London Times

Today was a touristy day in London. Although the Ride London bike race had lots of streets and sidewalks closed, we still managed to see the highlights:

Picadilly Circus

St. James Palace

"Look kids! Big Ben! Parliament!"

Westminster Abbey

Buckingham Palace

OF COURSE it rained. Torrential downpours have been the theme of my European summer:

After dinner we headed back to begin the difficult task of packing to fly home tomorrow. I'm excited to see my friends and family, but the end of my trip is definitely bittersweet. I know I'll be back to London and after this month I have a laundry list of new regions I want to explore!

Jolly Old London

Arriving back to London was bittersweet. I can't believe how fast my tour has gone! We ate dinner and collapsed into bed, exhausted from the travel day. 

The next morning we checked into the Radisson hotel in Covent Garden and set out for an afternoon in Camden. 

Camden is an area that is famous for it's river locks and it's incredible markets. First we strolled along the river checking out the old lock system:

Then we headed into the winding walkways of the food and artisan markets. The markets were awesome. We spent several hours wandering around and didn't come close to seeing everything. 

After leaving the markets we stopped back at the hotel to get ready for Mamma Mia in the West End! The show was incredible! 

Still singing the songs, we stopped at a pub for a few local beers before finishing the night at a late-night jazz club. Tomorrow- the tourist sites!

Brugges, Belgium

We left Amsterdam for the final leg of our trip back to London. Our day stop was in the quaint city of Brugges, Belgium. This country is known for beer, waffles, and chocolate. The city square was adorable and is the site of world famous Christmas markets. 

I'm definitely interested in seeing more of Belgium. Time to make our final journey to Calais where we will catch the ferry back to jolly old England!!

Hello Holland!

We left Berlin early and set out for The Netherlands! On our way to Amsterdam we stopped at a farm for a cheese and clog making demonstration. They were making and aging Gouda and it was delicious. Then we got to see a pair of clogs carved:

Then it was off to the city! Amsterdam is beautiful. The buildings and canals reminded me of Venice and the people were really friendly. We saw an interesting show and toured the red light district....

On the free day we started with a brief bike tour. checked out the Anne Frank house:

Unfortunately we couldn't go in because the wait was 4 hours...

Amsterdam is a fun city to walk around and explore. It's a hipsters paradise and reminded me a little of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. We explored the beautiful floating flower markets:

And came across a man with a very interesting job:

The canals have no railings so bikes, cars, and people are always falling in. Our bike guide said about three cars a month are lost! This claw boat was pulling out stacks of bikes, shopping carts, and other junk. 

Later that evening we had dinner and boarded a private canal cruise for our farewell night.

Artsy Berlin

The free day in Berlin was packed with touring the sites. Even though many places that I was hoping to see actually don't really exist anymore, Berlin was an interesting city to walk around. We went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe which consisted of a large area filled with concrete blocks of all different sizes. 

Walking through the blocks was an interesting experience. Inside you feel very isolated and can hear the echos of voices and your own amplified footsteps. 

After the memorial we took the short walk over to the Brandonburg Gate. 

The Brandonburg Gate was once the gateway to the city. It's an important symbol of the city. When they built the Berlin Wall, the gate was so important that no side should get to have it. Therefore, they built the walls on either side and left the gate in the "death strip"- the space between the walls. Nobody passed under the gate for 30 years. When the wall came down the mayor from the east and the mayor from the west shook hands under the gate as a sign of unity. 

Directly across from the gate was this familiar looking hotel:

It's the site of the Michael Jackson baby dangling incident! 

Not far from the gate is the Topography of Terrors which is a display of the Nazi occupation of Poland and their plans to wipe Warsaw and other cities off the map. 

Also in this area is the last remaining piece of the Berlin Wall. 

East Berlin has a couple Soviet-era items that have developed a cult-like following. One is the crosswalk lights: Ampleman

The other is the Trabi car:

TheTrabi car was the only car available to people in communist East Berlin. The waiting list for the cars was so long that when people finally got them they were typically meticulously maintained. You can see them throughout the city in use or for rent. 

We caught the subway down to the East Side Gallery which is a reconstructed piece of the Berlin Wall that artists have turned into huge murals. The murals depict ideas of unity and peace. 

Everywhere you turn in Berlin you see evidence of their grunge art culture in graffiti and murals:

I'm not sure that I need to return, but Berlin was certainly a unique and interesting city. 

Off to Berlin!

We got an early start today and on the way to Berlin we were able to stop in Dresden for lunch. Dresden, as a city once inhabited by a senator of the Hapsburg empire, is a beautiful little riverside city. It's most well known as being the site of the worst civilian bombing of World War II. More than 80% of the city was destroyed. The people rebuilt the city and purposefully used as much of the original materials as possible. Because of this, the black smoke damage is prominent on many of the buildings:

After lunch we got back on the coach for the rest if the journey to Berlin. When we reached the city we went on a brief driving tour that included a drive past some of the major sites and a stop at a memorial erected by the soviets at the end of WWII.

The soviets built these memorials throughout parts of Europe, but this is the last one that still has their infamous sickle and hammer symbol:

After the driving tour we settled into the hotel and set out for some dinner. We found a traditional German restaurant for some wurst and weinerschnitzel- not an easy feat in this city!! Berlin as a city is modern and typical. Because of their turbulent history, the historic sites you hope to see have mostly been destroyed or torn down. For example, here is the Nazi S.S. Headquarters used throughout WWII: 

Pretty sweet... At all of these "sites" they have placed plaques telling you what used to be there and the significance. It's interesting, but not exactly what I had imagined. The buildings are, in a word, hideous. Stemming from their communist era, everyone got the same type of housing and buildings were made cheaply and quickly. As a result, you get an entire city of this:

It's also difficult to find anything that you would classify as typically german. They have a huge Asian and middle eastern influence and we passed about 50 Thai, Vietnamese, and Indian restaurants before finding a touristy German place. 

After dinner and drinks, we wandered back to the hotel. On the way back we stopped at Checkpoint Charlie: 

Crossed back and forth over the Berlin Wall: 

And checked out Europe's first traffic light: 

Then it was off to bed!