Berlin

12/27/2013: Berlin and Reichstag

The main thing I had planned for today was a visit to the Reichstage building's dome. The Reichstag is the parliament building for Germany. Since my tour didn't start until 2:15, I decided to go see part of the Berlin wall first. The walk proved longer than I expected so I only had a short time to look at it before I had to head back for my tour. It was interesting to see the area where part of the wall used to be.

Pieces of the wall all together

The remnants of the wall

My visit to the dome provided me with the chance to see more of the city and learn something about its history by listening to the audio guide talk about all the different buildings and areas that surround the building. 

 The Brandenburg Gate, I saw it on my way to the Reichstag

The Reichstag Building

After my visit I went to a nearby Starbucks to have something to drink and figure out where I wanted to go next. I decided to walk along one ofthe main streets headed for the museum island. Instead I ended up stoppping at Madam Toussad's and going to a museum about Berlin's history. One interesting thing I learned was that there had been a palace located in the center of the city, but after only being lightly damaged during WWII, was torn down. Now, there are plans to rebuild something in its place, although I don't know exactly what. 

One of the highlights of the Toussad's museum was wax Freud

When I finished the two museums, it was dinner time so I headed back the way I came and walked towards Potsdamer Square. On the way, I stopped briefly to look at the Jewish Memorial. It consisted of mostly stone slabs and grass. For dinner, I decided on American, and so stopped at Subway for a sub. Then I continued on towards the square. Before going to one of the many cinemas to see the Hobbit in English and in 3-D, I went sledding in a tube on a hill that had been constructed in the square as part of the Christmas market, I think. The Hobbit was a good, but long, movie, made longer by an intermission. It was definitely a movie worth seeing in the theater though and I am glad I went. 

 Lego Santa and sleigh, near the cinema

Afterwards, I took the subway back to my hostel/hotel and went to sleep. 

12/28/2012: The Zoo, Aquarium, Pergamon Museum, and the American themed restaurant

When I was reading the guidebook about what to do in Berlin, one of the things it mentioned was the zoo. So, I decided that the main thing I would do would be to go and see it. When I was dressed and ready, I set off for the zoo. I arrived and had to wait in a long line to buy my ticket. I bought a ticket for both the zoo and the aquarium. Like most zoos, it contained a large proportion of birds compared to other animals. The grounds and animal habitats were well set up. The zoo is located in the Tiergarten Park. However, because it was winter, many of the animals were inside. Apparently most have winter enclosures as well as summer ones, although the winter ones were much smaller especially for the big cats. The aquarium was inside the zoo grounds, and as it was sort of cold out and I had been standing outside for a while, it was one of my first stops. It contained many different fish as one would expect, but it also contained frogs, lizards, insects, and snakes. One of my favorite parts of the zoo was the dark area where they kept all the nocturnal creatures. 

The Entrance to the Aquarium

A Black Rhino

Tiger, in its winter enclosure

The polar bear enclosure

After spending a few hours at the zoo, I left and headed to the museum island and the Pergamemnom museum. The Pergamemnom museum's first room contained the partially rebuilt ruins of the altar that had been located in the ancient Greek city. 

The outside of the museum, under renovation 

The other rooms contained artifacts and reconstructed buildings from other parts of ancient history. The blue gate of Babylon was very interesting to see. There were exhibits I didn't get a chance to see because I only had an hour before the museum closed. 

One wall of the Babylon Gate

Part of the Babylon Gate

Afterwards, I walked to the Berlin Dome, but it was closed, so I went to the DDR museum instead. It contained information and interactive exhibits about East Berlin under communism. Then, I went ot the Hackescher market, which was just a series of shops as far as I could tell. It was around dinner time, so I looked for a place to eat and found an American style diner a little bit away from the market. For dinner I had a bacon cheeseburger and a shake. Eating in the restaurant was almost like being back in America except the decor was a little over the top. The seats were traditional diner seats, and there were mini jukeboxes at each table. On the walls were license plates from the 50 states and posters with American cultural themes. It reminded me of an american diner, but there was too many for it to be completely accurate. I ate, enjoyed free wi-fi, and then walked to the subway, and back to my hostel. 

12/29/2012: The Bus Tour, Art Museum, and KaDeWe 

TO see the remaining sites, I decided to take a tour on one of those hop on/hop off buses. I got on the bus at first stop, in the same area as the zoo. I looked around and learned about different buildings until I got to the fourth stop. I got off and walked into the philharmonic building. There wasn't much to see, so I went to the museum area across the street. Since I wasn't sure what each museum was, I chose one, and ended up going to an art museum. I got the audio tour and spend about an hour looking at paintings, walking around, and occasionally listening to the audio guide's information about a particular painting. When I finished, I headed back outside to wait for another tour bus. It arrived after about ten minutes and I hopped on and continued to listen to the information about Berlin. When we got to checkpoint charlie. I hopped off again. Checkpoint Charlie was the crossing point between East and West Berlin. While there, I enjoyed a curry wurst. A curry wurst is a sausage that is sliced up and covered with ketchup and curry powder served with French fries. It is quite tasty, and apparently a Berlin specialty. There was an outdoor museum that I walked around in for a bit, and then I waited for another tour bus.

A museum near the art museum

The Checkpoint Charlie sign

This time I was on the bus for a fair number of stops before I reached the Berlin Dome, a large church. On the way, I passed the East Side Gallery. From the church stop, I could see  the big open area where the Berlin Palace used to be, another museum, and the TV tower. The TV tower is a big, tall, thin tower with a ball at the top that rotates 360 degrees. I didn't have time to go up in it though. Instead, I explored the church and walked up the many steps to the view at the top of the dome. I could see much of the city from there. I also went into the basement where the crypt was. It was interesting to see the coffins in such a sterile white environment.

Part of the East Side Gallery

The East side gallery is part of the Berlin wall

The Inside of the Berlin Dome

The church altar

A Tomb of a king (?)

The TV Tower

The Berlin Dome Church

The View of a Ferris Wheel from the Dome

When I finished, I went back outside to wait for a tour bus. It was about 20 minutes before it arrived. Because of the wait time, the buses were both incredibly convenient and inconvenient at the same time. I got off again at the market where people were selling food, clothing, household appliances, painting, and household furnishings. I bought a cup of hot chocolate, but was unable to finish it because the bus came soon after and the bus driver wouldn't let it on. I then rode the bus back to stop number 2, KaDeWe. KaDeWe is an abbreviation, although I don't remember what for exactly. Either way, it is a giant department store where each level is almost a city block. There were clothing, toys, electronics, luggage, furniture, food, and a cafeteria style restaurant on the 7th, and top, floor. My favorite floor was the 6th. It was filled with gourmet food a quarter of which was devoted to different kinds of chocolate. I had to restrain to only buying a few different kinds for myself and a box for my host family. One of the truffles I tried was so delicious, I would have bought several if each one hadn't been so expensive. In addition to the chocolate section, there was an area selling cheese, bread, drinks, wine, meat, fish, pasta, fresh produce, and imported American products. In the American section, there were pop-tarts, Reese's Peanut Butter cups, maple syrup, salad dressing, barbecue sauce, root beer, and peanut butter, among other things. I bought root beer, peanut butter, and Reese's peanut butter cups. I would have bought much more, but many of the items were fairly expensive, and there was no way I was going to pay 8 euros for some pop-tarts. In the area selling fruits and vegetables, I purchased a fruit smoothie and some blueberries. After a bit, I got hungry and decided to head to the top floor to have dinner. The top floor served food cafeteria style. There was a section for meat, a noodle bar, a salad bar, and a pasta bar. There were also various desserts and beverages. I got noodles from the noodle bar. First I put the meat and vegetables I wanted into a bowl and gave it to the cook. I got the rice and noodles served with an Indian curry sauce. To drink, I got an Oragina, which is a particular type of carbonated orange soda. Because it had non-twist off top, I had to back to the check-out counter to get it opened. The combination made for an excellent meal. After dinner I spent a little bit longer walking around the department store before finally going back to my hostel. I put my bag in my room and then headed back out to buy groceries at a nearby supermarket. The best, and most unexpected, thing I found there was a bag of Pepperidge Farm soft-baked double chocolate cookies. After shopping, I returned to my hostel. When I got back, I spent sometime packing and talking to a woman from Serbia before going to bed. The next morning I was catching a cab to the airport and wanted to get enough sleep.

12/30/2012: Flight to Bucharest and the Train Station

My flight was at 11:40, so I left my hostel at about 9:15. It was a little bit too early because when I arrived at the airport it was too early for me to check-in. The Berlin Tegel airport was a little unusual because instead of the check-in counters being by just airline, they were by both airline and gate. As a result, at the entrance to the airport driveway was a big monitor that listed flight times, airlines, and gates. After printing my boarding pass and checking in, I went to the airport Starbucks to pass the time before I would be able to go through security. I drank my iced Frappuccino, ate my espresso brownie, and then headed back to the gate and through security. The plane boarded a little late, but I was soon on my way to Bucharest. Upon arriving in Bucharest, I went through customs and picked up my luggage. Once clear of customs and customs declaration points, I withdrew some Romanian lei and bought a ticket for the train and shuttle to the North Bucharest Train station. First, I waited for a shuttle bus that would take me to the train platform. Then after a ten minute drive to the train platform, I waited for the train to the northern Bucharest train station, I had to take a train because the airport I flew into is located in a town about an hour from Bucharest by train. The train platform was up a small hill. It had an overhang and several benches. Because it was cold, I decided to stand and wait for the train to arrive. The train arrived after I had been waiting for about twenty minutes and was a very modern looking train with nice seats with a rack above for luggage. I kept my bags next to me, however, because they were small. I watched the villages pass by and the sun set as the train made its way to the city. When I arrived, the first thing I did was buy my ticket including the couchette bed. Then, I went to a pizza place for dinner. I ate and relaxed for an hour before boarding my train, The train left on time at around 7:45pm. On the train, I talked with a Moldovan woman who want returning home on vacation after working in Greece for five years. I also managed to get some sleep. By the time I woke up, we were only about an hour from Chisinau. I woke up at the boarder too, but only for a little while. When I got to Chisinau, I headed to Peace Corps and took a shower, which felt great after the long train ride.

12/31/2012: New Years Eve in Moldova
After my shower, I relaxed for a bit before going to buy my bus ticket to my village. It was New Year's Eve, so I was worried that they might sell out. Afterwards, I went to an Italian place to have some pasta for lunch. I then headed back to Peace Corps. I hung out there fore about a half hour before taking a taxi to the northern bus station. There I waited until my rutiera (mini-bus) departed for my village. The ride to my village was pretty normal although I missed my road on the way in because I was reading and didn't notice, so I had to stay on until it went back the other way. We had a pretty normal dinner shortly after I arrived. At midnight, we lit sparklers, had some food, cake, and champagne. It was nice but very low key New Year's Eve. Despite it being pretty uneventful, it was nice to be with my host family to see their New Year's Eve traditions, especially since I didn't last year. Because I was tired, I went to bed shortly after. Overall, it was a nice ending to my vacation.

Prague

12/22/2012: From the village to Chisinau

As usual when I go to Chisinau, I got up at 5:45 and was at the bus stop by 6:30. However, this was no usual morning. The roads were covered in a layer of snow and there were fewer cars than normal. More importantly, the mini-bus/rutiera was late. It was so late that I had started to think it wasn't coming at all and I started to walk to the next village over. Luckily, I hadn't walked too far before the replacement rutiera came. It turns out it was late in part because it was stuck behind a snow plow tractor. Once I was on the rutiera, the trip to Chisinau was as usual, although maybe a little longer. After an unusual morning, the whole rest of the day was pretty normal.

12/23/2012: Onward to Prague

I woke up to light snow falling outside the window of the hostel. I was worried  that the snow would impact the taxi ride to the airport, so I had the cab come earlier, and had to forgo my usual cup of tea. I needn't have worried though because the taxi ride only took about twenty minutes and I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to check-in, grab a quick lunch at Sbarro, and clear security and customs. I waited in the gate area for about 15 minutes before I got on the shuttle that would take me and my fellow passengers to the plane. It was a fairly small plane, not small enough to have propellers, but small enough to contain only about 25 rows of seats and a small overhead bin. We took off a little late so I arrived in Munich with only a short amount of time ot make my connecting flight in Prague. Since the plane was fairly small again, I took another shuttle to get to it and boarded by way of a staircase instead of a causeway. The flight took off pretty much on time, and 55 min later I was in Prague.
When I landed, I grabbed the bag I had checked and headed towards the exit. Because I had gone through customs in Munich, I didn't have to go through them again in Prague. On my way out, I stopped at an ATM to pick up some Czech crowns and after a stop at information to buy the ticket, I boarded the airport shuttle that would take me downtown. The ride went smooth enough, although I got off one stop later than I should have, so I walked from the train station to my hostel in the rain.
When I arrived  it was rainy, but not that cold. Upon reaching the hostel, I checked in, put my stuff in my assigned locker, and chose a bottom bunk. I met some people at the hostel, including one visitor from Kenya. He said he was from Riruta Satellite, the place where I did my month long home-stay back in 2008. I also met a man from Greece and a woman from the US.
After waiting  for the women to finish getting ready, the four of us set off for the Old Town Square. On the way there, we passed some interesting sites that I wanted to return to once it was light out. When we got there, there was some music playing, and I purchased some mead from one of the many booths. In the square was a Christmas market with people selling food, drinks, and souvenirs. We lingered in the square for a little while before heading off to meet some friends of the Kenyan. He works in Prague and so had some local friends from work. After stopping to chat with them for a bit, we went to a shopping center to find some dinner in the food court. Feeling deprived of Asian food while living in Moldova, I bought food from a Mongolian barbecue restaurant. I ate a substantial portion of beef, rice, and vegetables.
Afterwards, the four of us went to join his friends at a bar/restaurant near a different main square. We were unable to stay however, because there was no table that could accommodate all of us. So, we left and walked to a different bar. The one we chose was comic book themed. The walls were covered with pictures from what I imagined what a Czech comic book. At this bar, I took the opportunity to try Prague's hot wine. It was okay, but I think the mulled wine I had in Bucharest the previous year was better. We enjoyed our drinks in the basement level of the bar. As we were leaving, a bunch of people from a pub crawl were coming down. Our next stop was another bar. This one looked like a traditional bar on the first floor, but the lower level. was a series of passageways made of stone, or at least fake stone. It was getting late, so I just had water, unfortunately carbonated. After that, we made our way back to the hostel. I went to sleep when we got back. I had a day of wandering around planned for the following day and I wanted to be well rested for it.

12/24/2012: Christmas Eve in Prague
Christmas Eve was my first full day in Prague. However, because of the holiday, many buildings were closed or had reduced hours. After a breakfast provided by the hostel, I set off to explore the city and see the sites that I could. My first stop was the old-new synagogue located in the Jewish Quarter of the city. After paying way too much for admission, I walked around inside. The area I could see was not very big which is why I concluded that it was overpriced. It was, however, very nice. I could also tell how old it was because of the architecture of the building and the decorations within it.

                                                  An interesting statue I passed on my way

                                                  The museum and entrance to the cemetery

When I was done with the synagogue, I headed towards the Charles Bridge. Before crossing the bridge, I made a pit-stop at the museum of medieval torture. Some of the instruments were disturbing, but fascinating, and it was interesting to see all the ways that people used to torture a person to extract information. When I left the museum, I crossed the bridge. and stopped for lunch at a nearby cafe. 

The gate on the old town side

                                            Some of the many statues that decorate the bridge

                                                         Another statue on the bridge

The gate on the other side of the bridge

I took the chance to relax before deciding on my next destination. Instead of a destination, I elected to wander around the area I was in. It was an old town district, so many of the buildings were interesting to look at. In my wanderings, I came across a bridge covered in locks. Apparently, when people get married or want to show how long term commitment, they put a lock with their names on it on the bridge to symbolize their connection. From the bridge I saw a statue in the water which I later found out was supposed to be a water spirit.

                                                        The Water Spirit on the river

There were so many, many locks

In the same area, I found a wall with a picture of Lennon on it. When he was killed, some Czech person painted it as a memorial. The picture later became a form of protest against the communists because people could get arrested for painting such things and when the government painted over it, someone would just repaint it. People also wrote and continue to write expressions of love on the wall. 

There was so much graffiti, I couldn't see the wall underneath

After wandering without purpose for a little while, I wanted to use the funicula to get to the top of the hill. At the top was an open space sort of like a park. One could either go right or left but I decided to follow the crowd and go to the right. One of the more interesting things I saw were reliefs depicting what seemed to be the stages of the cross. I also saw a big tower, which reminded me of a mini-Eiffel tower. I did not go in because unfortunately it was closed. 

 

The park area had a statue in the center

                                               I then walked through a medieval style town wall

The entrance to the tower, I think, I especially liked the crests

 There was an old church on top of the hill as well

I only took a picture of one, but there were many similar ones

After the stages of the cross, I continued following the path until the end and got sort of lost as a result. Because I did not know where I was on the map, I went left instead of right. When I figured out my mistake, luckily all I had to do was head back to the right. As it was getting dark, I reached Prague Castle and was able to take some pictures before it got dark and my camera battery died. I walked around the castle which to me resembled a palace more than a medieval castle, and then headed down the hill. 

I passed a church on the way to the castle

 The palace entrance as it was getting dark

From the outer wall, I could see the towers of the church

When I reached the bottom of the hill, I stopped for a fried cheese sandwich. It was served in a hamburger bun with lettuce. On the way back to my hostel, I stopped for dinner at a Thai place. I also stopped at a wax museum. In Prague, there were a lot of small museums like the wax one. After that, I continued to my hostel to relax and go to bed. 

12/25/2012: Christmas Day in Prague

Christmas was probably my longest day in Prague. Interestingly, while most things were closed on Christmas Eve, they were open on Christmas day. As it turned out, for Czechs, Christmas Eve is much more important and is when most celebrations happen. The main thing I did was a walking, boat, and tram tour of the city. We walked to different sites and I learned more about the history of the city. For instance, one of the churches we saw was tall, but otherwise not very big. Apparently, the church's construction had begun in the 14th century, but was interrupted first by the 200 year long civil war, then by the resulting lack of people, and finally by World War II. As a result, only part of the original building design was actually constructed. I also learned that when a building in Prague was damaged or partially destroyed, part of it would be rebuilt in the old style, but newer styles would be added as well, with the result that many buildings in Prague are built in many architectural styles. 

The main street where we started the tour

David Cerny's upside down horse

The church that was only partially completed

After walking around for a couple of hours, we made our way to the river for the boat tour. One of the main landmarks we saw was a metal metronome on the hillside across the river. The pedestal hand contained a statue of Stalin when he was alive, but after his death, it was torn down. The only politically neutral thing people could think to replace it with was a metronome. There were also other nice buildings along the water. While we were cruising, we were served complimentary tea or coffee. After walking in the cold outside air, it was nice to warm up with a cup of mint tea and relax as our guide told us about the buildings we were seeing. 

The bridge from the water

An old dam?

An interesting building across the water

After we finished the boat tour, we were guided to the Jewish Quarter. The population shrunk considerably as a result of World War two, and numbers only in the thousands today. One of the highlights was the cemetery. The tombstones are placed very close to each other because many people are buried on top of one another because the space was small.

The Wall and Entrance to the Cemetery

The back of the Old-New Synagogue

The Tombstones built close together

After some time for photos, it was time to have lunch. We ate a traditional Czech food at a 17th century origin restaurant. I had pork with sauerkraut and dumplings. The dumplings looked more like pieces of bread than what I normally think of as dumplings. On the tour I also had a chance to learn more about the Charles Bridge, the lock bridge, the Lennon Wall, and the Prague Castle. We took a tram from the base of the hill to the castle. Before entering, we stopped to watch the changing of the guard. It was not as unusual as the one in Athens though. We walked around the castle while our guide told us about it. When we reached the steps that led down to the bottom of the hill, our tour ended. In all, the tour lasted about 6 hours, and was well worth the money I paid for it. 

The Inner Courtyard of the Castl

One of the Guards, before they changed

One of the Entrances to the Cathedral within the Castle

The Church at Night

A night view of Prague

Afterwards, I stopped and bought my train ticket to Berlin, had some food from part of the Christmas market, and then went to a Mozart and Vivaldi concert in a nearby concert hall. It was then time to go back to the hostel, relax, pack, and go to bed. 

12/26/2012: Finishing Prague and Onward to Berlin

On my last day in Prague, I set my alarm for 9:00 am so I could see some more of the city before I had to catch my train to Berlin. My first stop ended up being the chocolate museum, since it seemed interesting and was on the way to the ghosts museum. The museum was interesting and had exhibits talking about both the history of chocolate and the process of making it. There was also a demonstration of how to make a certain type of truffle which included a free sample. The free sample was a ghost shaped, hazelnut filled, milk chocolate truffle. Despite being milk, and not dark, chocolate, it was delicious. Like many museums, the tour ended in a gift shop, but unlike most museum shops that are filled with useless souvenirs, this one was filled with many different kinds of chocolate. I bought some dark chocolate and a bar of chocolate that was supposedly made based on an Aztec recipe. It contained spices and honey among other things and was very tasty. I then continued on my way to the ghost museum the tour guide had mentioned the previous day. Apparently, Prague is haunted by many ghosts. The museum described many of them on the top floor. Below there were representations, giving the museum a creepy, as well as informative, nature. I then headed back to my hostel to pick up my things, stopping on the way to see the clock at noon. The clock tower in the Old Town Square has wooden figurines that move, a rooster that crows, and a boy who plays a trumpet every hour. I watched the display for a bit while eating a Czech dessert. It was a spiral of bread with sugar on it. When I arrived at my hostel, I picked up my things and headed to the train station. I had to wait a bit before my platform was listed, but as soon as it was, I headed to it. I had to wait again for the train to arrive. When it arrived, I boarded and was on my way. I took some pictures and looked at the scenery until it got to dark to do so. 

Scenery from the train ride

A hill with a building and the moon(?) in the distance

Five hours later, I arrived in Berlin's Hauptsbanhof Train Station. One guide book said that some people describe it as a mall with trains, and that description proved to be pretty accurate. The building was enormous and there were three levels that each contained many shops. One contained a small food court although there were food stands including a Dunkin' Donuts interspersed on the other floors. After taking a moment to look around, I went outside and got a taxi to take me to my hostel. The hostel I stayed at was more like a hotel that had some rooms with bunk beds. The room I was in consisted of four areas. The first area was a room with three bunk beds and a window. To the left as you walked in, off the main area, was a small area that contained lockers. At the end of the first area was a doorway that led to a second room with a table, a bunk bed, and more wooden lockers. To the left of this room was the bathroom. The room had its own key like you would expect to find at a hotel. I don't know how many of the rooms on my floor were part of the hostel and how many were part of the hotel. Either way, after relaxing for a bit I went to bed, ready to get up the next day and explore Berlin.