Bryan Echo

Journey to Vienna

When I last left off it was the last night in Prague, Czech Republic.  The next morning we woke up around 8 a.m. to travel to Vienna, Austria. I really enjoyed Prague and promised myself that someday I would return.

After driving for an hour or two we stopped for lunch at the small village of Kutna Hora. We stopped there to check out an almost infamous church.

The church was famous for its graveyard.  There's more information at wikitravel. But basically the graveyard was in high demand during the 1400's and there wasn't enough room to bury everyone.  So the members of the church started digging up people to make room for the err... new arrivals.  They would stack the bones outside the church.  Every generation or two the process would be repeated.  Maybe it was just a matter of time but eventually they started bringing the bones into the church.  The place is decorated with amazing bone works of art.  The chandelier is very striking.  Its worth stopping if you're in the area and you can take a train from Prague.

After lunch we resumed our journey towards Vienna.  It was pretty uneventful.  After the Czech-Austria border we stopped at a really whacky shopping area.  It was this huge castle with dragons and knights and really cheesy tourist-y stuff. They were selling all sorts of clothing and shoes and trinkets.  It seemed more like an outlet mall than a tourist trap.

We arrived in Vienna a little before dinner and checked into the hotel.  It wasn't bad. We were on a busy street and right outside our window was a giant billboard with Madonna on it. She was everyone in Germany too. We were right next to the restaurant we went to for dinner.  The group of us all went to dinner together. I don't remember the food too much but the desert was awesome.  It was a sacher tort.  A chocolate cake with a layer of jam in the middle and chocolate over the top.  Its a desert that Vienna is famous for.

Everyone was talking about going to an area of Vienna our tour guide Jacqui called The Bermuda Triangle. Its a triangle of streets with bars and restaurants.  At the last minute I decided to join them while Chris rested back at the hotel.  She'd gotten a nasty spider bite in Prague and wasn't feeling well.

I had a really great time.  The night got surprisingly crazy. (i.e. I can't talk about it too much!)  There was an austrian batchlorette party collecting money for the bride.  They were walking through the streets taking donations and selling little treats.  It was a very strange tradition.  We made it home on the subway without incident and I slept like the dead.

Last night in Prague

Its been nice looking back on the trip and I'm glad I decided to write about it.  It was a time that was so condensed with activity it was hard to process it all.  This has given me a chance to look at the pictures and really remember everything that I did.

The last day in Prague was the day I realized the trip was going to end soon.  Because of the way the tour was organized some people on the tour only joined for some of the cities.  Several of the friends I had made only signed up for Berlin and Prague.  Though it'd been less than a week, I knew I would miss Natalie and Amit and several other people that were leaving after Prague.

This was also the day that the lack of sleep caught up with me.  I was sleeping about three of four hours a night.  I was pushing myself to stay out and do everything. 

While we'd had plans to go the Prague Castle in the morning the wake up call came and I told Chris to go without me. I was too damn tired. They had a good time at the castle climbed 200+ steps up a spiral staircase. I slept until almost 1 p.m.

I spent the day taking short walking trips.  I would leave the hotel for an hour or so walking in a random direction.  I went over the Charles Bridge.  I found an old clock tower surrounded by a small park.  As I've mentioned that Prague is full of tourists, but what surprised me is when you get away from the sights the tourists vanish rapidly.  I went over the bridge and took a random turn and in five minutes walk I was alone.  It was nice.

I watched the locals go about there business.  There were people out shopping for groceries.  Or walking their dogs. It was a very low key afternoon.

That night we went to a great restaurant.  There was traditional folk music and dancing.  The music was really great, violin, upright bass, and hammered dulcimer.  The dancing was really entertaining too.  Even though we didn't understand the language we still laughed at the funny parts.  The food was wonderful too.  It was duck, ham, and pork with potato dumplings and pickled cabbage.  Dinner was followed with an apple stroudel.  And lots of yummy beer.

After dinner we ended up back at Jan Hus in time to see the Astronomical Clock strike the hour (10 o'clock maybe?).  Its something to see.  The skeleton on one side rings a bell and the other figures nodd their heads.  Then the rooster crows and everyone cheers.  I was thinking this would be the last time I'd see it before we left. 

After that we ended up at the bar across the street from the hotel.  I think everyone on our tour was their this time.  We were a very noisey bunch.  The band was a latin band from Cuba.  There was an older gentleman that was flirting with Chris.  Though she didn't understand him because he didn't know very much english.  Natalie tried to speak to him in Russian. Then Luc from Quebec tried french. (His exact words were: "That is not french!") Finally someone on in the group spoke spanish. 

We were there until late dancing and drinking and laughing. ;-)

More from Prague

The first morning in Prague we were scheduled for a walking tour of the city with a local guide.  The guide was a czech woman that had an interesting accent.  Czech is in the same family as Russian but to me it always sounded oddly french. 

The walking tour started in Jan Hus the center of Old Town Prague, Praha as its known in Czech.  Jan Hus is a huge square with lots of tourist-y shops but it also contains the Astronomical Clock.  The basic clock was built in 1410 with additions added later.  Its an amazing feat of engineering and it tracks the movement of the sun and moon and shows the time in several different formats.  On the hour a skeleton rings a bell ("For us all the bell must toll") while several other figures shake there head ("No it does not toll for us"). 

We also saw the Prague castle. Its the biggest castle in the world and overlooks the Old Town.  The views from the castle were amazing.  There were a number of other tours available in the castle that I would have liked to check out if I'd had more time.

After the walking tour we ended up by the Vlatava River for a lunch time cruise.  The cruise was relaxing and a nice way to see more of the city.  We spotted the Dancing House, designed by Frank Gehry is loosely based on figures of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.  In the airport in Germany we saw a college student wearing a shirt that said "Fuck Frank Gehry" which seemed like a very strong opinion to have.  I wish I would've asked the kid if he was an architecture major.

The lunch was nice, though it included lots of alcohol.  Its traditional to start a meal with a drink called an Apatif.  Its schnapps with 35% alcohol.  Its supposed to stimulate the appetite.  It didn't taste bad but I had two on an empty stomach.  (I'm not a big drinker)

After that spent time exploring the city some more.  I did some shopping.  I bought a nice sketch of the Charles Bridge which is now sitting on my mantle place waiting for a frame. ;-).

Prague is a very relaxing place.  Maybe its the river flowing through and the age of the sights but it feels like life moves slower and at more natural pace.  I enjoyed just wandering around or laying by the river the rest of the day.

For dinner that night we met up with some people to go to Wenceslas Square.  Its an area of town that has lots of history and perhaps the center of modern day Prague.  There are massive stores and lots of places to spend money.  We had dinner at a little restaurant, sitting outside the weather was beautiful.  The waiter was a rude, but it was kind of a trend.  I had spaghetti Prague Style which consisted of spaghetti with Ham and sausage and lots of cheese. 

Later that night we ended up at a bar across from the hotel that featured a live band.  It was fun just having a beer with a bunch of people.  We hung out listening to the band (Brazilian fusion) until really late.  The beer was cheap ($1.50 a pint) and the company was good.  I remember some really funny conversations with Luc (from Quebec) and James (from Australia).

Looking at the pictures I realized I took more pictures that day than any other (94 pictures).  Here are a few more:

Journey to Prague

When I last wrote I talked about the last night in Berlin.  I was sad to leave as I felt very comfortable in Berlin.  I feel I saw a lot but I also know there's so much more that I didn't get to see. 

So that morning we left on the bus to drive to Prague, in the Czech Republic.  On our way we stopped at the German town of Dresden.

Dresden was an interesting place.  We only stopped there for about two hours to get lunch and do a little shopping.  Its a tourist stop because the city is home to The Zwinger Castle.  In World War II it was subjected to contraversial bombing by British and American forces. The bombing created a massive firestorm that devasted the heart of the city.  The human tragedy and suffering of this event is what I think of more than anything when I see the pictures.  The bombing happened at the end of the war and there is debate that it may not have been of military importance.  It destroyed the Zwinger Castle and many other sites of cultural and historic importance. 

The Zwinger Castle has been rebuilt but I can't help but wonder what it looked like before.  Even if it looks similiar it felt like a recreation.  The area is gothic and ominous.  Many of the statues have turned black from pollution.  For me it felt like a very sad place.

We got back on the road and made it to the Czech Republic in a few hours.   We were stuck at the border for about an hour.  The Czech Republic is a new member of the European Union and I don't know if that had anything to do with it.  All the other countries I entered (Netherlands, Germany, and Austria) were pretty easy.   But at the Czech border we gave them our passports and it took an hour to get them stamped while we waited on the bus.

After arriving in Prague we had dinner and then went for a walk.  (Dinner was uneventful, at the hotel)

After dinner it was dark and we took a walk with Jacqui (our tour guide)  to the Old Towne center known as Jan Hus.  I took this great panoramic photo the next day.  At night the Old Town was very impressive.  The buildings are lit up and there's activity everywhere.  Our hotel was only five minutes walk from Jan Hus.  I also loved that everything in Prague was pretty much walking distance.  I didn't take the subway or a taxi the whole time I was there.

In Prague beer is a big deal.  I'm not a big beer fan, american beer is just bad tasting.  That first night we walked around until we found a bar. It was dark and had lots of personality.  And the beer was good!  The two most common beers in Prague were Budweiser (not like the U.S. at all!) and Pisner Urqell. I enjoyed both but the Budweiser was very smooth and what I drank.   And it was also very cheap.  A pint of beer that night was 30 Krona or about $1.30.  I drank beer with most meals since it was cheaper than water.

We explored the Charles Bridge at night and we made a little bit of a big deal of crossing it before finally heading back to the hotel.  It was great hanging out with the group and seeing a few of the beautiful sights.  I knew I'd enjoy the next two days in Prague.

More adventures in Berlin

After the first night I knew I was in love with Berlin.  Nothing could top the craziness of the first night so I was hoping to learn more about the city itself. 

The next morning we woke up early for a bus tour of Berlin.  We rode our bus around town taking in the sights.  It was a nice introduction to the sightseeing opportunities available. 

After the tour we were at Zoo Station on the other side of town so Chris and I went off on our own to the Botanical Gardens.  It was a good time.  I was really tired from the night before but the walking around outside was fun.  Being from the desert the lush greenery was nice.  The place was very iddylic and it looked like it was a favorite place of the locals.  It was mostly Berliners out for an afternoon walk.

Back at the hotel afterward I took a nap.  I wasn't so much jetlagged as I was exhausted from lack of sleep.  For most of the trip we were out late nights, up by 8 am and then taking a nap around 3 or 4 pm. 

That night was an event organized by the tour to go barhopping.  Our guide for the night was a 21 year old australian woman (it was her b-day).  Her goal was to get us to drink a lot.  I don't really drink much but I had a good time.  We went to three different bars.  Each was empty except for us (our group was about 30 or so). It was fun mingling with everyone.  We ended the night at dance club.  It really didn't compare to the place we went the night before.  It was pretty pedastrian.  Very well lit, american rock and pop music, and they played the beach boys.  It wasn't quite what I was hoping for. 

Eventually we left to explore on our own.  But somehow we all ended up back at the hotel at the 24 Hour Kabab place around the corner.  Falafel is good after a night of drinking.

The next morning we were up early again.  This time for a three hour walking tour of Berlin. By now I was getting comfortable with the subway and walking everywhere.  My feet had been okay but this day they took a lot of abuse.  It was nine hours of straight walking.

The tour was lead by an american that everyone later nicknamed Matt Damon because of the resemblence.  I liked him a lot, he reminded me of friends in Boston.  He told us alot of the history of Berlin.  The city is over 800 years old so lots has happened.

A few things that stood out... The Nazi Book Burning Memorial was simple and powerful.  Its pane of glass in the ground that looks into a room full of empty book cases.  The Nazi's burned 20,000 books in that square.  The plaque has a quote from an 18th century writer that said "Where books are burned, people will be burned".  The quote refers to the Spanish Inquisition.  Its haunting to think about.

The Brandenburg Gate was huge and iconic.  The story of the Berlin Wall surrounding the city and basically trapping east berliners really hit me when we were at the gate.  During the 28 years the wall stood the Brandenburg Gate was in the middle of two walls.  It was in No Man's Land.  So during all that time no one was able to walk through the gate.  The act of walking through the gate had real significance to me.

After the walking tour I went with Natalie to the Antiquities Museum.  We had lunch at this cool Pizzaria.  It was this huge hall and it had a timelessness to it.  Though I doubt it was much older than WWII, I could imagine people gathering for meals in the same place hundreds of years earlier. 

The museum was a blur we didn't have time to look around, we just went for the Egyptian exhibit.  We saw the bust of Nefertiti. She really was a beautiful woman.  It reminded me of old movie stars. 

Then we walked some more to catch the subway to Zoo Station.  Natalie and I met up with Chris.  We then walked down to visit our coworker Oliver.  It was a pleasant visit.  I'd met him once before but didn't know if him hardly at all.  It was also a chance to see how a Berliner lived.  He was a great host and has a wonderful family.  We joked about me coming to work with him in the Berlin offices. 

Being our last night in Berlin we spent it trying to squeeze in a few more sights.  I knew we would run out of time and there would be things we'd miss.  We'd wanted to go to the top of the Reichstag but couldn't get there in time. 

I cherish the time I spent in Berlin and hope to return in the not so distant future.  Being in Berlin was like drinking a fine wine, with complexity and depth.  The sights and history definitely interest me.  But there's also the nightlife and the energy of a bustling metropolis.  Things were fast paced and hectic, or wild and crazy. ;-). Another crazy night in Berlin could have left me needing another vacation.

First day in Berlin

I've been back from Europe since Sunday and I've been putting off writing a blog entry.  I've been struggling with the size of the journey.  This vacation was overflowing with new experiences and just as I can't sum up what its meant to me... Its hard for me to even start writing about it. But here goes...

We left on friday morning on a much too early flight out of Phoenix.  It was exciting preparing for the trip and it felt a little surreal.  I kept having to cancel plans with the lame excuse "Oh, sorry I can't be there I'll be in Europe". Mentally I didn't realize just how far away Europe was from my life in Arizona.

The plane ride was long and uneventful.  I listened to lots of music and watched a few movies.  Over The Hedge was surprisingly funny, I almost watched it twice. ;-).  On arriving in Amsterdam for our connecting flight to Berlin we found out the cute woman behind us was on our tour.  I'd introduced myself and Chris and I soon found out her name was Natalie.  She is from Cleveland, and speaks Russian which was entertaining since I took russian in college.  She would be with us for several adventures...

Once in Berlin we took a well needed nap and then walked around the neighborhood.  Everything was very green and it reminded me of Japan.  It felt foreignbut still very comfortable.

That night we met the tour group for dinner.  It was a good time and the people that sat our table would become good friends by the end of the tour.  Its funny how the first night set the mood.  There were people from all over the world.  I made friends with a brother and sister from the Phillippines.  I also met a few of the many canadians on the tour.

We started talking about going out that night to see the town.  By now it was Saturday night in Berlin and I wanted to see what the city had to offer.  Chris, Natalie and I left the hotel and made our way to Schonberg Allee where we had heard about a club called White Trash Fast Food.

( I'd like to pause here and say - I love Berlin! )

Saturday night in Berlin was worth the cost of the trip.  There were so many people out walking, there was music coming from every direction, the city just felt alive and it made me feel alive.  We got a little lost looking for the club and saw an absinthe bar.  Before coming to Europe I had been curious about trying absinthe.

Inside it was dark and smokey and pretty crowded.  We found the last table in the place and were soon accosted but a group of rowdy Englishmen.  According to their fearless leader they'd been drinking for four days.  In between singing pub songs they gave us drink recommendations.  We had several Absinthe and Redbulls which were surprisingly good!  And then tried several types of Absinthe. I'm not a big drinker but I liked it.  The whole preperation with the sugar cube, the spoon and lighting it on fire is part of the experience.  I recommend trying it. ;-)

We eventually left to resume the search for White Trash Fast Food.  I was tipsy and really enjoying myself.  We found the club and it wasn't what we were expecting.  We walked in and were seated in a restuarant with a jazz guitar player on the stage.  It was a strange looking place but not what we looking for.  I excused myself to find the bathroom and I followed the signs to the basement.  After using the restroom I heard some music.

Really good music. ;-)

In the basement is the dance club, its this long cavern with a low ceiling.  Industrial music was blasting and the dance floor was packed.  After going up stairs to get Natalie and Chris we hit the dance floor.  As far as I could tell it was all germans in the place.  They danced aggressively and the energy was off the chart. This was a hardcore, wear you out, sweat pouring off you, dance 'til you drop kind of club.

After about 45 minutes the music stops and a band takes the stage.  The band is called Smatka and featured a beautiful German/Polish woman.  It was dancey rock music, lots of synths and cool beats.  The singer kept losing more and more clothes. ;-).  We were right up front and she interacted it with us.  I got to sing into the mic twice.  (I was so excited I couldn't catch my breath to sing)  She and Chris were dancing together.  It just rocked.

As the set ended it was time to go.  We left the club and it was raining outside.  I was soaked with sweat so it felt wonderful.  We grabbed a cab that had just pulled up, it only cost us 8 euros to get to the hotel.  Back at the hotel I stood in the rain for a bit and even danced a little.  I was euphoric.

And that was the first night in Berlin.

( larger versions of images available on my flickr account )

Home again

I'm home from my trip to Europe.  The last ten days have been wonderful.  I had many (mis)adventures.  I really loved Berlin, Prague and Vienna.  I have promised myself I will return to the Charles Bridge in Prague.  Its a beautiful place.

I posted pictures from my trip on flickr.