Thursday, November 29, 2012
Prague, and an apology
Dearest readers,
I have slacked. I've gone on many a trip and have not posted any details on any of them. But I think I have a legitimate reason. My parents and little sister came into town for over two weeks, and this decreased both my free time and my readership by 50-100%. I will try to make it back up over the next few days, as I also try to catch back up on my reading, clean my apartment (its scary right now), and prepare for exams.
The first weekend the fam was in town, they flew into Prague, where I had already planned on going with some friends. Wow, it is a beautiful city. I could walk around Old Town square or sit drinking espresso (it just seems right, go with it) for months. Yet, this time only a weekend had to suffice.
Lodging:
Both the hostel (Mosaic) in which my friends and I stayed and the hotel (Old Town Hilton) in which my parents stayed were FANTASTIC. Mosaic was super nice, with a huge bathroom in the private room we were staying. The bar downstairs had live music which was a nice touch....until it was time to go to sleep (on the floor above) and they were still playing. There was also a minor disruption in the form of an hour and a half long fire alarm, but that was the silly smokers' fault, not the hostel's.
As for the Hilton, the executive lounge there (my parents have mad hotel points) was SO good. The workers there even found gluten free bread for me and MV and made us breakfast and lunch sandwiches! I would highly suggest that if you have the status at Hilton. I would also highly suggest getting that status at Hilton. Nothing like free breakfast, afternoon tea, mid-evening snacks, and dessert to make a day great.
Food:
Since we had all of that free food, we did a terrible job eating out at authentic Prague spots. The first night, I got there very late and the only place open in Old Town was this Spanish place that apparently is a chain. For breakfast/brunch one day, my friends and I ate at a French chain, Paul (I think). And the only other place I remember eating was an Irish bar where my dad and I watched football on his birthday. So this was generally a fail, unless you consider the full international experience I got.
I did go to a cute tea house with a former high school teacher of mine who has now moved to Prague, but sadly I do not know what it was called or how to get there.
Touring:
So we definitely toured the you-know-what out of Prague. We did half of the free Sandeman's tour. Our guide was super chatty though, and they were about to head to the Jewish quarter, so mom thought it best to spare MV of any emotional trauma and move on. After getting snacks at the hotel (I swear, they serve so much food, you could almost not eat anywhere else), we went on a bus/walking/boat tour that the hotel recommended. This actually took us up to Prague castle, which the free tour was not going to do, which had amazing views of the city. Those tours took up most of Saturday, especially since the sun is setting around 4 pm here now so the days seem much shorter.
On Sunday, we were going to go to church but my family was not yet used to the time difference and slept in. I walked the Charles Bridge with my friends and saw the Lennon wall, then met my teacher for tea. He showed me and the fam around Wenceslaus square and to a house where Mozart stayed for a bit. Apparently, he loved Prague, which worked well for MV's project on Mozart, Beethoven, and Napoleon -- what allowed her to stay out of school for so long.
Recap: Basically, this blog is not much info, but I do recommend 1) Prague in general 2) The Hilton Old Town 3) The Mosaic, if the Hilton is out of your price range 4) Meeting expat teachers for tea
I was going to post pretty pictures to make up for my lack of writing, but apparently I have reached my storage limit on Google. Once I figure that out, I will make a separate post for pics.
I have slacked. I've gone on many a trip and have not posted any details on any of them. But I think I have a legitimate reason. My parents and little sister came into town for over two weeks, and this decreased both my free time and my readership by 50-100%. I will try to make it back up over the next few days, as I also try to catch back up on my reading, clean my apartment (its scary right now), and prepare for exams.
The first weekend the fam was in town, they flew into Prague, where I had already planned on going with some friends. Wow, it is a beautiful city. I could walk around Old Town square or sit drinking espresso (it just seems right, go with it) for months. Yet, this time only a weekend had to suffice.
Lodging:
Both the hostel (Mosaic) in which my friends and I stayed and the hotel (Old Town Hilton) in which my parents stayed were FANTASTIC. Mosaic was super nice, with a huge bathroom in the private room we were staying. The bar downstairs had live music which was a nice touch....until it was time to go to sleep (on the floor above) and they were still playing. There was also a minor disruption in the form of an hour and a half long fire alarm, but that was the silly smokers' fault, not the hostel's.
As for the Hilton, the executive lounge there (my parents have mad hotel points) was SO good. The workers there even found gluten free bread for me and MV and made us breakfast and lunch sandwiches! I would highly suggest that if you have the status at Hilton. I would also highly suggest getting that status at Hilton. Nothing like free breakfast, afternoon tea, mid-evening snacks, and dessert to make a day great.
Food:
Since we had all of that free food, we did a terrible job eating out at authentic Prague spots. The first night, I got there very late and the only place open in Old Town was this Spanish place that apparently is a chain. For breakfast/brunch one day, my friends and I ate at a French chain, Paul (I think). And the only other place I remember eating was an Irish bar where my dad and I watched football on his birthday. So this was generally a fail, unless you consider the full international experience I got.
I did go to a cute tea house with a former high school teacher of mine who has now moved to Prague, but sadly I do not know what it was called or how to get there.
Touring:
So we definitely toured the you-know-what out of Prague. We did half of the free Sandeman's tour. Our guide was super chatty though, and they were about to head to the Jewish quarter, so mom thought it best to spare MV of any emotional trauma and move on. After getting snacks at the hotel (I swear, they serve so much food, you could almost not eat anywhere else), we went on a bus/walking/boat tour that the hotel recommended. This actually took us up to Prague castle, which the free tour was not going to do, which had amazing views of the city. Those tours took up most of Saturday, especially since the sun is setting around 4 pm here now so the days seem much shorter.
On Sunday, we were going to go to church but my family was not yet used to the time difference and slept in. I walked the Charles Bridge with my friends and saw the Lennon wall, then met my teacher for tea. He showed me and the fam around Wenceslaus square and to a house where Mozart stayed for a bit. Apparently, he loved Prague, which worked well for MV's project on Mozart, Beethoven, and Napoleon -- what allowed her to stay out of school for so long.
Recap: Basically, this blog is not much info, but I do recommend 1) Prague in general 2) The Hilton Old Town 3) The Mosaic, if the Hilton is out of your price range 4) Meeting expat teachers for tea
I was going to post pretty pictures to make up for my lack of writing, but apparently I have reached my storage limit on Google. Once I figure that out, I will make a separate post for pics.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Amster, Amster, dam, dam, dam
Right after Berlin, I slept a few hours in Hamburg then left again to go to Amsterdam with my non-law, American friend who is also living in Hamburg. Since I hadn't seen enough museums in the last week, we went hardcore on the touring and museums :) The highlights:
Oude Kerk and Neiuwe Kerk (Churches):
We toured two churches, not-so-aptly named the old church and the new church (both were old). Unfortunately we had to pay for both so this limited our other touring opportunities. They were interesting though. The Oude Kerk was also the site of an Andy Warhol exhibit, mainly his pink last supper and a few inflatable/video things. The Neiuwe Kerk was being set up for the museumnachte (more on that later) and under renovation as well so not all of the rooms were visible. Both are only used for museums now and do not hold services
Canal Tour: Rainy, and not the best city wide tour I've done. However, its a typical Amsterdam thing, so you just gotta do it.
Rijks museum: The national museum of the Netherlands, tells the story of the country through art. Very interesting, I'd recommend. We went during museumnacht, which was provided a number of museum admissions for one price from 7 pm on Saturday to 2 am on Sunday. There were DJs and drinks and other special events at all the places, which I guess increased their desirability to some but I could have done without it.
Food: Amsterdam is a very international city and we ate accordingly. The first night we hit up an Indonesian restaurant (since the country was a former Dutch colony), which everyone recommends. We tried to go to Tempo Doeloe, a Fodors restaurant, but it was booked so we went next door to Tujuh Maret. Delicious. Go there.
We had some English experiences, so Nana would be proud of me. Breakfast Saturday was at Gewaeght Cafe, where I got a good English breakfast but terrible service (actually terrible service was the norm this trip). Then tea later at Greenwoods Tea Room. There we ate the hummus plate, fries with mayo, and the bitterballs (not gluten free, I only had a bite or two).
Oude Kerk and Neiuwe Kerk (Churches):
We toured two churches, not-so-aptly named the old church and the new church (both were old). Unfortunately we had to pay for both so this limited our other touring opportunities. They were interesting though. The Oude Kerk was also the site of an Andy Warhol exhibit, mainly his pink last supper and a few inflatable/video things. The Neiuwe Kerk was being set up for the museumnachte (more on that later) and under renovation as well so not all of the rooms were visible. Both are only used for museums now and do not hold services
Oude Kerk choir screen
Close up of underneath organ
Part of pulpit
Random Warhol influences
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| Outside of Oude Kerk |
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| Roof of Nieuwe Kerk - wood as to prevent it from being too heavy and sinking on its foundation |
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| Organ |
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| Red bull machines totally belong in churches |
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| Mirror room, wonder why its called that |
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| Amsterdam staircases are awesome/scary |
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| Nieuwe Kerk had wood carvings on the choir pews of popular sayings, both weird and cool |
Weird smell thing they were doing at Rijks. Not sure the specifics, but there was a long line for it
Rembrandt was a fave here
Also an exhibit on children's book illustrators
Hermitage: The Van Gogh Museum is under construction so the Hermitage houses this and an Impressionistic exhibit. We only did VG since we had both seen plenty Impressionistic art before.
Rembrandt House: short exhibit, perfect for the museumnacht. We weren't allowed to take pictures here, so I don't have any to show....just kidding, I snuck one
Anne Frank House: Sunday we toured the house where the Franks hid out and Anne wrote her famous diary. Very touching, I'd recommend, but get tickets in advance
We had some English experiences, so Nana would be proud of me. Breakfast Saturday was at Gewaeght Cafe, where I got a good English breakfast but terrible service (actually terrible service was the norm this trip). Then tea later at Greenwoods Tea Room. There we ate the hummus plate, fries with mayo, and the bitterballs (not gluten free, I only had a bite or two).
To be slightly Dutch (beyond the bitterballs), we did buy some Gouda cheese at a street market. Delish.
Nightlife: While we did not do the *ahem* typical Amsterdam activities, we did have fun at night. The first night we went to a bar called Casablanca, a karaoke and dance club. There was a Dutch-Arabic group of women for a bachelorette party that danced with us and everyone had fun with the karaoke. The second night, we went to a cafe near our Air BnB location.
Walking around: The best part of Amsterdam is its beauty. Between the canals, the lights, the unique buildings, and the fall leaves, it was awesome to just walk around.
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