Welcome back! I'll be continuing my travel notes here. If you missed the first part, you can find it here. If you'd like to follow my trip on Polarsteps, check that out here. I think that covers the administrative stuff so sit back, relax and enjoy the movie... I mean, blog post. I know, not as cool as a movie.
June 9, 2017
Prague was absolutely beautiful. We stayed in a quieter, hipster area of Prague, a short tram ride from downtown. There were so many people, but so far one of my favourite cities.
We went to an Irish bar and watched the Champions League final and the bar was PACKED. People went crazy, singing, yelling and cheering. It was neat to experience a soccer game in a European sports bar. Nothing like when Canada wins the hockey gold medal though. We met up with Tom and Anja, 2 great friends of mine from back home. We spent way more time with them than I thought we would, but it was so so great to have them there to explore and hang out with.
Prague Castle is the main thing to go see there, and it was pretty cool because it wasn't just a castle. There was so much there. The main attraction is this huge cathedral that looked real gothic but pretty stunning inside (You can see it at the Polarsteps link above!). We explored the town and saw the Charles Bridge which was super old and had amazing statues on it, as well as a ton of people.
We drank and ate and had such good times in Prague. Thanks again to Tom and Anja for making that city even better!
Back on the road (train tracks?), a 4-hour ride brings us to Berlin.
Berlin was pretty different than I expected. It isn't like the New York or Toronto of Germany. There aren't big skyscrapers or modern looking buildings, but the city is massive. The public transportation is strange and each train ride seems incredibly long. But we did see some cool stuff, and Berlin has a lot of history with Hitler and the war and all that. It was a welcomed change from the old cities we've seen so far, being more of an urban area. Oddly enough, the city works mostly on cash and credit cards aren't common. I found that quite strange. Also, public WiFi, which was everywhere in Prague, was almost nowhere to be seen in Berlin. Kind of sucked, but I managed.
Going to see part of the Berlin wall today, I think that'll be cool. Hamburg is up next, will update soon.
June 12, 2017
Forgot to update... Berlin wall wasn't much. It was the East Side Gallery, an outdoor art display with modern art painted across the entire standing part of the wall. Real cool, but takes 5 minutes to see. Took 20 minutes to get there. At least I got to see part of the wall.
Moving on!
Hamburg is a huge port city which was cool and unique to see. We toured an old Russian submarine (1979) and did a boat tour of the port. We passed this cruise ship on the boat tour and the boat started playing "My Heart Will Go On", the Titanic song. I was almost in tears, it was hilarious and unexpected. One of the highlights of Hamburg for me.
We went to the famous Fish Market in the morning which was a mix of a farmers market and giant party with bands playing and tons of people drinking. This was like 8 am. So naturally, we had a fish sandwich and beer for breakfast. Strange, but cool.
Next stop is Amsterdam. We arrived at the hotel and got put into single rooms to our surprise. It was such a welcomed surprise though, after sharing rooms with strangers and not sleeping because of the insane heat, lights, and snoring, a private room was so amazing. No more earplugs to bed.. YASSSSSSS.
I am really looking forward to exploring this city.
June 16, 2017
Amsterdam was amazing. Such a cool place. It's incredibly chill, people are so friendly, the locals spoke really good English and the whole private bedroom thing made it that much more awesome. We drank a lot in Amsterdam and even got some free beers at the Ice Bar and Heineken Experience tour. We met some fellow Canadians there and hung out with them the rest of the day and night. We took a walk through the Red Light District that night. It was such a weird thing to see. Kind of a culture shock. My buddy got a little too drunk that night and had a hangover day, so I explored more solo which I loved. Just such a great few days in this city.
A few more hours on the train and we're in Brussels. The first night was a chill night. Need some rest every once in a while. Sightseeing is tiring! I saw a couple movies here because the theatre down the street from our hostel played movies in English. The Mummy and Wonder Woman. Day 2 in Brussels we visited the European Union parliamentarium. It was like a planetarium but for European history. It was pretty neat.
Well, we're about to go explore some of Paris. I'll update again in a week or 3, we'll see.
Thanks!
P.S.
Happy Father's day Dad, I wish I could be there. Have an amazing day. Love ya.
J
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