so, this entry is about the first half of my spring break: berlin and prague.
berlin. incredible city with so much history. my dad, who's a big history buff, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the WW2 museums and memorials. there's so many museums in the city, there's a 'museum island' in the city! Even with so much history, the city is also incredibly modern. lots of modern/interesting architecture, though i must say not always aesthetically pleasing. my overall impression: not a particularly "beautiful" city, in terms of its architecture and cityscape. there are definitely beautiful buildings in berlin, but the ambiance isn't particularly cohesive. the city is so exciting because, you can spend weeks there perusing all the museums, exhibits and palaces! oh, and the beers were excellent.
jewish memorial. not a fan of the memorial itself, but the exhibit underneath about the holocaust. was excellent and powerful.
hackescher market, where we had the classic berlin curry wurst dinner with beer outside on the plaza.
reichstag at night. we came back at around 9, and had to wait in line for an hour to go inside it. i think its a spectacular piece of architecture. classic exterior, but the interior is mostly class, super modern and environment-friendly. the entrance is free, and you get an audio guide. with the audio, you climb the circular dome and get a panoramic view of the city and explanation of all the visible buildings. DEFINITELY worth the wait, one of the best things i did in berlin.
longest remaining piece of the berlin wall - mile long. now it's a long strip of murals by different artists, called east side gallery.
ishtar gate from babylon.
charlottenburg. one of the very few palaces that survived WW1 and WW2, on the edge of berlin. there was a room called "porcelain closet" with more than 2700 pieces of chinese porcelain!
daddy appreciating the fake green marble and all the gold.
after three busy days in berlin, we took a morning train to prague. the five hours went by really quickly chitchatting with my dad. i was a little disappointed because the scenery on the train ride wasn't as naturesque or beautiful as i had hoped. we actually went through a lot of rundown and abandoned old factory towns. but for some bits of the ride, we were on the riverbank, so we got our fair share of nature. what was interesting on the train ride, was instantly realizing that I entered the czech republic when I spotted its unique, russian-esque, onion-domed architecture. saw lots of small towns, and it made me wonder how the local germans of czechs far away from the main cities live.
prague. prague's architecture is beautiful/different/charming, but there wasn't a whole lot to see in the city. we were lucky enough to get there on easter weekend, so the old town square had an easter market going on, and the streets were particularly bustling. the biggest turn off was the czech people. I expected them to be super friendly, but they were cold, expressionless and most often, blatantly rude. my dad and i concluded that it was because of the language barrier, and their reluctance/anxiety to speak english, but their unwelcomeness made me like prague less than i hoped to. the city is small enough to be able to its entirety in two days. so, prague is more about soaking up the ambiance and aesthetics of the bity, and less about "sightseeing." in fact, on our last day, my dad and I just sat at a cafe at old town square, sipping coffee and people-watching.
on a side note, we had a HORRIBLE first impression of prague. as soon as we got off the train, we went all around looking for a currency exchange stand, but we couldn't find any. so we withdrew an equivalent of 100$ from the atm, except the machine dispensed a single prague 100$ bill, with which we cannot buy metro tickets at the kiosk! why wouldn't they dispense smaller bills? so, we went to the tourist info desk, and as soon as we asked how to get to our hotel, the people there LAUGHED AT US!!! no kidding, i have no idea why, but they laughed/smirked in a ridiculously condescending way. so, we finally figured out how to buy metro tickets a the tabak, or convenience store, and the owner was extremely grumpy there too. after an incredibly frustrating hour at the train station, we finally got to our hotel. however, after this horrible experience, my dad and I were very hesitant to step out and explore the city, in fear of more ridicule. But the beauty of prague won us over at the end.
easter market at staromestske nemesti, or old town square. so, usually there wouldn't be these red stalls.
aerial view form old city hall tower in the square. beautiful red roofs, beige/white walls, punctuated with bright turquoise.
my favorite snack in prague: round donut covered powdered sugar. it's tasty because it's not fried but baked! they're literally EVERYWHERE, and about half the stalls at the market were selling these.
cool astronomical clock at the old city hall. every hour, interesting things happen. like the skeleton flips the hourglass in his hand and the twelve apostles appear from the topmost window.
street musician on karluv most.
main hall. the castle itself wasn't outstanding. it was interesting, but not impressive or memorable.
the cathedral was what was most impressive.
church of st. nicholas on the west of the vltava river. ah! so much baroque!!! the pink marble was unique, but in terms of the gold, i think less is more.
karluv most during the day. the bridge wasn't as impressive because there was a lot of construction going on.
it was interesting to see berlin and prague consecutively, because in many ways they're complete opposites. berlin is majestic, prague charming. berlin has a modern edge, while prague is loyal to its 16th and 17th century architecture. berlin is huge, prague is small. berlin has 10+ metro lines, and prague only has three. (the prague metro map is charmingly childish with its red, yellow and green metro lines). berliners are friendly, prague....unfortunately, not so much. i enjoyed both cities, but i think prague is a tad overrated and berlin highly underrated.
'part 2: vienna and budapest' will be up within the next two days!
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