When we last left our
intrepid heroes...
We were in Delft,
about to head off to Amsterdam.
 |
| A canal? In the Netherlands? Mate, you're dreaming! |
Amsterdam is a pretty
amazing place. The best way I can think
of explaining it is as a grown up version of Delft! Criss-crossed with beautiful canals and paved
streets, the city itself breathes history.
The buildings of the inner city are beautiful in their age, although it
was slightly disconcerting how many of them leaned to one side! I kept thinking to myself, if this place had
a major earthquake it would be flatter than a pancake.
(Speaking of, I HIGHLY
recommend having Dutch pancakes in Amsterdam – we visited a place called
Pancakes!, a great little place which did nothing but, yes you guessed it. Mine was an order with ham, raspberry and
brie and Nick had spinach, goats’ cheese and pine nuts. Yes, on pancakes. Unbeatable.)
Of course, we had a
bit of a wander through the Red Light District and saw the prostitutes in their
window. I know I’m gay, but I just found
it rather... disconcerting more than anything else, especially those who had
their breasts redone to the size of melons.
Meh, I suppose I’m not their target market. Having dinner with a friend in the city, he
mentioned that it’s generally not the tourists who partake of their services
anyway, it’s the locals. The tourists
generally just go to gawk.
Other than that, we
packed as much as we possibly could into our 48 hours – visited two museums,
the Royal Palace (well worth a tour), ate dinner in China Town, took in the
Niewe Kirke and Dam Square, and generally just walked the city streets and took
in the majesty that is this incredibly perplexing city. I think we’re definitely going to have to go
back at some point.
Amsterdam is a town
that makes its tourists feel special.
Because of the way it’s set up (a set of small, interconnecting side
streets rather than a large grid) every tourist gets the opportunity to turn
around a corner and find a funky little store, bar or restaurant (or coffee
shop that doesn’t sell coffee...) that they can have bragging rights to upon
their return. And there are A LOT of
tourists, more than anywhere else I think I’ve been. This city seems to cater specifically for
them – the shopping, the night life, the locals, everything is geared up to
happily part the tourists from their cash.
Then off to
Berlin. I’m still having a bit of
difficulty getting my head around the fact that you can get on a train and get
off in another country, speaking a different language, taking part in a
different culture.
After a six and a half
hour train ride, we arrived in Berlin.
We met up with Nick’s brother and then headed out for dinner. Eating out in Berlin has so far proven to be
very cost-effective, and there are so many options! I’m looking forward to trying a lot of very
good cafes for a very reasonable price!
Of course the hostel price includes breakfast which is once again very
helpful in keeping costs down, it means you only need to purchase one more meal
per day.
Today we headed out to
a concentration camp about 45 minutes outside of Berlin by train. It took about three hours to take in the
whole experience. This is a very sombre
experience, but I’d highly recommend it to anyone, if nothing else, being
there, standing next to the mass graves, the execution and cremation grounds –
well, I’m not going to say it makes it more real because I don’t think it’s
something that I’ll ever fully grasp, how man can do that to his fellow man or
how the prisoners must have felt, must have experienced. But it makes a huge difference to almost feel
the ghosts of those around you, to stand next to where these atrocities actually
happened.
Anyway, on a brighter
note, as of tomorrow (Monday), we would have been on the road for six
weeks! Exciting stuff! We should probably do something to celebrate
that fact...
No comments:
Post a Comment