My sentiments exactly.
Best souvenir? Worst decision?
My passport and I have been through a lot.
Going to Zomba Visa Control and begging for an extension because when I entered the country I had the date wrong for my departure. Visa Overstay #1.
Accidentally going to Macau instead of going to lunch like planned.
Life in China and the ridiculous amount of times I flew back to the States.
Visa Overstay #2: having to beg for an extension right before National Holiday. I had to sign a document stating that I would never overstay my visa in China again — coolest souvenir ever!
Going to Hong Kong to get a new Chinese Visa so I could fly home with Krause’s. Realizing after flirting with Polish Border Control that I had in fact overstayed my Visa in the Schengen Region: Visa Overstay #3.
Being the only non-EU resident on a bus between Czech and the UK. Oh…and Checkpoint Charlie?
I had not been to Checkpoint Charlie yet, but it’s the thing to do in Berlin. So, Stolen Family and I made our way there and discovered: it’s a very tiny checkpoint in the middle of a street with a sign.
A little disappointing, but seeing that that is in fact what a checkpoint is, I don’t really know why I was surprised.
And then we hear this man yelling about visa/passport stamps. Seriously? They stamp your passport with the old stamps?
A variety of thoughts run through my head simultaneously: Is that ok to do? What if I get a page of Checkpoint Charlie stamps and I then have to get new pages sown in? You can really stamp your passport with non-real stamps? I’m never going to get any German stamps since I’ve become a resident. Most of where I travel in Europe I don’t get any stamps. Old stamps - that’s awesome! But I still have four years left on my passport. What to do?!
Monica got her passport stamped and before I knew what I was doing, mine was out on the desk and the man was surprised at how full it was. My passport that had just been returned to my presence. An odd celebration of being reunited.
Jury’s still out: Best Souvenir? Worst Decision?
Tour Guide: Berlin
I am a friend and family stealer. I was in America and I really am abroad. I have yet to have any friends or family visit me while living abroad. This doesn’t mean that I haven’t accumulated friends and family while living abroad.
One of my friends from college had family in Germany for a wedding and they were going to sightsee in Berlin. Did I need anything from the states and do I have time to meet up with them? Why yes, yes I do.
And so I adopted some family members in exchange for being a tour guide around Berlin where I discovered that I had surprisingly seen almost all the main tourist attractions in the city. The city that freaks me out.
First up: the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche.
This is what the church is supposed to look like. We get off the Sbahn and look around. Huh….I can’t see a spire anywhere. I wonder where it is, this being one of the two things we wanted to see that I hadn’t already.
Covered in so much scaffolding that it looks like a bad 1980’s office building. Thank you Germany for continuing to cover everything I want to see in scaffolding. ((Photos from Wikipedia. Like I want to document that piece of ugly, even for visuals.))
Next, another Sbahn ride up to Unter den Linden which we follow to Brandenburger Tor. Two things I apparently could care less about documenting as I’ve been to them multiple times and I have yet to actually photograph even the smallest portion of them and really only view them as a way to get to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
A quick Ubahn ride and we’re off to Checkpoint Charlie where I might have made a terrible decision. Or not. I can’t really decide. More on that tomorrow.
By this time it’s afternoon and we’re famished, but not so famished that we aren’t picky about the ambiance of the restaurant we want to eat at. Off to Museum Island to eat by the river — Sidenote: All friends who were horrified that I have never had currywurst: I have officially tried it. And it would be great without the wurst.
Of course, after relaxing over drinks at lunch, we determined we still weren’t ready to move and took a river cruise down the Spree around Museum Island. And from what I experienced, River Cruises are an excellent source of relaxation….and that’s about it. Especially when all in German and you’re too busy speaking English to listen.
But they don’t last forever and after the cruise we headed over to Eastside Gallery, the longest remaining portion of the Berlin Wall. It’s much less of a crowded nightmare in the evening — apparently we were some of the last tourists to leave. I’ll embrace that.
Fleeing the flea market
Some cities I love: London, Dublin, New York
Some cities I dislike: Potsdam, Prague, Hong Kong
Some cities I enjoy: Beijing, Salzburg, Addis Ababa
Some cities I flee: Berlin, Berlin, Berlin
I travel to new cities by myself all the time. I love the feeling of being anonymous in a city I’ve never been. I roam aimlessly with something of an idea of where I need to be and when. And then there’s Berlin.
I think I can safely say that I don’t handle Berlin well. The city completely unnerves me. I don’t know why. When I’m with people, I can joke and laugh and keep the freak out at bay. But by myself?
I went into Berlin one Sunday afternoon to check out some Flea Markets and do a bit of sight seeing.
I drank my first Starbucks Deutschland latte, saw one thing on my list of places I might check out, walked through two flea markets and flipped out, speed walking to the train station on the verge of hysterical tears, wanting nothing more than to hightail it to the airport and never set foot in the country again.
Instead I curled up in my room in Potsdam with a cup of tea and a book, viewing that as close to out of the country as I could feasibly get that day.
I haven’t really been back into Berlin by myself since the fleeing of the flea market other than trips to the bus station to get my passport back. I thought about trying it solo again, but I only managed to ride the Sbahn, find a British grocery store, flip out, quickly return to the Sbahn and grab some Pizza Hut pizza for my ride back to Potsdam.
I have been back with other people though. And while I enjoy the fact that I can consume foreign foods like Bulgarian, Brazilian, American (don’t judge my cravings for American Pizza. Have you ever been forced to consume sauceless, cheeseless, thin crusted, not so good cold European pizza?) I have yet to feel comfortable. I feel jumpy. And twingey. And like a flight risk.
I guess we can’t all feel comfortable everywhere, but why does it have to be the big city of which I live in the suburb of the suburbs that completely freaks me out?
Ridiculous is my middle name
Or maybe “You have GOT to be kidding me.” Or even “Unbelievable.” Or really “Like I could make this up.”
In order to get on that bus I almost missed in Prague, I needed my passport.
To this day, I swear I stuck it back in my bag and checked for it while waiting for the train home.
Apparently, that is an incorrect memory.
Because ten days later while trying to pack to go to Warsaw, I discovered that my passport was not in my documents drawer where it belonged.
Commence freak out.
I remained calm long enough to email the bus company.
And an hour of pure torment later, I got a response: my passport’s in Prague. In the cafe. Yep, that sounds like a place my passport would go chill without me.
I ask to have it sent up on the next bus to Berlin. No response.
I head into Berlin to meet the Friday noon bus from Prague. I talk with the bus crew. They say they will grab the passport and bring it to me tomorrow.
So, I don’t get to go to Warsaw. I don’t even get to try to sneak into Poland because instead I have to meet the bus to get my passport back.
I head into Berlin to meet the Saturday noon bus from Prague. I talk with the bus crew. The passport was sent up last night (without me being told) and since I was not here to get it, the passport is now on its way back to Prague.
The bus attendant takes my number and promises to pick the passport up in Prague and bring it Sunday. If anything happens she’ll call me.
I head into Berlin to meet the Sunday noon bus from Prague. I talk with the bus crew.
They have my passport!!! My passport that is officially more traveled than the owner of the passport.
Ridiculous. But in retrospect, I’m super glad that they broke the law. Techinically, you’re supposed to turn in lost passports to the American embassy. And that would therefore mean that I would be footing a bill for a new passport AND German residence card. Oh, and all my wicked stamps would be gone.
In the future, I foresee myself being slightly more paranoid about the location of my passport. But only slightly. Because I also foresee myself documenting each new stamp after I get it just in case this ever happens again.
Not again!
My love-hate saga with public transportation continues. As much as I absolutely adore not having a car, I absolutely despise running for public transportation.
Leaving Plzen, we had to catch the 12:00 bus to Prague. Church wasn’t until 10. I had to meet with Petr afterwards to discuss some details about the Summer VBS Camp. I haven’t seen Petr since last year’s camp. We have to catch up for a bit first! But I also have to get to the bus station before noon…..
At 11:30, I make a mad dash up the four flights of stairs to the apartment and collapse on the counter before racing to the bathroom. Grab my stuff, shout goodbyes, Kate, Bola and I are out the door.
We race down the sidewalk. Please be a tram. Please be a tram. There’s a tram going out of town and usually they almost cross here. RUN!
We race to the corner, illegally cross the street. Please be a tram. Please be a tram. THANK YOU GOD!!!! There’s a tram. Dash across the other street, cross the tracks, onto the tram, punch tickets. Ride two stops. (Doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s like a 15-20min walk.)
Off the tram, race through the underground tunnel, pop up on the wrong side of the bus station. Race through the station. Where’s the Student Agency booth?! Locate the booth outside, buy tickets, on the bus. Six minutes to spare. I’m dripping.
Recover while riding into Prague.
Do the fastest tour of Prague possible.
“Alright, we just have to get to Florenc. Do you want to metro or walk?”
Unanimous decision to walk. In the rain.
Unanimous BAD decision to walk. In the rain. Just to save 24Kc/€0.94/$1.18.
We have a map. We’re walking along just fine. Until we get to this intersection. (Děkuji Google Maps for displaying our lack of direction.)
When you are crossing multiple streets with train tracks and a lack of street signs and known street names, bad things happen.
So, on the map there are only the main train tracks documented. What we were actually crossing were tram tracks. Therefore, rather than crossing the tracks farther north and turning onto Krizikova, we incorrectly turned up Seifertova and looped around on Rehorova, completely confused as to why Florenc wasn’t where it was supposed to be.
On the map that we were using, there was a statue of a horse where “Narodni Pamatnik” is on this map that showed us just how far out of the way we were. Because oh yes, we wandered incorrectly that far.
And so for the first time in my life, I asked for directions. At Hotel Gloria — it’s even on the map! Because we had 20 minutes to get to our bus.
Back on track, we speed walk down Husitska and are trying to figure out the turn onto Trocnovska when a torrential downpour starts. We’re racing along the street, trying not to fall in the rain.
KATE: “This is the first time this spring I’ve been caught in the rain!!!”
And this is why Bola and I keep Kate around. Best reaction ever. There’s an excellent chance we might miss our bus, and Kate’s embracing the rain.
We see the back of the station where we entered on the bus. Can we go up that?! I don’t know!! Speed walk around to the main entrance while shouting out times til departure to each other. Scan Czech signs to find the platform to Berlin. Race out to the platform.
Halle-freaking-lujah, there is a bit of a line to get on the bus. Made it. And we’re on our way.
How to Tour Prague
I’ve done many a tour of Prague and they all involve my near death while climbing up the small mountain to Prague Castle. This doesn’t make me happy. It makes me dislike Prague even more.
So when I knew I was taking Kate and Bola on a tour, I knew I had to try to see Prague going downhill, all the way. I knew it had to be possible as whenever I had been to Prague, I felt like I was going up hill to everything — like that age old story about walking to school in the snow, uphill both ways. How is this possible?! And if it is possible, then the opposite must also be true — only downhill.
Step 1: Take the metro to Hradčanská. From there, make your way to Letná where you will get this amazing view of all Prague and the Vltava River. This is easier said than done because while you followed the signs properly, you still have the option to turn right or left upon exiting. Go right.
Step 2: Walk through the Royal Gardens over to Prague Castle. There, walk through the Castle courtyard and see St. Vitus cathedral. I can not tell you enough that arriving at Prague Castle not on my death bed made the experience so, so much better.
Step 3: From St. Vitus, walk East, downhill to find this amazing overlook of Prague. Continue walking down the hill and loop through the streets until you arrive at Charles Bridge. Sure there might be a shorter way, but really, how can you go wrong roaming the streets of a city?
Step 4: Turn around before walking onto the bridge to capture this little gem. Sometimes we have to look behind us before we go forwards otherwise we’d miss out on some pretty amazing things.
Step 5: Make sure to take in a 360 view of Prague from the bridge — you don’t want to miss capturing the view of Prague Castle and St Vitus. And make sure you’re catching a closer glimpse off both sides of the bridge — there’s a little river way that’s called the Venice of Prague and a windmill.
Step 6: Head north off the bridge into the Jewish quarter of the city. One day, I’d like to have the time/money to tour the Jewish cemetery here. As much fun as peaking in through gated doors is, it might be nice to have more than a 4x6in view of the place.
Step 7: From there, head back south to the old town square: Staroměstská to see the astronomical clock, Týn Cathedral, the Jan Hus monument, etc. There’s also a ton of tourist shopping in this area — as much as I would prefer to avoid the shops, when taking tourists to Prague you need to let them shop.
Step 8: Head over to the Square of the Republic to see the Powder Tower and the Theatre.
Step 9: Walk along the big shopping street towards Wenceslas Square.
Step 10: Yes, there might be a slight incline along the Square and while typically I avoid climbing steps at all costs, it’s worth it to climb the steps of the National Museum to get a good view of the Square.
Two side options: I greatly enjoy architecture and seeing Frank Gehry’s Dancing House is worth a little metro ride. Sure, it totally looks out of place amongst the other Prague apartment buildings. Doesn’t make it less interesting.
The other metro ride I still want to take is down to Vyšehrad. It’s an old castle, off the main tourist track AND there’s an old cemetery. Next trip to Prague. That’s my goal.
See, Prague. With only slight inclines. No small mountain climbing involved. But at any point in the steps, feel free to pause and grab a Pilsner, it’s not Na Parkánu’s non-filtered, but it’ll still make Prague seem just slightly more appealing.
![[20/52] Berliner Dom with Pink Chestnut Trees](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4isztsxE01roy9tso1_1280.jpg)
![[19/52] View from Letna](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4fxn6w6231roy9tso1_1280.jpg)
Prague: My own take on Paris Syndrome
I hate Prague. Ok, hate might be too strong of a word. I am extremely disappointed by Prague. And it’s just so saddening because prior to setting foot on the European continent, Prague was the city that I wanted to visit most.
I remember friends going to Europe. I’d make it through a few dozen photos and then I’d have worked myself into such a jealous frenzy that I’d have to stop or I feared I’d punch them in the face from envy. They all seemed to love Europe so much. I wanted that.
Instead I went to Africa and Asia before hitting Europe. And now that I’m nomading it around the continent, I really gotta say that I could never come back to Europe and be perfectly fine with it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying my time here and there’s a ton more that I want to see, but I’m pretty sure I’d rather be in Africa or Asia or South America — although I can’t be certain as I’ve not been there yet.
I stumbled across this blog a bit ago, and this post — it’s outstanding. At first I was a bit bewildered. I didn’t think I had my own Paris Syndrome going on. Then I remembered I had told two friends in Potsdam that I would take them to Czech for a weekend. Which included a trip to Prague. I was going to have to take them to Prague.
I tried really hard to get out of it.
They wouldn’t let me.
I keep thinking and hoping that the circumstances around my trips to Prague are what are holding me back from loving the city.
Taking two bus fulls of second and third graders over the Charles’ Bridge. NIGHTMARE.
Taking seventh and eighth graders on the typical Czech tour of Hurry Up and Wait. NOT FUN.
Taking my team for the summer VBS I run in Plzen. SHOULD HAVE BEEN FUN, but instead, I was made to climb MOUNTAINS that weren’t even the most efficient way to be getting to a location.
Going with Clara at 6am. QUITE NICE. So, apparently, the trick with Prague is to go there before anyone else is awake. Got it.
Going with Kate and Bola. POSSIBLY AS CLOSE TO PERFECT AS PRAGUE WILL EVER GET FOR ME. Minus the rain and the lack of relaxing over a beer and the story that I’m sharing later this week, I think I have finally figured out how to tour Prague with other people.
We can’t all love every place on the planet. And for me, I am disappointed by Prague. But I keep going back to it, not wanting to give up my dream of absolutely adoring the city. And I gotta say, the fact that I was able to do our little tour of Prague going DOWNHILL all the way, did help me at least find a happy tolerance with my day there. And as I’ve been to Prague so many times attempting to love it, it feels like a familiar city. Just…not the city that I want it to be.
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