happy birthday to me

Since age 12, I’ve had a love-hate relationship with birthdays. It’s complicated.

This year, I was feeling extra sorry for myself about spending my birthday away from those I love.  I toyed with the thought of moving my birthday 6 months later to July 16. This would benefit me by letting me spend it with friends and family, and giving me the summer-time birthday which I had often longed for. However, it would have the downside of not letting me continue my delusion that any birthday I have away from home on my own does not count (ergo, I have missed 2 and am still 30 instead of 32).

Eventually, I decided to embrace the birthday this year and was inspired to celebrate it on Saturday in my own grand fashion. Therefore, I give you:

THE DAY OF CAKE

I caught a morning train to London set on the idea of seeing the British Museum, wandering the shops of Picadilly Circus, and eating only cake for the entire day.

Figure1:

Time: 11:30 AM

Type: Victoria Sponge

Bakery/Cafe: Peyton and Byrne (www.peytonandburne.co.uk)

Location: St. Pancras Train Station

Verdict: I’ll say it – this is a cake made to eat for breakfast. Nice crumbly sponge cake, super rich whipped cream with heavy flecks of vanilla, homestyle strawberry jam and berries. If you had this cake at the peak of summer, when the berries where perfectly juicy and sweet, it would be close to perfection. As was, even with the less-than-ideal berries, this cake and a cup of tea were an awesomely decadent breakfast. Could I eat this cake for breakfast every day? Of course not. But would I take this cake over a diner waffle with eggs and bacon? Absolutely. Though, some bacon on the side wouldn’t be a totally bad idea.

 

Figure2:

Time: 3:15 PM

Type: Red Velvet Cupcake

Bakery/Cafe: Bea’s of Bloomsbury (www.beasofbloomsbury.com)

Location: 44 Theobalds Road, Holborn

Verdict: The UK doesn’t really have good cupcakes (or “fairy cakes”, as they are sometimes called here). Despite the cute name, they are generally heavy, dry, crumbly, and have poor frosting. Bea’s is considered to have some of the best “American style” cupcakes in London, but I still wasn’t expecting much. I was delightfully surprised. The cake was rich and moist, nicely fudgy, and had an excellent balance that wasn’t too sweet. I would have preferred the icing to be a little richer with cream cheese flavour, as it was sort of just a sort of whipped cream. However, considering I was eating only cake for the day, lighter was probably better. This cafe is obviously popular as it was utterly packed, and there was no way I could get a table for one. Consequently, I took my cupcake to go and then wandered around looking for a park bench. After I couldn’t find one for several blocks, I gave up and sat at a bus stop. Despite the odd looks of passersby, I relished eating every crumb. My situation was all the more “disgraceful” as I ate the cupcake…gasp!…with my fingers. So far, as in Brazil, I’ve only seen Brits eat a cupcake with a proper fork. That’s just ridiculous.

 

Figure3:

Time: 4:45 PM

Type: “Curly Wirly” – chocolate with vanilla frosting

Bakery/Cafe: Konditor & Cook (www.konditorandcook.com)

Location: Curzon Cinema, Shaftesbury Avenue

Verdict: This is one of the most hyped cakes in London – the “signature” cake of London’s “king of cakes”, according to TimeOut London. It was OK. The good: although Konditor & Cook has 6 locations and is clearly a chain, it still tasted homemade. The bad: the icing was melting on a fresh-from-the-dishwasher plate and therefore grainy and greasy. It was a fine cake, but it wasn’t mind-blowing. It was the only one I didn’t finish – though that could be because I’d only had my cupcake about an hour before. Still, I had a nice sit-down at the window and ate my cake in peace while watching the bustle of the Picadilly crowd, and I ticked off the final place on my “best of London” cake tour, so it was a satisfying experience.

 

Figure4:

Time: 7:00 PM

Type: Lemon Cake

Bakery/Cafe: Costa Coffee

Location: St. Pancras Train Station

Verdict: It’d been a long day. My train was cancelled and I had 40 minutes to wait for the next one. I was freezing cold and feeling quite hungry, so I thought I would try to stick to my cake-only plan. Costa Coffee is a big chain of cafes, like Starbucks. Their coffee is reasonably good, and I’ve had chocolate cake of theirs before that was quite fantastic. This cake was not bad. It had a nice bit of lemon curd in the middle, but it could have used more. The frosting was over-sweet, but there wasn’t too much of it. Overall, it was a pretty good lemon cake. Best yet, it helped me achieve the whole range of cakes I had wanted to sample: a sponge, a cupcake, something chocolatey, and something lemony. Very satisfactory. And, as you can see, I ate it sitting on the floor of St. Pancras, waiting for my train.

[I must admit that I did not make it through the whole day on cake alone. By the time I was on the train, I had a distinctly unhealthy feeling and was quite light-headed, though still  thoroughly and disturbingly alert. I had a sandwich, drank some more water, and felt much better.]

Figure5:

Time: Sunday, Jan 15 – 2:00 PM

Type: Chocolate with Smarties

Cafe/Bakery: Homemade

Location: Helen & John’s house

Verdict: A colleague who sits behind me in the office invited me over for lunch, which we followed with a walk in the park. She and her husband have three wonderful children, ages 9, 6 and 4, and live in a beautiful old row-house. After some very tasty lasagna, the cake came out – complete with candles and the singing of happy birthday. It wasn’t gourmet, it wasn’t the most amazing cake I’d tasted, it wasn’t ornately decorated…but it was perfect. Which proves, really, that birthday cake is not about the texture of the cake or the fluffiness of the frosting – it’s about the people you get to share it with.

Happy birthday to me.

London, UK – New Year’s

It’s late. Since I can’t sleep and this post is getting ridiculously overdue, so I might as well be productive with this insomnia….

I’ve covered three of the four places Chris and I went on our 10 days of vacation – Prague, Berlin and Paris. But before we went to Prague we spent two days in London, and that is where we ended the trip as well.

Since my first trip to the UK back in August, I’ve had the good fortune to spend about a week’s worth of nights in the city and really see a lot of the sights in central London. I love visiting London, and I was really excited to be able to show it to Chris now that I know my way around. There are so many fascinating things to see in London that I could have a whole blog dedicated to it (and I’m sure there are many better-informed blogs that do exactly that), but for now here are some basics and the story of our last day of vacation.

First off, here are my top ten things to do in London:

1. Museums, museum, museum – Victoria & Albert, Natural History, National Gallery, British Museum, and many more. Paris might have a run on museums filled with paintings, but for everything else London has absolutely the best museums. And most of them are free.
2. Gawk at the crown jewels, Henry VIII’s armour, and huge ravens at the Tower of London
3. Drink in the history and beauty of historic churches like Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral
4. Walk or take a tour along the Thames to see the icons of London like Big Ben, Tower Bridge and the stupid yet photogenic London Eye
5. Window shop at some of the grand department stores like Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, etc.
6. Take the underground and enjoy the warren of colour-coded tunnels beneath the city and the constant reminders to ‘Mind the Gap’
7. Eat greasy fish and chips, drink a post-work pint in a crowded and noisy pub, or gorge on shortbread and luxury sweets from the department store foodhall
8. Wander around the beautifully restored St. Pancras International train station
9. Eavesdrop on conversations of young people from London’s suburbs, to see if you can even understand what they are saying
10. Take a ride in a classic London black cab, but hold on to your luggage as it goes sliding around the big empty space in front of you during the usually wild ride

Seriously, mind it.

My goal was to show Chris as many of those as possible in our days there. I think I mostly succeeded, and I’ve got some pictures from various museums and sights that I will share another day. For now, I’ll tell you about our New Year’s Eve.

We arrived back in London just after noon, after taking the Eurostar train from Paris. It was a cool feeling to know that you had taken a train deep beneath the English channel. We had a very busy itinerary planned for the last day because we had saved a few big sights for the last day. It felt like we were taking part in the Amazing Race as we almost ran through the underground stations and wove through the crowds in an effort to get all the last places we wanted to go before they all closed.

Beautiful St. Pancras train station

Lego tree at St. Pancras

First off, we raced to Westminster Abbey and managed to squeak in just before they closed the line and were two of the last people in for the day. It was a quick tour but since the Abbey was not too busy we were still able to see everything we wanted easily. It was fascinating to see the chair where almost every British monarch for the past 700+ years has sat during their coronation, and to stand by the graves and memorials of some amazing individuals like Elizabeth I, Geoffrey Chaucer, Isaac Newton, David Livingstone, Winston Churchill, Charles Darwin and so many renowned authors and poets.

Westminster Abbey

Right on schedule, we raced over to Regent Street to pick up a parcel at Selfridge’s. Before Christmas we had purchased a beautiful winter coat for Chris on a good sale, and it was ready after it’s adjustment by the tailor.

Selfridges

Garment bag in tow, we made it to the Tower of London in record time, and had a good look around. While not exactly a leisurely tour, we had plenty of time to see most of the buildings including the salt tower with its walls of carvings by former prisoners, the White Tower with its great collection of armour and weapons, and – of course – the crown jewel vault. Chris was amused by how excited I was to see the crown jewels again, which is slightly ironic since I’m not a diamond-crazy girl at all, but they are so beautiful and walking through the huge steel vault filled with its priceless treasures is just too cool.

No, of course you can’t take photos of the crown jewels, silly.

Next stop was to be St. Paul’s but due to my guidebook misreading, we had to change our plans and went instead to the Tower Bridge exhibition. The exhibition is a bit dull, but the evening views of London along the Thames were quite nice, and the bridge is so stunning to walk along that a bit of boring talk about bridges of the world can be handled.

View from the top of Tower Bridge

By the time we’d finished all that, I was exhausted and my feet were throbbing so much I was just mincing along. We made it back to our hotel to check in and have a little time to relax, and a lovely hot soak in the big bathtub at the Andaz had me feeling much better in no time. Then we dressed up a bit and headed out for our New Year’s Eve.

We had a quick dinner at the lounge in the hotel, then picked up some drinks for the road and took the underground towards Trafalgar square. By that time it was around 10 PM, and we knew there was no way we’d get a riverside spot to see the fireworks so late. Instead we headed to Trafalgar where we knew there would be a big crowd and large screens to see the show. The crowd in the underground was completely overwhelming, and the tunnels were not quite as charming when filled to overflowing with a huge crowd moving at a crawl. Luckily we were too excited to be too impatient, and after about 45 minutes of plodding along the cordoned-off route, we made it to Trafalgar. We were hoping to be able to see Big Ben from our spot, and we managed to find a great spot at the back of the square near the National Gallery where we could see Big Ben straight ahead of us, the screens, the Christmas tree, and the whole crowd of revelers.

Lion in Trafalgar Square

Fountain in Trafalgar Square

The wait went by fairly quickly, and we were lucky to have nice weather and not even need our toques, gloves or umbrellas. The countdown came and we heard Big Ben’s chimes over the loudspeakers as the booming of the fireworks began. We could see the top part of the fireworks (all the big explosions) above the square, and the energy in the area was so positive and happy that we felt we couldn’t have ended up in a better spot.

Incredibly blurry photo of Trafalgar at midnight.

About 20 minutes later the show was all over and the crowd started to disperse. There was no way we wanted to attempt to get back on the underground, so we decided to take a long way around. We walked from Trafalgar down a long road to Buckingham Palace, along a section of a park, and then down to Victoria station. When we finally got to Victoria around 2 AM (after a couple of detours and stops), it was buzzing with a rush-hour crowd. The fast food places were making a killing as ravenous people loaded up on burgers and fries, and we saw many families who were bunked down to wait until morning for their trains out to the suburbs and neighbouring towns. As for me, the underground ride back across town felt long enough, and I was asleep the minute my head hit the pillow when we finally fell into bed after a long and happy day.

Another thing you cannot help but take pictures of.

The next morning Chris had to leave so we went to the airport together. It was a difficult to say goodbye knowing that I would be staying for another month by myself, but the adventures we had together were worth the pain. Thankfully, the time is half over now: in less than 2 weeks I will be home for a break, in my own bed, in my own apartment, and not a moment too soon.

Chris meets two super-friendly officers on New Year's. (Isn't he handsome in his new coat?)

Paris, France (Part 2)

Day 2 in Paris. It was a beautiful sunny morning so we got an early start in hopes of beating the crowds and were at the Eiffel Tower before it opened for the day.

Our first up-close view was amazing. I never realized the tower was this lovely bronze colour – I thought it was grey or black. Perhaps I have seen photos of it in colour before, but I must have thought they were in sepia-tone.

Unfortunately, it seemed that thousands of other people had also thought to get an early start at the tower that morning. The area below it was almost completely filled with a huge line that wound back and forth beneath the tower and seemed to lead multiple directions and split at merge somehow at random. We thought about standing in line, but I wasn’t even sure if we could find the back of the correct line. Not finding anyone to talk to about the issue, and not wanting to spend an hour and discover we were in the wrong line, we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would not go up the tower this visit. Note to self: next time, book tickets on-line ahead of time.

Actually, once we had decided not to stand in line I was feeling quite good about the day. We walked along the park in front of the tower to get our obligatory photos, and then we had a whole long and wonderful day in front of us to see other things.

After seeing the tower, we headed back to the Jardin des Tuileries and went to the Musee de l’Orangerie and the Musee d’Orsay. There we saw some fantastic paintings by renowned impressionist painters who worked in Paris in the late 19th/early 20th century. We couldn’t take photos, but they wouldn’t do justice anyway. We saw the eight huge Water Lilies paintings by Monet and dozens of other famous works by Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, and on and on. The Musee d’Orsay is a beautiful building as well, itself a work of art. Did I mention there was another huge line-up? We had our Museum Pass which was to get us in line-free, but there was so many people that there was a main line and then a second line for those who had such passes. Since the Museum Pass line up was about an hour’s wait, I shudder to think of the wait for those without it.

Chris in front of a window on the cafe floor of the Musee d’Orsay, which looks out across the Seine:

One of the odd things about our time in Paris was that we saw several places twice – once in the evening when we would walk by for the first time, and then once the next day when we went back to try and get in. This actually worked well for two reasons: we got to see the main sights lit up at night and in the day, and we managed to get into some places that we otherwise wouldn’t have. For example, the first night we walked past the Notre Dame Cathederal on our way to dinner. There was a mass in progress, so though we weren’t allowed to go on the whole tour, we were allowed to go into a viewing area on one side.  The best part was that we got to hear the pipe organ and the choir.

The next day we went back to go see the whole thing. Unfortunately, there was another massive line that we had not accounted for. So we walked around and looked at the building in the daylight, but we never actually got to go back inside. The lessons here: a) Do not try to see everything in Paris in 2 days; b) Remember there will be line-ups everywhere, for everything; c) Don’t got to Paris during a major holiday period unless you are very patiente, and d) Relax, you’ll have fun anyway.

After tromping around central Paris all morning, we took the metro to the neighbourhood of Montmartre and walked up way too many stairs to the top of the hill to see the Basilique du Sacre-Couer. It was another beautiful building, and mass was once again underway (basically, a type of non-stop mass has been underway there since 1919!) so we got to hear another amazing pipe organ.

Though my legs were exhausted, we walked up even more stairs to get to the top of the Basilica for the panoramic views. Despite the wobbly legs, it was worth it.

Then it was back down, down, down the winding stone steps all the way to the very spooky Crypt with its memorials and freezing stone chapels.

By the time we were finished our tour it was dark, and Montmartre was coming alive with crowds of tourists and locals alike. We stopped for a coffee and creme brulee at Les Deux Moulins (The 2 Windmills), the cafe where Amelie Poulain (of the adorable French movie “Amelie”, which I love) worked . It has completely capitalized on its film-fame and the place was overrun with tourists like ourselves, but it was still a fun stop.

And of course, no trip to Montmartre would be complete without stopping by the Moulin Rouge for a photo opp.

We were in the awkward time between museums closing and restaurants opening for dinner, so we went to a famous Paris department store called Bon Marche for some  window shopping. Chris got a saute pan and some nice socks.

After that we had a wonderful – though slightly awkward – dinner at a well-known brasserie called Lipps in the St. Germain neighbourhood. The head waiter was very formal and stiff, and although he clearly understood and spoke English (based on his interactions with other diners), he seemed to have decided to pretend he could do neither with us. Luckily one of the junior waiters took pity on us and was wonderful comic relief throughout the evening. Each time he brought us something we would exchange little jokes about his lack of English and our lack of French. We managed to guess our way through the menu and get some truly good food, including a roast chicken with some of the best pan gravy I have ever tasted, and enjoyed some excellent wine and people-watching in the bustling restaurant. Just before we finished our meal, we even had a slight “celebrity” encounter when a group of American women came to the table beside us and one of them was Jillian Michaels from The Biggest Loser.

To end the night and our last evening in Paris, we went back to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up at night.

There was an embarassing incident where we got overly excited that we might be able to catch the last elevator to the second level but then had our hopes dashed when they wouldn’t let us through the metal detector with the saute pan we’d bought at Bon Marche and I got…shall we say…frustrated. However, Chris was patient with me and chalked it up to sore feet and hormones, and reassured me that it would be nicer to watch the lights twinkling at 11:00 from the ground, anyway.

He was right.

Two days was really just a starter for Paris, an introduction to a place that I would love to return to some day. Next time it must be in the spring or summer, and I must have more savings for a hotel (instead of hostel) and nice restaurants, more French practice before hand, and more time for patiently waiting in line. Still, it was an awfully great introduction.

Paris, France (Part 1)

Finally, Paris.

Paris was: walking and more walking down wide sidewalks and along riverside paths, wandering through huge parks filled with trees in straight lines and bronze statues, waiting in huge line-ups for museums that were all well worth the time, drooling over shop windows filled with pastries and cheeses and meat and bread, drinking too many coffees in ancient cafes where so many famous authors once sat, navigating through dozens of metro stations and long tunnels under the street, marveling over ancient churches and monuments and palaces, gaping in awe at actually being there, finally, after wanting it for so long.

Thanks to our early morning flight from Berlin, it was still quite early after we had dropped our things at the hotel, had coffee at a cafe, and then made our way to the center. This was fortunate because our itinerary for our two days there was absolutely packed and I had so many things I wanted to see on the first day. Coming out of the metro station, we had our first real view of the most famous Paris sight.

We started by walking through the Jardin des Tuileries towards the Louvre.

We anticipated the Louvre would be our longest line-up of the two days (ha! we had no idea) , but would never have guessed how long the line-ups for all of the attractions would be. We decided to spring for the Paris Museum Pass, which would be a bit more expensive but would hopefully help us skip some lines. We had to wait for about an hour to get into the shop in the bottom of the Louvre to buy the pass. Did you know there is a McDonald’s in the bottom of the Louvre? It’s true, and – yes – we ate there.

Thanks to movies, the modern additions to the Louvre building are almost as iconic now as the museum’s exhibits. I hear Parisians have a love-hate relationship with the structure, but I do love the contract of the glass pyramid with the ornate palace surroundings.

From inside the main entrance:

The second, inverted pyramid in the halls beneath the Louvre:

Lonely Planet says that it would take 9 months just to glance at every single work of art in the museum. It was good we had read this, or we might have felt compelled to examine things much more closely – an impossible feat. Instead, we focused on the main sights and walked quickly through most of the other areas. Of course, the most famous inhabitant of the Louve is the Mona Lisa. Everywhere in the museum, signs direct you to her. When you get to the room where she is displayed, this is what it’s like:

Eventually you can fight your way to the front and get a better view:

Despite all the hype, it doesn’t disappoint. It is an enchanting and mysterious painting.

Even without the thousands of priceless works of art, the Louvre itself is a beautiful place. It’s long hallways, arched ceilings, and endless plaster work and guilded decorations make it a truly impressive building.

Although we did look at many great paintings, most of them aren’t captured well in a snapshot. And we did spend more time looking at the sculptures, since the collection there is particularly impressive including Greek, Roman, Italian and other masterpieces.

Winged victory:

Venus de Milo:

Athena:

Saint Christopher:

We were also interested in the museum’s collection of Egyptian art and artifacts.

One valuable lesson for any trip to the Louvre: remember there is only one entrance/exit, so you will not be able to find another one by walking all the way down to the far, far end of the building. If your husband tells you that you must turn around to get out, you should listen to him so you don’t spend 40 more minutes walking around and around the same Egyptian exhibit, looking for Exit signs.

I’m saving most of the “favorite things” for tomorrow’s post, so I’ll skip ahead to show some photos from our visit to the Arc de Triomphe.

Inside the Arc, a war memorial:

View from atop the Arc, looking towards the Eiffel Tower:

Looking down the Champs-Elysees, back towards the Louvre:

Looking towards the Montmartre area, with the Basilica of Sacre Couer on the hill:

Looking back up the spiral staircase that leads down, from the bottom:

Tomorrow: Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, Sacre Couer, and how much we can eat in two days (hint: a lot).

Berlin, Germany

There are certainly more depressing places to go than Berlin (Auschwitz, Soviet Gulag Camps, North Korea) but it was definitely the least cheerful place we went during our 10 days.

After our train ride from Prague, we navigated (poorly) the huge central train station – the Hauptbahnhof. After finally finding the right city train, we made it to the Ostbahnhof (East Station) and found our hotel. For budget reasons and historical interest, we stayed at the Ostel Hostel, an East German-themed hostel in an original GDR apartment building. The theme was certainly authentic: with the dull grey weather, the dreary concrete-filled neighbourhood and the 70s-era furnishings, we felt like we’d time-traveled and actually ended up back in East Germany.

After a quick rest, we went back to the central area to see the main sights. First stop was the famous Brandenburg Gate. I was a bit moody because the gate was fenced off for festival preparations and there were tents and trucks and whatnot in front of it, so we couldn’t walk underneath. Still, it was an impressive sight.

Around the corner from the gate, you find the Holocaust Memorial – officially called the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. A square the size of a city block is filled with more than 2700 concrete blocks of various sizes in long rows that you can walk between. In some places the huge blocks are perhaps 10 feet high or higher, and walking between them is a disorienting and bizarre experience.

Beneath the square is an information centre/exhibition, which includes statistics on the number of people murdered and their places of origin, an explanation of the political policies that led to their murder, excerpts from letters and diaries, and profiles of individual victims and entire families who were torn apart by the Holocaust. The exhibition is extremely well put together, and is both poignant and sobering. I found the quote from Primo Levi posted at the exhibit’s entrance very powerful: “It happened, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say.”

By the time we had finished the exhibit, it was getting dark. We wandered down the long street from the gate to the Alexanderplatz area, taking in some of the other historic buildings and statues, and looking for some place to eat.

Beneath the Bebelplatz square, where the members of the Nazi German Student League held the first major public book burning in 1933, there is this installation beneath a glass pane in the center of the square. It is called Empty Library, and I found it to be another thoroughly powerful message.

In the ornate walkway between museums on Museuminsel (Museum Island), we stopped to listen to a busker play his violin. The beautiful music echoed off the pillars and rang out sweetly through the crisp winter air.

Across the river from the cathedral we found the DDR Museum, which is a great interactive museum where you see what daily life was like for East Germans under the GDR/DDR. It’s billed as “Berlin’s most interactive museum” and it includes lots of exhibits where you get to listen to things, push buttons, open drawers and touch Communist-era household goods. However, it’s not really set up to handle a crowd, so would be best to go there when you have the time and space to enjoy the exhibits.

The next day was our only full day in Berlin, and we had ambitious plans to see a number of museums, take a bus tour to get a look around the city, and find a nice German restaurant for dinner. It started off with promise as we caught a bus tour as soon as we got to the central area. However, the bus was moving along so slowly and stopping for ages at every place that I was quickly losing patience with it. I managed to keep my cool (with much encouragement from Chris) while we toured around to see the Reichstag (German parliament building), the chancellor and the president’s homes, the Siegessaule pillar, and the parks and shopping areas of former West Germany.

We got off the bus at Checkpoint Charlie, where you can get your passport stamped by cheerful “American soldiers” and take pictures of the replica guard booth and signs.

After that it was time for more sombre exhibits at the “Topography of Terror”. Although its corny name makes it sound like a carnival haunted house, it is actually another extremely well-organized memorial that stands on the former sight of the main building of the Gestapo/SS offices.

The exhibit is divided into five sections, which walk in detail through how the National Socialists gained power in Germany, how they set up their agencies and secured absolute control for their forces, how they developed their campaign of persecution and extermination, the impacts of their policies and pogroms in the Nazi-occupied territories, and – finally – what happened after the end of the war in terms of the prosecution (or, in most cases, non-prosecution) of those involved. Each section includes a main narrative with photos, along with documents, articles, newpapers and posters that provide additional information. To read all of the exhibits would have taken hours and would have possibly left a person with little will to do anything “fun” afterwards. We focused on a few key areas, and I was very drawn to the letters and articles that showed how the party had manipulated the German public into giving them absolute control.

There was a very interesting transcript of an interview with one of the heads of the Gestapo, from the postwar trials. In it, the prosecutor asked how the Gestapo had convinced its officers to follow the new policies, and whether they had to recruit many new officers from loyal party members. The former head basically said, ‘no, we didn’t have to do much convincing, and we didn’t have to recruit new members. The police officers knew that if they wanted their jobs, they would have to fall in line with the new policies’. Truly, “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” (Edmund Burke)

After that museum I was a little run-down, so when our tour bus (allegedly on a 15-minute interval) didn’t show up for what seemed like ages, I was not a happy camper. I was starting to get moody since I’d planned way too much for too short of a time, and we decided we would have to skip a couple of museums. Finally the bus came and we continued on our tour. Then we saw something Chris knew would cheer me up: CHRISTMAS MARKET!

Since the museum plan was shot, he convinced me to stop for a walk-through and some snacks. My wonderful husband always knows what I need.  The market was great – filled with delicious smells and interesting handicrafts, and set in a lovely square between two twin churches.

The best thing about Berlin was…

…this waffle. Crispy, caramelized, golden deliciousness topped with juicy glazed cherries and vanilla custard. I devoured it. Seriously, this waffle saved my Berlin experience when I was on the verge of turning into a hormonal, sobbing tourist who would just sit on the pavement and complain about her feet hurting.

After the waffle pick-me-up, we waited (again!) for our bus to take us back over to the former East German Alexanderplatz area. The defining feature of this square is the Fernsehturm (TV Tower), Germany’s tallest structure. It was built by the GDR as a symbol of East Germany’s technological advancement. It’s pretty hidoue, but has become the beloved ugly-duckling symbol of the area and you can find its outline on everything from t-shirts to cookie cutters.

From there we took a train up to the Nordbahnhof (North Station), where we found the Berlin Wall Memorial. The memorial includes a large park with information stands set up to explain various components of the wall and the “death strip” that bordered the wall. This was comprised of an inner wall, a wide floodlit space with guard towers, and other mechanisms to ensure people could not escape. The memorial park includes one of only a few sections of the wall that remain standing – almost the entire 155 km of it were demolished completely.

Below: Chris shows the height of the wall. On the top is a round rubber tube/pipe, which was almost impossible for people to get a grip on. It prevented them climbing over more than barbed wire or razor wire would have.

The section below is the official memorial where a section of the death strip is preserved. In several locations in West Germany, observation towers were erected so that West Germans could look over and hope to see people in East Germany. This view is from a tower beside the memorial.

After a long day that was sometimes sad and sometimes frustrating, it was time to cheer up. We went back to the Christmas market and enjoyed a very German evening with sausage (rostbratwurst), potato pancakes (kartoffelpuffer), beer, and mulled wine.

Perhaps my descriptions make Berlin seem like a dreary place. Of course it was not so bad. The history the city holds, the lessons humanity has learned that are represented here, and the way that it has managed to bounce back are all inspiring. Most people seemed reserved but friendly, and there is a very young, hip vibe in many parts of the city. To redeem my dull and depressing explanation, here are a few random pictures of the more light-hearted side of Berlin:

Traffic lights in Berlin show this odd hatted man, known as Ampelmann. He is an unofficial symbol of the city, and shops sell his emblem on t-shirts, bags, gummy candies and more.

Berlin revels in fast food. Donair shops and sausage stands are everywhere. A local delight is “currywurst”: sausage on a bun, drowned in curry sauce. We were too busy stuffing our faces with waffles to try any, so that will have to go on the list for next time.

Much of Berlin, especially the parts that were West German, are extremely Americanized. There are McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts franchises everywhere. Chris didn’t mind the latter.

The trains in Berlin are very good. Once the initial confusion wore off and we got the hang of the system, we could make our way across the city in no time at all. Some of them are even quite nice to look at.

The next morning was an even earlier one than our departure from Prague – we were up before 4:00 to take trains and a taxi to the airport to go to Paris. Of course, I was so excited about going to PARIS that I really didn’t mind. But that story is for tomorrow.

Prague, Czech Republic (Part 2)

It was Boxing Day for us and a bank holiday in Prague too, but everything was back open and it was business as usual in this tourist town. The plan for the day was a trek Hradcany (the castle district) to see the massive Prague Castle. Positioned at the top of a hill overlooking the city, this is the largest castle complex in the world and was founded in the 9th century.

We took the metro to the area, and then walked up a steep hill to get to the castle gate.

By luck we managed to catch the changing of the guard just as we arrived. They change every hour so there isn’t too much associated pomp and circumstance, but it was interesting to see their uniforms and watch their protocol. Also funny when the captain barked “step aside!” to the crowd of tourists and scowled like he wished he could use that rifle.

Once we got in the gates, we started walking to the center of the complex so we could get our museum tickets and start looking around. Our first impression of the castle was the stone building below. We thought, “this castle looks nice”.

Then we rounded a corner and came face-to-face with the amazing gothic cathedral. Suddenly, “nice” didn’t cut it.

The front of the cathedral is even more ornate with its spires, clock and mosaic (over the arches at bottom right).

Inside the cathedral (called St. Vitus Cathedral) there are a number of massive stained glass windows that are in brilliant colours. The cathedral is quite dark and hazy inside with incense, so the windows seem all the more bright. My favorite was the fantastic art nouveau window by Alfons Mucha, below.

Detail of the window:

The cathedral also contains the over-the-top silver tomb of St. John of Nepomuk (same guy from the status on the bridge). Since he was allegedly martyred by being tossed off that same bridge, I guess they must have fished him out and figured a massive tomb would be a good way to say ‘sorry’.

Here’s the nave of the cathedral, looking down towards the altar.

After touring the cathedral, we climbed the Great Tower, passing the massive bell on our way up.

The views of Prague at the top were fantastic, and to make things even better the sun had come out. I couldn’t stop taking pictures as we walked around and around the panorama. Here are a few:

Looking down on the East end of the castle complex:

View of the Charles Bridge:

There are about a dozen different museums in the castle complex – most of them interesting and well-displayed, like the Story of Prague Castle, but a couple that were incredibly boring and filled with terribly bland paintings. We did get to see the Old Royal Palace, which includes this lovely vaulted hall where all the Presidents of the Republic are sworn in.

The Old Royal Palace is also famous for being the site of a few defenestrations (throwing people you don’t like out of windows in tall buildings). I’m basically just telling you that because defenestration is a bizarre word, and because I think my brother Tobin will be amused to know this fact if he reads this.

The huge green thing below is a heater. I think these ones burn charcoal inside and radiate heat, and they seem to work really well. But, if I remember correctly what I read there, some parts of the castle had central heating for hundreds of years – there were charcoal furnaces in the basement, and ducts built through the castle for forced air heating.

The red building is St. George’s Basilica, a Romanesque chapel founded in the 10th century. The outside seems a bit gaudy:

And doesn’t really match the beautiful, peaceful interior with it’s carved stone dome and simple wooden ceiling. This was one of my favorite spots in the castle and a lovely contrast to the ornate gothic style of the cathedral.

Once all the museums were closed, we walked back down from the castle and back across the Charles Bridge to the Old Town. From the bridge we had our postcard-perfect view of the castle in the twilight.

After a long day of museum-ing, it was time for dinner. We decided that three nights of Christmas market food would be overdoing it, so we headed to a very traditional Czech restaurant. Most of our food was reminiscent of that Christmas Market food anyway: big slabs of pork and beef, potato dumplings, and gravy. At least we got to eat sitting down, and with metal plates and utensils instead of plastic.

We ended the night with a walk back through the Old Town Square, where I sacrificed control of the camera for a few minutes and Chris tried to take a sneaky photo of me.

The Astronomical Clock in the square. I have no idea what time/day it is telling, but each hour when it chimes the skeleton rings a bell and carved wooden figures of the apostles circle past a window above – it’s basically a fancy religious cuckoo clock.

After that we were early to bed, because the next morning we were up ridiculously early to take the metro to the train station.

From there it was 4 and a 1/2 hours on the train, during most of which it was still dark so we couldn’t see much scenery.

Next stop: Berlin!

Prague, Czech Republic (Part 1)

Christmas vacation is over and it’s back to work. First things first, you should know that:

• Instead of going home for Christmas, I was able to have Chris come here. So he came and got to experience Europe for the first time.
• We had 10 amazing days of vacation and we saw: Prague, Berlin, Paris and London.
• I had way too many things planned and ended up exhausted from walking places, waiting in line, and wearing the wrong shoes. Chris was very patient with me.
• I took way too many pictures and most of them turned out blurry.

So here is part one of our Christmas vacation – Prague, Czech Republic.

I chose Prague as our first stop because I wanted to go somewhere with Christmas markets so Chris could see them. Also, I was hoping there would be snow (there wasn’t). And, after some research I calculated it would be the place with the least number of attractions closed for Christmas/Boxing Day (it was).

We arrived on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. By the time we dropped our things at the hotel and made our way to the old square where the main Christmas market was, all the lights were off and it was closed. Christmas Eve is the main night for Czech celebrations, so the stalls, shops and most restaurants were shut up tight. I was devastated because I really wanted a “Christmas Eve” experience and I had heard that the markets wouldn’t be open after Christmas Eve. I moped for a bit, but then we spotted one last entrepreneurial row of food stalls who had stayed open late into the afternoon. It seemed that all of Prague’s many tourists were capitalizing on their last opportunity for Christmas market food. The lineup was huge.

We ate. A lot.

Roast pork. Great huge hunks of it, together with a potato, cabbage and bacon dish.

Trdelnik – a sweet dough baked over a fire and rolled in cinnamon sugar and crushed almonds. Amazing.

 

After we had stuffed our faces, we wandered around a bit. In Wenceslas Square next to the National Museum, there was a tribute set up to the former President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel, whose funeral had been the day before.

The sea of candles, flowers, photos and notes was a poignant display of affection for the man who led the “Velvet Revolution”.

There was a freezing wind and the streets were quiet, so we went to bed early and then slept in late, hoping the next day would bring better weather for Christmas.

Christmas day was nice and bright, still cold but without the bitter wind. We set off for some exploring to the famous Charles Bridge and the Mala Strana neighbourhood.

Wenceslas Square in the daytime:

Tower at one end of the Charles Bridge:

Some of the many statues on the bridge:

Worst picture ever, in which you can (sort of) see Chris touching the bronze plaque on the statue of St. John of Nepomuk. Legend says if you rub it, you’ll return to Prague.

After wandering around, we took a break at a little cafe by the river, and then headed back to the Old Town:

Prague has a historic Jewish neighbourhood that contains some amazing history – remnants of a 13th century walled ghetto, a jam-packed 15th century cemetery, the 13th century “old-new synagogue” (at right, below) which is the oldest synagogue in Europe, town hall, and more.

But as fascinated as I am with Judaism and Jewish history, our next stop proved why I could never be Jewish. We headed back to the old town square, and found that the market was OPEN. And it had the greatest Christmas tree EVER. This picture does not do it justice.

As the night got darker, the market was even more magical and with the lights of the tree, the cathedral behind it and the market stalls, it was like Walt Disney’s inspiration.

There were even multiple markets open. Three on the way from the Old Town to our hotel – in the Old Square, at the start of Wenceslas Square, and by the Museum.

So of course, we ate some more. More roast pig, more potato/cabbage concoction, and more baked cinnamon-sugar dough.

I thought I could finish this post tonight, but it’s getting late and I’m getting sleepy. So with Christmas images of sausages dancing in your heads, I leave you for tonight and will share more photos tomorrow!

Edinburgh, Scotland – PART 2

Sunday in Edinburgh was a lovely day. The snow had all melted away, and I didn’t need my hat or scarf or gloves at all. I spent the morning on a tour to the docks area, where I saw the Britannia, a former Royal Yacht that has been turned into a museum.

I know lots of people who are not big fans of the monarchy, but I have a soft spot for Her Majesty, and I really enjoyed looking around the boat.

These days, a royal yacht sounds extravagant. But the boat was christened in 1953 and, before it was retired, it traveled more than 1,000,000 miles around the globe, taking the Queen and other members of the Royal Family on official world tours, holidays and honeymoons. And while the  style is certainly royalty-worthy, it’s not extravagant. With the exception of the massive official dining room, and the fact that it has room for dozens of crew and a full military band, the rooms are almost normal and remind me of the rooms in my grandparents’ homes.

The Queen’s bedroom:

The honeymoon suite, with the only double bed on the ship:

The Duke of Edinburgh’s office:

The sitting room:

The official dining room:

A surprisingly low-key menu for a royal banquet:

OK, perhaps the Rolls Royce is not exactly ‘normal’:

Just as interesting as seeing the royal rooms was seeing the working portions of the ship, and getting a glimpse into the life of the crew.

The absolutely spotless engine room:

Officer quarters:

The medical center with capability for operating and dental care:

Some rules that seem quite reasonable:

And some rules (specific linens for each crew linen) that don’t seem quite as relaxed:

Semaphore, anyone?

In the gift shop – two of the many royal family postcards available. Top: a best seller. Bottom: not so much?

After my tour and some shopping, I wandered around a bit more and went to see the Christmas market. In the photo below you can see the market lights. For some reason, the sight of the lights and neon right beside the imposing black Sir Walter Scott memorial amuses me to no end.

It seems that in Europe, Christmas means Ferris Wheels (or “big wheels”, as they are known). Every town I’ve been in has one set up for Christmas.

I don’t think many Canadians would be interested in rides like this in the middle of winter. Then again, most of ours aren’t accompanied by such reassurances of safety:

The Christmas market had loads of carnival rides and games set up. The one below (sorry, terrible photo) might be the most fun-looking ride ever and made me wish I was three feet tall. Basically, it is big plastic bubbles in a round pool. They zip kids inside, blow them up with air so they are like a hamster ball, and the kids runs around and try and make their way around the track, wiping out and falling all over. Hilarious!

Obligatory winter skating rink:

I was exhausted after two long days of touring around and I’d caught a cold to boot, so I was quite ready to head home on Sunday evening. Nevertheless, it was bittersweet to leave and I will absolutely have to take another weekend trip to Scotland if the opportunity arises.

A few last random photos – this is Irn Bru, “Iron Brew”, a local pop. A friend who spent quite a bit of time in Scotland told me about it, which was nice as I never would have thought to try it if she hadn’t. It was…odd. I couldn’t identify the flavour, and apparently the recipe is a closely-guarded secret. Actually, it does taste somewhat metallic, but  that might be the power of suggestion based on the name. It also tastes a bit like a watered-down version of the local pop we had in Peru, which was called Inka Kola. Sort of a fake-banana-orange-syrup flavour.

Edinburgh has wonderful shopping and it took all my willpower not to buy up loads of lovely things. Some shops like Joules and Ness specialize in a sort of modern-Northerner look, with bright tartans, tweed jackets and wool sweaters. So pretty.

In Edinburgh I finally found a Guy Fawkes mask for the husband, which he had wanted for some time. But somehow it felt terribly subversive to carry it around in my backpack, especially when I was on royal tours.

In parting, enjoy a postcard of a highland cow. So emo.

 

Edinburgh, Scotland – PART 1

On Friday evening, I took the train from Derby to York and on to Edinburgh, and then spent Saturday and Sunday exploring Edinburgh before coming back to Derby on Sunday evening. There was something somewhat magical about going to Scotland, and as soon as the train crossed from Northern England into the country, I was bouncing with excitement…even though I couldn’t see a thing as it was pitch-black outside the window.

I arrived in the evening and was very happy I’d brought all my winter gear with me. It was freezing and there was a truly brutal arctic wind. It was a very brisk half-hour walk to my hotel, especially after I realized that I’d gotten off at the wrong (and later) train station, and that there was not a taxi to be found on a busy Friday evening with Christmas parties in full swing in every bar and restaurant.

I arrived at my Guest House which was perfectly nice but a new experience for me. A colleague of mine once told me 0 in reflecting upon his vacation to Ireland – that no matter how nice a Guest House is, it is still like staying in a stranger’s house. How true. Except that it’s a stranger’s house where you have to share a bathroom with other strangers.

After a difficult night’s sleep due to the sounds of the big house and the road noise from through the single-paned window, the next morning dawned with a bright-white light, and revealed more than an inch of very slushy snow that had fallen in the night.

I wandered from my Guest House in the “New Town” up to the area in front of the castle. First stop: farmer’s market. God, how I love farmer’s markets in any city.

I had read online about a porridge stand that was well-recommended, and I found it in the market.

The porridge did not disappoint. It was a delicious mix of oatmeal, raspberries, honey and cream, with a dash of crunchy granola on top. Mmmm.

With a nice warm and full belly, it was time to venture up the slippery hill to the castle.

The castle runs very entertaining free tours, and our guide had very good banter riffing on the reputation for Scottish frugality, the fate of Scottish kings who had the great idea of invading England, and the perspective on the American War of Independence from the other side of the Atlantic. Completely enjoyable.

The castle complex includes the Scotland War Memorial:

As well as a tower that holds the Honours of Scotland – the Scottish crown jewels, sword and scepter – and a historic stone used in the coronation of all British monarchs for hundreds of years. This tower also includes the royal apartments that housed Mary Queen of Scots when she gave birth to her son James.

There are many other buildings, including a great hall. The great hall has some lovely features, such as crested stained-glass windows:

And an amazing roof that is essentially an upside-down ship’s hull, and which was crafted without nails:

After the tour around the castle, I wandered around Edinburgh’s “Old Town”, enjoying the myriad old buildings.

Many of Edinburgh’s buildings are built from stone, and decades upon decades of wood and gas fires have turned them absolutely black. Apparently cleaning them is possible but insanely time-consuming and costly, so Edinburgh seem’s to have decided to embrace the charm of their black stones, and off-set them with bright-painted wooden store fronts and bright-red doors.

Edinburgh is primarily filled with old churches, old cemeteries, and winding old alleys/streets

Edinburgh was having some sort of climate crisis – it could not seem to decide if it was winter or spring. On Saturday it was cold and snowy, with that harsh wind. But under the snow the grass was bright green, and there were even flowers poking through. On Sunday it was actually quite nice, the wind was almost warm, and the snow was completely gone.

I ended Saturday evening with a tour of Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the Queen in Scotland. No pictures allowed inside! The most striking sights were the ornate plaster ceilings, the plush deep-red rugs, and the intricate tapestries that are hundreds of years old.

Before it was a palace, Holyrood was an Abbey, and some of the abbey ruins still survive. It was a beautiful and haunting place in the last light of the day.

More to come…

Wiesbaden, Germany

Wiesbaden is a city of about 280,000 in Southwest Germany, close to Frankfurt. I’ve been here the past two days for work, and have been lucky enough to catch the opening of the Christmas market – the Sternschnuppenmarkt.

The market is pretty much a food festival. It is filled with holiday dishes, sweets, and festive drinks. The first night in town I was wandering through the market but had to resist the temptation to eat since I had a dinner meeting shortly afterward. The smells emanating from the stalls were tantalizing and my mouth was almost watering by the time I made it to the end: gingerbread, chocolate, caramel, popcorn, sausages on the grill, potato pancakes in a fryer, and on and on. Even the licorice smelled appetizing, and I hate licorice.

Tonight after work I went back to the market, and my experience can pretty much be summed up like this:

I had: hot cocoa with Baileys, grilled Bratwurst on a roll, fried potato pancakes with applesauce, a kind of German pizza, and chocolate marshmallow  kisses. Yes, all that. Yes, my stomach will be killing me for the rest of the night. And yes, it was worth it.

Winzerschmaus, sort of like German pizza

Gluhwein is mulled wine with cinnamon and spices

A gluhwein booth decorated as a Christmas pyramid (a Weihnachtspyramide)

Marshmallow and waffle sweets

Gummy candies and licorice

The most magical donair ever

Germany might be the best place ever to spend Christmas. Good thing I’m not going to be here any more nights, or I’d have to buy some new clothes!

Random picture time:

For Brian U

For my Grandma S

The best thing about today? That I get to go home TOMORROW. Yes, I’m headed back to Vancouver tomorrow afternoon for 6 wonderful days at home before I go back to the UK at the end of November. SO HAPPY!