Amsterdam Part III - 5/21/13

Last day in Amsterdam and off to Paris go! Its raining like mad and we spent a good part of the day attempting to buy our train tickets for the high speed rail. Megan booked her ticket at our apartment's WiFi after re-trying the process with 3 different cards. Just as she was trying to book Vivi and my tickets, we received an error. Somewhere in that time the price had jumped from 90€ to 130€ and it wouldn't let us book online. We took a half hour walk to Amsterdam Central station, waited in the wrong line and then waited in the right line. After about an hour of waiting, the ticket attendant informed us that the train was over booked and we would need to buy stand-by tickets. We sucked it up and finally bought our tickets.

I had purchased online tickets to the Rijksmuseum and that afternoon was our last chance to go. Since everyone in Holland had Monday off for holiday the museum was packed. The Rijksmuseum has been closed for the last decade for restoration and it was only recently opened in the last 3 weeks. Our timing was impeccable minus the fact that we only had about a hour to walk around since it closed an hour earlier than we expected. I recommend visiting it but plan to spend at least 3 hours, its huge!

I was super hungry and a bit of a grump by the end. We finally found a thai restaurant after dodging a myriad aggressive offers from restaurant hosts for free drinks and 15€ steaks.

We headed back to our apartment where we met our new flat mates. The Australian mother and daughter had arrived from London and were cooking vegan food in the communal kitchen. We had a delightful conversation and shared travel stories. The daughter kindly offered to make us tea. Megan and I sat down and blogged for a bit. We've been fighting over the wireless bluetooth keyboard, thankfully Vivien has a laptop!

Good night!

Xoxo Shenzi

Rotterdam

A message from an old friend awaited me in my facebook inbox. I met Bart back in 2008 when he was visiting his father in America. Bart is originally from Holland and currently is going to school in Rotterdam (2nd largest city in The Netherlands). I was under the impression that he was interning in Africa so I was surprised to hear from him. He invited us to come visit Rotterdam so we booked some train tickets.

While we were waiting for the train, Megan spotted a Burger King that had discontinued "My Little Ponies" action figures in the showcase. Apparently she has been trying to hunt down these action figures for the last few weeks (epic dork) and this was the first place that had them. She held up the line and we almost missed our train...but gosh darn she got her little ponies!! The train ride was about 40 minutes long and Bart was already waiting for us when we arrived at the station.

Rotterdam is totally different from Amsterdam, it was heavily bombed during WWII so every building is über modern. It is also one of the largest  port cities in the world so the canals are very wide and the bridges are enormous. Since it was a national holiday in Holland (Pentecost), almost everything was closed and there weren't many people out and about. Bart took us to a super cool café for lunch where I tried my first traditional Dutch dish, croquette. I really liked it although I couldn't tell you what was in it!

We walked around and marveled at the architecture. Rotterdam truly is an architect's playground. We came across a seafood cart and Bart bought us herring snacks. I dangled the fish up high and ate the whole thing in one bite. I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was!

 We walked to a monument that was created to represent the massive amount of emigration from Rotterdam. Afterwards we went to grab some wine, cheese and seafood at a fancy restaurant inside the Hotel New York. The food was not very good but the atmosphere was super cool.

Bart took us to see a windmill that was still being used as a mill. When the windmill is open for business, customers can  buy bread and watch the production process. We decided to grab some more drinks at another restaurant, hot chocolate with rum was just the thing to cure the chills! Megan and I estimated that we walked about 8 miles throughout the day.

It was lovely to see Bart again and catch up after four years. We called a taxi and Bart walked us to our platform. It was around midnight when we arrived back in Amsterdam. The three of us decided to check out a gay bar called  "The Queen's Head". We met a lot of fun boys and had a few beers . There was a big international tennis tournament that weekend in Amsterdam and most of the men were participants. The bar closed at 2 am and we headed back to our apartment. What a great day!

Amsterdam Part II

The last three days have been a whirlwind, my LA clock has me waking up late, staying up late and not taking cues from the sun (not that there is a sun here!). It doesn't help that our high latitude makes for a 22:00 sunset (10pm).

I love Amsterdam, I think it might just be my new favorite foreign city (replacing Vancouver). With a population of about 800,000 people, it has a vibrant street life with activity on every corner. The buildings are no less than 6 stories tall and are bundled very tight. I learned that in the past home owners didn't pay property tax on depth or height, only width, so the skinniest building in Amsterdam is an astounding 3 meters wide.
 

We have switched accommodations to a Bed & Breakfast in the heart of the city called Eric B & B. Our apartment is on the fourth floor and I dont exaggerate when I say that the stairs are a spiral ladder. We are now staying in the Jordaan area where the Anne Frank house is located. Yesterday we took a tour of the Anne Frank house. Luckily I purchased the tickets before hand on the internet so we avoided an hour line to get in. You would never know from the exterior or interior of the house that 8 people where hiding there for two years. The museum was a powerful and a highly important experience.

After the museum we wandered the streets in search for food. We stumbled across a farmers market, apparently it was Buddaha's birthday so the Chinese cultural groups were putting on a show and selling food. The three of us split a tofu curry dish. We also picked up some delicious fresh bread, sundried tomato and olive tapenade for later. The Hungarian jazz band had invited us to the drummer, Aron's, birthday party in Rapenburg (Eastern Amsterdam) so we decided to join. During the jazz show, Daniel (the saxophonist) kept a running joke that the drummer, Aron, was turning 18. We stopped by the post office and picked up a "Happy 18th Birthday!" card.

After lunch, our tiredness hit us like a brick wall and we napped for a lengthy 5 hours. By the time we woke up it was already time to get ready and leave for the party. We rallied and walked for about 40 minutes across Amsterdam through some really cool areas. The party was at an apartment right on the canal, the hosts were very kind and welcoming. Most of the people there were conservatory students, they were a really cool group. We hung out for a few hours and enjoyed everyone's company. It was awesome to be around Hungarians!

-Shenzi

Amsterdam Part I

Last night was our first night in Amsterdam. After being awake for 36 hours, I was rather delirious by the time we checked into our hotel, The MEININGER Amsterdam West. Since we've been in Amsterdam, it has been rainy and a brisk 55 degrees F. Thank goodness I invested in a rain coat before leaving! The rain has not seemed to deter the bike traffic, in Amsterdam, biking is the main mode of transportation. It is not uncommon to see two full grown adults on one cruiser or a mother with a child on the handle bars and child in the rear. The canals are gorgeous and run throughout the entire city. People fill the cobblestone streets.

On Friday we went to the Van Gogh museum. We started the exhibit with a 15 minute movie explaining a bit of Van Gogh's history. The Dutch painter only painted for about one decade before tragically ending his life by shooting himself in a wheat field. His work evolved from intensely dark portrayals of peasant life (example "The Potato Eaters") to more vibrant colorful works (ex. "Sunflowers") during his move to Paris. Towards the end of his career, he was voluntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital where he produced about 150 works of the hospital garden. Van Gogh's most important relationship was with his brother Theo, the only reason we know so much about Van Gogh's life was due to the thousands of letters sent between the two men.  

After a lovely visit to the Van Gogh museum, the three of us walked to Vondelpark. It was an endless secret garden filled with beauty and adventure. We came across a pond where Vivien managed to attract every bird in a radius with her deceptive offer of a twig. A stroll through a winding pathway revealed a tree top jungle gym with an unknown destination. We climbed up some rope netting and navigated through the sky path bridges and tunnels. The rain began to come down a bit harder and we made our way back to the park entrance in search for food.

We finally came across an Indian restaurant that we agreed on, Bollywood Indian Restaurant. The food was very good and as the name suggests there was no shortage of Bollywood music videos. We wanted to catch a canal boat tour after so we ran to catch what we thought was the last tour of the day. We made it in just the knick of time for the 6 pm boat, although the boats actually ran quite a bit later. The tour started out great but after about ten minutes I fell cold asleep in exhaustion. Megan and Vivien made sure I would remember with photographic evidence (not currently pictured).

We had walked past a jazz bar earlier in the day and Megan was adamant that we check it out. Since it didn't open until 9 pm, we decided to find a café to kill time. This turned out to be a bit more difficult than we thought, after four failed attempts (too crowded, too druggy, too loud, too douchey) we finally settled on Pancake Corner in Leidseplein. The three of us shared a pancake (huge crepe) with chocolate sauce and chocolate shavings  and enjoyed cappuccinos followed by hot chocolate. 9 o'clock finally rolled around and we headed over to "Jazz Café Alto".

We enter the bar and found an empty table right in front of the stage. Our waitress came by I asked her for her best "jazz" whiskey and a round of beers. The band was setting up and to my surprise I overheard the saxophone player speaking in Hungarian. I became excited and began chatting and practicing my Hungarian with them. They started playing at 10 pm and we were instantly captivated by their sound. The club was packed and everyone was snapping, swaying and rocking with the flow. Megan whipped out her sketch book and began drawing the scene. We ended up staying at the club for over four hours! We listened to 3 out of the 5 sets and then moved on to a piano bar across the street. The bar was a stark contrast from the where we had came, the pianist was playing along to a pre-recorded soundtrack of chimes and drums. As he destroyed the most cleché piano bar song, "Piano Man" by Billy Joel, we chugged our beers and bee-lined for the exit. Unfortunately the buses stopped running at 1 pm so we were forced to track down a taxi.

We were still feeling rather musical when we arrived back at our hotel, The MEININGER West Amsterdam. There were two acoustic guitars hanging in the lobby so we grabbed them started our own concert. Before we knew it we had a room full of Italians, Germans, Indians and Dutch people clapping along and shouting requests. For some reason one Indian gentleman was rather adamant that we play a Bryan Adams tune even though none of us knew anything by him.  We felt obligated since he bought us a round of beers so in return we struggled through "The Summer of '69". I'm sure that somewhere out there on the interwebs, there is a video of this. By 5 am I was little more than a zombie, we called it the night and said our good-byes to our new fans.

-Shenzi

LAX to JFK to DUS

I am starting this post from the plane on my ultra light blue tooth wireless keyboard. Oh how I love technology! Check-in and security at LAX were a mess, thank goodness that's over for now. Every time I go through a TSA check point I always makes me think of this.

Within the next 24 hours, I will have transfered six times: LAX --> JFK --> DUS --> Germany Sky Tram --> "DB Bahn" Train from Airport Station to Dusseldorf Hbf --> Train to Amsterdam Central --> Train to my hotel in Western Amsterdam.

I hope I make all of my connections!

I  just checked the chair pocket safety instruction pamphlet to see if Tyler Durdan left a "revised" version. No such luck, the cast of "Plane Crash" were calm as hindu cows! My "single serving" friend (aka guy sitting next to me), is rather interesting. My first impression was that he might be a WWE Wrestler. After some casual conversation I have learned that he's headed to Zurich and owns a chain of chopper shops around the world. He used to be a Marine and then became a national champion semi-professional footfall player. I asked him if he was in a biker gang to which he responded "once upon a time babe".  I am writing this as he sits right next to me so I hope he doesn't look at my phone! Landing soon, signing off for now!

Signing back in, i'm now at Dusseldorf Hbf which means i made in to Germany in one piece! The second flight was much better than the first, Air Berlin is fantastic. The best part was that two out of the three seats next to me were empty so it was able to "expand" a bit. A gentleman who embodied the spirit and fashion of Sasha Baron Cohen's "Dictator" character sat at the end of my row. He wore dark diva sunglasses, had a rough long beard that fell down to his navel and was not a fan of air plane food. That's about all I could gather as we did not exchange words.

For breakfast, Air Berlin provided a lovely platter of cheese, salami, turkey, a cherry tomato, bread and a pickle. This is going to sound strange but the moment I saw the pickle I knew it was different. And sure enough, one apprehensive nibble revealed that it was sweet as candy! This spidey sense stems from my personal experiences of desperately trying to locate a sour salty pickle in my prior travels to Germany, Hungary and Austria. Can someone please tell me why Europeans prefer sweet pickles?! Second question, why do they even exist?!

I watched two movies on my seat's entertainment center: Chasing Mavericks and Hitchcock. I recommend seeing them if you haven't yet! Chasing Mavericks is based on a true story about the pioneers of big wave surfing. Warning, it's bit of a tear jerker!

The landing was smooth and I am rather glad to be back on the ground. Megan and Viv's train from Trier should be arriving any minute now. I've been waiting for them for the last two hours and the anticipation is killing me! The train is coming, ta ta for now!

-Shenzi

Munich: Dachau

Guten Morgen!

I began my second day in Munich with a run around a nearby park to try and atone for the fact I'm eating Nutella 3 times a day. It was lovely and green. The park, not the Nutella.

I checked out of my hostel, the Meininger, and headed to the haptbahnhof. I stored my backpack in a locker and set course for my day's destination: Dachau.
 
 I want to begin by saying that it's impossible to visit Germany without an awareness of its historical significance. Almost every place I went I could see the lasting impression WWII has made on this nation and its people. Yes, WWII is a huge part of American history too, but Germany is still bearing a lot of visible scars that we aren't. One of those scars is Dachau, a concentration camp form WWII.  This is the legacy that Nazi Germany burned in everyone's minds and I wanted to see it.

*This is a disclaimer to anyone reading this post that this is some sobering material, but I won't post any graphic images.

It was always part of my plan to take the 20 minute train ride from Munich to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. I needed to see it for myself and I wanted to pay my respects to the souls that were lost in a way that seems unfathomable today. I was prepared to have an emotional response to my visit, but mostly I wanted knowledge. In school we're taught about what happened during the holocaust, but I was hoping at the museum I could learn a little bit more about the "hows" and "whys."

I hopped off the bus at the Dachau Memorial Site and I was taken back by what a beautiful day it was. The images in my head of this place and on the website are gray and dreary. I was greeted by a bright blue sky and green trees. I walked into the memorial information center and asked to join a tour group because I wanted to be able to ask questions. Unfortunately, I just missed one and had 90 minutes until the next. The lady at the counter suggested I go check out the museum while I was waiting.

I walked down a path lined with trees until I came to an iron gate with the well-known slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei." It translates to "Work Will Set you Free," a lie of course.

 I walked to another small plaque that says:

"There is a path to freedom. Its milestones are: Obedience, Honesty, Cleanliness, Sobriety, Hard Work, Discipline, Sacrifice, Truthfulness, Love of thy Fatherland." More lies to the prisoners of course, but somehow you want to believe it's true.

I entered the museum and found what I was looking for: a detailed history of how Hitler and the Nazis came to power.

I realize that anyone reading this might already know the history or could get a far more accurate explanation by just looking it up, so I'll spare you the details. Basically, it's a long road to justify the extermination of an entire people. The propaganda art was fascinating to me.

Adolf Hitler took power in 1933 and Dachau opened shortly after. It was the first concentration camp and the only camp to last from 1933 to 1945. At first, the camp was strictly for Hitler's political opponents. The public was told they were sent there to "make them better Germans."

I learned all of this before my tour group and it was perfect because the guide picked up right where I left off. She started talking about how propaganda portrayed the early prisoners as the anti-nationalist, leeches of Germany. So when the Nazis said they were sending "lazy, Jewish intellectuals" to the camps to learn how to become hardworking Germans, people didn't mind.

Also, the early positive propaganda for Dachau was overwhelming. There are pictures in magazines of inmates smiling, working hard, and having a better life than they would otherwise. There was even an article claiming that the inmates were getting a pool for leisure time. This was far from the truth. Any person who entered Dachau was stripped of all human dignity, beaten, and broken.  I should also clarify that Dachau was not a death camp. People were not sent there to die, but to work. This work just very often resulted in death.

  Once 1938 rolled around, the Germans stopped sugar-coating it and the propaganda changed. Dachau was no longer presented as a place for people to become good German citizens, but a place to punish society's undesirables: Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, criminals, the disabled. 

At that point in the tour, I asked our guide, "Did the S.S. (the guards) like their jobs or did they feel they had no choice but to work there? Was this all just to feed their families, but they secretly hated it?"

She responded: "The members of the S.S. were all voluntary. It was an honor to be a part of it and the SS commanded a lot of respect in Germany. It was extremely well-paying too. Also, their work was so compartmentalized that none of them were made to feel directly responsible for the deaths. One guy arrested the prisoners. One put them on trains. One cut their hair. One put them in a cell. Each person could step back and say, "I didn't kill the Jews. I just did ________. There was also a sense of machismo among the guards, so none of them wanted to be portrayed as soft or empathetic. Yet, at the end of the day, these guards went home and were husbands and fathers." Man, how do you live with yourself?

Anyway, all of this information contributed to a better understanding of how history came to be. I got many of the "hows" and "whys" I wanted, but the hard part was the "what." We saw the places where people were beaten. We saw the hall where prisoners were punished and locked in solitary confinement. And let me tell you, I've never been in a corridor that smelled more like fear.

   We saw the yard where prisoners were forced to stand in the freezing cold for hours for roll call.

We were led to the barracks to see the living conditions of the prisoners.

And worst of all, we were led to the crematorium and gas chamber. The good news is that Dachau never really got a chance to use its gas chamber. It was built late in the war and this wasn't a death camp. However, it was an exact model of the ones used at places like Auschwitz.

I didn't spend a whole lot of time in the gas chamber and crematorium building. I saw it and that was enough. I walked back outside into the sun and otherwise green surroundings. There were some small memorials and this is now a place of reflection.

  
I thought about the victims, the lives ruined, and lives cut short. I made a promise to them that I will live my life to the fullest and appreciate the freedom that I have. It's the least I can do.

Also, if there's any way I could apply the lessons learned here to today, I would say we always need to be aware of human rights in our nation, in society, in the world. Anytime a group is deprived of equality, disenfranchised, or given a "lessor" status in society, it should be cause for concern. And if I should find myself as the majority in this situation, it's equally harmful to sit back and say nothing. I just hope if the time should come, I would do the right thing.

Maybe that's a sobering note to end this post on, so let me add some positivity. I'm on a train back to Trier now. I'm extremely thankful that I took the leap and had a solo adventure for the last two days. When traveling, ALWAYS choose experiences.

Also, here is my even more exciting news: Shenzi arrives in Germany tomorrow morning!!!!!!! She just texted me that she's at JFK and ready to fly across the pond. It's been over 3 weeks and I can't wait to see her. I'm so excited for our adventure together!

Munich: Vegan meals and Music

"I am SO happy to be in a city again!"

That was the overwhelming feeling I got when I started walking around Munich. Even though I'm told Munich is not a big city, it felt like one compared to all of the small towns I had been in thus far. I mean, this place has a legit subway!

It was 6pm and my plan was to do some sightseeing before the sun went down, but first I needed dinner. Since I was in a city, I figured I had more food options. I needed a break from all of the milk, cheese, and eggs that seem to be a staple of every German meal. Using the hostel wireless and happycow.com (thanks Robin) I was able to find a nearby vegan restaurant. I google-mapped it and took a picture of the map on my phone. Should be easy enough without GPS, right?

I took the subway to Marienplatz, the city center of Munich. It was ornate and beautiful, but I didn't really care at the moment because I was hungry. I only cared about finding my very much needed vegan meal. My map said I needed to find the road "Viktualienmarkt." (Why do Germans think they can just mash words together?) To me, the name looked like "virtual alien market" and I decided to call it that henceforth.

I was having trouble orienting myself, so I consulted my google map. It was then I realized there was no way to determine the scale of it of what I was looking at. And most of the streets weren't labeled. And there were only like 3 landmarks on it. And the maps around the city aren't helpful. Oh, and it's not a grid like LA. Crap.  

I decided just to walk in the general direction of the vegan place until I found "virtual alien market." Easier said then done after walking for 20 minutes and ending back at Marienplatz. Did I mention Munich is not a grid?

Luckily, I am not easily deterred and I set out yet again for my vegan delights. I knew I could probably just ask someone for directions, but I'm stubborn and what was I supposed to say, "Can you please direct me to the Virtual Alien Market?" No one is going to understand me and the name of the vegan place was equally hard to pronounce.

Just as I was about to give up or find a coffee shop for wireless, I found a "virtual alien market" sign. Yes!!!!

I consulted my map again and walked in the most logical direction. Suddenly, I was no longer on "Virtual Alien Market." The street just ended, so I turned around and walked through a market. Nope. Okay, maybe it's time to ask for help. I went into a coffee shop on "virtual alien market" and tried to pronounce the name of the vegan restaurant. Fail. I asked if they knew of any nearby vegan restaurants. Nope. I asked if they had wireless. Nope.

I went back outside and tried to go by the street numbers. All of the places were numbered "2." What the heck!? I considered caving, but all of the nearby places were either sausage fests or cheese. Ew. I was about to give up for the third time when suddenly I recognized one of the landmarks on my horribly insufficient map. I followed that to the next landmark. And that to the next. And then.. and then... I was back at the spot where "virtual alien market" ended and became a new road. AHHHHHH! 

My last bastion of hope was to walk down the new road for a few blocks.  I walked down "not virtual alien market" until I came to a small indoor foodcourt, and yes, can it be!?? There it was, my vegan restaurant!!!!

I was so happy I could cry because it was now an hour later and I was starving. I was greeted at the counter by a skinny vegan-version of Johnny Depp and I asked him what I should get. He was kind enough to let me try a little bit of everything. I was so happy.

A few minutes later he brought my hard-fought vegan meal out to my table and it was....  meh. Yeah, it was just "okay." So the lesson here kids: Don't waste your time trying to find vegan food in Germany.

I decided to top off my mediocre meal with some mediocre coffee. I walked to Sendlinger Tor and found a cafe. The internet told me this was Munich's gayborhood and I thought maybe I could find a cool bar. No such luck, so I played a new game: Pick something in the distance that looks cool and walk towards it. Tall building? Cool. Big church? Cool. Bright lights? Cool. Most of these landmarks connected with metro lines too, so I always knew where I was.

I jumped on a U train to Karlplatz and continued my game. Fountain? Cool. Park? Cool. In the park, a drunk guy even walked up to me and gave me a pretty red flower. No catcall. No cheesy pickup line. No expectation. Just "a flower for you" and a smile. It was both sweet and refreshing. I thanked him.

It was dark now, so I played a new game. Pick something that "sounds" cool and walk towards it. I followed the sound of music into a small park. There was a weird/random Michael Jackson tribute in the middle of it.

There was also a piano with that simply said this on it:

"Play me. I'm yours."

And some Germans were doing just that. Two guys were taking turns and playing songs to a small group. Some songs were in German, some were in English. I leaned up against a tree to watch as the music just hung in the air. Another guy walked up and started to play "I will follow you into the dark" and "Dreamer" by Ozzy. Everyone in the small group, including me, joined in singing when he started playing "Hey Jude." Wow, this trip is really making me realize how much of a uniting factor music can be. After about 45 minutes of this I walked back to Marienplatz to catch the train back to my hostel.

On the way to the subway, a group of Itialian guys made a crude comment to me and laughed. Not everyone can give you roses, I guess. But besides that, it was a wonderful day.  I made it back to my hostel safely and went to bed.