Making the Ulitmate Party in Northern Europe (Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Cesky Krumlov)

Coming into Amsterdam our Busabout guide annoyingly referred to Amsterdam as “the Damage”, given the city’s party-hard reputation and the young tourist tendency to leave Amsterdam in a somewhat more decrepit state than when they arrived. Although it wasn’t our intent to get “damaged” we became like the throngs of other tourists and certainly made the most of our weekend in Amsterdam.

Ever the thrifty backpackers, we were lucky to stay for free at the flat of one of my cousin’s close friend’s right in the centre of the city. We arrived at 7pm on a Friday night so our packs were quickly dumped and swapped for wine. After a considerable amount was consumed my cousin and the flatmates showed us a great and totally un-touristy night out on the town visiting bars and clubs that don’t usually feature on the tourist radar. Needless to say Saturday morning was taken at an extremely leisurely pace. However once the hangovers had been cured with the consumption of fried Dutch delicacies we set off to explore the city. We meandered our way through the main shopping area, the Dam Square, beautiful streets lined with 17th century houses and wandered along the canals. We also couldn’t help but visit the rather tacky, yet strangely amusing, Amsterdam Sex Museum, which I had certainly never been to before on any of my many family trips to the Netherlands!

That night we went on the “Ultimate Party Amsterdam Pub-Crawl”, which turned out to be quite the experience - over 150 rowdy tourists split into two groups and then herded to about six different bars over a period of seven hours. Not necessarily something we would do again, as it was slightly too touristy for our taste, however fun nonetheless. The next day, after yet another slow paced morning, we were treated to lunch by my Uncle and Aunty at the beautiful Bijenkorf, a wonderful luxury for four girls who budget for every meal! Afterwards we made our way to the Anne Frank house - a moving experience that should be on every Amsterdam tourist’s agenda.

Amsterdam was loved by us all for not only having a great party scene, but also for its beauty and great laidback vibe, however early Monday morning it was time to move on again...Hello Berlin.

Berlin was, and probably will remain, one of my favourite cities on our whirlwind tour of Europe. Although less pretty than most of our other European stops (due to the fact it was basically flattened in WWII) it has a great alternative charm and there is so much to do.

To try and fit everything in we spent two of our days on walking tours, which may sound geeky but they are an incredible way to see heaps when you only have a small amount of time and I would highly recommend them to all! On one we took in all the great historical sites, including the Berlin wall, Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag building, Hitler’s Bunker, the book burning memorial and the phenomenal and touching Holocaust memorial. The second showed us the alternative side of the city, which Berlin is also famous for. The tour, suitably taken by a Kiwi guy covered in tattoos and with bum length dreadlocks, mainly focused on the Berlin street art scene so we took in lots of graffiti, artist squats and abandoned buildings and the tour ended with beer at an outdoor beach bar, complete with sand, volleyball nets and beach chairs. Other tourist activities included the Pergamon museum, which was full of ancient Greek and Roman artefacts and also a visit to the rather sobering Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp - about an hour from Berlin Sachsenhausen was one of the first WWII hard labour camps and served as the model for all that followed. We also went out partying several times with our Swedish roommates, including one night when the club we had intended to go to was closed and we instead stumbled upon a party in a very cool circus tent and abandoned building that was in the middle of nowhere. So very Berlin.

From Berlin it was on to the Czech Republic, first stop Prague.

Prague, in my personal opinion, was the most beautiful place we have been thus far, with its cobbled streets, beautiful buildings and even a castle it was like a scene from a fairytale. Thoroughly hooked after Berlin, we undertook another walking tour on our first day to see all the main sites including the Old Square, Astronomical clock, Charles Bridge, the old Jewish Quarter and the Powder Tower. We spent the morning of our second day taking a trip to a small town called Kutna Hora, about an hour away from Prague, after being enticed there by an old church that had been decorated with over 40,000 bones when the cemetery was demolished in 1511. However after quickly seeing the church (which was very damp and very creepy) we left on the next train back, as the rundown and slum-like town of Kutna Hora had nothing more to offer and we were eager to return to the beauty of Prague. The afternoon was spent wondering around the beautiful grounds of the massive Prague Castle and then enjoying a jug of gin and tonic (sheer brilliance) before returning to our hostel to once again pack and be ready to move on in the morning.
Our second and last stop in the Czech Republic was a small town in the East called Cesky Krumlov. We all fell in love with this little town, partly because of its cobbled streets, quaint buildings, entwining rivers and for the large castle that overlooks it all, but mainly because of the small town pace. After the hectic and hard-partying times in the former three stops two days in Cesky were a welcome reprieve. However even though a lot of sleeping, reading and wandering in town took place we also had the joy of being in Cesky on a Wednesday, which just happened to be free keg night at our amazing hostel, so despite our best efforts partying was also achieved.

Next stop: Vienna.

More soon, Claire xx

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