Monday 28 December 2009 – On the go from Munich-Salzburg-Venice-Florence…

Salzburg and Grodig

Today we woke up excited to start our two day journey to Italy and excited to check out Salzburg, while all well aware of the challenge we had. We were going to go to the Andech brewery, retrieve our bags from the hotel, head to Salzburg, put our bags in storage, explore the city, board the overnight train at midnight, disembark at 8:21, catch the 8:39 train to Florence, arrive in Florence and drop bags at our hotel, and explore the city. Many of these things happened…and fairly smoothly believe it or not, but it was a long two days. We are now on the morning train to Roma!

So, we woke up, grabbed breakfast, stored our bags and headed to the Andech brewery. When our S-Bahn was delayed (which just doesn’t normally happen) at the first stop we all looked at each other and said…forget it, let’s just all go to Salzburg. And so we did! We got off that line, jumped the one headed back to main station, grabbed our bags and caught the 11:41 train to Salzburg all in a twenty minute stretch. We then had a leisurely train ride to the Sound of Music city  It was a clear day so the group expressed interest in going back to Grodig with us to ride the cable car and go to the restaurant that sold the fabled Fassel that Daniel and I still claim to this day was the best beer we’ve ever had. No debate.
We arrived in Salzburg, wrestled the lockers, but did successfully stow all of our bags. I hit up information and was told yes the cable car was running, but since it was nearly 2 and the cable car closed at 4 we should hurry. We bought bus tickets, hopped on the line to Grodig and headed to Untersberg Mountain, which was Maria’s real mountain that she grew up. Without much trouble we took the car up and were able to enjoy a spectacular view of the Austrian Alps and even noticed you could see the Hohensalzburg Fortress and the house they used to film the Sound of Music. We even saw a plane taking off from an airport…something I can genuinely say I’ve never seen happen from above. Everyone seemed really impressed with the view and happy with our trek.

After that we attempted to go to the Fassel restaurant….which I am incredible sad to say resulted in failure…because…you guessed it…they’re closed until January 11th. Daniel and I were pretty crushed, but not all that surprised. We again had pushed through lunch so everyone was beyond hungry…again. And nothing in Grodig was open for dinner yet, so we headed back to Salzburg to grab food and check out the city!
Salzburg was frustrating. Everything was either closed or all smoking or had no tables available. And as another skipped we skipped lunch hunger feeling mounted we became more and more exasperated. We finally found a cute, warm little oasis that was friendly, non-smoking and had delicious food. After that we quickly discovered that Salzburg really didn’t have much in the way on Monday night life and we struck out left and right. Again, everything was either closed or full of smoke. We stopped for dessert to kill time…but by then it was only around 8:30 pm…and we were trying to make it to midnight. The guy in our restaurant said there was a movie theatre by the train station. So, excited we took the bus back to the station, eagerly joking about which movie would be funniest to see in German while still understanding what was going on enough to enjoy the film. We decided A Christmas Carol or 2012 would be perfect candidates…but when we got to the theatre at 9:15 they said their last showing at started at 8:40 and they were closed. Seriously?!
And so the wandering and time killing began. We didn’t want to spend any more money on transportation (Salzburg transport was very pricey) and even if we did…where would we go? We tried to get into the OBB waiting lounge…no dice, the woman kicked us out. We found a smoking box…absolutely no, it was horrendous. Then we found the enclosed waiting area on platform two and hung out in limbo land for a good hour or so…we played games with paper balls we made from old maps and Daniel and Chris tried to trick the automatic door sensors. Ultimately, our sanctuary became McDonalds…which had wifi and hot drinks…and heat.

We boarded our train at midnight and entered the next level of hell. We had a six person cabin of couchettes…but between all our luggage and the tight spaces and the heat on the train all had a miserable night of sleep that involved a 2 am railpass inspection and a 3:30 am passport check. But we made it, didn’t kill each other…although we had moments…and made it off the train tired, rumpled, and hungry.
But we were definitely in Italy! And we made our next train! We enjoyed a quick two hour train ride from Venice to Florence and were in our new city! I was really excited because aside from Kaprun, this is the first new place I’ve been the whole trip.

So our day of travel was a bit rough, but we survived. We were worn ragged by the time we checked into our hotels last night to shower before dinner, but Florence was fantastic!

Sunday 27 December 2009 – Munich!

We are headed to Florence instead of Venice and are currently waiting in a McDonalds that has free wifi as we wait for our midnight sleeper train. I've posted Dec 26 and 27. More pictures will follow soon. Enjoy! :0

Munich!

We slept in a little and allowed for a later start because at this point we are all pretty tired. We started out together at the train station to work on finding out whether or not we could transfer reservations to go to Florence instead of Venice. So here’s the plan – we are headed to Salzburg sometime on Monday. At midnight we will board the night train to Venice. At 8:21 am we will disembark at the Metzo station – which is on the mainland, not the island. We will them switch trains and head to Florence and arrive in the city by 10:30. Hooray! Solution!

After that we bought day passes for public transport in Munich and headed towards Marienplatz – their main square. We arrived just before noon, so we waited outside the Rauthaus (city hall) and watched the Glockenspiel show at 12. The characters were all brightly painted and we enjoyed the part when the blue knight jousted the red knight, but all looked at each other when it was over and said we could imagine how that would be the highlight of the day several hundred years ago…but seems very simple now.

We then went our own separate ways. We all had different things we wanted to do and each have our own paces. So Ginger, Chris, Phil, and Justin started at the Residence and the Schatzkammer (treasury) and we broke off and went wandering. From what I have gathered Phil enjoyed the residence and then headed back to the hotel to take advantage of the laundry mat down the road from our hotel. Justin left the Residence and went to the Deutches Museum (Science and Technology) and spent the rest of his afternoon there…except when he hit his head on an I-beam in the 700 meter mine replica underneath the museum. Ginger and Chris thoroughly explored the Residence and then also hit up the Deutches Museum where they eventually ran into Justin. Daniel and I wandered for a while, found a small lunch that was absolutely divine Bavarian mushroom soup, discovered the Rauthaus tower was…you guessed it…closed until January, headed to Olympic park where we saw the Olympic stadium and climbed the hill to enjoy a fantastic view of the city and mountains, and then went to the hotel to book our Florence hotel. After that we went back out and went into some of the churches off of the main square and enjoyed some more wandering, which is what we’ve missed doing most on this trip.

We all met up at the Haufbraus house for dinner and were excited to share our stories and had all really enjoyed our time apart. It was good for all of us to do things at our own pace, not to have to consult five others to decide what to do, and to have some space. So we spent the evening catching up, sharing photos, and checking out several different restaurants and beer halls. Most places have one of two approaches. They are either modern, sleek, colorful and chic or they have fully embraced traditional German style and have wood carved everything with brass and copper and polished heavy timbers.

We had a great evening out on the town, took the subways back, and prepared for our next day of adventures!

Saturday, 26 December 2009 – Our Voyage from Kaprun to Munich (via Neuschwanstein)

We genuinely think we have been cursed. Daniel and I have never had this many missteps in our own adventures…not even close. We haven’t had many delays or cancelled trains or run-ins with Czech police or cities so flooded they are un-visitable… we keep telling ourselves it’s going to get better…and then time after time we’re proven wrong…

We woke up and each showered and packed our own things and then returned ski rentals, lift passes, did dishes, took out trash, etc. Once things were tidy enough we loaded up our iced over cars and set out for the day. We were going to drive to Neuschwanstein castle on the way to Munich. It was about 3.5 hours away and then less than two hours to Munich from there. A lot of driving, but you spend 2-3 hours on the train each way if you do a day trip from Munich, so it made sense to us. We put the address in our GPS (that came with our upgraded car) and then headed on towards the castle.

I was on the verge of tears the first hour we were in the car because the white-out from the day before had left the mountains completely powdery and the skies were crystal clear, all the conditions I had dreamed of when I planned our trip to Kaprun. I had even suggested to Daniel we extend our rentals and buy another day pass and ski til mid-afternoon and then drive back to Munich, while our friends drove to the castle and then to the city…but I had been vetoed. And so, I was hit with utter disappointment as I saw the conditions and views I had always dreamed of skiing in fly by from the window of a car. :(

The views from the car as we drove along through Austria and the mountain towns of Kitzbuhel and Innsbruck were absolutely spectacular – and we have some phenomenal pictures to share with you that we took as we drove by.

And now for our next misadventure. That infuriates all of us still. We’ve essentially all agreed not to talk about it. Our GPS led us onto an UNMARKED toll road without warning…we thought we were just merging onto another main highway – we had already driven on several. The GPS said nothing about it being a toll road…and the road itself said nothing about being a toll road…and Hertz rental typed in an Austrian address for our destination and said nothing about the medallion we needed to be on a toll road…BUT the Austrian officer who pulled us aside and charged us TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY EUROS was very clear that we were in fact illegally on a toll road. 120 Euros a car. Two hundred and forty euros (for those of you who do not know) is 360 freaking dollars. Seriously?!

You can laugh if you want, but it really wasn’t funny. We may have earned our Czech fine, but we really didn’t earn this one…the entire hour we were on the toll road we never saw a single sign indicating it was one.

Now the plus side of the journey? Again, the view was fantastic. And to add insult to injury it would have been cheaper for Daniel and I to ski for another day than to weather the fines we incurred driving a different way.

To make matters worse, when I had checked online, the official website for Neuschwanstein claimed it closed at 3pm. We were scheduled to reach Schwangau (the town where the caste is) at 1:45 (because we had been pulled over). Daniel and I knew it was at least 30 minutes maybe 45 from the time you park to when you can buy tickets for the tour and hike up a very steep (and probably icy) hill. So tensions were high, we were going to have to live off granola bars and trail mix for lunch again and we were going to be making a mad dash up a very steep hill without truly knowing if we would make it…again.

Ginger and Chris wanted to tour the castle and the rest of us (Daniel and myself especially) wanted to hike to the bridge up on a hill behind the castle that allows you to get a great view and to get a picture of the entire castle. Daniel and I hadn’t gotten to do that last time because we were out of time after our tour and in danger of missing our train back to Munich if we did.

Now when we arrived there was good news and bad news. (Which used to be my favorite line because it’s what Daniel used when he proposed to me…but on this trip I’m getting really tired of hearing it…and very tired of playing Pollyanna’s glad game when our plans continually go up in smoke). Good news? Castle tours were running until 4:05 and those who wanted a tour would get to go and would have enough time to make their way up the mountain, eat lunch, and enjoy their tour. Bad news? The damn bridge was closed. So again, the one thing I wanted to do that was previously not achieved is again unattainable.

So we started our hike up the slushy, horse poo-ed road and found our way to a restaurant that had been one of my favorites of our entire last Europe trip. Everyone loved it, had time to vent about our toll fines…which had left quite a sting for all of us, and we regrouped and rallied. From there we headed to the castle – which actually had some new additions from when Daniel and I were there in 2008. They have built a lookout towards the base of the castle that allows you to get a much better picture with the castle behind you.

Ginger fell absolutely in love with the castle. Our English speaking guide was pretty terrible, very hard to understand and very hard to hear, but that didn’t keep us from soaking in the intricate details and splendor of the castle. I had forgotten how spectacularly detailed the painted ceilings, walls, and archways are and how much I loved all the colors and ornate, symmetrical patterns. Because our guide was pretty inattentive we snuck a lot more pictures than last time. :)
And, since we had the last tour at 4:05 and the sun goes down by 4:30ish, we got to walk down from the castle in the dark and enjoy the stark contrast of the castle all lit up against the night sky and the mountains. We also go to see the castle for most of our walk down, as leafless trees made it easier to see and enjoy the castle from different angles.

We were in Munich by 7:30, checked into our new hotel which was perfectly close to the train station (about a block), returned the rental cars and headed out to grab a bite to eat (and a classic Munchen weissebier) at the Augustiner Brewery which was less than five minutes walk from our hotel. We enjoyed the fun atmosphere of the beer hall as a very traditional woman waited on us and we ordered more delicious classic German dishes. I may not be as big a fan of the wienershnitzel and jagerschnitzels and sauerkrauts and sausages dishes as most of our group is, but I love the mushroom sauces, potatoes, and spatzel. We’ve really had some delicious food.

And from there we went back to the rooms and hung out for a little bit as we wound down from one of our more stressful days. …Now that I am a few days away I am not quite as blood-boilingly angry about the fine, but it has now become the thing of which you do not speak because of the feelings of anger and exploitation that resurface so quickly.

Our beautiful drive from Kaprun (more pictures to follow soon...my laptop battery is almost done).

Heading to and Enjoying Neuschwanstein!

(Click on the picture above to view the album)

The Christmas Message is up...it took a little compressing, but the boys figured it out! Scroll down to the bottom of the Christmas blog. Enjoy! ;-)

Friday 25 December 2009 – Christmas in Kaprun!

Merry Christmas!!!

Kaprun!!!

(click on the photo above to enjoy the entire album!)

Today we woke up and enjoyed the bounty “Santa” had put out on the kitchen table – lots of German and Swiss candies with other goodies and a Christmas ornament for each of us from Ginger’s dad! Very cute! From there we bumbled around making breakfast and started getting ready to go skiing. We went back to the ski shop where we had prearranged our rentals the day before, some of us bought ourselves waterproof pants for Christmas (because our hotel had told us we could rent this item in Kaprun…but the shopkeepers in Kaprun thought we were crazy…), and then we set out to enjoy the slopes.

Early on, as we tromped around in ski boots, hauling all our skis, poles, etc as we worked up a solid sweat (it was at least 40* F on the ground), we couldn’t quite agree on where to start skiing…and so before I knew it I found myself hopping on a bus with Daniel and Phil while Justin, Chris and Ginger headed in a different direction.

Now, some background information. Justin has never skied before. That said, he wanted to start on the beginner slopes and Ginger and Chris wanted to help him learn and Chris felt he needed a bit of refreshing in the skiing department. So, they started off on Maiskogel, the lower section of the mountain that we can see from our apartment. Phil, Daniel, and I headed for the Glacier, and set out to go to the top of Kitzsteinhorn. Phil snowboards and Daniel and I ski. The shuttle picked us up and dropped us off at the lifts and we boarded gondola number one, a closed cabin that started pulling us up the mountain and was a 15-20+ minute ride. This one was especially pretty as we rose up and were able to see more and more mountain peaks as our excitement and anxiety kicked in. The first gondola ride just gets you to the section of the mountain that you can ski on. After that you have to board another gondola to get up the first half of the skiable mountain – which we did, and experienced another 15-20 minute ride. During gondola ride number two we started entering what we thought was a cloud, but later discovered was going to be a full blown white-out. After that to get to the top you board cable car number three, which takes another 15-20 minutes and requires you to pack in with 60 other people all holding their skis or boards and takes you to the tip top of the mountain. At this point the white-out was in full effect, so we were in a completely packed car of people, suspended in the air, unable to see anything around us but white. It was a little crazy.

So by this point, our adrenaline was really picking up, several nearly vertical ascents up the mountain is enough to make one a bit edgy…and then in the cable car I noticed half the people (even skiers) were wearing helmets. Hmm… And then we were at the top! And would have had an amazing view, but we were truly in the midst of a white-out of such extreme proportions that you could not see the trails, or the snow in front of you, and you could only faintly make out people in near proximity…

Now, we did ski through the first portion of the day, and we did have a good time, but the white-out was really challenging. In a lot of ways it was like skiing blind and it was very difficult to anticipate how steep the slope was, what the snow density was like…or anything…you had no idea what was in front of you, what the trail markings were, or what was going on. And so it was tricky. The other challenge for us? For one, Phil couldn’t manage the toe rope that you put between your legs and leaned back on to repeat a section. And for Daniel and myself it was the altitude. The out of breath when I really shouldn’t be feeling that I have when I go to Colorado for AP grading returned and we both found ourselves so dizzy and winded at one point we actually skied to the side and sat down for a few minutes. (In our defense we were up over 3,000 meters). We broke off from Phil after a while so we could each go our own pace, but we found him at the bottom when we were getting ready to board the bus back.

Daniel and I skied for several hours – it took one hour to take the gondola up and we probably skied for two or three hours…and only went down the mountain one and a half times. Fortunately, the white-out wasn’t as bad on the second half of the slopes, so we doubled back to do those again. But, when we did, the white-out moved in on us there too. We did a mix of easy and intermediate slopes – the snow was fantastic and the intermediate slopes were fairly challenging…or at least got much more challenging once we couldn’t see where we were going again. We were really disappointed we couldn’t see any of the surrounding mountains (or what was in front of us), but all in all we were glad we tackled the glacier and did have a really good time.

On the other half of the mountain, from what Ginger, Chris and Justin have said, Justin was doing a lot of tumbling down the mountain. Chris’s boots were too tight and he had to go get them altered and Ginger was patiently following behind Justin helping collect his poles, skis, etc...and taking pictures of his wipe outs. She’s a true friend. They also had the misfortune of rain. The snow we had up top was only rain on the ground, so that was definitely causing some challenges for them. The perks? They had much better views of the outlaying towns and said they could see Zell am See and the lake from their slopes and actually got to see where they were going and enjoy the view of other mountains as they did it. In the end, Justin parked it in a lodge and Chris and Ginger went back to our hotel to get the rental car and drove over to pick poor Justin up. But, Justin says he’s definitely glad he tried it. Chris got to put the BMW to test as he drove some fun winding roads and Ginger got to white knuckle it.

After skiing we all crashed pretty hard in our apartment and enjoyed a quiet, lazy, Christmas afternoon, with the exception of the Venice discovery. Special thanks to Phil’s mom for giving us the heads up! We were very saddened to learn that Venice is currently under five feet of water and that the mayor is urging tourists not to visit. We were scheduled to arrive there Tuesday morning. Sad. We’ve done some research, have a few ideas, but because we cannot translate the eight page German pdf reservations policy (from you guessed it – Deutsche Bahn) we won’t know our options until late tomorrow. We are hoping we can transfer reservations and not lose the money, but we are not holding our breath. The good news? By cancelling our hotel reservations before midnight, we cancelled free of charge.

We had 6:30 dinner reservations at the restaurant down in our hotel and had a beautiful dinner with soups of tomato basil, French onion, and cream of apple and celery -- followed with different plates we chose which included roast duck, lamb, fillet, and pasta. All delicious. We accompanied the meal with some delicious wines and really had a great dinner together.

We have also spent our Christmas eating German and Swiss candy, making a village with the critters we found in our Kinder Eggs, and creating a pretty terrible, but funny, video message to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I will not insult your intelligence by lying and saying it was all scripted. Please enjoy!

We have missed you all and look forward to catching up with all of you when we arrive back in the states! Thank you so much for the positive feedback on the blog! We’re very happy you’re enjoying it!

We wish you the merriest of Christmases from a snowy little apartment in Austria!

Love,
-Beth and Daniel, Chris, Ginger, Phil, and Justin

Wednesday & Thursday, 23-24 Dec 2009 – A Day of Travel and Christmas Eve

Okay, these albums are tucked into their respective blogs, but if you want to peruse them here, please enjoy!!! :)

Berlin (Day 2)

Prague

I slept in until a luxurious 6:45 and met everyone downstairs a little before eight to grab a complimentary breakfast and meet our taxi. (We gave up on the darn metro). At the Prague main rail station (which looks like it hasn’t been touched since the 1920s and was very pretty a very long time ago), we stood in front of the screen that had rolling updates of train times announcing which train was assigned to what track. We had some money to burn, because while we were in Prague we had taken our currency that would only be good for the day we were in the Czech Republic. So Ginger, Chris, and I found the nearest convenience store and bought cold cuts, cheese, bread, chips, and fruit for lunch on the train. We burned the Czeck currency down to about 4 Cks…the equivalent of about 25 US cents.

Now, when we reached ten minutes until departure, and our train still didn’t have a track. We were really getting concerned and depressed at this point. We stood patiently, hoping it wouldn’t be too late, and really worried about being able to reach the track in time. (There was a very large number of people all standing like droids just watching the board to see track assignments). And then, all of a sudden it popped up! Munchen, track 3. I am truly not exaggerating when I say that 150-200 people suddenly started stampeding with their rolling bags and suitcases towards track 3 as the entire rail station emptied out and headed for track 3. It was insane. We kept laughing and looking around at each other in disbelief. The train was all cabins, so we filled a cabin with luggage and those who wanted to sleep and another cabin with smaller bags and those who wanted computer time and to hang out for a bit…and managed to keep two six person cabins to ourselves for about six hours. It was the best train ride so far.
And, best of all we arrived in Munich only two minutes behind schedule. We had three goals. First, we needed to get our overnight reservations from Munich to Venice on Dec 28….which were non-existent, but a super helpful English speaking attendant helped us figure out that we could take a train to Salzburg, enjoy the city for a few hours, and then take the night train to Venice. Perfecto!

Second, we had to navigate the metro to pick up our rental, which was easier said than done because of a misstep, but we made it in the end. Third, we needed to pick up our rentals! The exciting part? The VW Golf’s/equivalent were all out so they upgraded us to BMW’s! And Daniel and Chris got to drive manual BMW’s on the German autobahn (that was loaded with GPS and! Seat warmers!!!) to get us to Kaprun!
It took about 3 hours because of traffic instead of just over 2, but we had a decent drive to Kaprun and stopped for a delicious meal along the way. When we arrived in our little mountain town we were delighted and thrilled with our apartment and incredibly excited to sleep in.

Traditionally when you travel you have a night at the beginning of your trip that enables you to sleep in and adjust to your jet lag and rest…we’ve went for four days before actually getting this. So it felt reallllly good to sleep in this morning.
Now, we might not have set ourselves up for a perfect day of skiing and time on the mountain, but we are now rested, armed with groceries (which we checked out with at 12:45 when they closed at 1 pm until Monday…), and rested.

It’s a very complicated story, but because of a plethora of circumstances…and the fact that we are now rested…We spent our afternoon grocery shopping, making lunch, getting rentals and ski lift passes set up for tomorrow, checking out Kaprun and Zell am See, (I had a two year old break into our apartment while I was showering and walk in on me naked in the bathroom…), and then we decided that Christmas Eve would be our night in and I cooked a dinner for six from the groceries I discovered in the Austrian grocery store. I will declare success and triumph!!! I made pan-seared, then baked in applesauce pork-chops, couscous with sautéed mushrooms and onions, sautéed zucchini, and mashed potatoes au gratin. The crowd said it was delicious so I don’t feel too bad taking credit :)

After that we crowded around the fire Chris and Phil made us and made smores because the store in Zell am See had marshmallows!! We used chocolate covered biscuits and fire cooked marshmallows that we made on sticks Daniel, Ginger, and Chris ripped off of trees outside. And we are now about to enjoy a slideshow of some of the highlights from our trip so far.

Tomorrow we will be skiing all day! Wish us snow!!

And for now, we will wish you all a wonderfully Merry Christmas Eve, from a cute little Austrian apartment nestled in the Austrian Alps…we will post more pictures very soon and we send you warm, merry thoughts from our fireplace and hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas!

Updates!

We are safely in Kaprun, Austria and staying in an awesome apartment at the base of a glacier. Wish us luck as we brave the alps in the morning! :)

For now, I have posted another entry, added pics to some of the blogs and am including an album below - so dig through and enjoy!!

(Click on the photo below to view our album)

Amsterdam and Berlin (Day 1)

We should have several more updates the next few days. We have good internet and are taking it easy...well, easier...kind of... the next few days. We see it as our Christmas present to the family to update everything, so we'll do our best.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Tuesday 22 Dec 2009 – Prague!

Click on the photo below to view the album!

Prague

Okay…so in hindsight, what I have to say about yesterday is that the entire group fell in love with Prague and its amazingly enchanting winding cobblestone streets, mosaic sidewalks, and medieval buildings.

However…before we relaxed and fell in love with the city quite a bit happened.
First of all….I officially hate DeustchBahn. Trains running to or out of Germany have been sickeningly late. The day we were leaving Amsterdam we killed ourselves to get up and out by 5:30 am and then had a train that was delayed over an hour and got in late to Berlin. Then, yesterday, leaving Berlin we met in the lobby at 5:15 am for a 6:30 train and then didn’t actually leave on the train until 9, which meant that we were sitting in below freezing weather at the tracks for over two hours when we could have been sleeping in our warm beds…AND that we arrived in Prague at 1:45 instead of 11:20….that’s a huge difference in time when everything we wanted to do closed at 4 and around 6 or 7. So DeustchBahn is officially on my blacklist. :-/
When we exited the train we then had to find the connection between the train station and the metro. As we rolled our suitcases through the station I knew the rest of the group was probably wondering where on earth we were taking them, as walked through dimly lit hallways of grimy concrete tunnels that all looked very dark and sinister. There were several factors that made the afternoon a stressful one:

First, we had no lunch – there was nothing in the dining car, and we had thought we would be in Prague by 11:2.

Second, we were REALLY tight on time. It was 1:45 when we arrived and we needed to navigate the city, check into our hotel to drop our bags, get Czech currency, and high tail it up to the castle which closed at four and is distinctly the highlight of the city. So stress was high.

Third, we were having an incredibly difficult time buying metro tickets. The ATM only gives you very large bills (equivalent to 50 and 100 dollars). The machine only took coins…which were comparable to around a US dollar or less and we were having a really difficult time getting change. Chris went in and bought drinks, but didn’t understand the currency enough to get the change we needed. Daniel went into the bankomat and they only gave him a few coins.

The machine ate one our 20 Ck tokens and then between Chris and Daniel we only had enough change for 2 tickets and time was running out. There was no one manning the information booth or ticket sales, not to mention the fact that everyone was getting really stressed because it was after two and our chances of making it to the castle were slipping away before our eyes. So we decided to just try to make it with our two tickets. We validated them and all headed down to catch the metro.

So far so good. We were moving in the right direction, if we made it to the hotel by 2:15ish we could be at the castle by or before 3. And then we stepped off the metro and were stopped by a ticket agent who was checking tickets. Crap. I had the tickets in hand so they said Daniel and I were fine, but confiscated Ginger, Phil, Justin, and Chris’s passports and told them to follow them. CRAP. Daniel and I were trying to tell them we thought it was enough for all of us (the machine was confusing enough…we could have), but the officer was walking quickly to “information” with their passports and we were all quickly following. It could have been worse. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t some raised eyebrow looks going on and that adrenaline wasn’t up amongst some of the group. The agent/officer had a buddy with him and they led us to information to “teach” us how to buy tickets and then said we had to pay a fine on the spot. As I said, could have been worse, but we all would have been far happier if our wallets weren’t thinner because of it.
And now, we were mid-way, we still had to change metro lines and go two more stops. And we still were lacking change. Again, no one was manning the ticket booth. Daniel got in a miserably long information line where they were supposed to make change. After standing around for a few minutes, watching the time slip by and our chances of seeing the castle and St. Vitus’s Cathedral diminishing with each minute, I took action. I went into the store and bought things that I knew would yield change. Only the cashier chose to give me a 50 ck bill instead of a 50 ck coin (although we already had 40 Ck of the 80 ck we needed). I requested change and she said “no, go to information,” I said “but, please” and she said “no.” Fine! , I thought. So I proceeded to buy more candy with the 50 ck note that I knew would yield the desired change. She rolled her eyes, rang up my candy and then proceeded to give me the forty cks of change in form of a 20 ck coin and ten 2 ck coins just to be rude and difficult. But I didn’t care! We know had enough change to go the two stupid stops to get to our hotel…and Daniel was only three places closer in line.

So, with legitimate tickets in hand we made it to our stop and Daniel easily found our hotel and everything finally started falling into place. The hotel was awesome…although our rooms were up three and four flights of stairs. But the hotel itself had perfect location and had very fun traditional rooms with old antique-ish furniture. Ginger, Chris, Justin, and Phil had a spacious loft room that was up an additional set of stairs and was called “the attic room.” We also had internet and free breakfast. Good stuff.

So we set out for the castle! It was currently 2:50, so we had definitely lost a lot of time with the ticket officers, and were going to be hard pressed to make it. To get to the castle is quite a hike – it’s uphill on uneven (and incredibly slippery) cobblestone and mosaic stone sidewalks, all at a slant. And we were trying to speed walk it as much as we could. We made it just in the nick of time and slipped into St. Vitus’s Cathedral ten minutes til closing and were able to stand in awe of the majestic architecture of Gothic style churches. The spire we climbed up last time that gives you an awesome view of the city was closed for technical reasons, but we were still able to enjoy the gorgeous stain glass windows and decorations throughout the church.

After that we managed to enjoy the Golden Lane before it closed as well! We enjoyed the medieval torture displays…well, enjoy might not be the right word, but definitely were appropriately grossed out/impressed with the true harshness and cruelty of the devices. …And Chris was really glad he wasn’t living in the middle ages. Ginger and I also got to fire crossbows! We weren’t bad shots either – we actually hit our targets!

After the Golden Lane we were determined to not only find food, but to find a nice, large, solid meal after a full day of breakfast on the go and…well, nothing else. We chose a restaurant near the castle that overlooked the city and served traditional Czech cuisine. It was amazing and very well priced for the level of quality of the meal. Some of our dishes included wiener schnitzel, beef pilsner goulash with bread dumplings, beef cooked in cream sauce with bread dumplings, and steak with potatoes au gratin, along with traditional Czech potato soup served in bread bowls or old style potato soup. Very delicious.

On the way home we walked the wonderfully silhouetted Old Charles Bridge and took in the magic of the city. We were especially excited to see the tower was still open and enjoyed charging to the top to see the river and city from up high as well.
After taking a break in the Old Town Square Christmas Market, walking the streets, and briefly crashing in the hotel, we went out to visit the extremely classic and traditional beer hall that Daniel and I had found during out last visit. It’s called U Vejvodu and is an awesome 360 person beer hall that serves classic Czech pils along with meals and is a hall that has been functioning as a meeting place for the people of Prague since 1406ish. It really just has an awesome atmosphere!
Prague was fantastic! And several have said it is their favorite city so far. We are all really excited to relax and enjoy Kaprun and the Austrian Alps and we are all looking forward to a slower pace and a bit more sleep these next few days.

Monday 21 Dec 2009 – Berlin; A Whirlwind Tour

Berlin (Day 2)

We woke up and met downstairs at 9:15 and then grabbed breakfast at a café across the street. From there, we bought a day pass for the U and S-Bahn and hopped up to the metro station nearest the Pergamon. Now, the Pergamon is probably my all time favorite museum and I had talked it up a lot and had been looking forward to returning there and sharing it with Daniel for years. I had visited Berlin in January 2005 during my Baltic Trip with Furman (when I spent six weeks traveling to 17 cities and 7 countries around the Baltic region for credits in PoliSci and History). The Pergamon itself is essentially Germany’s Raiders of the Lost Ark museum…in that inside the museum there is the Pergamon temple from Greece, a Roman Market, Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian Gate of Ishtar, and a Muslim Temple Wall from Jordan. All of which were disassembled and brought back to Germany piece by piece and restored within the museum. It’s immense, it’s full of amazing artifacts, and it’s absolutely awesome. You can’t help but to walk around with your jaw dropped in some of the rooms.

Now, I was in charge of our tour of Berlin, we had spent nearly a week there in 2005 and I felt like I had a good grasp of what we “had” to see…although we very easily could have spent several more days there. So I had carefully crafted an itinerary that I genuinely thought was realistic. And probably would have been if our group wasn’t extremely academically inclined and enthralled by the museum. We knew when Chris got an audio guide we might be there a while. And so, there was a distinct discrepancy in the times in which we all finished – and I felt very guilty about rushing Ginger, Chris, and Phil through the last wing, but we were running out of daylight. Based on yesterday, I would say Daniel looks at museums with top speed and has little patience. Justin and I are moderate museum pacers, we read some, we hit the highlights, we leave with a sense of understanding. Phil, Chris, and Ginger are painstakingly thorough and leave with a plethora of obscure facts that resurface throughout the evening and the days ahead.

*We’ve agreed from here on out to set a time limit on museums*

Now, that said, after I herded everyone out, we were way behind the mythological schedule and I had to do some reconfiguring and scrap a few events. We were soon off to the Berliner Dom – an absolute must, that was one or two blocks away. We rounded the corner and everyone’s gasps made me realize that pushing us on was the right choice. And only moments after we stepped inside the church, organ music began and emanated throughout the gorgeously gilded sanctuary. The Berliner Dom itself is a very distinctive icon of Berlin, with columns, arches, domes, and symmetry all at work. The interior is quite glitzy, but not as much as a baroque church would be, and the ceiling of the Dom is spectacular. You’re supposed to be able to walk to the top of the Dom and see the city, but it was closed due to weather. Another highlight is the Hohenzollern Crypt – which was the ruling family of Prussia, which was one of the strongest city-states of the Holy Roman Empire, had an extremely sophisticated military, and led the charge in the Unification of Germany. We saw the tomb of Frederick Wilhelm – who was one of the primary agents in transforming the Prussian military into the impressive force it became – his son Frederick II (Frederick the Great) as the next influential force in transforming the Prussian military into a force to be reckoned with. A few other facts? (Skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want a history lesson.) Berlin was the capital of Prussia and then the capital of Unified Germany in 1871. The Prussian military significantly influenced and laid the foundation for the German military that was so fierce in WW I and WW II, and a Prussian general actually came to the colonies as and was paid to train our revolutionary forces. And, after US Commodore Matthew C. Perry encouraged/forced Japan to open up trade, Japan began their Iwakura Mission, as they toured the world and observed Western countries’ methods of industry, military, transportation, etc and picked what they believed was the best. They modeled their military off of Germany’s.

Okay, after the Berliner Dom some of us were quite hungry. We had scrapped Ka Da We because we were running out of daylight and really wanted to make it to the Berlin Wall, but we had agreed we would have more of a sit down lunch because we were going to eat dinner at the Christmas Markets. However, when we passed a Christmas Market most of the group caved. Chris, Ginger, Phil, and Daniel indulged in several charcoal roasted bratwursts and Justin and I grabbed food inside a café around the corner.

After that we were onto the Berlin Wall. Before we left for the trip, I did some research to figure out where we could see the best stretch of the wall. Most of it has been torn down, but there are still remnants left, and I knew from my last Berlin visit that there was at least one long section of wall left somewhere in the city. So, we got off at Ostbanhof and set out in the direction that I thought looked right, checked with a store clerk, and quickly found our way to the longest remaining stretch of the wall – that actually did end up being the same strip I had visited four years ago! This is also the strip that has barren land behind it. The exciting and simultaneously disappointing part was that as per the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall that was celebrated in November 2009, the wall has been repainted with beautiful new works. So the exciting part is that we are among some of the first in the world to see these new murals. The disappointing part for some in our group was that the wall looked new, with bright shiny paint, not old and tattered and Soviet and oppressive.

After that it was getting fairly dark and we decided to head back to the hotel to crash for a bit and then those who didn’t pig out at the Christmas Market the first time would go out to check out the Christmas Market that was near our hotel.
Side note of venting…there were three quests I personally had for Berlin, because I had not completed these tasks last time, but weather was not my friend and nor was time. Item one: Going to the top of the Berliner Dom to see the city, last time I didn’t know the opportunity existed, this time, it was closed. Item two: Going to the top of the Reichstag to see the city, in 2005 we ran out of time after an extremely busy day, and there was a very long line, this time it was closed due to weather. Item three: Getting my passport stamped at Checkpoint Charlie. In 2005 I didn’t know you could, this time the three times we walked by it, the passport stamping part was closed. …..Sigh.

I suppose I’ll just have to go back to Berlin! ;-)

And so we capped off our evening with a trip to the Christmas Market to grab some charcoal roasted Bratwursts and some yummy hot wines while we perused the different artisans’ tents. For dessert? Crepes! Ginger and Chris got banana, caramel and nusskr….something (carmelized chopped nuts) and I got a crepe with marzipan slices! Yummy!

So, despite my side note of venting, I am quite content. It seems like everyone really enjoyed Berlin and was happy with what we were able to see and accomplish. I really didn’t expect to see Berlin in the snow either – but with the lights of Unter den Linden leading up to the beautiful Brandenburg Gate...all of it paved with snow…paired with our visits to the Christmas markets…it was a beautifully enchanting visit!

We’re onto Prague! 4:20 am wakeup calls so we can catch a 6:30 am train so we can be in Prague by 11:30! I grimace as I type this because while we did wake up that early and did arrive in time to catch the train, they delayed it five or six times and then cancelled it…so we spent two extra hours absolutely miserable and freezing on the train platform. We really are heading onto Prague – I currently sit at the window watching the snow covered German countryside pass by as we rest and recoup and gear up for a busy afternoon in Praha!

Sunday 20 Dec 2009 – Amsterdam to Berlin

Now, the downside. Our luggage was not there when we returned to our room. And so Ginger became the prime negotiator with the airlines and managed to work out a solution of sorts.

Ultimately, We did end up with our luggage. However, to make a long story short…we were held up by the super-slow-not-concerned-with-our-rush-and-was-initially-unavailable desk clerk who was insistent we check out but wasn’t even manning the desk when we first walked up to it, we then had a crazy speed walk through the streets of newly snowy, very quiet Amsterdam at 5:45 in the morning, so we missed the train from Amsterdam Central to the Amsterdam airport, baggage claim didn’t open until 6:30, and we ultimately missed our train and the next one was not until 9. And then because of snow, the train was running an hour behind. If you are confused, you should be. We are too. Ultimately, even though we did get our luggage, we got into Berlin at 4:30 instead of 1:30 like we had hoped.

Now…on with the better news, we got our luggage! And since we then knew we had missed our train, and since it was early in the morning and the airport was quiet, we filled the hallway as we all dug through our bags to find clean underwear, socks, shirts, and better layers and shoes. We took our time and enjoyed a breakfast, went to the supermarket to buy food for lunch on the train, and then caught our train to Berlin.

The train ride was okay, but we were booted from our seats several times by people who had reservations. Daniel actually had to stand for an hour. We slept a bunch, read some, Beth mapped out our time in Berlin, and everyone did a lot of vegging and napping.

Once in Berlin we were delighted to see that our hotel was very close to Check Point Charlie – we can see if from our hotel entrance! After wrestling our hotel’s amazingly convoluted elevator, we managed to settle into our rooms and spend some time with our luggage – all getting clean showers and clothes.

And then we were off to scout Berlin! So we headed up Friedrichstrasse, the main road, that our hotel is on, and discovered a parade! It was the ultimate Coca-cola commercial as there were multiple Coco-cola semi’s all lit up carrying various bands, broadcasting the “holidays are coming” theme song, and men walking with buckets full of mini-Coke cans that they handed out to the crowds like candy! We reached the parade just in time to catch the highlights…as well as to discover we were standing on Unter den Linden full of lots of individual trees all lit up, creating a beautiful boulevard of light leading to the Brandenburg Gate!!! If Amsterdam didn’t instill the magicalness of Europe, the parade and Unter den Linden at Christmas definitely did!!! :)

We grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant that had so many taps it had a beer stock exchange with different brands gaining or losing stock prices based on demand – so the price of beer changed every five minutes. We all enjoyed some traditional German dishes and then we braved the extremely cold, snowy night to see the Reichstag. After security we arrived at the base of the Dome and enjoyed the pictures explaining the history of the Reichstag’s existence, tracing it through the Weimar Republic, rise of the NSDAP (Nazi) Party (and the 1933 fire), and the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall. Unfortunately we couldn’t go to the top of the Dome because it was so cold the ramps were completely ice.

From there we again braved the cold and headed around the corner to the Brandenburg Gate and then walked down the beautifully lit Unter den Linden. We managed to make it home and spent the latter part of our evening thawing, looking at pictures, and mapping out our major touristy day in Berlin.
More about today tomorrow…or soon…

We will have stable internet as of the 23rd. We’ll fill you in soon!
Cheers!
Beth, Daniel, Justin, Ginger, Chris, and Phil!!! :)

Saturday, 19 Dec 2009 – Amsterdam!

The pictures above is the canal our hotel was on! And a picture of Dam Square at night.

So all things considered, we were fans of British Airways…until they lost our luggage. Our flights really were pretty decent, the seats were moderately sized, that head rests had nice wings to them so you could actually sleep, and they were generous with drinks and meals. Daniel and I slept far more than most, for Daniel a 7 or 8 pm bedtime is perfect, for me…I was running on two hours of sleep because I stayed up late packing since I had to be at work to administer, monitor, grade, and post the last section of semester exams. So I slept a great deal.

We flew from Orlando to London-Gatwick and had a very tight connection, only made tighter by the delays of our initial flight. The excuse was snow. Snow?! We were all really excited. So we landed in London, managed to make our tight connection, and then sat on the runway for an hour or two…they were deicing the plane a few times as well as taking a realllllly long time to load the bags on the plane. But, that made us feel better, because with the tight connection we figured we might make it before our luggage.

So we got to Amsterdam and got down to baggage claim and heard our last names being called over the PA. Hmm, not good. They told us to come to baggage services. Really not good. And then, we proceeded to fill out forms in the exact same office Daniel and I had sat 18 months ago when SAS couldn’t move our bags from that connecting flight quickly enough either. But we reassured our friends – don’t worry, we had the bags by bedtime the last time this happened, it will be okay. It wasn’t just us either, everyone from the ORL to London-Gatwick to Amsterdam flight was missing their luggage….all people from FL dressed like people from FL. Some people didn’t even have coats, some only had flipflops, and Daniel was wearing shorts. Good thing all of us had coats and closed toe shoes. But we were lacking lots of basics. Daniel and I were fairly well prepared b/c we were loaning out extra layers, hats, and gloves to our Fellowship to make sure we could enjoy our evening in Amsterdam. Every time I think I overpack I use everything I bring without fail… the girl scout in me can’t help it!

And so, we arrived at our hotel late enough that we could check in and crash for a few minutes. There was no point in crashing for any longer than that because we didn’t have our luggage and daylight was limited. So, we set out on the town, enjoying the sights of a lighted, Christmas tree adorned, decorated for the season, Amsterdam. We enjoyed the eclectic and diverse feel of the city as we passed dozens of different ethnic restaurants. We grabbed a yummy Italian dinner and split up, with half of the group going to the Anne Frank Hus Museum and the other half going back to the hotel to crash a bit more. After that we rejoined forces and set out to check out Amsterdam’s night life (and indulge in morbid curiosity and walk through the Red Light District).

All in all – I actually like Amsterdam more this time than the first time, the city really is very pretty and I’m growing to love the Amsterdam look – canals, tiny, quaint houses, walls and walls of bikes, and this time – snow! I also really admire the liberal and tolerant attitude of the Dutch and feel like every last person in their city is tolerated and accepted.

Our time in the city was short, but it was really intended to be an added bonus, as we saved about three hundred dollars a person by flying into Amsterdam instead of Berlin – and so, it was a bonus! We had a great time checking out the city, found a fantastic Belgian beer store that sold a vast variety of trappist brews we had never seen before, and had the distinct pleasure of enjoying an Amsterdam that was decorated for Christmas and beautifully dusted with snow.

And…that *yay I’m in Europe!* feeling arrived right away as we walked the canals and stood on the edge of Dam Square and watched the glittering lights.

Friday, December 18, 2009 – The Fellowship’s Journey Officially Begins!

Back in January as Justin, Chris, Daniel, and myself caught up and shared tales of our 2008 Christmas adventures, we started thinking. Christmas only comes once a year….and it’s a perfect time to take a two week trip for the price of a week or less of vacation… and so the potential planning began…before we knew it we (okay, I), had pulled out my laminated map of Europe’s railways and we were quickly developing a trip that was a synergy of places some people had never been but would love to see, places people wanted to return to again to explore further, as well as a skiing adventure thrown in the mix just to keep it interesting. :)

And so we adjourned our pizza dinner with the challenge to each other to actually bully each other into making a Christmas trip happen. We set out with such determination we decided to refer to ourselves as the Fellowship and have since collected more members.

Our very excited crew consists of Daniel and myself, Justin, Chris, Ginger, and Phil. To make things even more complicated we are all bound in different ways. Daniel, Justin, Chris, Ginger, and Phil all went to Clemson together – some for undergrad, some graduate school. Daniel, myself, Chris, and Justin all have bought homes and live in our neighborhood now. Phil and Justin used to be college roommates. And Chris and Ginger are a couple.

So after a very crazy, harried few days, our fellowship is now waiting in the airport terminal in the Orlando Airport for our British Airways flight (which has narrowly escaped a strike this week). We are all tired and extremely ready for vacation and very excited about our trip.

Where are we headed?
12/19 – Amsterdam
12/20 and 12/21 – Berlin
12/22 – Prague
12/23-12/26 – Kaprun, Austria to ski (just outside of Zell am See)
12/26-12/28 – Munich
12/29 – Venice
12/30-01/01 – Rome
01/02 – Wake up in London and fly home

I’m a little anxious because our dear friends have entrusted their vacation time and savings to this trip that they have encouraged me to craft, but I am hoping it will turn out to be one of the best we’ve taken yet.

I’m personally waiting for that absolutely magical moment where you suddenly feel the magic of Europe – perhaps when you step through an alley and realize you are in the city’s main square, or you step into a church steeped with grandeur and solitude and feel so very small, or when you enter a true European bakery and pick your first unbelievable pastry of the trip… I’m really looking forward to the realization that I’m in magical, amazing, beautiful, enchanting Europe and taking that that deep, excited, totally-in-love-with-traveling, breath in and think “ah, I’m really here!”