I'm kind of a Pesty girl! Budapest Part 1

To get a visual idea of Budapest, you first have to know that it is a city split over a river. One side named Buda and the other, Pest. Think of Longview and Kelso if it were one city. Only joined together in 1873, Buda is the older side of the city, and houses a huge castle that overlooks the flat plains of the Pest side and it's gorgeous buildings. Theresa and I managed to get our own apartment right in the center of town for only 20€ a night together! With Hungarian TV and a real Budapest apartment, we really got the feeling of the life there right from the first night.

After an 8-hour train ride from Prague, we still managed enough energy to go out and get a first impression of Budapest. Well, I guess coming in on the train, we had already established one, but the grafitti walls and drab buildings didn't do much to entice me, so we headed towards the most beautiful things in the city, starting with the Chain Bridge. Now, this bridge is pretty magnificent mostly because it was the first bridge to connect Buda with Pest in 1849. I guess before that they just took boats from side to side? Regardless of their previous city unity, the bridge is now a symbol of the city. From our vantage point, we had a perfect view of the Buda Hills and the Old Royal Palace glowing in the dark. At both ends of the bridge are two huge stone lions guarding the bridge. After the sculptor finished these decorations he was convinced he had forgotten to give them tongues and threw himself over this very bridge and drowned. Turns out, he did carve them. Whoops!

Since night was nearing we decided to save the trek across the bridge until the next day and instead started playing in the snow. In this entire trip (Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Bamberg, Prague and now Budapest) I had not had one single day of temperatures above freezing. We basically just gave up on trying to be warm and instead started throwing snowballs, making mini snowmen and eating snow (well, it was just me eating snow because for some reason I think it's delicious while most people thinks its really dirty and gross.)

The street we stayed on was called Vací Utca. Utca means street in Magyar. Speaking of Magyar, I think it was even more confusing than Czech! Now I am a big fan of eavesdropping and trying to guess people's languages, but Magyar seemed like a huge mix, which made it impossible to figure out. Some words sound English, while some are pronounced with a French accent and others with Italian innotation! Impossible! They say that there are 4 languages on the European continent that are not related to any other language on the continent. They are: Basque (yea, welcome to my every day life!), Gaelic, Finnish and Hungarian (or Magyar) as they call it. Getting back to Vací Utca, it is basically the shopping district of Budapest with streets full of all the popular chains. Casually placed between huge stores are gorgeous old buildings that seem out of place with thier impressive facades and grand features.

A quick Budapest history lesson will give you a visual idea of just how old these buildings are (or aren't...you decide). Founded in 1AD, Buda was ruled by the Romans, Bulgarians, Ottomans, Hapsburgs and finally in 1867 the Communist Party of Hungary ruled their own country. They ruled and development flourished until WWI, at which point Pest had become the main hub of the city. When Austria-Hungary lost the war, Hungary was declared an independent republic. In the process of becoming a country however, Hungary lost about 2/3 of it's land and inhabitants to neighboring countries. This new country was hit with even worse problems than land loss by the start of WWII. In the Battle of Budapest in 1944 and 1945, the city was badly damaged and most of the buildings and every bridge was destroyed. When the war ended though, power just transferred to the Soviets and remained until 1956, when the Hungarian Revolution finally won their own country back. It was only then that the majority of buildings were renovated and rebuilt. So, most of the buildings we were admiring we built a mere 60 years ago! Normally I am impressed with the extreme age of buildings in Europe, but Budapest has buildings that are younger than most American cities! As you walk around you see buildings that look like they were just blown up by a bomb and somewhat salvaged back together, but also you see goregous art nouveau buildings that were somehow spared from destruction in the wars. It is a construction contradiction that plays in your head as you gaze at your surroundings in this Eastern European capital.

Beautiful buildings and massive bridges aside, our most memorable part of the first night was our burners. Loaded with groceries for a feast, we stuck our huge old-fashioned key into the turn and were ready to start cooking! Turns out, these gas burners are quite fussy and after about 20 minutes of trying to figure it out we gave up and went to bed hungry. The next day we made a point to ask the hostel manager how to turn it on and it seems that each finniky burner needs to be held 'on' for about 5 minutes before you can let the switch and have it stay on. I guess thats what happens when you stay in an old building.

The next morning we got up bright and early and of course were greeted with snow. This time we made it across the Chain Bridge and at the other end boarded a funicular (basically an enclosed ski lift) that took us to the top of the Buda Hills. The views going up, although they only lasted for about 40 seconds, were fantastic, as we rose above the Chain Bridge with the St. Stephen's Basilica as the backdrop and the grand Parliament on the left. I think it is one of the most popular postcard scenes, but all of the postcards I saw showed it with a gorgeous blue sky. Our view was a bit more...gray. Grammy, this is the view that you have on your postcard that I warned I would probably put a similar photo of on the blog! Here it is! Isn't your postcard so much more picturesque?

Once at the end of our 40 seconds of excitement we were on the top of the Buda Hills, the oldest part of Buda. With foundations from 800 years ago, from the top of the hill you can see why the founders picked this as their location. With a view as far as you can see of the city, even farther had there not been clouds spitting out snow. The Buda Hills are no longer a walled city anymore and instead you can wander freely from one side to the other. We started on the site of the Old Royal Palace - a giant mansion that is now being used to display Hungarian works of art in the National Gallery. A rather drab, brown building, the Palace does boast a massive green dome that seems to bring the Gallery to life. Seeing as that it was about 10€ to get in and that I don't know any Hungarian painters, we passed on the museum entrance and instead meandered onto a different part of Buda Hills - the Old Part. While walking there we followed 3 janitors. Jolly men, they sang and kept changing walking positions the whole way, which comically seemed like they were in a musical and the brooms and mop buckets were their props.

The Old Part consists of little old shops, restaurants, an underground city of mazes, the Mattias Church and the Fisherman's Bastion. The most well-known is the Mattias Church. We saw it glowing on the hill the night before and up close you can obviously better appreciate the detail that went into the making of this 13th century cathedral. The thing that I thought gave the church it's character was the roof. Tiled with different colors, the geometric designs in multicolored shapes gave the roof a feeling of excitement, eventhough it was half covered in snow! Because the church didn't escape damaged in the wars, it now looks like a gothic church but actually has the floor plan from 700 years ago.

Directly in front of the church, two-storied and looking over the edge of the hill sat the Fisherman's Bastion. It sounds like you could buy a nice salmon there, but really it is a gorgeous terrace with 7 towers, representing the 7 different Hungarian tribes that settled in the area in 896. It is so named because it was built on the site of the old fish market and in 1895 was owned by the Fisherman's Guild, but really it has nothing to do with fish at all. The terrace, with its light-colored stone, sort of blended in with the flurrying snow all around but managed to provide a perfect view of the Pest side of town in all of its glory.

Conveniently in the Old Part there was a post office, which are pretty hard to come by in Budapest. In Prague, because I didn't assume the clerk spoke English, I made a fool out of myself by holding up my postcard, pointing to the spot for the stamps and said 'fiveeeeeeee, stampppppps (while circiling the spot for a stamp), to the UUUUSSSSAAA (while pointing to the address I had written). Basically I acted like the clerk wasn't going to know any English and she suprised me when she replied in perfect English with the price. I didn't make the same mistake again in Budapest, and instead just said 5 stamps to the USA please, and of course, she understood. Stupid Americans!

Stamps in hand, we caught the metro back to Pest and warmed ourselves up with the typical Hungarian dish - goulash soup. Now, I would explain it just as a beef stew with a little more spice, but maybe I missed something. We heard that Hungarian food is similar to that of food in Germany or Austria, but that it is a little more spicy. Hungarians pride themselves on paprika, a much-used spice and in the restaurant we visited they had it hanging off the walls, which made me feel like I was more in a Mexican restaurant with chili peppers hanging on the walls. Regardless, the soup warmed us up and we were on our way for more exploring!

Since it is getting late here, I am going to cut this one short tonight! I promise I will finish telling you all about Budapest soon!

Puszi! (Kiss in Magyar!)

Amanda

Dobrý Den from Prague! Part 2

After being in Prague for only half a day, we woke up in the morning with a vengeance to see as much as we could! We found a free English tour that started at 11am and took advantage of that! The tour started off in the Main Square by our hostel, and Starbucks in hand, we first learned about hundreds of years of Prague history in about 6 minutes. It went a little something like this: inhabited since 200BC by the Celts, Prague went from a small town to the seats of kings of Bohemia. By the 14th century, King Charles IV had a flourishing city but by the early 15th century King Wenceslas (yes, the guy from the Christmas carol) IV had a religious war on his hands - Protestants vs. Hussites. The Hapsburg dynasty soon took over and by the 20th century, Prague was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After WWI, Czechoslovakia was created and Prague named the capital city. But WWII came and from 1939 to 1942, Prague was an occupied city. When liberated, Prague then became part of the Soviet Union. In 1989, the Velvet Revolution took place and finally after many years, Prague became the capital of the new and current Czech Republic! Did you get it all?!

Our tour guide, a Welsh guy, told us this story while standing in front of the Old Town Hall. Well, I guess we were standing where the Old Town Hall used to be - because it as blown up at the end of WWII and is obviously not there anymore. This part of the rapid history lesson was my favorite because after years of occupation by the Nazis, the people of Prague saw that the Allies would soon be coming to liberate thier city and took it upon themselves, 30,000 strong, to show the despised Nazis a proper goodbye. Armed with kitchen utensils, garden tools, and anything they could get thier hands on, the citizens attacked the Nazis. Because of a confusion between USA and Russia about who was supposed to liberate Prague, what started as a quick attack turned into a few day ordeal, where somehow the militarily-untrained people of Prague held off 900,000 Nazis! During this process, the Germans, bombed the Town Hall, to let the people of Prague know that they were still a strong force and not to mess with them. But, the Allies came to the rescue and were credited with beating the 900,000 force, but the Prague people know it was they who managed the feat! So, the only building that was destroyed in WWII was the Old Town Hall. As a result, the rest of Prague still retains tons of history in its facades, lucky for us!

Our group of 30 made our way through the winding streets of the old town, passing the concert hall - Stravovské Divalodo. It was here where Mozart first performed Don Giovanni in 1787 and also the place where the Czech National Anthem was played for the first time when they became a country, only since 1993! Continuing down the road we stopped at the Powder Tower. Many of these dot the city, and are huge towers that used to hold the gun powder for Prague. This one was special because it's dark bricks and shiny gold adornments used to be part of the fortress wall that once surrounded the city. What I was wondering as he was telling us all this was that, if you were the enemy, wouldn't you just find all the towers and blow them up? I obviously don't possess too much military intelligence, but I kind of thought that was a no-brainer.

The road that starts at the Powder Tower is called Rybná and it was on this street that the Kings would start their after-coronation walk all the way through the town, across the river and to the castle. The road, meaning Crown Street, is now kind of a joke, as it is full of touristy shops that our guide said 'steal all your crowns' (the name of the currency in Czech Republic) haha. Along the street, we somehow ended up back by our hostel, to another church with a story. Listed as the city with the highest number of churches per square kilometer, Prague's skyline is dominated by the spires of the hundreds of churches. Legend has it, that in this church, one dark night, a nasty thief came to steal the gold necklace that hung around the statue of Mary. As he put his hand up to grab the necklace, the statue moved and grasped his arm! After considerable yelping, the priest came and the robber begged the priest to break Mary's hand so he could get his arm back. The priest, smartly, said 'if you tried to steal her necklace and she grabbed your arm, what do you think she will do to me if I try and cut off her arm?!'. Eventually, after trying every trick in the book, the priest had to cut off the arm...but not Mary's arm, the thief's arm! The thief vowed never to steal again, and his arm, now hangs by the door in the church to warn everyone against theft!

After that glorious story we headed to the Jewish area of town - named Josefov. Only a few blocks from our hostel was the Pinkas Synagogue, probably the most well-known synagogue in Prague, even though it is no longer active. Instead, it now houses the names of 80,000 names of Czech Jews from the Holocaust. Also on the walls of this solemn place are the drawings by many Czech children that were in the concentration camps. In the camps, the Nazis would record videos of children playing or learning to demonstrate that the work camps were not bad at all. Of course, during these filmings, life was horrible for them, and one Jewish art graduate decided to do something about it. She asked the children to draw what they were feeling, as a form of art therapy. When she was sent to the gas chambers, she hid two suitcases of drawings under the floor boards. Today, these drawings hang on the wall and for some of the children are the only thing that acknowledges that they ever existed. The saddest part of the drawings is that some of these poor children, locked up and awaiting death camps, actually drew happy families, when in actuality they were experiencing quite the opposite.

Another sad part of the Jewish Quarter is that during WWII it was walled off from the rest of the city. Of course, as time passes people die, and in the Jewish Quarter they ran out of space for corpses in the cemetery. Pleading with the people on the outisde to let them have more space for another cemetery, the Jews were told that the only space they would be given was inside those walls. Consequently, the Jewish cemeteries in this neighborhood are higher than the street because in some places, there are more than 12 levels of dead bodies buried one on top of the other.

Obviously times weren't just tough for the Jews in WWII, but in the 16th century in Prague, Jews were also being ostracized. One rabbi decided to help his people out. The folklore goes that he, with mud and a spell, created a superman that had the strength of 10 men named Golem, which means rock in Hebrew. Golem watched over the Jewish people during the week, helping and protecting in whatever way he could. However, the Golem because increasingly brutal, and awhile after he was created, he became violent and the Emperor begged the rabbi to deactivate this creature. Pleading and even offering to stop the persecution of Jews, the rabbi gave in. On the Golem's forehead was written a word - Emet, which in Hebrew means truth and reality. The rabbi rubbed off the first letter of the word, leaving met, which means death in Hebrew. After he was deactivated, Golem was placed in the attic of the synagogue and that if needed he will reactivate and protect his Jews. Supposedly a Nazi went up to the attic to stab this Golem and never returned...spooky! Either way, the attic is not open to the public hahaha.

Our tour then headed towards the Vltava River. On our way, we passed the Rudolfinum, the concert hall of Prague. Constructed in 1876, it now houses the philharmonic. The impressive building, with statues of musical greats lining the roof was particularly interesting during WWII. The Nazis, getting excited for Hitler's visit, figured out that one of the many statues was of a Jewish composer! Gasp! Of course, the Nazis wanted the statue destroyed because they knew Hitler wouldn't appreciate such a monument to Judaism. The roof did not provide them with any information and who was who though. Obviously if you make a building and put statues on the top, you don't leave plaques of who is who on the roof, because no one goes up there! So, the Nazis, intelligently decided to measure the noses of all of the statues. Jews have big noses right? When they found the statue with the longest nose, they pushed it off the roof and it smashed into smithereens on the ground. Hitler arrived with fanfare and later found out that the statue that was demolished was not a Jew at all, instead it was Hitler's favorite Austrian composer! Of course now the poor Austrian artist has been returned to his place on the roof.

The tour ended there and Theresa and I jumped into a cafe to warm our freezing toes and fingers and wrote our postcards. Once we had reached a suitable temperature we picked up where the tour finished and headed across the river. Taking a different route than the day before, we headed up the 100 steps to Castle Hill, the site of the oldest medieval castle in the world. Construction started on the castle in the 9th century and over the years just kept being added to and added to. Because of this, the architecture styles vary significantly. The most impressive and known building on the castle grounds is St. Vitus Cathedral (more on that later, because the next day we went to see it). We wandered around the grounds until it got dark, and as dusk was approaching we looked out over the city from the hill. Known as the Golden City, Prague derived this name from the fact that they used to put gold on the top of their buildings. When the sun shined, the roofs would sparkle beautifully. Covered in snow, we did not see any bedazzled roofs, but the red roof tiles did manage to peek out from their blankets of snow and create an impressive scene.

To warm up again, we this time got a Czech holiday treat called Trdlo. I never figured out how to pronounce it, and when I refer to it, I spell it out. I'm pretty sure more than once I said to Theresa, 'Let's go get some T-R-D-L-O. Regardless of how you say it, what really matters is that it was delicious! Dough is first rolled in a mix of sugar, vanilla and smashed almonds and then wrapped around some sort of metal rolling pin and cooked over a fire. The result is amazing and we made sure to have more on other occasions.

Trdlo in hand we headed towards the grocery store to pick up some food for dinner and of course some beer! Czech Republic is pretty famous for their beer - especially Pilsner, which I'm sure most of you boys know! Theresa and I knew we would try a Pilsner soon enough, so instead wanted to get some other Czech beers to test out. The aisle was full of beers brewed in the area, all of which I couldn't read, so we just picked the ones we thought were the best. I was oddly surprised to find bottles of Budweiser on the shelves. I mean, I know Budweiser is a good American brand, but it stands nothing against a Czech or German beer. I wonder who drinks it over here...

Our pasta dinner and beer set us up for a sleepy night and we woke up the next day on a mission: see the castle! When we got to the castle grounds, the lines were already enormously long. We bought our ticket and by spending 350 crowns (which sounds like a lot, but was only like 10€) we got an audio-guide which also served as a fast-pass sort of thing and let us enter any building without waiting in line. Well worth the money! First on the list was the church from before - St. Vitus Cathedral! Impressively huge, when we walked in, I was overwhelmed not only at the sheer size of it, but the intricacies of the windows and interior decorations. Built in 1344, the cathedral houses two organs - one from both the 16th and 19th centuries. The front part of the cathedral was built the 14th century and only later was the back part where we entered added in the 19th and 20th century. The stained glass windows that decorate the windows in the newest part of the cathedral were done Alfons Mucha - one of Prague's most famous artists. His art nouveau style turned into what is now called Mucha Style and is unlike any stained glass windows I had ever seen. As we rounded the nave of the church we came to the famed tomb of St. John of Nepomuk. I hope you are liking the stories, because here is another: John of Nepomuk was a priest working in Prague when a husband of a woman in his parish approached him and said 'I know my wife comes to confessional to you every week, and I want to know if she has admitted to cheating on me.' John said that was his wife said to him was between him, her and the Lord. The husband returned multiple times, each time more frustrated that the priest wouldn't tell. Finally he was so angry that he threw him off the Charles Bridge and he died. Later, he was dredged up and they found his tongue still intact! This was seen as a miracle and proof of his promise to the confessional and he was made a Saint and entombed in the cathedral. Current research shows that his 'tongue' was probably just remnants of his brain that slid down into his mouth, but I don't think they are going to be moving his ornate silver tomb out of the church anytime soon.

Next in the church was the Chapel of King Wenclesas. He is considered to be the only ever rightful heir to the crown, seeing as all other rulers of Bohemia gained the crown from winning a war or killing the King. Wenclesas was the son of a previous King and his chapel provides a tribute to the Czech's favorite leader. He was wrongfully killed when his power-greedy brother invited him over to his house. He was ambushed and his brother took the crown. Talk about sibling rivalry! Not only does the church pay homage to King Wenclesas, but also to his grandmother. Growing up, his grandma wanted him to be fully educated and as a strong Catholic. His mother did not appreciate her mother-in-law's advice and strangled her. The last chapel in the church shows his dear grandma being strangled with the scarf she was wearing. That's no way to treat a grammy!

After the church we headed to the next most popular place in the castle - the most visited street in all of Prague, Golden Lane. This multicolored street was once a fortification for the castle, and later on in the 16th century, houses were built in the the space between the towers. Originally goldsmiths rented the houses (hence the name Golden) for their work. After that, the street became more open to other workers and eventually Franz Kafka (probably the most famous Czech author) worked in number 22, a cute little blue house framed with white wooden strips. Impossible to get a good picture with the gazillion tourists, this is the best I could do for you guys! Imagine this but about 20 houses more, each a different color!

Last on our castle tour was the Old Royal Palace. With the audioguide and loads of reading inside, it seemed more like a boring history lesson and we didn't stay too long. One thing that really interested me though was the seat of the old throne. Off the main ballroom, which has been used as a jousting ring, market space, and a royal meeting place sits the Throne Room. The red velvet throne sits in the center of the room, surrounded by seats for who would have been his noblemen and the people of his court. The least interesting part of the building was a plaque stating who made the display case (which was just a glass box) that housed the copy of the Royal Crown. Honestly, does anyone care who made the glass box holding a crown? No. On that note, we left and headed to warm up with another coffee.

The problem with the Czech language I decided, is that it is way to hard. As I had been doing since I arrived on my first day, I would order a coffee, and then when she gave it to me, I would say 'it's my first day, how do you say thank you in Czech'. She would then say it to me, I would repeat it, and two seconds later the word had left my head. Shame. Warm, we jumped on a tram, which we though was going to a different neighborhood in town. It definitely went to a different neighborhood, just not the one we wanted. What should have been a 5-minute tram ride turned into a 40-minute adventure, and we finally made it to Mala Strana, the Lesser Town of Prague. Right below the castle, this part of town was dotted with gorgeous churches (I really wonder how many churches there are in this city!). Since it was dark we decided to come back the next day in the daylight and instead headed to a pub to drink the Pilsners we had been waiting for and then off to bed, another successful tourist day behind us.

For our last day, we had already seen most of the big sights, so we were excited to just wander and explore. We happened to be in the Main Square when the huge astrological clock began to strike 11. This clock is not only a clock but basically the coolest thing from the era it was built. In 1388 when it was made, there were no computers, no cell phones, no google maps, so this clock was the hit of the town! The contraption consists of two 'clocks'. The lower one has the coat of arms of Prague in the center. The next ring around are the zodiac signs, and next the farming months of the year. This constantly turning clock not only shows you what time it is, but also what zodiac time and what farming season you should be in. I couldn't see close enough, but I wonder if you tell March apart from maybe June or something by how ripe the berries are? On each side of the discs are two statues of angels and saints. The clock above it is even more complicated. The outer circle is of numbers 1-24 an old numbering style. Directly next are the same numbers but in Roman numerals. Inside of that is a circle that moves in time with the zodiac signs and has two hand for time...but not our time, the time of where the sun and the moon are! On each side of the clock are two statues, which symbolize what you shouldn't be doing to pass the time: the first statue is holding a mirror to his face, which symbolizes vanity; the second a man in hiding a bag of money in his jacket, showing off his greed; the third a skeleton, actually rings a bell on the hour and represents death; and the last is a dark-skinned person, meaning that at the time people were afraid of people from other lands and that to associate with one of them was bad. It impresses me now, so I imagine in the 14th century it was even more amazing. At the hour the clock strikes and two little doors above the huge clocks open and the 12 wooden apostles float by. Once the apostles make their appearances you hear a weak bird crow and then to the cheering of the crowd that has gathered under the clock, a man plays the trumpet from the top of the tower. If only every hour of my life were so exciting!

Next we headed to Mala Strana via the Charles Bridge. Finally we were seeing it in the daylight! Lined with 30 statues, we strolled along, gazing at the castle on the top of the hill and the bridge towers in front of us. Straight after the bridge we followed the curving road that was lined with pastel homes to St. Nicholas church. Goregous, like all of the rest, this church had an upstairs exhibition that allowed us to see it from a bird's eye view. The next church on the list was a hike, but worth it. Named the Loretto Church, it sits atop a hill near the castle. It is a huge pilgrimage spot because of its 27 Loretto bells that chime every hour. Home of the only remaining carillon (multiple bells hung in a tower), these bells were made in the 17th century by a Dutch bell maker. Planned nicely, we were there as it chimed. First the chime signals that it's the hour, then sounds the time. Lastly, and most impressivley, the bells play We Greet You a Thousand Times. As the bells chimed I couldn't help but smile and think about how I was in the City of a Hundred Spires.

Sadly though, we had to leave the city early the next morning, but every time I think about Prague I cannot be anything but 100% impressed. I think that I would rank Prague as one of my favorite cities in all of Europe so far. Every building, even nothing buildings, were beautiful to gaze at, the city was magical, like you had just walked into a movie set! I would love to go back when 1) I can remember how to say thank you and 2) when the average temperature isn't 30ºF like it was for January.

It was a long blog, but I truly loved this city wanted to cram in as much good stuff as I could! I hope you enjoyed! I hope you also like the photos that I put up on the side!

Pusy!

Amanda

Dobrý Den from Prague! Part 1

En route to Prague, I stopped off in Bamberg, Germany to meet up with Theresa. She finished her work in Spain and moved back to Germany before Christmas, but I wasn't so sad she left because I knew we had this fabulous trip planned! Sadly, my train was delayed about an hour (very un-German) and when I arrived in Bamberg it was already dark. Theresa had been so excited to show me about her city - which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site! I don't really think driving out and running around in the snow really counts as appreciating this cute little city. We did manage to see the big ticket building in Bamberg - Altes Rathaus (Old City Hall), which was built in 1386 on a bridge! We also trekked up a hill to see the big ticket site for Bamberg - thier cathedral. The east side of the church is dedicated to St. George, while the west is for St. Peter. Not to be greedy, but I would be a bit sad if I had to share the title of a church with some other Saint hahah. Also built in the 1300s, it is one of the best-known architectural feats in Germany and is quite a contradiction. During the time between when construction started and when the church was finished, styles changed drastically, so two of the imposing columns are done in Romanesque style and the other are decorated in Gothic style. This photo is of the Romanesque side of the building, and quirky as it is, I really like the clock on the right tower - although the fact that it's asymmetrical drives me insane! Stunning, even in the dark, I thought it was funny that Dave, my American Army friend who lives in Amberg, lives so close to this cute town and I had never seen it! Theresa's family owns a restaurant in the country and the wine area of Germany is quite near, so who knows, maybe I will plan another Bamberg trip in the future...

After maybe 5 hours of sleep, my annoying alarm sounded and we were off to the train station headed towards Prague. We arrived, quite tired and commited ourselves to resting most of the day so we could be power-tourists the next day. We picked a hostel right in the middle of the old town, next to the Church of our Lady before Týn, the main church in the Staré Mesto (Old Part in Czech) since the 14th century. After getting out of the metro, we tried to orient ourselves, but without a map it was rather tough, and had to ask a handful of people which way our place was. The first thing I noticed about Prague was the sidewalks: very romantic and picturesque, the cobblestone sidewalks in various geometric designs, were not easy to roll my suitcase over! After about 10 minutes of my clickity-clacking suitcase, we found our hostel! With our own room, we laid our suitcases down, paused for a recharge and then headed back out to see what we could in the daylight that was left. Without a map or any idea of the layout, we just started walking, which I think is sometimes the most fun way to see a city. The main square where the church is was loaded with the Prague Christmas Market. From Christmas ornaments and holiday treats to babushkas (those little never-ending Russian dolls) and jewelry, the red-topped roofs of the stalls and the huge tree in the middle made me feel Christmasy all over again! The square was packed with people and also beautiful buildings. The photo is of me with St. Nicholas' church behind me. Besides the two churches, each of the edifices of the buildings were painted a different pastel color, some even boasted murals on their walls. Statues were perched on the roof and gold plated decorations shone for all to see.

The streets that ran off from the square were full of jewelry and glass shops. Bohemian glass, famous for being high-quality crystal and for being hand-cut stores displayed everything you could think of made of glass. Would you like a pair of champagne flutes? How about an ashtray? Maybe you were looking for water jug with butterflies painted on the side? Well, you could have found all of that! I eventually bought a little crystal bell to hang on my tree. I chose a red one because the other famous thing from Prague is garnets. Since I wasn't going to buy myself a huge stone, I figured that red would suffice and would at least remind me of the gorgeous gems that seemed to be all over town. The most important part of our shopping was our vocabulary learning. Dobrý den (blog namesake) means 'hello' in Czech. We also learned 'bye' and 'thank you' but about 5 seconds after learning them, they flew out of our heads. Please tell me if you have any luck remembering Na shledanou (bye) and Děkuji (thank you) because we never seemed to manage it!

Poking in and out of shops we eventually made our way to the river - which divides the oldest part of Prague (the Castle District - Hradcany in Czech if you were wondering) from the part we were staying in. Walking across the bridge afforded us an good view of the castle. Because it was cloudy and getting dark, the snow-topped roofs sort of blended into the sky but you still got the impressive that it was going to be a beautiful part of town. With temperatures below freezing we quickly crossed the bridge and at the end had a good look at our side of town, lights shining into the sky. While gazing at our side of the river, we eventually meandered to the Mala Strana (Lesser Town area) and to the Charles Bridge - the oldest bridge in Prague. Built in 1357 and named after who other than Charles IV, this bridge is dotted with 30 statues, that were difficult to see because of the dark, but I will tell you about in a later blog when I could see them better!

When it started to snow, we decided to head home and catch up on our rest. Although short, our first day in Prague was impressive and as I went to sleep, trying desperately to remember any Czech phrases, I knew that the city was going to be my favorite of the trip!

Pusy (kisses in Czech - another word I would have never remembered!)

Amanda

Windmills and Tulips and Clogs...Oh My!

The name of this blog is pretty funny because of all the windmills in the country, I only saw one. There were no tulips in the countryside because it is obviously winter. And, no Dutch people actually wear clogs around, but I did manage to get a blue and white porcelain pair for my Christmas tree. Other than these three things, my second country in my winter travels was fantastic.

After seeing all I could see in Edinburgh, I hopped on a flight to Amsterdam to meet up with Lotte, a girl from Holland who I became friends with last year in Spain. We have always kept in touch, so I was really excited that I was finally going to see her, as I had promised when she moved back to the Netherlands!

Upon arrival we jumped right onto the train and headed for her town - Tilburg. I'm sure none of you have actually heard about Tilburg, but it is in the south of the country about 2 hours from Amsterdam. Known as the wool capital in Holland, Lotte grew up here and for the next months will live here after which she will move to Amsterdam. The first night we went by bus to a goodbye party for her friend. By this point in the day I had used a plane, train and a bus - I was quite the transportation junkie!

The party was for her friend Aniek (pronounced Uh-neek) who was going traveling for 7 months and was starting with NYC for New Year's Eve. As a result, I was getting asked questions all night about cool things to do and see in NYC. I think that Dutch people speak the best English of all Europeans, so it was very easy to talk to everyone at the party. After a few drinks, the group decided they wanted to show me the best of classic Dutch music and started playing old songs and singing at the top of their lungs. Each person picked a song and without fail, someone was always embarrassed with the song that their friend picked. Because I couldn't understand any of the songs, I assume it would be like showing a Dutch person: Achy Breaky Heart, Macarena, Stayin Alive and maybe the Titanic theme song. Laughing and dancing, I enjoyed my first night, but after the trip, was happy to get back to Lotte's place and get some much-needed rest.

The next morning we woke up early and headed into Amsterdam for some sight-seeing! We arrived at Centraal Station, where they have a 3-story building just for bike parking. Of the 16 million people in Holland, there are equally as many bike - and normally they are kept in pretty bad shape, as to ward away the ubiquitous bike thieves. With hundreds of bicycles spinning around in my head we headed towards Dam Square. Amsterdam was named from it's origins as a Dam on the River Amstel. Dam Square was originally built in 1260 and now is home to the Royal Palace (which was sadly completely under construction), a gorgeous 15th century Cathedral (that inside is now a museum we had no interest in seeing), a huge white monument to the victims of WWII and shopping shopping and more shopping!

As soon as we started walking more towards the center, I immediatley fell in love with all of the canals. While we crossed over the first one, I of course took a picture and didn't really love how it turned out, and Lotte assured me that there would be more photo opportunities - 'This is what Amsterdam is' she said. I really wasn't expecting SO many canals though! The city was just a small village in 1275 and as the Dutch became more important in the trading the city grew. By the 17th century, city planners laid out a new Amsterdam. Being as that it was the richest city in the world, during their Golden Age, Amsterdam became a city situated within 4 semicircle canals. When I try to think about it, I imagine a rainbow, and each color is a different canal, and in between each color are massive houses, tons of bicycles and friendly Dutch people wandering around their gorgeous city. Each canal has its own name and the farthest half circle is basically considered the boundary for living in the 'center' of Amsterdam. We were planning to stay with Lotte's friend, Minou (pronounce me-knew) and she lived about a stone's throw away from the last canal and was excited to tell me that she lived in the center! The canals are named, from the most central, Singel which was the moat around the entire city during the Middle Ages; Herengracht or Lord's Canal in English is the most posh canal and is lined with mansions; Keizergracht is called the Emperor's Canal; and last but not least is the Prisengracht, Prince's Canal which is full of houses built during the Golden Age. With no real plans in mind, Lotte humored me and wandered around from canal to canal just so I could gaze around. I loved all of the narrow houses, each a different shade, with tall windows, shutters with character and of course their own boat out front in the canal! Some of the houses are built on such unstable ground that after many years, they are starting to lean forward. I even saw some houses being held up with huge wood pillars - probably not the most secure home!

Since we had a late start from sleeping in, it got dark pretty quickly and around 5pm we met Lotte's mother for a drink at Leidse Square, a cute plaza with a huge ice-skating rink in the middle. After a pre-dinner drink we headed to a new, trendy Asian restaurant. It'd been so long since I had a good Asian meal, and it made me realize that Dutch are quite similar to Americans in the fact that they are open to a lot of things from different countries. I couldn't find a great Chinese restaurant in San Sebastian if I tried my hardest! As Lotte and I were talking about it, I realized how much more Dutch and Americans have in common. For example, when the Dutch owned Manhattan in NYC, they named some of the neighborhoods after Dutch cities - Harlem after Haarlem and Brooklyn after Breukelen - but when conquered by the Brits these changed to the English names in New York instead of New Amsterdam. Also, both the Roosevelt Presidents are from Dutch families! Also, did you know that November 16th is actually Dutch-American Heritage Day in the States, because on this day in 1776, Dutch war ships saluted the American ships passing, being the first country to recognize our independence.

We called it another early night and headed to bed early - I guess we knew New Year's Eve was coming up and we should conserve our energy! The next day we went to probably the most famous tourist attraction in the Netherlands - The Anne Frank House. Of course I read Anne Frank's Diary when I was in school, but to actually visit the place where she hid kind of gave the chills. We stood in line for an hour next to the Westerkerk (a historic church). Built in 1631, you might remember Anne saying that she could hear the bells of a tower from the annex...well this was that church! Once inside the museum took us through the bottom part of the building - where Otto Frank's warehouses used to be. His companies sold jam and meat seasonings and throughout the bottom floor you can see old advertisements for their products. Upstairs are the offices for the company and then through the famous bookcase is the annex where Anne, her sister, parents and 3 other people lived for more than two years.

When I walked into the Secret Annex, my heart just kind of dropped. Reading the book is sad enough, thinking that such a young girl had to confront such a wicked world, but to actually see where she had to hide really brought it to life. The first room was where Anne's parents and her sister slept. On the wall was a small map where Otto used to track the progress of the Allies after the invasion as well as pencil marks of how much the girls grew during their time there. The next room was Anne and Fritz's room. In her diary she wrote that she thought the room was quite bare at first but that her dad brought her film-star and postcard collection up to the Annex for her to decorate. When you see these small little pieces of magazines hanging on a huge tan wall, it really reminds you that even with her amazing writing she was just a little girl and wanted to hang up photos of her idols, just like any other 13-year old. There was a quote on the wall from her diary that just broke my heart and made my eyes well up with tears (as they are right now) - 'I long to ride a bike, dance, whistle, look at the world, feel young and know that I'm free, and yet I can't let it show.' I really can't even imagine what it would have been like and even worse, that something so terrible could have only happened 70 years ago.

The rest of the house gives you an idea of how they lived and with video screens you can learn more about the inspiring teenager from people who knew her. The last room talked about how Anne died in a concentration camp, two weeks before liberation, thinking that all of her family had died. Two weeks later Otto came home and Miep Gies gave him Anne's diary. After a long time, he finally read the diary and leaves of paper that now make up her story and was suprised at how mature his little daughter had been. He decided to publish her diary, her biggest wish, and now it has been translated into more than 65 languages. In the gift shop you could buy the diary in one of those many languages, and as I browsed through, I saw the original Dutch version and snapped a photo of one of the pages in it where she talks about her photo and that she doesn't like her face and that she couldn't make it to Hollywood with this shot. Adorable.

It seems odd now to read that Miep Gies has just died on Monday. Miep, the lady who discovered Anne's diary after the Franks were transported to a Auschwitz, was one of Otto's workers who constantly watched over the family in the annex, bringing them food and supplies. Otto died in 1980 and now that Miep is gone, the original people from this amazing story are all gone. Thankfully, the museum and her diary live on. Looking back, I think that the museum was my favorite part of my time in Amsterdam, and it kind of made me want to re-read the book.

Walking out of the museum with teary-eyes, we decided to take a completely different approach to the rest of the night to cheer ourselves up. And what do people in Amsterdam do to cheer up? They go to the Red Light District. Littered with prostitutes, the district is so named because each door that is on the street has a florescent light above it. If it is on, it shines red, and means that the girl inside is available. Walking through the streets was really sad to see how many pretty girls were selling themselves and even more embarrassing to see how many guys just oogled at the girls, wearing barely any clothes. We saw some guys go in, which seemed quite gross, but I guess it is the neighborhood to do that. The Red Light District is also the area to sell, smoke and buy marijuana - since it is not illegal in the Netherlands. Because we were feeling super touristy, we bought tickets to see a peep show. Somehow we were seated in the front row, much to the envy of all the boys in the chairs behind us, and basically just chuckled the entire show.

All in all it was quite an Amsterdam day - the most important museum in the city and the most famous district in the city. Well done.

For our last full day, Lotte and I decided to check out a house that had been maintained well from the Golden Age of Amsterdam. On Keizergracht (remember, that's one of the canals), we went into a house built in 1672. The narrow house is now a museum, but an elderly lady of the family who owns the house still lives in it and is normally out of the house by 10am when the museum opens, but we learned that sometimes she sleeps in and gives the tourist quite a scare! With tall rooms, grand fireplaces, detailed wallpaper and only the best decorations, the house made you feel like you were part of the Dutch East India Trading Company and that you were coming home to this luxurious home. With preserved paintings, hand-painted Dutch china sets and authentic furniture, the house/museum was grand in every sense of the word.

Trying to make the most of our daylight, we headed out to a small town north of Amsterdam called Voldendam. This little village is right on the water (well, what isn't in Holland?) and has a huge lot of fishing boats, that in the cold water were bobbing around in half ice. The town is sort of a flashback to how earlier times in Holland were, with some people even still wearing the traditional costume - clogs and all! While there, Lotte had me try to very important Dutch foods. First was oliebollen - basically called oil balls - are a New Year's treat in the area. These deep-fried dough balls are covered with sugar and eaten warm. We got them straight from the outdoor cart and they were delicious. Not so appetizing was the second thing she wanted me to try: salted raw herring. Supposedly a real Dutch dish, I don't think anyone outside of the country likes it. After one bit of the fish, scales and all, I decided I wasn't up for tearing my teeth in for another bite and gladly let Lotte swallow mine!

On the bus ride home I saw my one and only windmill! It's not the best photo but I HAD to take a picture, probably appearing to be the most touristy person on the bus at the time. When I envision Holland I really see windmills and tulips and clogs (Oh My!) so since I didn't see any clogs or tulips, I wasn't letting the windmill get away without a picture!

Once at the apartment we got ready for New Years - 2010 can you believe it? Decked out we headed to Museum Square where Marco Borsato was giving an outdoor concert. At about 40-something years old, he is a super famous Dutch singer. It was basically the Times Square of Amsterdam that night - with hundreds of people all screaming the lyrics to songs I had never heard but nonetheless enjoyed. After a whirlwind night and meeting a lot of new friends, we eventually made it home at 6am and a few hours later I got up and around and headed off to my next Euro destintation - Bamberg, Germany.

Kussen!

Amanda