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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Amsterdam - Red Light District

    28 сентября 2015 г., Нидерланды ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    Our hostel was located in the middle of the red light district (kinda funny because it was a very Christian hostel - they even invited us to their prayer group when sitting in the common room). So we got a good look around.
    At night it was actually a really jovial sort of party atmosphere, not the seedy creepy vibe I was expecting. On the other hand, it was pretty weird seeing the women selling themselves in the red-lit windows, and trying to attract customers. No photos because they don't like it but I'm sure photos can be found online.
    Also all manner of sex-related paraphernalia was sold in shops, a lot of it quite funny like a "condomerie" with animal-tipped condoms (image search the shop if you want).    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник
    2

    Amsterdam - van Gogh Museum

    29 сентября 2015 г., Нидерланды ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    I went to the van Gogh Museum, which provides a captivating focus on the artist throughout his life, showing how his work progressed. It also compared him to a contemporary, Edvard Munch. Even though we prepurchased tickets, there was still a 45 min line to get in. Very nice modern building though. There were some fun mirrored surfaces outside :)

    I also saw the IAMsterdam sign, swarming with people (what's the fuss?). That was in front of the Rijksmuseum (more general art, I didn't go in, having been a bit museumed out in London). Instead I went back to the hostel, ate a pretty delicious brownie, and relaxed.    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник
    1

    Amsterdam/Paris - Travel

    30 сентября 2015 г., Нидерланды ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Had a few hours before the train so wandered in a different direction and visited the entrance of the science museum (no time to go in). They did have a sweet water-based clock (#1) and rooftop garden/picnic area (#2), as well as nice views (#3,4).
    Then, off to Paris! We went with AirBnB this time, staying in a French guy's (very messy) apartment in an upmarket part of town (view from apartment #6).
    Expensive to get food! Ended up with my first ever cheese yakitori in a Japanese place.    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник
    1

    Paris - Montmartre Walking Tour

    1 октября 2015 г., Франция ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Did a walking tour of Montmartre, the hill known for narrow streets (#1), good food, and (formerly, mostly) drunken debauchery.
    It's also the location of the film Amelie, including this real shop (#2). We learned about the unlucky singer Dalida, who now, after death, is said to give good luck if you touch her.... bust (#3). We went around the Sacre Coeur for the peaceful back view (#4), tourist-swarmed front view (#5) and be over the city.Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Paris - More Montmartre

    1 октября 2015 г., Франция ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We stuck around Montmartre a bit longer, passing by the Moulin Rouge and some seedier establishments (#2).
    We also sampled the best baguettes in Paris (#3) (they have a yearly competition) and some other delicious pastries. Had dinner at an authentic (Gyurme approved) Tibetan restaurant (#4), really tasty!Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Paris - Palace of Versailles

    2 октября 2015 г., Франция ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    A short train ride outside Paris proper is this ridiculously opulent palace used by King Louis XIV (and his less impressive successors Louis XV & XVI).
    The palace is immense and gold (paint) is everywhere. To skip the lines, we went on a guided tour that actually turned out to be excellent, going into the king's private rooms (away from the throngs of tourists), seeing fancy science gadgets and his private theatre (all wood, but pretend stone etc, #2).
    Later, saw the chapel (the small part of the palace not devoted to the glory of the Sun King, #3), tons of amazing roof frescoes/carvings often blending into each other (#4) the hall of mirrors (#5), and expansive manicured grounds (#6).
    You can really see why revolutionists thought the rulers were spoilt!

    We had tickets to also see the Grand Trianon and Marie Antoinette's estate but unfortunately it had just closed when we wandered over there :( Kinda annoying that the opening times weren't posted anywhere. We peered over the wall and listened to Rick Steves audio guide anyway.    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Paris - Food

    2 октября 2015 г., Франция ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Another food post, my priorities are clear :)
    #1,2: crepes we had for dinner after Versailles, yum!
    #3: a mini strawberry tart/cheesecake, fresh strawberries on top, small but delicious
    #4: selection at an eclair shop (didn't get any, they were expensive)
    #5: proper French macaron, tiny and overpriced, just like at home
    #6: selection at Quick, France's answer to McDonald's. Turned out to be basically a clone, everything tasted the same as McDonald's, meh.    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Paris - Louvre

    3 октября 2015 г., Франция ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Another huge museum with way too much interesting stuff to see in a day. We did a "greatest hits" tour by following a Rick Steves audio guide then went back to look at the Egyptian wing as well.
    As usual, I think i appreciated the sculpture most, both the famous ones (Venus de Milo #2, Winged Victory, Michelangelo's slaves) and many not so famous ones (like Melpomene #3).
    Also, all of this was set inside a former palace, so there were amazing roof and wall decorations that weren't even mentioned in any info plaques (notice how the ropes of flowers and leaves switch between stone, wood, and paint in #4).
    Found a cat family in the Egyptian section (#5) :)
    By accident, found some sort of modern art exhibit in the basement, bizarre (#6). In there they've excavated around the base of the old castle so you can see how it sat right under the later palace.    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Paris - Arc de Triomphe

    3 октября 2015 г., Франция ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    After the Louvre, we walked past the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel (aka, "is this the REAL Arc de Triomphe? I thought it'd be bigger." #1), through the Tuileries garden (very dry and dusty) past some stolen Egyptian relics (#2), and wandered up the crowded Champs-Élysées (#3, lots of fancy brand shops, meh).

    The Arc itself was huge and impressive. I would kinda have liked to go to the top but it was paid and had a long line, and we had had a long day.

    We had a typical Paris experience finding the metro station: we knew where it was, and where we were, using GPS, but still spent at least ten minutes finding the one unmarked stairwell behind some bushes on one side of a busy intersection. A bit poor after Berlin!    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Paris - Notre Dame etc

    4 октября 2015 г., Франция ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Went on a walking tour around Notre Dame, which really made the place come to life more than the (many) other churches I've seen at this point. I especially liked the little demons depicted (#2) showing the punishments of hell / rewards of heaven (this was helpful for the illiterate townsfolk who couldn't read the bible).

    We also saw the famous lock bridge nearby. I can see why they're cutting those locks off - they're 4 deep in many places! I quite liked the graffiti on one end of the bridge too :D (you're gonna need a lot more keys, Link!)

    On another nearby bridge we came across some fancily-dressed, mostly older people doing rollerblading tricks. I took some videos here: https://goo.gl/photos/g9fsGojUiB6UvGyS6

    We then went to find the "best ice cream in Paris/the world" (Berthillon) which turned out to be just ok IMO.

    We went on to see the Pantheon building, which was just another big impressive building (no tour commentary to give context, and it was closing by the time we got there anyway). Fine, we decided to go somewhere a bit different and see the Catacombs of Paris (open late so we had plenty of time). Upon arrival: "sorry last entrance is an hour before closing time, and it's now 57 minutes before closing time". Ahh, Paris.    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник
    211

    Paris - Eiffel Tower

    5 октября 2015 г., Франция ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    Last day in Paris, and there was still one thing we hadn't done: go up the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately the weather didn't exactly hold out for us (we had decided to spend the nice days doing outside stuff like Notre Dame and Versailles, and the Louvre was closed today) but that did mean very short lines.
    We waited until evening to go, so we'd get the daytime and nighttime views (and let the weather improve a bit).

    It was pretty spectacular (when we could see through the clouds)! It was also mildly concerning to see the rust patches peeking through the paint (#3)! =/
    In #5 you can make out the Arc de Triomphe.

    Afterwards, we went to a popular French-cuisine place (Le Bouillon Chartier) that was super packed - likely due to being one of the few affordable French-cuisine places. No English menus so I ended up with a tomato salad (ie. sliced tomato) and a very chewy rump steak. Afterwards I kinda wished I was more adventurous - everyone at the next table had escargot!    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Basel/Zurich - Transit

    6 октября 2015 г., Швейцария ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Our train towards the exciting town of Thalwil (more on that later) took us through Basel and Zurich (with time at each thanks to frustrating train bookings). Unfortunately, the rain prevented much in the way of exploring, so we just saw this weird church with pyramids in Basel and whatever we could see from the train station in Zurich (this museum/castle and a river).Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Thalwil

    6 октября 2015 г., Швейцария ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    I wanted to go to Thalwil mostly to see Paul and Denise, and as a bonus got to see little Max (just a month or so old at this point). They also kindly had us stay the night at their place. Unfortunately I'm bad and didn't take any photos of us! >.<

    Thalwil itself is very scenic (despite Paul's claims that there's nothing to see!) - it's a town along the lakeside that has grown to merge with its neighbours, so now it's just a section of the general settlement along Zürichsee (Lake Zurich).

    We helped Paul make a traditional Swiss dish of pasta, potato, onion, bacon, gruyère cheese, and applesauce (called Älpermagronen) that's often served in hiking huts. Kinda like macaroni and cheese, plus applesauce. Yum!    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Lucerne - Town

    7 октября 2015 г., Швейцария ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    The next day we took the train with Paul to Lucerne, another very pretty train ride with lakes and hills around. Lucerne itself is another picturesque town/city on the lake, but (ok Paul) with a bit more to see than Thalwil.

    There was also a neat little travelling fun fair near the train station - apparently they move around to all the towns/cities in the area. Looked great lit up at night too!
    There weren't any free walking tours so we just wandered around the main town / old town areas, including over the old wooden bridge (which has burnt down a number of times) with the paintings in the rafters which all feature skeletons for some reason.
    We stopped for a while near the bridge (pic #3 in the next post) to watch them blocking part of the river for a dam/power plant mechanism - gotta find the engineering tidbits amongst the scenery/history!    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Lucerne - Hill

    7 октября 2015 г., Швейцария ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    After wandering the town we took a short walk up the hill to the old town wall where you can still climb up the towers and along part of the wall.
    One of the towers had an impressive clock mechanism in it for a main bell, along with a bunch of other working clocks with different designs and exposed mechanisms - more engineering, yay!
    Another tower provided amazing panoramic views over the city (unfortunately cloud covered the bigger mountains in the distance).

    After the towers we went to see the lion statue, which I wasn't expecting to be much, but actually turned out to be really nice/impressive. It felt secluded, surrounded by trees and a pond, while also impressively set into a rather large rock face that looked like it had been scratched by a giant paw.    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Munich - Arrival

    8 октября 2015 г., Германия ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Arrived late in the day from Lucerne, still in time to meet up with my old school/uni mate Josh for some delicious (huge) schnitzel. Yum! It was great to catch up with Josh after not seeing him in a while too!
    Again, no photo together, I'm bad at this photos-with-people thing.

    Our hostel here (Euro Youth Hostel) is great: it's right beside the main train station and has a bar with cheap drinks and excellent free breakfast. No kitchen but eating out in Munich is relatively cheap :D    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Munich - Neuschwanstein

    9 октября 2015 г., Германия ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Many people recommended I see this classic "fairy tale" style castle, and it was worth it! Very stylised unlike the more functional castles I'd seen elsewhere - this was more like a palace. The castle was situated in some stunning scenery too.

    The story behind it is also kinda funny: the king wanted a classic middle-ages castle, which he knew about only from stories, so he had some actual middle-ages castle ruins removed to make way for his idealised version. He also had two other hugely expensive palaces underway, refusing requests to reduce spending, when he was declared insane and moved to an asylum where he promptly drowned under mysterious circumstances.

    Unfortunately the Marienbrücke (Queen Mary's Bridge), which normally has the best views, was closed for renovation, so I guess I'll have to come again another time!

    The area also had another castle (Hohenschwangau, #6) that, confusingly, was built on the site of the old Schwanstein castle, while Neuschwanstein was built on the site of the old Hohenschwangau castle, so they effectively swapped names.    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Munich - Walking Tour

    10 октября 2015 г., Германия ⋅ 🌫 10 °C

    I felt like the walking tour in Munich was a bit lacking in terms of important history (Hitler rose to power here but they actively avoid turning Nazi stuff into shrines in Germany, so there maybe wasn't much to see).
    We did see the "famous" Rathaus-Glockenspiel (which the tour guide was openly dismissive about, #1) and heard some interesting stories (factual accuracy disputed) about the church with no visible windows (#2), and the use of walking sticks to guide pee into the sewage-channels in the floor of the beerhall. We also saw the square where people (including Hitler) would make speeches (Odeonsplatz, #3) and the nearby corner where passers-by were forced to Nazi-salute, suddenly boosting the popularity of an alleyway that let people avoid the corner.

    We finished the day with a traditional meal in the Hofbräuhaus, one of the oldest beer halls in Munich. It was warm, busy, packed, and loud, with an oom-pah-pah band providing music and a jovial atmosphere: it was fun!    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Munich - Science Museum

    11 октября 2015 г., Германия ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Gyurme went to Dachau but I decided I didn't really want to see another concentration camp, so I went to the science museum instead. It wasn't as interactive and child-oriented as science museums often are (aww, those things are fun! Maybe it was in the kids-only area downstairs) but it had heaps of neat stuff nonetheless.

    I particularly liked the cut open German submarine (the first type of U-boat, U-1, actually the only one ever made), and the scanning electron microscope demonstration (spoken in German, but I could at least look at the images, eg. #2 of a ~1cm scorpion, and zoomed in on the serrated inner edge of its claw).

    There were also multiple jet engines (#3) a ~9 storey high Focault pendulum (#4), one of the planes that featured in The Wind Rises (#5), and an electricity/lightning demonstration that I mostly missed (#6). Spent a good 4 hours here but could have stayed longer. Most descriptions were in German and English but unfortunately the demonstrations (of which there were many) were all in German.    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Munich - Dinner

    11 октября 2015 г., Германия ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    For our last dinner we headed to another beer hall (Augustiner Bräustuben), as recommended by our hostel. This one was super packed and almost every table was reserved. The waiter at the door was unhelpful-verging-on-rude as we tried to figure out if we could fit in or reserve for later. In the end he told us to see for ourselves that it was full. As we were wandering around a much nicer waiter noticed us looking lost and immediately seated us at a shared table (he got a tip!).

    The food and atmosphere were excellent, even better than the Hofbräuhaus I think. I got a sampler dish of roasted pork saddle, swabian ravioli, a grilled meat ball, and pretzel dumplings in a mushroom gravy. Mmmmm. Gyurme had schnitzel and fries, and I had a delicious apple strudel for dessert.

    We also happened to be sitting right next to the band :)
    Band playing: https://goo.gl/photos/mL2jev2UQpPwhSMu8    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Munich/Verona/Venice - Brenner Pass

    12 октября 2015 г., Австрия ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Another very scenic train ride that was recommended online (seat61.com), going from Munich to Venice via Verona and the Brenner Pass. This one passed through valleys between mountains, and eventually started passing very typical-Italian looking places (to my eye at least): vineyards and little villages.
    Also, technically I've been in Austria now :)    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник

    Venice - Boat Tour

    12 октября 2015 г., Италия ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Given that gondola rides in Venice are about 80€ for a 40 minute ride, we went for the cheap version: the number 2 (non-express) ferry down the Grand Canal (7€), with Rick Steves' excellent audio guide. It was getting dark when we left, which actually made for some very pretty lighting on the buildings and reflecting off the water.
    We saw the Rialto Bridge (#1), a bunch of merchants' palaces (#2, #3), and the large basilica of La Salute (#4).
    It was interesting to learn that Venice was very multicultural/open, with influences from different cultures/religions (as long as you can trade!), so you get palaces with multiple different styles like (#2).    Читать далее

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  • GlenWestern Europe WiggleПутешественник
    1

    Venice - St Mark's Square

    12 октября 2015 г., Италия ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Seeing as we had only one night in Venice and the next day's walking tour wouldn't cover the highly touristy places, we used another Rick Steves audio guide to show us around. It was actually pretty empty - pro tip for avoiding the crowds: go when it's cold and dark! :P
    There were still the small bands playing at the restaurants (#1) and we saw just the outside of St Mark's Basilica (#2) and the nearby Doge's palace (#3) and over-hyped bridge of sighs (#4).
    On the way back to our hostel we stopped at a traditional Venetian restaurant for a sampling of cicheti (Venetian tapas, at Venetian prices, ouch!). Also there were lots of shops selling masks (to do with the historical Venetian Carnival) - I thought #6 was particularly creepy at night.    Читать далее

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