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April 9th 2007

Published: April 9th 2007

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Dave3586

Checkpoint Charlie

Me next to the Checkpoint Charlie sign

Hi everyone,

Im back from my 12 day trip to Central and Eastern Europe. It was truly an amazing experience as I was able to see four amazing cities.

The trip with my friend Eliot started in Berlin. Berlin was a very interesting city. It really is a city still looking for some sort of identity. There were the makings of a great city, but it just felt empty. In addition, I have never been in such a quiet city. You could honestly be walking down a street and not hear a single noise. The same could be said while riding on the underground or the above ground s-bahn. No one talked to one another, there was just silence. Regardless, it was still a great city and I was able to take in several great museums including the vast German History Museum as well as the Checkpoint Charlie museum. I was also able to take in some great German food and had a pint of the oldest brewed beer in the world (1040 AD). My German did come in handy translating some things and being able to converse with some of the locals if necessary.

The next

East Berlin

East Berlin at the wall

stop on our tour was Prague. You could truly tell that we were now in Eastern Europe and we had no clue what anyone was saying. However, it is a very touristy city and all of the menus at any restaurant come with an English version as well. It was a much older city than Berlin and avoided the WWII devestation that Berlin had endured. The Charles IV Bridge was very interesting and the highlight of our time in Prague was the Prague Castle. Which was really a massive complex including several huge churches and the National Gallery. It afforded a wonderful view of the city and relics had been traced back to the 8th Century AD from the Castle. If you enjoy architecture, Prague is your city as it as all sorts of great buildings to see.

The next stop was Vienna which was my favorite of the four cities. Once again, we were in German speaking land although their accent was distinctly different and there weren't nearly as many tourists. Vienna is just full of museums including several art galleries that we went to in addition to a Hapsburg Palace. Being a huge chocolate fan, I had

Olympic Stadium

Me at Olympic Stadium in Berlin

Sacher Torte several times . We went to the cafe where the recipe was originally conceived and it was delicious. I also had it from the cafe that was the official imperial provider during the Hapsburg reign. I was sad to leave Vienna, but absolutely fell in love with the city and did not even get to all that was available.

The final stop on our tour was Budapest. Hungary was without a doubt the poorest city we visited as we were told the people on average make 30 american dollars a day with a good job. Nevertheless, the city was fantastic. There was great architecture with Parliament and St. Steven's Basilica which had one of the prettiest church interiors I have ever seen. In addition Buda Castle which was really more of a complex had some of the prettiest buildings to see and a very impressive National Gallery.

Overall the 12 day trip was fantastic and I enjoyed each and every city which all had a different character. London is pretty well shut down today with the Easter Monday bank holiday, but starting tomorrow I will be back to the grind as I have two papers to