Amsterdam good time

Well, our Amsterdam weekend proved to be quite enjoyable, though we have definitely decided that we are now too old for hostels. Sleeping in a room full of bunkbeds with 12 other guys and 2 other girls is just not my cup of tea. It was, however, quite beautiful, as the weather happily cooperated the first two days (but man was it freezing on Monday!). Believe it or not, Amsterdam actually has more canals than Venice. When we first arrived we noticed a huge bike parking garage right outside of the train station - apparently there are just as many bikes in the Netherlands as there are people.

We did a lot of walking around, sight seeing, museum visiting, and of course eating. We found a great little lunch bar called the Soup Kitchen - perfect on a chilly day. This is a photo in front of the skinniest house in Amsterdam - only 2.02m wide and 6m deep, which means that there are about 12 square m per floor! Where do you suppose they put the stairs?

While there we also met up with our friend Amit, who is in the Netherlands just south of Amsterdam doing some research on regrowing bones and cartilage. It was really great to see a familiar face. Additionally, we were lucky enough to catch the arrival of Sinterklaas (who looks more like an old Pope, instead of our fatter grown-up-elf-like Santa Claus). The way we understood it from the locals (who all thankfully speak English, as Dutch is quite the unfamiliar territory) he arrives on a boat from Spain with all of his helpers (so called 'Black Petes' - read the Sinterklaas link to find out more about them). There was a big parade, with lots of small gingerbread cookies being passed out along the parade route. Cooooooo-kies.....

A few more Berlin shots

Here are a few more shots from Berlin. We visited the Reichstag when Kyle arrived - it was really cold and drizzly, with long lines, but pretty worth it. The Reichstag has played an important part in German history (Hitler used the burning of the structure as one of his stepping stones to power), it was therefore quite serious when the seat of German government moved back to the Reichstag in Berlin. Norman Foster did the addition/rediesign with a glass dome that really and symbolically overlooks the floor where the politicians gather, allowing the general public to be able to literally watch over those in power.

We also of course hit the Potsdamer Platz.

And walking around, the TV Tower in East Berlin was pretty much always present. It was built by the East German government during the Cold War to prove their might, but ended up as somewhat of a joke, as when the sun reflects off of it a cross appears - not exactly what they were aiming for. This photo was taken outside of one of the big department stores a few minutes before 10 - everyone was eagerly waiting outside for the doors to open and the shopping day to begin. Commercialism has definitely arrived with full fource in Berlin.

Bye-Bye Berlin

Well, we had a really great time in Berlin. Staying in East Berlin was definitely interesting. As Rick Steves says 'Graffiti is just their way of saying hello!' There was a noticeable difference visually between East and West Berlin, but all in all Berlin is just a big city. Coming back home makes Munich feel like a small town. Unfortunately, I did manage to lose my sketchbook while I was there - I tried really hard to explain to the people at the photography museum in my extremely broken German that 'Yesterday I had a bag with a paper book and 5 pen. Today I have not a bag' but, alas, no luck - a real bummer. Before Kyle arrived I visited several museums including the Bauhaus Archive Museum which was really good to see. They're actually planning on majorly expanding in 2010. Berlin is definitely in a building boom!
We visited the Jewish History Museum which was designed by Libeskind, the architect who won the original site plan for the World Trade Center site (which has been much changed since his original plans, and not necessarily for the better). The photo above is of the stairway.
We also visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The information center below the site was quite moving and sobering as they had many personal family accounts representing what had happened. The photo below is of Kyle in the Memorial - it can be quite disorienting when you're walking on an uneven surface among all of the stelae, some quite tall.
We also visited this wonderful chocolate shop that has over 250 kinds of chocolate truffles, pralines, and other assorted yummies. I had a really hard time deciding which few to get. And those that I did buy didn't last long!
Meanwhile, Christmas season has started to appear in Berlin. In Potsdamer Platz there was a huge artifical snow hill which we slid down on innertubes, with some tasty gluhwein (spiced warm wine perfect for the holidays) at the bottom of the hill. Though I was hesatint to go up at first, it was quite fun!

Berlin!

In Berlin right now, and its pretty great. I've been doing museums non-stop for the past couple of days, but now Kyle arrives so we can hit some more touristy stuff. My first stop here was Checkpoint Charlie, which was pretty amazing. So ridiculous that even in 1988 people were trying some pretty far-out tactics to escape East Berlin. We're staying in East Berlin, and there's definitely a visual difference between the two sides of the city. It is good, though, to get a different feel of Germany from Munich. Munich is the typical German city that comes to mind, while Berlin is a Big City.
We'll post photos later!

more SNOW!!!

Yup, that's right. Today is our second day of snow! This morning it was really coming down quite heavy, which was very exciting. It was perfect for schneeballs (though we didn't make any)! Looks like this weekend we won't be making it to the Augistiner after all - sooooo cold here! And, I've decided some sort of warm/semi-waterproof boots will be needed. Time to start browsing...