European Vacation Day 15 - Amsterdam

Today started with a trip into town again, with 2/3rds of the group joining in the bike tour of Amsterdam. We cycled around from 90 minutes over a variety of bridges, past the museums and through the Vondelpark, which was really nice, like a bigger version of the Meadows in Edinburgh, with more trees. I understand now why so many people here cycle, because it is so easy due to the lack of any hills and the fact that cyclists appear to be in charge! Cars stop for you, pedestrians are terrified of you (if you crash into one legally they are at fault, or so we were told), and the road and cycle lane network is very well set up for cycling.

the gang in Amsterdam!  We are at the white a.  [Pic courtesy of Wen E and Andy]

Our bikes all looked the same, rather old fashioned with a very upright seating position. It seems everyone here has one, none of your Specialized or Giant branded mountain bikes or hybrids here. The thing that amazed me from the start was how little effort was required. The last time I had been on a bike was 19 years ago for a school activity trip, which put me off for good (or so I thought). This was a very different experience. The tour itself didn’t give a lot of new information but it was fun to cycle around. Andy took a great picture of us as he passed, had I tried the same I would have crashed for sure.

Wheeee!!!

proof we actually cycled [pics again thanks to Wen E and Andy]

Our camera has been playing up on this trip, to the extent that anti-shake is the only setting that produces decent pictures. We bought a Gorilla pod which has enabled us to get some great self-portrait pictures and night shots. Now the backup battery is running out so most photos of Amsterdam have been taken with my phone to save the camera battery for Bruges. My phone has a better resolution than the camera we had last time we were here – a 1.3 megapixel Olympus which weighed a ton and took 4 AA batteries. It was cutting edge at the time!

After the bike tour we went in search of food. After searching for a while we ended up in a sandwich shop where the guy realised he didn’t have what we were looking for, so directed us to a completely different shop down the road. The helpfulness and friendliness of the Dutch really is top notch. Unfortunately that place was no good either so we ended up in one of the Maoz falafel places, which was very tasty.

This is what a shopping centre should look like

We headed back to the Botel where J had a snooze and I watched the Germany – Serbia match. We changed into jeans and jumpers as it was getting a bit chilly, then headed out again. There was a Greenpeace boat docked at our pier now. Hope they don’t go for the submarine.

Greenpeace boat

We went to the Bolhoed, but they were about to close to prepare for dinner so we failed again. Guess it wasn’t to be. We had a beer then walked to the restaurant for dinner. This was at a big floating restaurant called the Sea Palace, and the food was pretty good. This was our last group dinner and it all went smoothly.

relaxing with a beer on Prinsenstraat

After dinner we got on a canal boat for a cruise. We sat at a table with Ben and Lisa (who had joined the tour in Budapest and got engaged on their first day) and enjoyed an unlimited bar! The cruise was good, showing some of Amsterdam’s architectural diversity. Ben managed an impressive 9 beers, getting his money’s worth! I only managed 6, and just before we got to the end of the cruise I dropped my glass (condensation on the glass, not drunkenness, honest!) and it obligingly smashed on the table, soaking me and J. Typical.

no parking in the canal

quirky Dutch houses

Undaunted, we went to 2 more pubs before getting the tram and ferry back to the hotel (the LAST ferry of the night)

What is it with paying to go to the toilet in Europe? Even when I pay €1 to get into a pub, and €1 to put my bag in the cloakroom, I have to pay 50c every time I need to the toilet? Not cool. If they did that in the UK people would just use doorways on the way home at night...oh, wait.

European Vacation Day 14 - Berlin to Amsterdam

There were a lot of hungover people on the bus today. It was the nightlife tour of Berlin last night, and we had an early 7.30 start to our trip to Amsterdam. A lot of them were very chipper as we left, but they crashed very quickly and the bus was full of sleeping people for the first few hours. Had a great vege burger (the Garden Burger) at Burger King, wish they had them in the UK.

At about 6pm we arrived at a cheese and clog factory where we found out how these were made (sadly no clog shaped cheeses) by a very eccentric guy, who speaks very good mandarin.

crazy cheese/clog guy

so many clogs

After this we carried on into Amsterdam to our hotel, which is a frickin’ boat! Our Botel is parked on the north side of the harbour and it is a 10 minutes free ferry ride to Centraal Station.

I can’t stand boats and get seasick very easily. So far it is OK and I’ll be sleeping for most of the time we are on it, but it is very weird. Particularly as there is a submarine called Psycho Cowboy parked about 30 metres outside our window.

the good ship Psycho Cowboy

We got the ferry into town and walked with the others to the Red Light District where they were all going to a sex show (one of the few optional we didn’t go for). We left them and went to get some dinner. We went to our favourite restaurant from the last time we were here in 1999, Le Bolhoed (the Bowler Hat). I made a tactical error by suggesting we check out another restaurant nearby, which turned out to be a 10 minute walk away. By the time we got to it it was 9pm and J was starving so we just decided to eat there. The food was not great but edible. Hoping we will make it to the Bolhoed for lunch tomorrow. It was the first non-UK vege restaurant we ever went to and we have great memories of it.

canals and bikes, that's Amsterdam!

We walked back to the ferry terminal where we met some of the Aussie guys who were at the show. They said it was mostly ugly girls dancing badly, and then taking their clothes off. They did say it was funny though, hopefully intentionally.

evening at the Botel

Amsterdam is the only place we have been to before on this trip, and it doesn’t seem to have changed too much in the 11 years since we were last here. Back then the Heineken Brewery Tour was closed, so hopefully we’ll get to see that tomorrow. [we didn’t go in the end.]

We’ve got a cycling tour tomorrow morning and I hate bikes almost as much as I hate boats, so that should be interesting.

Oh, and I learned today that if you look at a 7-segment LCD display and eat a crisp, the display appears to ripple! Apparently J has known this for years, but it seems to have escaped me until now. What an amazing world we live in!

European Vacation Day 13 - Berlin

something about donuts...

Today started off in much the same vein as yesterday. At 9am we were at the Reichstag for our Third Reich walking tour. While we were waiting we were speaking to ‘Chelle our tour leader and it turns out she is a law graduate.

the Brandenburg Gate

Our walking tour guide Jim was from Minnesota and had studied the history of the Third Reich at university in Berlin. He was fantastic on the tour, with loads of great background info and explanations of how and why things happened. We first saw the Reichstag and Jim explained how Hitler came to be dictator of Germany. Then we went to the Brandenburg Gate, which somehow survived the Allied bombing of Berlin almost intact. From there we visited the Holocaust Memorial which was possibly my highlight of the day. It is an abstract monument covering an entire block, with concrete blocks increase in size towards the centre and the floor undulates meaning the block range from around 1 foot tall at the edges to around 16 feet tall in the centre. It is a strange experience walking through it and is probably different for each person that visits. For me it seemed to symbolise how small things can slowly grow, and as circumstances change (like the floor lowering) they can evolve into imposing, sinister and enclosing forms, which is much how the Third Reich and the Final Solution came about. But that’s just my interpretation of it.

Holocaust Memorial

Checkpoint Charlie

We then went to the site of Hitler’s bunker, which is now a small car park with only an information board to let you know what was there. This is common all over the centre of Berlin. There is nothing remaining that could glorify this part of their history, and the one remaining Nazi building on Wilhelmstrasse is just used as the German government finance office with no indication of it’s former purpose. We ended at Checkpoint Charlie, which doesn’t exist anymore, what is there now is just a replica (and the American soldiers you can take your picture with are actually Germans).

Potsdamer Platz

the atrium of the Sony centre

We had a fantastic Thai lunch back on Wilhelmstrasse, then walked to Potsdammerplatz to the massive atrium in the Sony Centre. A new hotel had a promotion on so we got to sit on these massive cushions called Fatboys and got free drinks. Sweet as! After this we got a Starbucks and walked back to the Brandenburg Gate. We walked down the beautiful Unter Den Linden to Bebelplatz to see the underground memorial to the infamous Nazi-book-burning that took place there.

Berlin Cathedral

fountain in the Lustgarten

We then went to the Lust-Garten (not as naughty as it sounds) before continuing to Alexanderplatz. By then it was about time for dinner so we walked up Oranienstrasse where we happened upon a strange artistic commune place that looked like a shanty town built in the courtyard of an abandoned building. J got a painting from one of the artists there.

the Fernsehturm (TV tower) at Alexanderplatz

Berlin Town Hall

the Tacheles art gallery

We had a great dinner at a vegan restaurant on Scharnhorststrasse before returning to the Reichstag by underground. The queue for the cupola was too big so we went to the main train station, which is an amazing glass building, and got the train back to our hotel.

the Reichstag

there are lots of bullet-damaged building all over central Berlin

me by the river Spree

We went out for a beer, looking for big steins and unfortunately ended up at Joe’s, the scene of last nights food travesty. I really didn’t want to go back but they were the only place we could find locally that sold 1 litre steins. Anyway, we had the beers, which were very good, then headed back home at 11pm. All in all a 14 hour day and time for bed. 6.30 start tomorrow, leaving the hotel at 7.20 for Amsterdam.

yaas! big beer time!

cheers!

Berlin has been great fun. There are a lot more old buildings than I expected (many reconstructed, though you would never know) and the whole city has a much more laid-back feel than say London or even Paris. People are very friendly, but it does seem quite expensive, especially to eat and drink. I would definitely recommend it though as a city break destination. I could have spent another few days here no problem.

I have however got a lot of sun today. Arms are a bit red, and I have stripes on my feet from my sandals. Fingers crossed for a tan, but the pessimist in me sees me peeling in a couple of days...

[In the end neither really happened. Perhaps a hint of a tan, but no peeling. Score!]

European Vacation Day 12 - Prague to Berlin via Terezin and Dresden

[after a break due to real life, I'll finish of my holiday diary!]

Today was a heavy day.

After leaving Prague this morning we visited the former Nazi concentration camp of Terezin. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was so well preserved and out guide was so good at describing the conditions that I found it very emotional in places. The conditions the prisoners were subjected to were quite horrific, and the bunks, sinks, etc are all just as they were 65 years ago. There was also information on Terezin’s former role as a fortress and prison. We walked ½km through the underground tunnels, seeing defensive gun slots. They were never used as by the time the fortress was completed the political landscape had changed.

At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about taking pictures. In the end I took a few, but wasn’t really comfortable with it. After all, it’s not the same as the Leaning Tower of Pisa or the Trevi Fountain.

Above the gate at the back it says "Arbeit Macht Frei" - "Work Brings Freedom"

After our tour we moved from the small fortress into the town of Terezin itself. During the war this had been turned into a Jewish ghetto, essentially a holding area before they were sent to an extermination camp such as Auchwitz. It was all very fascinating and showed how awfully humans can treat each other.

Speaking of which, we then got an unscheduled stop in Dresden. This beautiful city had survived the war unscathed until 13^th February 1945, when the Allies carpet bombed it, destroying 80% of the buildings. There were no military targets in Dresden. 18,000 people were killed, not one of Britain’s finer moments. As I said to J at the time, “By any means necessary” is not an acceptable excuse for an atrocity such as this.

Hofkirche

Despite this, the centre of Dresden is surprisingly beautiful, with many of the original buildings rebuilt using the original materials salvaged from the rubble. We had a nice lunch with Amy, Craig and Sarah on the main square before heading back to the bus and on to Berlin.

the Frauenkirche

In Berlin we had a short driving tour, which included stopping at the East Side Gallery, a section of the Berlin Wall that is regularly painted by famous artists from around the world. The splitting of Berlin seems so bizarre to me. It is odd to see sections of the wall dotted around the city, mostly covered in graffiti.

No mans land

J at the East Side Gallery

We got to the hotel and went out for a group dinner at a restaurant. This is the only one we have had like this, as we normally have our group dinners in the hotel. I thought it might be an issue for us when I saw the menu and the only vege options, amongst the dozen or so steak varieties, was a salad, or baked potato with salad. We went for salad. We were sitting with Andy and Wen E again tonight and the service was just appalling. They had to take our drinks order twice, the drinks took about 30 minutes to arrive (it was a big group of 37, but still) then they forgot Andy and Wen E’s food, as well as one of the American girls’. The American basically told them to shove it, but Andy and Wen E gave their order again and they finally get their dinner, about 75 minutes after we arrived. No hint of an apology though, just incompetent, rude staff. The waitress got a sarcastic round of applause from the group when she arrived with the food, and couldn’t get away fast enough. At least the beer was nice.

all in all I'm just another brick in the wall

So after a very long day (8am to 11pm), it’s time for bed before a full day in Berlin tomorrow.