Prague Praha Prag

After leaving Munich I hopped on a train and headed north to the Czech Republic. The train ride was gorgeous and the city followed suit. Prague is really hilly, which was a nice change of pace. When you arrive you see different elevations and a depth you just cannot get with flat places. Wandering around, your mind goes into sensory overload. EVERY building in Prague is interesting. The detailing, the colors, the shapes, all of it! You are never bored. The unfortunate part for me was that it felt so touristy. The whole time I was there I could not get away from people with maps, English, or people trying to scam you. However unfortunate that was, the beauty of the city is undeniable.

The first day all I did was wander. I meandered down to the river and then into old town square in the evening to see some of the most beautiful buildings come alive at night. The square was pulsing with people. The buildings are stunning. No matter how bland a building looks when you get close the detail is mind blowing. I have never been so in awe of architecture before, and I have always appreciated the art!

the beautiful Vltava river and look at those buildings!

Old Town Square

After turning in early that evening I set out bright and early the next morning. I was leaving on a train at 11 pm that night and wanted to see everything I could before I left. I started out revisiting the old town square where the was a fabulous Dali exhibit (had all of the divine comedy pieces! beautiful!) and then began my walk through the castle grounds. On my way I stumbled onto a local treat with a line around the corner. For the equivalent of about one US dollar I decided I would try one...I have no idea how to say this word, but it was delicious not to mention literally made to order.

Any ideas on pronunciation?

freshly made, try one if you're there!

To get up to the castle I took a different route than usual. I went up through the vineyards instead of through old town via the Charles Bridge. I would seriously recommend this way to anyone going. I do not know if I even would have meandered over through that area if I hadn't started there. There is just so much to see! The grounds are AMAZING. There are labyrinths of gardens and these vibrant red roofs with the view of the river. Within the castle walls there is an amazing Cathedral with unique, and truly the most striking stained glass I have seen in my life. I have tons of pictures from this spot, but I tried to pick my favorites so this entry isn't too too long!

The castle views:

My path down into old town was again sensory overload. I cannot stress this enough, but EVERY BUILDING IN PRAGUE IS STUNNING. The streets also just have this lovely flow to them. The old stone and the winding, worn paths, mixed with the hills just creates warmth and beauty at every turn. Just look at this street! There are cars and tourists, yet it is still one of the most lovely sites you will see, very few places can remain charming with technology and industry, but Prague has mastered it.

I had heard of a John Lennon memorial buried in the streets of old town and was determined to find it. After walking around it in a circle for what seemed like ages, I finally found the right alley and was greeted by vibrant colors and an unending supply of Beatles' lyrics. The wall was white washed for many years until the owners finally succumb to the graffiti and now any one can come and see this memorial wall. Click on them to see more details!

My favorite quote on the wall: "Peace within yourself will set you free"

My walk down became even better has the dreary fog lifted and the sun broke through while I was crossing the Charles Bridge. This bridge has amazing statues lining the edges and towers at either end. It is one of the most recognizable land marks in eastern Europe.

Just look at how vibrant the city looks in the sunlight!

After my walk across the Charles bridge I made my way to the hostel to grab my gear and then I was onto the train station.

Next stop, Budapest.

Dachau

When you are younger you learn about the World's history. You read your text books, do your homework, take your tests, but you don't fully grasp the weight of the events until you can physically SEE a piece of them. I understood the horrifying details of Nazi Germany, especially the concentration camps. Mass extinction, starvation, killing the human spirit...all of these concepts you read about, but there is no way you could ever imagine them to any real extent. I knew this, but hoped to gain a better understanding on this bit of history by going to Dachau, the first concentration camp.


Dachau is an actual town located about 10 miles outside of Munich. The camp is now a historical site and museum. The majority of the buildings are original, but some, like the prisoner's barracks, are replicas. As is the gate that reads work will set you free. This was the entrance to every concentration camp.

Dachau opened in 1933 and was a men's only work camp. The concentration camps began more as work camps and then evolved into the extermination camps like Auschwitz. When Dachau opened the barracks held 200 people, each having a bed with blankets and a shelf. When liberation came these same buildings held 2000 people, 2000! The living conditions were horrific to put it lightly.

I took a tour in order to learn more about the camp and history and it was well worth it. People always give German companies grief for accepting the slave labor from concentration camps, but the US had their hands in it too. Coca Cola and Fanta used to be the American and European branches of the same company. Fanta would be shipped the Coca Cola syrup until the Americans entered the war. That is when Fanta became what we know today, orange soda. Essentially if the Allies had not won the war it would be Coke owned by Fanta instead of the other way around. There are other American companies in it as well. Nobody had their hands clean.

The entire camp was eeire to walk through. The crematoriums, the gas chambers, the towers, all of it have this air of sadness. It made me sick to my stomach to walk into the "showers" and see the ovens where they fit three humans into a slot big enough for one average sized individual. At the time Catholics where not allowed to be cremated, and in turn the Nazis had the Catholic priests operate the ovens. The Nazis were there to try to break the spirits of the people. They used to mess with the prisoners in horrible ways. They might throw a hat on the grass, which if a prisoner stepped on they risked getting shot, but if they didn't have their hat at roll call they would be tortured as well. There was no easy choice. Also the fence past the death grass was electrified so escape was next to impossible. People did use the fence to kill themselves though. There is a memorial to those who "ran to the fence" which is extremely powerful when you see it in person...

Another memorial I found moving is the proud prisoner. The inscription reads to honor the dead and warn the living. The stance of this statue is the memorial. In line up, which the prisoners had each morning, individuals had to stand with their feet together, head down, no coats or layers, just those infamous stripped pajamas, a hat on their heads, and looking down. This statue encompasses everything they were not allowed to do for so long.

Dachau was the second concentration camp to be liberated. Like most camps, the coal had stopped being shipped so when the allies arrived they found hundred upon hundreds of bodies stacked outside the crematoriums. There are photos of this all over the camp. It's beyond words. Also a lot of soldiers felt so badly for the prisoners that they gave them all their rations, but the rich, diverse food wound up killing them. The prisoners had to gradually be given more and more bland food before they could eat a real meal. The starvation was an obstacle that some never recovered from.

The whole experience was quite emotional and truly beyond a description. It is unbelievable that it happened and continues to happen today. There is a memorial that says never again in six languages, but that is not true. It has happened again and continues to, to this day.

Here is the official website for more information http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/index-e.html

Also, the wikipedia page is helpful.

München

I arrived in Munich and instantly fell in love. The vibe of the city, the scenery, the architecture, the markets, all of it. I love Munich and could see myself living there at some point even. I arrived at my hostel and then took a walk around town. I headed down toward town hall, more commonly known as Marienplatz and could not get enough of it. Look how pretty the building is!

from the ground

from old peter across the way

So, I couldn't resist the urge to go up to the top and continue admiring the details in every corner of this building. So I sucked it up, paid the two euro and headed up to the top. It was quite worth it! I would recommend it to anyone who goes to Munich. Also, it's one of the only buildings in Europe that has been modified and an elevator added, so if your joints aren't up for the 15 floors of stairs, there's another option. I wound up going to the top of Old Peter as well, which is across from the Marienplatz. That was great, it had 14 flights of creaky old wooden stairs, it had a very authentic climbing to the bell tower feel, plus was a great place to take pictures of the Marienplatz! Again, I recommend going up there if you're in Munich, and it's cheaper than the Marienplatz...speaking of, back to the nifty details!

like this

And that, look at the Labyrinth pattern in the center of town hall!

rawesome sneaky, wall-climbing dragon too!

The fish fountain in front, happiness!

So after my walk I came back and crashed pretty hard...early morning flight from Pisa, SCARY early morning flight Swiss Alps and all their turbulence. And the next day I headed out and explored the Deutsches Museum. This place is the largest and oldest science and technology museum in the world and it is as gloriously nerdy as it sounds. I kinda scoffed when my little travel book told me you couldn't do it in a day, but damn...I don't think I could have done it in a week. They have a full U boat, an original Wright brothers plane, a V2 missile a cell magnified 3200 times and you can WALK through. I was wandering through and saying hi to the rough endoplasmic reticulum and the mitochondria...how awesome is that? I spent the entire day there and sadly didn't make it through half of it. They have everything! Great day if I do say so myself. I got my science on and that always leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy on the inside.

The next day I stumbled onto Viktualienmarkt, a giant market in city center with fruit stands, cheeses, meats, fish, coffee stands, bakeries, and an amazing soup shop. I stopped and got myself some pumpkin curry soup(!!!) just as it began to snow, it was lovely. Because it was so chilly out I opted for another museum day, this time art, art, and more art. Museum Brandhorst got me the most excited. There are pictures of one exhibit I found particularly interesting. It is by Damien Hirst and is titled, "In this moment we are victims helplessly clinging to an environment that refuses to acknowledge the soul" Depressing title, but interesting! Every single one of the dots is a different prescription pill...its overwhelming I couldn't even get the entire piece in one shot.

crazy, no?

Another day I wandered over to the Residenz. The Residenz is this horribly gaudy collection of buildings, but is endearingly quirky at the same time. I found this fountain, which continues to boggle my mind/make me immensely happy. It has weird combinations of creatures fighting, some examples:

fox/lion versus mer-goat?

winged and finned cherub riding a lobster?

So near the Residenz I found and explored the English Garten, the Ancient Egyptian Museum, and the original headquarters of the Third Reich. Munich is the city that Hitler got his start, so as you can imagine it is loaded with history, one of those places you really wish the walls could talk. At the end of that day I decided I would check out the famous Haufbraus house and then went to Augustiner...AMAZING beer! The building is an old stable house, it has great details and a fun atmosphere. Not to mention good brews, made in the Bavarian Alps by monks, which just makes me happy. The waitress also gave me a glass, all good things, because that's what Munich is. I had one more day in Munich, but I spent it out at Dachau and I will write a separate entry for that because it is more than deserving of extra time. Plus I want to leave my Munich entry on a happy note!

This picture is how Munich makes me feel, not to mention it was SNOWING in it which was glorious! (And for anyone that hasn't seen me in a while, yes I dyed my hair dark again)

So you should all go there as soon as possible AND you should take me with you! Sounds like a plan to mmmeeeee!

Italia

The first stop on my European loop (more like a zig zag) was Italy. Originally Sarah and I were going to go to Venice, then take a train to Florence, but we hit what some may call a bump in the road: we missed our flight.

6:15 flight to Treviso, bought and paid for on Ryanair, only 10 euro mind you. Sarah and I arrived on time, went through security, Sarah's bag got searched because she had left her pocket knife in there, and finally arrive at the gate with time to spare and carry-ons in tow. I reach the gate first and the guy looks at me and goes, "this isn't valid" famous last words, eh? We look and realize we had been idiots and not read the fine print. Even if you are not checking in a bag, you must go to the check in counter to have your boarding pass, which you have to print out, stamped. The things you learn.

At that point it was too late to even hope we would make that flight, so we began creating Plan B ie flying to Pisa the next day. I never made it to Venice but still got my week in Florence.

We found a hostel in Pisa that picks you up from the airport and we stayed there, got to see the tower in the morning and then were off to Florence (robbery took place en route to Florence, again I'm not going to talk about it here...it sucks, but you deal and you look like this after its all done!).

Before the robbery I did get to see the tower, ta da!

Look, it does lean!

We also found a great street art display, but then we were off to Florence.

Once in Florence we found our hostel a friend of a friend came to meet us and also console me to an extent. He's a great guy and a wonderful host! He took us up to the Piazza de Michaelangelo, which has a breath taking view of the city.

And then we headed back to unwind a bit and met up with him again later. He owns three restaurants in the Florence area, and we went to one in what I believe is a suburb called Prata. The food was great and the company too, we wound up watching an Italian movie without subtitles, but it was physical humor and I got some of the jokes because of the similarity to Spanish.

The next couple of days were spent wandering the streets and taking in the amazing museums. At the Academia I got to see David up close and he's HUGE. The statue towers over you and is even more detailed and awe inspiring in person...mind you this is coming from someone who loves statues. We also saw the infamous Duomo and the Ponte Vechio over the Arno:

And went to the world renown Uffizi. There is actually a medical condition you can get from looking up at the Frescoes too long and the Uffizi just tempts you so much, I made sure I went into the side rooms, so I didn't walk the entire museum hallway just looking straight at the ceiling. The museum was wonderful.l The passion and appreciation for art in Florence is a nice thing to see. Art, especially these days, is being seen more and more as a luxury or superfluous, but it still is adored by some, myself and the people in Florence included.

A fun thing I saw outside the Uffizi was this street performer being a statue, as many tend to do, but there happened to be a bride and groom walking by and taking pictures in the courtyard, well they decided it would be a great idea to go up and take a picture with this guy. Well, the performer had a great sense of humor, and this is what happened...

Italy is truly the land of food and good coffee and Sarah and I enjoyed both. The Florentine region is know for Chianti Wine and pecorino cheese so one night Sarah and I decided we would buy both and some crackers and have ourselves a lovely dinner on the patio of our hostel. We got back from the store and went looking for a cork screw to open the wine with and they didn't have one! I was in shock, but we asked the owner, Antonio, if he had one and he looks at me and goes, wait I will help I will meet you in the kitchen. He comes in with a screw, screwdriver, and a pair of pliers. He proceeds to quickly open the wine bottle and takes the cork because in Italy you drink the whole bottle. We then went outside with our mini feast and discovered that the vines climbing the fence were grapes! So we picked a bunch of those and enjoyed our little Italian meal. The food in Italy is indeed all it's cracked up to be. You heard it here first!

Ciao!