Thursday, May the 11th, would be a very emotional day. We started out with Vee feeling as if she was coming down with a nasty cold, and I was paying the price of last night's double-schnitzel. So, it was not until later in the morning that we got going. Finally all cleaned up, we started our walk towards the city center and popped in for two coffees and some pastries, which we took with us to the really nice green park near the domo. We sat on the fresh cut grass and enjoyed the sun, the morning buzz of activity around us, and of course our coffees and pastries. Satisfied and very happy, and feeling better from our various morning ailments, we continued on our way towards the part of the city that was the setting for Vee's childhood as a little girl. With gasps, and tears, shiny eyes and dropped sentences, Vee re-discovered the apartment where she grew up. It was surrounded by 3 high-rise student dormitory buildings, and was almost exactly as she had remembered it all. She showed me the front door to her family's apartment, her bedroom window, the hill where they used to sled in the winter, her favorite tree, her best friend Sandra's apartment, and her first boyfriend Dennis' family's apartment, the walkway where she learned to ride her bike, and where she learned to rollerskate. It was a beautiful and extremely special time for me, and especially for her as the rush of memories bombarded her one after the other. We discovered the house where the family lived before moving back to Bolivia and Vee spoke with an older tenant in the apartment building next to it to see if her friends the Muhlers still lived there and found out that they did not. But, she did verify that we were in fact looking at the right house, as it had changed alot over the years, since a number of floors had been built on top of it as separate rented apartments. We walked through the park where she and her brothers played, and it looked exactly as it did when they were little, giant sandbox and all. We walked to her kindergarten, and with the friendly teachers' permissions, even got to walk inside and see the classrooms. We found her elementary school, and again, got inside, and even got to talk with a few of the teachers there, and verified that the Don Quixote painting was still on the wall of the stairway leading upstairs. Outiside, at the entrance, we stood in the exact spot in the street where she was run over by a motorcyclist on her first day of first grade...this time, she looked both ways. From there we found the little park and pond where Juber adopted "Columbo" for Vee as a birthday present; Columbo was a goldfish with a deathwish that survived multiple suicide attempts and kept Vee good company before his re-adoption by Sandra, Vee's best friend, and his eventual final successful suicide attempt. Columbo is a legend for me, and I get a good chuckle everytime Vee reminisces about that darned fish. We walked to a really nice area packed with bars and restaurants where Vee's Mom would come for lunches with friends, and we walked through an interesting old tower with an arched and turretted gateway through which Vee would walk with her Mom sometimes. We quickly popped into an Internet cafe there to check emails, and then into a pizza shop across the street to get some bottled water and then walked back to the hotel for a short breather before heading out again for the rest of the late afternoon and evening. After a quick nap, we found a grocery store where Vee picked up a few apples, and after dropping them off in our room, we walked back into the city center. The plan was to get a take-away pizza and eat it on our little towell/blanket in the park. Instead, by the time we decided on a place to eat, and finding the prices to be so amazingly reasonable, we ate at a wonderful little table amongst seemingly hundreds of others out by the domo and fountain of Charlemagne. We had a delcious thin crust pizza topped with prosciutto, fresh parmesan pieces and whole green leafy thingys for which I need to learn the name and make sure we find them back at home in the U.S. Then we shared a super-tasty salmon, cheese, olive oil and pesto baguette. After dinner, we walked some of the streets that we had not yet covered, and made our way back towards the main park, got two take-away coffees and sat down with our little blanket to enjoy them and a little chocolate-hazlenut pastry we picked up earlier. It was a perfect day, and a perfect night. We were relishing our beautiful surroundings, and the memories past and still in the making. With darkness finally beginning to set in around 9 or so, we went back to the hotel, window-shopping the real estate listings along the way, and a really cool looking grill-at-the-table restaurant that we hope to enjoy at some point. Once in our room, we hooked up a speedy Internet connection (we're on a roll!!!) and made Skype calls home to Bolivia, home to West Chester with no luck, and then to the Reeves!!! It was so good to hear everyone's voices. Then, we slept hard.
Friday, the 12th of May. I am blogging this in our new room in Bonn, on the morning of the 13th. I just finished blogging everything for yesterday, clicked the wrong button, didn't read the pop-up message clcked another wrong button and lost the entire thing. So I'll summarize: checked out, did laundry, secured bags in locker at train station, bought needed supplies at pharmacy, walked to city center, no market or fried fish, no rathaus, Domo, sandwich on towell/blanket and snooze in park, bought new books, salmon and shrimp appetizer and drinks at outdoor restaurant, latin jazz band sound-check, train ride to Koln and Bonn, long walk to hotel, packed restaurants outside, late night falafel. It was a beautiful, fun, full and productive day in Aachen and we really really want to come back.
Saturday morning the 13th, we took the bus to the train station and from there began our exploration of the city center. After some coffee and pastries, we continued our walk through the many streets loaded with shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, and packed with people buzzing around. It would be a gray, and rainy day, and this wouldn't help our initial perceptions about the city. It just didn't quite have the charm and character and cleanliness we were anticipating. Another very sad observation was that there seemed to be alot of mentally-ill, homeless, alcoholics, disabled and beggars here; many more than we've seen almost anywhere else. I think it is partly because we are still coming off our Aachen-high, which we loved so much. We strolled down the banks of the Rhein, and then wandered back into the city center. For much of the rest of the day, we continued to explore the many pedestrian-only streets in downtown. Hoping to learn about a symphony orchestra show, we went by the Beethoven theater, but there were no conciertos scheduled for the time that we were going to be here. We walked back to the operahouse where the Bonn Bienale was anchored for the week, and attended an extremely interesting afternoon discussion about the westernization of India. We never could have imagined coming to Bonn, to learn about India. Actually, this bienale is going to be running all week long, and the itinerary is loaded with films, operas, plays, discussions, concerts, etc., and we hope to take more advantage of it during our time here. The discussion today was fantastic, and really opened our eyes to India, a place neither of us had really thought a whole lot about before. The two main speakers included an Indian princess who talked about the influece of westernization on Indian music, literature, painting, dance, etc., and the second speaker was a very intelligent historian who talked more about the history of India and the affect that western modernization ideologies have had there. We were so happy to have been there, and it was totally by chance that we even chose to check it out. Afterwards, we bought tickets to the opera later on in the night, called "Satyagraha", by Phillip Glass. There was quite alot of time before the show, so we walked more, shared an ice cream, went inside a cathedral, read our books by the river, played with a fearless black pigeon, had coffees and a pretzel inside the opera house, and finally went to the show. Ashamedly, we left at the first intermission. Vee got more out of it, and appreciated it more than I did, but neither of us really enjoyed it. Luckily, they gave us a student discount, so our tickets were not that expensive, and we didn't feel too terribly guilty about leaving before it was over. We walked back to the hotel, and called it a night.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Friday, May 12, 2006
Helskinki to Aachen - Finn-ished and ready for more of Germany
Monday, in the morning, the 8th, we were to meet at our pre-determined spot on the 7th floor next to the entrance to the casino. I had gotten up around 8am, and spent a half hour wandering around by myself. Some guy, who I swear must have been a cast-away, with maybe 5 teeth in his head, asked me for a cigarette, and then somehow found me again later on, and offered to share is brown-paper-bag-wrapped bottle of something that smelled like root beer schnapps. I respectfully declined. Of course, he couldn't understand a word, and I couldn't understand a word of his either, but body language works universally. Once Vee and I found each other, we went to the little cafe on board, and had some breakfast, and then got our bags and headed out to explore Helsinki. It was a brisk, but clear morning, and the cool clean air was invigorating. The Eurohostel was a short walk from the boat terminal, and once there and checked in, we were really excited about our minimalist, yet well-equipped accomodations. We asked about extending our stay a night, but they were fully booked. We dropped off our bags and headed out to explore the city. We walked to the pretty brick cathedral, the stark white cathedral, and all over downtown, including a hotel tower for a particularly good view. We found a cafe to rest our feet and legs, and have a bit to eat and some coffees, then kept walking, and found a small market where we got some goodies for later on. For the first time in a while, we were able to secure a good Internet connection with our laptop computer, and so for the rest of the night, I took care of bills, some emails, etc.
Tuesday, Vee spent the day working on new videos, and I hit the town alone. My first stop was an automobile museum on the other side of the city, but once I got there, they still hadn't opened for the day, even though it was well after their posted opening time. I peeked in the windows, and it was probably a good thing that it was closed, as it looked pretty silly, mostly just little model cars and other car toys. From there, I walked towards the contemporary art museum, and along the way, stopped in for a pizza and salad buffet lunch. The contemporary art museum was excellent, and actually quite disturbing. I spent the rest of the afternoon there, and then met up with Vee around 3:30 back in our room. Rather than taking a boat ride over to Suomenlinna, as we had planned, we decided to stay in so that Vee could finish up the videos. I continued reading my book, "Fatherland" by Robert Harris. We stayed up late, and it turned out to be a very productive day for Vee. We felt that we had seen alot of Helsinki the day before, so we didn't feel too guilty about staying in. And, we didn't find the city to be all that interesting anyway, and so we thought it would be better to take advantage of the cheap, fast Internet connection and get as much done as possible.
Wednesday, I got up around 6am, and uploaded Vee's videos, photos, and blogs to the website while Vee caught up on some sleep, got ready and packed her bag. I finished uploading around 11:30, cleaned up, packed, and we checked out at precisely 12 noon. As soon as we got to the train station, we found and boarded the #615 bus to the airport, and were at our terminal within about 20 minutes. We checked in and got through security, minus another wine bottle opener. We had a bite to eat in the terminal at Robert's Cafe, and after an unnecessarilly long standing wait at the gate for our German Wings flight to Koln, finally boarded, and were thankful to have been able to find seats next to each other as it looked to be a full plane. With our complimentary newspapers to keep us busy, and the laptop, the flight blew by and in not time, we were back on the ground in Germany. The airport was quite impressive with a sleek, industrial look to it. We tried the buy S-Bahn tickets with another one of those darned complicated ticket kiosks but gave up, and decided to rely on the hope that our Eurail pass will keep us from being fined on board. It was a short ride to the Koln central train station where we then changed to a train heading into Aachen. It was a full train, but eventually a few seats opened up so we could sit. I asked Vee how she felt about being in Aachen, her childhood home, and she was obviously feeling overwhelmed, not quite able to express what she was feeling. Once off the train, a lady in the bookstore gave us a free map, and offered to help us find accomodations. We already had a hotel room reserved, but it was very nice of her to offer, and the free map was a super-nice bonus. The hotel was just a few blocks away, so we checked in, dropped off our bags and headed out to explore Aachen. By this time, it was 8pm or so, and time for dinner. The location of our hotel is fantastic, and it was a short walk to the center, where we found lots of places to choose from. Vee recognized a special water fountain, and the domo, and some other special places too. I loved being there with her to share this very special moment. Aachen is beautiful!! So charming! We found a place with good prices and a decent menu and outdoor seating. Vee had a delicious garden salad and grilled chicken breasts. I had a schnitzel in a green-peppercorn brown sauce with fries and a garden salad. And, a weisbier, a pilsner, an alt, and some other kind of weisse that I can't remember. All absolutely delicious. My dinner was so good, that I ordered another one. And finished it, every last bite. I haven't done that in years. It was that good!! After it got a bit chilly, and we were both finished, we found a little ice cream shop to share a cone, and walked back to the hotel for the night. We are both so happy to be here, in Aachen, and wish so much that we could share this with our families. It is so beautiful here, and so meaningful. So VERY livable. We are both very much looking forward to tomorrow.
Tuesday, Vee spent the day working on new videos, and I hit the town alone. My first stop was an automobile museum on the other side of the city, but once I got there, they still hadn't opened for the day, even though it was well after their posted opening time. I peeked in the windows, and it was probably a good thing that it was closed, as it looked pretty silly, mostly just little model cars and other car toys. From there, I walked towards the contemporary art museum, and along the way, stopped in for a pizza and salad buffet lunch. The contemporary art museum was excellent, and actually quite disturbing. I spent the rest of the afternoon there, and then met up with Vee around 3:30 back in our room. Rather than taking a boat ride over to Suomenlinna, as we had planned, we decided to stay in so that Vee could finish up the videos. I continued reading my book, "Fatherland" by Robert Harris. We stayed up late, and it turned out to be a very productive day for Vee. We felt that we had seen alot of Helsinki the day before, so we didn't feel too guilty about staying in. And, we didn't find the city to be all that interesting anyway, and so we thought it would be better to take advantage of the cheap, fast Internet connection and get as much done as possible.
Wednesday, I got up around 6am, and uploaded Vee's videos, photos, and blogs to the website while Vee caught up on some sleep, got ready and packed her bag. I finished uploading around 11:30, cleaned up, packed, and we checked out at precisely 12 noon. As soon as we got to the train station, we found and boarded the #615 bus to the airport, and were at our terminal within about 20 minutes. We checked in and got through security, minus another wine bottle opener. We had a bite to eat in the terminal at Robert's Cafe, and after an unnecessarilly long standing wait at the gate for our German Wings flight to Koln, finally boarded, and were thankful to have been able to find seats next to each other as it looked to be a full plane. With our complimentary newspapers to keep us busy, and the laptop, the flight blew by and in not time, we were back on the ground in Germany. The airport was quite impressive with a sleek, industrial look to it. We tried the buy S-Bahn tickets with another one of those darned complicated ticket kiosks but gave up, and decided to rely on the hope that our Eurail pass will keep us from being fined on board. It was a short ride to the Koln central train station where we then changed to a train heading into Aachen. It was a full train, but eventually a few seats opened up so we could sit. I asked Vee how she felt about being in Aachen, her childhood home, and she was obviously feeling overwhelmed, not quite able to express what she was feeling. Once off the train, a lady in the bookstore gave us a free map, and offered to help us find accomodations. We already had a hotel room reserved, but it was very nice of her to offer, and the free map was a super-nice bonus. The hotel was just a few blocks away, so we checked in, dropped off our bags and headed out to explore Aachen. By this time, it was 8pm or so, and time for dinner. The location of our hotel is fantastic, and it was a short walk to the center, where we found lots of places to choose from. Vee recognized a special water fountain, and the domo, and some other special places too. I loved being there with her to share this very special moment. Aachen is beautiful!! So charming! We found a place with good prices and a decent menu and outdoor seating. Vee had a delicious garden salad and grilled chicken breasts. I had a schnitzel in a green-peppercorn brown sauce with fries and a garden salad. And, a weisbier, a pilsner, an alt, and some other kind of weisse that I can't remember. All absolutely delicious. My dinner was so good, that I ordered another one. And finished it, every last bite. I haven't done that in years. It was that good!! After it got a bit chilly, and we were both finished, we found a little ice cream shop to share a cone, and walked back to the hotel for the night. We are both so happy to be here, in Aachen, and wish so much that we could share this with our families. It is so beautiful here, and so meaningful. So VERY livable. We are both very much looking forward to tomorrow.
Stockholm to Helsinki - On board a luxury liner
Sunday the 7th, we got up early, showered, packed, and cleaned up the apartment. Roland arrived at precisely 9:30. He was a super-nice guy, I gave him the keys, and he very kindly offered to drive us into the city. It was a short cruise in his spiffy Saab, and we made some nice small talk along the way. We thanked him for the ride when he dropped us off, and then we went inside the station and locked our main packs inside a big locker and headed out to explore the city. I wanted to finish walking the main thoroughfare where all the shops were, and just take it until it ended, and that's what we did. It was still pretty early for a Sunday morning, so almost everything was closed. All we really needed was a coffee. We walked to the end, and then turned around, and came back on a parallel street for most of the way before coming back onto the main drag again where we found a cafe that was open. We had some delicious coffees and pastries and sat out for a while, enjoying the warm sun and listening to the myriad conversations around us. Once we felt rejuvenated, we walked over to a little square where a trolley line runs regularly over to the island of Djurgarden. We climbed aboard, bought our tickets, and waited just a few minutes before pulling away. We were very happy to have taken the trolley, as the ride was long enough where it would have been quite tiring to do it on foot, in addition to all the walking we planned to do once we got there. We took the trolley to the end, and then walked all the way to the opposite side of the island and then meandered back just in time to catch it again for a return trip. We had some difficulty finding our way around the island on our return but eventually made it. We walked quickly back to the train station, got our bags out of the locker, and took the metro up to the Silja Line terminal. We were soooo excited!! We wanted to be there by the 3:30pm boarding time, and we actually had a few minutes to spare. We relaxed in the waiting area for a little bit, and then boarded, and WOW were we surprised. It was nothing like what we had expected. We honestly thought that we'd be lucky to have wooden planks to sleep on for the overnight voyage to Helsinki, but it turned out, this was a luxury liner! Never having done a luxury cruise before, this turned out to be quite an experience. Since our tickets were covered by our Eurail pass, we splurged on a buffet dinner on board, and it was awesome! Having a few free hours before our dinner seating, we walked all over the ship, discovering a casino, a pub, a dance club, a night club, a media center, whirlpools, a water slide, hair dresser, all kinds of shopping, etc. Elvis, and Dolly Parton were even on board! We were alotted an 8pm seating, and were allowed to eat for up to 2 hours. We were there for the entire allotted time. They gave us each our own bottle of wine. We could have had all the beer, sodas, juices, coffees, etc. that we wanted, in addition to more wine, if we wanted. We ate breads, cheeses, crackers, salads, shrimp, all different kinds of salmon, fishes, chicken, beef, pasta, nachos, vegetables, desserts, ice cream, etc. It was unbelievable, and I was determined to eat more than my fair share. After stuffing oursleves silly, and enjoying a spectacular sunset during dinner, we walked around the ship some more, and ended up in the night club for a while to recuperate. Then, we tried out the pub, where we we had a nightcap before finally turning in around 1am. Vee had a bunk in a cabin of 2 other women, and I slid into my bunk in a cabin with 3 other men. We could have arranged for our own cabin together, but then our ride aboard the ship wouldn't have been free. Though somewhat awkward, it worked out just fine and we both slept pretty well.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Copenhagen and Stockholm - Yay!!!
Thursday, was a very full day of Copenhagen exploration. Vee put together a walk based on one provided in our book, and as a result, we had a fantastic time discovering the city. Plazas, cafes, canals, towers, fountains, sculptures, wonderful architecture, and LOTS of bikes and baby strollers! We shared coffees and pastries in the morning, a take-away focaccia and loaf of bred in the afternoon, and an order of fish & chips for dinner and a few sinful snacks at a little shop in the train station before the end of the night. We agreed that Copenhagen is one of our most favorite cities thus far, up there with Madrid and Prague. It seems as if the people here have a very good quality of life. Many men were out walking there newborns in strollers, or in bicycle carriages. And swarms of women with the newborns were everywhere. The Danes are doing there part in their attempt to keep up the population in Europe. Alot of people were out running, and a huge number of people ride bikes for their main means of transport; so many in fact, that they actually create relatively heavy lanes of traffic on the streets and therefore obey all traffic lanes, lights and signs. For tomorrow, we need to get up early, and catch the earliest train to Stockholm Sweden. We made arrangements for this B&B through a guy, Roland, who I spoke with on the phone, and who runs a website that recommends B&B's in Stockholm. We got to the website from a terminal in the coolest Internet Cafe I've ever seen called BoomTown, and I even got to demo the new XBox 360 there!
Friday, we got up early, checked out by 7:30, and made the short walk to the train station. We eventually found the right que for our reservations and learned that there was not a single seat available on any trains headed to Stockholm from Copenhagen for the entire day. We got a table at a cafe in the station to discuss alternative plans and were considering Oslo, Helsinki or heading back South to Western Germany. At the last minute, we found another city (Goteborg) in Sweden that had a direct high-speed line to Stockholm, and so we looked into that option, and it worked! Though a bit stressed, and with absolute chaos at the train station, with our first scheduled train having apparently disappeared out of thin air, we eventually made it out of Copenhagen on an even later train. Because of our original trains disappearing act, we missed our connection to Goteborg. Luckily, there was another connection in about an hour, and we were also able to book our final leg to Stockholm. The ride to Goteborg was cramped and took forever. The ride to Stockholm was much better, since the seats were more spacious and we didn't have to sit face to face with strangers. At 6:30pm, we arrived in Stockholm, actually a bit early. We were to meet with Kenneth, from the B&B agency, in the middle of the atrium in the train station. We stood there for about 15 minutes, and I finally called him on his cell phone, and learned that he was standing right above us on the second floor but just never realized it was us right there below him. Anyway, we hooked up, he gave us the keys, and excellent directions and instructions, I got more money out of the ATM and paid up. I didn't have enough money left for the metro, so he gave us 2 kroners, and we were on our way. The apartment actually belonged to his business partners mother, but she was to be out of town for the weekend. We weren't sure what to expect, but Kenneth seemed like a good guy, as did his business partner on the phone. The metro ride to the apartment only took about 10 minutes as it was just outside the city center. A woman asked us if she could help us with directions when we got off the metro, and she confirmed for us where we supposed to go. We were very very happily surprised and found the apartment to be excellent! And it's all ours, until Sunday! We have all the comforts of our own home. We dropped off our bags, and tried taking the metro back into the city for a night on the town, but I had no cash, and we couldn't by the tickets. The ticketing agent told us where to find an ATM, and so we started walking in the general direction he pointed us, and I asked another lady if she could confirm where the ATM might be. Turns out she had worked in DC for two years at the Sweden embassy, and loved her time in the U.S. We ended up talking for about 10 minutes or so. We found the ATM, but by this time, we had changed our minds about the night, and decided to find a supermarket, and just have a quiet dinner at the apartment, and take advantage of the kitchen and terrace. We asked two guys for help getting to the supermarket, and they got us straightened out. We loaded up with goodies, and lugged everything back to the apartment and had a beautiful evening. After dinner on the terrace, we watched Braveheart on TV, and called it a night. We are looking forward to a long day in Stockholm tomorrow!
Saturday the 6th, we slept in until about 9:30. I cooked egg sandwiches while Vee showered and we had a hearty "American" breakfast. Vee cut my hair, I showered, and then we headed out for the city. It was time for us to make some decisions. We needed to find an Internet connection and figure out where we were going next, and make accomodation reservations accordingly. Outside the metro station we found Peter's Cafe, where we had capuccinos, and got onto an Internet terminal. We researched hotel prices in Oslo, Norway, but they were ridiculous. In Helsinki, Finland, we found a sharp looking hostel that was dirt-cheap. Also, we found a discount airline, German Wings, with cheap flights from Helsinki to Cologne, Germany which was exactly where we wanted to go. The clincher though, would be whether or not we could get a reservation on the Ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki, and to get that straight, we had to take the metro to the port, and find the ticket booth and see if anything was available. With some help from the guy in the Information Kiosk at the metro station, we took the metro to the stop where the port was, and with very clear signage, found the ticketing office. To our amazement, we learned that not only was there availability, but it would be free for us, since we had the Eurail pass! We were ECSTATIC!!! With our Ferry reservations taken care of, and a few high-fives, we metroed back to the Central Station, and eventually made our way back to Peter's Cafe, got back online, and reserved a room for 2 nights at the EuroHostel in Helsinki. Score! We decided against buying our airline tickets just in case we wanted to extend our stay once we got there. From there, with our newly purchased Stockholm map in hand, we headed out for a full day of exploring the City. We found it to be crazy! Apparently, the winter was very harsh and very long, and yesterday and today were the first nice days of the year so everyone in Stockholm was outside. The city is beautiful, but dirtier than we expected. It is also much more diverse than what I was expecting. Denmark, and Munich were much less so. It is also a very big city, so the map we had was deceiving in that everything in reality was much further than what it appeared on the map. Our favorite area thus far has been the old part of the city called Gamla Stan. We also walked through Norr Malm, the new part of the city, as well as Sodermalm and Ostermalm. Inside one of the churches, there was a boys choir practicing, and we got some video of that. In Gamla Stan, we were lured into an ice cream store because of the fresh waffle cones they were making right there in the front of the store. After finishing our ice cream, we walked into an art gallery and had a real nice conversation with the proprietor. He was an Argentinian who married a Swedish girl, moved to Stockholm, and opened the gallery with an MBA-friend of his. From there, we talked with Roland on the cell phone to make arrangements to drop off the key to our apartment, and then headed home. On the way, we made a stop at the grocery store for some dinner munchies. We had another wonderful, romantic dinner out on the terrace and watched the sun go down before coming inside to finish off the night. Tomorrow morning, Roland is coming over at 9:30 to collect the key, and we'll spend the rest of the day in the City before heading out for the Ferry to Helsinki at 5pm.
Friday, we got up early, checked out by 7:30, and made the short walk to the train station. We eventually found the right que for our reservations and learned that there was not a single seat available on any trains headed to Stockholm from Copenhagen for the entire day. We got a table at a cafe in the station to discuss alternative plans and were considering Oslo, Helsinki or heading back South to Western Germany. At the last minute, we found another city (Goteborg) in Sweden that had a direct high-speed line to Stockholm, and so we looked into that option, and it worked! Though a bit stressed, and with absolute chaos at the train station, with our first scheduled train having apparently disappeared out of thin air, we eventually made it out of Copenhagen on an even later train. Because of our original trains disappearing act, we missed our connection to Goteborg. Luckily, there was another connection in about an hour, and we were also able to book our final leg to Stockholm. The ride to Goteborg was cramped and took forever. The ride to Stockholm was much better, since the seats were more spacious and we didn't have to sit face to face with strangers. At 6:30pm, we arrived in Stockholm, actually a bit early. We were to meet with Kenneth, from the B&B agency, in the middle of the atrium in the train station. We stood there for about 15 minutes, and I finally called him on his cell phone, and learned that he was standing right above us on the second floor but just never realized it was us right there below him. Anyway, we hooked up, he gave us the keys, and excellent directions and instructions, I got more money out of the ATM and paid up. I didn't have enough money left for the metro, so he gave us 2 kroners, and we were on our way. The apartment actually belonged to his business partners mother, but she was to be out of town for the weekend. We weren't sure what to expect, but Kenneth seemed like a good guy, as did his business partner on the phone. The metro ride to the apartment only took about 10 minutes as it was just outside the city center. A woman asked us if she could help us with directions when we got off the metro, and she confirmed for us where we supposed to go. We were very very happily surprised and found the apartment to be excellent! And it's all ours, until Sunday! We have all the comforts of our own home. We dropped off our bags, and tried taking the metro back into the city for a night on the town, but I had no cash, and we couldn't by the tickets. The ticketing agent told us where to find an ATM, and so we started walking in the general direction he pointed us, and I asked another lady if she could confirm where the ATM might be. Turns out she had worked in DC for two years at the Sweden embassy, and loved her time in the U.S. We ended up talking for about 10 minutes or so. We found the ATM, but by this time, we had changed our minds about the night, and decided to find a supermarket, and just have a quiet dinner at the apartment, and take advantage of the kitchen and terrace. We asked two guys for help getting to the supermarket, and they got us straightened out. We loaded up with goodies, and lugged everything back to the apartment and had a beautiful evening. After dinner on the terrace, we watched Braveheart on TV, and called it a night. We are looking forward to a long day in Stockholm tomorrow!
Saturday the 6th, we slept in until about 9:30. I cooked egg sandwiches while Vee showered and we had a hearty "American" breakfast. Vee cut my hair, I showered, and then we headed out for the city. It was time for us to make some decisions. We needed to find an Internet connection and figure out where we were going next, and make accomodation reservations accordingly. Outside the metro station we found Peter's Cafe, where we had capuccinos, and got onto an Internet terminal. We researched hotel prices in Oslo, Norway, but they were ridiculous. In Helsinki, Finland, we found a sharp looking hostel that was dirt-cheap. Also, we found a discount airline, German Wings, with cheap flights from Helsinki to Cologne, Germany which was exactly where we wanted to go. The clincher though, would be whether or not we could get a reservation on the Ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki, and to get that straight, we had to take the metro to the port, and find the ticket booth and see if anything was available. With some help from the guy in the Information Kiosk at the metro station, we took the metro to the stop where the port was, and with very clear signage, found the ticketing office. To our amazement, we learned that not only was there availability, but it would be free for us, since we had the Eurail pass! We were ECSTATIC!!! With our Ferry reservations taken care of, and a few high-fives, we metroed back to the Central Station, and eventually made our way back to Peter's Cafe, got back online, and reserved a room for 2 nights at the EuroHostel in Helsinki. Score! We decided against buying our airline tickets just in case we wanted to extend our stay once we got there. From there, with our newly purchased Stockholm map in hand, we headed out for a full day of exploring the City. We found it to be crazy! Apparently, the winter was very harsh and very long, and yesterday and today were the first nice days of the year so everyone in Stockholm was outside. The city is beautiful, but dirtier than we expected. It is also much more diverse than what I was expecting. Denmark, and Munich were much less so. It is also a very big city, so the map we had was deceiving in that everything in reality was much further than what it appeared on the map. Our favorite area thus far has been the old part of the city called Gamla Stan. We also walked through Norr Malm, the new part of the city, as well as Sodermalm and Ostermalm. Inside one of the churches, there was a boys choir practicing, and we got some video of that. In Gamla Stan, we were lured into an ice cream store because of the fresh waffle cones they were making right there in the front of the store. After finishing our ice cream, we walked into an art gallery and had a real nice conversation with the proprietor. He was an Argentinian who married a Swedish girl, moved to Stockholm, and opened the gallery with an MBA-friend of his. From there, we talked with Roland on the cell phone to make arrangements to drop off the key to our apartment, and then headed home. On the way, we made a stop at the grocery store for some dinner munchies. We had another wonderful, romantic dinner out on the terrace and watched the sun go down before coming inside to finish off the night. Tomorrow morning, Roland is coming over at 9:30 to collect the key, and we'll spend the rest of the day in the City before heading out for the Ferry to Helsinki at 5pm.
Hamburg - Oops
Tuesday, we checked out, grabbed a few pastries at a grocery store, metroed to the train station, shared coffees, and then got on the train for Copenhagen, through Hamburg. Well, over and hour or so later, and expecting to have already arrived at Hamburg, Vee asked some girls sitting near us if they were heading to Hamburg, and they explained that the train was not going to Hamburg. Apparently, at the last minute, and when we were already on board, they changed the platform for our train. So instead of Copenhagen through Hamburg, we were heading for a small town in the most northeastern part of Germany, totally in the opposite direction of Hamburg. We took the train all the way to the end, and then get right back on another one headed in the opposite direction, to finally arrive at Hamburg. We wrote off going to Copenhagen since we would not be able to connect and get there before midnight. Luckily, I was able to reach my sister via the cell phone, and with her and Dad's help, I got ahold of the hotel in Copenhagen, and got approval to reschedule our reservations for the next two nights, instead of tonight and the next. Finally, we arrived in Hamburg. We got a map, and headed out in search of a hotel. The direction we chose first was the heart of the Red Light district...ooooops!!! We found an Internet Cafe and tried to make arrangements there via the Internet, but didn't feel comfortable entering credit card info online there. We called a hotel, but they were full. We walked to the area of the city on the other side of the train station in hopes of finding something there. Thanks to the Lonely Planet book, we found out about another area of the city that is supposed to be popular and with a number of recommended places for lodging. We took the metro there, and had some difficulty getting acquainted. A gentleman carrying a newly purchased 6-pack of Becks beer asked us if we needed some help. He pointed us in the right direction and we ended up at the Schenzensteirn guest-house where they had one double room available. This is the first place that required cash payment up front, and an additional $10 deposit for the room key. The room was equally, distinct. We unloaded our things, locked everything as we always do, and headed out to explore the area. I can't go into much detail here, but I guess it would be fair to say that this area of Hamburg could be described as a bit "bohemian". We chose a corner pub/restaurant for dinner, and had a magnificently delcious, simple, inexpensive meal. Afterwards, we walked around some more. It was quite a memorable trip. Then back to the hotel for the night.
Wednesday, the 3rd of May, would be another full day of travel. We checked out, metroed back to the train station, encountered some more interesting characters and walked around the central part of the city. The weather was warm, the sky was blue, and the sun was shining bright. We got some coffees and pastries, and took some pics of the city. Then we went to the train station, got our reservations, waited in the lounge, and then got onto the CORRECT train to Copenhagen. The coolest part of the trip was when we realized that the train had actually been driven right onto a ferry boat, and that we were actually floating across the water, to Denmark. I got out of the train and explored the ship some, and took some video. After a few more hours, we arrived in Copenhagen. The hotel was real close to the train station, and upon check-in, they provided us with a map, we dumped our bags, and headed out to find something for dinner. The guy at the front desk recommended a pub just a few blocks away, and we had a tastey dinner, but it was WAY expensive. I could hardly believe how much it cost to eat in Copenhagen. Stuffed, we came back to our room, and went to bed.
Wednesday, the 3rd of May, would be another full day of travel. We checked out, metroed back to the train station, encountered some more interesting characters and walked around the central part of the city. The weather was warm, the sky was blue, and the sun was shining bright. We got some coffees and pastries, and took some pics of the city. Then we went to the train station, got our reservations, waited in the lounge, and then got onto the CORRECT train to Copenhagen. The coolest part of the trip was when we realized that the train had actually been driven right onto a ferry boat, and that we were actually floating across the water, to Denmark. I got out of the train and explored the ship some, and took some video. After a few more hours, we arrived in Copenhagen. The hotel was real close to the train station, and upon check-in, they provided us with a map, we dumped our bags, and headed out to find something for dinner. The guy at the front desk recommended a pub just a few blocks away, and we had a tastey dinner, but it was WAY expensive. I could hardly believe how much it cost to eat in Copenhagen. Stuffed, we came back to our room, and went to bed.
Berlin - Full Days of History and Discovery
Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Berlin were full days. Saturday it rained all day, but we persisted through it. We walked for hours in the late morning early afternoon, venturing all the way through Tiergarten park, seeing the important monuments, and then into what was once East Berlin. We got to Checkpoint Charlie's in the afternoon, and spent about 5 hours inside the museum. Room after room, the museum was loaded with pictures, paintings, text, and lots of releveant objects. As required, we checked our bags into a locker, so at least we didn't have to lug those around. We each did the audio guides, and those were quite informative. There was so much information, and we both felt interested, motivated and obligated to try and read everything, which was absolutely impossible. When we finally left, we felt much more knowledgable about the significance and history of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War, and the enormous impact tearing down the wall had on Berlin, Germany, the rest of Eastern Europe and the world as a whole. We left around 8pm or so, in the dark, feeling very fulfilled, and very tired. We went to a little quick-mart near the hotel and got some munchies and drinks and finished up the night relaxing in our hotel.
Sunday, we spent a bit of time at an internet cafe in the morning to make hotel reservations for another night in Berlin, and for two nights in Copenhagen. Then we took the metro to the big TV tower and waited in line forever for an opportunity to take the elevator up to the top. We shared an audio tour handset and walked around the large disk at the top, and had some coffees at the bar to rest our legs. It was a beautiful day so after we were through looking at the 360 degree views of the city, we did some more walking and eventually made our way back to the hotel in the evening. I had read about a pub near the hotel that served over 100 beers, so we went there hoping for a reasonable meal and a long night of beer experimentation. But, they refused to serve us anything for dinner because the cooks were swamped with a large party that had just ordered their meals. So we left, and ended up at a much livlier spot just a few blocks away. Our meals were fantastic, and the tiramisu we had for dessert was huge and delicious! We had a fantastic time, and left totally with our bellies totally stuffed. I had a skillet of pork and vegetables, and Vee had a tasty chicken dish.
Monday, the 1st of May, was Labor Day all over the world except in the U.S. After our third and final delicious breakfast at the Hotel Castille, we checked out, left our bags there, and headed over to the Story of Berlin museum, where we spent the rest of the day. This multimedia, interactive, extremely informative and entertaining museum was fantastic. It gave us a much better understanding of the long history of Berlin, and also of Germany as a whole. We did not leave until late in the afternoon, mentally exhausted, got our bags from the hotel and took the metro over to our new hotel. This hotel, although location-wise, not as good as the first one, was a much nicer, more contemporary hotel, and ALOT cheaper! In fact, it is the cheapest one we've stayed at yet. The walk from the metro to the hotel was an interesting one as there was a street fair/carnival going on and the neighborhood itself, was, well, not like the one where we stayed the previous 3 nights. Once in the super modern hotel room, with a water view, and half the price, we got comfy, then headed out to find some snacks and drinks, then back to the carnival so I could find a more satisfying bite to eat. I ate a delicious bratwurst, and then Vee and I shared coffees and people-watched. Back at the hotel, we relaxed and called it an early night.
Sunday, we spent a bit of time at an internet cafe in the morning to make hotel reservations for another night in Berlin, and for two nights in Copenhagen. Then we took the metro to the big TV tower and waited in line forever for an opportunity to take the elevator up to the top. We shared an audio tour handset and walked around the large disk at the top, and had some coffees at the bar to rest our legs. It was a beautiful day so after we were through looking at the 360 degree views of the city, we did some more walking and eventually made our way back to the hotel in the evening. I had read about a pub near the hotel that served over 100 beers, so we went there hoping for a reasonable meal and a long night of beer experimentation. But, they refused to serve us anything for dinner because the cooks were swamped with a large party that had just ordered their meals. So we left, and ended up at a much livlier spot just a few blocks away. Our meals were fantastic, and the tiramisu we had for dessert was huge and delicious! We had a fantastic time, and left totally with our bellies totally stuffed. I had a skillet of pork and vegetables, and Vee had a tasty chicken dish.
Monday, the 1st of May, was Labor Day all over the world except in the U.S. After our third and final delicious breakfast at the Hotel Castille, we checked out, left our bags there, and headed over to the Story of Berlin museum, where we spent the rest of the day. This multimedia, interactive, extremely informative and entertaining museum was fantastic. It gave us a much better understanding of the long history of Berlin, and also of Germany as a whole. We did not leave until late in the afternoon, mentally exhausted, got our bags from the hotel and took the metro over to our new hotel. This hotel, although location-wise, not as good as the first one, was a much nicer, more contemporary hotel, and ALOT cheaper! In fact, it is the cheapest one we've stayed at yet. The walk from the metro to the hotel was an interesting one as there was a street fair/carnival going on and the neighborhood itself, was, well, not like the one where we stayed the previous 3 nights. Once in the super modern hotel room, with a water view, and half the price, we got comfy, then headed out to find some snacks and drinks, then back to the carnival so I could find a more satisfying bite to eat. I ate a delicious bratwurst, and then Vee and I shared coffees and people-watched. Back at the hotel, we relaxed and called it an early night.
Prague - Last full day, and one for chores and travel
(Cliff reporting) Thursday, April 27th would be another full day in Prague. Still spinning from all the fun we've already had here, we were all tingly about the prospects of experiencing any more of the same today. But we needed to take care of some business first, and set out in search of a nearby Internet cafe so we could pay bills online. First we went to the front desk to make sure everything was still okay for us to stay in our room one an extra night, and they verified that it was fine. They also told us about a nearby laundromat, and a nearby Internet cafe. We found the cafe, and were bummed to find out that they did not offer wireless access, nor the ability to hook up the notebook to their LAN, so instead we used one of the their terminals, and used the time to secure 3 nights accomodations in Berlin. We had a few capuccinos and pastries, and finally left around lunchtime. Finding an affordable room in Berlin was much more of a challenge than we expected. According to one pension-owner that I spoke with on the phone, everything she knew of was booked. We went back to our hotel, dropped off the computer, and then headed for the metro station so we could get over to the Mala Strana area of the city. We didn't have enough coins for two metro tickets, and since the ticket machines did not accept bills, and we couldn't find a ticket agent window anywhere, we risked the Czech Metro police, and boarded anyway. Luckily, no one asked anything, and we arrived unscathed. Above ground, it took us a short walk in the wrong direction for us to realize where we were and how to get to where we wanted to go. That's kinda how the majority of the afternoon went too. We alternated taking the lead in our explorations end we tended to go in the "wrong" direction as often as in the "right" one...or at least when I was the one leading. Not that it mattered at all, because it is the exploration and discovery of it all that is so gratifying and it almost always ends up with some sort of gratifying surprise. We walked up the steep path towards the palace and cathedrals, got inside, read the exhibits, admired the amazing architecture, sculptures, and paintings. It started raining and we kept walking, and exploring, loving it all. We found a few art galleries and found another artist whose work we really really liked, and despite the bargaining efforts of the gallery sales person, we decided to leave empty-handed. We continued south all the way down and across the Paleckeho Most (bridge) to the Nove Mesto area and tried to get inside the big church there, with the odd dual steeple, but it was all locked up, so we continued further south to Karlachovy sady church that was perched high upon the hill inside the walls of an old fortress and offered wonderful 360 degree views of the city. We wandered around the fortress walls, withnessing many couples enjoying romantic little nooks here and there, a group of young people practicing medieval battle routines in one spot, and a plethora of red clay tennis courts in a few other sections along the fortress walls. The day was growing long, and our legs and feet were beginning to lose resiliency so we decided to make our way towards the metro and head back to the hotel. It was around 7:30pm or so before we got back, and with a stop to the local market for some snack/dinner stuff, we finally made it to our room. The big event for the day was to be one final jazz show that night, but because we were so physically exhausted from all the walking and two late, music filled nights, we decided to stay in and relax instead.
Friday, the 28th was mostly one for chores and travel. We checked out, left our big packs at the hotel, and dragged our bags of laundry through the crowded metro to the laundramat that was recommended to us. After a bit of metro confusion, we eventually found the laundramat and dropped off all our dirty clothes that would be washed, dried, folded and ready for pick-up in about 3 hours. Next, was a visit to the post office, after learning that DHL was going to charge us $155 to mail a few things home. The post office is always a nerve racking place for me. The folks there generally do not speak English, and well, it's the post office...'nuff said. After some debate, guessing, second-guessing, more debate, and finally some much-needed help and finger-pointing, we got our packages (hopefully) on their way back home. With that done, we found "JoeCafe" nearby where we had coffees and breakfast/lunch. They offered free WiFi access, so I was able to get bills paid and a few emails sent. By 1, we picked up our laundry and metrod back to the hotel. Of course, given the warm tempuratures over the last week, I decided to wear shorts for the first time today. It would be cold and rainy today. No problem, I was just really happy to have two pairs of newly laundered jeans waiting for me in the bag of clean clothes I carried back to the hotel. Once there, we re-packed our bags with clean clothes and took the metro again, to the train station where we bought our tickets, and hung out in the hallway for the 3:34pm train to Berlin. We had a really nice conversation, exchanged Crowns for Euros (raped), ate gummy bears and people-watched. The train arrived, we boarded and dug in for the 5 1/2 hour trip with a few extra delays thrown in for one reason or another. We both kept busy, and Vee's Bolivian passport and U.S. green card kept the Czech and German immigration troopers occupied as well. They always seem to have a real keen interest in all her documents, and hardly give mine a glance. Once in Berlin, we went in search of a map, and found a plethora of them inside a nice bookstore. The checkout guy was real curious about us and asked where we were from and if we were in Berlin for the first time. He said that he had been to the U.S. before, and even to Philly on 3 occasions. As we finished paying and were about to leave, he looked at us in a comical, kinda secretive way, and with an odd gesture of his hand said something like: "Philadelphia is good. But, last time, well...you're President is an idiot. He is not very smart.". What a riot! We howled, and so did he, and we exchanged thank yous again for all his help in telling us all about Berlin, where we should go, what we should do and see, etc. Then, with our map, trying to figure out where we were, where our hotel was, and how to get there took us forever. Finally, we ventured out to the S-Bahn platforms and found the ticket purchasing process equally difficult. Totally at a loss, we found an information desk, and asked for help. They guy behind the desk was amazingly helpful, jovial, and just plain nice. Not only did he get us all straight, but did so with a totally unexpected warmth that made us feel very welcome. The S-Bahn and Metro rides were quite interesting for people-watching, and once off, we found our hotel without too much trouble. Berlin is a huge city, and feels like NYC in alot of ways. The blocks are long and deep. We checked in, after waiting for some lady at the front desk, a guest, rant about something she was unhappy about. The room is huge, and could sleep 8 people comfortably. We hadn't eaten anything really (a pretzel in the Berlin train station) since JoeCafe, so we set out for a bite, and ended having to choose between McD's or BK, then back to the hotel for bed.
Friday, the 28th was mostly one for chores and travel. We checked out, left our big packs at the hotel, and dragged our bags of laundry through the crowded metro to the laundramat that was recommended to us. After a bit of metro confusion, we eventually found the laundramat and dropped off all our dirty clothes that would be washed, dried, folded and ready for pick-up in about 3 hours. Next, was a visit to the post office, after learning that DHL was going to charge us $155 to mail a few things home. The post office is always a nerve racking place for me. The folks there generally do not speak English, and well, it's the post office...'nuff said. After some debate, guessing, second-guessing, more debate, and finally some much-needed help and finger-pointing, we got our packages (hopefully) on their way back home. With that done, we found "JoeCafe" nearby where we had coffees and breakfast/lunch. They offered free WiFi access, so I was able to get bills paid and a few emails sent. By 1, we picked up our laundry and metrod back to the hotel. Of course, given the warm tempuratures over the last week, I decided to wear shorts for the first time today. It would be cold and rainy today. No problem, I was just really happy to have two pairs of newly laundered jeans waiting for me in the bag of clean clothes I carried back to the hotel. Once there, we re-packed our bags with clean clothes and took the metro again, to the train station where we bought our tickets, and hung out in the hallway for the 3:34pm train to Berlin. We had a really nice conversation, exchanged Crowns for Euros (raped), ate gummy bears and people-watched. The train arrived, we boarded and dug in for the 5 1/2 hour trip with a few extra delays thrown in for one reason or another. We both kept busy, and Vee's Bolivian passport and U.S. green card kept the Czech and German immigration troopers occupied as well. They always seem to have a real keen interest in all her documents, and hardly give mine a glance. Once in Berlin, we went in search of a map, and found a plethora of them inside a nice bookstore. The checkout guy was real curious about us and asked where we were from and if we were in Berlin for the first time. He said that he had been to the U.S. before, and even to Philly on 3 occasions. As we finished paying and were about to leave, he looked at us in a comical, kinda secretive way, and with an odd gesture of his hand said something like: "Philadelphia is good. But, last time, well...you're President is an idiot. He is not very smart.". What a riot! We howled, and so did he, and we exchanged thank yous again for all his help in telling us all about Berlin, where we should go, what we should do and see, etc. Then, with our map, trying to figure out where we were, where our hotel was, and how to get there took us forever. Finally, we ventured out to the S-Bahn platforms and found the ticket purchasing process equally difficult. Totally at a loss, we found an information desk, and asked for help. They guy behind the desk was amazingly helpful, jovial, and just plain nice. Not only did he get us all straight, but did so with a totally unexpected warmth that made us feel very welcome. The S-Bahn and Metro rides were quite interesting for people-watching, and once off, we found our hotel without too much trouble. Berlin is a huge city, and feels like NYC in alot of ways. The blocks are long and deep. We checked in, after waiting for some lady at the front desk, a guest, rant about something she was unhappy about. The room is huge, and could sleep 8 people comfortably. We hadn't eaten anything really (a pretzel in the Berlin train station) since JoeCafe, so we set out for a bite, and ended having to choose between McD's or BK, then back to the hotel for bed.
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