June 4, 2009 was a day full of exciting beginnings and ends. Firstly (and most importantly!), it was the start of the twenty-first year of my life! It was also the beginning of Corey’s and my summer. However, it was the end of my parent’s trip to Amsterdam, yet the beginning of their week in the most romantic city of the world, Paris. Now, to say June 4, 2009 was the beginning of Corey and my summer might make it seem like the day was as relaxing as one would envision summer to be. On the contrary, however, on this day I had to turn in a final project paper that amounted to twenty-two pages with an appendix of seven. Corey, on the other hand, had one final and two papers due that pages amounted well over my feeble twenty-two. However, by four in the afternoon we had both checked CIEE Amsterdam Program and schooling off of our lists of accomplishments. While we scrambled to clean our rooms and check out, we also had to make a run around attempting (and failing) to sell back my school books, and to get some links removed from the beautiful watch Corey gave me as a birthday present. After a nice birthday dinner on the 3rd with my parents and Corey, he surprised me with the softest Pooh Bear stuffed animal I could have ever imagined, and a fabulous Fossil watch. I guess all those times per day I have been asking Corey what time it was for the past almost-three months helped him to realize a piece of jewelry I was in dire need of.
After getting through the logistics of my birthday present and turning in our keys, we said goodbye to Amsterdam and hello to Prague. After an hour and a half flight with four other students from Amsterdam, we obtained some monopoly money (also known as Czech crowns) and made it to our hotel, the Courtyard Marriot. After checking-in and getting some snacks from the lobby store, Corey and I got settled in our room while the first half of Sex and the City, The Movie played on my laptop. After a much needed good nights sleep, in the morning of June 5 we enjoyed the most amazing breakfast set up either of us had seen in months: made-to-order waffles, eggs, and omelets, along with a sandwich bar, bacon and sausage, a fruit bar, pastry bar, and about six different types of juice and cereal, with actual cold milk. (For those of you who don’t know, usually in Europe the milk available with breakfast is luke-warm, unrefrigerated, and…unpleasant). We enjoyed a breakfast made for Kings, and then left the hotel to walk around Old Town Prague and the Charles Bridge before the walking tour we planned to go on at 2 pm.
Because I have been to Prague once other time, last summer actually on a different school abroad program, I soon recognized the old stomping ground I had once spent a week on, and led Corey around to the Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square, The Charles Bridge, John Lennon Wall (which had disappointing additions and changes since my last viewing) and a few other areas, including the strip I stayed on last time, where I rediscovered an amazing Thai restaurant for later.
Note: The John Lennon wall is supposed to be a tribute to Mr. Lennon himself, and therefore is a stretch of wall that people can freely graffiti and create masterpieces on. Last summer when I was here, I could honestly say the wall was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen, with beautiful designs including writing, like a large peace sign with the word “imagine” inside, as well as cute sayings like “Love is Free,” “Revolution,” “Make love as Much as Possible,” etcetera. However, when I returned to the wall a week later before I left Prague, I found the wall in disturbing remains, as someone had come sometime in the past week and drawn thing and large white stick figures across all of the beautiful graffiti, only leaving the “imagine” peace sign. Now returning, the wall looks like more of a graffiti mess than a tribune with inspirational and meaningful messages. The only part that remains how I left it was the “imagine” peace sign, which now even has a strange black face in-between the lines and word, which significantly decrease my love for it. Sad.
A little before 2 pm Corey and I grabbed a quick Starbucks drink (it’s okay, we haven’t had it in weeks!) before meeting up with our walking tour guide. After three and a half hours, and a stop into Bohemian Bagel (a wonderful bagel sandwich shop that I had wanted to return to anyway), we were both exhausted, but had a much greater knowledge of the architecture and city, and a new appreciation for the area we would be staying in for the weekend. After the walking tour, we took another loop around the Old Town and Charles Bridge, and into some stores along the way, before making it back to Noi, the Thai place I mentioned earlier. After a delicious dinner for two with a preset menu including an appetizer with a few different options, three small entrée choices, and a dessert chocolate fondue with fruit- yum! Also, the thing about Prague is that many beers are brewed here, thus, not imported, thus, beer is cheaper than water! So we also both enjoyed a brew for the pity equivalent of something like two dollars. Whoa!
After dinner we returned to the hotel briefly to change before heading out for part two of the walking tour, also known as a “Pub Crawl.” While the name might make it seem like there is crawling involved, both Corey and I kept only our feet on the ground (obviously), but I guess the name is to suggest some people might be crawling home from enjoying so many beverages throughout the night! Ha! We stopped into four different bars Prague is known for, and while in line to pay and get in, we met some guys who were doing a summer program in Rome- the place we are off to on Monday! So, we were able to make some friends, get some travel suggestions, and ideas for our daily itineraries by the end of the night. Quite the success!
Saturday morning started beautifully as the previous one, with an amazing breakfast, conveniently included in the great-deal-hotel-package we (by we I really mean I) had found online. After lounging around gaining the energy the previous night stole from us, we eventually made our way our to explore Day 2 in Prague. We went to a “Music Bar” restaurant recommended by the hotel, Infiniti, for an early dinner, and enjoyed a soup, Caesar salad, and Asian chicken and rice dish, along with some wine. After dinner, we walked through the nearby shopping center and decided it would be nice to relax a bit more (as if we hadn’t relaxed enough already that day!) and see a movie! Neither of us had seen a movie in theatres in months, so we decided this was a great idea. After checking times and languages, we decided on “I Love You, Man.” This turned out to be a great and entertaining choice, for the movie was funny and we got finished with perfect timing to grab a coffee and go get ready for the night.
After returning to the hotel room for a quick rest before the night ahead of us, we ventured to Prague’s O2 Arena for a Europe’s whitest and largest music festival. Corey, dressed in white soccer shorts, a white tee, and a white headband escorted myself, dressed in a white tube top cut off, a white skirt, and fuzzy white boot covers with blue accent coloring in my bathing suit top and eye makeup. We made quite the white, “under water” themed team. We arrived at the O2 Arena, and walked through the metal detectors, slyly smuggling in a flask of Jager. We were set! After exploring the arena and stage area, we eventually found some supplies to fulfill our night’s desires. By an hour later, we truly felt like one with the music and were entranced by the lights projected from the stage. This truly was an once-in-a-lifetime experience, for the night was perfect and it was as if we were in a dreamland and floating in a sea of white clouds.
Sunday morning we were able to sleep in a bit, and catch the end of the breakfast offered by the hotel. Because we were up late and exhausted, a nap followed breakfast we eventually made it out early afternoon to check out Prague Castle. The weather seemed beautiful in the morning when we passed the large glass doors in the lobby, but by now the sun was hidden and the raindrops had come. This, however, did not stop us as we still ventured to the Castle’s metro stop and made it almost perfectly-dryly to the Castle. We decided the “short self-guided tour” would be sufficient, and we were able to see a large cathedral and three other areas of the castle. After the castle we tried to find a fondue restaurant to continue our fondue-date-in-every-country tradition, but we were unfortunately unable to find one. (Fortunately we had that dessert fondue the first night, which we will have to count in this case.) Later, we returned to the Music Bar for another meal, and then returned to the theatre for another film, this time, “State of Play.” As the movie concluded around 9 pm, we decided that since we were off to Rome the next day we should call it a night, pack up, upload the trip’s pictures on the computer, and get a good night’s sleep. And so we did!
The morning of June 8 we checked out of the Marriot at 7:30 am, enjoyed our last buffet-breakfast made for Kings, and headed to the airport. After a bit of a struggle trying to figure out where to go and which terminal Wizzair flew from, we eventually got checked in and through security, exchanged our extra monopoly money, and said goodbye to the Czech Republic.
Corey and I arrived in Rome around noon, and ventured to our bed & breakfast, Downtown Accommodations, in the city centre about 30 minutes from the airport.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
And May Begins...
Each year on April 30th, the Dutch citizens of the beautiful country of the Netherlands celebrate their dear Queens birthday, dubbed as, “Queen’s Day.” As Holland’s national color is Orange, on this day you can see the straats and grachts (streets and canals) as a sea of orange shirts, face paint, and wigs…and beer, of course. The festivities actually begin the night before, dubbed “King’s Night,” when stages were set up around the large town square areas, like Rembrandtplein, Leisidsplein, and along some of the canals: Herengracht and Prinsengracht.
By the time Corey and I were finally on our way out Queen’s Day morning to meet up with friends, Corey in his Van Persy soccer jersey and myself with an orange tank slowing under a white one, it was just before noon. The sidewalks were already filled with orange-wearers, the streets lined with mini garage sales, and there was already drunken debauchery chanted in the far distance. The two of us headed straight to Prinsengracht, a canal on the West end of the center, and with all the people and festivities, we had a lovely walk, passing food stands and house windows with signs selling drinks being made in the kitchens. We finally made it to the dorms on Prinsengracht, where we met up with some of our clan of friends: Alex, Evan, Andrew, and about five of Andrew’s friends from Bermuda. We spent a beautiful sun-filled afternoon roaming the canals and picking up (and quickly putting back down) the really great items people were selling on the side of the road (I hope you picked up on my sarcasm). There were also many street performers, including the DJs on mini stages, but also small children playing single instruments- like one small boy probably around 10 in a tuxedo playing his violin! Aw! As the afternoon progressed, Corey’s parents and sister arrived home from the Tulip Fields, and so we ventured to go meet up with them, well, he did- I had to figure out my flight for the next day, since my itinerary to Vienna was cancelled for some unknown reason.
After two days of stress, forty euro used on my phone, and a few extra euro spent, my new initerary was: Friday-Sunday Vienna with Alex, Sunday morning fly to Berlin and meet up with Corey and his family, and taking a train home Tuesday afternoon with Corey. This turned out to be a great decision! And really a blessing in disguise that my flights were randomly canceled. But we’ll get to that in a few minutes.
After I figured out my travel plans, I met back up with Corey and his family for an early dinner before the supposed concert in Museumplein at nine. One crabby waiter later, Corey and I discovered that the concert had been moved up since other acts had cancelled due to an attack/supposed attach on the Queen (when really it was just some crazy Dutch man driving drunk through a crowd after the Queen’s double decker bus had already passed, and killing himself and four others- or something). At this point, we hung around his parent’s hotel trying to work out more stuff for the weekend, before returning home rather late, considering the fact I had a 9am flight the next morning. After slicing my index finger open when a glass broke as I was doing the dishes, I finally managed to get to bed with just enough time to get a solid four hours of sleep before my next adventure.
At 9:20 the next morning Alex and I were safely and easily loaded on to tour flight to Vienna. Phew. After all that everything worked out and we were on our way. Upon our arrival to Vienna, we took a shuttle bus from the airport and had about a ten minute walk to our hostel- Wombats- where we were able to drop off our luggage and pick up a map. We ventured to the museum area and had a leisurely lunch at a classic Austrian-cuisine restaurant. After relaxing and eating interesting food for a while, we walked around, and stumbled upon some sort of protest against Communism- or something. We walked around the Old Town area next, and got tickets for the Orchestra that night. We eventually made it back to our hostel to get ready for the evening, and eventually headed to the Orchestra after checking out the hostel bar and a quick bite from a local Shoarma stand. The Orchestra lasted two hours and was a really fun experience. It was great to hear the notes of famous composers and to hear the few opera singers and see the dancers. After the concert, we headed to an area called the Bermuda Triangle, an area supposidly famous for fun bars. Although I did not find this place any more exotic than a line of a few bars in Amsterdam, we found a cozy spot and hung out for a few hours before making our way back for a good night’s sleep.
Saturday was a long day, and by the time it was over I was ready for Berlin. Alex and I spent the day exploring, we picked up our Sensation White Music Festival tickets, and by ten in the evening we were wearing all white and ready to start on our late night adventure.
Sunday morning at 9:15 am I was on a flight to Berlin. I arrived around 11 am, and by the time I made it to The Circus hostel it was a little after noon. After a quick shower and a nice breakfast at the restaurant next door, Corey and I headed out to meet up with his parents and his sister, Stacy. With some sightseeing on the way, we joined Corey’s family for lunch before heading out to Berlin’s German Historical Museum. After a few hours here, Corey, his dad and I grabbed a snack from Starbucks and went to the Jewish History Museum. We only had about two hours, but were able to enjoy the museum (even though the employees at the ticket office said it was practically impossible to get anything done in the amount of time we had). After this museum, we retuned our respective hotels & hostels and rested for a bit before heading out to dinner, to a nice and cozy German-Italian restaurant a short tram ride away. After a family-style dinner of salad and pizza, we returned, I checked into my room at the Circus Hostel, and went to bed.
Before the departure of Corey’s parents and sister Monday morning, we all met up for breakfast nice and early- before 8 am! After this, it was just Corey and I for the next day, and we fully explored Berlin and decided to hold off on intellectual-filled activities and to shop a little bit- and shop we did! In a massive mall close to Alexanderplatz, Corey was able to find a nice short sleeve white button up and a pair of dark not-so-baggy jeans. I was not able to find anything until later, where the trusted (and beloved) store, Promod, provided me with a few dress options. After our purchases we went on an adventure to try to find a Fondue restaurant the hostel recommended for us. We scrambled through side streets and eventually found the “Fire Fondue” (or something like that) restaurant we had a reservation at.
Our first impression of this restaurant was much different than the actual experience we had. While the restaurant was cute and dimly lit with candles, the menu was entirely in German and the young lady who sat us seemed to speak no English. Remaining optimistic, we tried to decipher the menu, but we soon realized the task ahead of us was practically impossible. However, somehow everything always works out for the best for Corey and I, and a few minutes after blankly staring at the German-filled language a young man came up to the table, partially pulled out one of the chairs across from us, and asked if he could take a seat. Relived, both Corey & I said “yes” simotaneously, and a few seconds later our new friend was walking us through every item on the menu. Eventually we agreed upon one cheese and one meat fondue, the cheese being a brie-base with a few other types of cheese (completely avoiding gorgonzola), and a meat fondue that included an array of choices. Served with these options came a salad for each, a tray of sauces, and little potato balls, or something. We were advised to not only enjoy the cheese and bread combination, but to cook a piece of meat and mix that with the cheese. Delicious! Our waiter also kindly recommended his red wine of choice, and decided we were worthy of a “prize,” probably for being such wonderful people and a cute, young couple (or something) and he brought us a complimentary glass of champagne. Corey and I decided that the three-hour dinner had been the best date ever, and so we declined the invitation from our waiter to join him to “hit up some clubs,” because we decided it could not get much better.
Tuesday morning we checked out of our hostel and stored our luggage in the basement, before heading off to Pergamon museum. After seeing the Ishtar Gates of Babylon and a few other exciting pieces, we left and walked through the Museum Isle, where we were able to take scenic pictures. Next, we attempted to go to the top of the dome of the government building for a view of the city, but sadly failed when the wait was over an hour. Instead, we decided that it would be fun to go to the Zoo, for this Zoo was said to have the largest amount of different animals worldwide. Because our train wasn’t until after four, we enjoyed the Zoo for a few hours (and some rain drizzles!) and were able to see kangaroos, zebras, sea lions, and polar bears (!), among other species. After a decent lunch at the Zoo, we returned to the Circus Hostel one last time to retrieve our luggage, and then headed to the train station where we were on our way back to Amsterdam, just a six hour train ride away.
By the time Corey and I were finally on our way out Queen’s Day morning to meet up with friends, Corey in his Van Persy soccer jersey and myself with an orange tank slowing under a white one, it was just before noon. The sidewalks were already filled with orange-wearers, the streets lined with mini garage sales, and there was already drunken debauchery chanted in the far distance. The two of us headed straight to Prinsengracht, a canal on the West end of the center, and with all the people and festivities, we had a lovely walk, passing food stands and house windows with signs selling drinks being made in the kitchens. We finally made it to the dorms on Prinsengracht, where we met up with some of our clan of friends: Alex, Evan, Andrew, and about five of Andrew’s friends from Bermuda. We spent a beautiful sun-filled afternoon roaming the canals and picking up (and quickly putting back down) the really great items people were selling on the side of the road (I hope you picked up on my sarcasm). There were also many street performers, including the DJs on mini stages, but also small children playing single instruments- like one small boy probably around 10 in a tuxedo playing his violin! Aw! As the afternoon progressed, Corey’s parents and sister arrived home from the Tulip Fields, and so we ventured to go meet up with them, well, he did- I had to figure out my flight for the next day, since my itinerary to Vienna was cancelled for some unknown reason.
After two days of stress, forty euro used on my phone, and a few extra euro spent, my new initerary was: Friday-Sunday Vienna with Alex, Sunday morning fly to Berlin and meet up with Corey and his family, and taking a train home Tuesday afternoon with Corey. This turned out to be a great decision! And really a blessing in disguise that my flights were randomly canceled. But we’ll get to that in a few minutes.
After I figured out my travel plans, I met back up with Corey and his family for an early dinner before the supposed concert in Museumplein at nine. One crabby waiter later, Corey and I discovered that the concert had been moved up since other acts had cancelled due to an attack/supposed attach on the Queen (when really it was just some crazy Dutch man driving drunk through a crowd after the Queen’s double decker bus had already passed, and killing himself and four others- or something). At this point, we hung around his parent’s hotel trying to work out more stuff for the weekend, before returning home rather late, considering the fact I had a 9am flight the next morning. After slicing my index finger open when a glass broke as I was doing the dishes, I finally managed to get to bed with just enough time to get a solid four hours of sleep before my next adventure.
At 9:20 the next morning Alex and I were safely and easily loaded on to tour flight to Vienna. Phew. After all that everything worked out and we were on our way. Upon our arrival to Vienna, we took a shuttle bus from the airport and had about a ten minute walk to our hostel- Wombats- where we were able to drop off our luggage and pick up a map. We ventured to the museum area and had a leisurely lunch at a classic Austrian-cuisine restaurant. After relaxing and eating interesting food for a while, we walked around, and stumbled upon some sort of protest against Communism- or something. We walked around the Old Town area next, and got tickets for the Orchestra that night. We eventually made it back to our hostel to get ready for the evening, and eventually headed to the Orchestra after checking out the hostel bar and a quick bite from a local Shoarma stand. The Orchestra lasted two hours and was a really fun experience. It was great to hear the notes of famous composers and to hear the few opera singers and see the dancers. After the concert, we headed to an area called the Bermuda Triangle, an area supposidly famous for fun bars. Although I did not find this place any more exotic than a line of a few bars in Amsterdam, we found a cozy spot and hung out for a few hours before making our way back for a good night’s sleep.
Saturday was a long day, and by the time it was over I was ready for Berlin. Alex and I spent the day exploring, we picked up our Sensation White Music Festival tickets, and by ten in the evening we were wearing all white and ready to start on our late night adventure.
Sunday morning at 9:15 am I was on a flight to Berlin. I arrived around 11 am, and by the time I made it to The Circus hostel it was a little after noon. After a quick shower and a nice breakfast at the restaurant next door, Corey and I headed out to meet up with his parents and his sister, Stacy. With some sightseeing on the way, we joined Corey’s family for lunch before heading out to Berlin’s German Historical Museum. After a few hours here, Corey, his dad and I grabbed a snack from Starbucks and went to the Jewish History Museum. We only had about two hours, but were able to enjoy the museum (even though the employees at the ticket office said it was practically impossible to get anything done in the amount of time we had). After this museum, we retuned our respective hotels & hostels and rested for a bit before heading out to dinner, to a nice and cozy German-Italian restaurant a short tram ride away. After a family-style dinner of salad and pizza, we returned, I checked into my room at the Circus Hostel, and went to bed.
Before the departure of Corey’s parents and sister Monday morning, we all met up for breakfast nice and early- before 8 am! After this, it was just Corey and I for the next day, and we fully explored Berlin and decided to hold off on intellectual-filled activities and to shop a little bit- and shop we did! In a massive mall close to Alexanderplatz, Corey was able to find a nice short sleeve white button up and a pair of dark not-so-baggy jeans. I was not able to find anything until later, where the trusted (and beloved) store, Promod, provided me with a few dress options. After our purchases we went on an adventure to try to find a Fondue restaurant the hostel recommended for us. We scrambled through side streets and eventually found the “Fire Fondue” (or something like that) restaurant we had a reservation at.
Our first impression of this restaurant was much different than the actual experience we had. While the restaurant was cute and dimly lit with candles, the menu was entirely in German and the young lady who sat us seemed to speak no English. Remaining optimistic, we tried to decipher the menu, but we soon realized the task ahead of us was practically impossible. However, somehow everything always works out for the best for Corey and I, and a few minutes after blankly staring at the German-filled language a young man came up to the table, partially pulled out one of the chairs across from us, and asked if he could take a seat. Relived, both Corey & I said “yes” simotaneously, and a few seconds later our new friend was walking us through every item on the menu. Eventually we agreed upon one cheese and one meat fondue, the cheese being a brie-base with a few other types of cheese (completely avoiding gorgonzola), and a meat fondue that included an array of choices. Served with these options came a salad for each, a tray of sauces, and little potato balls, or something. We were advised to not only enjoy the cheese and bread combination, but to cook a piece of meat and mix that with the cheese. Delicious! Our waiter also kindly recommended his red wine of choice, and decided we were worthy of a “prize,” probably for being such wonderful people and a cute, young couple (or something) and he brought us a complimentary glass of champagne. Corey and I decided that the three-hour dinner had been the best date ever, and so we declined the invitation from our waiter to join him to “hit up some clubs,” because we decided it could not get much better.
Tuesday morning we checked out of our hostel and stored our luggage in the basement, before heading off to Pergamon museum. After seeing the Ishtar Gates of Babylon and a few other exciting pieces, we left and walked through the Museum Isle, where we were able to take scenic pictures. Next, we attempted to go to the top of the dome of the government building for a view of the city, but sadly failed when the wait was over an hour. Instead, we decided that it would be fun to go to the Zoo, for this Zoo was said to have the largest amount of different animals worldwide. Because our train wasn’t until after four, we enjoyed the Zoo for a few hours (and some rain drizzles!) and were able to see kangaroos, zebras, sea lions, and polar bears (!), among other species. After a decent lunch at the Zoo, we returned to the Circus Hostel one last time to retrieve our luggage, and then headed to the train station where we were on our way back to Amsterdam, just a six hour train ride away.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
