Day trip to Brandenburg an der Havel

Our conflicting issues of never ending wanderlust and near poverty mean we make a lot of compromises. While we dream of trying not to break ourselves on the ski slopes of the Czech Republic, we settle for a day trip anywhere out of Berlin. And if anywhere looks like this ---------------->
we have no right to complain.

Brandenburg an der Havel is a medieval town located about an hour away from Berlin (about 60 kilometers west) by train and lies in the state of Brandenburg on the River Havel - hence the name. A quiet village with a rich history and many historical sites, the town was the ideal day trip from Berlin.

Berlin's Tropical Island & Getting Naked with Germans

We first heard about the Tropical Island south of Berlin driving down to the Spreewald. Like an enormous metallic pimple, it stood out against northern Germany's flat terrain.

What is that?!

Some kind of indoor water resort. I think it may have been where they made zeppelins or something.

Intrigued by this bizarre structure and explanation, I snooped it out online. It is indeed an indoor water park - one of the largest of its kind - and it didn't actually house zeppelins (though that is a persistent rumor).

And it is large at 360 metres long, 210 metres wide and a 107 metres high. That means that it is big enough to fit the Statue of Liberty standing up, the Eiffel Tower lying down, or all of Potsdamer Platz including skyscrapers. Damn Tropical Island - you big!

Testing Out the U-Blau

What to do on a Saturday night? 

What to do?

What to do?

What to do?

What about a drinking tour of the U-Bahn? OK! Let's call this an art project so it doesn't sound so...alcoholic.

I am skeptical about how this day will go

A Base in Basel

One of the few downsides of living in Berlin is that it is located waaay up in the corner of the country and it takes a little more time, money and effort to travel than our friends in the south. Luckily, we are adapting as we discover more discount airfares and alternate ways to travel. We still love train travel, but when I can fly to Naples, Italy for less time and money than I can get to Munich by train - my love for trains wains.

For my birthday this year, I wanted what I always want - travel. And I had an especially silly idea - roller coasters. Much to my surprise, I found the second largest park in Europe was in Southwestern Germany (after Disneyland Paris). How does this get us to Basel? After some dedicated internet searching, we found that flying into Basel was not only affordable from Berlin, it made more sense for the time & money than any of the other options. To the dreiländereck (three countries' corner) we go!

Bern, Switzerland - City of Fountains

A Swiss friend just told me that Bern is not actually the capital of Switzerland. What!? It is actually the Bundesstadt - a federal city or de facto capital. This was apparently the diplomatic answer to Swiss cities asking what city is the fairest of them all.

No matter - Bern is fair. Beautiful, fairytale, romantic, charming, and ridiculously good-looking. We spent a day trip here while staying in Basel, an easy flight away from Berlin, and were enthralled.

East German Loving: Dresden

Wanting to simply go anywhere, but lacking the important element of money, we stumbled on neighboring city Dresden. It's always been a bit embarrassing that we haven't gotten there, and what better time than now.

Dresden, capital of Saxony and home to many of it's princes and kings, is famous for its picture-perfect riverfront and majestic Old Town (Altstadt). Most public buildings have been impeccably rebuilt following the annihilation of the 1945 bombings. It is estimated that 75% of the historic center was destroyed during WWII and about 30,000 people died in the bombing.

A former city of Eastern Germany, it's unique geography once totally isolated it from the outside world, creating an unusually insular community. Today the city hosts around 10 million visitors a year and has a growing reputation as a must-see. What follows are observations form our visit.

Berlin: By Foot, By BVG, By Bike, By Car, By Boat, By Train, By Plane

I've talked so much about our adventures outside of the city lately (like new favorite Naples), I haven't been giving Berlin it's due.

One of the reasons it's one of the greatest cities in the world is transportation. Much of our problems with life in Seattle revolved around the mundane issues of how to get around. The city is surrounded by water as it is sandwiched between the Puget Sound and Lake Washington (among other bodies of water). Everyone has to funnel through certain areas, navigating the crisscrossing bridges. Gorgeous, but also capable of creating volcanic fury-inducing traffic jams.

And it's not like there is great - or even decent - public transit to rely on. A light rail system is being implemented, and we do have the laughable monorail from the world's fair, but buses are the main mode of public transport. They come in about 20 minute windows (if you're lucky), and are often crowded with the unwashed, the mentally ill, and the clinically dangerous (just check out The Stranger's frequent articles). We laugh (cuz if we didn't we'd cry) about our fancy neighborhood of Queen Anne having a higher crime than our "ghetto" kiez in Wedding.

What's a Guest post?

I started prattling on in this blog, forcing Ian to occasionally participate, in a vague sense of documenting EVERYTHING. I am terrible about trying to hang on to every moment, permanently stuck behind the camera, writing notes so I remember the name of that cafe, brewery, person. Technology has made keeping hold of things I like easier (Hello Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter!), but I am basically an amateur at social media.

So when one of my Favorite bloggers and first Expat Interview, Jack Scott at Perking the Pansies, asked me to write a guest blog I first had to find out what that entailed. He made it easy- write about whatever I want. And I'm off!

Here is my post about Ian & I traveling to Istanbul. It covers 24+ hours on a train, passport control with guns, and the most effective weight loss plan ever!

Ian & I in Istanbul with soldier

Make sure to check out the rest of the guest posters as well and Mr. Jack Scott himself. He's half of a gay English couple in Turkey and absolutely fabulous.

Becoming One with the Tourist Hordes in Cinque Terre

We knew it was going to be bad. Italy in June-July. But Greg is a schoolteacher & Italy was his #1 destination. So we took a deep breath, loads of planning, and became one with the mass of tourists.

And it wasn't as bad as we feared. Lots of it was unbelievably awesome. And Cinque Terre, where we've been a few times before, wasn't the mass of old people and blank eyed tourists we thought it would be...ok it actually kinda was. But it is STILL so awesome we loved it. And got burnt to a crisp. A good time was had by all.

Corniglia - the unpopular village on the hill that treated us very well

Vernazza - site of our first swim

Dinner of muscles, clams, squid, and fish

Manarola - 2nd swim

Lazy cat!

Vernazza night

Manarola

Love Lock

Rio Maggiore

Porters

Rio Maggiore boats

 

Ferry ride through Cinque Terre

 

Feeling happy, but burnt. Weak English skin

Porter power!

Yes. Very burned

Meal with tortellini from Bologna, pesto from Cinque Terre

In-n-out shirt out of our window

Corniglia vista

Cotniglia

Beautiful wine bar Greg found in Corniglia

Sweet hound sends us off

Full album:Cinque Terre Pictures

One of the most Romantic Cities in the World...with your Father-in-Law

Just the side of Saint mark's is lovely

The ratings continue as our amateur testers- us- run around Italy and give scores that reflect our views. And just to once again confirm that these ratings are just personal perceptions, the porn proprietor Larry Flint:

Opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one.

Venice

Transportation in Venice

Greg
4 Gondolas - Water taxis (vaporetto) aka water buses. What a novel concept! Lovely way to see the city and surrounding area.

Ian 
4 Gondolas - Everything was very accessible. Only drawback was that vaporettos were very expensive. But who needs that when you can walk everywhere?

ebe
3.5 Gondolas - Train station is a bit far from things, but the vaporettos make moving around easy. They are a pricy option, but entirely necessary to truly see the city. Plus they take your out to islands which gives a unique look at the place and a brief respite from the crowds. Walking is the best way to get to know a  city and walking through alleys, along canals, and over arched bridges..."È una bella città"!

Accommodation in Venice

Map in the lobby

Greg
4 Gondolas - Accommodations were wonderful. Intriguing decor, fascinating building. Only drawback was night clerk was rather snotty.

Ian 

4.5 Gondolas - Awesome building with antique furniture. Air conditioner was a bit weak, wifi only on main floor, and lack of common room were the only shitty thing.

ebe
4.5 Gondolas -  The Pensione Guerrato was right off the Realto and fish market, this was one of the best locations I have ever stayed. Paired with true antique decor and lovey Italian breakfast (chocolate & coffee) I see why rick Steves recommends. Down-side is that Rick Steves recommends so there are many a Steves book around and it's like mini-America. Also, air conditioner & wi-fi could use a boost.

Sights in Venice

Doge's Palace

Greg
4.5 Gondolas -  From alley to bridge, to Grand Canal- stunning with every step.

Ian 
5 Gondolas - Everywhere you turn is a postcard. The actual sights themselves are absolutely amazing.

ebe

4 Gondolas -  As romantic, decadent, and rotting as one could hope. Even as a motley crew of Porters, it's magic. The Doge's Palace was overpriced, but Ian helped by talking them into giving one of us a student price- well done Ian!

Also- great Steve's tip: Check your bag at the Ateneo San Basso, a former church just around the corner and down the Calle San Basso from the Basilica's main entrance. and you can skip the line.

The only thing that hides it's loveliness is the throngs of us tourists.

These guys own the city & know it

 Dining in Venice

Greg

4 Gondolas - Highlight for dining was lunch on Murano. Welcoming owner, very attentive, hands-on.  Many tidbits of Venice flavors. Quite delightful

Ian 
3 Gondolas - Overall, a culinary disappointment. There was however, a lovely lunch in Murano. We sat next to Keith Richards- a little more salt on that salad?

ebe
4.5 Gondolas -  Tourist menus are always enticing, but dissuading. But what is the real Venice for cuisine? We chickened out and had lots of groceries and little meals, which I think did us a dis-service. Should have got our hands dirty and gone in for a big splurgy meal. Still, gelato greasing every meal and snack time helps. And Ian forced us to eat a bunch of little squids (video coming) which was a highlight.

And Murano's lunch was perfect!  Wandering in when most things were shut for siesta, we were warmly welcomed by the owner who charmed us all through lunch and served cuttlefish & Bolognase on spaghetti, wine, and we even tried Grappa (Fermented from the peels, seed and stems of grapes, it is clear in color and of high alcoholic gradation. This beverage is very popular in northern Italy and is normally consumed as an after dinner digestive drink).

Overall

Greg
4.75 Gondolas - Beautiful city, extra bonus Murano. Getting Murano glass ornament from Keith Richard’s shop- priceless.

Ian 
5 Gondolas - It’s Venice. It truly lives up to it’s expectations, even in the middle of July. 

Doge's Palace

ebe
4 Gondolas -  We counted how many mask/glass stores Greg went in before buying something. I think it was 15. BUT it was fun to see the city, every nook & cranny. We had serious fears about prices & crowds at this time of year and both were manageable. I like to get away from the crowds, but this was a city I was glad to see with the guys.

Looking out from the Square

Photo Post
Complete Venice photo album

In Love with Berlin

Despite missing friends & family, issues with visas, Deutsche Bahn strikes, subletting, poor pay, missing our belongings, language barrier, uncertain future, no animals....We love living in Berlin. A city so filled with art and culture sometimes it is literally bursting out of it.

Thanks for the video Travis

remind us to tell you about....

Angry German hiker and child (strollers are evil)
Pooping on a fortress (everyone should try it)
Hammer pants on a train (emotional frenchmen have the best taste)
Amazing "complete meal deals" (not a thing like spag)
Friends on boats, hostels, and trains

Girl with helmet rain coat and painted teens (crazy french)
Fat, whiny Americans - Rick Steves book in hand (not us for once)
...and other good times

Istanbul - Big Danger!

Ebe and I were more than siked as we boarded one of the shittiest trains we've ever seen to Istanbul. The train was cramped, crowded, and unfortunately for us, we had two old Romanian broads in our cabin with us who decided to make it their own.

We eventually made it into another couchette (a cabin with 6 sleepers) with some Kiwi friends of ours, and thought the rest of the night would be nice and relaxing. After a stop in Bulgaria where a loud cackling woman from Cyprus joined our cabin, we were informed that we had to wait in the middle of nowhere for five hours until another train joined up with us from Serbia.

So instead of getting in to Istanbul today at 8:00 AM, we rolled into town at 1:00 PM and super tired. Unable to sleep during the night, I struck up a conversation with a Turkish man and his wife, who explained to me that "Istanbul, big danger." They then charaded out the gestures of drugs and pick pocketing... thanks for the advice!

And once we were in the city, a phrase we heard too much in the beautiful streets of Istanbul was "Spend money here please?" White people walking around must look like huge dollar signs to most vendors. Luckily it just makes Ebe and I feel popular. It's when they don't talk to us that we get down and depressed.

Unfortunately they do hawk out some nice things and we've taken the bait a few times... but for a much lower price! It's hard to believe how much lower we've bought some things with a little "haglin." It's the first place we've actually gotten mementos due to the price and the fact that everything is so frickin cool (look out for our mini-rug which will really tie the room together) and fez!

Much like Bucharest, Istanbul also has domestic animals gone wild... kittie cats! That's right folks, you can't walk around a corner here without seeing an adorable little kitty witty.... or one that's on it's last legs with mange.

Which brings us to our last topic... food (some guy joked with us that we could catch a cat to eat)! We've been eating tons of good stuff so far in Turkey, but alas no turkey. But to hell with turkey, because they have much better things to eat, such as: fresh fish sandwiches, misir (BBQ corn), kebabs, olives, feta, baklava, Turkish delight, and tons of other stuff we don't even know the name of. Hopefully our next destination treats us so well.


UPDATE from the future (May 17th, 2012)

 
We loved Istanbul. A lot. I was honored to write a guest post on Perking the Pansies about our experience in Turkey, but there is nothing like a picture.

Train to Istanbul

Sleeping Car on the train

Visa to Turkey!

Istanbul pretzel vender

Mosque in Istanbul

Grand Bizarre spice

Istanbul Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque

bird seed vender Istanbul

Istanbul pigeon

Apple tea in Istanbul

cat on the beach

We can be a bit squeamish about fish, but how could we not buy a fish sandwich with them catching the fish, grilling, and selling right on the water?

We got sick the next day. Although it was probably from water we drank in Romania...probably. We became best friends with the fancy toilet in the hostel.

And every other toilet in the city. It wasn't pretty.

Istanbul squat toilet.

Turkey requires military service from its citizens and as we embarked for the coast, several Turks were on their way to train. We felt extraordinarily lucky to be able to observe their celebrations in sending off their friends and family.

Turkey

It was amazing. We loved it. Ian - when are we going back?

Full set of Istanbul photos and the trip hit list.