Prague, Czech Republic

Prague is known as the Golden City of Europe and is one of Europe’s oldest cities. Prague is located in the region of Bohemia so of course to pay tribute to Bohemia the six of us decided to listen to Bohemian Rhapsody on our way to Prague. We arrived in Prague after taking a train from Munich to Nürnburg Germany and then took a bus the rest of the way to Prague. I was very impressed with the German Rail or Deutsche Bahn in that they have some of the nicest trains I have ever been on and they even serve their passangers complementary drinks and snacks, which is unheard of in Europe. Our bus to Prague was also run by the Deutsche Bahn and the bus was surprisingly nice as well. Prague was our only destination where we had not pre-booked sleeping accommodations so after arriving at the bus station we went to a tourist office where the lady told us the best way to stay in Prague is to stay in an apartment so that's what we did. Our landlords, Mr. Suk, was quite a character and spoke a million miles a minute. But our apartment was centrally located near the Old Town Square, had two bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. It was a pretty nice place although Mr. Suk insisted that we take the elevator up to our room rather than the stairs. The elevator could hold a max of three people and looked like it hadn’t been serviced since the 1980’s. But the best part was that we only had to pay €15 each for the night. The Czech Republic is a recent member of the European Union however they have not yet adopted the Euro as their currency. The Czech Republic is on the Czech Crown and it is about 17 Czech Crowns to $1 US dollar or about 25 Czech Crowns to €1 Euro. A kielbasa sausage in the Old Town Square was 50 Czech Crowns, which is only €2. So we were glad to be somewhere that was a bit cheaper and was not on the Euro. In the Czech Republic the people speak Czech which is similar to Polish. Seeing as how no one in our group knew any Czech we were lucky that most of the Czech people were able to speak English. While in Prague we saw all of the major sights including the Old Town Square, the Charles Bridge, The Prague Castle, several Cathedrals, the Jewish Quarter etc. Prague was a beautiful city where every building was at least 300 years old and seemed to have some historical importance. Even out apartment building was built in the 1600’s although it had been renovated. Prague is home to emperors and kings, artists and astronomers, this beautiful and fascinating city has worked its subtle magic on generations of visitors, and lent inspiration to musicians and writers from Mozart to Kafka.

A cathedral in the old town square where we spent most of our time eating the delicious street food.

Me in front of the famous astronomical clock in old town square. At the top of every hour the clock puts on a show and hundreds of people gather in the square to watch the spectacle.

The guys in front of the clock. The clock was built in the 1300's on the town hall.

The Vlatava River and the Parliment building in the background

The Charles Bridge which is probably the main tourist site in Prague. On the bridge or statues depicting certain religious scenes and scenes of specific events during the reign of King Charles.

A picture from the Charles Bridge overlooking the Prague Castle in the background. Prague Castle is one of the largest castles in Europe and the largest castle whereby a head of state still lives, The Czech President.

Another picture of the Prague Castle taken from the Charles Bridge

Winceslas Square which is like Prague's version of Time Square in New York City.

A group picture. Being that Prague is one of the oldest cities in the world we walked on the same coblestone streets as Royal Kings and Queens, Hitler and the Nazis, and the Communist Soviets.

As we were walking across the Charles Bridge we noticed that everone was touching this metal piece so I decided to touch it to. The golden statue I am touching is a dead man so hopefully it gives good luck rather than bad luck.

The changing of the guard at Prague Castle

St Vital's Cathedral. This was the first cathedral built in the Gothic style

Prague Castle

A view of Prague from the Prague Castle.

This is a picture of the night club we went to the night before. It is a five story night club and claims to be the biggest night club in Eastern Europe.

Another view of old town square. That evening before we caught our bus to berlin we went to a mass in the medieval looking church. The mass was completely in Czech.

We arrived in Prague on Saturady the 3rd at about 2:30pm and left the next evening at midnight for Berlin. We caught a 12:ooam bus to Berlin and arrived in Berlin at 5 in the morning. The Czech bus company that we travelled with was not quite up to paar with the German buses. So with that it was an interesting ride to Berlin seeing as how we almost got in a couple of car accidents and the bus driver would randomly pull of the autoway a drive into the countryside for about ten minutes and take 20 minute naps. But we made it there safely and we even arrived 20 minutes early.

München Deutschland - Munich Germany

THE goal I had for my entire abroad experience was to go to Germany and I successfully accomplished my goal. I absolutely love Germany and it is now my favorite country out of all the many countries I have been to in Europe. For this trip, I traveled from Cork to Munich Germany to do a bit of sightseeing and experience Oktoberfest then we made a pit stop in Prague in the Czech Republic to see one of the oldest cities in Europe and then we ended our trip in the capital city of Berlin. I went with five other people on this trip including my two roommates Matt and Ryan, my old USD lab partner Brittney, Victoria who I went to Amsterdam with, and Bryan one of our friends we meet in Cork from California. Luckily I had taken a bit of German back at USD so I was the lucky person that got to speak with all of the Germans that we had encountered while on the trip. With that I must say that I can understand the Germans better than I can reply.

MUNICH

Munich is the capital of Bavaria and one of the states in Germany. Bavaria is a very picturesque region backed up against the. While in Munich we saw the Altstadt (English for old town), the Residenz, the former palace of the Kings and Queens of Bavaria, the BMW headquarters and experience the two week festival, Oktoberfest. We traveled around Munich using the U-bahn, which is a subway system. We stayed at the German equivalent of a Marriott at the Mercure München. Although our accommodations were fairly cheap since all six of us shared one room. I was told by a friend back at USD who lives in central Germany that there were two cool cities in Europe Berlin and Munich so I had to make sure I went to both. Munich is a quintessential German city and one of the cleanest and most efficient places I have ever been too. I loved Munich, I loved the Bavarian people and I loved the culture. When I read about Munich I found that Munich is Bavaria’s real heart and soul. It’s a stylish metropolis, a vortex of art and culture, yet a relaxed place that manages to combine Alpine air with a Mediterranean vibe. Wherever you go, be prepared for oceans of beer served with legendary, thigh-slapping hospitality, and I completely agree!

OKTOBERFEST

One of the main reasons we went to Germany was to go to and celebrate Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is a 16-day festival held during the last weeks of September and the first few weeks of October and it is the world’s biggest fair. Oktoberfest celebrates Bavarian culture and Bavaria as a whole. Oktoberfest is comparable to a state fair where they have rides, good food, and different things to see. Nevertheless, the main focal point of the fest is approximately 20 massive tents sponsored by a certain Bavarian beer where they serve beer and Bavarian food. Since about six million people attend this event every year we thought we should get there fairly early to make sure we got a spot. So we arrived at about 8 in the morning and got in line for the tent that was most lively. We ended up at Hacker and Pschorr, which is one of the biggest tents and is know as the heaven of the Bavarians or Himmel der Bayern in German. We sat at a table with some Germans students that were studying in Hamburg in Northern Germany. We were at that tent from about 10 in the morning to about 5 at night. So after several hours of drinking we drunkenly decided to go to the BMW headquarters and then we returned to the same tent until Oktoberfest closed at 11pm. Oktoberfest was one of the most fun experiences I have ever had in my life. It was fun to meet new people, brink Bavarian beer and experience Bavarian culture. I most definitely want to make it back to Munich for another Oktoberfest in the future.

A statue in the mittestadt or city centre of Munich that pays tribute to King Ludwig von Bayern, who is the first King and founder of Bavaria.

The Glockenspiel in Marienplatz, which is the focal point of Munich and is at the center of the city. All Bavarian cities have a Glockenspiel in the center of the city.

Me at the Hofbrau Haus where we went to dinner for our first night in Munich.

Me and Brittney toasting at dinner. German food tends to be very heavy consisting of meat and potatoes. I had a huge piece of pork and some käsespetzel or cheese pasta and it was very good.

As soon as we arrived in Munich we went to the Marienplatz and Maximillianstraße to see the Altstadt. This picture is off me on Maximillianstraße, one of the main streets in Munich with the Glockenspiel in the background.

The Glockenspiel in the Marienplatz

This picture is a bit out of order but it is off the altstadt in Nürnburg where we transferred from a train to a bus on our way to Prague.

Brian, Vicoria, and I having our first beer at about 9:30 in the morning. Each stein contains 1 liter of beer and was €8.60.

A picture of our tent and as the day went on the tent got more full.

Our four German friends that we sat with. While there everyone sings traditional German songs and they love to hum a specific white stripes song. We also learned how to toast in German. You can either say Prost or Hau weg die Scheiße.

A german guy chugging a liter of beer. This man was on his second liter. Most of the people that come to Oktoberfest wear the traditional lederhosen

Victoria and I with our two German friends Christian and Jon.

Me in die BMW Welt or BMW world sitting in a 5 series

The main BMW headquarters. Being that I am obsessed with BMW I really wanted to go to the main BMW headquarters and the BMW museum and I did both! Since BMW is made in Bavaria and Mercedes is made in Baden-Wittemburg, the state next to Bavaria, there is somewhat of a rivalry between BMW and Mercedes. I was glad to be in Bavaria where people love BMW and loathe Mercedes.

Me and Matt back at Oktoberfest

When we returned to Oktoberfest we lost two of our travellers Brian and Ryan who decided to go back to the hotel to sleep.

After Oktoberfest we left back to the Hotel got a couple hours of shut eye and went directly to the train station in the morning where we left for Prague in the Czech Republic.

Amsterdam Netherlands - The LAST DAY

For our last full day in Amsterdam we got ready ate the breakfast provided by Bob’s, which is a piece of toast and a hard boiled egg, and then walked down to a bike rental shop and rented a couple of bikes. We had heard that it was easy to take the bikes and ride in the Dutch countryside, so that’s what we attempted to do. To get there you have to take a 10-minute ferry so that is what we did and ended up in a very small town. All we were told was to follow the canal for about 30 minutes and we would be in the countryside. But seeing as how there are numerous canals throughout the Netherlands we must have followed the wrong canal because we ended up in an area that was not the nicest so we decided to look around, take a couple pictures, and then head back to Amsterdam. One of the interesting things about the Netherlands is that there are two types of freeways, a freeway for cars, and a freeway for bikes so we potentially could have taken the path toward Rotterdam but that was a 4 hour ride so we forwent that experience. Once we were back in Amsterdam we rode the bikes around the different neighborhoods in the city. After about three hours we decided that we were done riding bikes so we went to return them, grab a bite to eat and then we decided to rent a paddleboat to go through the canals. The paddleboat was a lot of fun in that we got to see the city from a different perspective. Although I was the only one that could figure out how to drive the boat so I took the position as captain of the ship. After the boat ride we decided to walk back to the hostel rather than take the tram so we could check out the city. The short walk ended up taking about an hour seeing as how we got somewhat lost. After relaxing back at the Hostel we caught the tram from the Leidsenplein, a popular square, where we grabbed some food and a couple drinks and met some local Dutch people. A couple hours later we decided to head back to the hostel and get some sleep since we had to wake up early the next morning to catch our flight back to Cork.

Caitlin and I navigating the boat while Caitlin and John are in the back

A view of the canal from the boat

Out in the countryside/bad part of the Netherlands where we got lost trying to find the countryside.

Amsterdam Netherlands - Day 2

While in Amsterdam we thought it was important to check out some museums seeing as how we went on the Heritage Weekend where most of Amsterdam’s national monuments were free to see. So we headed to the Museumplein where we took a couple pictures in the park with the iconic I AMsterdam statue and then headed for the Van Gogh Museum. We spent a couple hours in the museum checking out over 200 of Van Gogh’s works. Overall I have never really been interested in art but I actually did like seeing some of Van Gogh’s pieces. Unfortunately all of the museums did not allow any pictures so I don’t have any pictures of any of the museums I visited. After the Van Gogh Museum we walked over to the Heineken factory, but after arriving we found that the tour was a bit more than we wanted to spend so we just check out the gift shop. At this time everyone was getting hungry so we headed over to the Albertcyprt street market and got a bite to eat. Once we finished checking out the outdoor market we headed for the Rijksmuseum. The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands. I enjoyed this museum the most because I got to learn a bit about Dutch history. I was unaware how large the Dutch empire actually was back in the day. They were actually the first to colonize India even before the Brits. We also got to see a couple of Rembrandt’s artworks too. Since we are in Europe and there are really old churches everywhere in Europe we almost had to go see a couple of Churches so we checked out the Neuwe Kerk next to Dam Square. Seeing as how we spent the entire day looking at and learning about Dutch history and culture we thought we should check out a traditional Dutch restaurant. So we went back the Prinsengraht district to an area known as the Niners and found a restaurant that was packed with Dutch people and knew that this place was probably a good spot to grab a bite to eat. My meal at the Dutch restaurant was one of the best meals I have had so far in Europe. After we stuffed ourselves with food we headed back to Bob’s Youth Hostel and played some cards with a couple of the other people staying at the Hostel. But on our way back we ran into a Dutch rock concert so we hung out there for a while before heading back to the hostel.

The awesome resteraunt where we ate the traditional Dutch food.

The iconic I AMsterdam stature

In the back is the Rijksmuseum which is the Netherlands national museum but unfortunatly they were cleaning the old building so it was covered with scaffolding.

Me stuffing myself with some good Dutch food.

The Neuwe Kerk, or New Church, which is not that new seeing as how it was built in the 1800's

The Albertcyprt Market

Amsterdam, Netherlands

I noticed that I didn’t mention whom I went on this exciting adventure with. So I ventured to Amsterdam with three other people from my early start class. I went with two girls that I go to USD with, Caitlin and Victoria, and a guy from New York state, John O’Keffe. Unfortunately my roommates, Matt and Ryan, couldn’t make it because they had their class field trip for there early start class. After dinner the four of us decided it was time to check out the night scene in Amsterdam. So as any tourist would do at night time in Amsterdam we decided to check out the Red Light District, or De Wallen as the Dutch call it. The Red Light District is an area in Amsterdam where prostitution is legal. The Netherlands tends to be a very liberal area compared to the US and a lot of things that are illegal in the US are legal in the Netherlands. Although I was very surprised as we toured the area. The district is in a very nice part of the city where the canals are lit with red LED lights and red lamps adorn the buildings on the streets. Surprisingly the district was filled with tourists, young and old, who were checking out the area. So within each building are glass doors outlined with red lights and on the other side of each door is a women dressed in lingerie. Overall I was shocked and surprised that the Dutch don’t frown upon it but rather simply consider it as part of their culture. I also realized that prostitution tends to happen in every city the only difference is that Dutch prostitution is legal. So after our wild adventure through the infamous Red Light District we decided to head back for Bob’s but on the way we stopped at a konditeri, pastry shop, where I had the best piece of Apple Pie to end a great first day in the Netherlands.

A building in the Red Light District where the women strut their stuff in attempts to get a customer.

The Red Light District

The Dutch Konditeri where I had the best Apple Pie

Victoria and Catilin are two of the people that I travelled to the Netherlands with

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Once upon a rainy day in Cork I was sitting in class contemplating life when I decided it was time that I begin to see another part of the world. So I went back to the apartment and found an 80 euros roundtrip ticket from Cork to Amsterdam. Of course I couldn’t let that deal go to waste so I found 4 people from my early start class to go with me and we booked it. A couple days later I found myself on a plane headed for the Netherlands. We left at 6:30 on September 11th and arrived in Amsterdam at around 9. After arriving in Amsterdam we went straight to the hostel to check in. Since I initiated the trip I sort of designated myself as the tour guide, so I was in charge of figuring out what to do, where to stay, and how we would get around. From what I have heard hostels tended to be very dirty, kind of dumpy, and typically have some weird people staying there. My assumptions were completely correct but all in all my hostel experience was not bad at all and I would most definitely do it again. Thus, we ended up at Bob’s Youth Hostel located only 5 minutes from Dam Square, the main square where the Queen of the Netherlands lives in the Nieuwe Zijds Kolk area. After checking in with Bob we headed up to room A, a 15-bed room and settled in. The room was decorated with an interesting painting of an Arabic man who was saying something although it was written in Arabic so I couldn’t read it. Since we began our day at 4 in the morning and had a late concert to go the night before we decided to take a nap. After napping for a while we bought an unlimited tram pass for the duration of our stay and hopped on the tram for the Westerkerk, the area where Anne Frank hid during World War II and the Holocaust. We were able to actually walk through the building and the annex where the Frank family hid. Anne Frank and her family hid in an annex in the top of her father’s company warehouse building. Overall I thought the Anne Frank house was a very humbling experience and it helped me to understand the situations and conditions that Jewish people had to undergo during that period. Since I had read the Dairy of Anne Frank in the 8^th grade I knew a bit about the situation however actually visiting the house helped me to reflect on the horrors of our past. After touring the Anne Frank House we walked around the Prinsengracht, a very picturesque and typical neighborhood in Amsterdam where the Anne Frank House is located. We then caught the tram to Dam Square where we looked around at all the sights in that area. After checking out the square and hitting up Albert Heijn, a Dutch grocery store, for some toiletries and water we then went to grab a bite to eat. Since Holland has a large population of Indonesian people we decided to try some Indonesian food. The food was very good, however like most places in the Netherlands they would not give out free water they would make us pay for it, just an annoying fact.

Bob's Youth Hostel

Me sitting on my bed with Bob's Blankets.

Bob's advertises its hostel as having some of the best blankets in the Netherlands.

The neverending steep stairwell

The wall decoration in our room at Bob's Youth Hostel

Our Room

Caitlin and I sitting by the canal in the Presengracht

The Westerkerk

A church next to the Anne Frank House

Me in the GVB or Tram

The Royal Palace in Dam Square

Unfortunately most of the palace was being refurbished so the Queen was at her other palace.

The building that Anne Frank and her family hid in during the war.

The Prisengraght Canal

I think this was one of my favorite areas. Its very picturesque and a typical Amsterdam neighborhood.