Budapest... Greatest City in the World.

This is a hard place. And with the winter season, a cold, hard, gray place. You notice it on the ride into town from the airport, and on this particular day, there was an eerie, hazy fog blanketing the city. Passing a large group of Commie Blocks, barren industrial wasteland and run down neighborhoods. There's a feeling that starts to form in your head that says "wow, maybe those stereotypes of Eastern Europe are correct after all." You also notice it on the faces of the older generations. the ones who lived through Hungary's roughest of times; WWII, Communism, Fascism, the Revolution of 1956. Their shoulders tense, faces emotionless and eyes colder and harder than arctic tundra. But once into the main area of Budapest, everything changes. Admiring the beautiful architecture you start to realize why they call Budapest the Paris of Eastern Europe. The city is set up similar to Paris with block after block of buildings as enthralling and architecturally grandiose as Prague. At the same time it has this faint sense of gritty-ness that evokes a Brooklyn-esque feel to the city, reminding you of your current Eastern European location. Make no mistakes, this is a beautiful city! From the hills of Buda, down to the Danube across the river to Pest. Breathtaking. Especially as you take the tram across Margit Hid to the Buda side from Pest.

Some of the great things we did:

First and foremost, being the gastronome that I am, I will speak of the food we ate. First off the ubiquitous foods of Budapest; traditional Hungarian goulash. Tasted first at the Nagy Vasarcsarnok (Budapest Central Market) alongside a cup of mulled wine, both delicious. The next time I had goulash was at a Söröző, a Hungarian pub, in Moszkva Ter on the Buda side called Trombitás Gösserező. It was much better here than at the market. We also had a dish of breaded, fried duck livers which was quite tasty and a plate of breaded fried mushrooms with a spicy cheese sauce. The other ubiquitous food you find here is Turkish kebab, and it seems like there are at least 3 joints on each block. It's like Pizza in New York, or taco stands in Southern California.

One thing that blew me away about the food scene in Budapest is the number of quality, authentic, multi-national restaurants. First off even garbage fast food from America tastes better and incidentally is better for you in Europe. Remember how good McDonald's tasted when we were growing up? You could actually taste the beef patties, and buns were grilled. That's how it is here in Budapest and for the most part in all parts of Mainland Europe I've been to. Bryan and I found a Mexican restaurant on Erzsébet körút called Tacos Locos. Not too sure about Mexican food in Eastern Europe at first. Bryan, having lived in Mexico for a few years examined the menu and found it to be authentic. We proceeded in. Tacos de cochinito pibil (baby pork)and pozole (a Mexican soup) were both extraordinarily flavorful, authentic and filling. We both left happy.

Dinner on New Years Eve was Tapas at a restaurant called Pata Negra. Once inside a quick glance around provoked a very good and possibly unanswerable question; What the fuck do they put in the water here? Hungarian women are hands down the most beautiful women I have ever seen. I've been to Southern California, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Arizona, Denmark, Ireland etc... they have nothing on Hungarian women. It's mind numbing, but more on them later....or maybe not, I do have family that reads this. All I will say is whether at a restaurant or on the tram or walking around I thought I was gonna have a combination of whiplash and a nervous breakdown. Back to tapas at Pata Negra: The food at this place was spot on. Sangria, Razor clams, bouquerones, squid, garlic shrimp, IBERICO HAM! all fabulously done and super traditional. It rivals tapas I've had both in Boston and Barcelona. Keep in mind this is IN BUDAPEST!!! This is a great place to take a date.

Finally, a block from our apartment was Chez Daniel, a beautiful and traditional French restaurant. We started out with a French rendition of Tuna tartare, next up was a pate of foie gras which, if you've never had foie gras, you need to try it immediately. My dinner plate consisted of Duck Confit which was out of this world. Perfectly crispy on the outside, moist, tender and a texture like pullled pork on the inside. All of this washed down with a glass of decent French red wine, some cheese at the end of the meal and an espresso to finish it all off. The three of us left beyond full and beyond content. This town knows how to do food!

Of course, no trip to Europe for me would be complete without long nights of suds and shaking (alcohol and a lil' dancing and debauchery). First there was Rocktogon, a basement bar not too far from Oktogon sq. set in a basement with cheap beer, cover bands, Iron Maiden posters and patrons you'd imagine listen to Iron Maiden. A dirty, seedy, rock 'n' roll dive? indeed. We left there and headed to Morrison's Music Pub, a place we would visit 3 more times during our trip. This place was by far our favorite. An underground labyrinth of drinking, lounging, karaoke, and dancing. You get lost your first time through, but then you quickly learn your way around. Then there was Morrison's 2 a 4 level club, not as good as the music pub, but you have 4 different floors of music and hanging out to choose from. There was also Moulin Rouge, your typical, none pretentious, drinking establishment/ disco. Which reminds me; let me clarify this. In Europe, a disco is a place to dance, a night club is usually a strip club.

New Years Eve? Well, I've never seen anything like that before! One could liken it to Times Square but on a much smaller and less touristy scale. The streets of Oktogon Sq. were mobbed with revelers, A DJ was blasting music, video screens pumping video and visuals, food stalls selling Hungarian street food, mulled wine, beer and bottles of cheap champagne. Tables set up selling masks, noisemakers and fireworks. YES you read that correctly, fireworks. Hell, there we're guys walking through the crowd selling roman candles. When the clock struck Midnight the square went crazy! Fireworks from every angle, champagne, kissing, hugging, and lots of EGESZSEGEDRE!!! (Hungarian for cheers, or, to your health).

To wrap it up, I am in love with this city, it has everything I could ever ask for; good food, efficient public transportation, history, culture, sights, low cost of living, and oh yeah beautiful, friendly women. I will live here before I turn 32.

SZERETEM BUDAPEST!

Oh yeah and lastly since i started this off with some of the great things we did. Some of the not so great things we did:
we left, but will return soon.

Barbara Streisand!!!


PS Steve, thank you for the "free" beers.

Comin Back Around Again

Friends, Travel Junkies, Countrymen; Lend me your ears!
I'm coming back, real soon. Keep your blog reading eyes peeled. I'm off to a foreign land known for paprika, palinka, porn stars, and a language I'm still trying to wrap my head around. Viva la Magyarorszag!!!! That would be Hungary to the uninformed, Budapest to be a bit more specific. I will be there for New Years Eve joined by two of my very good friends; a one Mr. Steven Craig Eaton (one of Boston's finest) and a certain Bryan Dugan (formerly of Manch-Vegas NH, now residing in Colchester, Essex England (have ya heard of an Essex Girl? Google that shit)). This time I promise to offer posts more in depth, and more interesting than "So I wandered around this place for a while, went back to the hotel to nap then drank a bunch at night"
Stay tuned friends.

Ich Bin Ein Berliner!

(If you have no idea about the title of this blog I highly suggest you google it. It's a bit of a mix up that JFK made when he came to Berlin in the 60's. So type it in with JFK before or after to get the story. Knowledge has been dropped)

I left Stuttgart about 9:30am as I wanted to get to Berlin before rush hour. Back in the B-class and on my way. I punched the Berlin airport address into the navigation and was off to the autobahn. As I drove through Stuttgart I passed a rather eclectic car dealership, Cadillac, Hummer, Corvette (just vette’s) and…..Ferrari. How random? I hit the autobahn but of course it was raining out. Could my driving experience get any better? Though along the way there were long stretches of dry road with no speed limit. Unfortunately my little B-class likes to cut out at about 6,500rpm so going fast was not something that was going to be easy, though I think at one point I was cruising at about 105 or so. For the rest of the trip where no speed limit was posted I was doing just fine at about 90-95mph until the guy in the Porsche or Audi came up behind me. Other than that it was raining most of the way to Berlin.
About 1/3rd of the way to Berlin the gas light came on. I had passed a service station a while ago and didn’t know when the next one was coming up. I exited off the highway and found a sign pointing to gas. At this point the gauge was just about on empty. How good would this be running out of gas in the middle of Germany where I’m pretty sure NO ONE remotely speaks English? This hypothesis was proven true very soon. After getting off the highway and following the sign for gas I somehow ended up on a two lane road in between two small German towns. I followed the road into a random little town. There was certainly no gas station here. I found a couple walking around and asked “Sprechen sie Englisch?” “Nien” They replied with a small, almost unnoticeable chuckle. “Petrol!?!” I exclaimed throwing my hands up to about shoulder height with my palms facing the heavens. They pointed in the direction and I believe they said something along the lines of a half kilometer. It was certainly farther than a half Kilometer but I made it. This off highway service station was huge. It had a gas station, diner, supermarket, Burger King, kebab shop, the German equivalent of a Home Depot AND a SEAT dealership. I gassed up; 65 euro for a full tank! The attendant informed me it keeps going up. I then headed to the kebab shop as cheap nourishment was needed after spending that much on gas.

Back on the highway it rained and rained and then cleared up and then rained again. Once in the general Berlin area the navigation system started to lead me on a wild goose chase. First I got off the highway into a small town and drove down a 2 lane road that connected several towns to each other. After a good 20 kilometers of this and I was back on a highway. After some time on the highway I was told to get off, which I did, onto a smaller highway and then off another exit. I was then told to follow streets through a neighborhood and that the airport was not far, maybe 7 kilometers away. I knew something was wrong when while driving on a perfectly normal paved road the navigation told me I was off the road driving in dirt. Then the real kicker came. I was driving up a small street and came to a dead end! The highway was on the other side of the fence; I was to go straight according to my navigation system. I retraced my steps back to the highway and drove towards any sign pointing to Berlin Shonefeld Airport. Finally I reached it, dropped off the rental and headed for the metro to catch the train into town. While at the information booth I discovered that I had struck gold once again. My hotel was right around the corner from the train station! 3 for 3 in Germany! Just when I got off the train I wasn’t sure which way around the corner and ended up doing a loop or two. The hotel was on Monbijouplatz. Now, there’s a Monbijou strasse and a Monbijouplatz in the area around the train. The former was all I could find on the map until a very close look discovered the latter. I got situated and decided to take it easy as it had been a long, stressful, yet interesting day of travelling through the German countryside.
Once my hotel room became agonizingly uninteresting to stay in any longer I headed out to explore Hackescher Markt, my new home until Sunday. I wandered through the neighborhood looking at all of the different shops and restaurants. Everything from traditional German, to pizza, sushi to Mexican even! Most of the shops were clothing stores selling locally made street wear or designer labels. I ended up back around the train station at a small sushi spot with outdoor seating. The sushi wasn’t too bad. It had been a while now since my last encounter with seafood and considering Berlin is a global city I figured how bad could it be? Once dinner was finished it was about 9pm. I walked around some more, peering into different shops looking for some ice cream but not finding what I wanted. On the way out of one store I almost collided with a tall, very attractive, dark haired woman wearing pink go-go boots, black tights, a short jean skirt and a jean jacket. Her friend not far behind her was wearing pink go-go boots, black tights, a black skirt and a black top. I would find out later that night that these were the women of the night, working the corners around Hackescher Markt and beyond.

I gave up on ice cream and found a beer called Erdbeer Porter; a strawberry flavored porter beer which was refreshing even though it was a bit too sweet. After finishing this in my hotel room I decided to go grab a pint at the Irish pub down by the station. These were my first few hours in Berlin.

The next day I woke up and set out to find a café with free wifi. The receptionist at the hotel wasn’t a huge help so I ventured out to the one place she recommended; Starbucks. They had wifi but for 8 euro and hour, not gonna happen. Though as I was walking out the guy behind the counter was nice enough to inform me of a few places I could try. The first was closed; the second one was nowhere to be found. Finally on the other side of the train station I found La Siesta’s: a small, comfortable coffee shop with wifi. A cappuccino and a bagel would be my breakfast as I spent a good hour catching up on things.

Once done with breakfast I felt the need to explore. I first made my way to the old Jewish cemetery and strolled through there. It was more of a memorial to the old cemetery since it had been leveled during WWII. There were a few grave stones left as well as a sculpture right as you entered to commemorate those who perished. After the cemetery it was down the street to the “new” Jewish Synagogue. The Synagogue was quite ornate with a large brass dome in the middle lined with gold accents and two smaller domes with gold accents on either side. Somehow this survived not only WWII but the infamous “night of broken glass.” The one problem was that it was not open to the public today for some reason and members of the German police were patrolling outside. At this point it was time to retreat and collect some energy as I decided it would be a good night to do a pub crawl. I had received a flyer about one the night before. The crawl consisted of 4 bars and one club. The bars were always the same, the club changed nightly. 12 euro’s for one free beer during meet up, free shots at each bar and a discounted drink menu. This sounded way better than the Prague crawl already.

After nap time concluded I headed to the store around the corner for some pre gaming materials. I found two large beers with decent alcohol content (5.6 and 5.4 respectively) for less than 5 euro. I drank, showered and shaved and headed down a bit on the early side to see what the turnout would be on a Tuesday night. I waited, first 3 people showed up then 3 more. I said why the hell not and joined in. Within a minute of this there were about 30 people standing around drinking in the middle of Hackescher Markt (I do love Germany’s lenient open container laws) waiting to get the crawl rolling. The main guide, Mark gave us a quick rundown of what was going on, and even a description of the first bar we were going to. The first place had all sorts of old-school Soviet/ KGB decorations and flags. I bought a round of jagerbombs for a group I was with and the favor was returned. At this point I needed to get some smokes but the machine was broken. One of the chaperones for the crawl walked me over to the nearest store, whoa; they didn’t do that in Prague, I liked this already, once I returned free shots were being handed out; vodka with cranberry followed by straight jager shots, this better not end up being some kind of reenactment of my 21st or 22nd birthday.

The next bar, Mark informed us was a cocktail lounge and that they had a discounted menu for crawlers, they had this special shot for 1 euro called a party shot that contained Sambuca and something else dangerous. I was outside talking with a group from Michigan when I noticed a familiar brown bottle with a blue label and a portrait of a famous brewer/ patriot on it in each of their hands. THIS BAR HAD SAM ADAMS!!!! I was smiling from ear to ear as I was handed two by the bartender. We made our way to the next bar, but at this point I had three Sam’s in hand and couldn’t bring them into the next bar. So I sat outside drinking my Sam’s feeling giddy like a schoolgirl (it’s really the little things in life that make me happy). The group came out and we ventured to our 4th bar called Zapata’s. This place was huge! Part bar, part art collective, part nightclub, part graffiti covered not been touched since the cold war building. But it was possibly the coolest bar I’ve ever seen. There was a huge backyard area which was covered with sand and sculptures and graffiti everywhere, plus they had a live band playing. I ended up staying only in the backyard conversing with a mixed group of people from Copenhagen as I would be heading there next. Occasionally I would go into the first room which had a dance floor.

The chaperones rounded up everyone and brought us outside to announce we were heading to the club. I was starving and ran next door to get myself some kebab. Go figure by the time I came outside the group was nowhere to be found. No club for me tonight, I started back towards base camp. I found a group of people waiting for the tram and struck up a conversation with them for a bit, mainly starting with how I get back to Hackescher Markt. They were fairly pleasant to a drunken tourist. They easily made out my accent and started in with the whole “pahk ya cah” shtick, I played along for a bit. Their tram was coming so I bid them farewell and good times at the club. With the TV tower as my bearing I headed in that direction until I made my way back into Hackescher Markt and was hilariously bombarded by prostitutes. No thanks honey!

Once again I woke up the next morning NOT HUNGOVER! I love this German purity law. Honestly at this point I don’t think I’ll ever drink any other kind of beer with the exception of Sam Adams. So to all my friends, co-workers and acquaintances out there reading this, when I get back we can only go to places that serve authentic German beer. Ok maybe that’s wishful thinking but on with the events of the next day. After breakfast it was time for a bit of sightseeing. I jumped on the train at Hackescher Markt and went down 3 or 4 stops to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof and made my way to the Reichstag building. This was the main parliament building in Germany for many years and was seized by Hitler in the 1930’s after a fire broke here. I wanted to go inside and walk through the new dome at the top but the line was out the door and down the stairs. Probably about an hour and a half wait, I had other things to see. From there I headed down to the famous Brandenburg gate. I walked through it to Pariser Platz and roamed the area for a bit. I even saw the Adlon Hotel, the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby from the 5th floor balcony. So fitting to mention this at a time when the whole world is mourning the death of the King of Pop.

After this it was down the street to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The monument was about 19,000sq meters and consisted of 2711 slabs of concrete all different heights due to the gently rolling ground. This was a controversial monument (I would come to find out a few days later while on a bike tour) not only because of its design but because of a little known fact. All over Berlin there are massive amounts of graffiti. 2711 concrete slabs are a perfect target for taggers. So the builders covered it with a special coating so if spray paint was applied it could easily be removed. The interesting twist is that the company who made the coating which had been around for generations happened to have a sister company who made Zyklon B during the war. The company issued statements and apologies to the German people as well as a refund on the coating.

After walking through the memorial and honestly feeling a bit confused as to the symbolism of the memorial I decided to ponder its meaning over a nice cold beer and some food. I found a spot and ordered their XXL currywurst and a Radler which is lemon flavored beer; very refreshing on a hot day like today. They weren’t kidding about their XXL currywurst, this thing was about 15 inches long. I knew after this it would have to be a long, long time until I could eat currywurst again. After lunch I headed downstairs to the memorial exhibit. It was comprised of five large rooms. The first room was a timeline starting with Hitler coming to power all the way up to when the concentration camps were liberated. From there the next room was a dark room with 16 large installations on the floor of letters and documents from Jews that perished during the atrocities. A few were letters to loved ones saying goodbye forever and that they have no idea what will become of them. I’ll admit this section of the memorial got me chocked up a bit.

The next room focused on several large families from all over Europe. These families were from everywhere from Poland to Hungary to even France. It described the family, what they did, and the members of it. It also mentioned who died and how they were split up. The next room was a large theatre with a women’s voice reading a written account of a holocaust survivor. The final room showed all the European countries involved and where all of the concentration camps were located as well as pictures of the largest ones from each country. I left feeling moved, saddened and enraged all at the same time. I’ll refrain from pontificating on this as it will just put me in a bad mood and why be in a bad mood in Europe. Once back upstairs on street level I walked through the memorial again and figured it out. When Jews were taken to camps the entire family was spilt up; men go one way, women another, children another, grandparents another. So imagine making it out alive (or not) and trying to find your family. It’s like wandering through a maze looking for someone. They may be right behind you but since there are massive stone columns in front of you, you can’t see them and they can’t see you (I would later find out this is not what the columns or the memorial are supposed to symbolize but I like my interpretation better).

I returned to the hotel for some rest and relaxation. As night fell over the German sky I made my way down to the Markt for a few beers and some people watching. With the TV tower in the shadows hidden amongst tree’s Hackescher Markt was alive and well. I sat there drinking my Heffeweizens watching the faces stroll by. Street performers, the sound of hundreds of conversations jumbled together and the muted rumble of trains running through the station above set the soundtrack for the night with the occasional conversation around me chiming in like a solo. Usually always in German: a language I have very little grasp of other than gutten tag, dunkeh, sprechen sie englisch, and ein bier bitte. I was content just sitting watching all the people walk by and just thinking about everything and nothing. Sometimes the most relaxing places are the loud, crowded squares and if you’re lucky enough you can just sit and drink it all in.

The next day was rather nasty out, cold and rainy. After the usual morning run I decided to wander up to Pariser Platz on foot. I made my way past the museum island and continued towards my target. I made it about half way when I noticed a building with a Bentley and Volkswagen showroom inside. Normally I would have just walked right by. I fix, drive and see more impressive automobiles then this on a daily basis back home at work….Until I saw the Bugatti Veyron in the window, next to a vintage Bentley 12 cylinder race car from the 1930’s. Ok now I had to go in for sure. I drooled a bit, took my photos and went on my way. After some more walking in the rain and such I decided to head back to the hotel and chill out, the weather was less than ideal and I wasn’t feeling much like dealing with it. Some real downtime would do me good, get some reading done and write some more as well.

Later on I showered and such and decided to do go walk up Oranienburger strasse. As I made my way past the Oranienburger S-bahn station I ran into Kel and D, 2 guys from the pub crawl the other night. We hung out on the corner for a bit updating each other on what has been going down since the other night. We wandered for a bit grabbing a quick doner kebab and some Berliner Pilsner beer. At this point the prostitutes were out and we tried to snap shots of them but their John’s were all over the place. I later asked one if I paid her would she be willing to let me record her on camera sending a hello to a good friend of mine back home whose had his panties all in a bunch since all I’ve done is text him a few random times. Nothing too dirty, clothes didn’t even need to come off, just a quick; Hello, (insert friends name here) I can’t wait for you to come to Berlin so I can (insert overly gratuitous, sexual gestures). Apparently it was too much to ask as they she said no filming. I said “come one this is the quickest (however much we could agree on) you’re gonna make ever.” She wasn’t into it.

Back hanging with Kel and D they told me they went back to Zapata’s the night before and we decided to head back once again. We went straight for the back yard area and straight for 3 Beck’s beers. This would be the first of many, many rounds. Many rounds and some kebab later and it somehow became 4am. We all walked back towards Hackescher Markt. It was the best way for them to get to their hotel via the train. We parted ways for the night as they had to head out in the afternoon.

The next morning I woke up rather late and once again not hung over. I recalled Kel telling me about a bike tour they took the other day and highly recommended it to me. I decided it needed to be done. I missed the first trip which left at around 11am so I would catch the 4pm ride. Honestly, I think the last time I rode a bike was on a trip to Martha’s Vineyard when I was in summer camp years ago. We’re talking like 10 year or so. This was going to be interesting. I headed over to where the tour met up underneath the TV tower. The group was comprised of about 15 people or so from all over the world. There was a father with his 2 kids from Romania. A couple from Australia, a couple from Florida etc…. Our tour guide, Ingo, lead the way; we left the TV tower area and headed around the corner to Alexander Platz to learn about the square, the new red town hall, and general history as well. From there it was on to the Carl Marx statue and onward to many other sites including the Brandenburg Gate, book burning memorial, Pariser Platz, Checkpoint Charlie, one of the last remaining sections of the wall, Potsdamer Platz, the site of Hitler’s bunker and others. From there we rode the whole way through the Tier Gardens passing by the Soviet war veteran’s memorial. At the end of the park was a beer garden where we stopped for dinner, more liters of beer and food. I’m going to have to hire a personal trainer when I get home…or starve myself for the rest of this trip.
After dinner concluded we got back on the bikes went back through the Tier Garden and stopped at the victory column, or as Ingo told us as some Americans call it the “chick on the stick.” From there we stopped at the Jewish memorial, I learned of the true meaning of the columns, they were meant to symbolize burial tombs and mass graves. I still like my interpretation better. We stopped for a bit at the Reichstag building, continuing on we passed a building that still had bullet damage from WWII; that was cool to see. Our final stop was on Museum Island to the Berliner Dome as well as the Pergamon Museum. Ingo told us that during the war all of the statues on the Berliner dome were taken down and sunken to the bottom of the spree river and other ponds and lakes during the war. The Pergamon Museum is where the majority of Nazi Propaganda and speeches were given.

We returned to the TV Tower to conclude the tour. I wished I had done this my first day. I was so interested in learning more now, especially considering they offered other tours that dealt with the cold war as well as Nazi Germany/ The Third Reich. Unfortunately with tomorrow being my last day I would not have a chance to delve deeper. I returned to Hackescher and grabbed a few beers before returning to the hotel, I was tired.

My final day in Berlin was nothing amazing to speak of during the day other than the usual wandering. I decided to do one last pub crawl as the first one was a lot of fun but I didn’t get to the last stop. During the day on the other side of the Tier Garden was a huge gay pride rally/ parade and there was a bus right outside my hotel at one point blasting music. As I walked down to the crawl, looking good, some guy in a pseudo-Elvis costume followed closely behind me until I turned around and caught him. All his friends were cracking up, as was I. I was the first person to show up but soon a group of three ladies from Australia showed up, we chatted for a while until more people showed up. I spent the first 45 minutes mingling with others. I met an older gentleman (in his 50’s) who brought his 19 year old god-daughter on the crawl. At first it was a bit weird but after talking with them for a while he was actually an interesting person. His god-daughter was travelling around and he figured he’d take her out and show her a good time all the while taking care of her since he now lived in Berlin. He even somehow guessed I was from Newton! He knew I was from Boston he said “I know you’re not from Southie, You must be from Newton.” Apparantly he worked with many people from Boston for 15 years.

We left for the first pub and I ended up hanging out with a group of 5 guys from Dublin. Irish people are great! Lots of laughs were heard from our nook of the bar. I told them of my experiences in Ireland (both good and not so good), they were glad to hear I had a great time. They were cracking up hysterically when I told them the Jersey Girl incident, as well as my issues at Copper’s. They told me about some other place I should have gone. The name I can’t recall but apparently there’s a better club then Copper Face Jack’s (CATHY!!!!!!).

We headed to bar number 2, the cocktail lounge, and I immediately ordered three Sams; two for me and one for my Irish buddy Leslie who was asking me earlier at the first bar why all American beer sucks. I told him to have a Sam. He enjoyed and acknowledged that it was indeed good. I found my Aussie friends again and conversed with them for a while until it was off to bar 3. Once inside bar 3 I mingled in with a bunch of girls from Colorado. We had some laughs, some drinks and plenty of dance floor action. We left there en route to Zapata’s and the Colorado girls and I were going back and forth the whole way. I was having a good time and Zapata’s did not fail to deliver. The Colorado girls ran off and I caught up with my Irish buddies for a while until we headed to the club. Once at the club I needed some cash, I found an ATM around the corner but was having trouble finding my way back (oh inebriation, how you mess up my sense of direction). I didn’t want a repeat of the first crawl. Finally I found the club but as I was walking back in the club, the Colorado girls were taking off. As usual. I ordered a drink and found my Irish friends again. This club was not only packed but hotter than any place I had been to. I needed some fresh air. Leslie and I headed outside for a smoke and they all decided to head off. I headed back to the hotel, I had a long journey to Scandinavia in a few hours.

To Conclude, Berlin may be my favorite city in Europe (that I’ve seen). It’s not just the history but to think that even 40 years ago this place was a wasteland torn by war and politics. You look at Berlin today and while there is still much to be cleaned up (at least in the east, didn’t venture too much into the west), it is a thriving, global city with much to see and do and a nightlife that doesn’t quit no matter what day of the week it is. I do wish I had ventured west more, but there is of course always next as I’m sure there will be one. Onward to Copenhagen!

Stuttgart

I’ll be brief about my excursion to Stuttgart as there were only two reasons for going. The first was to get a chance to drive on the Autobahn, the second was to see the Porsche Museum. I arrived at Munich airport to pick up my rental. I knew when I booked the car that it would be an Audi A3 or something comparable. I had no idea what was comparable to an A3 in Germany. I hate this about car rental companies they always say something comparable to the featured model. When I was in California last summer driving down the coast from San Francisco to San Diego I had reserved a Chrysler Sebring convertible. What did I get? A MAZDA MIATA!!!! How the hell is a Miata comparable to a Sebring? We could only fit one bag in the trunk of it! My girlfriend was not about to ride with a roll around bag and two backpacks on her lap, nor would we have been able to fit that anyways. We had to settle for a Honda Accord (not a bad car though). So of course I would not be rolling with four rings in front of me. My choices were a Mercedes B-class or a Nissan Qashqai both crossover-type (read: station wagon on steroids) vehicles only seen in Europe (do an image search on Google). I jumped in the Benz and was off. I couldn’t wait to hit the Autobahn, punch the throttle wide open and watch the tachometer needle make its way to the redline over and over again as I shifted through each of the five forward gears as soon as a no speed limit sign appeared.

This would not be the case. As soon as I made it onto the A8 stretch I was met by a traffic jam that lasted for miles and miles. Two arduous, exasperating, trying hours and I had only moved maybe 5 kilometers. I found out from someone who spoke English that a bridge up ahead was getting work done to it and the work would be done in 40 minutes. What else was going to go wrong today? I had to make it to the Porsche Museum before 5pm. Finally the traffic broke and I started moving. Unfortunately speed limit signs followed me my whole way to Stuttgart. I made it to the museum by 4:30pm. You know how good and bad things come in three’s well the third was about to rear its ugly face. I rushed up to the exhibit, camera in hand and not even a quarter of the way through my camera dies. I was furious, what a day. I knew I needed more pictures than what I had; I couldn’t let my co-workers and fellow gear heads down. I ran down to the car, grabbed the charger and found a wall plug near the downstairs café. I knew I didn’t have much time to charge it up, so I did what I could and headed back up for more pictures. I didn’t get much, but I got a few good ones.

Once I left the museum, the hotel was about 4 blocks down the street. After settling in and showering I set out to find food. I drove into Stuttgart and found an area that wasn’t as nice as I thought it would be. It kind of reminded me of the not so marvelous section of New Haven Connecticut only the buildings were European style. I rode around and finally stopped at, of all places, a kebab shop. Go figure I drive 10 kilometers into Stuttgart from Zuffenhausen just for kebab. I sat in the car and ate and then headed back to the hotel. Once night fell upon the Swabain region of Germany I just went downstairs to the hotel bar to relax and have a few. I started taking to the bartender mainly about how I had been to all of the other European countries that were famous for their beer and how I thought Germany had the best. He was very prideful of his Swabian roots but admitted whole heartedly that Bavaria indeed had the best beer but Swabia had the best cars (couldn’t argue with that). He was nice enough to offer me a free beer from Munich called Alpirsbacher Klosterbrau. It tasted almost exactly like beer hall beer. I enjoyed it thoroughly. After a small plate of food and one more, it was off to bed as I had a long 6 hour ride up to Berlin ahead of me in the morning.

München und Bayern

Quick note: For some reason my computer does not want to upload all of the pictures in my camera. So once I return to America and find my memory card reader I'll post another blog with a title something along the lines of: Europe '09 the Pictures You Didn't See!

Also check out the panoramic pics. Maybe I could make a living being a photographer and a writer. Though I'd need a good quality SLR camera and a very strict editor.



Today would be my first experience travelling on the Euro Rail system. I had read much about it and heard many a story from fellow travelers about the do’s, the don’ts, and the beauty of the European countryside. Fellow traveler is an interesting concept. We come from all over America to conquer our personal or pleasure journey through Europe. Some, like me come to find meaning and perspective. Some, also like me come to see the sights, take pictures and acquire stories. Some just want to come and party their asses off in a foreign land (like me). No matter what the reason, there’s this camaraderie amongst American travelers in Europe that wouldn’t happen any other time. This became more than apparent to me leaving Prague.
I arrived at Praha Hlavni early as usual. Enquiring about my train to Munich the ticket and info person informed me that the departure track number would be posted 20 minutes before the train took off. I took my bags and sat down on a bench and waited until 20 minutes before the train took off. The track number was never posted. It was at this point I met a group of 3 guys also travelling to Munich. One of them consulted the time table book you get when you purchase a Eurail Pass (which I had, just my time table was buried in my bag). Since we weren’t seeing our train to Munich it was time to formulate plan B. We found that we could catch the train to Nurnberg and then a train to Munich. The train to Nurnberg was leaving in 5 minutes so we rushed to the track and made our way to a cabin.

The train was off. The Czech countryside is rather boring and actually a bit depressing looking, although even the most beautiful of landscapes can be made to look ugly with a grey sky looming above. For the most part it’s nothing but old, half run down farm towns scattered across the landscape with the occasional factory town thrown in for good measure. Reminded me a bit of driving through central and Upstate New York only the houses and buildings here in the Czech Republic (minus the factories) were much older, better looking, and somehow mostly still in one piece. It was a long haul across the Czech Republic, stopping along the way in small towns. I knew we were half way to the boarder when we hit the town of Plzen. Plzen is a medium sized town where Pilsner Urquell was first made. That’s really the towns claim to fame and most likely the one reason most travelers go there.
Once into Germany the landscape hastily changed. The German countryside had rolling hills and mountains off in the distance while small farm towns dotted the landscape. You could practically trace how each small town connected to each other. The towns may be small but there is always another cluster of homes and buildings making up a small town close by, usually with some kind of church/meeting house in the middle. Finally after a long 6 hours on the train we made it to Nurnberg. Thankfully the train to Munich was arriving in 15 minutes on the opposite track. While waiting the four of us raided the snack machine since our train from Prague didn’t offer much as far as nourishment was concerned.

Thankfully once on the train to Munich it would be a short, one hour ride to the capital of Bavaria. Along the way we passed many farms growing hops. I wondered if this part of Bavaria is where Jim Koch comes to find his Bavarian hops for Sam Adams. The northern part of the Bavarian countryside wasn’t anything amazing, it was hard to try and soak up the scenery when all you want to do is get to your destination, shower and relax. At long last the train pulled into Munchen Hauptbahnhof, the central train station. Once inside the tourist information center I was ecstatic to find that my hotel was 2 blocks down the street. There would be no “take the train to this stop, get on this bus, get off at the 4th stop and walk 300 meters.” My fellow travelers didn’t have it so easy; they had to take a train and a bus to get to their destination. We parted ways wishing each other luck, safety, and above all a drunken good time.

I was relieved that the Tryp Munchen Hotel is a four star hotel, I would actually be comfortable!! Once checked in, I made it to my room, unpacked, relaxed, and took a much needed shower. At this point it was about 9pm and I was famished. I strolled around the neighborhood but came back to a Kebab shop a block down from the hotel. Kebab is like pizza here in Europe, there’s a place on every corner, it’s inexpensive and it fills you up. Plus it’s slightly healthier then cheese and sauce on bread. Later on I headed down to the hotel bar for a night cap. It had been a long day and I was not about to go out and get crazy. The bartender’s English wasn’t bad and he was nice enough to tell me about a few things I needed to do. He handed me a magazine all about Kultafabrik; Munich’s party district. It was once a potato factory that had been converted into a large maze of bars, pubs, clubs, restaurants and take away shops (take away is Europe’s way of saying food to go). This would indeed be a Thursday/Friday night destination. After 2 beers it was time to call it a night.

My first true day in Munich had to be a full one. I wanted to see what I could pack into a day here. I left the hotel and walked to Marienplatz, the main meeting place/ market area in Munch, getting lost on the way but consulting the map made everything ok. It was much like Grand Market Place in Brussels only about 1/3rd the size and equally as grandiose, worth snapping a few pictures of. I walked around the area and found a large open market area with small kiosks of merchants selling jams, spices, fruits and the like. I hopped on the U-Bahn (Munich’s underground train system) at Marienplatz and made my way to the Olympic Stadium stop. This is where BMW’s main factory and museum is. I hadn’t been to a museum since Madrid and needed to get a bit cultured, even if it was car culture. The first building you walk into directly next to the train station is the BMW Welt (BMW World). The Welt is a combination of new car delivery spot, current lineup showcase, current and future technology exhibits, café’s and a business/ conference center. It was free to roam around and some of the new technology BMW is coming out with is rather astounding. I’ll share about one for my fellow gear heads out there. The new 6 series V8 is twin turbocharged. What BMW did was put the turbo’s underneath the intake manifold in the valley of the engine and the cat’s run up the backside of the motor. This design minimizes pressure loss in the turbo’s while boosting performance. Excellent idea indeed, I’m just glad I’m not a BMW tech (I also wonder how good the shielding is between the cats and the rear of the engine, can someone say warped cylinder head).
After roving around the Welt it was time to go to the museum. They did a remarkable job designing this museum; it really grabs you and makes you want to find out everything about the brand and its products. The tour started in the early 1920’s informing you about how the company was started and showing off 2 of its first products a motorcycle and a car. From there it’s like a spiral. You make your way through room after room as you head downstairs. Once all the way downstairs you walk up a spiral walkway that shows off a few of BMW’s concept cars from old and the designs they are planning to use in the future. Highlights for me would be seeing a Baroque Angel (BMW 501), The BMW 507 which in my opinion is the most beautiful automobile the company ever produced (even though it never went into production), and seeing an original M1.

Once back around Marienplatz I made my way back to the open market area and was met by hundreds of Germans sitting outside drinking beer and eating sausage. This, in Germany is what you call a beer garden; a large open area, usually shaded by tree’s where Germans come to eat, drink, and socialize. I ordered up a bratwurst and a half liter of beer and sat down to a nice, relaxing, authentic, German experience.
It was then that it became unclear to me which European country took their drinking the most seriously. You have the Irish with their Guinness and fine whiskeys, the Belgians have their trappist beer and others such as Stella Artois and Hoegaarden, The Czechs do Pilsner and The Germans have their beer gardens and lager. I may have to go with the Germans on this one. No other European city has anything like a beer garden or beer hall; these places are huge; seat hundreds of people at a time. Plus they offer 1 liter mugs of beer! I wish I could take one of these liter mugs home with me but there’s no way it will fit in my luggage.

Once my beer and brat was finished I wandered further into the downtown area and found the Hofbrauhaus; Munich’s most famous beer hall. It was nice inside, quaint out in the garden and they did have a German oompah band playing in the middle wearing authentic German attire. I’d come back another night. From there I returned to the hotel, mainly just relaxing, flipping through my pictures and reading. Once night had fallen it was kebab time again then off to the hotel bar for a nightcap and this would conclude day one in Munich.

Day 2

Today called for an adventure, it was time to get away from the city, something I hadn’t done on this journey yet, I had mostly stayed in the main city where I was or even in the same neighborhood. I knew it was time to just hop a train out of the city to somewhere special. I had meant to do that while in Barcelona; go to Figueres to the Dali museum but didn’t make it. Today would more than make up for it. I woke up earlier then I have on this whole trip and made my way to the Hauptbanhhof to catch a 7:50am train to Fussen. Fussen is a small town nestled in the foothills of the glorious Bavarian Alps. The main reason people come here is to travel to the neighboring town of Schwangua to see the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangua castles. The latter being the castle King Ludwig II grew up in, the former being his personal castle. I only had interest in seeing the Neuschwanstein even though it was never finished due to King Ludwig II dying while the castle was still being built (according to history King Ludwig II was clinically labeled as mentally insane and not long after he was denounced as king he was found dead alongside his psychologist).

The Bavarian countryside as you travel south is beautiful and picturesque. Small towns and villages dot the scenery of green hills, farmland and small lakes with the shadow of the Alps looming in the backdrop. This has been the one thing I hate about Europe; once I say something along the lines of “This is the most amazing thing I’ve seen and can’t be fully described in words or by pictures,” something else comes along and beats it. In this case the Bavarian Alps; sorry Grand Market Place, Sorry La Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, etc... Once close enough to them they just shoot up from the ground, not much transition from small hill to big hill to mountain. Nope, they are just there in all of their glory, all of their splendor, all of their remarkable, awe-inspiring, enthralling beauty.

Once in Fussen a bus takes you to the castle area. Nine euro’s was the cost for my tour of the Neuschwanstein castle it would have been 17 for both. I had about 2 ½ hours to kill before the tour left. I grabbed a water and pretzel from the adjacent souvenir shop as I would be needing energy for the 40 minute hike uphill to the base of the castle. Following the trail uphill and through the woods you could see the Bavarian countryside through the trees. At about halfway up there was a decent spot to glimpse out over it, but the real view would be once you get up to the castle. I continued on my hike dodging horse excrement and the hundreds of big black flies that would attack you if you came close to it (there are horse drawn carriages that will bring you close to the base of the castle). Finally at the top the view over the countryside was incredible; rolling hills, small towns and a large turquoise blue lake like nothing I had ever seen before; it was like staring at a painting, obviously the people who coined Vermont the green state had never been to Bavaria. I still had plenty of time until my tour started so I made my way over to the Marienbrucke (Mary’s Bridge) where everyone goes to get that magical picture of the castle with the scenery in the background. The unfortunate part was that that entire side of the castle you could see from the bridge was having restoration work done to it. I was annoyed at this and felt cheated but still was able to snap a few good photos (couldn’t they wait until the winter time to do this?.

Finally the tour started, it was a 35 minute tour taking you through a small portion of the castle. We walked by the servant’s quarters. Saw the main thrown room which had no throne since the castle was never fully finished. From there it was through King Ludwig’s bedroom which wasn’t as big as you might think it would be but the room was quite ostentatious none the less, with masterpieces of carved wood dominating the room. The tour guide informed us that finishing the wood carvings alone took about 5 years. Into his private living room and finally into the concert hall, King Ludwig II had two main obsessions; swans (hence the English translation of the castle name being New Swan Stone) and Wagnerian Opera’s; swans are painted and carved into wood all over the castle and scene’s from his favorite opera’s are painted on walls all throughout the castle. The tour concluded and it was time to make my way back down to the entrance area. I wanted to get back before nighttime settled in. The bus back to the train took a while to arrive so I headed over to a concession stand for yet another beer and brat. Finally the bus came and I was able to get to the train in time. This was a much smaller train than the one that brought me here; only two cars and incredibly uncomfortable seating. The train stopped in a town called Kaufbeuren and I waited 15 minutes for the connecting train to arrive. I found a small convenience store around the front of the station and was shocked and amazed to find tall cans of Franziskaner beer for 95 euro cents. That works out to about $1.33, it was the best $1.33 beer I had ever had, it was actually good beer, and it didn’t taste cheap or watery since it was a heffeweizen. The Germans really do take their beer seriously.

Finally back in Munich I headed to the Augustiner-Keller, a beer garden up the street from the train station. This place was huge; a true beer garden. I grabbed a pretzel, a plate of currywurst and a big liter of beer, sat down and enjoyed. Don’t try and drink beer quick in Germany, especially when it’s a liter and you’ve had a plate of food. I learned that the hard way; no puking thankfully, what a scene that would have caused, I could just see it now “Oh look at the stupid American, can’t handle his beer!” My stomach hurt for a bit until all of the gas came out. I was feeling good at this point and decided to grab some more beer on the way back to the hotel. I found a convenience store and for less than 5 euro had 2 beers in my hand. A Paulander and a Franziskaner. That would conclude my night.

My last few days in Munich were laid back for the most part. Thursday I visited the Deutches Museum which is Munich’s version of a science museum. Four floors containing everything from electrical generators and engines to boats, musical instruments, airplanes and bridges. Pretty much any type of technological advancement was here; it was not only to celebrate some of Germany’s advances and contributions to the world but also the human race in general. As night fell upon Bavaria it was time to hit a beer garden. This time I went into the Englischer Garden which is just east of the main downtown area in Munich. This is one of the biggest parks in all of Europe and other than massive fields, running lakes, and bike paths it houses several beer gardens in it. I made my way to the first one known as the Chinesischer Turm. This was most certainly the largest beer garden I had seen while in Munich. There must have been minimum 500 people at this place.
I grabbed a liter of beer (what an amazing thing!) and a pretzel and sat down at a fairly deserted table. The pretzels here in Munich, especially at the beer halls and gardens are huge. You can fit your wrist through the holes and walk around like that. After beer number one was finished I headed for another and tried to find some people to socialize with. It was loud and tough to make out people speaking English. I found a small table near the food vendors and just after my first sip, I overheard 2 guys speaking English. I joined them at their table; Jon and Don (no joke) 2 guys from Chicago on business in Munich. We had some laughs, talked sports and drank some more liters until we looked out and saw most of the place was deserted. Jon suggested we hop in a cab and continue drinking, my thoughts exactly. Our first attempt was a small Irish pub on a side street, but they were closed, next we tried another bar but they were at capacity. Back into a cab we tried two other spots but neither one would let Jon or Don in due to them wearing shorts.

Finally I suggested we head to Kultafabrik, the main party district I had read so much about. I knew since it was Thursday not much was open down there but one advertisement in the magazine I had read mentioned 3 euro’s for entrance into 3 places. We headed down there and walked into the first spot: Americanos. After a round of beers Jon and Don took off as they had to catch a train to Austria in a few hours (it was about 2:30am at this point). I stayed as the ratio was slightly in my favor and the music and atmosphere was good. I spent the majority of my time in Americanos either dancing or mingling. After a while I decided to check out the other places. Unfortunately one was already closed so I went to the other spot; Rafael’s. It was practically dead in there, I stayed for a bit, had a beer and went right back to the other bar. Not long after my return to Americanos it was pretty much closing time so I made my way to the entrance and once again decided to walk back to the hotel. Everything was going just fine until I was walking next to wooded area that most certainly wasn’t on my map. My drunken sense of direction is obviously nowhere near as good as my sober sense of direction (note to self). I gave in and hailed a cab.

The next morning I woke up, dehydrated, BUT NOT HANGOVER! German beer (especially from beer halls) is so pure and void of preservatives that it doesn’t make you hung-over. Sorry Cathy, I loved Ireland to death but I think Bavaria may be the drinking capital of the world (Ireland an extremely close second though). I mostly lounged Friday during the day, reading and reflecting on this whole trip; what I had seen, what I had learned and the things I’ve come to a realization about. I decided once night fell to finally hit the Hofbrauhaus. The place was so hot inside it was like a sweatbox. I found a table to sit down at and was greeted by 3 Americans and a German. Very nice people, we conversed for a while, I had a few liters and a pretzel. The oompah band was going full force and all the drunk Germans started singing along, the only thing I could make out was them counting 1, 2, 3. After my “drinking buddies” left I turned to a group of Americans behind us playing kings right at the table. I joined in for a bit until they kicked us out. Once outside they informed me they were all heading back to their hostel. I found another group of Americans through a guy named Pat and two women he and his group were with. They all seemed alright at first but then I found out they were a bunch of college kids from Nebraska. Not that I have anything against people from Nebraska, an old babysitters from when I was young was from Nebraska and she was great, hell I think my mother still talks to her from time to time. These kids were loud, intolerable and disorderly (kind of reminds me of how my friends and I were a few years back only we were classy about our intolerable disorderly antics). One of them purposely bumped into a group of three Germans guys and a fight nearly broke out. How and why one didn’t I wasn’t sure but whatever. To be honest I kind of wish the kid got his ass handed to him. We made our way into this one bar called Sausalito’s, I went venturing for a pack of smokes as this was going to be a long night. Once I came back most of them were gone, thankfully. I had a few drinks there and decided to head in early (about 2am). I stopped at the convenient store inside the Hauptbahnhof, grabbed a few singles and headed to my room but before I walked into the hotel it was kebab time.

My final day was a quiet one, nothing incredible to speak of, except for the crackling pork knuckle plate I had at the Hofbrauhaus. A large cut of pork from the knuckle of the pig with a piece of crispy fried skin covering it. It was sitting in a shallow pool of gravy alongside two potato dumplings and a side of Sauerkraut. So excellent, flavorful, tender, filling and that crispy pork skin, well that was the best part. I’m salivating just reminiscing of it. After that meal and 2 liters of Bavarian goodness it was time for a loooooong walk. Once back around the hotel I just relaxed, later on heading to a bar down the street for a few half liters, then making my way to the hotel bar for a few, and then it was upstairs to pack.

Bavaria in general is an extraordinary place. I mean where else can you find a major metropolitan area with an abundance of global businesses, a prosperous yet turbulent history and a culture so rich, dynamic and overflowing with foamy head? Just to the south of this major city is some of the most beautiful scenery you’ll ever encounter. Munich is a great city that is so full of life. I would most certainly come back here anytime, though preferable in the summer when the beer gardens are open. I would also love to see more of the Bavarian countryside (note: which I did the next day on my way to Stuttgart).

Prague

(Trying to use the internet here in Munich is like pulling teeth. No free places around and my hotel charges 8 Euro an hour!!! So if you want to see lots of pictures, click the one thumbnail and go from there)



I woke up early Friday morning, around 8am. I knew I would have a long journey ahead of me to get to Prague. I double checked all of my belongings and proceeded to check out of my hotel. I made my way up to the metro station, stopping only for a quick snack for breakfast. Hopped on the metro and made my way to Placia De Catalunya. This is where the bus that takes you to the airport leaves from, 4 euro and I was on my way. It was nice to see a part of Barcelona I didn’t get a chance to see as I rode to the airport. I busted out the ipod on the way and for some reason got hooked on the song Summer of Drugs by Soul Asylum, I think it had something to do with the line “turned to a teen in the late 70’s” Although I turned to a teen in the mid 90’s, I think it’s the whole growing up aspect of the song; it was having some effect on me. I got to the airport, checked in, checked my bag and made my way to the terminal, early as usual. As I sat waiting a TV showed some highlights of the NBA finals. Personally at this point I couldn’t care less who wins. I hate LA for obvious reasons and hate Orlando because they knocked the Celtics out. Walked over to some food stand and grabbed a sandwich and a soda. Finally the flight boarded and I was off to Eastern Europe.

I made sure to get a window seat and was rewarded with amazing scenery. We flew over the Mediterranean for a while and then over southern France, at least I thought it was southern France due to all the boat docks I saw from above. The flight made its way through Switzerland over the Alps. Seeing the Alps from 35,000 feet was incredible. What an amazing mountain range. Most likely the plane went through part of the German mountains as well (Anyone who knows about planes and flight paths want to check this for me? Darin or Fiaq I’m lookin at one of you). Once into the Czech Republic it was mostly farmland until we hit Prague.

Once off the plane I headed to the tourist desk to find out how to get to the General Prague area. A 20 minute bus ride, three stops on the metro and then another bus ride and I was checking into my hotel in Praha 3 in the Zizkov neighborhood. I settled in, relaxed for a bit and then decided to walk around and find a place to eat. Knowing that Czech cuisine was heavy on meat and dumplings I wanted to try something authentic. I found a restaurant up the street in the middle of a neighborhood and ordered a dish known as the bohemian plate; a dish with chicken, pork, sausage, dumplings, potato dumplings and stewed cabbage. This along with a tall glass of Pilsner Urquell would be my first taste of Czech food. The meat was good, very hearty and flavorful, it was the cabbage that was interesting, it tasted exactly like ketchup with a consistency similar to cooked peppers minus the skin, soft and easily chewed, and it was very different.

As I walked out the door I was suddenly surprised to see two local boys fighting, what a first impression of Prague! Then again I wasn’t staying in Stare Mesto (Old Town) or anywhere by it; I was in the Zizkov district in Praha 3, which seemed like a working class, rough at one time neighborhood more than anything else. Because all the buildings are so old and in this part not all that pristine it gave the area a bit of a rundown feel. Not too many punches were thrown but the ones that were definitely did some damage to their target. I walked down the street looking back at the scuffle and stopped outside a hostel where two guys were watching the scuffle I stopped to discuss the situation with them, my first thought being “Jeez, it’s like I’m back in Boston.” I made my way back to the hotel for a quick nap. As I walked through the door I saw a flyer for a pub crawl. I had heard about this one in particular on the internet but thought that you had to make a reservation; apparently, this was not the case as it said join anytime between 8 and 10:30pm. I hadn’t done much drinking since Dublin and this seemed like the perfect thing to do to not only check out Prague but also meet some people.

I hopped on the tram that was supposed to take you to Old Town. It did, but because it was rainy and foggy out it was tough to see where I was. At one point when the tram made a turn down a street you could see the eerie grey outline of the Prague Castle in the distance. It was rather big brother-esque. I knew I missed my stop when the tram went over the Vltava River. I got off as quick as possible, found the main road and hailed a cab to the meeting point on Dlouha st. I stood in line and paid my 390Kc’s and headed straight for the free beer and shots. Unfortunately, I didn’t arrive until 10pm and the free drinks stopped at 10:30 so I did my best to power drink. As I mingled amongst people I was talking with one person when all of a sudden this tall, semi-attractive, load mouthed German girl comes over and starts talking to us, “ah you ah Amereecan, I am fromst Germany, vat ah you doing heahs in Prague,” That conversation lasted a minute or two until her very attractive blonde friend comes over and the two of them start making out in front of everybody…hhhmmm…attention whores, much? After 3 beers and 4 shots we were off to our first stop.
As we walked into the first bar, that stereotype about Eastern Europe being behind America when it comes to most things became totally evident. As I walked down the stairs along with my fellow pub crawlers I heard a song that probably hasn’t been played at a bar or club in America since maybe 1992. So what was playing? “Girl you know it’s true, ooo ooo ooooo I love you!” I could barely contain myself I was laughing so hard. Right after Milli Vanilli’s ode to lip syncing, Heavy D and the Boys, Now That We Found Love came on next. I eventually found the dance floor and made my way through it to check out the scene. The DJ’s were mixing 70’s disco with house beats. After a while at this bar the group moved on to the next stop, a smaller bar set in a basement with slightly better music, but mostly house and techno. Everyone was grooving and having a good time. I made my way into the side room to relax and have a smoke. 2 girls sat down at my table, one asked me for a light and we delved into conversation.

The girl sitting closest to me was Pia and her friend Kerstin, 2 girls from Bavaria Germany. “I’ll be in Munich on Monday, I can’t wait” I told Pia. “Ahh you ah goings to love it” she replied. The three of us stayed at the table and talked about our travels and where we were going next and places we wanted to go to. At this point I started to take more of an interest in Kerstin, and I could sense she was into me as well. As we made our way out it turned out their friend wanted to head back to their hostel so she could call her boyfriend as she was drunk and feeling lonely. Thankfully Pia and Kerstin stayed out. We made our way to the last stop, a place called Karlovy Lazne, which is the largest club in central Europe, 5 floors of drinking and dancing. I suggested we make our way to the top and work our way down. The top floor was the lounge area and we ended up staying there for the night. Kerstin and I kept on flirting while Pia just kinda wondered around talking to guys in her inebriated state. We did a shot of tequila and a round of beers. Around 3ish Kerstin broke the news to me that she had to take Pia home as she was way too drunk to be in a club. We exchanged numbers, did the kiss on each cheek. I asked her for a real one but she wasn’t into it. Oh well these things will happen and I decided not to let it ruin the rest of my night. I finished my 2 beers and wandered around the rest of the club, mainly staying in the hip hop room until right about closing time (4am).

The Czechs are smart, the place had a hot dog window right outside the club and for 40Kc you could get yourself a hot dog with ketchup and mustard. I had 3 of them and then headed across the street to get a cab. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough on me for a cab ride back to my hotel and couldn’t find an ATM close by. So in my drunken state I decided it would be a good idea to walk back to the hotel, seeing that the bus ride I took from the city center earlier in the day wasn’t very long. The sun was coming up at this point so at least I wouldn’t be walking in total darkness. I headed in the general direction of my hotel and it seemed like I was doing fine for a while, I was recognizing buildings and stores. I stopped at a McDonald’s for some more late night food. A double cheeseburger meal as they call it here (think Pulp Fiction) not a double quarter pounder. This next tidbit of information will only be funny to you if we currently happen to be co-workers but when I asked the cashier for some BBQ sauce, they were out! I guess American McDonalds are a bit more efficiently run then the ones here in Eastern Europe.
After leaving McDonalds I tried to ask some Americans outside if they had any idea where to go, which they didn’t. So I kept walking. After another half hour of walking around I came to the harsh realization I was completely lost and had no idea where I was going or how to get back. Luckily a taxi drove by, I got in but only had 50Kc’s on me, the driver informed me it would be 160, I was batting a thousand tonight. He somewhat pointed me in the general direction and I kept walking. Passing by some sketchy looking dude who started to follow me, thankfully there was an empty glass bottle on the sidewalk, I quickly picked it up and he turned around not long afterwards. I continued to walk until I found a guy getting out of his car and tried to ask him, thankfully he spoke somewhat decent English. He informed me I was in Praha 8! I needed to be in Praha 3! He told me to take the next right and that would take me into the right area. I followed his advice, took the right and was met unsympathetically by an entrance to a long cave-like tunnel that went through a hill: it was long, somewhat dimly lit and looked like someone was in there just waiting to rob you. I didn’t like my options at this point but decided it was this or never get home. I made my way through the tunnel but took no chances. I cracked the glass bottle on the wall just in case. Thankfully, I made it to the end with no issues. When I came out on the other side I came to the amazing realization that my hotel was about 2 blocks around the corner THANK YOU GOD!!!! I walked by a group of people waiting for the bus, they gave me an odd look and I realized the broken bottle was still in my hand, I threw it out in the trash barrel by the bus stop and laughed a bit about it. I headed inside and proceeded to pass out, what a night!

Prague Day 2

I woke up hung over, but not as hung over as I should have been thanks to 3 hot dogs and some McDonald’s. I think it was the dehydration that was the worse, so about 5 glasses of water and 2 advil later I was able to fall back asleep until about noon. I got up and set out to explore Stare Mesto (old town) and Josefov (the old Jewish district). I decided to walk down there since it really wasn’t that far from my hotel. When I was walking home last night what I should have done was bear right on Husitska but what I did was go left down Prvniho; lesson learned. I made my way into Old Town and was met by amazing scenery. The buildings and the streets that root them in Prague are enchanting, magnificent, and dream-like. It’s as if you’ve been whisked away, Dorothy style, into an enchanting old city, or taken a trip in a time machine Bill and Ted style, minus the ignorant California personality to an old city built in the 12th century.

I’m not up on my architectural time periods but I believe this is Gothic. The detail, styling, shape and the way the buildings were tightly connected contrasted perfectly with cobblestone streets. You honestly felt like it was the 12th century….well ok minus the modern shops and automobiles everywhere. I made my way through the back streets away from the main square exploring small shops and restaurants offering daily menus of authentic Czech food. I found one I would come back to later. Making my way out of the back streets I found my way to where the club was from last night. It was right on the river and had an incredible view of the Castle across the way. Now that I had a bearing I consulted the map and headed to the Jewish section. Here I found the old Jewish cemetery, meeting house and the old synagogue, one the oldest, if not THE oldest synagogue still standing. Obviously WWII missed this one, thankfully.

I was famished at this point and was in dire need of food and drink. I walked back up to old town and was somehow able to retrace my steps back to the restaurant I had found earlier. I was seated outside in what the Europeans call the garden area. My first order of business was a nice refreshing Pilsner Urquell. It’s amazing how much better beer tastes in its country of origin, especially when it’s actually good beer. The few times I’ve had Pilsner Urquell back home it’s tasted just like Heineken or any other European beer in a green bottle; skunky and bitter. Not here in Prague, it was clean, smooth and had a great flavor. I flipped through the menu and found a dish called the blacksmith steak. It was a cut of pork from the neck of the pig with bacon on top seasoned with three kinds of pepper, garlic and hot peppers. The dish came with a side of potato pancakes, not as good as mom makes around Chanukah time but good none the less. The dish had an amazing flavor, it was spicy but still had this juicy, abundant flavor to it like nothing I had ever had before, and needless to say I devoured it. After another beer it was time to head back to the hotel to relax. I hopped the bus up to Zizkov and relaxed for a while.
Consulting a travel book I brought with me I found a place called Palac Akropolis up the road from my hotel. After a nap I grabbed some dinner at a Chinese restaurant close by and then proceeded to get ready. During dinner I had an authentic Budweiser, most of you probably don’t know this but Budweiser was originally a Czech beer, since it is a pilsner. It was like drinking a Budweiser that actually had flavor to it, not just watery beer you drink to get sloshed. I headed out around midnight and decided to walk since it was close by. During my walk I realized that Zizkov really wasn’t a very nice part of town. There were 3 ominous looking large apartments buildings on the way up that were most likely low income housing covered in graffiti, as were most buildings in this neighborhood. I found the place and proceeded inside for a few drinks before hitting the dance floor. On street level was a bar/restaurant and two doors down in the basement was the rest of the club. I entered the bar and ordered my first of three large Staropraham’s, a local Czech pilsner that cost 22Kc for a half liter. 1 American dollar is equivalent to about 15Kc’s! That’s practically free!

I proceeded downstairs. The first bar was all 70’s disco music with house beats sometimes mixed in with it. I ordered a beer, and hung around for a bit. The room stunk of weed, apparently you can smoke in the clubs here and no one cares. I walked into the second bar and was surprised to see people getting down to good reggae. Everything was going fine until some weirdo drunk Czech guy who spoke terrible English started talking to me. I could barely understand this guy. He commented on how Staropraham was crap beer and that he wanted to show me a real Czech drink, I said ok and within a minute a shot of Absinthe was placed in front of us, the messed up part was that he expected ME to pay for it. I thought to myself; listen you inconsiderate, uneducated Neanderthal, it’s time for a little drinking etiquette 101. If you’re trying to show me how it’s done in Prague that means you buy the round! If this were Boston and I say wanted you to try a Sam Adams I would pay for the round. I would not be paying for a drink for this degenerate scumbag, did I mention he was most certainly missing some teeth. Thankfully one of my favorite reggae songs; Mercy, came on and I hit the dance floor for a bit. I knew once the song was over it was time to head out. I didn’t want to deal with this guy. I headed outside and waited for a cab, finally found one, 100Kc’s to take me down the street! A word of advice to those travelling to Prague, AVOID THE TAXI’S they’re a rip off. I wondered around close to the hotel to find a different bar, some locals told me about a place up the street which I checked out but it was pretty dead, I grabbed a beer and then decided to head back for some sleep.

Final day in Prague

Today involved a whole lot of walking, more so then the last two days. I woke up and headed over to Praha Hvalni; the main train station in the city. I had to find out about my train to Munich the next day as well as get my Eurorail pass validated. Once this was accomplished I headed back towards Stare Mesto, though I ended up in Nouve Mesto (New Town), the only reason its called New town is because it was built in the 1300’s! I supposed it looked a bit newer and it seemed that most of the shops and stores were more modern. Making my way towards the Vltava River and up towards the club from the other night I decided that I needed to see Prague Castle, or at least the area it was in. I walked across the Charles Bridge and almost felt like I was back in Barcelona on Les Rambles. It was nothing but a tourist trap, with local artists hocking their goods for ridiculous prices. Once on the other side of the bridge it was a long walk uphill to the castle area. One thing I noticed is that the prices at the souvenir shops here were much cheaper.

Once you get to the base of the castle area the view is unbelievable, you see Prague in all of its splendor, once again, breathtaking and nothing that pictures or words could describe. The way the orange roof tiles of all these old buildings and the pastel colors of the exteriors blended together perfectly with the occasional green oxidized steeple of a church and other older buildings throughout the landscape and then every now and again a large section of green park or trees mixed into the scenery. What a painting this would be hanging up in my living room. A further walk up the hill and you enter the main castle area. The tour was a bit pricey but you were able to walk through St. Vitus Cathedral without having to pay any admission. What an unbelievable building, the exterior detail reminded me a bit of La Sagrada Familia only this was hundreds of years older. Once inside, the stained glass, the organ, and all the other details were phenomenal. Even though I’m not a believer in Jesus I can appreciate not only the work that went into building this cathedral, or the job it takes to maintain it but also the detail and the artistry of the place.
Once outside the Cathedral I ventured around the side and eventually outside the main castle wall. I was met by a lush green walkway and found a spot by a wall that had an even more breathtaking view. It’s times like these you sometimes just need to stop, sit down, shut up and just take it all in, and once you feel like you’ve taken it all in, sit there for another 10 minutes. In a place like Prague you have to; just to imagine for a second what life might have been like 800 years ago in this very place, and think that it has stood the test of time.

I continued on my way and headed back towards the base of the castle and head back down towards the bridge. I stopped at a souvenir shop and found the one t-shirt I had my eye on since I arrived. All the other stores in Stare Mesto were selling it for 350Kc’s this place had it for 299Kc’s, sold. Back across the bridge it was time for some food. I found a restaurant offering a decent meal deal for 199Kc’s. The meal started off with some chicken soup (nowhere near as good as Jewish penicillin but not too bad), followed by a plate of Czech goulash and dumplings that was incredible tasting. The brisket was tender and the sauce was hearty and flavorful. For dessert it was a plate of apple strudel. All this washed down with a nice refreshing Pilsner Urquell.

Once lunch was done it was time to head back to the hotel and relax. I decided I wasn’t going to go out tonight as I had a long day of travelling to look forward to tomorrow. I got back and just relaxed, did some more writing and even got an internet signal for a little while. Later on I was hungry again, I decided to find something inexpensive in the neighbor since I’m pretty sure I had spent more than I should have in the last few days (this will happen in Prague since everything is relatively inexpensive compared to the rest of Europe). I found a place up the hill called Einstein Pizzeria, a small local chain offering creative pizzas. I ordered one called the pikantni; I’m guessing it was supposed to be spicy since the description read hot peppers but it was pretty mild, then again I have a fairly high tolerance for spicy food. That washed down with a beer brand I can’t remember (started with a K) for just under 200Kc’s, not too shabby. Back to the hotel and I was most likely passed out by midnight.

I have to say I’m a fan of Prague, I wish I had stayed a few days longer though. There was so much to do and see and eat and drink. I know I experienced a good amount but I also know that there’s much that I missed. I know I missed a museum and it would have been nice to really find out about the history of this city. I had a lot of fun here and also go a lot of exercise in from walking everywhere. Then again with all the hearty food and beer you need to walk a lot in Prague. Thankfully Prague is a very walkable city. I will most certainly return here, next time I’ll stay a bit closer to town and hopefully I’ll own an SLR digital camera by the time I come back as well considering Prague is an extraordinarily photogenic city, you could most likely fill up a 1gb memory card at the very least just from wandering around.

The Rest of Barcelona

Day 5

Standard morning procedure: wake up, shower/ get dressed, get breakfast and hit the internet store. So I did all that. Afterwards I headed once again down to Las Rambles to wander around and see if I could get a seat at one of the bars for some tapas and drinks inside La Boqueria. Indeed seats were free, but when I looked at the prices for some of the dishes I turned around and walked away. So I decided to have some fruit. I bought a package of strawberries and kiwi’s which were excellent. As I strolled back around the fruit section I kept seeing this one type of fruit I had never seen or heard of; Red Pithaya, or cactus fruit. I bought one and dug in. It had a very light refreshing flavor to it with a consistency that was a cross between a kiwi and a melon.

After some more mindless wandering around I met up with Maite. Maite is my friend Adriana’s sister. She was going to show me around a bit. We left Les Rambles and headed over to the Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter). Here she showed me the old Barcelona when it was a castle surrounded by a wall. We didn’t go in because the line was way too long. So we walked around the area and she showed me Casa de l’Ardiaca and then we went to the Cathedral. Now as you all know I am not a subscriber of religions that recognize Jesus Christ as lord and savior but the inside of this cathedral was like nothing I had ever seen before. Besides the vastness of it the detail of everything was something spectacular. Wood carvings, stained glass, the columns it all had this magnificent detail to it and you could easily tell the people who built this place put their hearts and soul into it.
Some more walking around as she showed me many other sites around the city. We stopped for a drink and a snack and kept going. Later on we met up with Brian and Dan from last night. Our first stop was to grab a drink at El Busc De les Fades, the bar from the day before that looked like middle earth. When it was time for dinner we told Maite we wanted some authentic Spanish/Catalan tapas. She took us to a place called Bidasoa which was somewhere down by the waterfront/ Les Rambles. It was some of the best food I had ever had. We ordered a bottle of sparkling white wine to start. Then there was a plate of spicy sausages on bread; amazing flavor. Followed by fried calamari which was made well; it didn’t have that greasy, fat inducing feeling most American versions of the dish do. Then there was this egg dish almost like a scrambler. It had all kinds of vegetables in it, even mushrooms, and I hate mushrooms, it was delicious; a light but flavorful dish indeed. Then came these meatballs in a tomato based sauce; phenomenal. We ordered a second round of the sausages, some crouquettes filled with meat, and escargot. Maite was a bit afraid of eating snails; Bryan and Dan had never had them but were willing to try them. They liked them; they taste a lot like seafood, honestly. After dinner we all parted ways as it was getting late and Maite had to work in the morning and Bryan was moving into his new place tomorrow.

Day 6

I woke up a bit on the late side and took care of the normal morning detail. I then hopped a cab up to the IQS University to see Jordi, a friend of Adriana’s who I had met when he came to Boston for a bit. He works in one of the labs there and had a siesta from 1-3pm so I met up with him and one of his co-workers. We walked down the street to a restaurant whose name I cannot recall but the food and drink was pretty good. I started off with a drink that combined beer and lemon soda, this is a popular drink amongst Spanish speaking countries, as my good friend Joel had introduced me to when he came back from Chili. Spanish speaking countries mix beer with fruit soda like the drink I had, or sometimes they’ll mix red wine and coca-cola. Jordi mentioned that mixing wine and coke was something that young kids in Spain do when they get drunk for the first time, so obviously this was not something that is widely acceptable amongst an older crowd. Then for food I had a dish that bore a striking resemblance to an all-American breakfast; a fried egg, hamburger patty, pork loin, bacon, potatoes and cheese. About half way through my meal I asked Jordi if he goes back to work and performs ok after a meal like this, “oh of course,” he tells me. If I eat something like this for brunch I’m usually passed out on the couch an hour later. The Spanish know how to eat well.

They had to head back to the University to catch a lecture from some famous professor, I grabbed a cab back to Gracia and went back to the hotel for a bit. Around 5pm I checked my email again because Bryan and I had made plans to meet up. I met up with him around 6:30 and we headed down to the hostel where he had been staying up until he moved into his new apartment. The plan was to meet up with some people from the hostel and party. Little did I know this meant several ladies from Brazil and the receptionist from the hostel….OK THEN!!! After Bryan got some of the particulars and spoke with his girlfriend we headed down towards the beach. He was told that they would be at the first bar on the beach, so we started walking. Once again, gotta kick some knowledge on how beautiful the Mediterranean really is; from afar it’s like starring at a jewel but up close its even more amazing. Mix that with the sand of the beach and the buildings and mountains in the background and you have a scene worth getting out the brushes and paint for.

We walked and walked and walked for what seemed like forever until we finally found the bar they were at. As we got there they were leaving so we at least caught them. All I could think was wow, this was gonna be a good night. One of the Brazilian girls was giving me shit about drinking water and not alcohol….this was gonna be good. They were heading off to go shower and get ready. The receptionist told us to meet up with them in about 2 hours at her place. This is when I met Duncan and Ralph; two guys from the hostel from rural North Carolina. Rednecks? Oh you have no idea. So as the girls left to get ready the four of us walked back to the hostel. Along the way we picked up a whole bunch of Strella Damm (the stereotypical Spanish beer, honestly not very good beer, but in this case it would do the job) I think we had about 24 tall cans. The receptionist had given Duncan directions to her place so we got on the metro and headed over there. Two problems quickly arose; The first being we were pretty late heading over there. Second, the directions she gave Duncan were terrible and by the time we got lost and tried to call them they already had left to go to a club. So we headed back to the hostel and started drinking. At first the four of us played asshole, your very typical American drinking game. Then we switched over to Texas Hold ‘em but instead of betting with chips we bet with drinks. This kept up until about 4am when Bryan and everyone else decided it was time to sleep. I once again grabbed a cab to Gracia.

The final day in BCN.

I knew this was it for me in Barcelona and I wanted to make it a good day. I had so many things I wanted to do and see before taking off but in the end I decided to relax instead of run around. I realize now I’m going to have to go back again so I can see these few things. I had planned to go to the Picasso museum as well as walk around the El Borne district to pick up a few things for people back home, and eat at a restaurant called La Luna that came highly regarded by my good friend Nick and his wife Ashley who spent a week in Barcelona on their honeymoon. But last minute I came to realization to just take it easy. After relaxing for a while and walking around Gracia I met up with Bryan around 8pm. We sat down at some small café in his new neighborhood and got some food and drinks. Some tapas of meatballs and seasoned ham that was obviously astonishingly good. We then made our way once again to the beach area stopping at one of America’s biggest institutions, McDonalds. Yeah I know, I’m in Spain and I’m eating McDonalds but it hit the spot. We ended up going back to my neck of the woods and drinking at this English pub. 2am rolled around and the bar closed down. Bryan and I parted ways promising to keep in touch. I went back to the hotel to pack and get ready for my voyage tomorrow to Eastern Europe…Prague. I realized as I laid my head down to sleep that Barcelona is absolutely an amazing city and that I indeed need to return here, not only to see and do the things I didn’t get a chance to do but also just to come back. I have to be honest when I say I fell in love with this city, so much history, culture and remarkable food. All I need to do now is work on my Spanish so the next time I come back I’ll be able to communicate much better. Barcelona is a truly breathtaking city. Sure it’s got the sites you need to see (ie Parc Guell, La Sagrada Familia, tapas, etc…) but it’s a very livable city and full of life which is what really drew me to it. I knew when booking this trip that it was a city I should see but I didn’t realize until I was about to leave how incredible of a place it was. In the words of the governor of California…I’ll be back!