I had to leave Brussels pretty early in the morning to catch my flight. I actually got there with an hour to spare but it was worth getting up. My first flight was delayed a little. without notifying the passengers, and we stayed on the runway for a few extra minutes. This was very inconvenient for me, since I only had 45 minutes to transfer flights. We land when my plane starts boarding and I start to panic a little. The plane unloaded and a bus took us to the terminal, then we had to go back through security and I am rushing. I thought I did the same thing that I always do but somehow this is the first time I set the metal detector off while in Europe, just when I am in a huge rush. I finally get through to my gate and the attendant said that she didn't think that we (me and someone else on the same flight) would make it on time but a special bus has been arranged to take you to the plane. Thank god I took Swiss Air and not some crappy airline like RyanAir. I managed to get to Prague and met Becca at the bag check just as we planned. Then we took a long bus into the city and found our hostel. It was a long journey but we made it.
For a while we just relaxed in the hostel, got some food and drinks, and checked the internet. We also asked the receptionist to suggest some places and she recommended a Chech place not to far away. We decided that we would check it out and see if we liked the menu. We ended up going there and it was a great meal. I got chicken with leeks, mushrooms, and cheese on top with some steamed vegetables on the side, and Becca got some chicken with smoked apple on top with some sauce. I was blown away, especially since I have only herd bad things about Chech food. We went to sleep relatively early and I planned to wake up early to do laundry and then go on a tour that left at 10:30 from the hostel
Laundry sounds very easy right? I have done it many times and didn't need to do anything special. I started the laundry and went back to sleep while it finished. When I went back down it said something like water failure, and then I couldn't get the washer open to switch machines. I went to reception and he didn't know what to do so he gave me more coins and told me to try again. The same thing happened again. Then he decided to tell me that if you hold the button for 10 seconds it pops open but I did this and switched machines just before the tour left so I would have to finish after we got back. We ended up doing two tours, didn't have a lot of time between that and dinner, and I didn't get to fold my stuff until the next day. Basically between that and the flight, and the sandwich place on the tour that forgot about my lunch order, I was in a terrible mood. Everything else was great though.
The tour picked us up and at first I didn't like our tour guide. His jokes were not that funny and it didn't seem like he knew what he was talking about. But that was just the walk to where the actual tour started. After that he got much better and in the end he was actually a great tour guide and knew everything about the city and history. The tour was through a company called NewEurope tours and in each city it offers a free tour that is on a tips only basis so the tour guides have a lot of incentive to do a good job. Then they have a bunch of other tours that you have to pay for, and we did one of those as well. We started the tour in the Old Town Square where there is a church and this world famous astronomical clock
I don't even want to start explaining how it works because it tells time in about 5 ways, and I forget. I thought it was really cool though. This was our tour guide too, Michael. The second tour we took was in the Castle. It wasn't as good but maybe I was just tired and there wasn't as much to talk about up there. One interesting fact though was that their president was the guy who stole the pen and he was in one of the buildings when we were there. I thought that was funny.
Becca's cousin is studying in Prague so we planned on meeting him for dinner at this Cuban place and then go to his apartment for some drinks. We also made some friends with a Brazilian girl and a Canadian girl on the tour who were in our hostel and we invited them to come over for drinks as well. They found the place and we were all having some fun, and getting to know eachother. Then we went to a club that was closer to our hostel and got back around 3 in the morning. It was a very fun night and it was cool to do some partying in Prague.
We had to check out in the morning but Becca's flight was not until later and I was taking an overnight bus to Berlin. Check out was at 11 and then we walked around. The tours from the day before were supposed to go to the Charles the fourth bridge but they didn't make it so we decided to walk on it.
We walked along it and it was packed with tourists. At each end there are soldiers with swords, and I saw some guy have a sword fight with one of them. I was amazed and decided to do the same thing. It was extremely fun.
Then on our way back a bunch of people were leaning over the bridge taking pictures of something. We were curious and decided take a peek. On the ground there was a big cat chained to a fence. This wasn't just a big house cat, but an actual big cat. We walked down there and I am pretty sure it was a Lynx, and it turned out to be some ladies pet. I was totally shocked.
There were tons of people around and that thing could probably take someone's arm off with its claws and I am sure it could easily kill a human. After that we just walked back but then realized that the Lenin wall was on the other side of the bridge again so we went back. We both signed it and I wrote the first Beatles quote that came to my mind "And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make." (at the end of Abbey Road). So we ended up walking over the bridge 4 times.
Next we wanted to go to the Communism Museum. It was only a few Euros and we had some time so we checked it out. It was actually quite interesting and I realized that Prague was the first place I had been in that was actually communist at one point.
After that Becca left and I had a lot of time so I just relaxed, got some dinner, and went on the computer to book my hostel and bus. By 11:30 at night I was on my way to Berlin, scheduled to arrive at 5 in the morning. At first I thought it was a good idea because I was basically getting transportation to Berlin and a nights sleep for 12 euros. The bus ended up getting in an hour early and I couldn't check in until 2 in the afternoon. I could lock my stuff up though and I caught up on the office while I waited for the free tour to start at 11:00. I also met another Brazilian girl while waiting and talked to her for a bit before leaving. I did the same tour program that I did in Prague and once again the tour guide was great.
One of my favorite things in Berlin was the Holocaust Memorial. It is basically a bunch of cement blocks that get taller and taller as you get into the center. The tour guide said that the architect didn't say why he built it the way he did but it makes you interpret it in your own way. As you get to the center it gets colder and the blocks get taller and it is really easy to lose people. It also doesn't have any signs saying what it is, which forces you to venture inside. On the tour we also went to a parking lot where Hitlers bunker was, supposedly, the last standing Nazi building, a piece of the Berlin wall, and learned a lot about Frederick the Great, and Prussian history.
Before my grandmother passed away last January, I got the chance to ask her about where our family comes from, at least what she knew. She said that the name Littman is a German name that means Light Maker and that we came from a Prussian family that sent their son, her husbands Gradfather, over to the USA, but when he tried to send for his family they were nowhere to be found. After learning about the Prussians in the tour and the constant war in this region, it all really makes sense and I felt a stronger connection with the history of this area than before.
After the tour I went and checked in and took a nice little nap. A few hours later I was woken up by someone coming in who was staying in the same room. He was a Canadian from outside of Victoria Island on the West Coast named Mike. He was also traveling around Europe alone so we went and got some dinner. We went to a German restaurant. I got some Schnitzel and Potatoes...very german. It was really good and it seemed like he was living a fascinating life. This was actually the 40th country that he has visited. I didn't go out in Berlin at all because I wanted to do a lot in the day and I was pretty tired.
The next day I went on another tour, but this time in Potsdam. Potsdam is just outside of Berlin but was inside of the wall and it is home to the many palaces of the Prussian Kings. Potsdam has a small town feel and it has lakes, woods, palaces, gardens, and more. It is extremely beautiful. Luckily it was raining because if it was really nice it might have been my new home. I also took a small chunk of Berlin wall that we found on the side of the road. We had an interesting mix of people on the tour. Out of 8 people there were no groups from the same country, and every continent was represented accept for Africa. I thought that was really interesting and it shows the diversity of people traveling. Here are some pictures of the tour.
We also went to see Fredrick the Great's grave site
The potatoes are there because he introduced the potato to Prussia. After hearing a lot about him, I think his name is very fitting. He got the name as a war hero but he was very open to other religions and cultures, knew 8 languages, and wrote philosophy and symphonies for the flute. I thought he was very interesting and I think I might look into him a little more.
I got back around 5 and there were two more people in the room. This time two Australian girls. I feel like everyone I meet in my hostels are either American, Canadian, Brazilian, or Australian. We all went out to get some Thai food and made it back to the Hostel to go to the bar on monday night where they give out free beer until one keg is dry. I can't turn down free beer but we all only managed to get one before it was gone. Later that night I also booked my hostel and train to Hamburg for the next three nights.
In the morning I had to check out so I did that and then headed over to the Jewish Culture Museum. My train didn't leave until 7 PM so I had a lot of time to enjoy the museum. I tried to look at everything and I actually learned a lot about Jewish Culture. Some cool things that I learned was how to write my name, and the numbers in Hebrew. Well, I didn't learn but I took pictures of both. There is also this famous Jewish woman who lived in Hamburg so maybe I can find some of her past when I get there.
I enjoyed Berlin but I don't see myself coming back. It is a really interesting place with a lot of history and a lot of different people. One of my tour guides said that it is always changing and always becoming Berlin, and rarely ever being berlin. He phrased it in a much better way and I wish I remember but I thought it was a cool quote. I think it was also a great place for me to start because while traveling alone I will be doing a lot of "soul searching" and finding out who I am as a person. So thank you Berlin for starting me off on a meaningful path.
So glad to hear your enjoying your alone time. It takes a lot of courage to travel by yourself, so live it up!
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