Berlin: Day 4 | A culture fix

I've already touched on Berlin's incredible street art. It's everywhere. I had considered doing a street art workshop (I could be a talented street artist without even knowing it), but decided I am all to aware of my lack of artistic talent and opted for just a tour.

I began the day at yet another cafe. This time it was a case of walking around Prenzlauer Berg and finding something that looked good. I ended up walking to the Mitte neighbourhood and into Marketta. There was no English menu but still quite busy. I took that as a good sign. I ate my breakfast (more bread) at a large communal wooden table next to a toasty fire while reading my book. Now that is how to start the morning.



The tour started at 11am and our first stop was the Turkish neighbourhood, Kreuzberg. It wasn't long before we were walking down Oranienstrasse, which I visited on Tuesday. Our guide, Penny, pointed out a lot of things I didn't notice before and gave me the background on things I had seen. The tour was a mixture of education about graffiti and street art (they aren't the same thing), checking out some great pieces around the city, visiting some galleries and even an African beach community, YAAM. The latter was due to be closed down the day we visited. It's a waterfront property and money trumps what the community has going on there. I was surprised it was still open when we were there given the impending eviction.



The below picture is a funny story. The artist, El Bocho, has done his own take on a Czech cartoon called Little Lucy. In the cartoon, Lucy loves her cat. In the street art, Lucy is always trying to kill her cat. Bocho has gone so far as to hang up stuffed cat toys in a noose around the city.





The tour finished up at the alley Annika took me to on my first day in the city (what are they odds) and after I enjoyed my first taste of currywurst from a stand in Hackescher Markt.



I used the rest of the afternoon to expore Prenzlauer Berg. Even though it was a little chilly, it's a great time to visit the city. There are trees everywhere and they look gorgeous with their orange and yellow leaves.



 



After a stop at another cafe, I jumped on the train again. When I was in Paris I saw an exhibition of Helmut Newton's work at the Grand Palais. His photographs are not to everyone's taste so I won't be surprised if you Google it and wonder what the hell I see in it. But I loved what I saw in Paris. What I forgot was that Newton was from Berlin, before he fled the city (he was Jewish). The Museum of Photography here was built by the Helmut Newton Foundation. It features an exhibition of Newton's personal belongings including condolence letters to his wife, June, and documentary footage of Newton at work. The footage was different to what I saw in Paris.

I caught the train back to Prenzlauer Berg and had a German dinner of schitzel and roast potatoes followed by apple strudel before meeting Annika at Kaffee Burger, a music venue down the road from my hostel. Friends of hers were playing in a band. The music is described as "gypsy pop" and to give you an idea of what that entails, the instruments used by the two bands we saw included a clarinet, accordian, trumpet, double bass and a duck whistle. Of course all the singing was in German - apart from one chorus of one song, although Annika had to point that out to me because I'd stopped paying attention to the lyrics and just enjoyed the music.

I was trying to find a sample of the music and came across this video from the gig I was at. It's the second band that played, Polkageist. Go to about 2:30 and then 5:40 to get a sense of the energy.

Berlin: Day 3 | Exploring the neighbourhoods

Berlin, like most major cities, is full of neighbourhoods so much in contrast to each other you'd think you were in a different city. To make the most of my time here I decided to stay in two different areas - firstly in Schöneberg with my Couchsurfing host Annika, and then in a hostel in Prenzlauer Berg.

On Wednesday morning I left my bag at the hostel and headed to Brandenburg Gate (again) to join a Sandeman's walking tour (again). I've joined Sandeman's tours in Edinburgh and more recently in Prague and always enjoyed them. The tours are free, but you're expected to tip the guide at the end. They make the point - and quite rightly - that it forces the guides to put a lot of effort in.

The three-hour tour covered a lot of ground I'd already seen, but at least this time I had some idea what I was seeing. I really enjoyed revisiting the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. When I'd come by the day before I'd just looked at it from the edge without even knowing what it was. This time I walked through. The concrete slabs are different heights and the ground goes up and down so walking through the maze of paths is eerie. Our guide, Alex, asked at the end what we'd taken from it and some people compared it to what many Jews must have experienced - feeling lost, trapped, unsure of where the enemy was. Apparently the artist who designed it has never spoken about his own interpretation.



Alex led us to a car park in front of some apartment buildings before announcing we were standing on top of Hitler's bunker. One kid on the tour asked if Hitler committed suicide on April 30 or May 1. He was relieved when Alex confirmed it was April 30 - the kid's mum explained he was born on May 1 and didn't want to share his birthday with the day Hitler died.

The highlight of the tour, however, was finally finding out what was up with the pedestrian traffic lights. Some of the green and red men looked as they should, but others had different images.

Here's the story: The little traffic light man is Ampelmännchen. Which isGerman for little traffic light man. No joke. I Googled it. The different lights were introduced in East Berlin to revamp the traffic lights. Ampelmännchen was also part of a road safety program in schools.  When the wall fell the city reverted back to the "traditional" signals until the East Berliners got nostalgic and asked for them back. There are stores that sell Ampelmännchen merchandise. I resisted.



The tour finished near Alexanderplatz where I jumped on the underground to head to the Friedrichshain neighbourhood.





In my pre-trip research I'd come across an obscure mention of a cafe called Factory Girl that took my fancy. It was getting dark by the time I hit Simon-Dach strasse, a street filled with cafes and restaurants. Factory Girl specialises in Magnolia - a dessert that's hard to describe. It's a creamy mixture of that almost looks like uncooked cake and comes served with all sorts of toppings. I chose white chocolate and raspberries, and mixed forest fruits. It's inspired by a bakery in New York that I'll have to check out next time I'm there.



After two helpings of magnolia I skipped the train and walked back to the city centre. The TV Tower really helps with my orientation in Berlin. If I can see it and it doesn't look to far away, I just walk. Gets a little tricky when you get closer and tall buildings block it. But I get there eventually.

Back in Prenzlauer Berg I finished my book in the hostel before grabbing some dinner. I'm spending a lot of money on food this trip.

Berlin: Day 2 | A history lesson

Back home in Burnie, the best fish and chips come from the old school take away next to a service station, not the fancy cafe right on the sand. Which place do you think a visitor is going to end up at? Correct. Tourists pay twice as much for crap fish and chips by the beach.

Eating out is one of my favourite things about travelling. In Florence, dinner at il Latini was an experience and a highlight. As was eating a Nutella crepe on the summit of a mountain in the French Pyrenees from a make-shift cafe powered by a generator. But as a traveller, I am disadvantaged when it comes to knowing where to go for a good meal.

So when my CouchSurfing host Annika told me she'd made reservations at a cafe for breakfast I was excited. And with good reason. I could have roamed the streets of Berlin for hours and hours and not had the slightest chance of finding Café BilderBuch.

The cafe, with its tiny front door, is in Schöneberg. Even people who live in the area must walk by without knowing what's inside. At the back of the cafe is a giant living room - it's the only way to describe it. The walls are lined with bookcases, some tables are surrounded by couches, others belong in a fancy dining room. There are antique lamp shades, beautifully framed pictures and lovely knick-knacks around the place.  Our table faced a grandfather clock and an artist working away at an easel.



If you go out for breakfast in Germany, don't be expecting pancakes or eggs and bacon. The dishes are mostly some type of meat or fish served with fruit, salad, cheese and bread. I ordered smoked salmon, but couldn't eat that much of it that early in the morning so instead went to work on the bread basket.

Annika had class in the afternoon so I headed into the city. It was forecast to rain every day of my trip, but so far it had held off. Nothing a hood pulled on couldn't handle.

There are apparently some great markets in Berlin, but unfortunately most are held on the weekend. Luckily on the good ones, the Turkish Market at Maybachufer, is open on a Tuesday. The market was mostly food - fruit and veg, cheese, meats, deli items etc. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't stuffed myself on the bread basket.



From the market I toodled off down the road and ended up at Oranienstrasse. I wasn't walking to anything in particular, but then saw this:



I figured it was worth checking it out. It turned out to be a piece commissioned for a street art program. It's done by an artist called Victor Ash. It's often confused as a Banksy and I found out later that some tours even tell people as such. Banksy, a British street artist, uses stencils. This piece though isn't stencil work. When you stand close you can see the faded grid marked out. It's the same technique used in painting the Sistine Chapel. I was slightly disappointed with the Sistine Chapel - perhaps if Michaelangelo painted a giant astronaut I would have found it more interesting.

Oranienstrasse turned out to be packed with some amazing art. I spied some cool looking cafe's too, but that damn bread basket ruined my appetite for hours! I covered a lot of ground on foot, ending up at Tacheles - an abandoned building that was converted into an artists squat. I'd seen pictures of its interior and wanted to see for myself, but it was closed. I found out later city officials shut it a few months ago. Apparently there is some covert access although I'm not sure I'd want to risk it.



In the afternoon I returned to Brandenburg Gate with the intention of joining Sandeman's free walking tour at 4pm. Unfortunately I picked up the summer brochure instead of the winter one that would have told me the 4pm tour doesn't run during winter.

Back to the streets I went, this time walking along Friedrichstrasse - Berlin's major shopping street. I walked all the way down to Checkpoint Charlie. I won't rehash my thoughts on that place - you can read them here.

I visited some museums, including one about the Ministry for State Security - or Stasi, as it was known - and the Topography of Terror. It's fair to say that I learnt more about World War II, the Cold War and the Berlin Wall in those three hours than I did over my 17 years of school and university education.

Berlin: Day 1

Who knows what attracts people to different countries and places.  I couldn’t tell you why I want to go to Alaska, Turkey or spend time road tripping across Montana. I just do. I also couldn’t tell you why I’ve never been that interested in going to Germany. I just wasn’t.

I use wasn’t in the past tense. Despite my lack of interest in Germany, for whatever reason, I’m not one to pass up a cheap flight. I had five days holiday and the flight from Manchester to Berlin was convenient. Well as convenient as an international flight leaving at 6.45am can be.

I met my Couchsurfing host, Annika, about 12pm and by 1pm it felt like I’d known her forever. After lunch and my introduction to German bread – which, by the way, is amazing – we headed into the city.

Our first stop was Brandenburg Gate. It’s a landmark in Berlin and I'm sure I was meant to be excited at the sight of it, but there's only so many European grand structures one can summon enthusiasm for. It’s only a short walk from there to Berlin’s distinctive parliament building, the Reichstag. The Reichstag is a building I can get excited for. The newer part of it (the glass beehive) looks a little odd, but it beats Parliament House in Canberra. Inside is meant to be equally as impressive, but you have to book days ahead to secure a time to go in.



We walked back into the city centre, to the Hackescher Markt area. Knowing I was keen to see some of the city's famous street art, Annika took me to some wonderful little courtyards and alleys I never would have found on my own and then we visited some great art bookshops (some of the photography books were incredible).





On the way home we stopped at the supermarket to get some things to dinner (I had to help Annika cook something with pumpkin - she'd bought one, but had never cooked with it before). We ended up roasting the pumpkin and having it with pasta and a sun-dried tomato pesto. Yum!

I love visiting supermarkets in other countries - sometimes finding the similarities is just as amusing (and enlightening) as the difference.

Berlin: The obligatory step back in time

Germany. Hitler. The Berlin Wall.

I wasn’t expecting much more from Berlin. Why would I? It’s all anyone really hears about it. As it’s a city I’ve never been too interested in visiting, I’ve never bothered to learn much more about it. In fact, I knew far too little about both issues. The Wall came down in my lifetime yet I was ashamedly uninformed on the subject until last year. After visiting Hiroshima I’m acutely aware how World War 2 ended, but knew practically nothing about how, and more importantly, why, it began.

It’s 23 years since the Berlin Wall came down – the anniversary was on Friday, my last day in the city. Berlin has put that relatively recent event well behind it. It’s wasted no time coming into its own as an edgy, modern, cultural hub. The graffiti and art that covered the West side of the Wall has exploded throughout the city. Berlin’s music and clubbing scene is so intense that it is the new city that never sleeps. Eclectic doesn’t begin to describe the “anything goes” approach to fashion. For me, it’s those sides of the city are worth discovering. But of course, you can’t escape the Berlin’s past.

[caption id="attachment_2843" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="The 1.3km stretch of the East side of the Berlin Wall outside the Topography of Terror"][/caption]

Only a snippet of the 155km Wall is still standing. There’s about 200m standing out front of the Topography of Terror – a museum built on the site of the buildings of the former Nazi security forces.  There’s another 1.3km at the East Side Gallery. I saw a slab as part of a display at the Newseum in Washington DC. There’s even a segment in Canberra. You can buy souvenir pieces, but by 1998 enough had been sold to build the Wall twice over.

[caption id="attachment_2844" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="A piece of the Berlin Wall on display at the Newseum in Washington DC. I debated whether to take a photo of this at the time - it seemed to not mean as much as part of a display in a US museum instead of being in Berlin. Call it a principal thing, but I still kind of wish I hadn't taken it, but it illustrates a point here."][/caption]

Nearly every tourist to Berlin will leave with a photo of Checkpoint Charlie – one of five former crossing points between East and West Berlin. Although visiting Checkpoint Charlie is like visiting Beyonce at Maddam Tussauds. It’s all fake. Apparently the only remaining authentic item at the checkpoint is the frame around this sign:





The sign itself is a replica. The sand bags are filled with concrete. The guards – which charge €2 for a photo – are actors. Tourists can get a stamp in their passport for a country that no longer exists. This, my travelling friends, is all for show.

The McDonald’s down the street is just tops it off, although it would be more entertaining if it has been built in former East Berlin.

I saw both the Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. Part of me wish I hadn’t set eyes on the latter purely on principal, but there was a great exhibition at the site that made it worthwhile. A visit to Berlin could easily be consumed with visiting reminders of Berlin’s Nazi or Cold War past.. But there is so much more to this city than standing over Hitler’s bunker or walking along the remnants of the Berlin Wall. Berlin’s history is exactly that – history. Berlin has so much more to offer....

Finding the magic in Berlin

My first trip overseas was 10 years ago. It was a school trip to Japan. I remember a lot about that trip, but I don't remember being excited. Of course I must have been, but not as much as my next trip, this time to China, four years later. See by then I knew what to expect. I knew the thrill of landing in a new country. Of exploring a new culture, different languages and, of course, the food.

Somewhere between then and waiting in an airport early Monday morning, I lost that feeling.

Usually looking at the departure board makes me giddy. All those flights headed all around the world. I look at the destinations and picture what it will be like to go there one day. I imagined walking up to the ticket counter and booking a seat on the next fight to anywhere. But after a bus and a train to Manchester the night before, tossing and turning in a 12-bed dorm until my alarm beeped at 3.50am and a slow march through security at Manchester airport, this time, I couldn't have cared less.

I finished my last shift at YHA Keswick on Sunday night and had five days before starting at my new hostel. The cheapest suitable flight had me travelling to Germany. A country not really on my "to-go" list, but meh...for £60 return I wasn't too fussy.

I also wasn't too fussy when the flight landed in Berlin and I got another stamp in my passport. On the train into the city I focused on staying awake rather than taking in the scenes outside the window. My CouchSurfing host Annika took me to Brandenburg Gate, one of Berlin's landmarks, and I still wasn't that excited.

 

Le Tour Day 2: Getting a taste for VIP

Enjoying the 2012 Le Tour prologue in the VIP section was an experience. But in a lot of ways it isn't the Le Tour experience I'd expected. I was prepared to stand by the course for hours, brave the sun, ration my food and drink supplies and wait and wait to cheer on the riders. Instead I had free food and drink on hand, a TV screen to watch the coverage, a seat, shade and clean toilets on hand. (If you've ever attended any mass event, you know how important this is.)

So when my second day of Le Tour action rolled around, I was looking forward to slumming it like a true fan. Then a friendly Green Edge PR girl offered me another VIP pass.

Stage 1 started in Liege and finished at Seraing, about 15km away. So I intended to watch the start, then catch a train to Seraing to see the finish. On my way to check out the team buses again I ran into another Aussie. Hugh was also looking for the Green Edge bus so we went hunting together. The crew were really friendly and appreciated the support.

Today's course did a loop through the city so Hugh and I watched the riders go by once, then raced over the footbridge and saw them a second time on their way out of town. We then spent a few hours walking around Liege before heading to Seraing, which was were the VIP section was.

After 10 minutes on the train it stopped on the tracks. There were no buildings. Just tracks and grass. But apparently this was the stop for Seraing. After walking across the tracks, around the back of some houses, through a field and a car park, we found a shuttle waiting to take people up to the finish line. You gotta give Le Tour organisers some credit. They know how to put on an event.

I was inside the VIP section when Dave, Nick and Luke - the Sydney boys I met the day before - spotted me from across the road. I managed to wrangle three extra passes so I wasn't the only one enjoying VIP for the second day in a row. There were a lot more crew in the area today. Yesterday they were kept at the bus all day, but with the riders all out on the course today they had nothing to do. The families of some of the Green Edge riders were there too, as I found out when I asked Stuart O'Grady's son who his favourite rider was and he responsed "my Dad".

[caption id="attachment_2454" align="aligncenter" width="960" caption="The Green Edge VIP Aussie fan club: Dave, Luke, Me, Hugh and Nick."][/caption]

At the end of the race we walked around the media section (these VIP passes are gold) and watched Fabian Cancellara being interviewed. He wouldn't come over to sign some autographs which was disappointing. We also met Scott Sunderland - an Aussie cyclist and former Tour rider who is working for SBS.

Back in Liege I joined the boys, and some team and crew members from Astana, to watch the Euro 12 final betweel Italy and Spain. It wasn't much of a contest.

Le Tour VIP style

The “grass is greener” cliché is often just that. A cliché. Except when you’re at Le Tour de France and that grass is a VIP area. Then it is not only green, it is spacious, air-conditioned and comes with free food and drinks.

The first day of the 2012 Le Tour couldn't be more spectator friendly. The prologue is an individual time trial through the Belgium city of Liege. (Le Tour de France often touches into other countries.) The city itself is easy to reach by train, the course big enough to find a decent vantage point and the action continuous for about 3.5 hours.

I left the hostel fully prepared for the day: Aussie flag, sunscreen, permanent marker, food, water etc. The first item became the most valuable of the lot.

At 10am - two hours before the caravan was due - people were already claiming their spot, looking pretty comfortable in their camping chairs on the edge of the course. When the time came, I found a spot under a tree to wait for the caravan.

The Tour de France publicity caravan preceeds the riders for the entire event. Every road the cyclists ride along, the caravan was there two hours before. It's a 45-minute parade of floats and freebies. T-shirts, hats, bags, lollies, cakes, water etc. My haul was rather poor compared to last year. But it's difficult on your own. Some freebies were handed out right on the fence (where I was), others were thrown over my head. It really is a team sport.

After the caravan I checked out the team buses. I stopped at the Orica Green Edge bus for a while, watching the crew prepare. Green Edge is the Australian team - the first at Le Tour. The riders are mostly Australian, with a couple of exceptions. Matt Goss, a Tassie boy, is the team leader. I was chatting to another Aussie, Chris, who was also decked out in appropriate supporter attire, when Dan, the Green Edge cameraman offered us VIP passes in exchange for us doing a quick cheer on camera. Best. Deal. Ever.

[caption id="attachment_2445" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Chris and I earning out VIP passes. Chris scored another pass for his wife Lyn."][/caption]

The VIP area was 250 metres from the finish line, and when we arrived, practically empty. We pulled up a chair right on the fence, grabbed a free beer and enjoyed some sushi. We didn't have to battle crowds, stand for hours to claim a spot, or risk losing it if we went for food or drink. In short, it rocked.

The best feature was the live coverage on the TV. It meant we knew what was going on. We saw rider after rider whizz by, but without the TV we would have had no idea how everyone was standing.

Green Edge sent a few more decorated Aussies into the VIP area, including three guys from Sydney. Nick, Dave and Luke are following most of the tour, including the mountain stages, which I think are the most fun.

After the last rider, Aussie favourite Cadel Evans, crossed the line, we enjoyed champagne and macaroons as the crowd disappeared. The boys got talking to a Belgium guy, Mark, they'd met earlier, who was walking by. He invited us for beers so off we went. Mark was a little odd, but gave us a good introduction to Belgium beers. One of them had a alcohol percentage of 11.3%. I didn't finish that.

[caption id="attachment_2446" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="Sydney boys Nick, Luke and Dave with our Belgium mate Mark."][/caption]

Noticed my lack of pictures? The day was slightly dampened by having my bag stolen in the evening, with my camera in it. This is why travel insurance is never a waste of money.

Last day in Prague: Going solo again

My last day in Prague was a day of mixed feelings. I was super excited to be heading to Belgium. Just when it seemed like my trip couldn’t get any more fun, I still had two days at Le Tour de France awaiting me. On the other hand, today was my last day with my parents. They fly home tomorrow.

On days I have to travel somewhere, regardless of what time my flight/train/bus is, I can't really relax. I'm always looking at the time. Keeping that in mind, today we decided just to explore the Castle. Prague Castle is the biggest ancient castle in the world and is a suitably imposing sight. Sitting on top of a hill overlooking the city, it's the most distinctive landmark in the skyline. And the most creepy.

 

The grounds of the castle are free to enter. You can buy a pass into some of the buildings. With only a few hours to spend there, we bought a short pass giving us access to the Basilica of St. Vitus, St George's Basilica, Old Royal Palace and Golden Lane. While the Basilica has a very medieval look, the surrounding buildings are painted candy pink, yellow and green. They look like doll houses.

St.Vitus Basilica has the most incredible stain glass windows. There were a few wedding photographs being taken inside, although only for promotion. The bride was wearing converse shoes under her dress.





I'm always amazed at the size of some of the buildings. Just how much space did people need back then? I guess the same can be asked of modern houses now. They just keep getting bigger and bigger.

At 3pm Mum and I watched the changing of the guards. What a job. The "hone how was your day" conversation in the evening must get a bit repetitive.



That afternoon I farewelled my parents at the train station and caught the City Night Line again, this time to Cologne in Germany. I had an early morning change onto the ICE train to Liege in Belgium.

From the street: A walking tour in Prague

I’m a budget traveller at heart. The cheaper I travel, the longer I can travel. So the word “free” gets me excited. A popular little trend in Europe is free walking tours. They are held in most major cities; I’ve done two in Barcelona and one in Edinburgh. There were none offered in Italy – too much money to be made I guess.

The largest company to offer these tours is New Europe – it organises them in 14 cities. Curious as to why this company would offer free tours when so many people are willing to fork out big time for such things? Well there is a catch. The tours are free, however the guides rely on tips for income. The best tours I’ve done have been this type – you get (usually) young, energetic, knowledgeable guides, who are entirely aware that if they don’t do a good job, they don’t make rent.

Our guide today was Karel, a native Czech. It makes sense but it isn’t always the case. While most guides have studied history or something similar, Karel has a degree in psychology and drama therapy. The latter made for an interesting show. Our tour was three hours, with a 25-minute break. We spent most of the time in the Old Town before moving into the Jewish Quarter. I’m not even going to touch on what we learnt, but it covered a lot of history. But Karel, ever so entertaining, didn’t make us feel like we were back in school.

I have to add a note here about how amusing I find foreign English sometimes. Karel explained how as well as a birthday, Czech’s also celebrate their name day. “You go to pub two times,’’ he said. Karel also described the end of the Velvet Revolution (when the Czech Republic and Slovakia were formed) as the Velvet Divorce. He was clever.





We finished the tour overlooking the Prague Castle and then walked back to the Communism Museum, which we had passed on the tour. The entrance to the Museum is flanked by a McDonald’s and a casino. Seeing that alone is worth a visit to the museum. After visiting China and Vietnam I’m well aware of Communism and its effects on a population, but it’s still hard to take in. However, unlike China and Vietnam, the Czech Republic fought for its freedom.

 

Later, in search of dinner, we walked crossed the river and enjoyed another hearty Czech meal, this time on the other side of the river. We came across a statue Karel had told us about. Two guys peeing into a map of the Czech Republic. I'm sure art critics have a field day with this.

 We walked back home over the Charles Bridge.

 

Prague: Weird buildings, good food and sex machines

Prague, like a few of my destinations on this trip, has intrigued me for a while. Yet, I really didn’t know anything about it. When our train arrived on Tuesday morning, I had no idea what to expect. Would the former communist country fit the stereotype I have of Russia? Is it more like its closer neighbours in Eastern Europe? Has a more cosmopolitan influence crept over? Or would everybody be eating McDonalds and drinking Starbucks?

Prague is the end of the line for one of the City Night Line routes. The overnight train runs between several countries. Our train from Zurich travelled through Germany, stopping at Berlin, before entering the Czech Republic. My first great relief, when we pulled into the main station after travelling overnight on the City Night Line from Zurich, was it was cheap. After barely 24-hours in Switzerland, I was conscious of my bank balance.

We didn’t get organised in time to make a walking tour I’m interested in, so we decided to leave that for the next day and instead explore the city. When we reach the river, the little peddle boats cruising about in the fading sun looks fun, so we jump on. It costs us 250CHZ – or about $12.50 AUD – for an hour. From the water we can take in the weird city that Prague is.



The buildings are colourful and the architecture rather medieval. It’s a gothic San Francisco. The lamp posts are eerie, there are spires on nearly every building and the statues are just as creepy. I’ve never seen another city like it. But it fits with the appeal of this mysterious place.

We walk into the Old Town, although to me, the whole place looks pretty old. I can’t get over the number of tourists. Everywhere. Perhaps they’ve followed us from Venice?

We’d skipped lunch after a late breakfast so were famished. But we are in the right country to be satisfied. We take a seat at the first restaurant we find. Mum and I start with a hearty potato soup – no blender used here. Chunks of potato. I wipe the bowl clean using the free bread that seems to be a standard across Europe. For mains I chose the roasted leg of lamb with a red wine sauce. It’s service with tradition Czech bread dumplings. Dad’s meal included the potato dumplings, another Czech staple. The meals here are filling. Lots of meat and starch. But for a long time most of the population didn’t know where there next meal was coming from, so they made each one count.

When looking up a map of the city, an intriguing museum came to my attention. On our way to the Old Town Square we walked past it. At only 200 CHZ each we decided to check it out and stepped into the Sex Machines Museum. Interested? I was.

The opening exhibits resembled machines used to spin wool, with a big wheel (like one used to steer a boat) spinning round. However attached to each spoke on the wheel was a little, leather whip, and on the other one, feathers. In case you can’t quite work this out, they are designed for women to stand over. The feather one had a little press peddle to make it turn.

It only got more inventive, weird and funny from there. My favourite? The anti-masturbation machine. Strap the end on to your teenage son’s penis and if, at some point in the night, he gets excited, an alarm will ring at the other end of the machine, which is placed in the parents’ bedroom. Genius.

The machines were as creative and inventive as they were perverted and disturbing. Perhaps a late-night edition of New Inventors is in order….

24 hours in Zurich

Switzerland is home to a lot of wonderful things: Lindt chocolate, Toblerone, great watches, Roger Federer, and, as I found out, the $6 cup of tea from Starbucks. I hadn’t expected Zurich to be cheap, but I wasn’t quite prepared for just how expensive it is.



Our time in Zurich is simply a stopover after finishing the Bernina Express on our way to Prague. We’re on the night train to Prague so we had a day to fill and little motivation to do anything that cost money, for good reasons.

We arrived on Sunday night and after asking the girl at reception for a recommendation for a cheap place for dinner, she warned us “there’s nothing cheap in Zurich”. Damn straight. The restaurant we ended up at advertised “two pieces of toast with a fried egg, ham and cheese” for 18 Swiss Francs – that’s more than $20 Australian. Prices at the supermarket the next morning weren’t too extreme but a visit to some chain stores revealed a lot. I ducked into the Body Shop and found one make up item to be double the price it is in Australia (after conversion). We spent a few hours hiding from the rain in the shops before visiting Starbucks for a coffee. 30CHF later (about $33AUD) we’d enjoyed three drinks and a muffin. I regularly got a cup of tea from Starbucks in Canada that cost about $2.50. Here it was 5.20CHF, which is roughly $6AUD. For a teabag and some hot water??? The Swiss may enjoy a good economy compared to the rest of Europe, but that’s not welcome news to budget travellers like me. Remind me to go to Greece next.

In looking up some things to do in the city, the Zurich Toy Museum came up. Since the Lindt Factory is closed on Mondays, toys seemed like the next best thing. We walked to the museum building, then up about eight flights of stairs to the actual museum. It’s a pokey little place. The toys on display are from a time well before batteries were included. There were doll houses with teeny tiny furnishings – even fake wool for knitting. Toy planes, soldiers, bears and dolls. Upstairs was a special exhibit on transport toys. There were 11 little Smurf toys hidden in the display as a treasure hunt for kids. I found all of them.

Through the Swiss Alps: The Bernina Express

Of all the things that come to mind when I think of Switzerland (watches, knives and banks), there was one I never expected to see anytime soon: the Swiss Alps. I have a thing for mountains. I also have a thing for trains. So travelling through the Alps by train seemed the perfect trip.

The Bernina Express connects the northern Italian town of Tirano with Chur (pronounced Kor) in Switzerland. It's a four-hour trip that seems to only go one way - up! Oh, it also goes round and round. While it's going up.

One of the highlights of the trip comes minutes after leaving Tirano. I, being on the train, couldn't take a photo of it, so here's one from Rhaetian Railway's flickr site:



Yep, the train does a loop-de-loop. From there it starts climbing. The track weaves up the first major mountain and the village below just gets smaller and smaller. Eventually we stop overlooking the valley and delve into the mountains. Despite the heat, this is the Alps, so there is still a smacking of snow on the peaks.





The railway was built between 1896 to 1904, and was the first major rail route from Italy into Switzerland. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. It's still a busy freight route, but with views like this you can see why it's one of the top scenic rail trips in the world.



We reach a top of 2253 metres during the 144km trip. We travel across 196 bridges and 55 tunnels. The mountains occasionally give way to farm land - we see a handful of cows and sheep. There are also a few dedicated cyclists making their way up the road and we see a few hikers too.



The train has big panoramic windows in all the carriages. This isn't the case for all of the trains. Although several travel the route each day, most only go to St Moritz. The one we are on (the 14.04 from Tirano) goes all the way to Chur and every carriage has the panoramic windows.

We arrive into Chur about 6.30pm, head into the station and quickly buy a ticket for the 6.39pm train to Zurich, jumping on with minutes to spare.

We booked our ticket with Rhaetian Railway. You can book a seat reservation several months out, but are not made available until close to the date. For our June 24 trip we made our seat reservation on March 8. We bought our tickets the day before at the station in . Note: For train travel in Europe you will often need BOTH a seat reservation and a ticket, to reserve a seat. For the best advice on rail travel I've ever seen check out The Man in Seat Sixty One. This guy is gold!

Thanks to my mum for taking most of these photos. I was too busy staring out the window in a Toblerone-induced coma.