Krakow - Part II

So we awoke definitely feeling the affects of the night before. After managing to get moving we headed back to old town to take the other tour which ventured through the Jewish Quarter, ghettos, and Schindler's Factory. We had a new guide but still was a great guy. We traveled along making our way to the Jewish Quarter where we saw the old and new synagogues, famous locations for the filming of Schindler's List, and the Jewish Ghettos where they were forced to live until the liquidation. The guide showed us all the great pubs and places to be (apparently the Jewish Quarter is a happening place). Finally we saw what was left of Schindler's Factory. The factory itself had been destroyed but the business office remained and has since become a museum. The only actual thing that remained was an entrance gate. We also learned here how the movie glorified Oskar Schindler more than what actually took place. But that's the movie business. We finally took a tram home and got back in time for dinner. We ran into Camille and Ben and we decided we go grab a beer later since we didn't want to repeat last night. At dinner we also meet Ryan and Hunter (two Americans, one a Texan!, who are studying for a Master's MBA in Dublin, Ireland. They mentioned they wanted to head out too. So after dinner all 6 of us got on the tram and headed for Alchemia in the Jewish Quarter. All I'm gonna say is it turned into a good night over beer, shots of vodka, and good company. Our tour guide from earlier showed up and remembered us so he joined in. So far the best time has been meeting people from all over and making friends. Before long we headed home since we had an early morning ahead of us.

Krakow

After arriving in Krakow and establishing ourselves in one of the best hostels ever (in my opinion) TJ remembered of a free walking tour of the city. We decided we hop on over there and check it out. I must say that the tour was worth it. First of the guides are from the actually area, they have to take an 8 month course, and pass a state exam in order to be guides. The difference for them is that they do it for free and you decide at the end how much to pay. So they took us through the old town showing the last standing walls of the castle and the guard towers. We walked down the Royal Road to the town square near St. Mary's Church. We then made our way to the Bishop's Palace where John Paul II lived as was the active bishop during his time. We then headed towards the Royal Castle and the Cathedral on top of Wawel Hill. Our final stop was the statue of the Dragon of Krakow where legend says he terrorized the city. The king offered virgin sacrifices for him to eat. Finally the only virgin left was his daughter but he offered her up as a prize for anyone who could defeat the dragon. All brave warriors came but were killed in their attempts. Finally a poor cobbler's apprentice stuffed a lamb with sulphur and fed it to the dragon. The dragon's stomach became so upset that he ran to the river and drank and drank until he exploded. So the cobbler's apprentice married the princess and lived happily ever after. Anyways that concluded our walking tour which if you are ever in Krakow, Poland I highly recommend it. We returned to the old town and stopped to get some pierogis at a recommended restaurant. Hmmm...they were delicious. While there we met a new friend from South Korea named Garam. She was visiting friends before she had to go home which seemed to be what a lot of people were doing. Once their studies were done they wanted to travel before having to return home. I thought that was neat. That night we ate dinner at the hostel (they prepare it every night but they will soon end it). After a salad buffet, some pasta, and sangria TJ and I decided we would join in on the Polish beer and vodka tasting. So we headed over to the junior hostel where the event was held. We were in a secluded room with 10 other people and they had some music playing and our "guide" informed us we'd be having about 10 shots of vodka. It was also here we made new friends from France, Ben and Camille. Now we were expecting straight up vodka made in Poland however here they have lots of flavored vodkas. We had cherry, raspberry, hazelnut, lemon, mint, and one they called the Maddog shot. It's a shot filled with vodka, raspberry syrup, and tabasco. Now most didn't like it but I thought it was quite unique and tasty. It was definitely something different. After the shots we headed to a bar where they served beer in these tall "pipes" and they place them on stands with taps. We amongst the 13 of us we had two pipes. Each pipe held 5 liters of beer. Once those were done we headed to a club where it was just packed on a Wednesday night. Continuing our fun we left and made our way looking for a bar. We stopped in one place had two shots and left since we felt it was time to go. After stopping for a kebab (I got mine wrapped in a tortilla) we headed back to end the evening.

Berlin: Last Night

This one is a little late but I owe that to the things that were involved. Our last day in Berlin was TJ's birthday so we were going to go out with a bang. Our day began with going to the train station to book a reservation for the train to Krakow, Poland. It turns out our pass only works until the German border than we needed to purchase an additional pass. Nonetheless this part of the trip planning was taken care of. We headed back towards the hostel but not before seeking out some lunch. Our next move was to find a hostel in Krakow to which TJ took on the task and had emailed a place called Greg & Tom's Hostel. We figured they'd have room and would send us an confirmation email by the next morning (more on this later.) We then decided to relax until 6pm when we made reservations at a recommended German restaurant. To our delight it was very delicious and great local brews, especially the hefeweizen. As the night rolled around our hostel was having a free beer special. Basically they would tap a keg and serve it free until it was empty. We made our way down to discover they open up an hour later than what we were told. Therefore we had no choice but to go get our own (luckily a guy just a few shops over had some good stuff.) After kicking back in the lobby of the hostel and talking with a couple from Sweden the bar opened up and down we went. Beer after beer after beer led me to talking to a couple of guys who attend the University of Texas at Austin who were studying abroad. We hung out for most of the night talking and drinking before I came to the conclusion enough had been had. So I called it a night. We woke up the next day still with no email hoping that by the time the train got to Poland (10 hour train ride) we would have something. A call from TJ to the hostel confirmed that they did in fact have his email and we had a room (all this without them even asking his name??? hmmm...) So we boarded the train and off we were for Poland.

Once we got to Krakow we exited and pretty much followed the crowd. Immediately the train station turned into a huge mall and we figured we'd gone too far. After a few phone calls to the hostel we made it there. As we got in they said they didn't see an email but they did have room for us for 3 nights (we planned for 4 so we are gonna have to do something about that later). As they were checking us in they mentioned they still had dinner left if we wanted some. It sounded good to me. Breaded boneless pork chops, mashed potatoes, and salad. The staff here is really, REALLY nice and helpful. They gathered the three of us (a girl named Karif from New Zealand had arrived late too looking for a place) and told about the town and various tours we can take. So after all was said and done we were in Krakow, Poland, we had a good dinner, and we had a place to crash.

Berlin: part 2

Berlin

Today we started by figuring out what to see and where to go. We headed out to see the Berlin Wall Memorial. This was something to see and learn about. We returned to the hostel to figure out our next move. Luckily TJ had talked to a guy who had mentioned a walking tour of the city. So we decided to tag along. Matt, the tour guide, was an awesome one at that. We started off my heading to what is known as the "Island of Museums" where there are literally multiple museums on an island created by the division of the river. Among other things we saw were Humboldt University, a Nazi book-burning site, old churches, the site of Hitler's "grave", and another portion of the Berlin Wall. After the good 5.5 hour walk we returned to rest only to go wandering about in search of good German food. With both recommended places being packed we settled for a cheap yet good pizza before returning to the hostel.

Berlin

Berlin

Well the day started off like any other. Wake up, shower, and pack. We headed down to the bar/cafe and got the usual hostel breakfast; cereal, fruit, breads, cheese, ham, salami, and hard boiled eggs. Afterwards we decided to take off for Centraal Station to see if we could get on a train to Berlin. The agent said we could however we had to change trains in Hilversum with only a 4 minute window. Luckily our terminal was on the same platform just opposite sides. So from there we trekked on for about 5.5 more hours before getting to Berlin with some stops along the way. Once we got to out stop we headed for the tourist info center we were guided to our hostel and bought passes for the subway. Here's were it got a little interesting. We headed down what we thought was the right platform and got on a train. Common sense never factored in at this point. Before long we decided to get off and figure out what the hell was going on. We realized we had hopped on the wrong thing and now we were "uh-oh" mode. We noticed only one subway went through here and we should take that to get back to where we needed to. However this route was an out-of-the-way roundabout way of getting to our destination. We finally arrived at our stop and found our hostel. We settled in and then headed out to grab some dinner. We looked for a place close by and within reason. We decided on Maya, a Mexican restaurant and apparently Indian restaurant too. Hungry nonetheless I ate the burrito despite it's complete lack of any attempt at some authenticity. But as hungry as I was I took what I could get. We returned to the hostel to crash our. Overall this hostel is really, really nice. Great location with everything brand new yet I believe all of it was purchased at Ikea. A few of the hostels have been that way. One of the drawbacks thus far is the location. In the middle if everything, yes including the noise of the busy street outside.

Amsterdam: Part 2

Well we got up, cleaned up, packed and headed for breakfast. Afterwards we relaxed in the lounge a bit before purchasing some museum and tram passes at a discounted rate from the hostel. The museum passes also let you bypass the waiting line which is great. Our first stop was the Rijkmuseum. This place had a collection of Dutch artifacts and paintings. The artifacts included old musket pistols and rifles, lots of ceramic decorative pieces, etc. Then there were the paintings. The coolest was seeing Rembrandt's work. They were truly masterpieces. After that we headed back tour hostel to relax for about an hour until we could check in to our new hostel. We then set out in search of it. Now when they say this place was brand new I didn't think this new. In fact they are still working on the place. Guys are running around with paint and tools. Alot of chairs and towels are stacked downstairs and there's furniture in the hall ways. The bright side is the beds are new and were made when we got here. There's an in-room bath and shower that is really nice and fancy-like just like one would find in a nice hotel.


So apparently it seems that our hostel just opened today. Crazy and it seems they move fast for setting up. Our roommates are a 54 year old guy who is staying one night to meet up with a friend from Paris and then they will travel elsewhere to see some family. The other guy is from Minnesota (small world I know) who happened to be in line behind us when checking in and saw my driver's license. He is a frequent traveler here before heads to Northern Iraq to visit family. So after some small talk in our brand new room we headed out to the Vondelpark where it is definitely something I have never seen except for maybe at a concert of festival but tons of people just come to the park and chill. Its a crazy sight. Afterwards we grabbed some food and then headed for the Red Light District. Yeah this place is something else. Girls simply stand in the window very scantily dressed and get customers. The coffee shops sale marijuana just as a everything else. We then headed back and after a bit of roaming around to call it a day.

Amsterdam

Our last night in Brussels consisted of us going to the Delirium Cafe once again. We made it to the top bar where is more laid back and chill than the ground floor. We enjoyed a few beers before returning downstairs. We got a few more beers and found that the bar wasn't as packed as before. Then we realized that it was a Monday and not the weekend. So we proceeded to finish our beers and head back to the hostel.

We awoke the next day, got packed, and grabbed some of the free breakfast there at the hostel. We then set off in search of the Metro (Brussels subway system) to find a way to the Brussels Mid Train Station. For awhile we were wandering around like a chicken with its head cut off. Finally I found a help desk and they were able to set us on our way after activating our Eurail Passes. All we needed to do was fill in the information and hop on the train, first class! Before long we were on our way to Amsterdam. Minus one train change in Rosendaal we made it. My first thoughts on this place is there are a lot of people. And apparently you are nobody unless you have a bicycle. Yep, a bicycle. They are EVERYWHERE. Oh yeah and there's the occasional smell of pot in the air. Still getting use to the fact that is normal around here. Again wandering around we found the Amsterdam tram and made it down to the hostel. We decided to setup or room and then head out.

We strolled out through Vondelpark where tons of people ride through or kick back  on the grass. It is definitely a chill place to lay down and people watch, read a book, or anything really. We then ventured across the way to where we noticed police had blocked off the canal waterway (there are lots of canal cruises you can take) and there was a diver searching for something or someone. Everyone gathered around and after awhile we decided to leave. By that time they still hadn't found whatever it was they were looking for. We headed over to a largely crowded place to grab a drink and a beer. Afterwards we wandered around the area just taking it in. Before long we headed back to the hostel and meet two Americans from Boston backpacking through Europe like us. Soon I was in contact with our Australian friend Andrew who was in Amsterdam and wanted to meet up. So we told him our hostel had cheap beer at the bar and he said he'd come down. So TJ and I strolled in and grabbed a few pitchers of beer. Before long James and Malena (Americans) came down and we chatted over a few beers. Around 11pm Andrew showed up and we went out. We found a little local bar that was quite happening so we ventured in. They had quarter pint beers for 1.50 euros so we kept them coming. Pretty soon the whole bar was a dance floor mixed with American music and local music with just about everyone dancing. Afterwards we hit up some late night at a kebob shop where we had some fantastic dish that I can't even remember the name but I remember the taste. Afterwards I decided to call it a night and TJ and Andrew headed out elsewhere.