Back in the U-S-A.

Albert Hall in London.

First, the train ride back to London was pretty disastrous. We got to the station in Amsterdam and nearly missed the train. The trains weren't running to Brussels (where we needed to go) so we had to go first to this random Dutch town and transfer. Then I didn't buy a ticket so I was super worried about getting in trouble. Luckily on the first train (to the random Dutch town) they did not check tickets. Then on the second train the conductor did not notice that my Eurail pass did not cover the Netherlands or Belgium and I got a free pass. Phew.

Once we got to London, we managed by hook or crook to meet up with Alex's pals from Vanderbilt, and one of them was kind enough to let us stay at her house in London. The place was absolutely beautiful and museum-like (located in Holland Park, for anyone who knows London). We hung out and had tea and cookies and some really good Thai leftovers that were in the fridge. There was a bit of a party that night with lots of shenanigans and card playing, and I had a great time.

Our last day in Europe was Monday, May 21. We had tea and homemade pancakes in the morning. We decided we were going to go see Spring Awakening (the musical) in the West End but got kind of lost along the way. We eventually made it to the theatre, many hours later, and bought our tickets. We went to a cafe next door and shared a tomato/mozzarella/pesto sandwich. Always good.

We took the Tube back to Alex's friend Frances's house. After some more hanging out and quiche, we went to see the musical, which I thought had great music. We definitely had a lot of fun. We went home afterwards and watched some Star Trek (2nd generation) with the gang and chatted and then went to bed.

I left about 9:45 Tuesday morning to catch my flight. It was an easy trip on the Tube to Heathrow. And that was finally, officially the end of my European adventure. Which means the end of this blog. Thank you to everyone who read!

The Dam

AMSTERDAM! The second time around.

In Amsterdam we met up with Alex's cousin Lisa and her husband Simon, who took us to a super cool restaurant on a boat. The food was really delicious and gourmet, and the place was very posh. It was the culinary zenith of our trip probably. Alex and I had time before dinner to thoroughly wander the Vondelpark.

The next day, Saturday May 23, we had the best cheesy croissants of my life at a bakery near Lisa's house. (My travel log says they were jizz in my pants good.) We went shopping in the Prinsenzgracht area, then to a cool organic farmer's market. We ate lunch at a vegetarian restaurant (also tasty) and went to the Van Gogh museum, but we decided the line was too long and chilled in the park instead. We couldn't stop thinking about those cheesy croissants so we went back for more, but they only had ham and cheese left--luckily it was totally delicious too. To complete the eating-tons-of-food experience we got a fantastic pancake after that. It had apples and cinnamon ice cream and was heavenly.

We had a pizza dinner in the Vondelpark with Lisa and Simon and the dog that evening, which was so pleasant I couldn't believe it. We went to a coffee shop called Kashmir Lounge that night, but I got really tired and went home to go to sleep after only a short while.

It was a great trip and one of the best parts of the whole 2-week odyssey. Thanks Lisa and Simon!

Koln

Cologne or Koln was a less than 24 hour trip, but we saw a lot in the hours we were there. We got up on Friday May 21 and had the hostel's free breakfast (quite good--we took some ham sandwiches for the road). We took the train to Koln and found the famous cathedral is the first thing you see when you leave the train station.

We ate our ham sandwiches at a park alongside the river. The weather was beautiful. It was super sunny and clear skies. We listened to some music and played some cards, then went on our way to the train to Amsterdam.

Frankfurt

And here is the old town square in Frankfurt! Well, first we took the train from Munich to Frankfurt on Thursday, May 21. We had our usual croissant breakfast. After getting in we went to the first hostel we saw (sans reservation) and luckily it worked out. Alex did laundry and we met our roomies, some American dudes from Virginia.

We walked around the city but we got rained on and had to stay under this bridge for a while till it stopped. For dinner we went to a Turkish restaurant and had a really funny waiter who did a great job and enthusiastically took our picture (twice--once inside, then he ran outside and took one from outside the window looking in), and gave us free tea.

It was back to the hostel after dinner, where we chatted for a while with the roommates. We ended up walking around for a few more hours but I got really tired and cranky so we went on home.

Munchen

Here is the old town square in Munich. Munich was a lovely city in which we spent only about a day. We came in from Vienna on the train, where we met this weird guy Sylvester who was from Germany but had just lived in Austin for the previous five years. (Small world.) Alex and I got a pretzel as soon as we got in to Munich since that is supposed to be their food specialty. It was stuffed with butter and chives. Kind of strange, but tasted alright except for how salty it was.

We then got some lunch at Burger King and as I recall they messed up my order, meaning I did not have it my way. We got to our hostel, which was super cheap AND had the added bonus of not having anyone there in the room with us (even though it was supposed to be a six bed dorm). I did a phone interview for the job at the British Consulate that I ended up not getting. Blegh. We then walked all over the city, going to the Residenz and the Englischer garden. Our dinner was some tasty swiss cheese, a baguette, and a chicken. Alex got a special Munich beer and I had some apple juice. It was one of our most fun meals. We ended up eating, playing Rapido (card game), and watching YouTube.

I wish we could have worn these sweet German clothes I saw somewhere downtown.

Wien

Vienna was one of my favorite cities from the whole trip. It is lovely and full of beautiful things to see and delicious things to eat and very nice people.

We got up early Monday, May 18 and accidentally went to the wrong train station, but somehow made it to our train at the right train station on time. The ride from Prague to Vienna was about 5 hours. We got there and took the metro to the end of the line, then set off on a hellish 1 hour plus hike uphill (with our packs on) to the hostel. I think the view was worth it though. I loved staying outside the city in what was sort of the woods. The hostel was amazing too.

The first thing we did was have some delish wiener schnitzel and good Austrian beer. Afterwards we walked around in the woods for over an hour. Back at the hostel we just chilled for a while, eventually meeting our Chinese roommates.

On Tuesday May 19 we had the fantastic free breakfast buffet (quite the smorgasbord). This time we got smart and took the bus to the metro to the city. Then we walked around Stephans Dom, got to the Hofburg Palace, went to a square with a building Mozart played in, and wound up in front of a strange music-playing giant clock. At noon giant figures of important Austrians cycle in front of the clock with music from their time period playing. Pretty neat.

Lunch was at a cool open-face sandwich restaurant where all the sandwiches were 1 euro. We got 1 egg and cucumber, 1 mushroom and egg, 2 cheese and onion, 1 super spicy horseradish and pepper relish, and 1 bacon and egg.

Another culinary experience: a very fancy pastry shop called Demas. We both had cake (mine was a little too liquor-y) and I had a special Viennese coffee.

We walked to the Belvedere museum, and lo and behold they were having a special Mucha exhibit! So we got double the Mucha from our Europe trip. We saw Klimt's The Kiss and lots of excellent Schiele as well as a special exhibit on Lovis Corinth.

A metro ride took us to the Schonbrunn Palace, lauded as the "must-do" in Vienna. It was just so-so. Afterwards we went to a heuriger or Austrian wine tavern. It must have been fun judging from the hangover the next day.

Praha

Saturday saw us up bright and early for croissants and coffee before boarding our train to Prague. On the train we met this lady from Maine and her friend from Germany. They had been besties when they were 18, and then many years later--almost a lifetime--one contacted the other, and they had rekindled their friendship, and now they were travel buddies. What a cool story.

We got off the train in Prague and promptly got quite lost. By some miracle we made it to our hostel. (Our compass had broken in Berlin so we couldn't even use that.) We bought fruit at a market in Wenceslas Square and walked around for a while, ending up by the famous Frank Gehry building by the river. We got to the old town square, right in the heart of the tourist throngs. Prague is beautiful but sooo touristy and overcrowded in certain parts of the city.

We drank some 49 koruna beer (Pilsner Urquell), then to a dungeon-like, goat-themed restaurant for dinner that had super tasty Czech food. Goulash and meat dumplings. Mmm.

Went back to the hostel and met our Russian roommate. Played Scrabble Anagrams and Alex won. (Blast!)

On Sunday 17 May we walked to the Jewish quarter of town and also visited the Mucha museum (super cool! Check out Mucha if you don't know anything about him.) We crossed the bridge to the other side of the river near the castle and hung out in a park before walking to the John Lennon wall. It is this big wall totally covered in graffiti, mostly John Lennon or Beatles-related. After adding our mark ("I get by with a little help from my friends") we got some awful fast food and went back to the hostel.

After a nap we climbed a big hill/park near our hostel and got some great views of the city. We walked to a bar called U'sudu, but ended up getting wine from a street vendor and drinking back at the hostel whilst playing Anagrams. And--get ready for it--I beat Alex!

After some card playing shenanigans, talking some more to the Russian roommate, and going back to the park/hill thing one last time, we made it to bed, and concluded our Czech adventure.

By the way--we both feverishly read the first book of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series on this trip, and I was unbelievably excited to find this hotel in Prague.