Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Amsterdamaged.
So we survived Amsterdam- just. After almost missing our flight we finally made it to our hostel in the dead centre of the red light district. As soon as i stepped onto the street I could already tell it was not going to be anything like Berlin. There were rowdy young tourists everywhere, shop fronts filled with oversized condoms, leather bound mannicans and sexy woman in limited clothing. Smoke fills the streets as overly-smiley people walk out of the coffee shops, and they head towards the nearest food store- which match the number of coffee shops. Their shelves are filled with giant pizzas, hot dogs with bacon and chees on top (this is absolutely delicious by the way, try it at home), strawberry tarts covered with cream, the list goes on.
Randomly coincided with our Aussies: Lloyd, Dave and Akash again, so convinced Lloyd to join us for a big night. We met downn at the Irish bar connected to our hostel with some newly aquainted Americans, where we enjoyed 2 for 1 Heinekin and 10 Jager shots for €10!!! As you can imagine, the night proved to be quite crazy. Went on a pub crawl which took us to about 5 clubs, of which we only made it to about 4, from what I remember. We miraculously found our way home, which was quite a feat considering all the streets look exactly the same.
Most of the next day was spent recovering, however we did manage to venture out of the red light district to find ourselves a nice, secluded coffee shop which played the likes of Bob Marley and The Beatles. We then took to discovering the wonderful streets of Netherlands 'Suburbia', where there are beautiful canals lined with cobbled streets, bicycles scattered next to every tree and apartments of every clour. When we were tired from walking we stopped by a canal, watched some boats and white swans float by, and treated ourselves to a coffee and a crusty bread roll covered with tomato, mozarella and bazil. It's safe to say, we were in heaven.
The next two nights were filled with pub crawls, clubs, countless free shots and many short-lived friendships with fellow crawlers. I made the discovery of the pun 'Hamsterdam' and thought it would be a great idea to get this as a tattoo with a little hamster running in a ball. Don't worry, I realized it was a bad idea before it was too late.
We managed to make it to the Van Gogh museum which was very impressive, seeing the famous sun flowers was one of the highlights. His style is so unique and his life an intersting but depressing one. Was great to see such brilliant art in person, to see the detail a picture on the internet just can't duplicate.
Sorry my blogs have included no pictures yet, I will try put some up eventually. But for now, my words will have to suffice. Currently in Barcelona having a wonderful time in the sun, but I will write more about it later.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Journey to The Best City in the World
Guten tag followers,
My god has it been an amazing couple of weeks. London was great, met some wonderful Canadians at our first backpackers and were up until 4am each morning swapping jokes and quirks about our respective countries. Yes, we have alerted them about the infamous drop bears so they will be fully prepared when they venture down under.
Then, after catching up with my favourite Aussie-Pol, Maja, she passed on her cold to us and we were ridiculously sick on our 4th day in the UK. So, feeling like death, we took refuge in Charlies Grans wee-cottage in Heacham, just a 2hour train ride from London. We explored Charlies home town, Hunstanton, where we visited her family home, middle school, the place she smoked her first cigarette and held hands with a boy, and the local sea-side fair ground. After begging me, I finally caved and went on a spinning ride of death, and almost yacked. Good times.
Then on our return to London we explored the city on a free walking tour, met up with fellow Aussie travelers Lloyd and Dave and learnt about the crazy drunk Irishman who broke into Buckingham palace in the 80s, ate a can of dog food which he opened with a knife, found his way to the Queens private bedroom, woke her up and asked her for a cigarette. What a lad.
Now while London wasn't a compete failure, it was nothing compared to what I think will always be the best city in the world- Berlin.
Within 2 hours of arrival I was in love with its most beautiful, old architecture, cobbled streets, vibrant atmosphere and surprisingly friendly people. We were sitting at a cafe by the river drinking coffee with a croissant, when all of a sudden a flock of about 30 sparrows swarmed us at our table, chirping away and eating our crumbs. It was so adorable.
The hostel was amazing, met some cool Irish guys that took us out to a pub crawl which stopped first under a random bridge where someone was waiting with a keg of beer for us! To be honest the rest of the night is a bit of a blur, but I'm pretty sure we had a great night. The next 3 nights were pretty much a repeat of that, meeting Dutch, Aussies, French, German and Swedish people who were all keen to party hard.
During the day there was so much culture to soak in, with a beer festival, legalizing marijuana parade, there was never a dull moment.
However, like all good things, it had to come to an end. So for the last couple of days we chilled out, went on the greatest free walking tour with an amazing guide. He really opened my eyes to the amazing things that have happened in this one city. Some of the greatest philosophers, scientists, artists, writers the world has ever seen. It's main university has seen 40 Nobel prize winners graduate from there- more than I can say for ECU...
Here is a quote we were told while on the tour:
"Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt,
verbrennt man am Ende
auch Menschen."
Translation
"They that start by burning books
will end by burning men."
--Heinrich Heine
The tour taught me that the history of Berlin is mainly a morbid one; the Holocaust is something that hangs around every corner of this place. It is in the hearts and minds of every German, and anyone passing through, and it is a very important part of Berlin and the world, and something none of us should ever forget.
Sorry to be a downer, but I want to share that experience with all of you- now back to the fun stuff! Our last night we spent eating delicious crepes, drinking freshly squeezed orange juice and watching some crazy street performers twirling fire (and making us fear for our lives at some points). A great way to say Goodbye to this wonderfully inspiring city.
My god has it been an amazing couple of weeks. London was great, met some wonderful Canadians at our first backpackers and were up until 4am each morning swapping jokes and quirks about our respective countries. Yes, we have alerted them about the infamous drop bears so they will be fully prepared when they venture down under.
Then, after catching up with my favourite Aussie-Pol, Maja, she passed on her cold to us and we were ridiculously sick on our 4th day in the UK. So, feeling like death, we took refuge in Charlies Grans wee-cottage in Heacham, just a 2hour train ride from London. We explored Charlies home town, Hunstanton, where we visited her family home, middle school, the place she smoked her first cigarette and held hands with a boy, and the local sea-side fair ground. After begging me, I finally caved and went on a spinning ride of death, and almost yacked. Good times.
Then on our return to London we explored the city on a free walking tour, met up with fellow Aussie travelers Lloyd and Dave and learnt about the crazy drunk Irishman who broke into Buckingham palace in the 80s, ate a can of dog food which he opened with a knife, found his way to the Queens private bedroom, woke her up and asked her for a cigarette. What a lad.
Now while London wasn't a compete failure, it was nothing compared to what I think will always be the best city in the world- Berlin.
Within 2 hours of arrival I was in love with its most beautiful, old architecture, cobbled streets, vibrant atmosphere and surprisingly friendly people. We were sitting at a cafe by the river drinking coffee with a croissant, when all of a sudden a flock of about 30 sparrows swarmed us at our table, chirping away and eating our crumbs. It was so adorable.
The hostel was amazing, met some cool Irish guys that took us out to a pub crawl which stopped first under a random bridge where someone was waiting with a keg of beer for us! To be honest the rest of the night is a bit of a blur, but I'm pretty sure we had a great night. The next 3 nights were pretty much a repeat of that, meeting Dutch, Aussies, French, German and Swedish people who were all keen to party hard.
During the day there was so much culture to soak in, with a beer festival, legalizing marijuana parade, there was never a dull moment.
However, like all good things, it had to come to an end. So for the last couple of days we chilled out, went on the greatest free walking tour with an amazing guide. He really opened my eyes to the amazing things that have happened in this one city. Some of the greatest philosophers, scientists, artists, writers the world has ever seen. It's main university has seen 40 Nobel prize winners graduate from there- more than I can say for ECU...
Here is a quote we were told while on the tour:
"Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt,
verbrennt man am Ende
auch Menschen."
Translation
"They that start by burning books
will end by burning men."
--Heinrich Heine
The tour taught me that the history of Berlin is mainly a morbid one; the Holocaust is something that hangs around every corner of this place. It is in the hearts and minds of every German, and anyone passing through, and it is a very important part of Berlin and the world, and something none of us should ever forget.
Sorry to be a downer, but I want to share that experience with all of you- now back to the fun stuff! Our last night we spent eating delicious crepes, drinking freshly squeezed orange juice and watching some crazy street performers twirling fire (and making us fear for our lives at some points). A great way to say Goodbye to this wonderfully inspiring city.
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