Friday, April 12, 2013

Amsterdam and Berlin


It has now been a week since Spring Break, and my trip to Amsterdam and Berlin. The week after was long, boring, and I had a final at the end of the week so I was not able to post directly following my trip. Although, not writing right after the trip gave me some good time to reflect (recover) on the trip.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is not an easy city to figure out. The street names are long, the canals all look the same, and it feels like every bike and tram is trying to kill you. It didn't help that a freezing wind was constantly coming off of the canals, which made any time spent outside miserable. With the help of my new homeless friend Erik, and the loss of a Euro, I was pointed in the right direction to find the hostel. The Stayok Hostel is right on the edge of the red light district, and a 10 minute walk from Central Station. It was a pretty standard hostel, but the cleaning lady who throws everyone out is a complete bitch. She had no concern for the other hostelers who were sleeping while she was verbally abusing those who had to leave.

After finding Stayok, or as the Brits we met there named it "Stay fine and get the fuck out",  it was time to grab a coffee. Everyone I had talked to about Amsterdam all raved about the excellent blends of coffee in the city, and all of their favorite shops to get some at. Its important to note that after spending some time in an Amsterdam coffee shop navigating the city becomes nearly impossible. You must accept that you are just another tourist, blazed as hell, wandering through the city.

During the trip we saw the Anne Frank house, Vondelpark, Heineken factory, the Red Light District, Van Gogh's paintings at the Hermitage, and the inside of many different coffee shops. 4 days was not nearly enough time to try and see everything, but just being on a trip in such a unique city with some great people was a highlight in itself.


Berlin

Berlin was fucking freezing, although everything else about Berlin was incredible. Our hostel had been renovated a couple years before so everything was new and clean. The staff was friendly and shared some great info about the city. The Bar in the basement had a happy hour from 8-9 of buy .5L of beer get one free, so we were drinking liters of beer for 3 euro.

I wish I was in Berlin when it was warmer, because the cold made being outside unbearable and in a city as large as Berlin you are going to be outside a lot. Waiting in line for 3 hours to reserve tickets to the Reichstag was probably the lowest point of the trip. Luckily when we finally made it inside to the counter they told us the reservations were completely free. News that warmed our spirits.

Our hostel also had a Bartender that lead a walking tour of the cities massive amount of graffiti. Ever since I watched 'Exit Through the Gift Shop' I have been interested in street art. In Berlin pretty much everywhere you look your going to see some street art. The city is very grungy, young, and cheap. It attracts a lot of artist and young professionals, and the general feeling in the city is that everything goes.

Random tidbits about Berlin:

  • German Beer is great
  • You can feel the difference from West to East
  • Check Point Charlie and the Wall are a constant reminder of the cold war
  • Currywurst is amazing
  • I had the best Döner Kebab in the world
  • The nightlife there is insane. I normally hate clubs, but in Berlin anything goes
  • Don't forget to buy and validate your train tickets or the Police will take 40 euro from you in cash
  • Dress warm


Theres a ton more that happened on this trip that probably shouldn't be shared on an online blog. If your interested in hearing more message me.

It gets better,

Gruber

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