Monday, October 8, 2007
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Copenhagen - Last Day in Europe
Today was our last full day in Europe. We leave tomorrow morning at 9:00am. I've got to say that I am sad to be leaving, but at the same time I really can't wait to get home. I'm very tired of walking everywhere. We did a rough calculation, and I think we walked somewhere near 100 miles in all the places we visited. I need a new pair of feet after this trip.
Copenhagen is a little different then I expected. I can tell that this is a very multicultural city. I understand that in recent years immigration has been at very high levels, and it shows. Copenhagen, which means "merchant's harbor", started as a Viking fishing village and started to grow in the 12 century. It has been consistently ranked as one of the best places to live, and somewhere I read that it has the happiest people in the world. I don't know about that, but it is a clean and well organized city. Even in the "bad" pat of town where our hotel is by the station it is still pretty nice.
This morning we started out by walking down to a part of town known as Christianshavn, a working class neighborhood. While we were there we temporarily left the European Union far a while to visit the Freetown of Christiana. This place is not for everyone, or more people for that matter. Back in the late 70s this area was an abandoned Danish military base that some squatters started to inhabit. Over time they set up their own commune separate from the Danish government. Since then there have been attempts to "normalize" the area, but the resident, which now number over 1000, have put up a resistance. In just the last few weeks there have been a few incursions by the local police that have been meet with violent protests and fire blockades from the residents. Walking though this area it felt very much like it was inhabited by artists and eccentric non-conformists. I wouldn't say it's my kind of thing, but I am glad that there is a place like this and I support their efforts to remain independent.
Next we took a harbor ferry over to the main part of the city and checked out an old fortification and current military post called the Kastellet. While we were there we also stumbled upon the top tourist attraction in Copenhagen, a little statue on the shoreline of The Little Mermaid from the story by Danish author Has Christian Andersen. It was very small, and I don't get while it was so special.
We walked back though the Amalienborg Palace, home of the royal family. We saw some of the guards doing there thing. This was also in the upscale part of town and there were lots of consulates there. We walked back though this street called Strøget, full of tourist shops and overpriced food. Every city we went to in Europe had some street like this, which looked like they just funnel all the tourists down it and get them to by a bunch of crap.
So after buying some stuff in stores we headed back to our hotel for a quick nap. In almost every city we have been in we have had a late afternoon nap to recharge our batteries from all the walking. Then we just headed out to a local restaurant for pizza and some beers at a bar and now we are just getting ready to head out in the morning. It has been a fun trip. We learned a lot this time around. The next time I come back to Europe I will do things a little different, but overall things went surprising as planned. The only changes usually ended up working out well anyway. Well, we will see everyone when we get home.
Copenhagen is a little different then I expected. I can tell that this is a very multicultural city. I understand that in recent years immigration has been at very high levels, and it shows. Copenhagen, which means "merchant's harbor", started as a Viking fishing village and started to grow in the 12 century. It has been consistently ranked as one of the best places to live, and somewhere I read that it has the happiest people in the world. I don't know about that, but it is a clean and well organized city. Even in the "bad" pat of town where our hotel is by the station it is still pretty nice.
This morning we started out by walking down to a part of town known as Christianshavn, a working class neighborhood. While we were there we temporarily left the European Union far a while to visit the Freetown of Christiana. This place is not for everyone, or more people for that matter. Back in the late 70s this area was an abandoned Danish military base that some squatters started to inhabit. Over time they set up their own commune separate from the Danish government. Since then there have been attempts to "normalize" the area, but the resident, which now number over 1000, have put up a resistance. In just the last few weeks there have been a few incursions by the local police that have been meet with violent protests and fire blockades from the residents. Walking though this area it felt very much like it was inhabited by artists and eccentric non-conformists. I wouldn't say it's my kind of thing, but I am glad that there is a place like this and I support their efforts to remain independent.
Next we took a harbor ferry over to the main part of the city and checked out an old fortification and current military post called the Kastellet. While we were there we also stumbled upon the top tourist attraction in Copenhagen, a little statue on the shoreline of The Little Mermaid from the story by Danish author Has Christian Andersen. It was very small, and I don't get while it was so special.
We walked back though the Amalienborg Palace, home of the royal family. We saw some of the guards doing there thing. This was also in the upscale part of town and there were lots of consulates there. We walked back though this street called Strøget, full of tourist shops and overpriced food. Every city we went to in Europe had some street like this, which looked like they just funnel all the tourists down it and get them to by a bunch of crap.
So after buying some stuff in stores we headed back to our hotel for a quick nap. In almost every city we have been in we have had a late afternoon nap to recharge our batteries from all the walking. Then we just headed out to a local restaurant for pizza and some beers at a bar and now we are just getting ready to head out in the morning. It has been a fun trip. We learned a lot this time around. The next time I come back to Europe I will do things a little different, but overall things went surprising as planned. The only changes usually ended up working out well anyway. Well, we will see everyone when we get home.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Frankfurt to Cologne
Alright being the car guy I am this was the highlight of my trip. Of course, besides all the beer cause I am a beer guy as well. We hopped on the autobahn again and headed up to Cologne Germany to experience everything it has to offer. Yeah that was cheesy. On the way we stopped by Nurburgring. This is a racetrack that is now used for public use. They used to use it to test new cars. It was nothing like I had expected. This was the real deal. For 19 Euros, you take your car on there and drive it as hard as you want. When we got there Mercedes was testing there brand new SLR Mclaren's. HOLY SHIT!! These cars about about $1 million bucks a pop. They were all over the place.
So we weren't able to drive until later on that evening. So we decided to get to Cologne and check into our hotel explore a little bit while we still had the car. So we got there and checked in. We then went to the Dom. This cathedral was spectacular.
After we were done there, we had to go back to Nurburgring and drive the track.
I got to take the BMW 525 on the race track. Guess Europcar never knew we'd put there car to the test. The tires were smoking after the first lap around the track. I will post a video of the lap around the track. What an amazing experience. I think I'm going to take up track racing now.
While racing around the track there was a porsche and a lamborghini that past me. This was the real deal. There were so many nice cars there. I think next time I'm coming back with my car.
From there, we drove back to Cologne letting the adrenaline die down. Because we had to come back this screwed up our plans a little bit. We had to end up taking the car back to the airport. We had no idea how we were going to get back to the hotel. We finally figured out partially how to get back halfway. The from there we walked.
The night in cologne was fairly mellow. We had to get up early to catch our train to Amsterdam.
So we weren't able to drive until later on that evening. So we decided to get to Cologne and check into our hotel explore a little bit while we still had the car. So we got there and checked in. We then went to the Dom. This cathedral was spectacular.
After we were done there, we had to go back to Nurburgring and drive the track.
I got to take the BMW 525 on the race track. Guess Europcar never knew we'd put there car to the test. The tires were smoking after the first lap around the track. I will post a video of the lap around the track. What an amazing experience. I think I'm going to take up track racing now.
While racing around the track there was a porsche and a lamborghini that past me. This was the real deal. There were so many nice cars there. I think next time I'm coming back with my car.
From there, we drove back to Cologne letting the adrenaline die down. Because we had to come back this screwed up our plans a little bit. We had to end up taking the car back to the airport. We had no idea how we were going to get back to the hotel. We finally figured out partially how to get back halfway. The from there we walked.
The night in cologne was fairly mellow. We had to get up early to catch our train to Amsterdam.
Amsterdam
We arrived in Amsterdam by train from Cologne yesterday. It was raining a little when we first arrived, but our hostel was close. I'm learning that whenever the hostel is close to the train station that also means it is right in the middle of the red light districts. Our hostel in Amsterdam is called St. Christopher's and it right in the middle of all this rather seedy stuff. When you are here you learn that a coffieshop is where they sell the marijuana, and the cafes sell the alcohol. I have been intrigued for some time about how The Netherlands manages to have soft drugs and legal prostitution and still have a functioning society. They look at it this way. If you accept that people are going to do it whether legal or not, why not make it at least safe? Thats exactly what they do. As we walked the streets, especially at night, we would see police on motorcycles, horse, and foot patrolling the streets every few minutes. But they are looking for drug dealers who sell hard drugs, and leaving the coffeeshops alone. I've never felt so safe because I knew the cops were out there to protect us and not hassle people just having a good time.
Amsterdam is not just all drugs and red light district. As we walked just a few blocks in almost any direction we would find nice homes on beautiful canal streets where people lived and were coming and going just like anywhere else.
In the morning we set out for the museum district on the south side of the town. The first place we stopped was the Heineken Experience, where they showed how beer is made. To me, it felt just like we were in one big beer commercial. On the up side though, they give you three free beers with the turn. Fisrt museum I've ever been to where they serve alcohol.
Next stop was the Vincent van Gogh Museum. I'm not really that knowledgeable about art, other than I know good stuff when I see it. I don't know if I came away liking Van Gogh or any of his contemporaries more when I left or not. I do know that the life of Van Gogh was compelling. I guess thats what adds to the mystique some of our greatest artist. I've included this video where I think Don McLean's song "Vincent" sums it up pretty nicely. And you can check out some of his great works.
Amsterdam is not just all drugs and red light district. As we walked just a few blocks in almost any direction we would find nice homes on beautiful canal streets where people lived and were coming and going just like anywhere else.
In the morning we set out for the museum district on the south side of the town. The first place we stopped was the Heineken Experience, where they showed how beer is made. To me, it felt just like we were in one big beer commercial. On the up side though, they give you three free beers with the turn. Fisrt museum I've ever been to where they serve alcohol.
Next stop was the Vincent van Gogh Museum. I'm not really that knowledgeable about art, other than I know good stuff when I see it. I don't know if I came away liking Van Gogh or any of his contemporaries more when I left or not. I do know that the life of Van Gogh was compelling. I guess thats what adds to the mystique some of our greatest artist. I've included this video where I think Don McLean's song "Vincent" sums it up pretty nicely. And you can check out some of his great works.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Prague
I know I'm behind but I'm trying to catch up. I need to write a little bit about my time in Prague. Prague was an awesome city. There was so much history in that city. From the cobble stone streets to the Prague castle. It was a much different setting than we were used to. Our hotel was very nice except for the fact that we had to use the internet down in the bar.
During the day, we ended up running into a couple guys we had met on the train from Munich to Prague. They too were in Munich for Oktoberfest. They are actually from Tijuana so we had something in common. So we ended up going out that night to a couple places to get some drinks.
We walked around the next day and got to see the whole city of Prague. We went to the museum of communism and saw the astronomical clock. We ended up meeting the TJ dudes again for some more drinks. While we were waiting I had a beer in the middle of the square.
On the morning we left Prague, we decided to get some Micky D's for breakfast. We were amazed at what came with the typical value meal.
I will post more later.
Anthony
During the day, we ended up running into a couple guys we had met on the train from Munich to Prague. They too were in Munich for Oktoberfest. They are actually from Tijuana so we had something in common. So we ended up going out that night to a couple places to get some drinks.
We walked around the next day and got to see the whole city of Prague. We went to the museum of communism and saw the astronomical clock. We ended up meeting the TJ dudes again for some more drinks. While we were waiting I had a beer in the middle of the square.
On the morning we left Prague, we decided to get some Micky D's for breakfast. We were amazed at what came with the typical value meal.
I will post more later.
Anthony
Berlin to Frankfurt via "The Autobahn"
I gotta say this was one of my highlights of this trip for those of you who know me. We picked up the BMW 525 yesterday morning in Berlin. What a sweet ride. We even had the voice activated navigation system to guide us everywhere. We hit quite a bit of traffic coming out of Berlin. This was not how I envisioned the autobahn. Once we finally got out of the mess, I finally got to open it up.
For such a big car it had some pick up. Not like my car of course. I was able to get it up to some friendly speeds though. You do the math conversion.
The countryside out here in Germany is amazing. Everything is so green and up in the hills you can see what looks to be rundown castles. There are still quite a few castles lingering around here in the countryside.
It just amazed me how fast these people drive. They just cruise down the autobahn doing 200 km/h like it's nothing. I LOVE IT! On the way we found some friends in another BMW and another guy in his Mercedes that wanted to have some fun. I will see if we can post the video. We had a little fun chasing each other down the autobahn. The Mercedes sounded like it was going to tear the road up. Needless to say the BMW's couldn't keep up.
Once we got here we sat down for a few minutes. It was about a four hour drive. We stopped in a little town on the way to get something to eat. We decided to go to an Irish pub a couple block's away. Got some food and a couple beers. Nick had coke also. We then walked around the city a little bit till we decided we are tired of walking.
For such a big car it had some pick up. Not like my car of course. I was able to get it up to some friendly speeds though. You do the math conversion.
The countryside out here in Germany is amazing. Everything is so green and up in the hills you can see what looks to be rundown castles. There are still quite a few castles lingering around here in the countryside.
It just amazed me how fast these people drive. They just cruise down the autobahn doing 200 km/h like it's nothing. I LOVE IT! On the way we found some friends in another BMW and another guy in his Mercedes that wanted to have some fun. I will see if we can post the video. We had a little fun chasing each other down the autobahn. The Mercedes sounded like it was going to tear the road up. Needless to say the BMW's couldn't keep up.
Once we got here we sat down for a few minutes. It was about a four hour drive. We stopped in a little town on the way to get something to eat. We decided to go to an Irish pub a couple block's away. Got some food and a couple beers. Nick had coke also. We then walked around the city a little bit till we decided we are tired of walking.
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