European Christmas Vacation 2013 blog is partially complete, see below and check back soon for my blog from my Australian Open trip Jan 10-19.
12/30/2013
Then What Is Holland?
Dec 30, Amsterdam: This is it. The end of the road. Last day of the adventure. In Amsterdam on a Monday. And there are three places I wanted to see -- the Rembrandt house, the Rijkmuseum (state museum of the Netherlands), and the Van Gogh museum. I had seen all three five years ago on Take Back the Holidays 2009 but they are all cool places. In previous cities, the museums all opened at 10, so that's when I left. Here, they all opened at 9. Whoops, that was a dumb assumption by me.
This was a cold morning. Maybe the second coldest day yet. Cold, windy, and rain was on the way. I didn’t take a ton of pictures because that would involve taking off my gloves. I walked along the canals to the furthest of the three places I wanted to go -- the Rembrandt house. And it was pretty dead out for a Monday morning. I went thru the house in about an hour. It's not too big but you see where he greeted people, where he showed them art, the kitchen, his art studio, and the art studio of his apprentices. But none of his paintings. But still cool to see the stuff in his house and how it was laid out. They know what was in there and how it was all laid out because he did paintings of scenes in his house and he went bankrupt late in life and a full inventory was done of his four story house.
As I was leaving, I noticed the house was busier than when I got there. More people waiting in line, more people at the coat check. File this away. I got back to the streets, wandering the streets along the canals, dodging what had turned into a surging group of people in the city. I headed north to the Rijkmuseum. As did the rest of Amsterdam. I walked thru the tunnel in the building and saw the front of the lines, one on both sides of the road. I bet there were almost 1,000 people in both lines. No way I am standing in those lines. That’s a huge waste of my time since I am here for only 24 hours. I should have come down here to the museum first thing in the morning. Here’s a picture of the Rijkmuseum with the Iamsterdam sign behind it. Hard to see the lines but they come back towards the sign from the museum and then split to the left and to the right.
Right behind this museum is the Van Gogh museum. Which had a line of probably 500 waiting to get in. So that was a no go. So I walked up to the Anne Frank house. Another 300 people in line. Insane. This place gets packed for New Year's Eve and I didn’t even consider that in planning my day or buying tickets early. Now I needed to find stuff to do other than hit the big tourist attractions.
So I wandered back along the canals to the town square where city hall is located. Here’s a picture of my canal walk and then a panoramic shot of the town square and city hall.
Since I couldn’t go in city hall, I decided to hit some churches -- the old church and the new church. Which had really expensive entrance fees so I did not go in, just looked at them from the outside. Lots of wandering. By this time, it was 230 and I was getting hungry. Couldn't find anything I wanted so I went back to the train station for a couple of slices of pizza and a coke. Went back to my room to eat and relax for a few. Stayed there for almost an hour. It was cold and windy outside and I had probably walked for over 30 miles in my 7 previous days. So close to 4, I walked out the door back to the city.
My plan was to hit the van Gogh museum close to 5 with the assumption that the lines would have died down. I took the long way there along a route I had never been on. So many different buildings and canals and things to see. Like everyone's bikes and umbrellas. I've said it before but everyone's bike looks like it was first ridden pre war. And everyone's umbrella is inside out. It's pretty funny. Here’s a couple shots of my walk towards the museum.
Anywho, I made it down to the Van Gogh museum at 5 and there was no one in line. I'm brilliant! Paid, went in, and ran around the museum in 45 mins w the audio guide. Lots of good paintings and some good info on the audio guide. Here’s a picture of a new painting of his they just discovered like two years ago. I think it’s called Sunset at Montmarte
I finished the tour and walked out at closing at 6. Next up was to find a place to have a beer.
Now finding a place for one person to have a beer in Europe isn't easy. I want to find a barstool where I can sit, not stand around or sit at a table solo. But most bars aren't set up like this. There are bars but there are no stools there. People will just stand near the bar. Or everyone is at a table w a group. I wandered the streets for a while, peeking in windows to see if there was anywhere to sit. I finally found the go to -- an Irish pub. They are just like bars in America.
In I went and sat at the bar. Ordered a Jenepin. Or something like that. A Belgian lager, I think. Texted people, checked Facebook, Twitter, email. Then ordered a beer that I saw some others down the bar having. It's an IPA brewed by some local guy. Homemade label. Bottled 10 days earlier. And it was tasty! Here it is. Thanks, James!
Didn't talk to anyone other than the bartenders. Couples on both sides of me, facing the opposite direction. So alone I sat.
Finished my two beers and went back to the train station for dinner. If you can't tell, 90% of my meals were purchased at the train station. They just make it easy to get meals and go. Had pasta and it was good. Went back to my room, ate it, and packed. And then that was it. Vacation over. I was asleep by 1130. The end. Thank you, Europe! You did me right over these last 8 days.
12/29/2013
Going to Bremen with a donkey
Dec 29 – Bremen: Sunday morning in Bremen. Turns out everyone is either in church or asleep until noon because when I walked out at 10:15 it was a ghost town. Not a creature was stirring. Here’s a picture of my walk into the center of the old town. Not many people in view at almost 10:30am.
The center of the old town is where the town hall and St Peters cathedral are. Cool area. Bet it's hopping in the summer. It’s a huge open area that is probably full of tables during the summer with people eating and drinking. Here is a picture with the town hall on the left and the church on the right and a panoramic shot from the
Also in this town square area are two cool statues – The first is the Town Musicians of Bremen. It references an old Grimm’s fairy tale. That's a rooster on top of a cat on top of a dog on top of a donkey. Google that if you want to learn more about these guys.
They say wishes come true if you touch both legs of the donkey and the legs are well worn and not discolored from all the people touching them. I grabbed the legs with both hands. We will see if my wishes come true (you will know they have if you see me with a huge American Girl doll collection). The other statue is the statue of Roland installed in 1404; it faces the church. He is the protector of the disorder. According to legend, Bremen will remain free and independent for as long as Roland stands watch over the city. Also, I read if you touch his knees it means you will come back to Bremen. Both of his knees are well worn.
Right off the main square is a street called Böttcherstrasse. Narrow streets, artsy stores all around. There was a glockenspiel that goes off three times a day so I stuck around to see that at 3. The bells were nice but the only thing moving around was a small panel in a brick wall. Check the picture below, the part that spins around is just to the left of the top of the Christmas tree.
Since nothing around here was open, I had to kill some time so I walked along the river. This is yet another city with cool parks along the water features that wind thru the city. My next stop was the Kunsthalle, or the art museum, and checked it out. A few cool Picassos, Renoirs, and a few other good impressionists where in there. But it was pretty small though so I was done in an hour.
Back out into the cold and wandered in the neighborhoods around the museum -- narrow streets, lots of bikes parked everywhere, and not a lot of cars. Walked back thru these neighborhoods back towards the church in the town square that opens at 2pm on Sundays. I had a little more time to kill so I walked through a little area full of cool shops. Schniorviertel is the area. Would be cooler if I saw something I wanted to buy but there were lots of tourists and the area seemed interesting.
I finally went back to market square because it was now 2 and I could get into the church. It's pretty big. Organs playing. Very colorful. Must be recently remodeled because there were colors all on the pillars. Blues and reds. Not as impressive as some of the churches I have seen but better than the one in Hamburg yesterday. This one is much bigger, higher ceilings. But kind if a low key altar piece. Jesus would not be pleased! Here’s a panoramic shot of the inside of the church
And with that, I had seen everything on my list of “to sees” in Bremen. 4+ hours was all it took. I wanted to see city hall but it was closed. And there is a tower in the Dom that is closed from November to April. WHY??? So I walked back along the river to my hotel. I saw tons of open space along the river that is probably used for tables during the summer w people out there drinking beer and having fun. But on an overcast winter day it is just a bunch of empty space. So sad. I spotted a church by my hotel that I hadn't seen before and went to check it out. Looked old but like almost everything else in this region it was destroyed in 1944/1945 during the war and was rebuilt in the 50s. Lots of stuff got rebuilt in the 40s and 50s in this part of Germany.
So then I went back to my hotel to kill some time before my 645 train to Amsterdam. I sat around there for almost two hours going thru emails, surfing the internet. Zzzz. Boring. Time came to go to the train and I walked the almost 20 minutes to the train station and got a little bite to eat before my trip. Then it was a 4.5 hour train ride to Amsterdam. Pretty easy with just one change of trains but pretty boring because I ran out of reading material and I am not that interesting of a traveling partner. Got to the hotel in Amsterdam then just wandered the city for a little bit before going to bed. Only 1 more day of sightseeing to go.
12/28/2013
Going camping
Dec 28 – Hamburg and Neuengamme: I slept in a little while today because my destination, Neuengamme concentration camp, didn't open until noon. I are breakfast at the hotel because I knew I wouldn't get much food at the camp (not many cafes at those camps). I hopped a subway car to Bergedorf and then waited 20 minutes at the Bergedorf station for a bus. Hopped the bus and I was on my way.
The roads on the way to the camp were really narrow. And on top of that, people just parked in the street in front of their houses. Which are right on the street. They are all brick and maybe 2 feet off the street. Strange to see these houses so close to the street. And the bus drivers are super friendly and helped a stupid American out when I wanted to if my subway ticket would get me to the camp. I know less German than I thought. I can't carry on any sort of conversation. I can ask a question but as soon as the other person starts talking, I am lost.
The bus driver started trying to talk to me since I was the last guy on the bus as we got close to the camp. But I couldn't understand the Greek bus driver taking German. But he took me where I needed to go and was helpful enough to say in German that I had to buy another ticket on the way back to Hamburg.
The camp
This camp was used as a labor camp. It was a smaller camp than the other two I have seen (Dachau, Terezin). Here’s a panoramic shot of the main part of the camp. The rectangles filled with brick and stone are the footprints of the old barracks. 100s of people used to live in each one of these buildings.
And it had a huge building for brickworks, that was their labor. They would dig clay out of a clay pit on site, put them in rail cars, and push them down tracks to the factory. The scale of this factory is hard to believe. These pictures don't do it justice, it’s hard to tell how big it is and my poor picture taking skills aren’t helping. This place is HUGE. Here’s a picture of the brickworks building.
And there is no fence around the camp. It is basically wide open to the public. No entry fee. It just blends into the neighborhood. Anyone can walk onto the site whenever they want.
After probably 3.5 hours, I headed for the bus stop adjacent to the entrance. I waited maybe 15 minutes and the bus showed up. The friendly bus driver helped me pay the €3 for the bus and train ticket back to hamburg. Very easy to get back. As I was walking back to the hotel, I walked upon another Christmas market. I wish this would work in the US! There must be 20 of these pockets of markets around the city. And they are all packed – people drinking glauwein, shopping for trinkets, eating bratwurst or sweets. Here's the market!
I went back to the hotel, ate some dinner, planned my trip to Bremen for that night, and headed back out with my bag in tow. It was on to the train station where some dude tried to scam me by selling me a ticket that was from 6 days earlier. I'm not falling for that, buddy! So on to the train....
Took the one hour train ride to Bremen. The walk to my ibis hotel was about 15-20 minutes from the train station. And as has been a common theme this week, the town was dead. Weird because this was a Saturday night. There were a few groups of people walking to what I assume were bars and some cars here and there on the street but it was pretty dead. Got to my hotel and the check in was easy enough. Up to my room on the second floor (that would be the third floor for us back in the states. Wacky!) and whaddya know -- it's a room w a single bed and a huge open bathroom. I got the handicap room. Magnificent. The shower and bathroom are just one big open room. Luckily the shower had a curtain. A lot of these euro hotels have open showers that just splash all over the floor like this one.
After spending some time researching my trip to Amsterdam the next evening, a four plus hour train ride and expensive hotels. I then got ready of for the next day and hit the sack. But I didn't sleep well. Damn!
12/27/2013
Heading to Hamburg
Dec 27 - Lubeck and Hamburg: Woke up in Lübeck in time to get to Hamburg by 10am because that's when everything opens. Got to the train station, had some French fries and a Coke at McDonalds (the third time as my breakfast in 5 days) then hopped on my train to Hamburg. And it was a quick ride. Only 30 minutes until I got off the train. The Hamburg station is huge, the biggest one of this trip so far. Wanna know why? Here's some things you may not have known about Hamburg:
-- It is the second largest city in Germany behind Berlin with 1.8mm people
-- Located on the river Elbe, it is the second largest port in Europe behind Rotterdam
-- Most of the city was left in ruins following Allied bombing raids in WWII
I got to my Ibis hotel near the train station at ~9:45am and they let me check into my room. I got settled in my room and then ventured out into the city. Here’s a picture of my walk from the hotel to the city with a view of the churches across the river.
The Christmas market was still going strong along the river. American pop was pumping through the sound system. I made my way through the market and started the guided walk that I found in my National Geographic guide book. First on the list was to walk thru the Rathaus, or city hall. Here’s a view of the Rathaus
Pretty impressive building but you couldn't go inside to tour it. Ok. So I walked thru the courtyard and back out onto the street. The next stop on the National Geographic walk -- Nikolaikirche. This wasn't much of a church. There was a steeple standing and a few walls here and there. The church was burned out sometime in the 1800s. Rebuilt in 1880s. Then when it was bombed again in 1942 in WWII, they called forget it. We just rebuilt this thing. We are leaving it as is. It's a pretty powerful thing to see -- a bombed out church, still standing 70+ years later. The steeple has been maintained and you can ride to the top in an elevator. I didn't do that, a waste of my time. But here’s a picture of the steeple. Check out the partial walls
From the bombed out church I walked down along the water front. This water front is a huge park ringing the city. Love all the parks and rivers in Europe, The walk in the park took me to the Hamburg history museum. Interesting little building with random tidbits about the history about the city. After maybe an hour in there I walked back out into the aforementioned park. I heard some music. As I got closer to the source, I noticed where it was coming from -- a huge ice skating rink. It was packed with people circling the ice. Probably close to 175 people all skating to Beyoncé. Check out the skating rink, it is huge and packed!
This walk was taking me to the next sight. I hoofed it over to at Michaelis Kirsche. The biggest church in the city. But it has no stained glass and all white plaster inside. It was rebuilt in the mid 1800s (a common theme here, I think there was a big fire?) but looks like it was built in the 1970s with the all white plaster walls. Thumbs down! But there is a HUGE organ in the back. It looks too big for the space. Not sure if I've seen one that big. The chapel dominates the skyline but the ceiling doesn't look that high inside. It had a huge Xmas tree and a Jesus on the cross at the front. Check out my pic!
I then walked back to the hotel because that's what I do when it gets dark and everything shuts down. Here’s a couple of pics of my walk back to the hotel.
And recharge my batteries, I did. I then got all wrapped up again and walked over to an area of city with a restaurant that was recommended to me by my friend Amanda. After a 45 minute walk, I saw the craft beer store next door that Amanda had mentioned. I bought two bottles of beer brewed at this very store and in checking out found out the cashier had spent a year in Gulfport, MI back in high school. New friend made. So I left him. But here’s a picture of the beer
I went next door to the restaurant that had been recommended but it was packed. At 8pm on a Friday night? Shocking! Being alone is weird going out to eat. I try to eat somewhere that has a bar and this place had no bar to sit. So I passed and went back to the craft beer store that has a pub next door. And it was packed. Bar was full so I walked thru the neighborhood for a while until I found a bar that looked promising. Sat down, ordered a local beer, confused the bartender by being bad at German and talked too fast when I spoke English. I then walked down to the red light district (St Pauli district) but it was not too crazy yet, maybe because it was only 9. Either way, I hadn't eaten in more than 10 hours so I tried to find places to eat on the walk back to my hotel. Couldn't find anything so it was back to the train station for some Thai spicy basil chicken w noodles. Consumed in my room. That was about it for today. Clean up. Go to bed. Good night!
12/26/2013
Luebeck on the Baltic Sea
Dec 26, Luebeck, Germany -- Woke up to the coldest morning yet. It had been in rhe upper 40s for the high my first two days. I had to wear my winter gloves for the first time when I went outside. Hoping that more things were open since nothing was open the last two days. On the walk into the old town, I stopped at the town gate on the west side of the city – the Holsten Gate. This one is from 1478 – that’s old! Pretty damn cool. Look at pictures!
I first wandered over to the Christmas market (in the courtyard of the Rathaus, or town hall) and it was just starting to get going at 1045am. People were just starting to fire up their grills and their glauwein warmers and set up their candy shops.
I did some people watching then went over to the nearest church -- St Mary's. It's right next to the market. It was open! And the church was pretty impressive. High ceilings, decent sized organ. The south tower has an interesting story -- two bells fell to the ground back in 1942 when the city was bombed and the church caught on fire (stupid backdrafts!). They are still there, exactly where they fell. It looks like this super thick metal was soft as butter bc they split so easily when they fell from the ceiling.
So I walked around the city center a little more and nothing seemed to be open. I went up to the northern end of town where there is another old town gate, the Burg Gate that has been there since 1444. Look at pictures!
I then walked down to the Lübeck Dom and it was closed, I think the sign said until 2pm but my German isn’t very good. What the? Another church next door looked like it was built in 1980 inside so I skipped it. Now what am I going to do? It’s noon and nothing to see. Another day of everything closed and I leave tomorrow. Or not. I found in my guide book that I should check out St Ann's museum which is down by the Dom.
And it was sweet! It's an old convent, I think, but it now houses a ton of old wooden altar pieces that used to be in use around Lübeck. Some going back all the way to the the 1400s! And they are huge, some are probably over 6’ tall and maybe 15’ wide. Ornately designed, and all about the big guy upstairs. This is the kind of thing I like seeing on my travels -- 600+ year old religious artifacts or paintings.
I walked out of here feeling pretty good, things were gonna be open! Then a downer -- it had started to rain. But it’s not like an Atlanta rain. It’s an annoying sprinkle that hurts if it hits your face but it doesn’t really get your jeans wet. And didn't stop until sometime after I went to bed. Luckily I own waterproof shoes and waterproof jacket so it was all good.
So in the rain I walked back to some of the churches that were closed earlier. And score! Lubeck Dom was now open. There is a carving of Jesus on the cross that is like two plus stories high and 20 yards across and it may have been carved out of one giant piece of wood. For being the city’s cathedral, I liked St Mary’s better. I give you a B, Dom. Here’s the giant carving of JC (a little dark):
The rest of the day was spent wandering the town, visiting the Christmas market. For lunch I had a bratwurst in the market. Same lunch as day before. Here's a pic of St Mary's and St Peter's church behind me while I am in my homeless man's hat.
Having water features in your town is so nice. Here are a couple of pics of some cool buildings right down on soe of the canals of the river.
Before I went home for a break between sunset at 4 and dinner I had to stop for some glauwein. It's hot wine and I don't like wine. But everyone there drinks it with their friends. They just hang out around tables and drink it. I have bypassed it for the last three years but not this time. So I ordered one and then stood around for some people watching and glauwein drinking. It was gross but it's a reason for the season.
After taking the last sip of a now almost cold glass of wein, I walked home in the rain. I recharged for a while, dried off, then headed out again for some Xmas market walking, food , and hopefully a beer.
For dinner I had a slice of pizza in the Christmas market and headed to a place I found on the internet that makes their own beer. Brauberger. And it was tasty. Sat at the bar by myself and had 1.5 beers. Cloudy and tasty. The beer is made 30' from my seat. And served out of tiny barrels. Yum! Check it out. Beer is made in that copper tank in the pic and served out of the barrels right behind my glass. Here's a pic from my seat:
After the beers, I walked back home (20+ minute walk), got packed up for tomorrow and hit the sack.
12/25/2013
Merry Christmas 2013!!
Dec 25 – Dusseldorf to Lubeck -- Another night of not sleeping great. I couldn't wait to get up to unwrap presents! But there were none. So I got up and went down to the breakfast in the hotel lobby. A collection of lonely people -- me and two other dudes were eating by ourselves at a hotel breakfast buffet on Christmas morning. So sad.
Breakfast now consumed, I went back to room to pack and head next door to catch my train. Relaxed walk to the train. It was on time. Found my assigned seat, threw my huge bag on the luggage rack and found my seat. Sitting next to a girl in all black, sitting with her arms crossed. I guess she doesn't want to talk to me and I doubt I could have given not only my inability to talk to girls but she also couldn’t understand my German since I know so little. I am sitting back to enjoy my ride now as I type this…..
{Record scratch……} I almost made a huge mistake. I got off to change trains at the Hamburg station but it was the wrong Hamburg station. I luckily realized this as I was walking down the train platform. I had passed maybe 2 or 3 trains, realized I wasn’t supposed to be off the train yet so I jumped back on the adjacent train car before it took off. Got to the next stop and hopped off. 10 minutes later my next train on to Luebeck showed up and it was so packed that I had to stand by the food stand for the 30 minute ride. While I was standing there, an American woman came up and asked the guy selling food if she could have a fork or knife (in English). He ignored her. She saw some knives in a cup by the counter and while touching them asked the snack guy if she could just have one of those. He grabbed the cup and put it away on a cabinet out of reach while saying something in German. She said "I don't understand" a couple of times while the guy ignored her. Another guy standing near me told her, in English, he said “I need those knives for my customers”. Wow. That dude was a hard ass. So she said something sarcastic and walked away.
I got to my hotel at around 430 and it was already dark. The sun sets before 4 up on the Baltic Sea. Not that anyone ever sees it. It’s always cloudy and rainy. I think I saw the sun for less than 5 minutes in my 9 days over there. I got settled in to my hotel, talked to my bro and dad/step mom on FaceTime to wish them a Merry Christmas, then went out into the city to explore. It was pretty dead but there were lots of churches and closed Christmas markets to see from the outside so I did. I then walked along the river back towards my hotel and came upon a bit of activity. A few stalls in a small Christmas market were open as well as a very small ice skating rink. There were three people on the ice and maybe 10 people watching. Here’s two pictures from my night time walk – one of the city gates and the Luebeck Dom that you will see me talk about tomorrow.
I got back towards my hotel and still hadn't eaten dinner yet. I went to the train station to get some food. All the stores were closed. I went to Smileys pizza nearby but no one wanted to take my order. It was like I wasn’t even standing there. So I stopped at the gas station, got a Mountain Dew and some evian, and went back to the hotel. The guy at the front desk ordered me some Chinese and had it delivered to my room. A traditional Christmas meal of lo mein noodles and veggies. Ate it, talked to mom on FaceTime, and it was time for bed.
Merry Christmas!
12/24/2013
Killing Time on Christmas Eve
I did not sleep well after day 1. I think my nap in the mid morning on day 1 must have thrown me off. I probably only slept about 4-5 hrs on my first night so I was slow to get out of bed on day 2. When I finally got up and around I did some game planning for what was to come for the rest of the week. I decided against getting a car and will probably just take a train around Germany and Holland. Once game planning was complete, I went downstairs to book another night in my hotel then next door to the train station to hop a train to Cologne. Why did I leave the ‘dorf for a city that I visited two years ago? Because everything in Dusseldorf was also closed on Tuesday for Xmas eve and there are more sights to see in Cologne than the ‘dorf. So off I went. On a local train. Whoops. The train I was supposed to take was one stop away from Cologne. The one I got on took about 15 stops. Doh. Bad train schedule reading on my part. But it went where I was wanting to go so that was good.
Bummer. Like in Dusseldorf, most everything was closed. Including the Christmas markets. Wah? It's not yet Christmas, be open! One good thing about churches is that they are open almost every day. And the Köln Dom is train station adjacent so I didn't have far to go to see it.
The Köln Dom (Cologne church) is freakin’ sweet. Looks similar inside to Gaudi's Sacre Coeur in Barcelona except not nearly as big. But very impressive inside. Laid out in the shape of a cross. Lots of little nooks and crannies with old religious stuff on the wall or paintings or statues or little alcove areas for people to pray. The ceilings are really high (141'?). Stained glass all the way up to there. A huge pipe organ. And the thing that it's famous for, other than being the tallest building in the world for a time after it was completed -- a gold box thingy containing what is said to be the remains of the three magi/wise men. That makes it one of the top three religious sites for Christians in the world. Boom. And here is the church:
Spent a good bit of time walking around and looking up at around. Sat down and looked around. I then walked about 30 minutes down along the river to the zoo. And at 2pm on Christmas Eve they were just closing. So I turned around and walked another 30 mins back to the Dom. Repeated my church takings-ins for another 30 mins or so. Here’s what the walk along the river looked like:
I had seen everything I could see in Cologne so I walked down the steps from the church to the train station and grabbed a bite to eat. I have had five meals in Germany so far. 2 small fries at McDonalds. 2 pepperoni on baguette sandwiches from a chain in train stations. And a bratwurst from a Christmas market. That's four out of five bought at a train station. Classy.
After my leisurely lunch I bought my train ticket back to Dusseldorf, waited 10 minutes, and got on my train. I have said it before but the train service in Europe is unreal. Fast. Convenient. Easy. But a little pricey. 30 minutes after I got on the train, I was back in Dusseldorf. I stopped at the ticket kiosk when I got back to the train station to check tickets to my next destination -- Luebeck. I saw a time and a price that I liked (€90) so I bought it. 1130 train the next day, 4.5 hrs w a change of trains in Hamburg.
Everything was still shut down in the ‘dorf so I went back to my hotel for a while. Went thru emails, looked at hotels in Lubeck, talked to a friend over Facebook that I met in Berlin years back that used to live in Luebeck, and finally booked another Ibis hotel near the central train station in Luebeck.
After taking care of business at the hotel, I got wrapped up again and went out to check out the tv tower again. I had read that it was the world’s tallest clock. And you know I had to go see that! In the middle of my 30 minute walk to the river and clock tower, it started to rain. Umbrella and hood were both back in the hotel room. So I would just get rained on. Walking to the tower, it became clear that everyone was doing something for Christmas Eve. It was only 830 and the roads were deserted. Only a few taxis looking for fares. I made it to the tower! Here's a picture of the clock on the tower.
It was 8:39 or 20:39. The two lights on top and no lights underneath it signify 20. Then there are 3 lights then 9 lights. With the seconds lit up underneath that. The red lights break up the hours from the minutes from the seconds. Time!
I then made a u-turn and walked along the river to the old town, made a right, and walked back thru the city to the hotel at the train station. Time for dinner. Back to the same sandwich place I had eaten twice before for a tomato and mozzarella sandwich and a Sprite. Healthy. (PS – I ended up losing weight on this trip to the point where my belt got too big for my britches).
Then back to my room to eat, catch up on emails and internets, then it was bedtime. Santa would be here soon!
12/23/2013
Staying in Dusseldorf During the Xmas Shutdown
Getting to Europe was quick this year -- I heard a flight attendant say as we were boarding that the flight time of 7:35 was the quickest he had ever heard in his many flights to Dusseldorf. So that was a good start. I settled into my business class seat, got the first three courses of my meal while watching episodes of Veep, and settled in to go to sleep a couple of hours in to the flight. Luckily this was about 8pm Atlanta time so it took me a while to finally doze off. But I think I got about three hours of sleep before they woke me up for breakfast. Good enough. Better than what I would have gotten if I had flown in coach.
Getting out of the airport in Dusseldorf was fast and easy. I was first in line at customs and my bag came out within maybe ten minutes. I then hopped on the airport train to the main train station. Paid €2.50 to ride the train into downtown Dusseldorf and found the hotel I had booked the night before. And it was convenient -- it's built into the train station. I could walk right into the lobby without leaving the train station. This was an Ibis hotel and I stayed in an Ibis hotel every night on this trip. They were nice enough to allow me to check in at 830am so I took a quick nap and then bit the bricks. Like in many cities in Europe, all the museums are closed on Monday so I just wandered around and checked out the sights from the outside. I need to change my plan next year and spend less time over there before Christmas. Although the Christmas markets are cool to experience and not all of them are open after Christmas.
Dusseldorf is more of an industrial city than a historical city so there wasn't a ton to see. It's on the Rhein river so I walked all along the pathways along the river and dipped into the Christmas markets that are just a block or two in from the river. Here's a view from my walk along the river!
This is my third year experiencing this Christmas markets and they are pretty cool. There are lots of stands selling knick knacks, which I ignore. The ones that I like are the food and drink stands. Everyone is hanging out w friends and family drinking glauwine -- a hot wine -- or eating grilled bratwurst. I had a bratwurst while people watching then was back on my way, wandering the streets. Here's a picture of the Christmas market, it's right in front of city hall (the building on the right).
I ended up back at my hotel for a quick rest bc the sun goes down at 4. After a short rest, I went back out to a part of the city called Altstadt, or old town. This area contains what is called the worlds longest bar. It's not one big bar but a few blocks where there is just bar after bar after bar. I found exactly what i was looking for at around 8pm-- a Guinness and to watch a soccer game -- Chelsea v Aresenal. Dire game. 0-0. Game was over at about 11 so I went back to the hotel and went to sleep. And that was the end of day 1.
12/30/2012
Nuremberg is open when it's not Christmas
When I was here on Xmas eve and Xmas, everything was closed. Today was my day to see the inside of what I only saw from the outside earlier in the week. First destination -- the Nazi Party Rally Grounds/Reichsparteitagsgelände.
Let me say that German is funny. If a group of words describes some one thing, they jam the words into one word. So these are four words jammed into one. In English, we say twenty two. Germans say twoandtwenty, or zweiundzwanzig. If someone was a tall guy who sold hot dogs and had long hair he could be tallguysellshotdogslonghair. But in German.
The grounds were over a mile from my hotel but since I never take public transit on these trips, I hoofed it. Which was interesting bc i got to see a regular neighborhood instead of the old town. Just building after building of long four story buildings. No houses. Small yards, if any. Euros love America bc we have so much space. All these people grow up in apartments.
When I left the hotel it was sunny and not too cold. 45 minutes later when I walked up on the grounds it was overcast, windy, and it started to drizzle. Oy. But luckily that only lasted like 5 mins. As I walked into the first structure I came to, I was amazed. The Zeppelinfeld. This was meant to hold 250k people and could fit more than 12 football fields inside of it. Here's a picture of the grandstand, that is over 1,200 feet long. I stood in the spot where Hitler and his cronies would stand and give speeches. It's hard to get an idea of how big this place is but listen to me when I tell you it's big.
But it is hardly maintained. There is graffiti up on the rostrum. I didn't see one employee of the city or site anywhere. It's a shame. This place is cool and could be displayed much better.
After checking out the zeppelin field, I walked around the pond in the middle of the grounds. There are docks and yacht clubs all around the edge of the pond. One problem - the water stops about 40 feet from the docks. Not even close. I wonder if the water is higher in the summer after it fills up w snow run off? So I walked around the pond to the great street. Another freakishly large site. It's 130 feet wide and 1.25 miles long.
Just past this street is the Congress Hall which is now a museum. Hitler wanted to build this place to house 400,000 people for rallies. It was modeled after the colloseum in Rome except much bigger. It was never completed as the war started in 1939 and there were better things for soldiers to do than build a huge arena. Here it is!
The museum does a good job of laying out the whole nazi regime, form the early 30s until they lost the war. There is some mention concentration camps, mostly in discussion of where all the granite came from that was used to build the structures on the rally grounds. But only one placard on the holocaust. It's kind of downplayed but I guess this isn't the place for that. This was only a discussion of these grounds and how it was built. At the end was a good area in the nuremberg trials. All these guys that were a part of the nazi regime, that had come to Nuremberg to celebrate the party, came back here to be tried and, if found guilty, executed or incarcerated. .
I really enjoyed this place. Totally unexpected and just over the top huge. The idea of a megalomaniac left me awestruck.
I had one more sight to see - the castle. I had been there several times earlier this week but only wandered the grounds, the interior was closed. I got back into town about 245 and went back to the same italian place as the night before. This time I had pasta and was back on the road by 330. Got to the ticket desk of the castle at 345. Ut oh, no longer selling tickets bc they close at 4. What the what? I took this picture of the castle before heading to my train (there's a picture of me in front of this castle but because the sun never gets more than 2 inches above the horizon I am in the shadows).
Well, my train to Frankfurt left at 6 so i had some time to kill. I wandered back along the old city wall, weaves my way across the river a few times and got back to my hotel. Had a beer, charged my phone, and went to the train station. Hopped on my empty train and headed for Frankfurt.
Vacation over. 7 full days. Over that fast. Thank you for having me again, Europe. I hope to see you soon, this time in warm weather. I think these cities would be so different if all the restaurants had their tables and biergartens set up. Would be more lively.
Shelby out!
12/29/2012
Michael Shelby
Tall, skinny blogger in Atlanta that's living the dream
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