Spinning the Globe — Going from Vienna to Amsterdam
Hello followers! Last I left you we were in Hungary, sharing how Budapest wasn’t exactly as we’d expected. I don’t want to skip any of our journey, so let me share a word or two about each of the other European countries we spent time in during the past few months.
Vienna, Austria, is a sculpted masterpiece.
It’s as if the city streets themselves are a museum in Vienna. Details on the sculptures around the city are vibrant and create a story in your mind, capturing more than a stagnant moment. While here, Jason and I indulged in currywurst from street carts and ate apple strudel in memory of my dad. Viennese coffee has whipped cream on top, in case you wanted to know what indulgence tastes like. Nearly next to our hotel was a 50 tap craft beer bar that almost featured Flying Dog (they were out when we were there). While hanging by the bar we saw a guy wearing a Capitals sports team hat. Jason asked which sport the Capitals are and he said hockey. Fun! The US and Czech Republic seem to have the same idea for great team names. Ha! Travel magic.
Vienna has one of the oldest amusement parks in the world and, while we didn’t ride any rides or play any games, it was a treat just to walk through this treasure. It was made in the days of World’s Fairs. Why don’t we do those anymore? Le Sigh.
Other Viennese activities including strolling by Freud and Mozart’s homes and going to a museum completely dedicated to globes of the world. It We only stayed a few days, with an entire evening spent mulling over whether we leave our shitty Airbnb or not, but that just meant we got to have a beer at an adorable bar and played “Let’s learn English!” with our bartender. She said/motioned that she had something that would make us more comfortable. What it was, we weren’t sure, but when she finally brought it out for us we told her it was a “seat cushion”. She laughed, waved her hand, and said that wasn’t a word she’d be remembering. I don’t blame her, how often do you use the words “seat cushion”? She was adorable and the bar was Native American themed, so all was right in the world.
Krakow, Poland, is a craft beer lover’s haven.
Krakow is a city we weren’t sure about. We thought we’d have to choose between here and Vienna, but the stars aligned and we were able to go to both! Krakow has a booming craft beer scene that we absolutely did not expect. They love the microbrew culture far more than any other country we went to, minus possibly Belgium, but the feel here is different than there regardless. The town square in Krakow is the largest in Europe and, my goodness, if you want to feel like you’re in an old European city you get that fully there. We made it a point to have pierogies several times, but we never drank any Polish vodka. Probably better that way!
We met up a friend from home and had an amazing night with Craig while he was on his Eastern European tour. It was so nice to see a familiar face. Most people think you come to Krakow to jump off and go to Auschwitz. There’s so much more here than a concentration camp. It has multiple layers of history and beauty. Krakow is an underrated destination that I’d love to visit again.
Prague, Czech Republic, lives up to the hype.
This artsy, busy, quirky city still manages to be fairly affordable. Our Airbnb was the pinnacle of charming, although getting in the right room was an adventure! After a 6 hour train from Krakow we made our way through downtown to a tram that we just could not figure out how to purchase tickets for. That left us walking with our packs in the heat up a tall hill for miles until we found our apartment building. When we walked up a women who spoke only a few English words said, “Where are you from?” We said, “We have an Airbnb.” She said, “Follow” and took us to an indescribably small apartment that didn’t remind me of any reservation we’d made. After a few minutes I said to Jason, “This isn’t right! We have to find our host!” We connected to the apartment’s wifi and sent a quick message to our host who told me she was waiting outside. Great! We found her right away and checked into our perfect little abode. After learning the basics we devised a plan to get the keys to the other couple who must be wondering where their Airbnb host is. We walked out to the drive and, with perfect timing, a young British couple walks up looking for their apartment. I yelped, “Have we got a story for you!” and promptly showed them to their room. Jason and I were both a flutter with excitement, but neither of these two seemed to find the situation nearly as funny or entertaining as we did. Their loss! In the end everyone had what they paid for and we got a great travel story to share.
The thing I love most about Prague is it’s a tied layer cake. With the coming of every historical era, Prague stacked building after building firmly on top of itself, giving a literal depth to this city. Our Airbnb was situated very closely to a large park with beautiful vistas, a weird art museum, and a woodland gay bar. Looking back on places like this, it’s hard to believe they exist, that I got to see them, and that I’m not still there still today!
Berlin, Germany, is fresh.
Berlin is newer than many European cities and even newer than some in America. The sad truth is it was basically bombed to the ground during WWII. This tragedy laid the fodder for a progressive outcry and vibrant art scene. This was my second time in Germany, having went to Munich years ago, but first time in Berlin. Being in these places feels like going to separate countries. The contrast is like time traveling in some ways, as Munich wants to preserve that old world feel and Berlin couldn’t even if it tried. Even though it’s been proven wrong through ancestry reports, I grew up believing I had a deep German heritage. You can’t erase that thought from your childhood, or the memory of all those beer steins that lined your kitchen counters. Germany, now as much as ever, holds a special place in my heart. (We’re Norwegian, by the way!)
Being beer people, we did enjoy sampling the more traditional varieties of brews. German beer purity laws, Reinheitsgebot, are to be taken very seriously and have been existence since 1519. The law states that only water, barley and hops may be used to brew beer. How Berliner weiss (green beer above) came to be is another story. We didn’t find any big Munich style beer halls in Berlin, but we did find a few artsy spots and smaller breweries that tickled our fancy. Beer and BBQ, yes please!
Brussels, Belgium, means business.
Brussels is where the European Union is headquartered and the whole city seems to have an aura of seriousness. Stupidly, Belgium wasn’t originally on our list, but after mapping out our European route we thought we had to go and drink some of the world’s greatest beers. So, we split our time between here and the Netherlands and dug into Belgium brews, chocolate, waffles, and fries. We didn’t realize how many of our favorite foods originated from Belgium until we were there! The Belgium waffles, made on the street, available for 1 Euro with powered sugar, was one of the best desserts I will ever eat. Gooey on the inside, but perfectly crispy on the outside and just the right amount of sweetness. Belgium beers are known for their high alcohol content, so it’s good to stuff yourself with bread products before copious amounts of sampling. While in Belgium it rained and rained and so we rested up, ate frozen pizza, and enjoyed our quiet Airbnb, knowing we had days and days of nonstop travels ahead of us.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, is the best of Europe.
Friendly, free, liberal, artistic, stunning architecture, people powered transportation, quirky, green, vibrant… I could do this all day. I’m in love with Amsterdam. The first time I went to Amsterdam it was a fucking disaster. I will not share details, but I was not in a good headspace and I it resulted in me having a terrible time. Truthfully though, I knew Amsterdam was, for me, an oyster with a pearl waiting to be cracked open and revealed. It was the absolute must see place on Jason’s list for Europe and, honestly, it was on mine too. Cheers to the power of second chances!
Amsterdam doesn’t judge what you do. If you choose to spend your day relaxing in Vondelpark, watching the people go by and admiring an array of birds and peoples, you surely can. If you fancy finding a sex worker and doing drugs all day, no problem, that’s your choice. If you want to take a canal boat ride and skip the sinfulness entirely, than by all means, right this way. Engaging in professional business transactions? Carry on. The Dutch are a glorious folk who embody a live and let live mentality. We felt we could find a home here and craved more time in this enchanting place. But, just around the bend was an even more fulfilling place for a whole other reason…. Read about it in the next blog post; coming soon!
