Who are you going to believe? Me or your own Ize? (Part 4)

Europe » Czech Republic » Prague
December 5th 2013

Published: December 5th 2013

Prague, I fell in love as soon as we arrived. It was beautiful. We checked into a great Hostel, there was also many other topdeck groups here. The elevator was taking to long, so I took the stairs- here I ran into a guy I went to school with, Andrew Jacket. He was 2 years above me. I found this very random at the time, running into him here in a hostel, on the stairs in Prague, Czech Republic. We briefly chatted, caught up for a beer in the hostel bar and never crossed paths again.

That evening we an included dinner at the hostel,then off on a walking tour with our Topdeck Trip Leader, we visited the memorable Charles Bridge, Hradcany Castle, Tyn Church and Wenceslas Square amongst other eye-catching landmarks. That night we would check out why Prague’s nightlife is so famous! It possibly was one of the fun nights whilst on tour. We drank copious amounts of local liquor and not to mention ‘Absinthe’ or ‘The green fairy’. It is made up from herbs. Anise and fennel give it a licorice flavor, while wormwood is responsible for absinthe’s supposed hallucinogenic side effects—it contains a chemical called thujone. Thujone is regulated in many countries, including the U.S., but is legal in the Czech Republic, where many brands are produced today. This may explain why the next few hours were so fun!

12-06-10 Email to family:

“now in Prague, Czech republic, it’s hot. We went out last night, to A 5 story night club, was very impressive. From memory, which is a bit hazy I visited all 5 floors. Going to have a little explore today, take some photos.”

The following day was a free day for us to explore the Gothic city full of dramatic spires, cobbled alleys, rumbling trams, hand-made puppets and artists around Charles Bridge. We walked through the Jewish Quarter, visited Old Town Square and the medieval Town Hall, by the end of the day it was time to find an old traditional inn and try an excellent (and cheap) local beer.

One day I hope to see more of the Czech Republic.

My little old Olympus was working hard. Clicking away at everything. I was in ore, this City… country was amazing.

Up bright and early and saying goodbye to the lovely Prague. I will see you again one day. It was on to Berlin, Germany with a lunch stop over in Dresden, Germany. The 800 year old Dresden, a city which has heroically rebuilt itself following near-destruction during World War II. After seeing the symbolic Frauenkirche it was time for some local food and a Few hours more of strolling and sightseeing, it was back on the bus for 2 more hours until we hit the capital of Germany, Berlin.

We had a big night planned ahead. The shopping that we did in the Krakow was about to pay off. Group D of the 2010 FIFA World Cup began on 13 June and ended on 23 June 2010. The group consisted of Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana. Along with Group G, it was considered to be a group of death.

They were showing the game at a jam packed arena on massive tv screens, where it turned out 1000 upon 1000’s would be attending.

We were kitted up in all Australian gold and green colours, girls tights, headbands, face paint- everything you can imagine.

14-06-10 Email to family: “first night in Berlin, we dressed up like crazy Australian soccer fans , and went and watched a game between Germany and Australia on the big screens at a place similar to the DEC (Derwent Entertainment Center).It was an amazing experience. Bit daunting when we frst turned up,there would have been 2000+ mad German soccer hooligans( we watched ‘green street hooligans’ few days before). Few people threw abuse, but others loved it, wanted photos with us etc. We had 3 different papers take photos of us.

We found us in one paper the next day- ‘The Bild’. They didn’t put the group ones in, just one of me and Ivan. We looked pretty funky. With Girls tights on. I’ve got a copy of the paper to bring home.

There was a group of over 10 of us. We had a group of Canadian girls dressed up in Australia gear, they loved it.

It was just awesome, such a good atmosphere. When we were lining up to get in, I got a ‘aussie aussie aussie’ chant going. But we did leave the game a few minutes early as we were getting flogged. We lost 4-0.

That ended up being a pretty big night, finished up about 5.30am.”

We pushed through the pain barrier and were up early the next day, once again feeling the wrath of the previous night’s events.

We checked out the remains of the Berlin Wall. This was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. Some of graffiti art on the wall was amazing. Graffiting on the wall became popular for artists from all over the world and a place where tourists would go and admire the artwork. The West Berlin side of the wall had artwork completely covering the wall, while the East Berlin side was kept blank; as people were not permitted to get close enough to the eastside of the wall to paint anything. It was actually the largest canvas in the world. Unfortunately, much of the artwork was not claimed by artists and remains anonymous.

The rest of the day was filled with more sight seeing.- Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag building, Holocaust Memorial and Checkpoint Charlie. What better way to top off a good day by joining a Nightlife bar tour and checking out some of Berlin’s coolest nightspots! I believe a good night was had by all, the photo evidence on my camera the next morning proved this.

But once again it was time to move on, Berlin, Germany done and dusted. It was time to head to the infamous Amsterdam.

16-06-10 email to family:

"Yesterday was a free day for us, to do what we wanted. Hayley, Ivan and I (who have adopted me as their brother) just cruised around Berlin, checking out some of the famous sights.. Was pretty cool. That night we had an organised pub crawl. Most of the people on our tour did it, and other people off the street can to. We went to 5 different Bars and 1 club. Was another good night. Couple of us got back to the hotel about 6, we were leaving for Amsterdam at 7.30 so we just chilled in reception till then. Got on the Bus and pretty much slept the whole way to Amsterdam. That was a long trip. Just before we got into the city, we stopped at a farm where they made cheese and clogs. Was pretty cool. Got a bit over it. Especially the smell of the cheese in my hungover state”

Who are you going to believe? Me or your own Ize? (Part 4)

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