Monday, July 30, 2007
Hello from the train!
I'm writing this while on the train from Berlin to Prague. Ever since we passed Dresden, we've been in the middle of a narrow river valley between green hills, which sometimes rise into cliffs. There are little towns along the way, with houses by the river and up on the hills. It's like a postcard. We're almost to Prague, and the valley has opened up a bit - much wider and flatter, but still beautiful. I've only heard good things about Prague, so I'm pretty excited. We have a room reserved for tonight, but we'll have to figure out the rest later. If the hostel is nice we'll try to extend our stay there. If it's a party hostel or a bit out of town (like Berlin) we may look elsewhere. The freedom is fun but a bit tiring!
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Hello from Berlin
Despite my failure to get some more pictures up here, I'm trying to be good and write at least once per city.
So, now we're in Berlin. It's a very strange city...you can tell that it's had a tough time for the last 70 years or so. One thing that was surprising is that East Berlin is the place to be. Turns out that West Berlin was all residential areas of the city, and despite having all the freedom, East Berlin had all the downtown areas, including important buildings, places and monuments (despite all the Communism). I had expected mostly rubble, but it's actually quite nice in most parts we've seen...I guess you can build a lot in 17 years.
We've spent a lot of time here just touring around, seeing the sights. They do a good in Germany of keeping around reminders of what the country did during WWII. In addition to museums and monuments, there are a few buildings that were bombed during the war that they've left in the same condition...kind of powerful when you see it all.
Anyway, we're heading South to Prague tomorrow afternoon - it will be our first non-overnight trip so far...I look forward to not sleeping on the train.
So, now we're in Berlin. It's a very strange city...you can tell that it's had a tough time for the last 70 years or so. One thing that was surprising is that East Berlin is the place to be. Turns out that West Berlin was all residential areas of the city, and despite having all the freedom, East Berlin had all the downtown areas, including important buildings, places and monuments (despite all the Communism). I had expected mostly rubble, but it's actually quite nice in most parts we've seen...I guess you can build a lot in 17 years.
We've spent a lot of time here just touring around, seeing the sights. They do a good in Germany of keeping around reminders of what the country did during WWII. In addition to museums and monuments, there are a few buildings that were bombed during the war that they've left in the same condition...kind of powerful when you see it all.
Anyway, we're heading South to Prague tomorrow afternoon - it will be our first non-overnight trip so far...I look forward to not sleeping on the train.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Hello from Amsterdam
It's been a while since the last update so rather than dump everything here I'll give some highlights, and fill in the details later if I get the chance.
Dublin was a fun city, but after 3 days we felt ready to move on. We saw the bars, the museums, Guiness Brewery and Trinity College and other assorted sights. They really love James Joyce here. We ended up booking a bus/ferry/bus trip from Dublin to London. The ferry trip was about 4 hours long and left at about 10:00 PM...the ship was huge but had nowhere to sleep and French teenagers were making a racket all night long so we couldn't really fall asleep in the chairs. Fortunately the bus ride was 8 hours long and we both slept for almost all of it.
In London we took the Tube to my brother's dorm towards the East End (he's doing a year at the LSE). He was a very good host and tour guide. He toured us around the city on foot, recommended some restaurants and shows, and showed us a generally good time. Plus, he cooked for us. London is absolutely enormous (8 million people or so) but the amazing thing is how consistently packed the city is with people and places. There's no well defined 'down town' area, just miles and miles of stuff to do and see. We saw the Tate Modern museum, the British Museum (full of things they stole from around the world during the Empire), Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, etc, etc. It was the opposite of Dublin - after 4 days we felt like we had seen absolutely nothing....that's the general memory I'll have from London - it's sooo big.
Leaving London, it turned out that either a flight or a train to Paris was prohibitively expensive (at least when booking last-minute like we geniuses did). But - another train/ferry/train combo into AMSTERDAM was quite a deal, including a cabin on the ship! So, that ride was overnight as well, and much more enjoyable.
We're in Amsterdam now, and it's my favorite so far (I've abstained from some of the city's more unique attractions, so, no, that's not why). It's not as big or overwhelming as London, but it's absolutely stunning. The whole city is ringed with canals, which are clean (take that, Venice!) In addition to water taxis, they're filled with permanent houseboats where people live. The city is fairly compact, so we've been able to cover a lot of it in two days of walking.
If you know me and Amsterdam, you'd agree that the best part is the biking. EVERYONE BIKES EVERYWHERE. They don't just have bike lanes, but individual paths for the bikes and almost every street. Plus, they basically have the right of way, so no need to deal with agressive drivers (no one wears a helmet either, we notices). The most impressive thing are the bike racks. They're everywhere, and filled with hundreds or thousands of bikes. The central train station has a 3-storied BICYCLE parking garage. I love it. Interestingly, almost all the bikes are the same design (a sort of hybrid/womens' thing) and they're all in terrible shape. Bike theft is huge here, so I guess no one wants to draw attention.
Anyway, we leave on Thursday night on an overnight train to Berlin. It's been a little stressful peicing together our trip as we go, but it's fun to not know where we'll go after Berlin (probably Vienna).
Pictures coming soon, hopefully.
Dublin was a fun city, but after 3 days we felt ready to move on. We saw the bars, the museums, Guiness Brewery and Trinity College and other assorted sights. They really love James Joyce here. We ended up booking a bus/ferry/bus trip from Dublin to London. The ferry trip was about 4 hours long and left at about 10:00 PM...the ship was huge but had nowhere to sleep and French teenagers were making a racket all night long so we couldn't really fall asleep in the chairs. Fortunately the bus ride was 8 hours long and we both slept for almost all of it.
In London we took the Tube to my brother's dorm towards the East End (he's doing a year at the LSE). He was a very good host and tour guide. He toured us around the city on foot, recommended some restaurants and shows, and showed us a generally good time. Plus, he cooked for us. London is absolutely enormous (8 million people or so) but the amazing thing is how consistently packed the city is with people and places. There's no well defined 'down town' area, just miles and miles of stuff to do and see. We saw the Tate Modern museum, the British Museum (full of things they stole from around the world during the Empire), Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, etc, etc. It was the opposite of Dublin - after 4 days we felt like we had seen absolutely nothing....that's the general memory I'll have from London - it's sooo big.
Leaving London, it turned out that either a flight or a train to Paris was prohibitively expensive (at least when booking last-minute like we geniuses did). But - another train/ferry/train combo into AMSTERDAM was quite a deal, including a cabin on the ship! So, that ride was overnight as well, and much more enjoyable.
We're in Amsterdam now, and it's my favorite so far (I've abstained from some of the city's more unique attractions, so, no, that's not why). It's not as big or overwhelming as London, but it's absolutely stunning. The whole city is ringed with canals, which are clean (take that, Venice!) In addition to water taxis, they're filled with permanent houseboats where people live. The city is fairly compact, so we've been able to cover a lot of it in two days of walking.
If you know me and Amsterdam, you'd agree that the best part is the biking. EVERYONE BIKES EVERYWHERE. They don't just have bike lanes, but individual paths for the bikes and almost every street. Plus, they basically have the right of way, so no need to deal with agressive drivers (no one wears a helmet either, we notices). The most impressive thing are the bike racks. They're everywhere, and filled with hundreds or thousands of bikes. The central train station has a 3-storied BICYCLE parking garage. I love it. Interestingly, almost all the bikes are the same design (a sort of hybrid/womens' thing) and they're all in terrible shape. Bike theft is huge here, so I guess no one wants to draw attention.
Anyway, we leave on Thursday night on an overnight train to Berlin. It's been a little stressful peicing together our trip as we go, but it's fun to not know where we'll go after Berlin (probably Vienna).
Pictures coming soon, hopefully.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Aye...it's mine
OK...summer 2007 trip #2 is underway!
Alicia and I flew out of JFK in New York yesterday evening, and landed in Dublin at 5:30 AM local time (12:30 AM NYC time!). Aer Lingus was great because they have TV screens for each seat, with on-demand movies and free video games. We played a trivia game against other people on the flight - how cool is that? Sadly, all the fun meant that we didn't really sleep at all on the flight. So, here we are in Ireland. We found a hostel for the night, but check-in time isn't until 2:00. I'm not too tired but Alicia is sleeping on the couch as we speak. I think a quick nap will let us wander around the city until we can check in and take a real nap - maybe an hour or so.
Tonight should be fun. We've passed about 50 bars in the walk here from the bus station, and we haven't even been through the 'bar district' yet. Nice reputation, this city has.
Oh - bonus points for explaining the title of this post.
Alicia and I flew out of JFK in New York yesterday evening, and landed in Dublin at 5:30 AM local time (12:30 AM NYC time!). Aer Lingus was great because they have TV screens for each seat, with on-demand movies and free video games. We played a trivia game against other people on the flight - how cool is that? Sadly, all the fun meant that we didn't really sleep at all on the flight. So, here we are in Ireland. We found a hostel for the night, but check-in time isn't until 2:00. I'm not too tired but Alicia is sleeping on the couch as we speak. I think a quick nap will let us wander around the city until we can check in and take a real nap - maybe an hour or so.
Tonight should be fun. We've passed about 50 bars in the walk here from the bus station, and we haven't even been through the 'bar district' yet. Nice reputation, this city has.
Oh - bonus points for explaining the title of this post.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Apartment hunting
We left New Jersey and got here to my parents' place in Waterford, CT on Monday. Everyone in my family is out of town, so we have the place to ourselves. No parties yet.
On Tuesday we spent the day in Boston, looking at some apartments. We saw some good ones and some crappy ones. It was too early in our search to jump on the good ones, and they weren't quite perfect. If we go another few days without seeing anything great, we'll call them again and hope one is still around. The biggest downside was no basement storage...a killer if you plan to keep a bike around. Our old Boston apartment had the same problem, but instead had a wide fire escape and porch in the back, so it was easier to lug them up that way than through a hallway. I'd hate to deal with 4 flights of a narrow staircase every day. So, the search continues. We'll be back in town tomorrow to see some more - this time, the apartments come from a slightly more refined Craiglist search.
Today we stayed in Waterford, and Alicia and my friends and I came in second in a sandcastle building contest at the beach. We made the Ghostbusters logo. It was awesome. We lost out to a family that made an enormous ship, with masts and everything. The real problem is that we personally know all the lifeguard/judges at the beach, so it would stink of cheating if we actually won. Maybe next year.
On Tuesday we spent the day in Boston, looking at some apartments. We saw some good ones and some crappy ones. It was too early in our search to jump on the good ones, and they weren't quite perfect. If we go another few days without seeing anything great, we'll call them again and hope one is still around. The biggest downside was no basement storage...a killer if you plan to keep a bike around. Our old Boston apartment had the same problem, but instead had a wide fire escape and porch in the back, so it was easier to lug them up that way than through a hallway. I'd hate to deal with 4 flights of a narrow staircase every day. So, the search continues. We'll be back in town tomorrow to see some more - this time, the apartments come from a slightly more refined Craiglist search.
Today we stayed in Waterford, and Alicia and my friends and I came in second in a sandcastle building contest at the beach. We made the Ghostbusters logo. It was awesome. We lost out to a family that made an enormous ship, with masts and everything. The real problem is that we personally know all the lifeguard/judges at the beach, so it would stink of cheating if we actually won. Maybe next year.
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