Alex's Backpacking Trip: May 2009

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Prague is an incredible city. It is really unlike any other place that I have been. It was nearly untouched by war and is filled with flawless architecture of every style, from throughout it's long history. Walking through the massive city you are constantly looking around and taking in the surroundings. It almost looks like cardboard cutouts at some points. I can understand why so many movies were filmed here with Prague posing as other European cities. My hostel is pretty incredible as well. I am staying at the Czech Inn and it feels more like a designer hotel than a hostel. While staying here I made some great new friends. I spent the past few days hanging out with Adam from Chicago, Guillermo from Mexico and Adam and Jen, a couple from Ontario. We all had a couple of fun nights together and some great days of sightseeing.

Unfortunately it has been cold and rainy for most of my time here. Luckily it was beautiful on Wednesday when I took my walking tour, so I was able to get a bunch of pictures with a perfect blue sky in the background. I enjoyed Prague but I am ready to escape this cold weather and rain. Almost everyone on this trip has raved about Berlin, and than is my much anticipated next stop. I will probably be spending a week there.

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day. I can't wait to see you all in about 3 weeks.

I anticipate being in debt when I return so I'll be back to work very soon after.

Thanks for reading.

The Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square.

The Municipal House.

Kafka statue outside the Jewish Quarter.

Castle Hill from across the river.

Fountain by controversial Czech sculptor David Cerny. (The men can move and write letters with their streams. You can send text messages to a number that is posted nearby and they will spell out your words.)

The John Lennon Wall.

A statue on the Charles Bridge.

St. Vitus Cathedral on Castle Hill.

Inside St. Vitus.

St. Vitus from the side.

View of Prague from Castle Hill.

Adam, Jen, Adam & Me on the Pub Crawl.

Me in the Old Town Square.

The Jewish Cemetery.

Old Town Square and the Tyn Church.

Memorial to the Victims of Communism.

The Dancing House (nicknamed "Fred and Ginger") designed by Frank Gehry.

Memorial to Jan Palach at the place where he burnt himself alive in protest to Communism in Prague.

Wenceslas Square.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Munich

I spent about a week in Munich and loved it. This place definitely still holds the title of my favorite city on earth. The weather was hot and sunny pretty much everyday. I did several things here that I did not do last time. My first full day I went on a free bike tour of the city with my roommate, which was really fun and definitely informative. I spent some time walking around town and checking out the market one day. On Friday night I went on a Pub Crawl with a bunch of people from the hostel. We had guides to lead us to the different beer gardens, most of which I had already been to unfortunately. Saturday was pretty incredible though. I woke up in a daze and prepared myself for the Munich v. Stuttgart soccer match. This was pretty much the biggest game of the year and I was determined to go. I took the train, which was packed to the brim with drunken and singing Germans, out to Allianz Stadium. I was able to find a ticket in the massive crowd. I decided to go out on a limb and I sold it for more than I paid. I thought I had screwed myself as the game grew closer but I was able to buy an even better ticket for the price I had sold the first one at. Anyway, the game was insane and truly a once in a lifetime experience.

Yesterday I went on a tour of the Dachau Concentration Camp with a few friends from the hostel. It was a really interesting and moving experience. It is something that everyone should do at least once. In the course of our 4 hour tour we saw just about everything in the massive complex, along with a great deal of history from our tour guide. Definitely something I will not forget.

Well, tonight is my last day in Munich. I checked out the Weihenstephan Brewery (oldest existing brewery) this morning and had some amazing beer. After that I rented a bike and spent about 4 hours just checking everthing out again. This city was definitely meant to be traveled by bike. I'm about to find me a nice big plate of dead pig with some sauerkraut and a really big beer. Sounds like a nice way to end my trip in Munich.
Off to Prague in the morning....

Frauenkirche

Marienplatz

Surfers in the English Gardens (Its pretty crazy- you should Google it)

Schnapps!

Tapping the keg, German style.

Allianz Stadium (built in 06 for the World Cup)

I had a real good seat.

Insane singing fans.

The gate at Dachau.

A cell in the "bunker" at Dachau.

A memorial at Dachau.

The wall.

The furnaces just past the gas chambers. (Pretty intense to see in person)

Another

At Weihenstephan.

The best Hefeweiss on earth. I missed the tour but this was amazing.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

This past week has been pretty incredible. Nice and the entire Cote d'Azure are insanely beautiful. I stayed at this amazing hostel that had great cheep food and beer. Every night was a big party at the hostel and I met so many awesome people. Nice itself is a really lively and beautiful town. Within 45 minutes in either direction you have an assortment of amazing beaches and towns. I spent 2 days on the beach- once in Villefranch with 4 girls from New York and once in Cannes. Cannes was really interesting since the film festival is going on right now. There were a ton of people everywhere and some really cool movie advertisements. I also spent a day in Monte Carlo. The Gran Prix is this weekend so I saw a side of Monte Carlo that is very different than normal. The main streets were all fenced in and surrounded by grand stands. There were thousands of people there setting up for the races. It was intrersting to see such a luxurious place being transformed into a race track. Monaco itself is absolutely incredible. The entire place is spotlessly clean, orderly and incredible well organized. I can understand why someone would pay so much to live there.

Well after 6 days I decided to leave Nice (not an easy thing to do) and head to Munich. I had a hellish day dealing with impossible French railway system. But after 12 hours of being on the train, I finally made it here. Today definitely sucked and I am extremely tired but after sitting down and having a glass of my favorite beer in the world (Augustiner- which I can only get in Munich), I realized it was all worth it.