St. Vitus, Prague
This post is not winning any headline contests. Per yesterday’s entry on Prague, I wanted to post a few additional photos of the St. Vitus cathedral, located up on the big castle hill in Prague.
But first, who is St. Vitus? According to Wikipedia, he is a Christian saint from Sicily (nice!), and is also considered the patron saint of actors, comedians, dancers, and … uhhh … epileptics. According to Wiki, “He is also said to protect against lightning strikes, animal attacks and oversleeping, and is the patron saint of Bohemia.”
So, Bohemia … now we’re getting somewhere.
This is the most important church in Prague, designed in Gothic style (living in Europe has definitely improved my architectural vocabulary), and is by and far one of my favorite churches in Europe. I think right now, my favorite cathedral is still St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, but that’s kind of like saying your favorite food is chocolate cake. It’s just obvious (at least to me). Maybe at some point I’ll be more creative.
The present-day church is located where three holy buildings have historically been constructed for the dancing saint — with the founding of the current church, pictured below, in 1344. So, it’s wicked old, making it even more awesome.
Here are some more outdoor and indoor pics, including some from our climb to the top (others included in last Prague post).
Past Due: Prague
So, the problem with blogging is that I’m inconsistent. I admire backpackers who can travel for 6 months, and blog for 160 of those days, while sleeping in hostels with spotty internet or crashing on a stranger’s couch. Then there’s me — I come home to a nice apartment, with pretty reliable internet (by German standards) and can’t manage to blog more than every other trip — on which I stay in hotels or bed & breakfasts.
Just two days ago (in real time), we finished a tour of the Rhine River and Romantic Road in Germany. However, since I never finished blogging about our Eastern Europe trilogy (Austria, Bratislava, and Prague) that happened in February, I will now post some pictures and commentary from Prague.
And to complete the timeline for you — Prague happened in February; then there was a trip to London in March, when we got to surprise Breighton (more on that later), I got to see “Spain Kate” who I haven’t seen in ELEVEN YEARS, and Jeff and I survived horrific food poisoning; a trip to the US (for me) in March/early April; a trip to Oslo in late April; and then the Rhine River/Southern Germany tour. Clearly, we’re turning on the travel heat since we’re leaving in less than a year. Oh, and I still am working (as is Jeff, obviously) so we’ve been a little busy.
PRAGUE
I would say the highlights of Prague are as follows, and in no particular order:
- Free NewEurope Prague tour. This was about three hours and hit all the main sites. It was also a foundation that the company used to build groups for their paid tours. We also did a paid Prague Castle tour, which frankly, wasn’t as good. Pictures from both are below (more on the Castle and the Jewish quarter later!).
- The beer. Cheapest in Europe — half liter, about a Euro. And generally, it’s pretty inexpensive.
- King Charles Bridge, the building of which began in the 1300s. Not overrated.
- St. Vitus Cathedral up at the Prague Castle. Most amazing stained glass I’ve seen, and also some of the most elaborate tombs for Holy Roman Emperors and Bohemian Kings. This has Westminster Abbey beat by about 1,000 points in my book (more of those shots in next post).
- The clock tower is pretty cool once you know the history; but before that, you wonder why it’s so famous. Then, you learn things like this: the builder/engineer of the 600-year old astronomical clock was blinded and muted (tongue cut off) so he could never build another clock like it elsewhere. Who needs confidentiality agreements, non-disclosures, non-competes, or any other legal brainchild when you can just poke someone’s eyes out and cut off their tongue?!
- Climbing the clock tower for a great view of Old Town Square.
- Pretty much everywhere you look there’s something awesome and ornate to look at. Prague was not bombed at all in the last century’s wars, so it’s pretty well preserved.
The “low lights”:
- Prague in February is FREEZING. Seriously, FREEZING. Thank God for my robe-like puffy jacket, hot wine to drink, and hot pastry.
- I think that’s it. Really, in the spring, this place would be perfect.
Here are some pictures. I took well over 500, so it’s hard to pick. But this is a rough sampling… I actually have more on the iPad of the Prague Castle that I will upload in the next post! Also, these are completely out of order because WordPress is currently having a temper tantrum, but you get the idea.
Old Town Square — view from the clock tower.
Views of Old Town square and church from the clock tower. One tower is actually larger than the other — said to represent masculinity (Adam). Or, just a clever story to cover up the work of a sloppy architect.
Town Square at night.
Back of St. George’s Cathedral, up at the Prague Castle.
St. George’s cathedral to the right.
St. George.
View from steps heading down from Prague Castle.
The sparkling St. Vitus.
St. Vitus
More St. Vitus
Rear view and flying buttresses, St. Vitus Cathedral, up at the Prague Castle.
Inside St. Vitus Cathedral. The light through the stained glass gave the interior a watercolor finish.
I believe this is inside St. Nicholas church. Outside shots farther down!
Rose Window, St. Vitus Cathedral.
Heading back down from the Prague castle.
castle
St. Nicholas cathedral, or simply “the Santa Claus Church.”
Old town square, church towers.
Clock tower. You can see the red piece of building in the middle, which is all that remains of the original town hall.
Up-close on clock. We learned that in addition to the time, this clock tells you what “day” it is — but not in the traditional sense. Every day is associated with a saint’s name. So, back in the day, you would have a birthday and a “nameday.” Also, the statues from left to right are: Vanity, Greed, Death, and Infidel.
Stairs and elevator up to the top of the clock tower.
One of the towers, Prague.
A reenactment being performed by members of our tour group.
A “selfie.” You can see the snow flakes coming down.
In this shot, you can tell we’re still novices when it comes to the self portraits. However, the real highlight here is the cheap beer!
Old town square, church towers.
One view from the Charles Bridge at night.
Delicious pastry made on a rotating spit. Goes well with hot, mulled wine.
The making of a delicious pastry.
The conscience of Don Giovanni outside of the Estates Theater.
Estates Theater — the only theater that held Mozart’s operas that is still active today.
Best night shot we took of the Prague Castle from the Charles Bridge. I wanted to try for more, but the fingers were shaking and purple.
We didn’t go to the museum, but we were amused by the signs.
John Lennon wall.
John Lennon phone booth.
Just strollin’
Strolling.
A quintessential Jeff shot — beer, cake, and map.
The dancing house — Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
The “stop taking pictures; I must find coffee NOW” face. I am pretty sure I’m also making this face now because this blog is taking FOREVER. I also must have coffee. So more shots to come later from what remains on camera!
Just rip it off — a review of German veterinary medicine
Following removal of the “claw.”
Rip it off, take it off*, cut you off**, flip you off***. There seems to be an underlying haste in this country, or at least in Köln, underscored by our visits to the vet — which I mostly appreciate.
Rewind a few months: Kaya has some weird fetal-looking claw growing from one of her toes. We go to vet, where her doctor proceeds to tear it off, glove-less, roll it around in her fingers a few times, shrug, say “huh,” stick it on a slide, and tell me to call back in a few days with the results of the “biopsy.” Only after this hasty maneuver does she put antibiotic ointment on the now-gushing hole in Kaya’s foot, wrap it in gauze, and send us off on our way. I was initially quite shocked, but Kaya is still with us.
Now, fast-forward a few months to last week. Breezy has a similarly strange growth on the lower part of her little peg-leg. So, we go to the vet, where the doctor — again, glove-less — squeezes it hard and … tears it off! Only this time she opts NOT to send it off to the lab because, “if it doesn’t grow back, it’s likely not cancer.” It has not grown back. Breezy also received an antibiotic shot and some friendly pats accompanied by, “Du bist ein gutes Mädchen!” (Repeat x 10, at least). (Translation: “You are a good girl!”)
Total cost per visit: Less than 30 Euros.
Compare this to the U.S., where we’d have to come back in a few days for a scheduled “surgical” procedure, complete with scalpels, rubber gloves, and all sorts of antiseptics, likely to the tune of $200-$300. What we get instead is German vet-the-ripper, but I’m surprisingly OK with it.
Yes, the dogs are my children, but they are also dogs. They roll in and ingest random animal feces. They inhale entire chicken wings. They swallow toy pigs and rubber chickens. They drink out of toilets and pick through the trash. They sniff butts. And, they walk around bare-pawed and naked even when it’s 20 degrees out and snowing.
And generally, the vets here are less expensive, more interested in natural treatments, and are not inclined to test every freckle (I swear, Breezy received a shot comprised of crushed maple leaves and pine bark to support her immune system one day).**** Plus, they are quite affectionate with the dogs (and speak English).
So, I’m not really sure what the moral of the story is. Perhaps that culture shock can sometimes just be shocking (hence the term), but in some cases, these other cultures might get it right (or at least not wrong). Therefore, I’m learning to accept.
Now, I’m still not sure how to handle the aggressiveness while waiting in line, nor am I yet accustomed to the supersonic grocery scanners. I’ll get back to you.
Notes:
*Human doctors in Germany pretty much always want you to take your clothes off. When in doubt (or when you don’t understand what they’re saying), just get naked.
**Cars here, at least on our street, are prone to aggressive maneuvers, particularly around our small “roundabout” (or rotary, as we call them in MA).
***If you (as a hypothetical German) get cut off or beeped at by another person in a car/van/three-wheeled miniature truck, you are likely to then run down the street screaming at the offender with both middle fingers up. My neighbor is a great case study on this one. (The term likely might be a stretch since I haven’t conducted statistical research).
****Dr. Meg, you are exempt from the criticism of American vets. But you are probably also not reading this.
Bratislava: A nice little Eastern European day trip
Jeff and I went to Bratislava on a whim (sort of), and I’m glad we did. It’s just about an hour train ride from Vienna, and here’s a fun fact: Bratislava, Slovakia, and Vienna, Austria, are the two closest national capitals in the world (source: my husband, probably dictating from a Rick Steves book).
I loved the city. It’s small and walkable, mostly recovered from its communist past, with its wear and tear a bit more evident on a lot of buildings compared to its more “posh” neighbors. But, I like that because it feels a little bit more real to me. The city is not touristy, it is cheap (we paid about 40 Euros per night for our bed and breakfast), it is colorful (both the buildings and the apparent art scene), and the food is really good. Needless to say, I would recommend this as a day trip. I’m sure it’s even more beautiful in the summer with a blue sky, green trees, and an active main square. Plus, it sounds like even during the heavier tourist season, it’s still not a major destination — so it may offer a nice break from all the camera-toting crazies.
As an aside, what is with tourists using iPads as cameras? The pictures are terrible! And PS, you look ridiculous.
Regardless, here’s a really good blog post from our favorite travel writer about the city. Worth a read: Blooming Bratislava.
And here are a few (well, several) pics from our day there.
Jeff and Hans Christian Andersen. I made them hold hands. Big hands, Hans.
Rubberneck. According to Bratislava’s tourist website: “A unique Bratislava curiosity: no other city in the world has a statue emerging from a manhole. After Rubberneck had lost his head twice due to careless drivers city councillors decided to help him by erecting a road sign to warn drivers: another world-first…” (Source: http://visit.bratislava.sk/en/vismo/dokumenty2.asp?id_org=700014&id=1225&p1=3993).
Jeff and Rubberneck.
According to the city’s tourism site: “This statue commemorates a unique figure in Bratislava’s history. Not a statesmen, a sportsman or soldier: instead, the Schöner Naci, whose real name was Ignác Lamár, is remembered for being one of Bratislava’s social institutions. Born in 1897, he was famous for wandering the streets of the city, elegant in morning suit and top hat. He would frequently doff his hat to the ladies he passed and offer them flowers or a song.” (Source: http://visit.bratislava.sk/en/vismo/zobraz_dok.asp?id_org=700014&id_ktg=1037&p1=3993).
Napoleon’s Solider statue in the town square.
Here he is again, with more of the square in the background. I’d love to see this place in the summer.
Hey bear, raise the roof.
Random celebrity grills.
A run-down church. I’m pretty sure the doors were locked.
I push for wine.
Basically sums up my feelings about life.
Inspecting the beer for alcohol content.
Yum.
A nice cozy lunch and a break from the cold rain.
Shot of Bratislava Castle from town. It was such a nice, sunny day.
A glimpse of St. Martin’s Cathedral, the largest in Bratislava, known for the coronation of many rulers, including Maria Theresia — the only female ruler of the Habsburg dynasty.
Narrow roads.
Not entirely sure.
A perfectly safe-feeling rundown neighborhood.
Every town has a little ghetto.
LOVE this door. Slightly obsessed with European doorways.
Another random street without a person in sight. Don’t you love these captions? I just hate how the photos look so bare without any words to accompany them.
Closing in on the Cathedral. Unfortunately,the doors were locked when we arrived the first day, so we finally went inside Wednesday morning before we left.
Do you have the key to my angelic, alien TV heart?
Jeff with alien tower in the background.
St. Martin’s.
UFO tower.
After a 45-second elevator ride to the top of the UFO tower, you are offered a nice view from the bathroom.
You are also offered a nice view of the castle and cathedral from the open-air lookout tower. (This shot was taken before I realized I could leave the shutter open on my camera somewhat indefinitely. Oh well, still learning. Plus, Jeff was getting a little tired of me dorking around with the settings. So, we began our journey to the castle.).
Atop the UFO tower.
Heading across the bridge that connects the UFO lookout tower to the old town and essentially divides the city down the middle. It is rumored that this highway will eventually be built as a tunnel underground. If it’s anything like the Big Dig in Boston, it might be a few generations before the project is completed.
Heading to the castle…
Met a nice dog along the way.
Getting closer.
Closer.
There!
We had a wonderful and delicious dinner, but don’t recommend ordering the “headcheese.” Sounded good, as it was dressed with caramelized onions… not so much.
A miniature outdoor “van Gogh” exhibit.
And a monument dedicated to the rack of a female superhero. This one’s for you, Jeff. (Actually, I haven’t a clue what this is. Strange for what appears to be a residential courtyard).
Vienna Day 3: Just the two of us. Gold tableware. And procrastination.
As it turns out, I’m much more interested in blogging than doing my real job, which is about to rear its ugly head and bite me in the ass. Oh well. Here’s what will likely be my final post for the working week. I know all 25 of our readers will be sitting at the edges of their seats.
The Habsburgs (based in Austria and then later Prague) ruled a ton of central/eastern Europe for several hundred years (you can read about them here), and on Monday, Jeff and I toured part of their enormous palace in Vienna, which is now broken up into a number of museums. We opted for the silver/china, Queen SiSi, and Royal Apartments package tour.
I seriously almost never get sick of seeing how the royal once lived. It seems utterly excessive, but I can’t help but wish these palaces would open a camp for adults, where you could dress in old royal garb, sleep in freezing cold canopy beds, and tinkle in a pot for a couple days. Okay, so a lot of it really wasn’t so glamorous, but it would be really cool to be transported back just for a few hours — even as a fly on one of those gilded walls. I would, of course, also be interested in how the other 99.99999999 (“with a bar”) percent lived. I’d probably need to learn how to build a fire, but I could do it.
From the palace, we were finally able to get into the Stephansdom. Only took three tries! Fortunately, it is still a functioning church, unlike some we have toured. It was beautiful, but I had a hard time capturing a decent photo, even with my rad camera. I just was not feeling extremely patient.
We also walked inside the baroque St. Peter’s church. While I’m not a student of architecture, baroque to me has come to mean dripping with opulence, and also excessively … excessive. Certainly not humble, nor does it seem terribly holy to me. Oh, well. What else would tourists do without these grand sites?
More pics from day three below!
Next, we were off to Bratislava, Slovakia.
Outside of Habsburg Palace.
Cold, bored horses.
Palace staircase.
Some insane gold tableware, Habsburg silver collection.
Habsburg gold/silver collection.
Loved this plate. Mädchen mit Hund.
Small church we visited prior to entering the palace.
Inside of small church. Even the seemingly insignificant looking churches from the outside are more impressive than anything we have in the US.
Statue outside of palace.
Inside the baroque-style St. Peter’s Church. Ridiculous.
Had some tiny sandwiches at Trzesniewski.
So good.
And tiny beers. Pinky out!
After the tiny beers, we needed to use the public toilets.
And then we finally made it to Stephansdom, with the “Tupperware-colored” windows, as Rick Steves calls them.
Inside Stephansdom. I was having trouble getting a good shot of this church. From here, we warmed up with some hot chocolate, coffee and cake. And that pretty much concludes Vienna!
Vienna Day 2: Like Moths to a Flame
On the second day, the three of us started our day with yogurt, gouda, and some coffee we made at the apartment we rented.
As an aside on the apartment … We used Vacation Rentals by Owner to find it, and I think this is a great way to go if you’re staying somewhere for a few days — it just feels more homey, and it provides the option for making your own breakfast, especially if you enjoy real food and not just air-filled croissants and pastries. It was a nice place, with a kitchen and big bathroom, master bedroom, and big living area that included two twin beds. Aside from our flu-infested neighbors (who owned the place), and my mysterious case of the sniffles that appeared two days later, we were mostly satisfied. However, the owner was a little stingy with the toilet paper — TWO ROLLS ONLY! Very German for a French dude. Also, we needed 4 keys to get into the place. It was like Fort Knox, and I’m almost positive that in the event of a fire, we would all roast — because you also need the keys to GET OUT. I don’t understand this European way. In Cologne, we have no smoke detectors installed in our apartment, and I could literally lock someone into our pad.
Back to our day: first stop was the Hundertwasserhaus, a modern-art residence that sort of reminded me a bit of Gaudi architecture in Barcelona. Here we “made” a bunch of photos (we were too early for the tour), and took a scenic walk — featuring much graffiti — along the river to our next stop.
Next stop — Karlskirche, where we actually climbed the stairway to heaven. This was a beautiful church and an icon often used to represent the city. While there was some construction and renovation within the church, we were able to take advantage of the scaffolding to get really close to the artwork on the inner part of the dome. Beauteous!
Next up, some penguins and the gilded Strauss statue, where it was difficult to get a decent photo of this famous violinist due to the recently unfettered tour group. You would have thought Strauss was handing out gold bullion. I take offense when large groups swarm monuments. I know you paid a lot for your seat on that bus, but please get out of the way.
Then, we finally made it inside the Opera House. Here we learned the theater puts on about 70 (if memory serves me correctly) different shows per season, without ever performing the same show on consecutive nights (they’re performed in threes, I think). So, if you’re visiting for several days, you can go for a few nights in a row and see something new each time. On the tour, we also had a chance to see the debutantes practicing for the upcoming Wiener ball, where admission is 250 Euros, dress code is formal/coattails, and box seats cost around 18,500 Euros. I will watch it on TV, thanks.
After some delicious goulash and the local pancake specialty, we attempted to get inside Stephansdom for the second time. But, mass was taking place AGAIN. So we climbed 300+ stairs to the top of one of the towers. It was actually a pretty disappointing climb for all the effort since the stairs simply deposit you into a gift shop with dirty windows, offering a sub-par view.
Anyway – here are some photos from the day.
Outside Hundertwasserhaus.
Hundertwasserhaus.
Lindsay and random dog. I told her to bend over to get her in the shot, although it was actually unnecessary. I still think it’s cute!
Dog patiently waiting for owner.
I love how Lindsay’s outfit matches the graffiti in this picture!
Cool.
A penguin fountain that apparently only serves as a fountain when it’s above freezing.
Like moths to a flame.
The beautiful Karlskirche.
Stairway to heaven.
Actually, it was more like an elevator to heaven for the majority of the climb. Lindsay only appears to be relaxed in this picture.
Nice close-ups of the frescoes.
Rejected. Back to Earth he goes.
An inside shot of the cathedral.
Huge church doors.
Inside Vienna Opera House — lobby/main stairway.
The auditorium.
Opera house.
Inside opera house.
Attempting to get a shot of the debutantes practicing for the ball.
It took us a while to find a decent lunch stop since smoking is still allowed in most restaurants. In search of a non-smoking section, I found these ancient hieroglyphics of male/female anatomy.
Traditional goulash and dumplings!
My protein-rich lunch.
Feeling pleasantly plump.
Stephansdom – take 2. A view from the gift shop at the top of 300 stairs.
Stephansplatz. I love how the Dom reflects in the windows of this modern building.
Famous public restrooms. Jeff and I actually used them on day 3.
Of course, we ended the night with … cake! Rick told us to go here.
Treats.
Vienna Day 1: The Good Life
We just returned last night from a week in Vienna, Bratislava, and Prague. I will start with a recap of Vienna — day 1. I actually wrote this in notepad on the train from Vienna to Bratislava, so let’s blame any typos on that …
Vienna feels a lot like Paris to me with old, unique, and heavily decorated buildings everywhere you turn, lots of cafés, and wide streets (implemented to help prevent enemies from barricading the main thoroughfares — a best practice from the Parisians, actually).
Our good friend Lindsay was able to join us for a couple of days, as she was traveling to Europe for a wind energy conference (coincidentally, I type this as we pass a bunch of wind turbines on our train to Bratislava. Maybe they’re GE’s!).
Jeff and I arrived last Friday — Jeff from Budapest following a work trip, and I from Cologne (where else?). Lindsay joined us Saturday morning after a red-eye.
On our first day, we attempted and failed to time a tour of the Vienna Opera House, making our first real major stop the famous Cafe Sacher for sachertorte (pic below) and delicious, overpriced coffee (we girls got ours with egg rum). At least we have our priorities straight — coffee and chocolate! Jeff ordered some Turkish blend, which to me looked more like coffee-flavored sludge than a beverage, but it was appropriate due to some Turkish influence in Vienna.
From here, we went to the Schönbrunn Palace, the summer home of the royal Hapsburg family. The “Rococo”-style (baroque) palace has more than 1,400 rooms. We toured only 50, which was plenty. Audio guide in hand, we learned a lot of interesting facts that I don’t really remember. Having seen lots of residences/palaces in Europe (Versailles, Brühl, the Residence in Munich, Marksburg Castle, many in Copenhagen, etc), I have to say that I really liked the pace of this tour. It is here we learned of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria (known as “SiSi”), with her knee-length hair, who lived a tragic life that ended with her assassination by a file while visiting Italy. More on her later.
After visiting the “gardens,” which isn’t much to see on a freezing, rainy winter day (we used our imaginations), we went –shivering and wet — for some lunch. Aside from the bad chianti we were charged for, the pizza was huge and delicious, and I was able to dry my feet on the heater I was essentially sitting on. Did I mention my elf boots have sprung a leak?
From here we went to Stephansdom for the FIRST time, with our Rick Steve’s audio guide in hand. Stephansdom is Austria’s largest cathedral and literally sits in the center of Vienna. It is also “sehr alt” — built in the 12th century (groundbreaking in 1137, to be precise).
At this point in our journey, it had stopped raining, but the wind had picked up. The inside of the church was closed for mass (well, technically open for mass, but closed to camera-toting tourists), but we were able to at least complete the outside portion of Rick Steves’ audio tour (FYI, Rick has free downloadable tours for many cities and sites in Europe. Despite his often flowery speech, the tours are awesome!). From here, we walked /trained home, stopping for some chocolate on the way. Vienna, like almost ever other city in Europe (it seems), is known for sweets. This makes Jeff very happy.
Here are some day 1 photos! Enjoy. More on day 2 tomorrow.
Welcome, Lindsay. And a little view of our apartment rental.
Vienna town hall.
Jeff and Lindsay, the tour guides.
Candid!
Vienna Parliament. Nice scenery on our walk to the Opera House.
Looking surprised by something!
Listening to the Rick Steves’ walking tour of Vienna outside of the Opera House. Unfortunately, no tour today.
Cafe Sacher. That is some strong Turkish coffee!
Sacher torte and delightful coffee-rum beverage.
Wet tour of the gardens. Pic from Jeff’s phone.
Hiking up big hill to the top of the Schönbrunn Palace gardens. (Pic from Jeff’s phone, so it’s a little grainy).
Inside palace in the only location we were allowed to take pictures.
Beautiful building in Schönbrunn Palace gardens. We were tempted by the overpriced (and warm) cafe inside, but resisted.
Cute umbrella purchased for the day.
View of palace from the hill. It was well worth the hike.
I’m not sure that’s enough, Lindsay.
Outside of Stephansdom, Vienna.
Another shot of the massive, gothic cathedral.
The one inside shot we could get during mass — and our first attempt of an inside tour.
Late-night candy stop!
The main canals, bike paths, and coffee shops of Amsterdam
Jeff and I took the train to Amsterdam in mid-November. It was just about a 3-hour journey, which makes it a shame it took us so long to get there.
Amsterdam is a colorful city in many ways: the flower markets and tulips, the streets and street signs, the doorways and bikes, and the people themselves. It is also a fast-paced city, with danger seeming to lurk at every corner, especially for those with a limited attention span and deficient ability to focus. Fortunately, I am still alive to tell the tale.
In stark comparison to the orderly ways of German drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists, the Amsterdam motto just seems to be “Accelerate when you can and go where you fit.” So, yes, you may be on a sidewalk, but beware — cars will go there. Also, like here in Cologne, the trains/”trams” ride alongside traffic in the streets but in places you don’t always expect. So, watch out!
Similar to Venice and Bruges (two of my favorite places), Amsterdam is a city with an elaborate canal system, built up with beautiful, narrow homes that are essentially soldered together one after the other. The city is also known more for its museums, art, and history than its huge buildings and monuments of architectural grandeur. But we all know what it’s most notorious for…and, while we obviously did not indulge in that, its presence was known to anyone with their olfactory senses in tact.
And a tour of the Red Light district was definitely in the top half of my list, along with Van Gogh museum (forgot the exact name) and the Anne Frank house (how cultural we are!). What wasn’t on my list, but that we greatly enjoyed included: a comedy show (in English), Indian food (the #2 restaurant in Amsterdam), and the Sex Museum. Yes, I’ll admit it, we went to the Sex Museum. But, it is an actual museum with educational significance, not a novelty shop. There were plenty of the latter elsewhere.
Here are some photos from the trip, more or less summarizing the experience.
Bikes, Bikes, Bikes
Here is a parking garage … for bikes!
Oh, so very Dutch.
Standing on the back of dad’s bike while talking on a cell phone. How very safe, indeed.
Canal Houses and House Boats
Canal homes and a houseboat.
Canal shot
Canal homes. These really beg for captions, don’t they?
And another…how cool.
And another one…
Houseboat and potted plants. Are you beginning to feel like you’re reading a children’s book?
Canal homes and a houseboat.
Coffee Shops
Seeds on every corner.
Oooh, dying for a reservation!
In case you had any questions.
Love the signage.
Self-explanatory.
Self-explanatory.
Street of temptation.
I love the guy who has caught a glimpse of me from inside the window.
Pancakes and cheese wheels! Oh, and Dutch apple pie.
That is a pancake with bacon!
Buying in bulk?
Cheese wheels bigger than your head.
Opened the trip with some Dutch apple pie!
Last day of pancakes. We had one a day.
So, this is not a pancake, but it is really amazing local food. Peas, bacon and an assortment of pickled items. Strange how amazingly delicious this was.
Cool Doorways and entrances
I want this door on my next home.
I almost fell into about a dozen of these.
Interesting church entrance.
The Anne Frank House
Waiting in the 1+ hour line. I love the expressions on people’s faces.
An amazing and somber place. In walking the floors of the home, you realize how absolutely impossible it must have been to keep quiet.
A view across the canal, opposite the Anne Frank House.
A view of Anne Frank’s house at night. Notice the blackened windows. This was required to help avoid/prevent air strikes at night.
And on a more positive note: flower shops!
Colorful flower markets right outside of our rented apartment. We purchased some bulbs. I’ll update you on the progress of actually turning them into flowers.
In short, Amsterdam was fantastic. Go there — explore, visit museums, eat pancakes.
Frohes Weinachten und Gutes neues Jahr!
New Year’s resolution number one: start blogging again. It’s amazing how awful we’ve been at this. Truly.
So many things have happened since we last blogged. We visited Munich, Nuremberg, and Amsterdam, experienced our first Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s in Germany, and had quite a bit of fun in the process. I will post pictures from our trips this week. Promise.
In the meantime, some commentary on the holidays.
Thanksgiving
Obviously, this is not a German holiday. I’m surprised they haven’t adopted it here, however, in the spirit of working less, closing grocery stores, and as an additional excuse for slacking in customer service. Fortunately, this is not the case because planning is not my forte. I was able to successfully purchase last-minute items on Thanksgiving DAY for my garlic mashed potatoes and bacon-grease infused green beans I took with me to our neighborhood Thanksgiving (with friends and a family of Jeff’s colleagues, of course). Despite missing my family greatly, this was one of the tastier Turkey Days I’ve experienced in recent history — likely because everyone brought their culinary A-game to one or two dishes! And who knew that pilots and their spouses were such a culinary bunch.
Following Thanksgiving, we had a smaller, more intimate German-style Thanksgiving, at which our half-German couple friends (Emily and Nick) cooked goose, with a side of purple cabbage and apples and dumplings. Quite Deutsch! Oh, I must not forget the chestnuts they added to the gravy (I love them; Jeff doesn’t). Mmm. mmm. We hosted. They did most of the work. I’m generally OK with that arrangement.
Thanksgiving with goose!
Goose, cabbage, dumplings — oh my!
Christmas
The Christmas traditions of the U.S. are pretty much German traditions, so being here is pretty awesome. To summarize things quite simply — Germans love and wholeheartedly embrace this holiday, so it’s quite festive! The best part, Christmas markets and Glühwein. Christmas markets (or, Weinachtsmarktes) are essentially these mini craft fairs, where local craftsman set up shop and sell ornaments, art, food, knick-knacks, etc., all while people walk around sloshed on warm, mulled vino. It’s pretty amazing.
On Christmas Day, Jeff and I enjoyed being together — with the dogs — for the first time, ever, I think. We indulged in a feast with friends on both Christmas day and New Year’s.
The New Year’s tradition in Köln, and all of Germany (I think), is to light off as many fireworks and other explosives as possible (unfortunately for us, this terrifies our dog Kaya and leads to explosive something else). In fact, commercial-grade fireworks are even sold in grocery stores the week leading up to Jan. 1.
We witnessed children blowing off smaller fireworks in the street in front of moving cars, and we saw one local almost blow off a hand (and maybe a face) by closely inspecting what he thought was a dud (it wasn’t). I think this article sums up the Germany holiday nicely: “New Year in Germany is full of suicidal charm.”
(For whatever reason, WordPress is not letting me upload photos and then text, so here are a random selection of shots from what I just described.) Happy new year! Hopefully I will blog again before next year…
Market at the Kölner Dom.
The markets are exceptionally crowded. Especially on weekends. I might have some permanently Glühwein-stained clothing.
Enjoying the markets with friends
Enjoying their new Christmas dog toy.
Attempting to get dogs in the photo! FAIL.
Jeff modeling his new sweater and PJ pants on our little Christmas “picnic” blanket.
Kaya and tree.
Christmas table “scape” — minus the food. I was really impressed with the layout.
Holiday party at the Pullman.
New Year’s — the aftermath.
Happy 2013!
Holy cow! An update.
So, we’ve been delinquent in posting. I guess you can say we’ve been busy, or not. Busy in Germany is different than “busy” was in the U.S. Some days, I honestly am at a loss for where the time has gone. Every day I spend at least 15 minutes translating. But, the remaining 23 hours and 45 minutes … I don’t know. Work, feeding, climbing up and down the stairs between our apartment and the laundry room, walking meine hunde.
The intent of this post is to serve as a brief update and launching board for the rebirth of our blog. And it’s mostly for family because certainly, no one else cares.
Ready?? Here are some bullets:
- In late July, Jeff and I visited Brussels, Belgium, and Bruges, Belgium. We rented a car and dragged the dogs along. I am honestly surprised Kaya survived the journey. Bruges was my absolute favorite, and it’s true what “they” say about Belgian beer and chocolate (and waffles). They don’t get any better. But what they don’t say is that people in Brussels are kind of mean. I don’t know — maybe it’s just me. I will elaborate more in the post (with pictures) to come!
- In late August, I went home to Massachusetts to see my family. My sister was (but no longer is) at home, so it was nice to be back in the house — all four of us. The entire Eckelkamp clan. In the process, I also got to spend some quality time with friends and family. Jeff stayed in Cologne/Europe because he had to work.
- Upon returning, we didn’t do much traveling. We’re actually kind of bad at that. I worked a lot, in preparation for a conference in September. In the meantime, B-rock came to visit for a design show, and we enjoyed some fine local cuisine/Kölsch and then ventured off to Paris. I would say the highlight of Paris was visiting the Moulin Rouge district. The “lowlight” was when I almost passed out in a Paris subway station whilst alone. That was scary. Pictures and a detailed post to come (but not of the two items I just mentioned).
- Damn. I just realized I still haven’t posted pics of Rome. I’ll get around to that too.
- The final summer months were quite enjoyable here in Cologne. The canine-related harassment has mostly stopped; however, I did encounter some old hags in the park who completely ridiculed me for my lack of German, after saying God-knows what about the dogs (“you speak ONLY English…bahahahaha….bahahahah….askfjal;ksjfalskdjfasljfalskf….”). I cried, and then studied German for about 4 hours. Other than that, we’ve enjoyed numerous cookouts in the park with our new Cologne friends. I am forever grateful for the amazing people in this city. Such a community!
- On the topic of Deutsche-lernen, Jeff and I have hired a tutor. Her name is Eva (pronounced Ay-vah), and she’s great. We meet once a week for an hour over Skype. She assigns homework in hopes that we’ll actually spread it out over the course of the week so the German language slowly seeps into our obstinate English-speaking brains. I tend to do a crash course during the three hours leading up to my weekly lesson, but I’m still learning … something. “Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch.” Ja. Put that in your Google translate.
- In September, I headed back to the U.S. for a client conference. I coupled a trip to Destin, FL, to visit Miss Stina, and then stayed an extra weekend to hang with Megan (who flew in from Louisville) and some local friends who I hadn’t seen in a long time. In addition to acting like a complete glutton, we also added one cultural stop — Newseum — a cool (you guessed it) “news museum” in DC. Very expensive to get in, but also extremely interesting. My favorite was the World Trade Center exhibit.
- Now – back in Deutschland. Getting reacquainted with the time zone and trying to get organized for a few days of traveling next week. We’re thinking maybe Prague and Vienna, or Vienna and Munich. We’ll see. We’ll probably end up in Lisbon or somewhere completely different.
That’s all for now. Time to get some work done. More travel and random posts to come. My motivation is reborn.
Until next time…
Auf Wiedersehen!
A European Adventure 