The Return

Well, I'm back. Both to London and to blogging.

We got back yesterday from our first adventure through Europe, so I'll dive right in.

We left last Friday after my class and flew to Amsterdam. After a bit of uncertainty we got on the right train from the airport and headed into the city. We reached our hotel, and were pleasantly informed that we were receiving a free upgrade: the building is actually two hotels in one, with a 3 Star hotel and a 4 Star. We had booked the cheaper 3 Star hotel, but they bumped us up to the 4 Star for free! No complaints from us. We headed up to our room, and walked into a very nice and spacious room. We had a TV which we took advantage of to watch some of the Olympics during our down time, a nice/big bathroom, and a big and extraordinarily comfortable bed. We met up with Lauren and Michael, who made a last-minute decision to join us for the weekend, and walked out of the hotel into Rembrandt Square (our hotel's location was awesome). We found a good dinner place (Italian), which was a sign of the first surprise of the city for me: the food was incredible. The next day we went to a famous Dutch restaurant for lunch called the Pancake Bakery, and I had the best pancake (crepe, really) I've ever had. It was called the Caprese, and it had fresh mozzarella and basil, pesto, onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Jillian had a sweet pancake with Nutella, bananas, and whipped cream, which was also very good, but we both agreed mine was better. For dinner that night we went to an Asian restaurant called Wok to Walk, which was surprisingly good given its fast-food nature - they made a stir fry dish fresh to order (my type of place). On our last day, Sunday, Jillian and I stopped in at a small cafe and both ordered falafel that was better than most of the falafel we had had in Israel. Who knew?

Anyway, aside from food, the city was great. We had Friday evening, all day Saturday, and most of Sunday before we left, so we got a pretty good feel for it. It was much prettier than I anticipated, with old buildings and canals everywhere. It also was relatively small, and we saw pretty much all of it by foot. Notable tourist sites we saw were: the Van Gogh Museum (not our favorite, and very expensive), the Anne Frank House (very well done), and the Heineken Experience at the old brewery (a fun time, but once was definitely enough). We also took a stroll through the Red Light District which was a combination of surreal, fascinating, and creepy. Overall, I really enjoyed the city and would definitely go back when it was warmer, as the parks are supposed to be really nice in the spring. And it was good to have some company for our first travels.

Sunday evening we parted ways from Lauren and Michael and flew to Berlin. Jillian had begun to get sick (it appeared she had caught the cold I had before we left) earlier in the trip and was thoroughly miserable by Sunday. So when we got off the bus from the airport and I spent 20 minutes in the 15 degree weather leading us in a circle (I was trying to find point A, the starting point, on our walking directions... and succeeded, before she pointed out we were in fact trying to get to point B, the destination) she was, of course, thrilled. We eventually got to our hostel, which at first was a bit disappointing after having stayed in the hotel in Amsterdam. But once we remembered the Amsterdam hotel was going to be the exception rather than the rule, we realized the hostel was also pretty nice. By the time we got in it was past 11, so we just got settled and called it a night. Our train for Prague was scheduled for 8:30 AM on Tuesday, so we only had Monday (and about 36 hours total) in Berlin. The hostel offered a free walking tour of the city, which we took on Monday morning. It was very informative, very interesting, and very cold. It took about 4 hours and most of it was outdoors. Jillian lamented the freezing of her toes (not that they were freezing, but that they had actually frozen), which seemed to happen relatively often on the trip. But considering her health she was a trooper and never stayed back or shortened our sightseeing and never complained (well maybe not the latter).

The city seemed to have a very confused identity and still doesn't really seem to know what to make of itself. It was much more spread out than Amsterdam, but had far fewer shops and restaurants near our hostel (which was pretty centrally located). I felt a bit out of place there, but not from anything said or done by the people; I guess I just felt strange being there given the history. The city was not nearly as pretty as Amsterdam, but the history was interesting (although many of the "historical" buildings are not actually historical since they had to be rebuilt after WWII). It grew on me a bit as the day wore on, but as you can tell, I preferred Amsterdam. Jillian and I made a decision to have a least one authentic meal in every country we visit (maybe not Scotland...), a mission that should be far easier over spring break in Spain, Italy, and Greece. So for dinner we found an authentic German restaurant. I resisted the urge to try the Schnitzel made from Cow Udder, and instead we both went with a noodle souffle (nudelflaufenhausenplatz... something like that. By the way, those big cursive B's in German? Not B's. Someone got confused and decided they should be S's.) The noodle dish was really good: it was penne, broccoli, onions, and mushrooms baked with a ton of cheese. It was listed under the snack portion of the menu, so Jillian and I each ordered a soup in case it was too small. The soups were also good, and came out in bowls on top of bigger bowls containing candles to keep the soup warm. Very interesting. The "snack-sized" souffles ended up being enormous, as a side note.

We got up bright and early on Tuesday for our train (very relaxing and stress-free: a nice change from flying/figuring out how to get from airports to the city). We got in in the middle of the day, and headed to our hostel. The room was huge, a lot bigger than either of our previous two rooms, and was nice enough. Prague as a whole is very cheap, and the hostel was no exception: 12 Euros each. Eager to take advantage of the rest of the day, we headed out. First we walked through the major street in the New Town, which was lively and modern and filled with restaurants. Then we made our way to the Old Town Square, which is breathtaking as it first comes into view. It is surrounded by beautiful buildings, including two churches and a clocktower. We checked out the churches and then walked to the famous Charles Bridge for an incredible view of the city - the Old Town on one side of the river, and the Castle Quarter on the other. Our big sightseeing day was Wednesday, though, and we forced ourselves awake early once again (no small feat for those who know me) to head out to the Jewish Quarter. There we saw 4 synagogues, a ceremonial hall, an old cemetery, and another synagogue that serves as a Memorial to all of the Czech Holocaust victims. The last site was the most powerful to me, as the inside of the synagogue has each and every single victim's name handwritten on the walls.

Our next stop wasn't quite so somber, as we crossed the river and headed up to Prague Castle. We went inside the St. Vitus Cathedral, which was absolutely HUGE. It was Notre Dame-esque, and the interior was decorated with an incredible amount of gold and stain glass - definitely a memorable cathedral. We also checked out the rest of the castle grounds and the Golden Lane, which was a small, quaint street lined with old storefronts and buildings (Kafka apparently lived in one of them). Our last stop after the castle was the Lennon Wall. Apparently after Lennon's death, graffiti artists were inspired to commemorate his legacy by tagging a wall. The city was not impressed, and a drawn out battle ensued of spray painting, removal, spray painting, removal, etc. Eventually the city gave up and allowed the graffiti to remain, and now it has become a tourist attraction. The wall wasn't huge, and I was surprised at how much of the graffiti now seems to be completely unrelated to Lennon, but some of the work was very cool. After 8 hours of sightseeing and walking, we headed back to relax before going to a nearby restaurant to experience our Czech meal. Czech cuisine can essentially be described as meat and potatoes. The meal was fine, but nothing spectacular.

So there is my roundabout, meandering description of our trip. I guess to sum up I would say I enjoyed Prague and Amsterdam more than Berlin, but all three had their pros and cons. I presume visiting all of them in spring would also have been different. Amsterdam was the most touristy, while remaining beautiful and interesting. Berlin was interesting historically, and I think would be a very different city to visit if I returned in even as little as 5 years (since it changes so much). Prague might have been the most beautiful city I've ever seen, and had a sense of history that was truly incredible. So all in all, not bad for a 6 day trip. By the end I had gotten into a pretty good rhythm for traveling and sightseeing (we think we might have legitimately walked close to 50 miles in the week), but it was definitely nice to get back to London. It's weird that when we got off the subway at Warren Street that it felt a bit like home.

But now we've got one trip's worth of experience under our belts (with no major problems) before our big trip in April. This trip was definitely tiring, and I'm sure that one will be too, but they will be somewhat different. First, the weather will make a big difference. Sightseeing for hours and walking 8 miles in a day will always be tiring, but doing it in 60 degree vs. 20 degree weather will make it a lot more enjoyable. Secondly, we have longer stays in each city in April. Having 3-4 full days in cities means we won't have to cram everything into one absurdly long day, and will allow us more time between actual travel. So in some ways, even though it's 3 times longer, I think that trip might be less tiring.

Anyway, now it's back to life here in London. We had dinner last night with Jillian's neighbor and family friend Andy Orent (Jillian grew up with Andy's daughter Jaime), who was in town for business and gracious treated us to a delicious meal at a Japanese noodle restaurant called Wagamama. Today, Jillian has been working all day on a paper we have due on Monday. My progress is predictable: no progress. I'll do it tomorrow or Sunday. The trip definitely made us realize how similar London is to the US. Yes, there are differences, but they are small. Things we don't even think about in the US (like free water at restaurants) don't exist in places like Germany and the Czech Republic, but do in London.

So I'm just spending today getting organized again here and what not. Visitors start coming in soon: Mom and Dad and my friend Travis both in a couple weeks or so, my friend Ashley from Penn before that. Time is flying by!

Well, time to wrap this long entry up. I'd be happy to talk about the trip more in depth via Skype or email, so just say the word.


Time for this week's cultural difference:

In the London version of the Super Bowl, the Colts won.