Ringing in 2015 with a BANG [Berlin]

I haven’t been to many well-known places for New Years apart from Las Vegas, but I am going to make a gamble and declare Berlin as the loudest NYE on the planet.

There is just something about Germans and fireworks.

They love to set them off anywhere and at any time, so if you are hoping to sleep on NYE in Berlin, BRING. EAR. PLUGS.

Although, how much sleep are you really wanting if you are spending NYE in one of the most popular NYE destinations in the world?

I am honestly not someone who gets excited over NYE because it’s just a day.

Is there a party thrown for every new month?

Every new week?

I couldn’t care less about the “holiday,” but as I was in one of the most popular places to spend the day, I decided to make the most of it and I wanted to do that in the most popular spot in the city to ring in the new year:

Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor).

Every year, over a million people pack together around the most famous sight in Berlin to listen to bands play, eat some fair food, drink some glühwein, and watch a spectacular display of fireworks.

I checked the area out and left at around 7pm wanting to

1. Get some cheaper food outside of the gates, and

2. Meet up with some people I met at my hostel to go there together.

BIG MISTAKE.

It turns out that the gates close when it gets too crowded, so I’d say come no later than 8pm if you want to see the shows and be in the middle of it all. Earlier if you want a good spot.

So we ended up being locked out.

Instead, we checked out Neukölnn neighborhood and dodged a few MANY fireworks. One just a couple feet from our faces.

Around midnight, I wanted to at least TRY to see the fireworks.

Why come to Berlin for NYE if you aren’t going to try to see the main event??

So, I found an area a looooong ways away from the gate. The crowd was too dense to permeate any further, so I had to make do with what I could.

For about an hour, we all watched the fireworks being set off from everyone around us. It was a show in and of itself.

Then, at midnight (there was no countdown?!?!) a grandiose display of fireworks began in the distance.

Then, once that 15-minute show finished, the others in the streets resumed setting off their own displays, hitting buildings, street lights, and (I’m sure of it) people.

After that, everyone headed out to wherever they planned to go and that was that.

All in all, NYE in Berlin is nothing to go out of your way for, but if you are near or already there, the fireworks were good albeit SCARY (loud and close to hitting you).

Dresden by night

Because I lengthened my time in Prague and when I wanted to be in Berlin was basically set in stone (I could never forgive myself if I missed out on New Years in Berlin), Dresden got the short end of the stick.

I arrived in Dresden late in the day after the sun had completely set and had an early bus the next day, but I was utterly determined to give Dresden a chance.

Although Dresden was almost completely destroyed during the bombings in WWII, you may forget that as you walk into the old town. Dresden is one of those cities that decided to rebuild its buildings to their former pre-war style. The result of which is truly spectacular.

I walked into the alstadt (old town) across the River Elbe and was pleased to see a wonderful riverfront scene. Across the Augustus Bridge (oldest in the city), which connects the neustadt to the alstadt, lies the Schlossplatz which is home to the cathedral, the Dresdner Schloss (castle), and a few other pretty old buildings (sorry I can’t be more specific!).

As it was late, I couldn’t go into any of the buildings, but I was able to marvel at the architecture, albeit not that old.

The main square, or neumarkt, still held onto a few remaining Christmas market stalls as well as being home to the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady). This church was completely bombed in WWII and later reconstructed in full.

Interesting fact, though, is that Dresden is one of only 2 places in the world that has had its UNESCO World Heritage status revoked.

Why?

The city decided to build an ugly 4-lane bridge over the Elbe Valley, cutting into a previously scenic view over the river valley and into the town.

I have read Dresden being compared to an Italian city (Florence perhaps?) so I would love to give it a proper chance and view it in the daytime to see the city really come to life.

I would love to see the reason it had UNESCO World Heritage status in the first place.

To me, as of now, it was one of those “meh” destinations. More of a “take it or leave it.”

If I’m near Dresden again, I’ll try to give it another shot as I have seen truly gorgeous pictures of the city. As of now, though, I won’t be rushing back, despite the amazing architecture.

Bohemian Beauty [Český Krumlov]

There were exactly two things that I knew about the town of Český Krumlov before going there.

1. It’s one of those real-life fairy-tale towns like Colmar, Rothenburg, Hallstatt…

2. It has a castle.

And I guess a third thing, although not about the town itself, was that I was going to fit a day trip there into my itinerary if it was the last thing I did.

Upon arriving in the tiny town of Český Krumlov, I walked down from the bus station and was greeted with the most spectacular view of a cloudy medieval town engulfed by a moat river and perched on one of the numerous hills in Bohemia with the castle taking center stage.

After descending down the steep, narrow, twisting streets (side note: wear good shoes here, especially in snow/rain. I may have slipped several times as the snow fills the crevices of the cobblestone streets, making for one slick and fairly even surface to climb up/down.) through the town square, I made my way back up the other side to walk through the castle.

Fun fact: there are apparently bears in the moat before the castle’s entrance. There are signs telling you not to feed the bears. Although I didn’t see the bears, I found it sad to see their cramped quarters.

The castle grounds were interesting to walk through. It’s weird, though, that instead of doing brick work, they made the castle of a solid surface and painted on surreal looking bricks and designs.

At the end of the castle grounds, you reach the gardens. Although they were closed off the day I went due to the snow, I am told that is where you can get the best view into/over the city. Even still, I found a pretty fantastic viewpoint just past the castle’s bridge.

After spending a couple of hours walking around the castle grounds, I wandered the streets and took in the sights before an early sunset (thanks, winter!).

As a tip for money, do NOT try to exchange money in Cesky Krumlov. You will receive a horrific rate anywhere in town. Do it in Prague if you are coming for a day trip.

It would be lovely to spend at least one night in this little town so as to wake up in the morning and have the town all to yourself (as though it would seem!) It seems like most people only come as a day trip from Prague (which is totally doable and recommendable as well).

If you haven’t figured out already, I’m a little obsessed with checking out UNESCO World Heritage Sites. And it is no wonder why the town center of Cesky Krumlov gained a title of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I can’t recommend a visit to the city enough. I’d imagine it to be breathtaking in any season.

The cutest plaza in Europe I ever did see [České Budějovice]

I was not initially planning to go to Ceske Budejovice (or České Budějovice if you spell it correctly with accents).

I was trying last minute to make travel plans to get to Cesky Krumlov (Český Krumlov) but was getting super frustrated when I found that all of the buses were booked until late in the afternoon (and because I already had accommodation in Prague, I just wanted to make a day trip of it). I got desperate and nearly considered booking an 80 euro day tour that didn’t have great reviews, but for some reason, I got the idea to stop in České Budějovice on my way.

To my luck, there was an early morning bus with a seat left to České Budějovice and a late morning bus to Český Krumlov from there, leaving me about 2 hours in the first city.

I almost didn’t find the town center, as I followed the arrows that ended up bringing in the total opposite direction of where I needed to go. Thankfully, I didn’t give up; I found the town center and was completely blown away.

It was literally out of a story book with the pastel colored houses and the fresh blanket of morning snow.

I think it’s the largest town square that I have come across in a long time and probably the cutest town square that I have ever come across.

All of the main sights of the city can be found in or right near the square, such as the Radnice (town hall…the blue building), the Cerna vez (black tower…in the photo above), the Fountain of Sampson (I think you can figure this one out), and a few noteworthy churches.

As I found myself a cafe to have a quick (and VERY cheap) bite to eat (about 50 euro cents for a slice of cake), I found it so enjoyable to sit in the window and look out onto the square.

If you ever plan to take a day trip to Český Krumlov, I can’t recommend a stop in České Budějovice enough. Even just for an hour or two.

Prague

Coming off the bus from Vienna, I was still a little bummed about being away from family on Christmas and everything being closed etc. etc.

I had high hopes for Prague, thus allotting it the most amount of days in my Christmas/New Year’s itinerary. I had seen the pictures and read the guidebooks and blogs and was overflowing with excitement to go there.

Then we get out of the bus and I was immediately underwhelmed.

The buildings surrounding the area were a little dingy and the metro station was a wasteland (plus nearly impossible to navigate…it took us at least 5 minutes to buy tickets and 10 minutes to find our line).

Once we made it into the actual city, though, I was blown away. Prague quickly became one of those cities that lived up to my expectations.

My first impression of the old town came after sundown (despite being only 4 in the afternoon) and consisted of Christmas markets, tasty treats, and an amazing folk band blasting their hits.

I know that we saw the Christmas markets in Prague after Christmas, but I wasn’t impressed for the most part. Sure, there was great food to be had and some neat trinkets to buy, but by and large most “gift stalls” (as opposed to food stalls) were selling things that you would find in any of the numerous souvenir shops around the area. I didn’t get that authentic feel that I have grown to know and love from so many other Christmas markets.

So, I won’t be rushing back to Prague at Christmastime.

Instead, I’ll maybe head back in warmer weather!!

Prague is, by far, the coldest city in Europe that I have ever visited. Well below freezing most days we were there plus a wind that cuts through you and literally chills you to the bone.

Need I remind you, I was wearing 3 pairs of pants, at least 8 layers on top, and as many socks that would still allow my foot to have circulation in my boots. Even still, I was somewhat miserable after about an hour of being outside. Then we had to retreat to a café to thaw out and then give it another go.

On the plus side of that, though, is that you don’t have to worry about rain because precipitation brings snow and snow brought out such a beauty of the old town. I got to view this my last day and a half in the city and it truly felt as though the city came to life from a fairy tale.

We allotted time to do a free walking tour of the city (something I ALWAYS try to do whenever I visit a new city) and finally got a better sense of where everything was and what it was all about.

We started in the Old Town Square which is actually still intact. Only one major building was bombed and removed from the destruction in WWII. Compared to all the heavily bombed and rebuilt cities I have seen recently in Germany and Austria, I enjoyed seeing the original architectural beauty of the city.

We made sure to see the Astronomical Clock which was ridiculously disappointing. I mean, for the time that it was built, it was really revolutionary. Even compared to the Glockenspiel of Munich, which is considered to be the most disappointing tourist site in Europe, I would say that this one was even lamer! (Don’t get me wrong, though. The clock itself was neat. It was the “show” that played on the hour from those little windows, if you can even call it that…)

Wenceslas Square, the largest “plaza” in the city (I use quotation marks because I would not call the large majority of it a plaza…just a road) is/was home to a lot of major demonstrations in the city, especially during the last 60 years or so with the Nazis, Soviets, Velvet Revolution, etc.

One area that I found really interesting to see was the old Jewish Quarter. This small area lies a short distance away from the Old Town Square and was (and still is) the home to hundreds of Jews in the area. The Old Jewish Cemetery sticks up above the street for a singular reason: space. It was impossible to acquire more land, so when they had filled the plot of land with tombstones, their only option was to build up and very tightly together.

A short walk away from the Jewish Quarter, we came across the Vltava River. Across the way is the other main touristed area in Prague, principally the Prague Castle.

The favorite way to get over to the other side of old Prague is via Charles Bridge, a half millennium old bridge decorated with statues and images (that you have to rub for good luck, obviously) and filled side-to-side with tourists, vendors, and (I’m just guessing here) pickpockets. I would have loved to stroll the bridge at sunrise (in warm weather) to get it a little bit more to myself because it was hard to completely enjoy waddling like a group of penguins across the river.

Once on the other side, we wandered the gorgeously old streets and made sure to check out the John Lennon Wall.

*Sad Story Time*

A couple of months ago, some art students decided to completely paint over the John Lennon Wall with white paint and left the message “wall is over” in order to spike a wave of artistic talent from the new generations.

If you look in my pic, where it says “war is over” was where it said “wall is over.” I’m glad that it’s not like the wall is bare (had we come a month and a half earlier, it would have been devastating!) but it was still sad and barer than it should have been.

I decided to take a tour of the Prague Castle in order to learn more about the history of it all. Sadly, because it was so cold that day and the wind at the top of the hill was atrocious, I had a difficult time fully concentrating on the stories being told.

I do remember that it was a beautiful and huge castle. It was like a city inside the city. The cathedral, St. Vitus Cathedral, had the most breathtakingly intricate stained-glass windows I have ever seen.

As we walked through the castle’s grounds, we also came across the Old Royal Palace, the Basilica of St. George, and the Golden Lane (gorgeous old houses) among other buildings I’m sure were pointed out to me. My brain was just frozen.

As you leave the castle, you are greeted with the most spectacular view of Prague.

Seriously, look at this!

I ended up loving Prague, just as I thought that I would. I only wish that it was warmer thus I could have enjoyed it a bit more!! I actually extended my time there (and then remembered that I set my itinerary so I would be back in Germany before my 90 day visa expired. Oops! They didn’t check my passport, so thankfully it didn’t end up mattering) and know I’ll be back again.