When we arrived in Geneva we made sure we had a reservation for the train to Paris the following morning. Good thing we checked because it turned out that all three trains were full. But the lady that was helping us found another train for us to take. It would arrive a little later, but at least we would make it on schedule. Incredibly nice lady. Just immensely helpful! After that we headed to the hostel to get checked in. Got the low down, found our beds, dropped our stuff off, and headed out to explore Geneva.
We decided to ask reception where we should go for a traditional Swiss meal. They gave us two options, but we were only able to find one. It was a little pricey and no one was there, so we found somewhere else to eat. It was not very good. Payton and I had burgers, which were more like sloppy-joes, and Keith had this meat platter thing, but he said the steak seemed a little off. Meh. Got out of there quick and headed towards the lake.
We got to the waterfront and saw the trademark water jet. It was pretty cool. It shot pretty high. We started to head over towards it to get some photos, but right when we got to a good place it shut off. Ha ha! Sneaky Swiss. So, we sat around hoping it would come on again and enjoyed the harbor. Random side note: I do not think I have ever seen a true mountain lake that is fed by snow and seeing Lake Geneva for the first time stunned me. The water is actually CLEAR! You could see straight to the bottom of the lake from the breakwaters. It was awesome. After we waited for a while for the fountain and it did not come back, we headed towards the city center.
We could see a cool looking church from where we were sitting and headed towards it. Saw some cool sites along the way and got some good pictures. Walked the back streets of Geneva towards the waterfront again and explored a mall which was all closed down. Then walked back along the waterfront and saw the fountain was on again. Yay! You would have thought it was a 98% off sale at Macy's if you saw how fast we ran to get a picture of it. But we got our pictures. Continued along the harbor and found an art exhibit with editorial cartoons from around the world. Some of them were meh, but some were really powerful. All about the famine, wars, natural disasters, genocide, assassinations from around the world.
Once it got too dark to take any more photos and the mosquitos were draining us dry, we headed back to the hostel. Along the way we tried to find a place to have dessert, but Geneva is EXPENSIVE, so we decided not. Found a vending machine in the hostel and bought a mars bar (Keith), ragusa - a type of chocolate bar (Payton), and a snickers (me). Classy, we know. Then we headed up to our room to get ready for bed.
I forgot to mention before that when we first got in our room it smelled like wet dog and moldy feet. Our roomies had washed their clothes [in the sink] and left them to dry in the window. We were not sure why everything smelt so bad, but a little while after we got up to our room, we found out. Our roomies came back and we talked with them for a while. We found out that they were from a town outside Vienna and have been hiking, yes hiking, their way across Europe to Santiago, Spain. That is about a 3,000 kilometer trip. On foot. And they had been sleeping outside on nice nights. Not in campsites, but in fields and vineyards. Pretty intense. Geneva was about 1,200 kilometers into their journey and they had already been traveling for 40 days. They estimated the trip would take 4 months. That is sweet. Payton, Keith, and I decided that that will be our trip next year. After chatting with them we all got ready for bed and slept.
In the morning we got up bright and early, packed up, and headed down for breakfast. Corn flakes and bread. Yum yum. After breakfast we hopped on over to the train station. Caught our train to Paris and settled in.
After the first leg of the journey we got off and ran to our next train because our train got in late. I grabbed the door as the conductor blew his whistle and then he yelled at me to stop. Awesome. So, we missed our first train change and got to wait an extra two hours to catch the next one. Found a place to eat and played some cards to pass the time. Got on our next train and went to our next destination. At the next change we had another two hour layover, so we had plenty of time to catch the next train. Sat at a café and devoured the free wifi. Made our next change and headed towards Paris.
Paris will be the next and last installment of the traveling portion of this trip. Although Payton, Keith, and I are going to write a recap of what we learned while on the whole trip. Hopefully people will read it and have use for some of our insight if they ever travel through Europe. So, stay tuned, we are not done talking to you yet.
steinkraus.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
with no clouds in the sky...
We arrived in Florence in the evening and checked in. Went out to find some food, but nothing was open since it was so late. So, we got some ice cream for dinner instead. Yum! Keith commented that he has eaten more ice cream in the past couple weeks than he has in the past year. Payton and I both agreed.
The next morning we got up and walked around the city. Saw a crazy looking church, took some photos. Saw another church, took some more photos. Walked through some plazas where every inch of shaded space was occupied by bodies - it was a hot day. Caught a glimpse of Il Duomo, but could not head there yet, we had to make reservations for our trip to Geneva. Ah-ha, make them early. We have learned! When we got to the train station we found that there was no overnight train to Geneva, good job Eurail website. Instead we had to book our train a day later and stay an extra night in Florence. Once the trains were squared away we talked with the hostel to make reservations for an additaional night.
After that we found a place to get some food. My slice of pizza was 1/4 of the whole pizza. Delicious. Then walked over to Il Duomo and snapped some more pictures. Decided to tour it later and walked over to Palazzo Vecchio and saw the copy of David. The real one is in the Galleria dell'Accademia, but we did not go see it. Then we walked down to Ponte Vecchio, the Old Bridge, and assaulted it with photos. It is the semi-covered bridge that was used by the Medici family and housed many of the time best goldsmiths. Walked over it to see what the shops had to offer - jewelry galore! Walked down the river for a bit and skipped our way back to the hostel for dinner. They had a buffet style breakfast and dinner every day, which was actually really good. You could tell that it was a real person cooking for people, not a machine in a restaurant cooking for customers. After dinner we met a couple of other travelers from New York and England and played cards. Got eaten by mosquitos, then called it a night.
We awoke early the following morning and went to Giardini di Boboli, the Boboli Gardens, Siciliano would be proud. But they were not as well maintained as we were hopeing, Siciliano would not be proud. Walked the entire garden. Sweated our bums off. Then took a nap in the shade by the Neptune Fountain. When we woke up we headed to see the remainder of the garden and saw the first statue of a fat person we have ever seen. It was pretty funny.
Piazza Michelangelo was our next destination, which was on top of one of the adjacent hills. It was a trek. And it was hot. But, there was an ice cream place at the top! We saw another copy of David, this one was bronze, and enjoyed the view over Florence. After the walk back down, which was much easier, we found a place to have a snack. Not very good. The pizza was watery...? and the latte was burnt. Bleh! Then we headed back to our hostel to get some good eats. Amazing, as per usual. And after dinner we pretty much crashed.
On the morning of our extra day in Florence we headed to Il Duomo to climp up the cupola. Paid €8 to climb 463 steps. It was a little pricey for the view (which was very similar to the one at Piazza Michelangelo), however, we got up to the top right at 12:00 and every church bell in the city started ringing. That was pretty sweet. It is also pretty cool to look out over all of Florence and see terra-cotta roofs everywhere. After heading down we caught a peek at the interior of the church, kinda plain, then headed to Palazzo Vecchio for the artwork. Towards the end of the museum we stopped in a small room to watch a little info movie and almost fell asleep. Got scolded by one of the clerks and headed out. Searched for a place to eat and found a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Which I believe has had consistently the best food on the trip. Random side note: try not to eat at fancy restaurants or readily visible places in Italy. Chances are the employees are stuck up and will try to screw you over, like we were, or the food is awful. The smaller places that you need to search for are SO much better.
After our delicious meal, where we stayed past closing and the owner actually let us, we headed back to the hostel. But not before getting dessert. Keith had a soft cheesecake with fruit sauce and Payton and I both had chocolate cake. It was delectable, a little dry, but scrumdidilyumptious. When we got back to the hostel we napped for a bit. Got up and met the other people in our room; found out they were from England, Washington, and Maryland. The chick from England asked if anyone needed to do launry and we got four of us together. €9 to wash and dry is a little pricey. After laundry I stole Payton's beard trimmer and got rid of my scratchy beard - was not going to clean-shave again. Then hit the hay, because it was an early start to catch our train to Geneva.
Got up in the morning, packed up, and headed to the train station. Waited around for our platform to be called; Keith got two croissants for breakfast, one with chocolate and one with marmalade. Tastey. I had a banana. It did the trick. Then boarded the train and headed to Geneva.
We were not in Geneva for long, just one night, so that post is coming soon. Then it will be Paris after!
steinkraus.
The next morning we got up and walked around the city. Saw a crazy looking church, took some photos. Saw another church, took some more photos. Walked through some plazas where every inch of shaded space was occupied by bodies - it was a hot day. Caught a glimpse of Il Duomo, but could not head there yet, we had to make reservations for our trip to Geneva. Ah-ha, make them early. We have learned! When we got to the train station we found that there was no overnight train to Geneva, good job Eurail website. Instead we had to book our train a day later and stay an extra night in Florence. Once the trains were squared away we talked with the hostel to make reservations for an additaional night.
After that we found a place to get some food. My slice of pizza was 1/4 of the whole pizza. Delicious. Then walked over to Il Duomo and snapped some more pictures. Decided to tour it later and walked over to Palazzo Vecchio and saw the copy of David. The real one is in the Galleria dell'Accademia, but we did not go see it. Then we walked down to Ponte Vecchio, the Old Bridge, and assaulted it with photos. It is the semi-covered bridge that was used by the Medici family and housed many of the time best goldsmiths. Walked over it to see what the shops had to offer - jewelry galore! Walked down the river for a bit and skipped our way back to the hostel for dinner. They had a buffet style breakfast and dinner every day, which was actually really good. You could tell that it was a real person cooking for people, not a machine in a restaurant cooking for customers. After dinner we met a couple of other travelers from New York and England and played cards. Got eaten by mosquitos, then called it a night.
We awoke early the following morning and went to Giardini di Boboli, the Boboli Gardens, Siciliano would be proud. But they were not as well maintained as we were hopeing, Siciliano would not be proud. Walked the entire garden. Sweated our bums off. Then took a nap in the shade by the Neptune Fountain. When we woke up we headed to see the remainder of the garden and saw the first statue of a fat person we have ever seen. It was pretty funny.
Piazza Michelangelo was our next destination, which was on top of one of the adjacent hills. It was a trek. And it was hot. But, there was an ice cream place at the top! We saw another copy of David, this one was bronze, and enjoyed the view over Florence. After the walk back down, which was much easier, we found a place to have a snack. Not very good. The pizza was watery...? and the latte was burnt. Bleh! Then we headed back to our hostel to get some good eats. Amazing, as per usual. And after dinner we pretty much crashed.
On the morning of our extra day in Florence we headed to Il Duomo to climp up the cupola. Paid €8 to climb 463 steps. It was a little pricey for the view (which was very similar to the one at Piazza Michelangelo), however, we got up to the top right at 12:00 and every church bell in the city started ringing. That was pretty sweet. It is also pretty cool to look out over all of Florence and see terra-cotta roofs everywhere. After heading down we caught a peek at the interior of the church, kinda plain, then headed to Palazzo Vecchio for the artwork. Towards the end of the museum we stopped in a small room to watch a little info movie and almost fell asleep. Got scolded by one of the clerks and headed out. Searched for a place to eat and found a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Which I believe has had consistently the best food on the trip. Random side note: try not to eat at fancy restaurants or readily visible places in Italy. Chances are the employees are stuck up and will try to screw you over, like we were, or the food is awful. The smaller places that you need to search for are SO much better.
After our delicious meal, where we stayed past closing and the owner actually let us, we headed back to the hostel. But not before getting dessert. Keith had a soft cheesecake with fruit sauce and Payton and I both had chocolate cake. It was delectable, a little dry, but scrumdidilyumptious. When we got back to the hostel we napped for a bit. Got up and met the other people in our room; found out they were from England, Washington, and Maryland. The chick from England asked if anyone needed to do launry and we got four of us together. €9 to wash and dry is a little pricey. After laundry I stole Payton's beard trimmer and got rid of my scratchy beard - was not going to clean-shave again. Then hit the hay, because it was an early start to catch our train to Geneva.
Got up in the morning, packed up, and headed to the train station. Waited around for our platform to be called; Keith got two croissants for breakfast, one with chocolate and one with marmalade. Tastey. I had a banana. It did the trick. Then boarded the train and headed to Geneva.
We were not in Geneva for long, just one night, so that post is coming soon. Then it will be Paris after!
steinkraus.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
when in rome...
Wear lots of sunscreen. Actually, do this anywhere in Italy, apparently clouds do not exist there.
Feeling rested and refreshed after our glorious nap, we headed out to explore Rome. We walked down by the Colosseum and figured what we had to do to get tickets inside. Though, right then some guy asked us if we wanted to buy tickets for the Colosseum, skip the line, and even get a guided tour of the Forum. Of course, with this sounding so suspicious and sketchy, we decided to do it. Got inside and toured the place. It is actually a lot smaller on the inside than it looks. I mean, it is still big, but not as big as I was thinking.
The tour guide we had spoke poor English and part of the tour I had no idea what she was talking about, but overall it was good. Random side note: 'when in Rome,' bring a water bottle and drink lots of water! There are fountains you can refill at all over the place, for free. After the tour of the Colosseum, we headed over to the Forum with a new tour guide. There we saw the old Senate building, some ruins, the Palace of Domitia, the House of the Vestal Virgins, some ruins, the Palantine Hill, the chariot field Circus Maximus (which is now just a hole), and some more ruins. Though we did get to see the most expensive marble in the world, which goes for €18,000 per cubic centimeter! Which can only be found in the Forum, the Vatican, the Louvre, and one other place in the world since the Romans exhausted the mine.
After the tour we headed towards the Wedding Cake building, which was where Mussolini propped up cardboard cutouts of soldiers to impress Hilter. And Hitler actually complimented him on his sizable army. What a nimrod. After that we headed towards Piazza Navona and saw S. Agnese in Agone, the church fronting the plaza. We walked through the artists painting and the street performers and tried to find a place to eat. We stumbled on the Pantheon and went inside. That place is crowded. All the time. Left and found a little place to get some food. We thought the place looked nice and friendly, but we were wrong. We had some pill of a waitress who was bent on thinking we only wanted drinks. She argued with a waiter for a bit and he came over and asked us if we could move. Ordered drinks. Payton and I got ours, and waited about 15 minutes for Keith to get his. Apparently he never ordered. So, he finally ordered his drink and we ordered our food. It was good, but in all honesty, the Capellini Pomodora at the Olive Garden is better, and they give you bread. Got our check - Keith and Payton's food was €1 more than on the menu and Payton and my drinks were €3 more. Awful experience. Tipped way too much. Also, do not get the house wine unless you know what it is, because chances are it will taste like watered-down plant fertilizer.
After hightailing it out of there we came upon the Trevi Fountain. Took some pictures, made some wishes. Good times. The crowd around that thing is amazing. So many people. Then we headed towards Piazza di Spagna to see those fancy steps. Crowded, as expected, but fantastic people watching. We hung out there for a while getting beer shoved in our faces from the local panhandlers and photo-bombing pictures. Then we headed back and slept.
In the morning we got up early and caught the metro to Piazza San Pietro. We were under the impression that the Pope would be making an address that Sunday, but he was away. Lame. Instead we took photos of San Pietro and the Basilica's sexy angles and curves. Random side note: if you ever make it to Piazza San Pietro make sure you stand on the medallions in the paving between the obelisk and the fountain on either side. All the columns in the colonnade will line up. Just one of those little perks of researching the plaza. Walked around to find someolace to eat and bought a hat. It cost €10, but I like it and my head is not sunburnt.
Walked over to Castel San Angelo and look around in the market nearby. Keith and Payton bought some dried/candied fruit. Delicious! I bought a slice of pizza. Meh. Then we headed towards the Villa Borghese gardens. Walked up the stairs towards the gardens and got a group photo. Random side note: unless you specify to people that you want 'this' or 'that' in the background of your photo, you will get a picture of your group and the sky. Beautiful. Walked around the city some more and finally found Piazza Campidoglio. Rested there for a bit and headed back towards our hostel to find something to eat. We found a small restaurant and ordered food with a bottle of wine. Towards the end of our meal these two ladies sitting at the adjacent table started talking with us. We talked about where we are from, where we are going in Europe, etc etc. They were very nice and gave us some good inside information on traveling in Italy.
Which I will share with all of you. These ladies told us that Italy, specifically Rome, is notorious for screwing tourists over. Firstly: tips are not required in Italy. In fact, most restaurant employees are on salary and get a month paid vacation. So a tip of €2 or €3 is perfect in a €50 check. Secondly: many restaurants will have an Italian menu and an English menu. And the English menu has higher prices than the Italian menu. Or they will just charge English people more because we do not pay attention to that kind of thing and will just pay the bill.
In the morning we got out to the Vatican early for our tour of the museum and Basilica. We had a very energetic and charismatic tour guide who gave our group the 'uncensored' tour. It was really cool, she had a lot of little side stories that she said the other tour guides do not tell/know about. History and art overload. Awesome. We also saw some hot statue buns and had the chance to touch some of that marble - most expensive thing I will ever touch. After the tour was over we climbed up the Basilica's cupola. 500-some steps, the way up was more than the way down. In any case, amazing views of Rome. Stayed up there for quite some time.
When we came down we went into the Basilica, which is HUGE! It looks big from the outside, but inside - whoa! Saw Michelangelo's Pieta, which is behind (I believe) bulletproof glass because some idiot took a pot-shot at it. Then we rushed off to catch the train to Florence. Since we could not find a good place for dessert, we had it at the train station. We all shared a pastry with custard filling. Even at the train station in Italy food is delicious. We boarded our train and headed towards Florence.
That is all for now. I have Florence all typed up too, but I am going to tease you and post it tomorrow or the day after. He he!
steinkraus.
Feeling rested and refreshed after our glorious nap, we headed out to explore Rome. We walked down by the Colosseum and figured what we had to do to get tickets inside. Though, right then some guy asked us if we wanted to buy tickets for the Colosseum, skip the line, and even get a guided tour of the Forum. Of course, with this sounding so suspicious and sketchy, we decided to do it. Got inside and toured the place. It is actually a lot smaller on the inside than it looks. I mean, it is still big, but not as big as I was thinking.
The tour guide we had spoke poor English and part of the tour I had no idea what she was talking about, but overall it was good. Random side note: 'when in Rome,' bring a water bottle and drink lots of water! There are fountains you can refill at all over the place, for free. After the tour of the Colosseum, we headed over to the Forum with a new tour guide. There we saw the old Senate building, some ruins, the Palace of Domitia, the House of the Vestal Virgins, some ruins, the Palantine Hill, the chariot field Circus Maximus (which is now just a hole), and some more ruins. Though we did get to see the most expensive marble in the world, which goes for €18,000 per cubic centimeter! Which can only be found in the Forum, the Vatican, the Louvre, and one other place in the world since the Romans exhausted the mine.
After the tour we headed towards the Wedding Cake building, which was where Mussolini propped up cardboard cutouts of soldiers to impress Hilter. And Hitler actually complimented him on his sizable army. What a nimrod. After that we headed towards Piazza Navona and saw S. Agnese in Agone, the church fronting the plaza. We walked through the artists painting and the street performers and tried to find a place to eat. We stumbled on the Pantheon and went inside. That place is crowded. All the time. Left and found a little place to get some food. We thought the place looked nice and friendly, but we were wrong. We had some pill of a waitress who was bent on thinking we only wanted drinks. She argued with a waiter for a bit and he came over and asked us if we could move. Ordered drinks. Payton and I got ours, and waited about 15 minutes for Keith to get his. Apparently he never ordered. So, he finally ordered his drink and we ordered our food. It was good, but in all honesty, the Capellini Pomodora at the Olive Garden is better, and they give you bread. Got our check - Keith and Payton's food was €1 more than on the menu and Payton and my drinks were €3 more. Awful experience. Tipped way too much. Also, do not get the house wine unless you know what it is, because chances are it will taste like watered-down plant fertilizer.
After hightailing it out of there we came upon the Trevi Fountain. Took some pictures, made some wishes. Good times. The crowd around that thing is amazing. So many people. Then we headed towards Piazza di Spagna to see those fancy steps. Crowded, as expected, but fantastic people watching. We hung out there for a while getting beer shoved in our faces from the local panhandlers and photo-bombing pictures. Then we headed back and slept.
In the morning we got up early and caught the metro to Piazza San Pietro. We were under the impression that the Pope would be making an address that Sunday, but he was away. Lame. Instead we took photos of San Pietro and the Basilica's sexy angles and curves. Random side note: if you ever make it to Piazza San Pietro make sure you stand on the medallions in the paving between the obelisk and the fountain on either side. All the columns in the colonnade will line up. Just one of those little perks of researching the plaza. Walked around to find someolace to eat and bought a hat. It cost €10, but I like it and my head is not sunburnt.
Walked over to Castel San Angelo and look around in the market nearby. Keith and Payton bought some dried/candied fruit. Delicious! I bought a slice of pizza. Meh. Then we headed towards the Villa Borghese gardens. Walked up the stairs towards the gardens and got a group photo. Random side note: unless you specify to people that you want 'this' or 'that' in the background of your photo, you will get a picture of your group and the sky. Beautiful. Walked around the city some more and finally found Piazza Campidoglio. Rested there for a bit and headed back towards our hostel to find something to eat. We found a small restaurant and ordered food with a bottle of wine. Towards the end of our meal these two ladies sitting at the adjacent table started talking with us. We talked about where we are from, where we are going in Europe, etc etc. They were very nice and gave us some good inside information on traveling in Italy.
Which I will share with all of you. These ladies told us that Italy, specifically Rome, is notorious for screwing tourists over. Firstly: tips are not required in Italy. In fact, most restaurant employees are on salary and get a month paid vacation. So a tip of €2 or €3 is perfect in a €50 check. Secondly: many restaurants will have an Italian menu and an English menu. And the English menu has higher prices than the Italian menu. Or they will just charge English people more because we do not pay attention to that kind of thing and will just pay the bill.
In the morning we got out to the Vatican early for our tour of the museum and Basilica. We had a very energetic and charismatic tour guide who gave our group the 'uncensored' tour. It was really cool, she had a lot of little side stories that she said the other tour guides do not tell/know about. History and art overload. Awesome. We also saw some hot statue buns and had the chance to touch some of that marble - most expensive thing I will ever touch. After the tour was over we climbed up the Basilica's cupola. 500-some steps, the way up was more than the way down. In any case, amazing views of Rome. Stayed up there for quite some time.
When we came down we went into the Basilica, which is HUGE! It looks big from the outside, but inside - whoa! Saw Michelangelo's Pieta, which is behind (I believe) bulletproof glass because some idiot took a pot-shot at it. Then we rushed off to catch the train to Florence. Since we could not find a good place for dessert, we had it at the train station. We all shared a pastry with custard filling. Even at the train station in Italy food is delicious. We boarded our train and headed towards Florence.
That is all for now. I have Florence all typed up too, but I am going to tease you and post it tomorrow or the day after. He he!
steinkraus.
Monday, June 20, 2011
a day late.
After we got checked in at our hostel in Vienna we walked around the city a little bit. We walked past the Museum Quarter and the Emperor's Palace and the Spanish Riding School where they train the Lipizzaners. We ended up in St. Stephen's Square and looked around the market that was there a little. After that we headed back to out hostel to see if we got a response from Niko and agreed to meet him for a tour later.
We met up with him at St. Stephen's Square and he took us around the 'ring' to see all the important buildings. We saw the Opera House, the Emperor's Palace, the Art and Natural History Museums, Parliament, City Hall, and Wein University. Then we walked down by the canal where the city allows grafitti and saw some sweet art. Ended up at a biergarten/beach and drank some beer and filled each other in on what was going in life. When it started to get too cold to stay out we headed back towards the hostel. We stopped at a street vendor and got a Viennese hotdog. Amazing. Then Niko dropped us off at the street we knew and we headed back to sleep.
The next morning, we got up and met Jamie and Sarah at the Spanish Riding School to see the morning training session...with music! It was incredible. Talk about people who know how to ride and horses that know how some fancy footwork. I recommend everyone try to see a show if you are in Vienna or if they are touring near you. Just amazing. As an employee on a horse farm I was nerding out. Afterwards we all headed out for some food and then spent most of the afternoon window shopping.
That night we all met up with Niko again and he took us to a traditional Viennese restaurant. It was amazing, as the food has always been over here. And had dessert. Payton had apfelstrudel, Keith had some kind of sponge cake-like thing, and I had some mohr im hemd, chocolate cake. Yum! After dinner Niko took us to a bar that he frequents for der stiefel. The boot! We had 6 of them. They are 2 liters each. We were feeling a little goofy. The owner of the bar even came down and talked with us a little. It was pretty sweet. When it was time to leave we had to pry Payton away from some locals, talking about the Denver Broncos. Then we said our goodbyes to Niko, Jamie, and Sarah and headed to the hostel.
The next morning we woke up and went to the train station to make reservations for that night. Found out that the train was full and that we had to spend another night in Vienna. Went back to our hostel to see if we could get back in for the night. They had a private room that they gave us and Payton had to sleep on a mattress on the floor, but we had a place to stay. We layed around and slept for most of the day. Keith bought a pair of scissors and cut his hair. Woke up in the evening and went to this pub around the corner from the hostel called Centimeter. The portions there were HUGE! Keith and I did not finish our meals. But it was so delicious. We walked around a little afterwards and bought some ice cream and sat in a park. Walked around some more then headed back and slept.
The morning after we woke up and went to the Sacher Hotel to have the famous Sacher cake. It was very reasonably priced, but the latte was made from a machine and the cake was a cake. Meh. Walked around some more, window shopped, bought some shoes, walked to a giant garden that had this weird water tower thing in it, then headed to the train station.
Arrived a little bit early for the train since Payton cannot tell time in Europe, so we sat around some more. When the train arrived we got on and found the seats we would be sitting in for the next 13.5 hours. Bleh! Met the people we were traveling with, a couple from Kansas City and an Italian man who did not speak English. Random side note: unless you get a coachette or a bed on an overnight train, do not take one! It was the worst ride of my life. Incredibly uncomfortable. Planes are better than that! Decided to grab something to drink and met some guys from Oklahoma who were traveling Europe like we are. Although, they were using rather than finding hostels. Sounds like a really cool option. I might make a profile once I am out in Philly.
Talked with them for quite a bit, then started to feel a bit sleepy so headed back to our compartment and attempted to sleep. Needless to say it did not happen. Like I said, worst ride of my life. Got through the night and made it to Rome, found our hostel, checked in, grabbed our beds, and napped.
That is all for now. Stay tuned for Rome!
steinkraus.
We met up with him at St. Stephen's Square and he took us around the 'ring' to see all the important buildings. We saw the Opera House, the Emperor's Palace, the Art and Natural History Museums, Parliament, City Hall, and Wein University. Then we walked down by the canal where the city allows grafitti and saw some sweet art. Ended up at a biergarten/beach and drank some beer and filled each other in on what was going in life. When it started to get too cold to stay out we headed back towards the hostel. We stopped at a street vendor and got a Viennese hotdog. Amazing. Then Niko dropped us off at the street we knew and we headed back to sleep.
The next morning, we got up and met Jamie and Sarah at the Spanish Riding School to see the morning training session...with music! It was incredible. Talk about people who know how to ride and horses that know how some fancy footwork. I recommend everyone try to see a show if you are in Vienna or if they are touring near you. Just amazing. As an employee on a horse farm I was nerding out. Afterwards we all headed out for some food and then spent most of the afternoon window shopping.
That night we all met up with Niko again and he took us to a traditional Viennese restaurant. It was amazing, as the food has always been over here. And had dessert. Payton had apfelstrudel, Keith had some kind of sponge cake-like thing, and I had some mohr im hemd, chocolate cake. Yum! After dinner Niko took us to a bar that he frequents for der stiefel. The boot! We had 6 of them. They are 2 liters each. We were feeling a little goofy. The owner of the bar even came down and talked with us a little. It was pretty sweet. When it was time to leave we had to pry Payton away from some locals, talking about the Denver Broncos. Then we said our goodbyes to Niko, Jamie, and Sarah and headed to the hostel.
The next morning we woke up and went to the train station to make reservations for that night. Found out that the train was full and that we had to spend another night in Vienna. Went back to our hostel to see if we could get back in for the night. They had a private room that they gave us and Payton had to sleep on a mattress on the floor, but we had a place to stay. We layed around and slept for most of the day. Keith bought a pair of scissors and cut his hair. Woke up in the evening and went to this pub around the corner from the hostel called Centimeter. The portions there were HUGE! Keith and I did not finish our meals. But it was so delicious. We walked around a little afterwards and bought some ice cream and sat in a park. Walked around some more then headed back and slept.
The morning after we woke up and went to the Sacher Hotel to have the famous Sacher cake. It was very reasonably priced, but the latte was made from a machine and the cake was a cake. Meh. Walked around some more, window shopped, bought some shoes, walked to a giant garden that had this weird water tower thing in it, then headed to the train station.
Arrived a little bit early for the train since Payton cannot tell time in Europe, so we sat around some more. When the train arrived we got on and found the seats we would be sitting in for the next 13.5 hours. Bleh! Met the people we were traveling with, a couple from Kansas City and an Italian man who did not speak English. Random side note: unless you get a coachette or a bed on an overnight train, do not take one! It was the worst ride of my life. Incredibly uncomfortable. Planes are better than that! Decided to grab something to drink and met some guys from Oklahoma who were traveling Europe like we are. Although, they were using rather than finding hostels. Sounds like a really cool option. I might make a profile once I am out in Philly.
Talked with them for quite a bit, then started to feel a bit sleepy so headed back to our compartment and attempted to sleep. Needless to say it did not happen. Like I said, worst ride of my life. Got through the night and made it to Rome, found our hostel, checked in, grabbed our beds, and napped.
That is all for now. Stay tuned for Rome!
steinkraus.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
happy father's day.
The three of us, as well as some of the people we have met thus far, wanted to give a big shout out to all our dads, wherever they may be.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!
Thanks for being awesome dads and putting us through hell every day. Without you we would not have become the young men we are today. Thanks Dad.
steinkraus. turner. huang.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!
Thanks for being awesome dads and putting us through hell every day. Without you we would not have become the young men we are today. Thanks Dad.
steinkraus. turner. huang.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
best city so far.
So, right now the three of us are in our hostel in Vienna, staying one more night. We missed the overnight train to Rome because apparently A LOT of people travel from Vienna to Rome on Thursday night. Listen up now, definitely make sure you know the trains that require a reservation because it will make the trip run much smoother. And do not wait until the departure day to make the reservation. Because chances are the whole train will be filled with people wanting to take a 13 hour overnight train.
But anywho, back to where we left off in Prague.
On Saturday morning we got up and started getting ready for the day. While we were doing so we met two people from Washington DC, Jamie and Sarah. We talked with them a bit and got to know them and decided to explore the city together.
We first headed towards Prague Castle and hit up the markets along the way. Those markets sell everything. We bought some strawberries for 80 czk, about $5.00. And for how much we got and how amazing they tasted, definitely worth every penny. Once we got to Prague Castle we walked through the complex and took lots of photos. Found a crazy echo circle like the ones at Purdue that 'ping' when you clap and started making noises. A bunch of other tourists saw us in the circle and joined in on the fun. It was pretty funny. After that we walked towards the Lookout Tower on Petrín, the mini Eiffel Tower, and stopped at a genuine puppet shop to see the merchandise. The old woman running the shop showed us how to work one, Jack Sparrow. It was really cool. Continued on to the tower and walked through the park below the tower. Decided to walk up to the top of the tower to get a view over the city. Very cool, you could see for miles.
Walked towards the Charles Bridge and looked at souvenirs and counted all the mullets and fanny-packs. Went to a bakery and got some food, delicious. Then stopped at a traditional Czech restaurant and got some traditional Czech food. We also ordered a 'giraffe,' a beer tower, full of scrumptious Czech beer. That night we decided to go out to a bar and have a drink and then went to Karlovy Lazne, a five-floor club with different dance rooms on each floor. It was intense. Got followed around by some creepy 50 year old man who was skeezing on Sarah. Then walked home, to Keith's dismay, but stopped at TWO different food vendors to get food. If we had went home in a cab it would have cost 400 czk, about $25 plus tip, not happening. But we made it back safely, I was the DW, the 'designated walker,' that night. Ha ha.
The next morning Payton, Keith, Sarah, and I went to find the Alphonse Mucha Museum. Along the way we stopped at Giallorossa Cafe and had some more delicious food. Walked through the museum, only two rooms, but definitely stayed for about two hours. Amazing work, check him out. Art nouveau is amazing! After that we headed to the Dancing House, not as exciting as I was expecting. Saw some paddle boats in the river and decided to go rent one. Paid for an hour and enjoyed the sunset on the Vltava River. Went back and got Jamie then headed out for some Czech Chinese food...? It was okay, had some free Chinese wine afterwards whuch was nice. Then headed back to the hostel and crashed.
The next morning we all decided to go our separate ways, but meet up again for beer later in the day. Payton, Keith, and I headed out to a giant market and stopped at the giant TV tower. It has giant babies all over it. Weird. Headed towards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but the museum was closed. That trip was a hike, the museum is on top of one of the tallest hills around Prague. After that we descended towards the market, made a wrong turn, and realized we no longer had enough time to see the market. So, we sat around and waited for Sarah and Jamie.
When they arrived we headed up to the Bier Garten in Letenské sady, a park. After a pricey lunch we walked to the giant metronome, which is just that. A giant metronome. Then stopped by Stary zidovsky hrbitov, the Jewish Cemetery, and had a tour. That placed is incredible, there are headstones packed in it. Walked through a small synagogue that had all the names of the Jews affected by the Nazi Government painted on the walls. Astounding place. The walls are covered in names, it looked almost like newsprint. Very intense. Once the tour was done we headed to the Charles Bridge again and walked through another market. Random side note: there are markets everywhere in Prague. If you travel there, hit up as many as you can. Saw the sights on Charles Bridge, counted more hilarious tourists. Saw 13 fanny-packs there that day! After that we headed over to the John Lennon wall, which is a wall that everyone grafittis with inspirational messages. And I suppose there are some not so nice messages there too. We all wrote something, I drew a smiley face. :)
We decided to grab something to eat and headed to Cafe Louvre, where Sarah wanted to see the photography gallery, but it was closed. Still ate there though. Had amazing food, yet again. I hope you are seeing a trend. And of course, had dessert. Jamie had tiramisu, Sarah had nothing because she is lame, Payton had chocolate cake, Keith had pistachio ice cream, and I had poppy strüdle with plums and nut ice cream. Amazing. Once we were finished we walked back into old town and looked around. Then we headed back to the hostel to be lazy and sleep.
We all got up in the morning and caught the 8:39 train to Vienna. I chose the wrong compartment to stay in, it did not have any outlets to charge anything and it was right by the bathroom, which wreaked. When we arrived in Vienna we said our goodbyes and went our seperate ways.
We had walked to our hostel, since Niko did not respond and pick us up like he said he would. Lame-o. But we found it okay and got checked in.
I want to say, as a little conclusion, that Prague was one of the best cities we have stayed in so far. The character of the city is amazing, the architecture is awesome, and there is so much to do. You can find something anywhere you go. And we walked around quite a bit of the city and did not have any troubles with feeling safe. It is just a great city. If any of you ever get the chance for a European tour like us, or are thinking about heading somewhere in Europe, definitely make a huge effort to see Prague!!
That's all for now. I'll update more soon.
steinkraus.
But anywho, back to where we left off in Prague.
On Saturday morning we got up and started getting ready for the day. While we were doing so we met two people from Washington DC, Jamie and Sarah. We talked with them a bit and got to know them and decided to explore the city together.
We first headed towards Prague Castle and hit up the markets along the way. Those markets sell everything. We bought some strawberries for 80 czk, about $5.00. And for how much we got and how amazing they tasted, definitely worth every penny. Once we got to Prague Castle we walked through the complex and took lots of photos. Found a crazy echo circle like the ones at Purdue that 'ping' when you clap and started making noises. A bunch of other tourists saw us in the circle and joined in on the fun. It was pretty funny. After that we walked towards the Lookout Tower on Petrín, the mini Eiffel Tower, and stopped at a genuine puppet shop to see the merchandise. The old woman running the shop showed us how to work one, Jack Sparrow. It was really cool. Continued on to the tower and walked through the park below the tower. Decided to walk up to the top of the tower to get a view over the city. Very cool, you could see for miles.
Walked towards the Charles Bridge and looked at souvenirs and counted all the mullets and fanny-packs. Went to a bakery and got some food, delicious. Then stopped at a traditional Czech restaurant and got some traditional Czech food. We also ordered a 'giraffe,' a beer tower, full of scrumptious Czech beer. That night we decided to go out to a bar and have a drink and then went to Karlovy Lazne, a five-floor club with different dance rooms on each floor. It was intense. Got followed around by some creepy 50 year old man who was skeezing on Sarah. Then walked home, to Keith's dismay, but stopped at TWO different food vendors to get food. If we had went home in a cab it would have cost 400 czk, about $25 plus tip, not happening. But we made it back safely, I was the DW, the 'designated walker,' that night. Ha ha.
The next morning Payton, Keith, Sarah, and I went to find the Alphonse Mucha Museum. Along the way we stopped at Giallorossa Cafe and had some more delicious food. Walked through the museum, only two rooms, but definitely stayed for about two hours. Amazing work, check him out. Art nouveau is amazing! After that we headed to the Dancing House, not as exciting as I was expecting. Saw some paddle boats in the river and decided to go rent one. Paid for an hour and enjoyed the sunset on the Vltava River. Went back and got Jamie then headed out for some Czech Chinese food...? It was okay, had some free Chinese wine afterwards whuch was nice. Then headed back to the hostel and crashed.
The next morning we all decided to go our separate ways, but meet up again for beer later in the day. Payton, Keith, and I headed out to a giant market and stopped at the giant TV tower. It has giant babies all over it. Weird. Headed towards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but the museum was closed. That trip was a hike, the museum is on top of one of the tallest hills around Prague. After that we descended towards the market, made a wrong turn, and realized we no longer had enough time to see the market. So, we sat around and waited for Sarah and Jamie.
When they arrived we headed up to the Bier Garten in Letenské sady, a park. After a pricey lunch we walked to the giant metronome, which is just that. A giant metronome. Then stopped by Stary zidovsky hrbitov, the Jewish Cemetery, and had a tour. That placed is incredible, there are headstones packed in it. Walked through a small synagogue that had all the names of the Jews affected by the Nazi Government painted on the walls. Astounding place. The walls are covered in names, it looked almost like newsprint. Very intense. Once the tour was done we headed to the Charles Bridge again and walked through another market. Random side note: there are markets everywhere in Prague. If you travel there, hit up as many as you can. Saw the sights on Charles Bridge, counted more hilarious tourists. Saw 13 fanny-packs there that day! After that we headed over to the John Lennon wall, which is a wall that everyone grafittis with inspirational messages. And I suppose there are some not so nice messages there too. We all wrote something, I drew a smiley face. :)
We decided to grab something to eat and headed to Cafe Louvre, where Sarah wanted to see the photography gallery, but it was closed. Still ate there though. Had amazing food, yet again. I hope you are seeing a trend. And of course, had dessert. Jamie had tiramisu, Sarah had nothing because she is lame, Payton had chocolate cake, Keith had pistachio ice cream, and I had poppy strüdle with plums and nut ice cream. Amazing. Once we were finished we walked back into old town and looked around. Then we headed back to the hostel to be lazy and sleep.
We all got up in the morning and caught the 8:39 train to Vienna. I chose the wrong compartment to stay in, it did not have any outlets to charge anything and it was right by the bathroom, which wreaked. When we arrived in Vienna we said our goodbyes and went our seperate ways.
We had walked to our hostel, since Niko did not respond and pick us up like he said he would. Lame-o. But we found it okay and got checked in.
I want to say, as a little conclusion, that Prague was one of the best cities we have stayed in so far. The character of the city is amazing, the architecture is awesome, and there is so much to do. You can find something anywhere you go. And we walked around quite a bit of the city and did not have any troubles with feeling safe. It is just a great city. If any of you ever get the chance for a European tour like us, or are thinking about heading somewhere in Europe, definitely make a huge effort to see Prague!!
That's all for now. I'll update more soon.
steinkraus.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
"I love Praha!"
On the morning of the 8th, Thursday morning, we woke up to gray skies and pouring rain. We sat around in the hostel for a while after breakfast to figure out what we wanted to do and what we should see. After the rain slowed/stopped we headed out to Alexanderplatz to see what we could find. We walked around the plaza for a while and went into a giant department store to look for a rain coat, since I forgot one. Yes mother, I know. But I could not find anything that was under €40, so I decided to just grin and bear it. We found out there was a cafe on the top floor and decided to head there for lunch. It was amazing. It was similar to college where there was a bunch of different kinds of dishes from which you could choose. Very good, and pretty reasonably priced. When we got outside the rain had started again, so we decided to go to the cinema and see a movie.
When we got there and tried to buy our tickets the cashier said that every movie showing there was in German. He told us if we wanter to see an original version we would have to go to the Sony Center in the center of Berlin. We asked him where that was and got an earfull from him. 'You don't know where the city center is!?' But he was nice enough to show us on a map and that is where we headed...on foot, to Keith's dismay. Random side note: who designed the Berlin Sony Center Plaza? The answer is here.
We decided to see the Hangover 2, which was just like the first. They just added more vulgarity and prejudice, but we laughed anyway. After the movie we headed out and walked the city some more and stumbled upon the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. An incredible memorial! If you ever make it to Berlin, make sure you set one to two hours aside to go there. After taking hundreds of pictures there we stumbled upon the Brandenburg Gate. That thing is gigantic. Headed up Unter den Linden (Under the Lindens - The Royal Boulevard) and headed back to Alexanderplatz. We found a German fast-food place called Currywurst and tried that for dinner. It was actually pretty good and the staff was awesome. One of the guys, I am guessing the owner, was joking around with us about being American and not knowing any other language and was trying to teach us German. Hilarious man, great experience.
After that we got back on the tram and headed to our hostel. We went to the hostel lounge and started playing cards when a couple of people from a school group that was there came over and started talking with us. They were from Holland on a similar trip to a study abroad program, but only for a week. We talked with them for quite a while and taught them how to play gin rummy. Stayed up until 2 in the morning hanging out with them.
We got up early on Friday morning and headed to catch a tour of Berlin's major sites. Check them out. We had a relatively small group and an awesome tour guide, Jessy. Very charismatic. We walked through most of the city and saw the birthplace of Berlin, the Berlin Cathedral, Museum Island, Neue Wache with the "Mother with her Dead Son" statue, Humboldt University (which used to be Friedrich the Great's brother's guest palace), the Public Library (in front of which was one of the most intense book burnings during the Nazi government), and the Catholic Church (which Friedrich the Great allowed to be built even though he was protestant - 'I do not care who you worship as long as you listen to me'). We also saw Gendermenmarkt (where the French Cathedral, German Cathedral, and the Kozerthaus Berlin sit), Checkpoint Charlie (the border gate that allowed the passage from east and west Berlin during the time of the wall), part of the Berlin Wall that is still in its original location, the Nazi Government Building, the location of Hitler's Bunker (which is now just a parking lot, but it is permeable!!), and saw the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and the Brandenburg Gate again. We also saw the Hotel Adlon, thr hotel where Michael Jackson dangled the baby. The presidential suite there costs €10,000 a night, and it is equppied with bulletproof glass. Oooh!
Once the tour had ended we walked through Tiergarten (the old royal hunting grounds, now a gigantic park) to the Reichstag (Parliament). Which is a pretty impressive building. I wanted to go up in the dome to have lunch, but Payton and Keith were not paying for €10 for soup. Then we walked to the Siegessaule Berlin (The Victory Column) and back into Alexanderplatz.
We walked around the area where our hostel was to find food and found a place that had €2.50 chicken döner (gyro). Delicious and huge portion of food. After dinner we decided it was a good time to do laundry, so we grabbed our stuff and headed to the waschsalon, since the hostel did not have machines. It was definitely a very interesting experience since we cannot really read German very well. But the giant illustrations on the walls really helped out. When laundry was clean and dry, and still in one piece, we headed back to the hostel. Started playing cards again and the group from the night before showed up once more. We met a couple of new people and spent the rest of the night, until 3 in the morning, talking. We talked about the differences between countries, customs, why Americans are so fat, past traveling, jobs, ghosts and ouija boards, and movies. It was definitely a great night.
On Friday morning we checked out and headed, with backpacks in tow, to get souvenirs. We agreed that we would not have our traditional dessert on the last night, but in the morning because there was nothing around our hostel. So, we grabbed some gelato on the street - Payton had ananas (pineapple), Keith had mango, and I had trüffel. Amazing! Almost bought another one. Which reminds me - during laundry we were actually talking about how all of the food we have eaten so far has been really good.
After we were set, we headed to the train station and caught our train to Prague. This train actially had those little compartments like in Harry Potter! It was pretty cool, we quoted the movie a bit. After a couple stops we had the compartment to ourselves and started playing some cards to pass the time. At the next stop a woman joined us who we found was actually from Prague and asked her what we should look into seeing. She gave us a ton of great recommendations, a lot of which we have seen, and told us what type of traditional Czech food we should eat. When we got to Prague we got a map and found where our hostel was. We were asked a couple of times by some shady looking people if we had a place to sleep. Very weird, a little creepy. Said no thanks and headed to the hostel. Checked in, grabbed a bed, and headed out to get food and explore.
That's all for now. I'll update more soon.
steinkraus.
When we got there and tried to buy our tickets the cashier said that every movie showing there was in German. He told us if we wanter to see an original version we would have to go to the Sony Center in the center of Berlin. We asked him where that was and got an earfull from him. 'You don't know where the city center is!?' But he was nice enough to show us on a map and that is where we headed...on foot, to Keith's dismay. Random side note: who designed the Berlin Sony Center Plaza? The answer is here.
We decided to see the Hangover 2, which was just like the first. They just added more vulgarity and prejudice, but we laughed anyway. After the movie we headed out and walked the city some more and stumbled upon the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. An incredible memorial! If you ever make it to Berlin, make sure you set one to two hours aside to go there. After taking hundreds of pictures there we stumbled upon the Brandenburg Gate. That thing is gigantic. Headed up Unter den Linden (Under the Lindens - The Royal Boulevard) and headed back to Alexanderplatz. We found a German fast-food place called Currywurst and tried that for dinner. It was actually pretty good and the staff was awesome. One of the guys, I am guessing the owner, was joking around with us about being American and not knowing any other language and was trying to teach us German. Hilarious man, great experience.
After that we got back on the tram and headed to our hostel. We went to the hostel lounge and started playing cards when a couple of people from a school group that was there came over and started talking with us. They were from Holland on a similar trip to a study abroad program, but only for a week. We talked with them for quite a while and taught them how to play gin rummy. Stayed up until 2 in the morning hanging out with them.
We got up early on Friday morning and headed to catch a tour of Berlin's major sites. Check them out. We had a relatively small group and an awesome tour guide, Jessy. Very charismatic. We walked through most of the city and saw the birthplace of Berlin, the Berlin Cathedral, Museum Island, Neue Wache with the "Mother with her Dead Son" statue, Humboldt University (which used to be Friedrich the Great's brother's guest palace), the Public Library (in front of which was one of the most intense book burnings during the Nazi government), and the Catholic Church (which Friedrich the Great allowed to be built even though he was protestant - 'I do not care who you worship as long as you listen to me'). We also saw Gendermenmarkt (where the French Cathedral, German Cathedral, and the Kozerthaus Berlin sit), Checkpoint Charlie (the border gate that allowed the passage from east and west Berlin during the time of the wall), part of the Berlin Wall that is still in its original location, the Nazi Government Building, the location of Hitler's Bunker (which is now just a parking lot, but it is permeable!!), and saw the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and the Brandenburg Gate again. We also saw the Hotel Adlon, thr hotel where Michael Jackson dangled the baby. The presidential suite there costs €10,000 a night, and it is equppied with bulletproof glass. Oooh!
Once the tour had ended we walked through Tiergarten (the old royal hunting grounds, now a gigantic park) to the Reichstag (Parliament). Which is a pretty impressive building. I wanted to go up in the dome to have lunch, but Payton and Keith were not paying for €10 for soup. Then we walked to the Siegessaule Berlin (The Victory Column) and back into Alexanderplatz.
We walked around the area where our hostel was to find food and found a place that had €2.50 chicken döner (gyro). Delicious and huge portion of food. After dinner we decided it was a good time to do laundry, so we grabbed our stuff and headed to the waschsalon, since the hostel did not have machines. It was definitely a very interesting experience since we cannot really read German very well. But the giant illustrations on the walls really helped out. When laundry was clean and dry, and still in one piece, we headed back to the hostel. Started playing cards again and the group from the night before showed up once more. We met a couple of new people and spent the rest of the night, until 3 in the morning, talking. We talked about the differences between countries, customs, why Americans are so fat, past traveling, jobs, ghosts and ouija boards, and movies. It was definitely a great night.
On Friday morning we checked out and headed, with backpacks in tow, to get souvenirs. We agreed that we would not have our traditional dessert on the last night, but in the morning because there was nothing around our hostel. So, we grabbed some gelato on the street - Payton had ananas (pineapple), Keith had mango, and I had trüffel. Amazing! Almost bought another one. Which reminds me - during laundry we were actually talking about how all of the food we have eaten so far has been really good.
After we were set, we headed to the train station and caught our train to Prague. This train actially had those little compartments like in Harry Potter! It was pretty cool, we quoted the movie a bit. After a couple stops we had the compartment to ourselves and started playing some cards to pass the time. At the next stop a woman joined us who we found was actually from Prague and asked her what we should look into seeing. She gave us a ton of great recommendations, a lot of which we have seen, and told us what type of traditional Czech food we should eat. When we got to Prague we got a map and found where our hostel was. We were asked a couple of times by some shady looking people if we had a place to sleep. Very weird, a little creepy. Said no thanks and headed to the hostel. Checked in, grabbed a bed, and headed out to get food and explore.
That's all for now. I'll update more soon.
steinkraus.
Friday, June 10, 2011
amsterdam on foot.
Monday morning came around, after we slept in, and I got up and attempted to shave. I was able to trim part of my beard and blew my converter. I could not get my electric trimmer to work with Payton or Keith's converters and had to clean shave. This is something I have not done since Halloween 2008. Good thing I brought a razor. Once we were all ready we went out and had breakfast at a Pannenkoek restaurant and had real pannenkoeks. Payton had jam, Keith had caramel, and I had honey. Delicious! Katie would be proud. After that we headed to the Van Gogh Museum and along the way we walked through the floating flower market. I recommend going to this place, it had LOADS of seeds, bulbs, flowers, and plants. Once at the museum we saw some Van Gogh paintings, along with Toulouse Lautrec and Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, among others. Got some cards for Abby - shout out, woot! Then we ate at thd Hard Rock Cafe, which was meh, though Keith enjoyed his meal. And, since it was our last night, had dessert...at McDonalds. M&M McFlurry = yum. Payton had a Lion McFlurry, some weird european candy bar. They have more McFlurry flavors here, lucky.
We were thinking about going out that night, but when we got back we just crashed on our beds. Got a good night sleep, about 11 hours.
We got up in the morning and had breakfast - granola and gingerbread. Then packed up our stuff and checked out, but stayed at the hostel to charge appliances and figure out our next move. We decided it would be a good idea to purchase our Eurostar tickets back to London early, only £75 this time. Random side note: buy ALL of your train tickets early online if you are able. Saves money and you will not have to sit on the incredibly uncomfortable, fold down seats by the door. After that we bought some last minute souvenirs and headed for the train station. Missed the train we wanted and had to wait 1.5 hours. Random side note: if you are using a Eurail pass to get around, activate it the moment you get into the country where you start using it, even if you are not going to use it for a couple days. Ticket assistance is slower than turtles covered in molasses, but that can be said for any country in which you travel. When we got that fiasco organized we found some place in the station to eat, which was really good, and played cards to pass the time. Made our train this time and headed for Berlin.
We had a transfer in Diusburg and when we got to Oberhaus we got a little confused and Keith thought we had gotten on the wrong train. After the help from a lady heading to Amsterdam on our train heading away from Amsterdam, we found we were going in the right direction. The afore mentioned lady needed to go to Diusburg to catch the only train in the area heading to Amsterdam. Weird. We got on our next train and arrived safely in Berlin...at 11:30 at night. We found an information kiosk and asked for directions and the lady we spoke [broken English] with gave us a map and schedule of the tram, but I did not feel like figuring out the tram rails at 11:30 at night and have us miss our stop and end up on the other side of Berlin where it could be really sketchy. So, we took a cab. And if you think the cabs in New York or Philly are crazy, try one in Berlin. We were speeding through the city...and listening to some girl screech about Friday night on the radio. Terrifying, yet awesome. Random side note: I know some of you might be thinking I am talking about Rebecca Black, and if you are you would be wrong. This singer actually had some talent. For those who have no idea who Rebecca Black is or what anuerism inducing song I am talking about, turn your speakers up and have a listen to Friday.
After the crazy cab ride we checked into the hostel. And while we were doing this the cab driver came into the hostel and gives us back a €20 note that we gave him on accident on top of the fare. Honest man! Not many of those around. But we got checked in, found our beds, and slept.
More to come soon, stay tuned!
steinkraus.
We were thinking about going out that night, but when we got back we just crashed on our beds. Got a good night sleep, about 11 hours.
We got up in the morning and had breakfast - granola and gingerbread. Then packed up our stuff and checked out, but stayed at the hostel to charge appliances and figure out our next move. We decided it would be a good idea to purchase our Eurostar tickets back to London early, only £75 this time. Random side note: buy ALL of your train tickets early online if you are able. Saves money and you will not have to sit on the incredibly uncomfortable, fold down seats by the door. After that we bought some last minute souvenirs and headed for the train station. Missed the train we wanted and had to wait 1.5 hours. Random side note: if you are using a Eurail pass to get around, activate it the moment you get into the country where you start using it, even if you are not going to use it for a couple days. Ticket assistance is slower than turtles covered in molasses, but that can be said for any country in which you travel. When we got that fiasco organized we found some place in the station to eat, which was really good, and played cards to pass the time. Made our train this time and headed for Berlin.
We had a transfer in Diusburg and when we got to Oberhaus we got a little confused and Keith thought we had gotten on the wrong train. After the help from a lady heading to Amsterdam on our train heading away from Amsterdam, we found we were going in the right direction. The afore mentioned lady needed to go to Diusburg to catch the only train in the area heading to Amsterdam. Weird. We got on our next train and arrived safely in Berlin...at 11:30 at night. We found an information kiosk and asked for directions and the lady we spoke [broken English] with gave us a map and schedule of the tram, but I did not feel like figuring out the tram rails at 11:30 at night and have us miss our stop and end up on the other side of Berlin where it could be really sketchy. So, we took a cab. And if you think the cabs in New York or Philly are crazy, try one in Berlin. We were speeding through the city...and listening to some girl screech about Friday night on the radio. Terrifying, yet awesome. Random side note: I know some of you might be thinking I am talking about Rebecca Black, and if you are you would be wrong. This singer actually had some talent. For those who have no idea who Rebecca Black is or what anuerism inducing song I am talking about, turn your speakers up and have a listen to Friday.
After the crazy cab ride we checked into the hostel. And while we were doing this the cab driver came into the hostel and gives us back a €20 note that we gave him on accident on top of the fare. Honest man! Not many of those around. But we got checked in, found our beds, and slept.
More to come soon, stay tuned!
steinkraus.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
a little more in detail.
I want to apologize to everyone for my lack of 'relevent' posts on the blog. I am not able to get to a computer all the time and have posted the recent short updates from my phone. Though someone believes that these updates as to where we are and that we are safe are not sufficient enough in detail...Dad... So, here we go...
On Friday we got up and went straight to the Chelsea Football Stadium for a tour. We decided to play it safe and go in the morning so we knew it would be open. We got to sit in the stands, see the changing rooms, moisturize our hands with £40 lotion, sit at the press table, and run through 'the tunnel.' Sweet stadium, awesome tour guide, great time. After we left we ate at a mexican restaurant that only served italian food. Weird? Yes. It was okay, not great. Might be why we were the only customers... Headed back into downtown London and went on the London Eye. Paid £18 to wait in line for about an hour to get a half-hour trip to see the top of London. It was cool, may have been a little overpriced. Skipped on over to Westminster Abbey, but it was closed, boo! So we headed out to St. Paul's Cathedral and saw the Millenium Bridge and Shakespeare's Globe Theater.
When we got back to the hostel we decided to go out on a 'pub' crawl that they were holding. It was more of a club crawl, with free shots and waitresses walking around with jägermeister and middle-aged men busting moves. The first club we went to was pretty cool, the DJ was awesome. Not as much can be said for the second one...some girl told us out front not to go in, we should have heeded her words. When we left we got caught at the bus stop for a half-hour waiting for the bus we assumed was not coming, so started walking back. About an hour later... Probably not the best decision. Slept well that night though.
Woke up early on Saturday for our bus tour to Stonehenge and Bath. We had a pretty cool tour guide, had that British wit. Payton and Keith liked Stonehenge. I have seen it before, but this time we got audio tours - where were our audio tours last time, Siciliano? Had a nutella and peanut butter sandwich, cheap and delicious, and headed out to Bath. Walked around a little and toured the Bath Abbey, which Queen Liz I deemed the 'lantern of the west.' Very beautiful. Ate at a local pub called the Crystal Palace. Keith had a curry dish, amazing, and I had some vegetable soup, also amazing, and some beers of course. Payton did not eat, lame. Once we got back to London we were dropped off at Harrods, England's major department store, and looked around. Expensive! But worth walking through. We were there for about 2.5 hours and spent an hour on one floor alone (I think there are four floors), where we sat in £700 dining chairs. Got back to our hostel and had dinner at one of the pubs nearby. We decided to make it tradition to eat dessert on our last night in each city. So we ordered a hot fudge chocolate cake, sticky toffee pudding, and a waffle with chocolate sauce. All great choices. Then headed back and slept.
Sunday morning we got up and checked out of our hostel. Caught a cab to St. Pancras Station and boarded the Eurostar. Did not really notice going through the chunnel, a lot shorter/faster than I anticipated. We caught our next train to Amsterdam, but because of my poor hearing, thanks family genetics, got off at the wrong station. So, we sat around in Antwerp, Belgium for an hour and played cards. Got on another train, saw some Belgian horses, and made it safely to Amsterdam. Checked into the hostel, Payton cut his toe, locked our stuff away, Payton broke a fingernail, made our beds, poked Payton in the eye, and headed out for some sight-seeing. Walked the canals, through the edge of Chinatown, and the Red Light District, which honestly was not very red. Ate some pizza at a pub and had some Warsteiner. After that we found another bar to hang out at and people watched. And I have to say, people watching in Amsterdam is epic. Do it. Once the bar closed we were hanging out on a bridge and met some people from IU. Talked with them a bit and asked what they would reccommend we do. They had some suggestions about taking mushrooms and laughing at people and clouds in the park. Not really something on our to do list, ao we just nodded and smiled. After that we headed back and slept.
That is all I am going to spoil you with now. We're in Berlin now, but you will have to wait for the next installment soon.
steinkraus.
On Friday we got up and went straight to the Chelsea Football Stadium for a tour. We decided to play it safe and go in the morning so we knew it would be open. We got to sit in the stands, see the changing rooms, moisturize our hands with £40 lotion, sit at the press table, and run through 'the tunnel.' Sweet stadium, awesome tour guide, great time. After we left we ate at a mexican restaurant that only served italian food. Weird? Yes. It was okay, not great. Might be why we were the only customers... Headed back into downtown London and went on the London Eye. Paid £18 to wait in line for about an hour to get a half-hour trip to see the top of London. It was cool, may have been a little overpriced. Skipped on over to Westminster Abbey, but it was closed, boo! So we headed out to St. Paul's Cathedral and saw the Millenium Bridge and Shakespeare's Globe Theater.
When we got back to the hostel we decided to go out on a 'pub' crawl that they were holding. It was more of a club crawl, with free shots and waitresses walking around with jägermeister and middle-aged men busting moves. The first club we went to was pretty cool, the DJ was awesome. Not as much can be said for the second one...some girl told us out front not to go in, we should have heeded her words. When we left we got caught at the bus stop for a half-hour waiting for the bus we assumed was not coming, so started walking back. About an hour later... Probably not the best decision. Slept well that night though.
Woke up early on Saturday for our bus tour to Stonehenge and Bath. We had a pretty cool tour guide, had that British wit. Payton and Keith liked Stonehenge. I have seen it before, but this time we got audio tours - where were our audio tours last time, Siciliano? Had a nutella and peanut butter sandwich, cheap and delicious, and headed out to Bath. Walked around a little and toured the Bath Abbey, which Queen Liz I deemed the 'lantern of the west.' Very beautiful. Ate at a local pub called the Crystal Palace. Keith had a curry dish, amazing, and I had some vegetable soup, also amazing, and some beers of course. Payton did not eat, lame. Once we got back to London we were dropped off at Harrods, England's major department store, and looked around. Expensive! But worth walking through. We were there for about 2.5 hours and spent an hour on one floor alone (I think there are four floors), where we sat in £700 dining chairs. Got back to our hostel and had dinner at one of the pubs nearby. We decided to make it tradition to eat dessert on our last night in each city. So we ordered a hot fudge chocolate cake, sticky toffee pudding, and a waffle with chocolate sauce. All great choices. Then headed back and slept.
Sunday morning we got up and checked out of our hostel. Caught a cab to St. Pancras Station and boarded the Eurostar. Did not really notice going through the chunnel, a lot shorter/faster than I anticipated. We caught our next train to Amsterdam, but because of my poor hearing, thanks family genetics, got off at the wrong station. So, we sat around in Antwerp, Belgium for an hour and played cards. Got on another train, saw some Belgian horses, and made it safely to Amsterdam. Checked into the hostel, Payton cut his toe, locked our stuff away, Payton broke a fingernail, made our beds, poked Payton in the eye, and headed out for some sight-seeing. Walked the canals, through the edge of Chinatown, and the Red Light District, which honestly was not very red. Ate some pizza at a pub and had some Warsteiner. After that we found another bar to hang out at and people watched. And I have to say, people watching in Amsterdam is epic. Do it. Once the bar closed we were hanging out on a bridge and met some people from IU. Talked with them a bit and asked what they would reccommend we do. They had some suggestions about taking mushrooms and laughing at people and clouds in the park. Not really something on our to do list, ao we just nodded and smiled. After that we headed back and slept.
That is all I am going to spoil you with now. We're in Berlin now, but you will have to wait for the next installment soon.
steinkraus.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
amsterdam.
We have made it to Amsterdam safely and found our hostel easily. The city is very easy to navigate and incredibly beautiful!
More later.
steinkraus.
More later.
steinkraus.
amsterdam, here we come.
Heading to Amsterdam today. Catching the chunnel at 11:56, and should get in around 3:00.
I'll update more when I can.
steinkraus.
I'll update more when I can.
steinkraus.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
london.
We have made it safely to London and found our hostel fairly easily. Though, when I booked our room, I did not realize how far we were from downtown. Oh well. Live and learn, right?
Payton and I had a pretty interesting start to the trip. First we were told that Virgin Atlantic was not in terminal five at O'Hare, but in terminal three. When we got there we found out that it is in terminal five, and had to go back. A good game of hide and seek to start off the trip - good thing we got there five hours early. Going through security was a fine time as well. Not sure if it was 'training day' on Tuesday, but it definitely took longer than it should have with the 'quick and easy scanners.' Though, what really made security interesting for me was the guy who could not seem to understand the woman telling him that he did not need to take off his pants, just his belt. Those things almost fell down a couple of times. Once on the plane, about an hour into our flight, we got to feel some rough turbulence and the plane actually dropped a bit. I have never experienced that before, only heard stories from people. It was definitely exciting for me, not so much for the girl sitting next to me who had not been on a plane since about first grade. She was a champ though. The captain came on the PA and told us he would like to apologize for the 'lumps and bumps' we were experiencing. Ha ha!
Once we got on the ground, which was an amazing landing, we got through customs and found Keith, who had flown over from Hong Kong. Decided to take the tube into London since the express train was about £32 ($52.68) and a cab would be around £100 ($164.64). No, thank you. The tube was £5. Got into London, found our bearings, and headed across Hyde Park, which is gigantic, to check in. After getting settled we left to explore the city.
We decided to walk through Hyde Park again and see the sights. Saw the Memorial Fountain to Princess Diana, pretty sweet. Covered with children. Walked down to Buckingham Palace and acted like tourists. The Queen was home, we said hey. Then had some grub at a pub - I had some bangers and mash and Payton and Keith both had the broccoli and cheddar soup, which looked delicious. I was practically falling asleep in my mashed potatoes; the time change really messed with me and I barely got any sleep on the plane. After lunch we ran to Trafalgar Square and saw the National Gallery. Random side note: the quote of London, 'Waity Katie,' is brought to you by Payton. Walked through Piccadilly Circus, which was all ripped up with construction, but amazing none the less. Bought a map. Saw the Hard Rock Cafe which Audrey and I stopped at back in 2008. And headed back to the hostel.
Napped. It was wonderful.
Got up for dinner - ate at a chinese place, Noodle Oodle, also delicious. Then went out to one of the local pubs to have a drink. I had a London Pride, pretty good. Keith had a Strongbow, said it was too fruity. And Payton...had something, which he liked. Then got back and slept.
Woke up early this morning and had breakfast, which is included. Amazing - corn flakes, white toast, and burnt coffee. Tried to find that map we bought earlier, no success. So we just got on the train and headed to Hampton Court, Siciliano would be so proud. Spent the day touring the gardens and going places we probably should not have been. Our secret. Walked around nearby East Molesey a little bit too. Bought some pita bread, hummus, and yogurt for a snack and held some guys old dog for him while he bought something. That dog was not going anywhere.
We decided to hit Wimbledon on the way back. Started walking to the complex and did not realize the time until we saw it. It was after 7 pm, probably closed...yep, closed. Got yelled at by some grumpy guard for walking in to talk to him and imitated him for the majority of the walk back. Ate at the Brewery Tap in town. Payton had some sort of meat sandwich (looked yummy), Keith had chili con carne (also looked yummy), and I had a burger...with a big, ol', black hair in it. Not so yummy. Headed back to our hostel and we have been relaxing ever since. Charging phones and playing Pingu.
Tomorrow we are having another 'tour day.' We will probably hit the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, a football stadium, and whatever else tickles our fancy. On Saturday we are heading on a day trip with Stonehenge in the morning and the afternoon in Bath. We'll most likely head out to find a local pub or maybe even a club that night, and drink away some more money. Random side note: the exchange rate here is disgusting. Then on Sunday morning we are heading off to Amsterdam through the chunnel.
I will post more when I can get to a computer.
steinkraus.
Payton and I had a pretty interesting start to the trip. First we were told that Virgin Atlantic was not in terminal five at O'Hare, but in terminal three. When we got there we found out that it is in terminal five, and had to go back. A good game of hide and seek to start off the trip - good thing we got there five hours early. Going through security was a fine time as well. Not sure if it was 'training day' on Tuesday, but it definitely took longer than it should have with the 'quick and easy scanners.' Though, what really made security interesting for me was the guy who could not seem to understand the woman telling him that he did not need to take off his pants, just his belt. Those things almost fell down a couple of times. Once on the plane, about an hour into our flight, we got to feel some rough turbulence and the plane actually dropped a bit. I have never experienced that before, only heard stories from people. It was definitely exciting for me, not so much for the girl sitting next to me who had not been on a plane since about first grade. She was a champ though. The captain came on the PA and told us he would like to apologize for the 'lumps and bumps' we were experiencing. Ha ha!
Once we got on the ground, which was an amazing landing, we got through customs and found Keith, who had flown over from Hong Kong. Decided to take the tube into London since the express train was about £32 ($52.68) and a cab would be around £100 ($164.64). No, thank you. The tube was £5. Got into London, found our bearings, and headed across Hyde Park, which is gigantic, to check in. After getting settled we left to explore the city.
We decided to walk through Hyde Park again and see the sights. Saw the Memorial Fountain to Princess Diana, pretty sweet. Covered with children. Walked down to Buckingham Palace and acted like tourists. The Queen was home, we said hey. Then had some grub at a pub - I had some bangers and mash and Payton and Keith both had the broccoli and cheddar soup, which looked delicious. I was practically falling asleep in my mashed potatoes; the time change really messed with me and I barely got any sleep on the plane. After lunch we ran to Trafalgar Square and saw the National Gallery. Random side note: the quote of London, 'Waity Katie,' is brought to you by Payton. Walked through Piccadilly Circus, which was all ripped up with construction, but amazing none the less. Bought a map. Saw the Hard Rock Cafe which Audrey and I stopped at back in 2008. And headed back to the hostel.
Napped. It was wonderful.
Got up for dinner - ate at a chinese place, Noodle Oodle, also delicious. Then went out to one of the local pubs to have a drink. I had a London Pride, pretty good. Keith had a Strongbow, said it was too fruity. And Payton...had something, which he liked. Then got back and slept.
Woke up early this morning and had breakfast, which is included. Amazing - corn flakes, white toast, and burnt coffee. Tried to find that map we bought earlier, no success. So we just got on the train and headed to Hampton Court, Siciliano would be so proud. Spent the day touring the gardens and going places we probably should not have been. Our secret. Walked around nearby East Molesey a little bit too. Bought some pita bread, hummus, and yogurt for a snack and held some guys old dog for him while he bought something. That dog was not going anywhere.
We decided to hit Wimbledon on the way back. Started walking to the complex and did not realize the time until we saw it. It was after 7 pm, probably closed...yep, closed. Got yelled at by some grumpy guard for walking in to talk to him and imitated him for the majority of the walk back. Ate at the Brewery Tap in town. Payton had some sort of meat sandwich (looked yummy), Keith had chili con carne (also looked yummy), and I had a burger...with a big, ol', black hair in it. Not so yummy. Headed back to our hostel and we have been relaxing ever since. Charging phones and playing Pingu.
Tomorrow we are having another 'tour day.' We will probably hit the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, a football stadium, and whatever else tickles our fancy. On Saturday we are heading on a day trip with Stonehenge in the morning and the afternoon in Bath. We'll most likely head out to find a local pub or maybe even a club that night, and drink away some more money. Random side note: the exchange rate here is disgusting. Then on Sunday morning we are heading off to Amsterdam through the chunnel.
I will post more when I can get to a computer.
steinkraus.
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