Day 14b:

Day: 14b

Countries: 4               Cities: 7

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Steps through Amsterdam…

Day 14b

Saturday 2 January 2016

But there's still so much left that we did to write about…

(And it doesn’t seem quite right to so abruptly shift from…. So we’ll continue our steps through Amsterdam on a different page, in a different post.  Day 14, part two…)

After walking through the Anne Frank House, which took two hours that didn't feel like two hours, we went to the Pancake Bakery and had these delicious and huge pancakes. It was delicious. So filling. Don't even want to think about the calories that filled me up today. Those pancakes did keep us pretty well filled for pretty much the entire day.

After second breakfast, we walked around, saw the Tulip Museum, walked in and out of a few cheese shops that offered free samples. Across the canals. Past many a bicycle. Up and down these cute little streets lined with cute little narrow houses that I just want to move into today—and decorate with all of the cute little decoratives from all of the funky, cute, neat little homeware stores that lined the other side of the streets we walked...

We meandered around most of the day, walking here and there and everywhere, from one spot on our Tripomatic app map to the next. Walked briefly through the red light district which was uncomfortable and sad. Hard to see women actually in windows like that, striking up business deals, and people walking through there for whom this was not just a tourist stop to check off on the map. How? A different kind of awful.

But otherwise most everything we saw was really—just cool, neat, charming, nice. All these cool little shops and cute little houses, and neat little rivers, and nice little restaurants, and cozy little coffee places, and delicious little bakeries. (okay, so they weren’t all necessary “little” as in small, but taking advantage of writer’s license and for the sake of parallelism and figurative language and imagery and all that jazz, let’s just throw that adjective into the mix half a dozen times or so… anyway.). 

Nary a place we wouldn't have wanted to go.

Other stops on our tour included Dam Square, the National Monument, Droog Design, various cheese stores and other (“little”) hipster/unique/small local shops, Waterloo Flea Market Square, this tiny 1647 floating house boat restaurant, the Rembrandt Museum (well, at least its gift shop), across the bridge to Rembrandt Square and the Flower Market (tulips galore) and the canal tours ticket office and more cheese stores and Beginhof, the cutest little medieval square ever to walk through…

By then we were ready to sit for a bit so we went to Brix Food and Cafe. Cool atmosphere.  A nice little find. After, we were ready to head over to the canal cruise. We got there and waited in line for about an hour before boarding a little boat for 20 euro that took us calmly and peacefully through the maze of canals, past all these light installations about friendship that were created as part of the light festival. It was pretty cool. My favorites were this one where it looked like a man running then jumping over the bridge, one with colored rope strung all along the river connecting the people in a story, and the last one which was two people rowing with less than 40 lights moving in just the right way so that your mind filled in the rest. It took the guy 8 years to figure out the technology for it. It was pretty neat.

After that we stepped back into the rainy cold, coldest it's been all day. And we headed back to this Foodhallen place we’d stumbled upon the night before (go if you're ever in Amsterdam). And we thought about food but really weren't hungry for it. So then just walked back… And had chocolate for dinner. And got caught up here. And now need to catch back up with sleep. So tired. Good night from the lovely, lovely city of Amsterdam. :) 

~

Day 14a: Walking in her steps…

Day: 14a

Countries: 4               Cities: 7

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Walking in her steps…

Day 14a 

Saturday 2 January 2016

I like Amsterdam. A lot.

You know you like a city when, even in the rain and dreary weather it still manages to charm you. J  I think this might be my favorite city yet. Maybe even better than Rome… Yep, I think (now, reflecting on it a couple months later, definitely better…).  It’s like Budapest with that instant captivating charm but with wayyy better food.

Started off today fairly early, wishing for just a little more sleep but with a pretty good night’s rest behind me. I could hardly keep my eyes open for the movie last night and we both decided to turn it off early and turn in. Before midnight.  Us old ladies can't quite handle these late nights in new cities like we used to ;) … But that's ok.

We woke up and got going, heading toward the Anne Frank House first thing for our 930 tour time. Both of our morning cafe recommendations were still closed that early, but fortunately we found a decent place right across the street from the Anne Frank House that sold coffee and fresh-made stroop waffles. One of the best things known to man.  A sweet, delectable specialty of Amsterdam.  Like a thin cross between a waffle and a pinelle (like our former neighbor/adopted grandmother, Lucille, used to make) and then you carefully slice it in half and smother stroop syrup (almost like a caramely, maple-syrupy type concoction) in the middle, and then put it back together and it's crunchy and sweet and melts in your mouth and is just downright delicious. So that was our (not-so-nutritious-but-delicious) breakfast.

Next up was the Anne Frank House which was pretty incredible. Impressively and well done. Informative. Poignant. Impacting. Powerful. Moving. That's the word in looking for. Moving. Struck a cord. Triggered the tears. At multiple points. And I don't often cry. But at seemingly random moments, it just hits sometimes…

I'm glad we bought our tickets ahead of time online. Well worth it. We skipped the huge line that had formed outside, down the street and around the block. People waiting in line for hours standing in the chill and misty rainy dreariness waiting. We also got a good history/overview of the Frank family and the annex and the circumstances and the history surrounding. Which was really nice to have a refresher course, set the context, and learn more details about Anne's life.

And then after the overview we were able to walk through the house at or own pace, following a bit of a line with the build-up of people.

You start on the bottom floors of her father’s factory/office and work your way up narrow, steep stairs, learning more, seeing pictures from the family or of the refurbished replica rooms or hearing from people who knew the family giving their testimonies. Carefully and poignantly picked portions of her diary printed on the walls.

And then there is the original bookcase built to hide the staircase to the annex.

And then you go up.

And you see the tiny rooms. Not furnished but you can imagine. It's more impactful and powerful not furnished.

Your mind and your heart fills in the blanks.

And you're left walking through the rooms fighting back tears,

mouth pressed in a thin line,

eyes open wide,

 moving slowly of their own accord, one in front of the other in front of the other…

mind reeling

                                   

This happened.

This really happened.

And what about all the other Anne Frank's for whom there was no hiding place and now have no museum? There's a book there, In Memoriam, which has the names of over 100,000 Jews who were deported and killed. It's bigger than a dictionary.  With print almost as tiny as the print I would use to cram all of my science notes onto an index card before a big test… Filled with names.

Just names. 

Of people.

Who were killed.

For no reason.

It's awful. Sickening.  The hate.  How………

And then at the end of the tour you see her actual diary and you hear more from people who knew her and also from people today who have been impacted by her.

"Her would-haves are our opportunities."

I read the The Diary of Anne Frank when I was younger. First when I was pretty young and then again later when I could appreciate it more. I bought it again so I could read it once more and appreciate it even more with memories of this place lingering to fit with it, give more substance to her words.

I'd forgotten she'd written with such passion and purpose. And I didn't realize she was seeking publication. And I never imagined how her dad had to be strong enough to read it and then try to get it published. I didn't realize he had been so involved and instrumental in the museum. It was his wish that it be left unfurnished. It's just so....

And now how do I go on with the rest of the day? When my mind is still trying to process that…

~

Day 13: Ringing in the New Year and Starting Somewhere New…

Day: 13

Countries: 4               Cities: 7

Berlin, Germany à Amsterdam, Netherlands

Ringing in the New Year and Starting Somewhere New…

Day 13

Friday 1 December 2015

I woke up this morning, just in time to ring in the New Year anew with my family staying up late half way around the world back home. After spending a short night wrapped in a sheet with my head propped up on my scarf and sweatshirt, hugging the edge of the bed and trying not to kick Gracie at the foot of the bed in the face (hazards of trying to split a bed for two among four girls, but it suited just fine...).

We didn't end up making it all the way to Brandenburg Gate for the main New Year’s celebration last night but we managed to metro last minute to Alexanderplatz and rang in the New Year among a crowd of people, in the midst of firework-smoky air, jumping at each pop and crack and bright light from crazy amount of fireworks being set off every which way on the street—even just from the bare hands of the people that surrounded us.

It was something to behold for sure.

After we'd had officially crossed into 2016 (hmmmm, I guess this was technically the shortest year of my life since I rang it in in the US at the beginning of 2015 and then said “so long” a few time zones earlier in Germany…. So 2015 was technically 7 hours shorter than every other year I’ve lived… hmmmmm… maybe the hours make up somewhere…anyway…)…. After we'd had officially crossed into 2016, a little prematurely or not aside, we made our way back to the hotel, the excitement and fireworks continuing all along the road, from one year into the next.

When we got back upstairs to our room, I was trying to organize my stuff and thought I'd lost my phone charger cord. Turns out I didn't but I spent a good hour looking everywhere except where it was and trying not to fret about it. Found it this morning in a last minute sweep/let's-just-make-sure-I-don’t-have-anything-in-this-side-of-the-closet, and lo-and-behold-lookie-here there's my cord! Sigh of relief. Ufda.  Is it weird that those moments of frantically searching and fretting into the next morning was a practice in handling how to lose things better? If that makes any sense at all… anyway.  That could probably be another blog post for another day, but back to our journey…

Anyway. That was the rest of our New Years night. Four girls dodging fireworks in the streets of Berlin then curling up four to a double twin bed trying to sleep through the sound of fireworks. But not a bad night.

This morning Gracie and I woke up, got our stuff together, then got on a train. There wasn't much open in the station so we ended up (again!) only eating train station bread and chocolate for a majority of the day. Whoops…

Our train ride was kinda long but not bad. A little chilly. Some fog covering the passing scenery. Green fields. Square buildings. Miniature horses. Slept for a bit. Organized/planned/wrote some postcards. Made some resolutions (hmmmm, how well am I sticking with those 2 and a half months in?? I should go back and check/reflect/evaluate/maybe renew….). Listened to music…

And then we got here to Amsterdam and it is such a neat city! I had a good vibe like an “I-kinda-really-like-this-place” kind of feeling. We trammed to our air bnb, a small but nice attic in a little apartment in a good part of town. We walked the mile and a half from there to the main restaurant/going out neighborhood. A nice walk: down and over and down and over again and again. Cross the canal then turn right for a block then turn left and walk past three canals, turning along the fourth. See the canals lined with houseboats. So cute! Let's live in a tiny house!

We tried to go to the Indonesian restaurant recommended by friends, and thought we'd found it and made our way there, but then realized it wasn’t the same one after the fact.  Ah well. We had a delicious meal. A variety of dishes to try a little bit of everything. Rice. And peanut sauce salad and chicken skewer. And soy sauce pork. And chicken curry. And spicy beef stew. And these little crunchy straws band fried bananas for dessert. And then after dinner they brought us out a whole pitcher of water for free and it was cold. And the wait staff was nice and attentive. A refreshing and surprising change from the abrupt German waiters we'd had the last week or so. So that was dinner.

And though it was only like 630 we were kinda tired. We walked around the area and sat down for dessert (mini pancakes with ice cream and toffee sauce. Pforfetjes or something like that). We made a gameplan for tomorrow. Said goodbye to our little mouse friend (who’d come out from underneath the booth kitty corner from us to say hello and grab some crumbs for dinner...). And then we walked back. Stopped at that little homey homemade shop on the way back. Got a ginger soda that wasn’t my favorite. Showered. Caught up here. And now we are watching Netflix. Another good day. Two weeks down. One full week to go. Woo! We are in Amsterdam!!! :) 

~

Day 12: Happy Birthday!

Day: 12

Countries: 3               Cities: 6

Berlin, Germany

Happy Birthday!

Thursday 31 December 2015

I suppose I can use this time before we go out for the night to write and catch up on the day instead of just mindlessly scrolling through Facebook. Today was a pretty darn good day. We just had a really delicious meal, one of the best we’ve had in a while: Chicago Williams Barbecue. If ever you find yourself in Berlin, go there. Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 dollars. Just go and get yourself some delicious barbecue.

We did that thing again today where we kept postponing actually eating a meal, just snacking instead. So it got to be almost 4 in the afternoon and all we'd had was a donut and some coffee and the half of a slice of pizza we’d shared. And we'd been walking around all day, lugging all of our belongings. But when we were looking up our hotel for the night on the map I was just scanning the area for places to eat and this came up. And since our previous attempts at bbq the past few days had fallen through (and we'd been craving it) we decided to give it a try. We walked to where it was supposed to be just a block or two away and found it, but found also that it wouldn't open ‘till 5. We were willing to wait.

But I was also in need of some food. So we searched out a cafe and found one across the street from our hotel. But it was closing. And the one next to that was full. But on our second passby the lady sitting at the bar in the window gave us a thumbs up, so we went in just as two people were leaving and their seats opened. The guy who worked there was super nice. I had some delicious carrot cake and a café latte that were both really good.

As we were sitting there, we got in contact with Amanda and Gracie and then went across the street to their hotel. We hung out there for a while. Then Gracie and I headed out to check out this bbq place. We got there and the guy behind the bar gave us a spot at the bar even though we didn't have a reservation. Thank goodness! The food was delicious.  Gracie even gave it her the Texas stamp of approval. So good. Mmmmmm…

Anyway.  Afterwards we headed back to the hotel, and now we are back in the room just hanging out and waiting. Fireworks must be a big deal because they are going off everywhere, on the sidewalk even. Boom boom boom. 24/7. Happy New Year…

Okay. So that's the second half of the day. Back to the beginning. Woke up this morning and did a bit of stretching and got packed up for the day. We checked out and then headed out. We metroed to the Kreuzberg area for the third time in as many days. But this time we went their on purpose. The cafe we were looking for was closed for Christmas break. But there was a place right across the street with delicious donuts. And a cappuccino.

Then we kept walking. Stopped and got some cute postcards and a birthday card for mom. Kinda dropped the ball getting one in the mail for her on time (sorry, mom!). Then crossed the street and found a place that sold cute winter headbands. Got one for 10 euro. Good buy. Then kept walking and made our way to the Markethall. There, we found a bunch of free samples and good homemade chocolate and split a piece of pizza. Then kept walking looking for another cafe. But didn't end up staying there. Instead, found a cute paper place.

Then we got back on the train and made our way toward the station from yesterday. We found wifi at a Starbucks near there. And I face timed mom and got to talk to her and wish her happy birthday :) and that was really nice. I'm glad I got to talk to her today. Then we walked and found another store to look around in. And then we metroed/walked to our hotel area and that's where I started writing about today.

So there we are. A pretty good day. Good to be in Berlin. Here's to 2015. Here's to 2016. Hope it's another good year. Happy new year!!!!! :)

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!! J

~ 

Day 11: Another brick in the wall…

Day: 11

Countries: 3               Cities: 6

Berlin, Germany

Another brick in the wall…

Wednesday 30 December 2015

(Please excuse the cheesy pun which functions as this day’s blog post…)

Today has been a better day in Berlin. I like you a little more, Berlin. But it is so freaking cold!! We are literally freezing. To the point where we choose routes that take us to warmth over routes that take us to sightseeing points. Meh, I see where it is, let's keep walking. I'll come back in the summer sometime and spend more time looking at it.  But even still we've done quite a lot today. And still more to do and see. (oh my goodness as I reread this now I almost want to delete it because I sound so whiny.  And coming from Wisconsin I should be used to the cold.  But I guess this is how I was feeling and writing in the moment so I’ll just have to take it as it is—with all my faults and shortcomings…).

Currently, it is 8:22 pm and we are sitting in the lobby of the big TV tower, staring alternately at phones that are connected to wifi that won't really load and a TV screen with the wait times and queues, desperately willing our ticket numbers to come up next. But instead of just staring and growing more and more frustrated by the second, I should do something at least half way productive and write about the day. That way when I get back to the hotel tonight I can just go to bed instead of trying to type it all while battling tired eyes, dumb Internet, and gunshot fireworks.

Anyway. We got a bit of a later start today, had a rather slow, easy, albeit semi-productive morning. Got out of bed around 9. Then did a few things before heading down for breakfast which was fine. No plates but it worked. Then we went back up and got dressed and did a load of laundry in the sink to hopefully help us make it through the last half of the trip without smelling too poorly... And now all those articles of clothing are drying on a towel on the floor. So we put up the “no housekeeping necessary” sign on the door, lest some poor housekeeper come into our room to see both London and France.

Anyway. Last night I slept okay. Not great. A bit restless.  Both Gracie and I woke up about the same time positively dying of thirst. Anyway. So we came back from breakfast did sink laundry made a game plan for the day and mapped it out and then headed out for the day. We were greeted with slightly better temps and the sun, and were thusly deceived into thinking today would be better weather wise.

We were wrong.

As the day wore on it got progressively colder. The wind bit deeper. Our cheeks grew rosier. Our scarves wrapped tighter. And our pace quickened. But we are surviving. Though we are wondering how in the world we are going to make it through all tomorrow night outside in the cold. Layer up and cross that bridge when we come to it.

This morning, we walked and passed through a cute little park with mini trampolines built into the ground and little kids bundled up in snowsuits just a-jumping-away on them. So cute! Then we passed this bunker and almost walked into the horror story part of it. Then were corrected by the friendly, red-coated greeter who directed us back down the stairs to the correct floor/door. We looked in the gift shop and then snuck back out deciding not to stay (and pay).

Then we walked to Checkpoint Charlie where people would try to escape from the east to west side through the wall. The first person to escape did so through a hot air balloon. All through the city, wherever the wall was they have the bricks still inlaid in the ground to mark it. It's crazy to think that it only came down 26 years ago. Barely longer than we've been alive. And it first went up the year dad was born in 1961. It's so weird to think about. I feel almost as if I've been stuck in ancient history for so long it's kinda hard to wrap my mind around this more recent upheaval in history. There was just a wall. People died trying to get to the other side of it. There was so much hate. There still is…

After Checkpoint Charlie we kept walking, stopping in a little convenience store to get water and a snack. Then we walked till we got to the Gardner Square (?) with the church and the other building and the opera house occupying its area…

[Sometime later] Well, so much for getting all caught up. Oh well. We finally got to go up and just saw 720 degrees of Berlin (we walked around the circular lookout twice, in case you were having trouble with that math). The lit up city is beautiful and it was really neat to see. But hard to take pictures. It would be cool to come up during the day. Extra cool if you could time it for sunset. But we came, we saw. And that's that.

Ya know, sometimes, there are just some people who you end up having to stand near that can be rather annoying. Like the girls standing in our personal space while we were waiting for our burgers and like these annoying, accented, drunk, British people talking in the queue from the restaurant next to us as we were waiting for the elevator next to us to go back down. And ohhhh the people you meet.

Anyway. Back to earlier. We stopped at this famous Fassbender and Rausch Chocolatier place where they had all these crazy chocolate statues (a plane and a Santa and the Brandenburg Gate, all solid chocolate!). We got some chocolate for later and were going to go to the big Ritter chocolate store but found it to be closed.

So we just kept walking. And right about now is when it started getting colder.

We walked by the Brandenburg Gate where they are starting to set up for tomorrow's festivities. [Interrupt to update current status] Now, currently sitting in the second German movie theater in two days. It was a bit of a scramble to get here though. We literally ran around in a circle, in the same area we were yesterday at first, to the wrong movie theater initially, and they had to tell us where the one we wanted was and which was exactly where we first started our search, and then running across the street at least half a dozen times. But we made it. 7 minutes late but Just in time for all the ads and previews. Settle in to enjoy the Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 3. In English. Wooo!

Okay. Back to where we left off at the Brandenburg Gate. Very cold. Continue walking, head tucked down into your chin, feet picking up the pace.  Past the huge German Parliament building. And keep walk walk walking...to the nearest metro station. Take the S75 to the Berlin Wall Memorial. Stand there on one side then the other. Cross easily through from side to side, though just a couple decades ago they couldn't. Ghost Stations where the train would round its way through east Germany to get back to the next stop in west…

And then metro and navigate our way to Alexanderplatz and the TV tower. Where we got our tickets. Number 1558 and 1559, but the queue was still just taking tickets in the 500s. This was around 3 in the afternoon.  So we came back 5 hours later.  (which is when I started this meandering journey back through the day).

In the meantime we navigated our way over to the east gallery and Burger Meister. Stepped off the train into the freezing tundra. Walked past the East Wall Gallery and decided it wasn't that pressing to see. Made it to the burger place we'd heard was really good only to find out we were literally a block from it last night and that it was this little shack with a long line. But it was well worth the wait.

After the burger place (which was really our first meal of the day and sufficiently atisfied our hunger) we went in search of warmth and a place to charge our phones. And after deciding to pass on the place our app recommended we stumbled upon this neat, tree house, eclectic, hipster-esque space instead.  Warmed up and woke up and charged up. And made a plan on how we could fairly warmly make our way back to the TV tower.

Then we crossed to the metro. Went the wrong way. Got off the next stop. Were confused but figured out how to get back there. And then we were at the TV tower and that's where the journaling today started. And now the movie is starting. Well. At least the previews are. Okay. Bye for now.   

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