Well, seeing as i'm in Istanbul at the moment and feel sick, why not post about Berlin? I've got nothing better to do.
So, Berlin. We arrived with little problem despite the threatened strike on the long-distance trains. As we soon learned though, the local metro and bus workers were striking. So we had to walk everywhere or pay for cabs, neither proposition seemed like fun. We decided to walk, so we struck out for the main highlights down past Alexanderplatz to the Unter den Linden and saw some of the shops and such. We then walked past/through the Bradenburg Gate. This was pretty cool. It's an enormous gate with a large bronze statue on top. There wasn't much to do other than read a bit about its history, then move on.
Next stop was the Reichstag, another drive-by. Again, a very large, impressive building, but not much else to it. I may have just been exhausted, but none of it was all that impressive. We then walked through the Tiergarten a bit to get to the art museums to the south. We visited the Gemaldgallerie, which houses a lot of great works of art. I'm not a huge fan of art for the most part, but i did like most of it. The audioguide was helpful, but oftentimes it went into too much detail about the past and really slowed me down when all I really was looking for was who painted it, why, and what's depicted. So I ended up skipping most of the info and giving a lot of what was in there a cursory look. But overall, I really enjoyed it. It was certainly worth a trip, even if you're not a big fan of art.
At this point, I wanted to go and see the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial, which was a few miles away, so i left the others and proceeded on. On the whole, it was not likely worth the trip, but it was still interesting. If the metro had been running it would have been more worthwhile, but walking 4 miles or so round trip didn't make it appealing. I did however find a Dunkin Doughnuts (shush, I needed something American and i've been craving doughnuts for a while) which made for a good lunch. On my way back to the hostel, i passed by Checkpoint Charlie, which was pretty cool. They had both sides of the street lined with information about Berlin and the Cold War. I didn't know most of it, so it was reall interesting. A bit too much at times, but overall pretty good. I almost missed the actual checkpoint itself, but I saw it across the street. It was about to rain, so i almost ran back to my hostel. I did stop at what i think was Book Burning Square, but it wasn't really marked. Overall, I walked about 13 miles that day. Ouchie.
On Wed. we travelled to Dresden. This was an expensive train ride, but worth it. I knew basically nothing about the city other than it was firebombed and burned pretty much to the ground. But it was a gorgeous city. Perfect for walking around in and looking at pretty buildings. The Zwinger was our first stop which was an art gallery inside of one of the most amazing buildings i've seen. The gallery was equally impressive with several Peter Paul Rubins and even an El Greco. There was an armory exhibit next door which I saw, along with other galleries like porcelain and sculpture. I didn't go to these, but they looked cool. We then proceeded to walk around the city, walking into the churches and such. The Albertium was closed, but it wasn't a problem. We were pretty tired, so took the train and got back to Berlin around 10.
On the last day, we went to Museum Island. Mainly the Pergammon and the Altes Museums. Both were pretty cool. The Pergammon had a lot of Islamic and Middle-Eastern art, which was a major change for me, and the famous Pergammon Altar. I'll admit, I didn't see it on my way in. I had no clue what it looked like or what it was. Upon figuring it out, i thought it was pretty cool. There were depictions of all the gods and goddesses which for me were cool. There were some fun sculptures and pottery. There was a wierd exhibit upstairs on museums in the 21st century which i breezed through. It was then on to the Altes. This museum had a lot of Greek pottery and sculpture on one floor and Egyptian on the next. They had the famous Bust of Nefretiti (spelling?) and some really cool statues. All in all, i actually learned a lot about cultures i didn't know much about before, so all in all, a very good trip.
We left on Thursday afternoon, flew back into Athens, whereupon i quickly went to sleep. I woke up and picked up Emily from the airport, then went on to Nafplion. All in all, a good Spring Break.
Next up, Istanbul (puking aside).
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Salzburg
Next on my itinerary over Spring Break was the city of Salzburg. As i said before, i took the train from Vienna to Salzburg, which was not a bad trip. However, upon arriving in Salzburg, it was pretty late (around 7 or 8 if i remember correctly) and we were fairly hungry. So we went out in search of a bite to eat, but horribly failed. Then, when we tried to decipher the bus system, we failed again. So we ended up taking a cab to our hotel, which turned out to way out in the middle of nowhere near the airport. It wasn't a bad hotel at all, 3 stars and all that and the owners were REALLY nice. We had dinner at the chinese (yes, sadly chinese) resturant next door to the hotel and then went to bed. We watched some TV, but the majority of it was in German (the funniest part was seeing Troy dubbed in German...oh boy).
Next morning, we got up and checked out. We got a map and figured out the bus system, so we took a bus in after getting a Salzburg Card. This was an extremely good deal, as for 24 hours you get free access on all the buses and free admission to most of the sites. All for 21 euros! So the first site we went to was the Hohensalzburg, the major fortress on top of the hill next to the city. This is the best preserved castle in all Europe as it was never captured. Used by the Archbishop Princes of Salzburg to defend the area from the Germanic princes, the castle was impressive. There was a great deal of fabulous artwork and design, and several fun exhibits, like the Torture museum or the marianette museum. The highlight was the guided tour around the main rooms, but if you didn't know what you were looking for or just stumbled across it, you'd never really know. We only came upon it by chance. It was free though so well worth it. There is a SPECTACULAR view of the area from up on top and a few other fun things.
Aftewards, we went down into the old town and walked through St. Peter's Cemetary and the church. Very elegant and beautiful with baroque detailing. We then walked down the Getreidegasse which is this very narrow street with buildings of 5 stories surrounding it. It was a very cool street with lots of little stores and cafes. We finished up here and then had to go to the trainstation to make sure our train was running (long story, but very quickly, German train workers threatened to strike, so we almost didn't make it to Berlin) which it was. So we then went on to see the Cathedral in the old town, which was drop dead gorgeous. Everything was highly ornate and detailed, with several areas for prayer/communion and the central altar. My favorite feature was that part of the organ was placed at the front of the church along the 4 main columns, which must make an amazing accoustic sound.
Then we grabbed lunch, then proceeded to meander around for a little bit in search of Mozart's birthplace, which we saw but did not go into. Next was the Residenz, where the Archbishop of Salzburg lived, but sadly they were closed for some reason or another. Very sad, as I hear they are spectacular. Instead, we found Mozart's statue in a square and visited an internet cafe. We then crossed the river and went to see the Mirabell Gardens, which were starting to come into bloom, so it was fairly nice. After meandering through, we went in search of Mozart's home, which i confused for the concert hall (EVERYTHING in Salzburg was named for him, i swear). We did finally find the house, but it was a real disappointment. Virtually NOTHING was original. It was all replicas and reproductions, so while it was cool to see how things looked, it was defintely lacking in terms of impressivness.
At this point, we decided we were done seeing all the sights, we went around looking for any last minute gifts we wanted, then made our way back to the hotel, got our bags, came back into the old town to get dinner (I had a good German beer :-) ) then it was off to the trainstation to go to Berlin! We stopped in Munich for about 40 minutes, then got on the train to Berlin. It was a good trip, the couchlette was not that uncomfortable and the ride was quick and smooth. I got up around 7am, woke myself up, then upon arriving in Berlin made our way to the hostel in Berlin, despite the fact that the Berlin metro and buses were not functioning. Which leads me to Berlin and my amazing day of walking. Next time :-)
Next morning, we got up and checked out. We got a map and figured out the bus system, so we took a bus in after getting a Salzburg Card. This was an extremely good deal, as for 24 hours you get free access on all the buses and free admission to most of the sites. All for 21 euros! So the first site we went to was the Hohensalzburg, the major fortress on top of the hill next to the city. This is the best preserved castle in all Europe as it was never captured. Used by the Archbishop Princes of Salzburg to defend the area from the Germanic princes, the castle was impressive. There was a great deal of fabulous artwork and design, and several fun exhibits, like the Torture museum or the marianette museum. The highlight was the guided tour around the main rooms, but if you didn't know what you were looking for or just stumbled across it, you'd never really know. We only came upon it by chance. It was free though so well worth it. There is a SPECTACULAR view of the area from up on top and a few other fun things.
Aftewards, we went down into the old town and walked through St. Peter's Cemetary and the church. Very elegant and beautiful with baroque detailing. We then walked down the Getreidegasse which is this very narrow street with buildings of 5 stories surrounding it. It was a very cool street with lots of little stores and cafes. We finished up here and then had to go to the trainstation to make sure our train was running (long story, but very quickly, German train workers threatened to strike, so we almost didn't make it to Berlin) which it was. So we then went on to see the Cathedral in the old town, which was drop dead gorgeous. Everything was highly ornate and detailed, with several areas for prayer/communion and the central altar. My favorite feature was that part of the organ was placed at the front of the church along the 4 main columns, which must make an amazing accoustic sound.
Then we grabbed lunch, then proceeded to meander around for a little bit in search of Mozart's birthplace, which we saw but did not go into. Next was the Residenz, where the Archbishop of Salzburg lived, but sadly they were closed for some reason or another. Very sad, as I hear they are spectacular. Instead, we found Mozart's statue in a square and visited an internet cafe. We then crossed the river and went to see the Mirabell Gardens, which were starting to come into bloom, so it was fairly nice. After meandering through, we went in search of Mozart's home, which i confused for the concert hall (EVERYTHING in Salzburg was named for him, i swear). We did finally find the house, but it was a real disappointment. Virtually NOTHING was original. It was all replicas and reproductions, so while it was cool to see how things looked, it was defintely lacking in terms of impressivness.
At this point, we decided we were done seeing all the sights, we went around looking for any last minute gifts we wanted, then made our way back to the hotel, got our bags, came back into the old town to get dinner (I had a good German beer :-) ) then it was off to the trainstation to go to Berlin! We stopped in Munich for about 40 minutes, then got on the train to Berlin. It was a good trip, the couchlette was not that uncomfortable and the ride was quick and smooth. I got up around 7am, woke myself up, then upon arriving in Berlin made our way to the hostel in Berlin, despite the fact that the Berlin metro and buses were not functioning. Which leads me to Berlin and my amazing day of walking. Next time :-)
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Vienna
So, the first stop on my trek around Austria and Germany was Vienna. Quite possibly one of my favorite cities that i've ever seen. It was filled with tasteful and simple buildings, but never lacking in elegance. Unlike France and places like Versaille, the Hapsburgs seemed to rather hold true to the idea that a simple, tasteful style of architecture was better than a gaudy, ornate style. None of the buildings screamed extreme wealth, but it was clear which buildings were built by the monarchy and which were not. There was a great deal of Roman-styled architecture, and the Baroque style was clearly prefered.
On the first day, we got off the plane (which reminds me to talk about Swiss Airlines. Incredible. Extremely efficent, well mannered, clean flights, quick, everything was exceptional) and made our way to the hostel. There is a bus that connects the airport to the two main trainstations in Vienna for a fairly cheap price (12 euro). Upon arriving at the hostel, we put our bags down and decided to explore the old city a bit. We got on the metro (which is expensive compared with Athens, 1.70 euros for a trip compared to .80 in Athens) and got to St. Stephen's Cathedral. This cathedral, while lacking the immensity of St. Peters and St. Pauls, it is nevertheless extraordinary. The main spire is 445 ft tall, dwarfing all the others. We were only able to get to the top of the northern tower, but still managed to get an impressive view of the city. The catherdal itself was gorgeous, built in the 12th century CE in the Gothic style. There were several small altars which were relatively ornate. My favorite part was the pulpit, which was carved with the reliefs of several saints. I was impressed with the detailing on each.
After leaving St. Stephen's, we walked around the main street, Kaerntner Strasse, and saw a large number of American/chain stores, which was refreshing after traveling around in Athens where there are virtually none of these. We also made our way into St. Peter's Church, which was incredible. The style was clearly baroque, with ornate gold stucco and designs on the ceiling. The organ even was insanely decorated, black with gold leafing. I could have spent hours in here, for while it's a small church, it really is beautiful. Following some more meandering, where we found the Opera house and the Hoffburg (more later), we went to a Viennese wine tavern, where we had wine and Burenwurst, which was very good. We soon fell asleep back in our hostel as we had been going for over 18 hours.
The next morning, we got up and went to the Spanish Riding School. This was truly impressive. While the tickets were expensive, even for standing room, the building was very gorgeous and the horses were truly worth the price. The ability of these horses was remarkable. How they manage to rear up on their two legs and keep their rider on is beyond me. They also do a wide variety of other moves, such as jumping and clicking their rear feet together. The discipline of both the horse and rider was clear, and totally worth the trip (I may have a slightly biased view because of Emily, but they were still impressive).
Afterwards, we went to a Viennese coffee house where i had goulash, which was REALLY good. After our feet recovered, we went on to the Hoffburg apartments, which was pretty, but not spectacular. The apartments house the Imperial china, the Sisi Museum, and then the actual apartments. I liked the simplicity of many of the plates and dishes used, but there were clearly some table settings and dishes which were designed to show off the wealth of the Hapsburgs. Many of the dishes were for everyday use, and unlike with other monarchies (*cough*French*coughcough*) they weren't ridiculous. There were clearly some that were simple. Beyond the china was the Sisi Museum, which sadly I knew nothing about. So therefore I was confused at first as to who Sisi was (she was the wife of Franz Joseph, the emperor of Austria just before WWI) so I did not get much out of the exhibit. Much of what was there was replicas, so i felt the exhibit was sort of a flop overall. The apartments were,again, suprisingly bare and simple. Franz Joseph apparently liked to live a Spartan lifestyle so there is not much to see. Overall, the apartments were worth a trip, but only just.
I have to say the biggest disappointment on the trip was the Imperial Treasury. I will admit that i have seen the Russian and British Crown Jewels, but these were wimpy in comparison. I was very much disappointed by the lack of jewels and gold. In addition, all the signs were in GERMAN, so i couldn't READ any of it. So therefore, i knew what NONE of it was! Very frustrating when you spent 7.50 euro (and while there was a free audio guide, i didn't want to take up a great deal of time listening to a long winded explanation of what something was). The exhibit should have been accessible to people without the guide, or they should have said "we highly recommned the audio guide." Whatever.
That night we went to go see the opera "La Forza de Destiny" by Verdi. I really liked it, but sadly we had really bad standing room seats (but they were only 2.50 euro) so i couldn't stand for more than an act. The opera house itself was spectacular and well worth a trip. We then went bar hopping in the Bermuda Triangle where there are 25 bars within 3 blocks, which was really fun.
The next morning, we got up and went to the Schonborn Palace, the summer residence of the Hapsburgs. Really nice outside, but simple inside. There was not a whole lot here other than some replica furniture. I know i shouldn't expect everything to be real, so i'll cut them some slack. Overall, I really liked it. There were some REALLY fabulous rooms at the end of the tour which again, where not ostentatious but rather a refined elegance which i admired greatly. The outside palace gardens were not in bloom yet sadly, but i can imagine what they were like in the spring bloom. The Roman victory arch on top of the hill was also pretty cool, but it was turned into a cafe, major bummer. You could see people running through the park, as it's open to the public for free. Afterwards, there was an Easter (i think) open market in the grounds outside, where we got some food (i got a pizza pretzel, suprisingly good).
Finally, we went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which houses a large number of Greek and Egyptian artworks, and even more works of art from the Rennaisannce. I'm not a big fan of art but i found it to be all facinating and worth a visit. There were some famous works of art (don't ask, i don't remember) and overall it was pretty cool. You guys know me and art, it's more of a i walk through and see a pretty picture and like it then admiring the positioning of the figures and such. Sorry :-)
Afterwards, we got back to the hostel, picked up our bags, and got on the train to Salzburg, which was a pleasant trip as Austrian railroads were suprisingly efficent, but fairly expensive. Upon arriving in Salzburg, we made our way to our hotel by cab, which now gets me to Salzburg, which is an entirely seperate entry. More later I promise!
On the first day, we got off the plane (which reminds me to talk about Swiss Airlines. Incredible. Extremely efficent, well mannered, clean flights, quick, everything was exceptional) and made our way to the hostel. There is a bus that connects the airport to the two main trainstations in Vienna for a fairly cheap price (12 euro). Upon arriving at the hostel, we put our bags down and decided to explore the old city a bit. We got on the metro (which is expensive compared with Athens, 1.70 euros for a trip compared to .80 in Athens) and got to St. Stephen's Cathedral. This cathedral, while lacking the immensity of St. Peters and St. Pauls, it is nevertheless extraordinary. The main spire is 445 ft tall, dwarfing all the others. We were only able to get to the top of the northern tower, but still managed to get an impressive view of the city. The catherdal itself was gorgeous, built in the 12th century CE in the Gothic style. There were several small altars which were relatively ornate. My favorite part was the pulpit, which was carved with the reliefs of several saints. I was impressed with the detailing on each.
After leaving St. Stephen's, we walked around the main street, Kaerntner Strasse, and saw a large number of American/chain stores, which was refreshing after traveling around in Athens where there are virtually none of these. We also made our way into St. Peter's Church, which was incredible. The style was clearly baroque, with ornate gold stucco and designs on the ceiling. The organ even was insanely decorated, black with gold leafing. I could have spent hours in here, for while it's a small church, it really is beautiful. Following some more meandering, where we found the Opera house and the Hoffburg (more later), we went to a Viennese wine tavern, where we had wine and Burenwurst, which was very good. We soon fell asleep back in our hostel as we had been going for over 18 hours.
The next morning, we got up and went to the Spanish Riding School. This was truly impressive. While the tickets were expensive, even for standing room, the building was very gorgeous and the horses were truly worth the price. The ability of these horses was remarkable. How they manage to rear up on their two legs and keep their rider on is beyond me. They also do a wide variety of other moves, such as jumping and clicking their rear feet together. The discipline of both the horse and rider was clear, and totally worth the trip (I may have a slightly biased view because of Emily, but they were still impressive).
Afterwards, we went to a Viennese coffee house where i had goulash, which was REALLY good. After our feet recovered, we went on to the Hoffburg apartments, which was pretty, but not spectacular. The apartments house the Imperial china, the Sisi Museum, and then the actual apartments. I liked the simplicity of many of the plates and dishes used, but there were clearly some table settings and dishes which were designed to show off the wealth of the Hapsburgs. Many of the dishes were for everyday use, and unlike with other monarchies (*cough*French*coughcough*) they weren't ridiculous. There were clearly some that were simple. Beyond the china was the Sisi Museum, which sadly I knew nothing about. So therefore I was confused at first as to who Sisi was (she was the wife of Franz Joseph, the emperor of Austria just before WWI) so I did not get much out of the exhibit. Much of what was there was replicas, so i felt the exhibit was sort of a flop overall. The apartments were,again, suprisingly bare and simple. Franz Joseph apparently liked to live a Spartan lifestyle so there is not much to see. Overall, the apartments were worth a trip, but only just.
I have to say the biggest disappointment on the trip was the Imperial Treasury. I will admit that i have seen the Russian and British Crown Jewels, but these were wimpy in comparison. I was very much disappointed by the lack of jewels and gold. In addition, all the signs were in GERMAN, so i couldn't READ any of it. So therefore, i knew what NONE of it was! Very frustrating when you spent 7.50 euro (and while there was a free audio guide, i didn't want to take up a great deal of time listening to a long winded explanation of what something was). The exhibit should have been accessible to people without the guide, or they should have said "we highly recommned the audio guide." Whatever.
That night we went to go see the opera "La Forza de Destiny" by Verdi. I really liked it, but sadly we had really bad standing room seats (but they were only 2.50 euro) so i couldn't stand for more than an act. The opera house itself was spectacular and well worth a trip. We then went bar hopping in the Bermuda Triangle where there are 25 bars within 3 blocks, which was really fun.
The next morning, we got up and went to the Schonborn Palace, the summer residence of the Hapsburgs. Really nice outside, but simple inside. There was not a whole lot here other than some replica furniture. I know i shouldn't expect everything to be real, so i'll cut them some slack. Overall, I really liked it. There were some REALLY fabulous rooms at the end of the tour which again, where not ostentatious but rather a refined elegance which i admired greatly. The outside palace gardens were not in bloom yet sadly, but i can imagine what they were like in the spring bloom. The Roman victory arch on top of the hill was also pretty cool, but it was turned into a cafe, major bummer. You could see people running through the park, as it's open to the public for free. Afterwards, there was an Easter (i think) open market in the grounds outside, where we got some food (i got a pizza pretzel, suprisingly good).
Finally, we went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which houses a large number of Greek and Egyptian artworks, and even more works of art from the Rennaisannce. I'm not a big fan of art but i found it to be all facinating and worth a visit. There were some famous works of art (don't ask, i don't remember) and overall it was pretty cool. You guys know me and art, it's more of a i walk through and see a pretty picture and like it then admiring the positioning of the figures and such. Sorry :-)
Afterwards, we got back to the hostel, picked up our bags, and got on the train to Salzburg, which was a pleasant trip as Austrian railroads were suprisingly efficent, but fairly expensive. Upon arriving in Salzburg, we made our way to our hotel by cab, which now gets me to Salzburg, which is an entirely seperate entry. More later I promise!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Spring Break
I know, I know it's been a while since I last posted. My computer's death makes it difficult to post long blogs, but I promise I will soon update you all as to what I did over Spring Break. I promise, the wait will be worth it. I plan to do an entry on each place I went to, Vienna, Salzburg, Berlin and Dresden. Look for these entries in the days to come! There won't be pictures sadly till i get back home, so you'll just have to use your imaginations for all that i'm describing. Sorry!! Blame my computer!
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