Easter in Eastern Europe: Prague and Berlin: Thur. April 9-Sun. April 12, 2009

One of my favorite things about the University of Maastricht is the schedule. Having a two week holiday break in between my two blocks of classes was definitely nice. My trip to London was rescheduled, but I was able to stay in Maastricht for more than a week and it was amazing. The weather was beautiful- I saw a blue sky (extremely rare in a Dutch spring) and it was about 70 degrees outside. And I heard that it was snowing in Indiana…haha.

I wandered around the city and just enjoyed the weather. The tourists started to come out and play and the city center of Maastricht seemed to come to life. It was nice having no obligations, only to plan my Easter weekend trip to Prague and Berlin. It was going to be a long train, but I was anxious to meet Eastern Europe.

So Michelle and I left on the 9:01 bus to Aachen (it costs double to ride this bus before 9 AM) to start our 12+ hour journey to the Czech Republic. Luckily, we had train reservations on the busy Easter trains or else we would have had to stand for a very long time. I started reading the Twilight series, and I have to admit, I am intrigued. The trains (all 5 of them) went quickly with the help of my book and watching Sex and the City on my laptop. Before I knew it, we were in Prague!

We arrived at the Holesovice train station (across the river from the main town areas) at 9:00 pm, but it seemed like everyone on our train was going to the same place so we worked together. We first had to get money…I took out $1000….in Czech crowns that is. The money situation is crazy! 800 Czech crowns for a night in the hostel (actually only 12 euro and the best deal ever)! We had to make change in order to buy metro tickets, but never fear…there was a McDonalds with McFlurries! The really nice Czech policemen that were stationed in the metro showed us where to go and were extremely nice.

We made it to our hostel within the half hour and czeched in (haha..I had to do it somewhere!). We stayed in the New Town (which is not as popular as the Old Town), but there was a bridge within 5 minutes walking, so it was great. We dumped off our stuff, and headed out to try some great Czech beer. We were advised to go to a little pub around the corner, so we did and had a few really tasty Budvaar beers.

The next day (Friday), we got up early (9 AM haha) so we could explore all of Prague in our one day. Now, if I have learned anything about my travels abroad it is that the world is a very small place my friends. While I was eating breakfast in the hostel kitchen, I met a girl who went to IU (she asked about my Phi Tau Cycling t-shirt), and I guy who goes to Earlham. It is crazy all the people I meet from home!

We headed across the bridge to the Old Town. Prague was beautiful! It was hot! Not warm, but hot! There are parks everywhere and the streets are so charming and old. We explored the Mala Strana area which is the shop-filled streets below the Prague Castle, and then headed up the climb to the Castle. On the way, we saw the beautiful St. Nicholas's church, and took a million pictures of the cute houses and buildings.

When we finally made it up to the Castle, there were so many people crowded around the entrance because the changing of the guard was beginning! What great timing! After the guards where done, we went inside the castle and explored. We went inside the beautiful St. Vitus Cathedral inside the castle walls, and I saw sunlight pouring through stained glass for the first time! Every other time I have been in a cool old church, it has been gloomy and cold outside which means that the inside of the church is cold and gloomy. St. Vitus's was everything but cold and gloomy. It was beautiful!

After leaving the castle, we took the famous Old Castle Steps down to the Mala Strana and saw some pretty amazing views of the city. Prague was much more beautiful and majestic than I had expected and I am so glad I decided to actually travel there!

For the rest of the day, we walked around the Old Town and across the Charles bridge to King Wenceslas Plaza to shop and grab dinner. Unfortunately, the exchange rate on clothing is the only thing that sucks in the Czech Republic…it is worse than the euro, but this was probably a good thing. We ended up going back to the same bar that night and met some nice Czech guys who "wanted to practice their English". They were harmless and later that night, two Chicagoans showed up at the bar too. Prague was awesome, but I was excited to go to Berlin the next day.

So we got up on Saturday super early to catch our train to Berlin (it is soooo much cheaper to travel at 6 AM on Saturday mornings)! We got a cab to the train station, and the cabbie was really nice and it was dirt cheap (I think about 2 dollars each for a 15 minute cab ride). We had a compartment to ourselves in the train which was really nice so we slept/watched movies.

We arrived in Berlin at around 11 AM, and let me just say that if someone else does it well, the Germans do it better. The Berlin central train station is like the Mecca of all train stations; better than most modern airports with 4 or 5 levels of track going every which way. It was hard for Michelle to figure out what to do next because there are just so many options of public transportation—the U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams, buses, trains, ect… We were staying in the Friedrichshaun area just right outside the city center in the U Inn Berlin…haha (you can't make this up)! Our hostel was so nice and the people who worked at the front desk were amazing. One girl called the Catholic church in the neighborhood to make sure they were having Easter Mass for Michelle!

We checked in quickly to our hostel because we wanted to make the 1 PM free walking tour. We ran around the city center trying to figure out how to get there, but we made the tour! Success! The walking tour which is run by New Europe was great! Our Australian guide, Paul, knew so much about Berlin and its history throughout the wars. We started out at Michael Jackson's baby-dangling hotel because that is where every tour should begin and then moved on to the Brandenberg Gate. We then crossed under the gate and over to West Berlin and saw the Tiergarten and Reichstag. Then we headed over to the thought-provoking Holocaust Memorial and then to the site where Hitler's bunker was. There is a nice apartment complex right behind the bunker and there is only a small sign marking the spot. The site was never meant to be a memorial or shrine (which makes total sense), but Berliners were forced to put up a sign to keep tourists from knocking on people's doors. The site is completely underwhelming (a parking lot) and that is exactly how it should remain.

We then headed over to the Bundestag and the old Gestapo and SS Headquarters. We saw the old Communist government building and the memorial to all of the people who lost their lives during the Communist rule. Then we saw the wall, or at least a very small stretch of the wall that still stands. The wall is also very underwhelming. Not as tall as I expected and all of the barbed wire and scary stuff has been removed since the fall. It is amazing how extensive and intense this wall must have been back during the Cold War.

Paul told us about the American presence in West Berlin and took us to Checkpoint Charlie- the third checkpoint (hence C-Charlie) to enter East Berlin from the West. It is very touristy now and they even have Snackpoint Charlie to go with it..haha.

We then made it back to the main street, Unter den Linden, and walked towards Museum Island. We saw the University Plaza where the books were burnt during Hitler's power. The University library now sells books outside every day. Then we walked onto Museum Island and finished our tour in front of the beautiful Berliner Dom. There is a beautiful grassy plaza in front of the Dom where Michelle and I probably laid out for about 4 hours between the two days we were in Berlin.

After relaxing, I bought some Birkenstocks and we headed back to our nice, quiet neighborhood to get dinner and drinks. We found a great little café and had great food and really cheap Berliner beer. Berlin is known for their inexpensive dining (they are still trying to get people to move there) and we took full advantage of it! We grabbed some tasty cocktails at a bar and then called it a night. We met our roommates, who were both very nice and American, and went to bed.

The next day, Michelle went to Easter Mass and I slept in (I am terrible I know, but I promise I will go to church this summer). Then we took the U-Bahn back into the city for Day 2 of Berlin. We took pictures everywhere and then got in line to climb the Reichstag. The Reichstag is the government building in Berlin that Hitler burnt down right when he took office. They rebuilt the dome in glass and the Germans say that is because now the government can look up and see who governs Germany..the people. The Reichstag had beautiful views of the city, and I made sure I got as many pictures with the German flag as I could.

After the Reichstag, I headed to the Pergamum Museum while Michelle laid out in front fo the Berliner Dom. The Pergamum Museum is home to the Pergamum altar (imagine that), the Gates of Mylitus, and the Gates of Babylon. It was so cool! This museum is pretty much huge empty rooms with these gigantic structures…very cool. I then met Michelle and hung out there for a little while and then went back to the hostel. We grabbed dinner and then headed to the train station for our 12:30 at night train home.

Our train was a little late, and then we met our drunk friend from Dortmund. Everyone in our car spoke English except for the drunk German mad who kept burping beer smell (gross) and drooling on Michelle (funny but gross). When we made it to Dortmund (a stop on the way), the two Dutch who were sitting by the window flew open the curtain and screamed "Dortmund! Time for you to get off!". It was hilarious. Our friend left and our whole car couldn't stop laughing. We then spent the last 2 hours on the train getting to know each other. It was the best train I had been on, but I didn't have to sit next to Mr. Dortmund. The trip was a lot of fun and surprisingly very cool!

Love and Miss you all! Tot ziens!

Betsy