the fist morning including the Brandenburg Gate, the Memorial to the murdered Jews, HItler’s bunker (which is actually a parking lot since the Soviets filled it in with cement!), the Berlin wall, Checkpoint Charlie, and more that I have forgotten or can’t spell. Our guide Leo told us everything we needed to know and it was truly a remarkable way to see the city. You tip whatever you can at the the end, and make sure you always tip it is the only way they get paid!!
After the tour we headed to the German History museum, which is impossible to see in one day but we managed with only a few hours before closing. After the museum we headed across town to see the Berlin Wall Memorial and after THAT we headed back (towards our hostel) to see the East Side gallery which had the best wall murals I have ever seen, I just wish people would stop ruining them with graffiti!
We did so much in our first day it is hard to believe we had enough stuff left for two more days in Berlin but between the Jewish museum, the largest chocolatier in the world, the New Synagogue, the TV Tower, Museum Island, Alexanderplatz, the Berliner Dom, the Palace of Tears, the Reichstag building, Teirgarten, and celebrating our one year anniversary we managed.
Prague
Beautiful view from the top of the Prague Castle.
These cobblestone roads and sidewalks may be picturesque but they destroy your feet! We had three full days in Prague but if you ask David what he enjoyed most I am certain he will choose the classical music concert we went to on the first night, two hours of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis in one of Prague’s most famous concert halls.
Our first full day in Prague was spent on two back to back NewEurope tours. The first, the free one, took us to all the famous Prague landmarks: the Old Town Square, the Astronomical Clock, the Powder Tower, the Jewish Quarter and ended with a great view of the Prague castle. Our tour guide studied architecture and Prague is the city of architecture, from Gothic to modern it has it all. We decided to pay the extra cash to see the Castle tour as well and were treated to the ancient history behind the largest castle ground in all of Europe and saw some amazing views of the city.
We didn’t do much on Saturday because of the rolling thunder and lightning storms. On Sunday we made our way across town to the old Jewish Quarter. The Prague Jewish Museum is a collection of numerous synagogues across the small quarter, each with numerous collected relics from the past hundreds. The highlight was most definitely the Jewish cemetery. When the Jews were stuck in the ghetto they were unable to gain any more land for a cemetery so they were forced to build up. Twelve layers of earth house over 100,000 bodies. Each time they needed to add a new layer they had to remove all the gravestones and then put them back creating a crowded, and spooky, ground.
After the Jewish Quarter we went to the Charles Bridge which is filled with statues of saints and has a great view from the city. We made our way to the John Lennon Wall, which was supposed to be covered with Beatles quotes but instead has become a graffiti wall, but not even good graffiti. On the plus side we found a delicious Italian restaurant and had some of the best pasta and pizza outside of Italy.
Monday saw us heading back to Paris on a 15 hour train journey. Two transfers later (Stuttgart and Munich again) we found ourselves back in central Paris and made our way back for some much needed sleep and laundry time.
Until the next post,
Sara + David
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