Dirty Dozens. A Best and Worst

Best Things

1. A shot of water served with coffee in Prague.
2. Beer! It's cheap, good, and you can take away bottled beers from clubs or pubs. The practice of charging you €1 deposit for your first drink to make sure you bring back the empty bottle is pretty good too as there aren't any empties that the bar staff have to collect during the night.
3. Public transport actually works. Integrated tickets and trains every 3 to 5 minutes going where you actually want to go.
4. Countdown on red lights in Thailand. No more getting annoyed at waiting for the lights to change.
5. Good cafes, pubs and clubs. Berlin had so many nice, friendly places to go it was amazing.
6. Crazy language differences. Prague doesn't have 24 hour shops or venues, it's always "Non Stop", such as "Non Stop Casino!"
7. The exchange rate. Prague was so cheap and had some of the best food on our trip so far. The menu is best described as "hearty", with such rich food and so many dishes served with dumplings.
8. Coffee. I thought it was impossible to have good coffee at an airport, it's like some sort of UN agreement. Finland and Berlin proved us wrong.
9. Most people speak English. It was funny trying to order things until a certain point when bar staff deviate from the little we know. We then have to break down and resort to "Bitte in Englisch?" or "en anglais s'il vous plaît?"
10. Free food. Seriously, if you're in Dresden stay at Lolli's Homestay. Free (vegetarian) dinners on Mondays and Thursdays and walks into the National Park are awesome. Even if they do cripple you.
11. Everything is so close. The trains make it easy as well, no checking in and you can get up and walk around the train during the train. No checking of passports, no getting crap confiscated out of your carry on, and they all run on time.
12. Bar tabs. Almost everywhere will start you a tab without even asking or having to put down a credit card.

Worst Things

1. Open-air urinals in Amsterdam on the street.
2. Working out new public transport systems. Do I have to validate my ticket before I go somewhere? What ticket do I even buy? WHERE AM I? Just as we start to get good at it we leave and go somewhere else.
3. Pay toilets. What the fuck Europe? I have to pay to go to the toilet?!
4. Almost dying when crossing the road. We keep looking right instead of left and having to jump out of the way of suicidal bike riders.
5. Shared dorm rooms in hostels. Only really a problem with shady characters and shitty hostels.
6. Being lazy makes you feel bad. We felt like we were wasting so many days in Dresden when we had the flu.
7. The exchange rate. I'm paying how much for breakfast?
8. Coffee. Seriously Amsterdam, with that many "coffee" shops you'd think they'd have worked out how to actually make a coffee. Thailand's coffee is best described as "hot mud", with Brussels not far behind.
9. Stairs in Amsterdam. It's not the middle ages any more Amsterdam, time to put in a lift and maybe think about replacing that ladder that you seem to think is the staircase up to our room.
10. Coinage. The damn Euro coins are in sensible sizes, which plays havoc when you come from a ridiculous system like Australia's where the $2 is smaller than the $1. We also keep trying to give people 20c instead of a €2 as they are almost exactly the same size and colour of our $2 coin.
11. Interchangable commas and decimal points. It's easy to get confused, we would would write $12.31 whereas most prices are written €12,31.
12. Cobbled streets. While initially they look nice they hurt your feet, and when you're looking at the pretty architecture and scenery it's quite easy to sprain something with the uneven pavement.

A day trip to Bruges

So, we have been in Belgium for almost a week now.  A few people told us Belgium was boring, I beg to disagree.  Today, we headed to Bruges - about a one hour train trip from Brussels.  Another picturesque city - once more there are little canals that run around the outside and through parts of the old town; many Gothic style cathedrals and grand Flemish architecture - which I just love.

To begin our independant tour of Bruges we took a boat tour where I got to absorb up close some of the amazing architecture and see some massive swans! After our half hour journey by boat, we meandered by foot into the city square where you can observe over one thousand years of history just by turning around.

After growing tired of the weather and looking for things to do, we ventured into The Frietmuseum. This Museum tells the story of what "fry" (which we know as "chips or fries") from its humble beginnings as a wild potato in South America to the fry of today which the Belgians claim they invented.

After this, we wandered down to the Folklore Museum, where we thought we'd be seeing an exhibition on Myth and Fantasy, instead it was an actual Folklore Exhibition - where there was a display on wacky pipes - we just had to take a photo even though we weren't supposed to.

We then headed for the station by walking through the parklands and taking in some more canals and windmills before returning to Brussels.

The Amsterdammer

As we fled Amsterdam today it occurred to me that we hadn't included a bunch of the awesome and dodgy stuff that went on while we were there. We did eventually end up changing rooms in our hotel (I use the word 'hotel' loosely, it was more of a budget hostel) after one night when a super-annoying white home boy dragged his ass back to our dorm room after a hard days visiting cafe's with one of his new found friends in tow. We both spent the rest of the night hugging our bags in our beds when one of the other occupants of the room finally cracked it and told him to leave. The up side of super-stoned people is that they really aren't very good at arguing and he left without any comment after a few moments of standing there looking confused.

We spent one of our rainy days in Amsterdam cruising the canals looking at the various architecture and landmarks. We saw a bunch of interesting stuff, while staying reasonably dry during the downpour.

 The Nemo Science Center

The ship Amsterdam, a replica of the original Dutch East India Company vessel

The Magere Brug (skinny bridge), rather famous in Amsterdam

Canals! With Bridges!

They love their bikes in Amsterdam, this is a giant bike parking station near the main harbour terminal.

We also visited the Rembrandt museum which has been recreated at the site of Rembrandt's house mostly fom a list of his possessions taken when he went bankrupt.

That's me, in the same room as art. Suck it art lovers, I'm all cool now too.

Rembrandt's collection including plaster busts and casts to use as models, tortoise shells, woven shields from Africa, and his collections of art books.

We visited Cafe Gollem, which was the first specialist bar in Amsterdam. They've got about 200 beers in stock, with probably as much room dedicated to beer storage as there is for patrons. This place is tiny and awesome.

This is the view from the front of the bar near the window, there's really nothing else to this place besides some treacherous steps leading down to the toilet.

The Dutch Resistance Museum was also on our list of things to do, since we seem to be hitting up every WWII site in every town. Since the Dutch army was woefully undermanned and their weaponry was horribly out of date when the Germans invaded the Dutch had to spend most of WWII farming and being shipped out as forced labour for German manufacturing.

I found the temporary art exhibition by a Dutch caricaturist, Fritz Behrendt, more interesting than the permanent exhibition but the permanent exhibition was still very well presented.

A war profiteer by Fritz Behrendt

The House of Bols was not something we originally planned to do, but it looked interesting, so we headed there after the Rijksmuseum. Bols produce the spirit Genever which was once used in most cocktails, and featured heavily in the first cocktail book produced. It was the precursor to gin and is the alcohol referred to in the phrase "Dutch Courage".

The whole experience was pretty commercialised and is what you get when you allow marketing people to design a museum exhibit. There was still enough actual history in he place to make it interesting though, such as the painting that Rembrandt used to pay his tab at the brewery and the free cocktail and shots at the end certainly didn't hurt.

Some of the items on display. The large statue was used to smuggle gin, and the colourful bottles at the front are plastic replicas used to train flairtenders.

A hallway with all the Bols liquors which you can smell and try to guess their flavour.

Sancha destroying her cocktail. Mmm... fruity!

In De Wildeman and Cafe Belgique were also more wins. In much the same vein as Cafe Gollem these places have a bunch of beer in stock and we sampled many more delicious beers. The awesome part about having so many similar places like this is that they all have different beers on tap, so you can try some weird and wonderful brewed beverages. I tried a terrible/awesome India Pale Ale from a Scottish brewery Brew Dog. It was like being punched in the mouth with a fist holding hops and soaked in alcohol, and you can easily see why they called it a "Hardcore IPA".

In De Wildeman at least has some room inside. Not much, but you could at least fit an angry Scotsman in here.

Windmills, Burgers and Beer

So here I am again, David made me write another post. Sorry it may be unedited as David is asleep.

Today, we caught the train to Zaanse Schans, a 17th-century town located 20 minutes by train from Amsterdam on the River Zaan.  It was a great day trip out of Amsterdam, yes it is touristic, but the windmills are in working order and are quite interesting.

As we crossed the drawbridge? to Zaanse Schans the bridge began to open up - both sides (i'm not sure what these type of bridges are called, Dad. some help please?) it was pretty awesome. 

The windmills are all working mills, and they perform various functions, including a saw mill, a paint mill (grinding pigments), and oil mill (grinding linseed or peanuts to draw off the oil).

The houses to the right of the river are so old and quaint they are the perfect compliment to the windmills on the other side.  The whole sight is just what you would expect to find in The Netherlands.  Walking in through the main street, the houses, mostly green, each have there own unique design elements.  As a great representation of a Dutch village, there is a canal across from them and the most beautiful little houses with lush foliage.  Little bridges cross the canal to reach the houses.  The weeping willows are especially nice, here.

On our way back over the bridge we stopped and admired the view of the windmills from the beer garden of a local hotel. We also enjoyed soaking up our first sun-rays in Europe since we've been here.  From here we could see the bridge go up and down a few more times for the large sailing boats that had to pass through to the other side.

We then returned to have dinner at our favourite restaurant in Amsterdam Burger Bar we are burger connoisseurs after all?, and the fries are made with love. (we should start receiving advertising fees surely?)

We followed this up by drinking our last beers (La Chouffe, which is a Belgium spiced ale (8%)) in Amsterdam - at Cafe Belgique.  An extremely small, old style Dutch bar serving a selection of Belgian and Dutch beers, some of which are not for the faint-hearted - some very angry beers at 10-11%.  The weak beers start at around 4%.

We had a top day.  Tomorrow, we head to Belgium.

Amsterdam...The Land of Fun

Arriving in Amsterdam we found it to be very seedy; dirty; another bike city (they even have a carpark dedicated to bicycles); expensive and with lots of dodgy folks.  So far we have not been pick-pocketed or robbed but we have 4 days remaining so lets hope none of these happen.

We made it to our Hotel/Hostel - what a dump!  We have 6 bunk beds crammed into a double room and our bags don't even fit in the lockers, so each day we are left wondering "Will our stuff still be there"?  So far it has, so again, lets hope this doesn't happen.  Our room smelt of pot - actually our whole floor smelt of pot!  We have to climb four sets of staircases to reach our floor.  Nightmare with Dave's knees at the moment.  Luckily, we're out most of the day and only return to sleep.

Lots of wandering around getting lost, and lots of canals.  The Dutch certainly are an organised bunch.  You dare not cross the road here or the footpath, without checking front back and sides.  There are bike paths absolutely everywhere and the Dutch pedal like mad around town.  They are all on these rickety style things with no gears and rounded handlebars.  Momentum appears to be the key given you can't change up or change down gears.

Amsterdam is big on 17th century architecture apparently.  Not that I can tell the difference between the 17th and the 18th.  The Dam is the main square, with the Royal Palace on one side and the National Monument on the other.  Major shopping streets run nearby.

Some things we have done:

1) Canal Cruise - had a bunch of drunk Norwegian girls on our cruise so it was hard to pick up the audio, however, the sights were pleasant and somewhat interesting - could have invested our 27 Euro better though.  The buildings along the canal were pretty, the canal itself very dirty.

2) Rembrandt Museum - I was somewhat disappointed in this exhibition, but nevertheless David came with me!  So that was something to be excited about.

3) De Wallen - Full of British Stag nights once again, we felt like we were in Prague.  Interesting and full of sights.  Walked through main strip (pardon the pun) and saw the "windows" and all the tacky neon lights.

4) Verzetsmuseum (otherwise known as the Dutch Resistance Museum) - I really dug this Museum and would recommend.  Dave preferred the exhibition on Fritz Behrendt to the actual permanent collection.

5) Gollem - This was a great little find on my behalf, we had a few tasty beverages here before we headed off to the cinema Pathe Tuschinski.  An old cinema palace conveniently located between the Munt tower and the Rembrandtplein.  Built by the immigrant from Poland Abraham Tuschinski, the cinema opened in 1921 and it remains till today with its Art Deco interior one of the most cherished buildings in Amsterdam.  Tuschinski has been recently rebuild, a modern annex has been added and the cinema has been modernized, but the character of its old part has been preserved.  It was simply elegant.  We saw the Ghost Writer - which was a great film.

6) Vondelpark - Gorgeous park, walked through here on our only full day of sun since being in Europe.  It took about an hour and a half and was such a gorgeous place during the day.  I wouldn't walk around at night though.

7) Dam Square - we are staying right behind Nieuwe Kerk (New Church).  Full of tourists and we tend to stay away from this area.

8) The Coffee Shops - Now those of you who know me well know I don't do drugs.  To each their own I guess.  I just don't think I need them.  As to your softers, well I also don't need to see the world at a slower pace either.  Still, we wandered in to take in the atmosphere so to speak.  It's a pity I can't get a coffee nor a beer here.  People are very, very mellow to say the least.  There are your stereotypical stoners who appear to have visited way too often.  Many are men in their late 40s, still in mullets, who have been at it for years it seems.

So onto more activities throughout the week such as the windmills - I'm looking forward to getting out of the city. 

Sächsische Schweiz Broke My Knees

So apparently hiking all day makes you tired. I am learning so many new and interesting things on our trip. Also painful things, apparently my knees don't enjoy several kilometres of going downhill. Between that and Sancha's busted knee that dislikes going uphill we're pretty much restricted to flat surfaces now. Sucks to be our knees I guess.

The hike itself was about 12km to 15km long, worked out by using our fingers as a makeshift ruler on the map and then measuring roughly where we had been. Judging by the amount of hurtyness we have the day after the hike I'm thinking it was more like 100km or so.

Our day started at about 9am when we left the hostel with our guide and group and headed to the Neustadt Train station. The train we would normally get on apparently had some sort of mechanical problem so we had to run to catch a different train so we could get to the main train station and get on to the train that would take us to near the Czech border. After making a dash for it, and almost missing our new train, we were on our way. Our guide also pointed out several things we missed on our previous train trip from Germany to Prague such as the Bastei Bridge, a large mountain fortress and the old German border crossing building which is now abandoned.

We hopped off the train at Schmilka, the second last stop, and then took the ferry over the Elbe to the town itself. The start of the walk wasn't pulling any punches either as these were steep, cobbled streets we made our way up until we were through the town. We proceeded up an ever increasingly steep sealed tar road, which eventually turned into a gravel path. This was the easiest part as it's the road to the restaurant at the top of Grosser Winterberg (literally Big Winter Mountain). Things got a bit tougher as we turned off this road and onto a gravelled hiking trial leading us further up the mountain and our group was slowly shedding excess jumpers and beanies from the exertion.

By the time we made it to the restaurant at Winterberg we were glad for the break as we'd been climbing uphill for several hours. We ate our packed lunch (cobbled together from the various breakfast ingredients at the hostel) and made the most of our time to sit down and rest. We also (briefly) saw a few of the sights as the restaurant has been there when it was a hunting lodge built in 1848 and the food was brought up in horse drawn carts (during the summer only) and kept in a special ice-house, which has now been turned into a small area with some information about the area.

We continued on after our lunch on a thankfully much flatter, but quite muddy trail and after a while reached a lookout where we could see down into a valley and a few of the other sandstone peaks in the park. The view was quite spectacular, yet a little freaky, as we are used to our National Parks and surrounding countryside being a little more brown. This was plush greenness as far as you could see and I kept thinking to myself that this would make an excellent Sherwood Forrest (preferably with a Robin Hood who can speak with an english accent)

A quick break for photos at the top and then we were off, down more muddy trails and several kilometres of downhill that completely wrecked my knees. Once we were at a more sensible elevation we eventually broke off the marked hiking trail to travel along an old smugglers path that was once used to move goods over the German and Czech border. We followed this for some time and reached several small white stones that mark the border and several signs warning us not to proceed. We waited around for some time for the border guard but no one showed up and we continued on, past a logging camp and a few memorials to the German inhabitants of this region to the town of Mezni Louka where we ate a hearty lunch of Goulash. With dumplings for me, and with mashed potato and a strange look from the waitress for Sancha. Washed down with several Czech beers we were ready to be on our way again.

Since we had just missed the bus back to the train station we decided to take a walk a little further down the road to Mezna, the previous stop to where we had lunch. We passed several monuments to the inhabitants of the region who had gone off to fight in various world wars and we eventually reached the town where most of out group parked themselves on the bench to wait for the bus while our guide and myself decided to explore the town. This didn't take long and not far down the road, past several abandoned buildings, we had hit the end of the town. We thought we would go and check out the kayaking that was down by the river, but the sign indicating that it was half a kilometre down a steep, windy path quickly put an end to that idea as our bus was due soon.

A quick bus ride back, a shoddy coffee at a hotel in Hrensko, then a ferry over to the train station and we were on our way back to Dresden. All of us were a little exhausted after our days trek but rather satisfied with our hike.

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The National Museum of Hygiene

David had read quite a few good reviews on this Museum, so today we decided to go and see for ourselves.  The exhibition itself is quite lengthy and very interactive in parts.  The display models are all to a very high standard and alot of information is provided....in German! Although we did have audio guides, they were unfortunately not for about 50% of the exhibition, so trying to work out what something is in German without a translator can be quite difficult.

David and I spent a good three hours at the Deutsches Hygiene Museum and we could have stayed for much much longer, but we started to get very hungry.

Basically, the exhibition features all about the human life.  The permanent exhibition is called "Adventure Man" which includes the areas of:
"The Crystal Man" pictures of people in the modern sciences, life and death - from the first cell to the death of man.
" Eating and Drinking" - food as body function, and cultural achievement
"Sexuality" - love, sex and lifestyles in an era of reproductive medicine.
"Remember, thinking, learning" - the cosmos in his head: The brain.  This exhibit was highly interactive and very fun - since we were beginning to get bored and hungry at this stage.
"Movement" - the art of coordination as well as "beauty, skin and hair" - Open border between body and the environment.

Tomorrow, we will visit Saxon Switzerland.