There is a 75% chance of great sights.

First: The altar at The Church of Our Lady
Second: Cihan The Magnificent amazes throughout the night (He didn't ever refer to himself as Cihan The Magnificent, that was creative licensing by us)
Third: A view inside the fortress.
Fourth: A view of the Dresden "skyline" from the beer garden across the river.

As we bid adieu to Berlin, we quickly set our sights on the historic city of Dresden. During the WWII bombings, the allies managed to take down nearly 75% of the entire city. Rather than start anew, it was decided that the city would be rebuilt to mimic what it once was, as many of the buildings that were destroyed maintained elements from the 17th century. We stayed in the Neustadt, which is essentially the younger and more hip side. Upon crossing the bridge to the Aldstadt it really is easy to be fooled into believing you are looking at 400 year old buildings, rather than 60 year old re-creations. It is also kind of funny to see what amounts to a South Coast Plaza styled shopping experience throughout the various squares. The most famous building, The Church of Our Lady, was rebuilt with an astounding altar that spanned the height of the church. We were also able to tour the well-preserved remains of the 13th century fortress and castle that was once the center of rule for all of Lower Saxony.

On the social side of things, we ran into the typical cast of characters, a few Canadians, a few Americans, but this time the group included an unassuming Turkish expat named Cihan. This guy has essentially lived all over the world and in varying degrees was able to communicate in 10 different languages, but the most important of his languages in our eyes was the language of MAGIC!!! When he first told us he was going to do a magic trick for us, it conjured images of an 11-year-old boy with a magic handkerchief, we didn't expect much. But after 2 hours of begging him to do more tricks, we were sold on his sleight of hand abilities. The best part about it was that he wasn't trying to fool anyone, he didn't try to tell us he had magic ability, it was solely about a lot of practice and mastery of sleight of hand, he even showed us how to do some of the tricks.

Dresden was a very neat city, and quaint enough to be a nice stop between the bigger cities of Berlin and Prague.

Mark and Kaylin

From The SS to the fall of the wall…and oh yeah, ping-pong.

First: Beer garden before it was overrun.

Second: The haunting entrance to the roll call area of Sachsenhausen, translates to "Work Makes You Free".

Third: A picture set up by our guide, I was repping the West side of the wall, while a New Yorker was repping the East.

Fourth: The semi-destroyed church.

Berlin, a city of incredible modern historical significance, and a city in which we deemed our visit was too short-lived. Our first night landed on the Germany v. Portugal quarterfinal, which made the viewing all the more significant. We watched the game in the oldest beer garden in the city with a crowd of painted German fanatics, some hearty bratwurst and a lager mixed with Sprite (definitely a German thing, drinkable but not recommended). It was crazy to see the reactions of the locals as Germany unexpectedly took down the Portuguese. The next morning we awoke to visit one of the first concentration camps in Germany. Sachsenhausen camp was an incredibly eye-opening/surreal experience. It’s one thing to learn about the atrocities in school, but to actually see the sights and relics was intense beyond description. We went to bed that night to the seemingly endless sound of horns honking in celebration of Turkey making it to the semi-finals of Euro Cup (Berlin has the 4th largest Turkish population of any city in Europe). The next morning we set off on a free walking tour of the city led by a Welshman named Barnaby. This was an amazing experience as we were treated to all of the history, both bad and good by a guide with a Master’s Degree in 20th Century Political History. From all of the amazing buildings, to the Berlin Wall, to Hitler’s bunker/place of death all with detailed and fun explanations, we definitely got more than we paid for. That night, we were treated to one of the, well, most odd experiences of our trip so far. On a recommendation, we visited a bar called Dr. Pong. Picture 30 people surrounding a ping-pong table, paddles in hand, rotating counter-clockwise around the table playing a match of ping-pong. People stepped down when they failed to return a shot, so as the numbers dwindled the pace of the game shot up until it came down to two, wherein a normal game was played to 7. Some of these players were absolutely fierce, and this became apparent when it came down to the final group. On our last day, Kaylin was determined for us to fill in all of the blanks we had yet tackled from our travel guide. A few synagogues, the Jewish Museum, a Berlin Wall Museum with the most well preserved length of the wall (including the death strip), a climb up the parliament building with a breathtaking view of the skyline and finally a dusk-time (10pm) visit to a cathedral that had been hit by allied bombs during the war but was not repaired as a reminder of the war itself. At the end of our stay, we sadly bid auf wiedersehen to the wonderful city of Berlin.

Mark and Kaylin

Big Bad Amsterdam And Our Journey Into Germany

So we finally bid farewell to Belgium and made our way into the infamous city of Amsterdam. The city was awash in a sea of orange to commemorate the Netherlands participation (and so far domination) of Euro Cup 2008. We toured the Van Gogh museum, and while Starry Night is currently in New York, there was no shortage of great works as well as a well-displayed bio of the artist as we went along. We also got to take a stroll through the beautiful Vondelpark, with the comic highlight being the numerous dogs we saw swimming through the less than pristine ponds. From there, we headed for the historic Anne Frank House, which is a surreal experience even if you’ve been there previously. Last but not least was the obligatory jaunt through the red light district after the sun goes down, and all I can say is that we found the Best Western. All in all, Amsterdam is a wonderful city, especially if you have the time to really hoof it and see everything it has to offer.

Following our brief stay in Amsterdam, we crossed into Germany for a quick stay in the city of Bremen. Bremen is most well known for being the birthplace of Beck’s beer, which is readily apparent as there are Beck’s signs affixed to every restaurant and café. We did actually make the effort to visit the brewery, only to learn upon arrival that it is only open to the public two days a week, both days not falling within our visit. Looking beyond that though are a few very neat attractions. The first is St. Peter’s Cathedral, which is approximately 1,200 years old and can be seen from every part of the city. Next is the Aldstat or old town, which is a small network of very narrow streets that used to comprise the heart of the city, definitely a bit of a time warp feeling. Berlin is next and we are extremely excited (actually we are already in Berlin, but don’t want to write about it until we are done).

Mark and Kaylin

P.S. – German supermarkets are very similar in nature to 99 cent stores.

Antwerp and the pleasant surprise.

Pictures (top to bottom): 800 year old fortress, our Antwerp buddy Jasper dancing, a picture of the two of us through the canvas of a modern art piece. 

Early on, Antwerp was viewed by us as the calm before the storm before heading to Amsterdam. This proved to be true early on, as we focused a bit more on the sites. This included an 800 year old fortress, a massive cathedral that took over 200 years to build and a modern art museum that had an amazing exhibit being showcased. We also went to a photography museum which happened to be closed, though they informed us that we could still visit the free gallery on the ground floor, a gallery that was focused on a man's road trip through California. The pictures were actually pretty interesting, but just kind of funny.

The second part of our stay started in an extremely packed pub to watch the Netherlands soundly defeat France in Euro Cup play. Antwerp is very much the Dutch center of Belgium, so this was the next best thing to being in Holland...moreso because Holland won. While watching the game, we made friends with an Antwerpian named Jasper along with his girlfriend Val. In telling of our Belgian travels, with an inevitable turn towards Belgian beer, Jasper told us that after the game he was going to take us to a bar that serves the best beer in the world. I (Mark) immediately assumed he was speaking of a Monastery brewed beer called Westvleteren, because in our travels this was the one beer we heard locals and visitors alike rave about, but also the beer they told us we would never be able to try. The reason is that the beer is not allowed to be used or sold commercially, and anyone that wants to buy it is only allowed one case (12 bottles) per month and must drive 3 hours outside of Brussels to do so. So we eventually make our way to the bar, only to find out it is the legendary Kulminator, a bar we had read about back home and one that serves about as many different beers as the Delirium Cafe but in a space 1/4 the size. This is certainly a lot of writing to devote to one beer, but it was everything people had told us and more. This stuff was more along the lines of drinking a fine wine with very deep and complex flavors. Certainly not a beer you just go down to the corner bar for after a hard days work. Cheesy we know, but it was an experience that we had hoped for and one that we got merely by chance.

Tour of Belgium...the second try.

Pictures (top to bottom): Canal in Bruge, very neat castle in Gent, Delirium Bar in Brussels.

So I (Mark), already lost a race against time to publish a post about our time in Belgium, so I will try again, but this time with our first WIFI connection in Europe. From Paris, we made our way to Bruge. The city was everything good we had been told and more. Amazing sites, our introduction (sort of) to amazing Belgian beer, as well as our first bout of Frites covered in a variety of mayonnaise based sauces. The Belfry Tower was probably the highlight, 366 steps up an extremely narrow spiral staircase with traffic moving in both directions. Once at the top we were treated to panoramic views of Bruge and neighboring towns, as well as being treated to the booming ring of the bell only 2 feet away.

We then packed our things and took the lengthy 25-minute train to Gent. While not as quaint as Bruge, the city was still extremely mellow with an old town feel. The castle pictured above is one of the bigger attractions in the city and was a neat little tour, especially the torture museum. While we continued our consumption of Belgian brew, one of the highlights was going to a Jenever (Gin) bar that poured over 200 types of regular and flavored gin. Around 20 of them were actually made by the owner/bartender Pol himself. 

Brussels was next and the big city vibe was night and day compared to Bruge and Gent. We started off by making the mandatory visit to Mannekin Pis (peeing boy fountain). We spent a great deal walking the often confusing streets, but all was made well when we found our way to Delirium Bar. This is THE beer bar of beer bars, not just in Belgium but the world. 2004 different beers available at all times (a Guinness Book Record). Sounds like it could be a tourist trap, but it definitely is not. Prices were par for the course and the bar itself was probably the coolest we have ever been to.  All this, coupled with running into fellow beer loving Americans John and Marcus, led to a night of overindulgence in Belgian beer and eventually drinking with the bartenders until 6:30AM. This all seemed like a great idea until we got a knock on our door four hours later to remind us of the 4-hour lockout from our room. No worries though, as we treated ourselves to an extended stay in a beautiful Brussels park while sleeping in the grass....well, some worries, as we did both feel awful. Aside from that we went to the surprisingly cool Belgium History Museum, which included an underground tour of the ruins of the former royal palace (super creepy as we were the only ones down there). Next, we walked by the somewhat unimpressive EU building only to be treated to a free Belgium Army Museum, complete with tanks, a hangar full of war planes, and a very technologically advanced WWII exhibit from the perspective of the Belgians. Kaylin bumped her toe and got an owie while walking back to our hostel. We first thought it would require a stitch or two, but cooler heads prevailed as Dr. Mark cleaned it and applied a Band-Aid....or 4. 

We now sit in Antwerp in a nice downpour and will hopefully be able to update a bit more in the coming days.

Love,

Mark and Kaylin 

We have arrived.

Well, we made it to Paris in two seperate peices. After a 48 hour run of no sleep, we arrived in the City of Lights with 6 cranky hours to kill with what felt like 5,000 lbs. on our backs; a fact that will undoubtedly impact our opinion of the Picasso Museum when we recount our Parisian memories. We do not have an internet connection in Paris, so we are sitting at an internet cafe in the Latin Quarter. One thing the French and Americans do have in common is the unmistakable smell of body odor and snack foods within the internet cafe walls, so all is not lost. We will begin posting pictures of the adventure when we get a wifi connection in the next few days. Gotta go, crepe time.