Pics of Prague to Paris (and Lyon)

So many pictures

Amsterdam 1 (I'm working on my posts)

When I first arrived in Amsterdam my host met me at the train station, not used to it but its always nice when it happens. She gave me her almost expired train card since she had already gotten a new one so for the first few days I didn't need to pay for the trams. Couchsurfing is great. I was kinda tired so we just got back to her place and I had some beer and chocolate for dinner. Her neighborhood seemed like it was straight out of a movie, all the houses painted the same color, just curving with the empty street.

The next day I got a fairly extensive tour of the city. We went to a big outdoor market, where I sampled a bunch of things for breakfast, herring sandwich,  a fresh stroopwaffel (caramel got all over my beard), some samosas from this indian grocery store (couldn't resist), mini-pancakes and a veggie croquette from heaven. I bought some groceries for dinner. After I had my fill we went walking around. Her mom worked in the tourist industry so she even knew the alley in the red light district with the beautiful women. I didn't know that was a thing but apparently it is? As soon as I turned the corner and saw one of the women standing in the window I felt so uncomfortable. I never thought I'd actually be there seeing it for my own eyes. I guess surreal is also a good word. We also went to a supermarket where I found the international food section and found the "American" food, marshmallows, yellow mustard, mac n cheese, mayonnaise and some other random things. Oddly enough the Doritos were not part of that section despite the name of their flavor.

Cool Ranch, American Ranch
What's the difference?

Pictures a plenty

Pictures organized by country, not organized by date though

All of the pictures, only organized by roll of film scanned so maybe this is more confusing

Berlin

When I first got on the train I was lucky to find a seat, it was the last seat  in the compartment but a seat is a seat, especially when it comes to long train rides. I struggled to find an outlet, as there were no outlets... So no catching up on my blog for me then.  Eventually everyone else in my little cabin gets off so I get to lie down and put my feet up.  This peace and quiet only lasts for a little bit as a few stops later a ton of people get on. Joining me were an older german couple, then I saw a woman with two pugs walk by. I saw the dogs and tried to look as friendly as possible so she would choose my compartment. She keeps walking. But, she comes back!!!  So I had these two cute pugs on the train to Berlin, they were so cute, until they farted... It kinda ruined the atmosphere.

I had a friend with a 12 hour layover in Dusseldorf so I took a 7 hour bus ride to meet her at the airport, we spent the whole night going to all of the local microbreweries and drinking beer. Yummers. Beer and cheese at five different places, or was it six? Also, as soon as you sat down they brought you a glass of beer and kept on bringing them as you finished them. No water, just beer. Sweet sweet German beer.

"What kind of cheese is that?"
"Is that even cheese?"
"Don't ask, we're traveling..."

 

Picture courtesy of our friendly water, Udo

The kitchens closed after 10 but luckily we still got some bread with butter and cheese. It's a thing.

Instead of waiting at the airport all night and waiting for the trains to start running at 5am, I just stayed at the bus terminal all night from 1am to 6am. In the McDonalds... No wifi, just a small container of very gross fries for table rent. First and last time eating McDonalds. It was a bit of a miserable experience but the night of beer and cheese was worth it.

The first few nights in Berlin, I stayed with my cousin, who I haven't seen in years. The last time I saw her, she came over to my apartment and I was being the stereotypical jewish mother host. It was her turn this time and she did quite well. Major cousin points! The first night we went to an Italian restaurant where the salads are not made to order. They just bring you all the ingredients and some tools like a peeler or grater and you assemble it yourself. Kinda feels like how they changed the box mix brownies from just add water to add water, oil and an egg; to make you feel like you're actually doing something!'
 One of the other nights we had dinner at home, we got some random fish and we didn't really know what it was but it looked like it had fins and scales so we just bought it, no questions asked. Well we tried to ask but the workers didn't exactly have expert english on all the fish in the world. Ahh traveling. After dinner, I break out my new favorite card game. Black Stories. I get, what I feel is, a particularly hard story. "A woman comes home and is elated, but she drops dead when she saws sawdust on the floor." To the suggestion of my cousin who was loving this, I start acting it out. To see the solution, just highlight the black lines- The woman suffered from dwarfism. When she came home that day, she felt she had finally grown, because for the first time ever she was able to see across the table. Then she noticed sawdust everywhere and realised that some malicous prankster had 'shortened' all her furniture. This was too much for her weak heart.

I believe it was Thursday night, my cousin, a friend of hers who I couchsurfed with for a night and I  went to this giant indoor food market in Berlin, so many choices and so many things eaten. However, the kimchi quesedilla was a mistake. I waited online for maybe twenty minutes for some beer. It was pretty good. There was also a fish and chips vendor that may have misunderstood that chips are supposed to be french fries and instead just gave thin crispy slices of a baguette. Odd.

One of the other nights, I met up with another friend in Berlin. We met by a KFC, where they were shooting something for a movie and they had a prop Volkswagen, not sure if it was functional but it was fully furnished and bright yellow. Kinda cool. We went to dinner first got Thai food and then wandered a bit until finding our destination. Pub. At first we weren't sure if we wanted to stay as they weren't so sure about there being tables for us but we eventually got seated with two other people, who you can see in one of these pictures. I'll give you a hint, its the picture that doesn't have a dog in it. This place was pretty cool because at every table you had your own beer tap and could pour yourself beer and the screen would measure how much you were drinking. Very different than Dusseldorf. You could also order from the menu on the screen. What's a waiter again? Well in this place, they were all really friendly. So friendly, one of them let me use his phone so I could message my couchsurfing host about my change of plans for the night. I was in shock for a good few minutes about that level of trust.

• A few more Berlin details without lovely cellphone pictures to back them up. I got my first few rolls of film developed in Berlin, cost me 50 euros. It costs about $6 at the CVS 2 blocks away from my house. But I couldn't wait and really wanted to see them, link is coming shortly!
• By my cousins house there was a cemetery with a playground just meters away, very creepy. Didn't take a picture but I will when I go back. 
• I had an awesome couchsurfing experience, even got to make bread for my host and her flatmates, it didn't last very long though. I also go to teach some hebrew to her and practice. She keeps a book for everything she is learning so every so often she would just start writing again, but I was amazed because she never stopped walking while writing. Not once. Impressive.
• We went to an old abandoned airport that is now a giant public park with a small urban garden. There were a ton of people running, biking, windsurfing and all these other cool wind related sports that I don't know the names of. There was also just a random kid tied into the ground while also attached to a parachute so when it got windy enough he would just fly off the ground at least 9 meters. 
• Had baby food for dessert one night, it was one of the better impulse buys from the organic super market. People in Berlin are almost obsessed with organic. There is also amazing graffiti all over the place. 
• Some houses have these bronze tiles in front of them, in memory of people who were taken from their homes by the nazis. It lists the date they were taken, where to and what happened to them. Something I never read about alone or would've noticed unless told. There is such a conscious effort to not let that be something forgotten. 
• Berlin was such a great city to visit, felt like you really need to live there to experience it and you can't just be a tourist there for a week or two. Luckily, I'll be going back to see my cousin before I go home to pick up the stuff I gave her from my backpack to lighten the load. First time travelers always pack waaaay too much. I was/am no exception.

Next post Amsterdam? Then maybe I can catch up to Paris, where I am for a few more days, then Lyon and then trying to figure out spain/portugal, then Italy, Berlin, UK and Ireland for St Patricks day, then finally home. Or at least those are my plans right now.

Couchsurfing in Prague

Fast forward to brunch, complete with Klezmer music and sandwiches with butter and cheese because that's what we do in Europe, I guess... Fast forward to sometime later and I'm checking out of the hostel and going to my couchsurfing host. Who has a giant cat, pictured for your convenience on the left.
We do more walking around that night, I make dinner and the next day we go to Theresienstadt. It was super foggy (you couldn't see more than 30 meters ahead of you) and cold and creepy. It felt like a ghost town. There were a few tour groups there and two people stood out in particular. They were holding hands. I never thought of Theresienstadt as a romantic place, but hey, to each their own, I guess... For dinner we went to one of the only places open in town that wasn't a museum or antique store. I got the fried cheese, which was essentially a giant mozzarella stick but made with a different and tastier cheese. The next day I did a lot of walking around and picture taking, went to the castle district, saw some public art installations, creepy baby statues... The next day I went to Berlin!

Prague Night Two, because nothing fun happens during the day

As previously mentioned, nothing fun seems to happen during the day. I have just enough money to do the laundry, it's self service but it costs way too much but I feel like that's just a hotel thing, don't even dare touch the minibar... Well, if they had a minibar that is. I spent most of the day trying to get some more cash, making phone calls on my laptop, blabla minor inconveniences. Eventually I am able to use my credit card as a one time ATM card. Conveniently located downstairs in the hostel is an ATM. But of course that one doesn't work with my card. Neither does the other one a few blocks away... But the third time is sometimes a charm right? Well, luckily that held true for this time. The third time was an ATM in one of the nearby subway stations. I take out probably more than enough money but it will get spent eventually. It feels so nice to have cash again so what do I do next? I go to a supermarket and I buy some groceries, anticipating most places being closed the day after new years. Canned goods, fruit, bread, cheese, tomatoes and of course some snacks, gotta try the local junk food. Wasabi flavored potato chips here I come. I go back to the hotel, pay the rest of what I owe them but the exchange rate is higher today (bad for me) but I have really good puppy dog eyes (good for me) so I just pay them what I originally owed them with that date's exchange rate.

Christmas Market

Later that day I meet up with Monika and do some more sightseeing and walking around. We go to this cool cafe that's in the back of a tobacco store. They have a lot of drinks, tea, coffee, various types of alcohol, and some snacks. We wait for her friends to meet us there, order some more beer/wine and play that game, I think its called pick up sticks, where you just drop a bunch of sticks on the table and pick them up without moving any other ones, pick up sticks, right? We're all there for the rest of the night, talking, mostly in Czech. Midnight is approaching and we walk/run towards the river to see the fireworks. The fireworks last for a while and we watch/listen. Go back to the cafe eventually. They want to close and are hinting that its time to leave but we take our sweet time, the guy at the register was not so pleased... We leave and go back to the apartment of a friends sister. Pick up some wine and snacks on the way. One problem, there wasn't a corkscrew, we improvise with a knife and end up getting some cork in the wine and some wine on the wall. We stay up really late but eventually go to sleep on various surfaces in the apartment. Because at that point, it doesn't exactly matter where you sleep, just that you sleep.

Prague, Night 1

Alrighty then, on to Prague, or Praha as the natives spell it, it's also pronounced differently. So I get to the hostel, find out it wasn't actually paid for and fork over almost all my cash as a deposit. But!!!! I still have enough for a night of debauchery!!! I arranged to meet up with the three other people at a bar but when I got them and met them the bar was closed. Harumph. We go to another bar nearby, called the Wagon but it's not free/not letting young people in until after midnight. So we have a couple hours to kill and just walk around, cross the river, see a few cool things, like the creepy baby statues. Eventually we make our way back. The crowd here was not what I was expecting. It was full of people who were old enough to be my parents or even grandparents. There was a live rock band, finishing their set and a medium sized dance floor full of people. The bar, like most other European bars was full of smoke, my clothes were saturated in it by the end of the night. But the more beer I drank, the less it bothered me. After the band stopped playing, they just started playing classic rock hits and I couldn't stop singing/shouting every single one of them, in between rounds of beer. It was also hysterical watching the older generation, falling asleep, chugging beer, singing their lungs out, lots o' fun.

Art installation outside the hostel

Vienna 3/4 and 4/4 math oopsie...

Today went a bit differently than my other days. I met up with a local via couchsurfing and I spent the day with her. We met up at the tram station near my place and went hiking for a couple hours. It was very muddy and slippery but luckily there were no people or little twigs hurt. Not many plants but quite a bit of mushrooms throughout the forest. None were eaten however. The air was so fresh and tasty and we weren't really following any trail, just deciding to go this or that way when we got to where the trails merged or split. At one point we're kinda just following this couple in their dogs, hoping for an exit. The dogs didn't leave us disappointed. We found an exit and decided to have lunch there, we packed some sandwiches. So we decide to start the journey back to her apartment for dinner. We have amazing timing and catch a bus only a minute walk from the exit. The bus is taking its sweet time descending the little mountain village, going back and forth this tiny road on the way down. We make it down safe and sound enjoying the view. Take another bus and two trams, something like that and we finally get to her city, slightly outside Vienna or maybe just barely inside it, I'm not entirely sure. She has a giant garden in the back of her building and I'm very jealous. She even has a root cellar, which I believe was a bomb shelter at one point and somehow a frog managed to get in there and was just chilling there. Probably quite literally as it's a root cellar and those are supposed to be cold.
We roast some pumpkin and potatoes for dinner, yumm. She also has three mice, each named after a wizard from LOTR: Radagast, Gandalf and Sarumon. However, one of them is quite silly and always tries to escape through the chicken wire and constantly gets stuck so she has to cut the wire around him. He never learns. Oh, there were also christmas cookies and lots of tea. We chat for a while, play black stories and swap some music. Just another positive couchsurfing experience. Did I mention I love couchsurfing? You can also just meet locals to hang out with through the site. Which so far has been only fun.
The next day is my last day in Vienna so I take my host out to a traditional Viennese coffee house. But when I say take my host out I mean I paid for the meal but she drove us there and back. I finish packing my bags and make my way to the train station. I get there 30 minutes early and start looking for the right track. I have a connection in Simmering and find the bus that goes there and get on the bus but the bus ride is 30 minutes and my itinerary says to take the train to Simmering  and that it should only take 5 minutes... I sit on the bus pondering and decide to get off. It's now 14 minutes before my train departs. Crap... I'm running around, going back downstairs to see the departure screen again, no new information. I decide to go to the tracks from where I arrived and look at those departure screens, still don't see the right train. I find an info desk, frantically flash them my phone with my itinerary and they tell me which track to go to and it's leaving in six minutes. My phone says its leaving in three but it only takes a minute to get there. Heavy backpacks slow you down... I get to the train, make sure to ask someone if it's the right one. It is. I sit down and catch my breath. Make the transfer and get comfortable on the train to Prague.
I'm in a bit of a daze on the train, falling in and out of sleep. We arrive at what I think is my station, similar name, the time seems right. Hmm... I grab my bags and jump off thinking I almost missed my stop. I'm immediately sketched out. This doesn't look a very well maintained or modern train station. But no matter. I continue on to find my hostel. I know the general direction to get there. Straight north for about 1000m then right for some more. I know there are also some landmarks I should be looking out for. The thing is, I'm not finding any of these streets or landmarks and this place just doesn't look very populated or warm. I'm a little worried as I'm also wearing two bright and heavy backpacks, making me appear like the slow-walking tourist target I am. I try asking people for help but to no avail. I'm walking for longer than I should be and then I find someone who tries to help me and then looks up from my picture of a map on my phone and stares at me, asking if I'm trying to get to Prague. I am then informed that I'm not in Prague but rather 100km away. Fuck. Knew it. Alright. She points me in the direction of the train station, telling me it's that way. I tell her I know, in possibly the driest tone possible, I also say thank you in a slightly warmer tone as it can be a little hard to stay completely positive and friendly when dealt a blow of reality like this.
I make my way back to the train station, see the next train going to Prague leaves in a few minutes, so I hurry my ass to the train, find a compartment, confirm this is the right train (always a good thing to do) and have a seat. I then talk a little to one of the people there, tell my story and we laugh. Ha. Ha. So funny but the reality of it still stings a little. Some minutes pass and the person checking tickets comes. She looks at my ticket and is confused, probably because she doesn't read english... The person next to me clarifies the situation and we all share another laugh. Ha. Ha... I finally get to Prague, everything seems right. More people and tourists and the right street names. I eventually find my way to the hostel after some bad directions and then I find out I never actually paid for my room and I still owe them 220 euros... I had just converted $200 into Czech Crowns and give them most of it as a deposit. That leaves me with about $45 worth of Crowns. I get to my 4 bedroom dorm and no one is there, sweet. I call up the local from couchsurfing I was going to meet up with and we agree to meet up at a bar a little later. So I shower, unpack and relax for a bit. 

Vienna 2/3

Went to the Naschmarkt and bought some cheese and bread for lunch. Organic and local, of course. I've also realized it's unfair to call my knife a swiss army knife. What army knife would need a corkscrew? I feel like its more a swiss civilian picnic knife. Works great at cutting cheese and opening packages... At the market on Saturday was also a flea market with two different kinds of vendors. The serious ones who specialize in a few kinds of items and those who seemingly find junk in their attic and bring a table to put it on and sell. Why is someone trying to sell a 9V battery, it's not even in any packaging. There is just a loose battery on the table... Any who, the food was great, huge selection, felt kind of like the Shuk with all the falafel and shwarma and vendors yelling at you, trying to sell you stuff.

.

After making and eating my cheese sandwiches I went towards St. Stephen's Cathedral. It was pretty dam big and impressive, just like all the other giant Churches throughout Europe. I bought the whole pass, go up to both towers, the catacombs and enter the main floor to get closer to the front and see the treasure. I went to the catacombs first, it was a guided tour. Lots of bones and entrails and other various organs of important people of varying ages in jars of varying sizes. And yes, the jar size is connected to the age. Part of me thought a souvenir from there would be perfect but something about taking someone random bone is a little odd and I don't exactly want to carry around human remains. So, I guess I'm not a good enough friend... Sorry. The tour guide was perfect for his job, cracking lots of jokes and keeping the atmosphere light, despite being surrounded by corpses in a maze of underground tunnels. That is talent. For some reason, the tour let out outside the church so I had to muscle my way back inside to go see the next part of my ticket. The north tower. I got back in line and was behind a mother and (I can only assume they were) her two kids. The line moves up in spurts as groups go up in the elevator and you wait for the elevator to come back down. So I'm waiting and hearing this electronic music and at first I don't care, maybe its just a cellphone but after 3 minutes of it I'm a little tired. The people in front of me get to the desk to buy their ticket for the tower and the guy at the desk is also a little more than curious about the music that seems to be coming from them. They take out this little-plastic-electric-toy-violin that won't shut up. The guy tries futzing with it but it doesn't stop. The beeping violin is now on the table and I'm right next to it while they're talking so it's fair game for me to intervene at this point. I take out my swiss army knife and shove the corkscrew right through its heart. The sound gets very high pitched then just slowly dies down, whining and wheezing... Okay that didn't happen. I just unscrewed the battery cover a little so it wasn't making contact with circuit anymore. Now onto pictures from the top. Also, the guy working the elevator was kinda creepy, flirting with any girl he could. So... Every girl that got on and had to be right next to him for the slow ascent.

The Treasure Room, oohhh

After seeing the Cathedral I walked East away from the heart of the city with all the crazy winding streets. But not before I helped some lovely Canadians with directions. It's always nice to hear native english speakers who aren't just talking about bars or sound like they could be on any of those reality TV shows that shouldn't exist. IE a Fran Drescher voice, not that I have anything against her, she was great on the Nanny. But when you only have 9 TV channels to choose from growing up, almost anything is good. I digress. I walk towards a park, meander a bit, admire the sun starting to set and all the shades of orange and pink. I walk to the river and walk along it, graffiti for meters on meters. I just dropped off my first 4 rolls of film at a store (I'm in Berlin now) and they should be ready to pick up tomorrow night. 

After lots more walking, I'm ready for dinner and I picked out a place because they brew their own beer. 1516 Brewing Company. I got the Oatmeal Stout, and some cheesey spaetzle. Oh, and some schnapps for dessert. It was a very heavy meal. Just as heavy as the air was with cigarette smoke. Welcome to Europe, I guess. Good Day.

                              

Vienna 1/3

State Hall

Alright, I'm only getting more behind. This is bad for you but good for me, because it means I'm too busy to write and I'm having a great time, which I am. I'm going to Berlin tomorrow!!! The first day in Vienna was a busy one, as were most of the days there. I went straight to the big sites. State Hall, Butterfly House, a dog park and a falafel stand. It was a lot of walking around and buying of tickets to get into all the places. After spending a few hours wandering around all the historic buildings near State Hall, I took a little breather and just peopled watched for a while. Then I went to the Museums Quartier and looked at a bunch of the shops and installations. Found some great books. Okay, they were picture books. I don't really speak German so don't be surprised. I bought a graphic novel about a very violent penguin, a card game called Black Stories and another book of illustrations of Simons Cat. Feel free to look these things up.

Almost bought it

Art Installation, I guess...

 After perusing lots of funny illustrations I went to the Leopold Museum right next door. I mostly went, like other destinations, because a friend recommended/wanted me to go. There was an exhibit of Egon Schiele's works. I realized I'm just not a giant fan of art. I liked some of them but there weren't many paintings, in the entire museum, that really wowed me. Except for the earliest ad for soup, given below. I took a bunch more pictures and I think I'll just add a link to a picasa album a little later. If you're dying to see those pictures, let me know. I kept exploring the musuem after Egon and there was a lot of Kokoschka's works as well, no pictures taken of him though.

 After the museum, I did some walking around looking for cool street art as I thought it was just right around the corner but alas I couldn't find it. It was also dark by the time I left and I felt like I had seen enough today. I'm finding that as soon as the sun sets my energy level just plummets and I just want to go back to my couch. On the way back I went to the grocery store, to pick up a few things for cooking. I noticed two things. Almost everything can be found in a tube, it;s not just for toothpaste, and they have a funny idea of what American beers are. I walked back to the tram stop and went back to the apartment, cooked, talked to my hostess for a while and sent many more couchsurf requests. I know this was not a lengthy post, but details/energy/enthusiasm are lost when I don't post immediately...