I am saddened to report that this will be my final posting from Europe. I am in a small internet cafe near our hotel at Rue De Charrone, Paris. It is very noisy outside with lots of people and cars going by, people speaking French next to me. This keyboards layout is stranger than anything I have encountered so far on the trip so these words are a bit more taxing than normal. I purchased an hour of usage time so I can hopefully convey everything that has happened in the past few days. It would make sense to start off where I left off; Our arrival in Cologne, Germany.
Our train trip from Munich to Cologne was very easy and fast, we took one of the high speed bullet trains. The German countryside was very nice to soak in, small towns and villages sporadically accenting the green rolling farmland and forests, all going by in a blur. Since we have been in major cities for most of this trip, our only chances at seeing countryside have come from our train journeys. From the sparkling blue southeastern coast of Spain, the Tuscan region of Italy, the "ass of Hungary", to the green landscape of Germany, it has all been quite beautiful and fun. I am probably going to be upset with myself later for not staying awake for most of the trips.
We decided to visit Cologne because it was a nice mid point to break up our trip from Munich to Paris, and it resident to a very impressive gothic cathedral. Our hostel was situated very close to the train station and center of the historic center of the city. Like Munich, Cologne was also bombed heavily in WWII. Fortunately some of the major historic landmarks were spared, like the cathedral. And an impressive cathedral it is, by far the most intimidating and awe inspiring cathedral we have seen on this trip. The 2 massive towers shoot incredibly high into the sky, overshadowing an intricate and complicated architecture of the main structure. All of the lines and points of this cathedral are incredibly sharp, the color of the stone nearly black, all giving it a very sinister and gothic look. The inside contained lots of beautiful stained glass and very old tombs. Overall, the scale and "wow" factor of this cathedral was the greatest of the trip.
We walked around most of the main areas of Cologne, and went across one of the main bridges. The Rhine river divides the historic district from from the main commercial areas. Along one of the bridges that we crossed, there were hundreds and thousands of different padlocks attached in random places to the fence that divided the sidewalk from the railway. All of the locks had names and dates on them like "M & S, 1987", I suppose to commemorate a marriage or relationship. We walked across the bridge, took some pictures, walked around the historic district some more called it a day. That night, we went to the bar and pub area of the historic district and I actually got carded by the bartender. This is a country where the drinking age is 18! It must be because I finally shaved...
My final impressions of Germany were quite good. From what I saw, it is a very clean and friendly country. The 2 cities we visited were very modern and nice, and the culture was very much alive in the people. The food is very good as well, but didn't seem to vary much. Lots of sausage and potatoes. I would recommened Munich or Cologne to anyone visiting Europe and passing through Germany. Each place only offers sights to fill up 2-3 days each at most though, a little less to do than some of the other places we visited.
After our brief stint in Cologne, we hopped on the train for Paris the next morning. This trip took us through Belgium and the northwest section of France. Everything was very mountainous and hilly, with almost all the villages and towns rising and falling up and down constantly. We arrived in Paris late in the day around 5 oclock. Paris is by far the biggest, busiest and most frantic city we have been to. The cab ride from the train station to our hostel was like a stop and go rollercoaster with lots of curse words and beeping horns. Our hotel is situated in the eastern central area of the city, several blocks north of the river Seine. On our first night we walked down to the river and saw the Notre Dame cathedral from the outside, and also visited a little tourist area. We had some food at a rather touristy restaurant, and it wasn't very good and was also overpriced. Afterwards we walked back to the hotel and made plans for the next day, filling it with lots of walking and sight seeing.
The next morning, our first stop was the Arc de Triophe. It took us about an hour of walking to get there first, we passed through several different areas of the city and definitely got a feel for the vibe of the city and its residents. I think overall, Paris is somewhat of a dirty city. There is lots of smog and smoke, trash everywhere. This doesn't mean the sights were not amazing however. The Arc was very impressive, much larger than I thought it would be. After seeing the Arc, we made a straight line for the Eiffel tower. While waiting in line to buy our tickets to go to the top of the tower, a flash rainstorm came through and soaked us both, followed by gusty cold wind. It was miserable, but we were determined to wait in line and get to the top of this damn tower. The elevator up was definitely a little scary, the tower becomes thinner the higher up you go, and by the top you are very high up and can hear the wind gusting and buffeting the elevator car. The view was entirely worth it, a spectacular picture of the enormous city.
After the Eiffel, we walked around the city a little more and eventually made it back to our hostel for a nap. That night, we had dinner at a street corner cafe, and this time it definitely did not disappoint. I had Onglet de boeuf, jus a romarin, gratin pommes de terra. Translation: Steak with sauce and au gratin potatoes. I will forever compare any au gratin potatoes I have to the ones I had that night, totally fantastic. The atmosphere of the restaurant was also very nice, low but abundant conversation, the tables very close together, excellent service.
Our next day, we decided to go check out Notre Dame during the day and see some different areas of the city. Notre Dame is a much less sinister looking cathedral than the one in Cologne, but is equally important and impressive. The inside was totally beautiful and again commanded reverance and awe from me. I really love cathedrals and this was no exception. That night, we met up with our friend Mohsin, who we met on a tour bus in Barcelona. He lives and works in Paris and was nice enough to show us around for some sights and nightlife. We tried to get into some fancy clubs but unfortunately the bouncers werent too keen on letting in a party of 4 guys, 1 wearing running shoes (guess who...). We ended up bouncing around to some bars and other areas and getting a cool perspective from actual residents of the city. I want to thank Mohsin and Alex for showing us a good time and I wish them the best of luck!
I only have a couple minutes left so I am wrapping this up now. I will add more to this post later, probably when I get back to the states. Goodbye, Europe. It has been quite an adventure.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Days 18-19 Munich, Germany
Munich is a very clean, very modern and well-kept city whose residents as a whole obviously have alot of wealth. Everything looks so new here compared to most of the cities we have been so far because, well, it is. Munich and alot of other major cities in Germany were basically destroyed by bombs during WWII and most of the historic landmarks were lost. This didn´t stop the massive rebuilding efforts that took place, and the 2009 city of Munich is actually very impressive and nice. Our hostel was situated in a very central location near the main train station that made it easy to just hop outside and start sight seeing.
On our first day we stabbed straight into the heart of the historic district of the city. The city layout makes it very easy to get around. Unlike the maze-like narrow streets of Madrid and Valencia, Munich is very organized and the streets are much wider. We saw the world famous Glockenspiel (Named the 2nd most overrated tourist attraction in the world). At 3 specific times during the day, this massive gothic looking tower at the city center plays a couple purposefully out of tune songs, then some figurines move and dance around and eventually the whole thing climaxes in the shrill cuckoo of this golden bird thing. It is actually pretty silly.
The historic district of Munich is very nice and has some cool sights. It is a little disappointing to know that most everything was rebuilt after the war and is thus not as authentic as most other centuries old European sights. After our first excursion into the city we came back to the hostel and rested for a bit before partaking in what the city of Munich is really all about, Beer!
Munich claims to be the world capital of beer. There are several "Bier Gartens" sprinkled throughout the city, literally meaning Beer Garden. A Bier Garten is basically a fenced off park that serves 2 purposes: beer and food, and social gathering on a massive scale. We asked the guy at the desk in the hostel which one was the best to go. He informed us of Augustiner Bier Garten. So off we went, starving and thirsty to the international Mecca of beer.
It did not disappoint. The garden has rows and rows of cafeteria style bench seating. There are self service restaurants where you go and order a la carte and walk back with your food and beer to an open table, and there are also tables reserved for full services. We chose the full service section. First on our objectives was a massive mug of Augustiner pale ale, then we ordered our food. I had a plate of various types of sausage sitting on a huge mound of saurkraut with 2 types of mustard on the side and a huge potatoe dumpling with gravy. It was everything I expected and more. The Germans really know how to do it right! This was definitely one of the best meals of the whole trip. The beer was very fresh and excellent as well. It was not quite as fizzy as your typical American beer, and not as light either, but had awesome flavor.
After the Bier Garten, we did a small trek around the historic district at night. The place was very alive with pedestrians and street performers. There was actually a 4 piece band playing, on the street, with a piano, 2 cellos and a clarinet. A street performing classical quartet! Check that off the list of things I´ve never seen...
The next day included the most walking we have done on this entire trip. We saw different sections of the main city including the site of this years Oktoberfest (which we missed only by a couple weeks), the cathedral and other historic sites. This cathedral was not as impressive as some that I have seen so far, the detail of the architecture and the interior were very spartan and understated. After walking around the city center for a good while, we took the metro to the Olympic park, site of the 1972 olympic games. We saw the soccer stadium where Munich plays, all of the olympic facilities, and even went to the top of the olympic tower. This afforded an incredibly panoramic view of the entire city and surrounding countryside. Near the park is the BMW headquarters as well as a BMW plant. On a side note, I have never seen so many BMWs, Audis, and Mercedes vehicles. All of the taxis in the city were E-class Mercedes or higher! After walking around the entire park, we took the metro back to the city center and saw the rest of the sites that we missed until then. We saw the parliament building, some more city squares and some cool statues. On the way back to the hostel we saw another classical quartet playing on the street, this time all strings and wind instruments. They did a very impressive William Tell Overture rendition, and I gave them some money. This was the second street music act that I have given money to on this trip, the other was an accordion player in Toledo, Spain.
The computers at this hostel will not allow us to plug in any external devices so I have to promise again to get pictures up as soon as I can for Budapest and Munich. Today we spend 1 day in Cologne before making our journey to our last stop, Paris. I am saddened and in disbelief that this trip is coming to a close...
On our first day we stabbed straight into the heart of the historic district of the city. The city layout makes it very easy to get around. Unlike the maze-like narrow streets of Madrid and Valencia, Munich is very organized and the streets are much wider. We saw the world famous Glockenspiel (Named the 2nd most overrated tourist attraction in the world). At 3 specific times during the day, this massive gothic looking tower at the city center plays a couple purposefully out of tune songs, then some figurines move and dance around and eventually the whole thing climaxes in the shrill cuckoo of this golden bird thing. It is actually pretty silly.
The historic district of Munich is very nice and has some cool sights. It is a little disappointing to know that most everything was rebuilt after the war and is thus not as authentic as most other centuries old European sights. After our first excursion into the city we came back to the hostel and rested for a bit before partaking in what the city of Munich is really all about, Beer!
Munich claims to be the world capital of beer. There are several "Bier Gartens" sprinkled throughout the city, literally meaning Beer Garden. A Bier Garten is basically a fenced off park that serves 2 purposes: beer and food, and social gathering on a massive scale. We asked the guy at the desk in the hostel which one was the best to go. He informed us of Augustiner Bier Garten. So off we went, starving and thirsty to the international Mecca of beer.
It did not disappoint. The garden has rows and rows of cafeteria style bench seating. There are self service restaurants where you go and order a la carte and walk back with your food and beer to an open table, and there are also tables reserved for full services. We chose the full service section. First on our objectives was a massive mug of Augustiner pale ale, then we ordered our food. I had a plate of various types of sausage sitting on a huge mound of saurkraut with 2 types of mustard on the side and a huge potatoe dumpling with gravy. It was everything I expected and more. The Germans really know how to do it right! This was definitely one of the best meals of the whole trip. The beer was very fresh and excellent as well. It was not quite as fizzy as your typical American beer, and not as light either, but had awesome flavor.
After the Bier Garten, we did a small trek around the historic district at night. The place was very alive with pedestrians and street performers. There was actually a 4 piece band playing, on the street, with a piano, 2 cellos and a clarinet. A street performing classical quartet! Check that off the list of things I´ve never seen...
The next day included the most walking we have done on this entire trip. We saw different sections of the main city including the site of this years Oktoberfest (which we missed only by a couple weeks), the cathedral and other historic sites. This cathedral was not as impressive as some that I have seen so far, the detail of the architecture and the interior were very spartan and understated. After walking around the city center for a good while, we took the metro to the Olympic park, site of the 1972 olympic games. We saw the soccer stadium where Munich plays, all of the olympic facilities, and even went to the top of the olympic tower. This afforded an incredibly panoramic view of the entire city and surrounding countryside. Near the park is the BMW headquarters as well as a BMW plant. On a side note, I have never seen so many BMWs, Audis, and Mercedes vehicles. All of the taxis in the city were E-class Mercedes or higher! After walking around the entire park, we took the metro back to the city center and saw the rest of the sites that we missed until then. We saw the parliament building, some more city squares and some cool statues. On the way back to the hostel we saw another classical quartet playing on the street, this time all strings and wind instruments. They did a very impressive William Tell Overture rendition, and I gave them some money. This was the second street music act that I have given money to on this trip, the other was an accordion player in Toledo, Spain.
The computers at this hostel will not allow us to plug in any external devices so I have to promise again to get pictures up as soon as I can for Budapest and Munich. Today we spend 1 day in Cologne before making our journey to our last stop, Paris. I am saddened and in disbelief that this trip is coming to a close...
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