23. December 2011: La Vie Boheme

Ahh Prague. Well, Joseph and I are both sick--some nasty cold bug, but we did the best we could under the circumstances. And the circumstances were a little more complicated than that even...the Czech president, Vaclav Havel, died on Sunday and today was his funeral service so there were many things shut down. Not to mention, masses of people watching the funeral on a jumbo-tron. Did I mention that the funeral was held in the Prague Castle? My number one place to visit in Prague, sigh. And of course, tomorrow is Christmas Eve which is when the Czech hold their Christmas celebrations so most things will be closed then too. Ahh timing is everything. Oh well, we still got a taste of the Czech culture and the city. We actually ended up walking around most of the city in a day--Prague is pretty small. We started out heading through Wenceslas Square and ending up in Prague Square where we saw the Astronomical Clock and another Christmas Market.

Did I mention there was a petting zoo at this Christmas Market? Check out our reactions:

We then made it to the Dvorak concert hall along the river, then walked across a different bridge to look at the Charles Bridge from afar. We did eventually walk across the Charles Bridge--did you know that it's supposedly made out of eggs? How interesting. I wonder where that legend comes from.

Then we got a beautiful view of Prague from above.

We wandered around looking for the Castle but couldn't get past the security of the funeral, then across the Charles Bridge and through the Jewish Quarter. We're heading to bed early tonight though in hopes that we can wake up refreshed and healthy and get in a few more sights before we leave in the afternoon.
And if I don't get a chance to post while I'm on the train back to Italy...Merry Christmas, everyone!

22. December 2011: You're My Excuse To Travel

We have arrived safely in Prague. Thank goodness it's slightly warmer. The feel of the city is very odd. I like it and for the most part people are friendly (with the exception of everyone that works in the train station) but I feel like I always have to be on edge. We had a conversation with a Bulgarian man working at the local Christmas market who told us how "disastrous" his food experiences in Italy were and then pointed us towards some good restaurants. Ultimately, though, it was a long day of travel and we have the shortest time here in Prague so tomorrow will be a long day of walking and sightseeing.

the view from our Hotel (that's the National Museum right off of Wenceslas Square)

We got a free beer on arrival at the hotel.

There are too many consonants in that word...but I recognize those smoking chimneys!

First "traditional" Czech meal: roast beef and Carlsbad dumplings. Plus really really really good Pilsner.

21. December 2011: Feed Me!

Strange occurrence to have two posts in one day but this dinner definitely merits a post of its own. Possibly the best dinner I've ever had. Something I love about German food is that it's pretty much all comfort food; carbs, meat and beer. What could get any better than that? So of course, I was on a quest for great wienerschnitzel this time. The last time I was in Germany was nine years ago with my family and we traveled through Germany, Austria and Switzerland looking for the best brezeln (I think we decided on Austria, right?). Anyways, I didn't get wienerschnitzel but I did get schweinerschnitzel. The difference is just that instead of the traditional breaded veal, you get breaded pork instead. It's not the tradition, but it was DELICIOUS. Sehr lecker.

 A great beer--dark weissbier that has a nice sweetness to it.

SCHWEINEWURST! Mit kartoffeln und champignon. Sehr sehr sehr sehr lecker.

Am letzten--a heavier weissbier. Also good but I preferred the first one.

21. December 2011: Hallo Berlin!

 The Mozart-Hadyn-Beethoven Denkmal

Tiergarten im Winter

Neues Museum

Judische Denkmal -- a very well done exhibit, possibly the best Holocaust memorial I've ever seen. Simple, to the point, but striking at the same time.

Tonight we shall wienerschnitzel and tomorrow we shall be in the Czech Republic!
Auf Widersehen und Dobry Den!

20. December 2011: Deutschland

It was snowing this morning!!!

 True words on the Eastern Berlin Wall

 Reminded me of Botticelli's Primavera

 Yes.

 Abstraction on the Wall

 No man's land

So stark und doch verletzbar
Das Volk, der Mensch
Der Wald, Der Baum

So strong and yet so vulnerable

  the crowd, the person

The forest, the tree

Checkpoint Charlie

Some of the original Berlin Wall

Where the Berlin Wall stood

Potsdamer Platz--the center of contemporary Berlin

The famous Sony Center ceiling

The Brandenburger Tor on the first night of Hannukah

19. December 2011: Dickes B

A Weihnachtsmarkt in Alexanderplatz

Fernsehturm

Hedwigskirche--construction modeled after the Pantheon in Rome

Berliner Rathaus

BRANDENBURGER TOR!

Reichstag/Bundestag

Judische und Homosexuelle Denkmal: Feld der Stele

Weihnachtsmarkt neben der Franzoesische Dom

18. December 2011: Train Song

Today was unexciting and the blog post is merely to let you know that we have reached Berlin safe and sound. By the time we got there, it was dark already but when we set out to search for dinner, I realized that our hotel is practically on top of the Fernsehturm and it was light up beautifully against the night sky.
For dinner, we went traditional German (Bayerisch, funnily enough, but at least we're in the right country now)--weisswurst, brezeln und weissbier. Tomorrow: BERLIN!