Germany and Prague

okay, so it has been quite an adventure thus far. last you all read we were just arriving in berlin...

berlin was a very interesting city with a lot of history. first thing to note, how so many of the tourist attractions revolve around one of the saddest points in history. it was almost depressing to wake up and say, oh, i cant wait to see the holocaust memorial and the berlin wall! so much tragedy is tied to this city, and the weather and buildings suited it. many of the buildings are concrete and very plain. the city itself looks harsh and i couldnt help but sense a haunting feeling. regardless, as tourists we definitely gave in and explored all the attractions. starting with parliament...we waited in a very very long line and took the elevator to the top. the dome is fantastic and here, we enjoyed a panoramic view of all of berlin. the glass and mirrored structure inside were phenomenal and several pictures were taken. continuing with our budget plan, we decided to walk the city. we walked through the main square and gazed in awe of the brandenberg gate. mandy thoroughly enjoyed petting every horse we walked by. next, we saw checkpoint charlie and the berlin wall. okay, why dont people ever talk about the second berlin wall? maybe mandy and i are alone in our ignorance, but i think most americans are not aware of the fact that two walls were built parallel to one anther. in between the two walls is where most people were shot and left to die. hence the great struggle people had in climbing the wall. you cross one only to realize you need to scale another. :( we also made our way to the holocaust memorial, well stumbled upon it actually. quite interesting for a memorial. it is made up of large tomb-like structures, varying in sizes. the museum was closed the day we were there, so i am not sure if this is accurate...but it reminded me of caskets stacked on top of one another, varying in length and height. next we saw the university and museum island. none of the museums were of particular interest to us, but germany did not fail us. the architecture and attention to detail on the buildings was incredible. i am sure, it would not seize to amaze my father. ;)

okay, so now for the fun part. berlin was not all tears and sadness...but actually quite fun too! we by chance arrived on the day of a huge cycling race, sooooo we enjoyed our first brat and german beer amongst the locals. the lange weiner was long indeed and quite delicious! we grabbed another beer, headed for the park, and then satisfied our sweet tooth with a banana and nutella crepe. yummmm yummmm! we also had our first encounter with a very rude german who refused to speak english or be helpful. we needed to make a train reservation and made our way back to our second home: the central train station. here, we met a woman who should have been helpful and instead laughed and snickered with her friend. No bueno for mandy and i. she finally booked our train ticket, but mandy was definitely put off by her attitude and lack of respect. i couldnt help but feel a tad guilty, since we, as americans, dont know another language and just assume everyone will be accommodating. oh well. hmm what else, happened in berlin? oh yes! okay so we discovered, yet again, that nothing is served cold! BUT we managed to find 1 euro beers at a supermarket, awesome! bought a bottle opener, realized europeans dont bag groceries or give you bags, had our first death by battery for our camera, shared 2 currywursts, and hopped on a train to prague...

by now, we knew how the train worked sooooo we bought a bottle of wine, poured it into our handy dandy nordstrom eco friendly bottles and were off! (green really is the new gorgeous..or at least a way for us to save 2 euro every time we want cold water) on the train, we met Dominic. an elder english man, living in berlin, and working as an english teacher. at first, he was not too friendly but then we all had a beer together and the lively older gentleman was a real treat. he gave us some friendly tips and after about 3 hours into our ride, stanley showed up. stanley was a young czech who worked at a hotel in prague. he commuted to work and dominic was determined to set us up with him. too precious. needless, to say after a bottle of wine and a beer, plus a day in the sun and little food, we were a bit tipsy getting off the train. but dominic was quick to guide us and we arrived at our stop: namasti republicky. awesome name! it has followed us all the way to italy :) once arriving at namasti republicky (go on say it out loud, so fun hahaha) we found a nice (did i mention very gooooood looking?) italian to show us the very looooooooong way to our hostel. we made it and sadly said farewell and quickly got dressed to go out. yes, we did not pass out immediately (maybe we are getting better at the whole travel, drink, eat little, walk way to much in one day, and still have energy to party!) we left the hostel to go visit stanley and he was so cute and awkward. but he was friendly enough and pointed us in a direction for a jazz club. too bad it was closed! soooo mandy and i were left to find a party on our own. no worries, we did. we joined in on a pub crawl that had already started, and being the only two girls we were definitely welcomed! we danced, drank some frugal, 2 beers, and didnt pay for a thing! success! we also met devin and kenneth, by day aka k-dolla by night! hahaha goooooood times. but after our very long day and night, we got walked to our door and said adios! little did we know, our night was not over...back at our room we met our 2 canadian roommates whom we chatted with for some time before passing out...significant because they enter our amazing story the next night...

the second day in prague was no bueno, weather wise. it was over cast and foggy and wet. but that did not hold me and mandy back! we ventured all over the city, took some horrible pictures of one another and attempted to take pictures of the historic spots: including, the charles bridge, castle, and old town. we enjoyed our first hot meal in a while, which was also a traditional czech dish: duck, pork, biscuits, gravy, goulash, and something that reminded us of polenta hahaha oh! and the best part! the two appetizers: asparagus with ham and cheese and spinach on top of a potatoe cake...scumptiously delicious! so with full tummies, we zig zagged our way back to the hostel. but along the way we found the infamous coo coo clock, in the city square...let me just tell you all, mandy and i waited for 20 minutes in the rain and this had to be the lamest coo coo clock we have ever seen!!!! the next day, we happen to pass it at the top of an hour and ended up taking pictures of the tourists because we couldnt believe just how many people go to see it!!! unbelievable! okay, so back to night number 2 in prague...enter the aussies: (crazy) carl, ben, and the two norwegians: martha and martine. ben and carl were unbelievably hilarious and can drink more than anyone i know! (meghan, you would truly love these two characters, especially ben. i can only hope you two meet one day lol) story time! carl actually slept with a prostitute from the red light district in amsterdam for 30 euros! (he got a discount because he is young...pshhhhh!) crazy carl comes out when he is drunk and even carl doesnt like crazy carl. the night we met carl, he found himself a sugardaddy who paid for his drinks all night. luckily, for carl, crazy carl did not go home with him haha! there are a lot of stories these characters brought to our lives but you will just have to ask us when we get back. as for the norwegians, we are definitely planning on visiting them on a eurotrip number 2! most interesting things we learned about norwegians: they only eat out-at most-5 times a year, they dont eat breakfast, they only drink out of bottled water no matter where they travel, and they dont have any interest in visiting america.

the next day, mandy and i explored some more and i bought a jacket (because i unfortunately forgot one). the day passed quickly and we bought some drinks and partied with our roommates and hopped on our first overnight train...to vienna...