It all started in Amsterdam where we enjoyed many afternoons sitting outside on benches and at cafes along the canals. Bikes are the central focus of the city with a population of 1 million people and 600,000 bikes. The lack of usage of cars makes the air feel so clean and you really don't feel like you're amidst a large city with the tiny streets and meandering canals. It being springtime, there were tulips in bloom everywhere- it really seemed like something out of a storybook.
We also visited the Van Gogh museum which was really interesting because they have his paintings displayed based on the time of his life and location they were painted in. I've visited many of the towns and scenes that he's painted in Provence so it was really cool to see them in person. We also went on a great walking tour and here are some of my favorite facts about Amsterdam that I remember:
-All the houses are built on an angle that faces forward into the canals. Each home has a hook at the very top that was used in old times for rigging heavy objects to the top stories as the staircases are very narrow. The angle allows things to be hauled up without crashing into the windows. Some still use this system today to lift appliances and such.
If you look closely in the photo you can see the hooks sticking out of the top of each building...
-About 20,000 bikes are found in the canals each year by a boat that comes through and collects them all.
-Prostitution has been legal and the women who work in the Red Light District range in age from 18-82.
-Marijuana is also legal for sale however only 9% of citizens recreationally try the drug per year.
There is also of course all the Anne Frank house which I saw but did not go in. The photo above is a WW2 memorial in the main center of the city, Dam Square.All in all you can't help but fall in love with Amsterdam's charm. With the canals, brick buildings, bikes and flowers it all has a really down to earth and artsy feel. I would love to rent an apartment and live there one summer...
After Amsterdam it was off to Prague. We nearly missed our flight due to long security lines but we made it successfully around sunset and were all in awe of the beauty of the city immediately. The architecture is all very grand and majestic but at the same time there are other buildings painted in pastels- it looked like something out of Disneyland. They keep it really clean and well restored it's very unreal. We started right off eating traditional Czech food with a dinner of goulash and dumplings. Over the course of the three days there I ate so much heavy food and meat (not to mention incredibly cheap beer) it was quite a diversion from my usual french diet of fresh produce and wine.
The Czech Republic has only existed for a little over 20 years and until then was under communist rule and called Czechoslovakia. It's amazing to see older people in the metro and on the streets that experienced a life under communist control not so long ago. The country has also experienced so many different rulers from countries all over which is really reflected in the varying architecture styles. You can go from Baroque to Cubism in one block. There is also a rather large still active Jewish quarter. This also houses the oldest mosque in Europe that only remains there because Hitler was going to use it as a museum after he finished his mission to abolish the Jews. There's a really moving memorial inside the quarter that has drawings done by Jewish kids right before they were sent to interment camps. There's also a wall with the names of all the known people who died in the Holocaust. You can't really put a grasp on the number of people who suffered until you see the thousands of names up on the wall.
We also visited Prague castle which is the largest Medieval castle in Europe. The grounds are huge and each building more unique and gorgeous than the previous...While it was really interesting and historic, like most of Prague, it was very touristy so it loses a little bit of it's appeal.
While we were there, so was our president Obama! There were police EVERYWHERE and choppers circling the sky all day. The castle shut down one day so he could go sign a new bill and during this day we were told that there were over 3,000 police on duty. We spent part of the day at a park and above the view of the city you can see one of the helicopters. Several times during the day I saw police caravan/escorts about eight cars long so I think there's a chance that I saw Obama drive by... :)
There's also a large graffiti wall that's a tribute to John Lennon where we signed. It felt like a mini Berlin Wall and slightly out of place in the majesty that is Prague, but nonetheless it was very cool.
Budapest was the last stop and as I am a quarter Hungarian I immediately felt a sort of connection with the city (cheesy I know...). It was raining most of the time we were there but we managed to get a great city tour in by a local guide. The city is divided into two parts by the Danube river which were originally called Buda and Pest. The history and the architecture of the city feel much like Prague, however every building still serves a purpose so it feels much less touristy. In fact, if we hadn't have had a guide the first day it would have been really difficult to figure out where to go and what to see. It's much bigger of a city than I expected however public transportation is really efficient. Having taken all forms of public transport in the other cities I visited I was able to compare the differences and the lack of money for infrastructure in Budapest really stands out.
There's a huge opera house in the city that is supposed to have the second best acoustics in Europe and one night we were able to get tickets for around $2. It was a German opera with subtitles in Hungarian so although we couldn't understand anything and were up in the top section, it was a great experience and a really beautiful theater unlike anything I'd ever seen. It was fun to guess what was going on and in the end compare what we thought the plot was about.
We also visited the daily Hungarian market that's held in this huge central market hall. They sell everything from fruit, veggies, meat, and lots of spices. It was fun to compare it to the daily markets in Aix, and sample delicious food including this layered pumpkin spice/cream/chocolate cake that I am still left craving...I'm going to try to replicate the recipe...
The last day we were exhausted from all our travels so we spent it at one of the famous Turkish Bath houses in Budapest. There were over 15 different pools all of different temperatures and different combinations of minerals in the water. It was so relaxing and very healing. In fact, doctors will often give prescriptions to patients of various ailments to go spend a day in the baths.
Bisous :)
OMG THAT CAKE
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