The North Sea

The distances spread out considerably in this part of Europe. From Berlin, we spent 10 hours on a train to get to Copenhagen. We passed through Hamburg on our way to the coast, where our train crossed the North Sea. No bridge involved: the train got on a ferry, and then on the other side, it rolled off. In the interim we were able to get out of the train and go up on deck to take in the clean air. We were also welcome to make use of the restaurant, video games and slot machines on board, but having run out of Deutschmarks and not yet being in possession of Kroner, we had to pass. We enjoyed the crossing just the same, and soon we were back on land, on rails, and on our way to Copenhagen.

Berlin, Germany

Finally, on our fourth stop in Germany, my German started to resurrect itself. This was good, because we soon found ourselves in a lodging crisis due to a big soccer game scheduled for the same weekend. The tourist office at the Ostbahnhof was unable to help us, as was the main tourist office near Zoo Station. That left us one alternative: the phone. I dialed all of the hotels in the guidebook and, using my fractured German, managed to secure a room at the last place on the list. While not quite as run-down as our room in Barçelona, it was no great value, either, and there was no mystery as to why this was the last room available in the city.

Being well rested from our overnight train ride, we immediately hit the streets on a walking tour. "Insider Tours" boasts native English speakers for guides, and our Australian leader took us on a march over what seemed to be the entire city. We met near Zoo Station (Zoologischer Garten) and trekked through the Tiergarten, past the zoo, and on to the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, Museumsinsel, and finally to a conclusion at Marx-Engels-Platz where our guide gave us a very evocative account of the fall of the Berlin Wall and subsequent reunification of the city. Our tour, initially listed at three hours, had gone to over four and a half, but we were never bored. Tired and footsore, but not bored.

After a post-tour nap and laundry at the hotel we were back out to find dinner. This we accomplished at Zur Letzten Instanz, in the former East Berlin. Established in 1621, Berlin's oldest restaurant serves hearty foods and delicious beer to locals. The place is definitely off the tourist track, but the staff and fellow patrons were friendly and helpful, and we had a delicious meal.

From dinner we walked off to the Fernsehturm, a television broadcast tower with an observation deck high above Alexanderplatz. Over 400 meters high, it's the tallest thing in Berlin, and it used to be in the East. It was built as monumental proof of the superiority of communism, but eventually it was found out that the design was Swedish and the funding came from foreign aid money. The view from the top was a bit disappointing, due in part to the weather but also to the absence of lights in that part of town.

The next morning we got up early to visit the zoo, which holds the world's largest collection at over 11,000 animals. The weather was pleasantly cool and we ambled about the place, but we didn't say too long. After all, we can go to a zoo anywhere, but how often do we get to go shopping at KaDeWe? Berlin's largest department store had the supplies we needed, and also a Bayern München shirt for me.

We revisited Checkpoint Charlie, which we'd passed through on our walking tour the day before. The Museum-Haus am Checkpoint Charlie held lots of interesting exhibits, but the place is rather jumbled. There are displays on escape attempts and devices, the history of Soviet expansion after World War II, the fall of communism, and non-violent movements of this century, but they aren't arranged in any coherent order. Still, we did our best and muddled through the displays, mostly marveling at the ingenuity and desperation of some of the escape devices.

From there we walked through the Brandenburg Gate. It was staggering to realize that for 28 years no one walked through that imposing gate, and as recently as ten years earlier we could have been shot for trying. Now the only risk is the traffic; Beemers and Benzes, not a Trabant in sight. The Brandenburger Tor is now a central spot in the city for public performances, and as we passed a concert was being staged, so unfortunately for us, the gate was mostly hidden behind scaffolding and rigging. We understand that it's now very common to not get a good look at the gate on a visit to Berlin.

Our last stop in Berlin was the newly renovated Reichstag building. An imposing masonry building, it now sports a glass dome at the top. A spiral ramp leads to the top of the dome for a view of the city. It's a lower angle of view than the Fernsehturm, and that allowed us to see the symbol of 1990's Berlin silhouetted against the darkening sky: the construction crane. Our tour guide had told us the day before that 80% of the construction cranes in Europe were in use in Berlin, over 1200 of them. From the dome, we could see hundreds. It will be interesting to see in a few years how much this city has changed.

No time to wait around now, though. The next morning, we were off to Copenhagen.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

As we departed Antwerp by train, we anticipated our arrival in Amsterdam amidst a chaotic sea of backpackers and tourists. On our arrival, it was obvious to us that we had left the peace and tranquility of Antwerp behind, but Amsterdam seemed well able to handle the influx. Although the volume of travelers was large, the system hadn't been stretched beyond its capacity as it had been in Barçelona and Paris. There were lines to wait in as we booked our departure and our hotel room, but they were handled efficiently and soon enough we were aboard a streetcar heading from the Centraal Station to our hotel.

Our first stop after checking in was the Anne Frankhuis, possibly the most famous building in Amsterdam. Even though I have never read her book, the sight of those small rooms in which Anne and her family hid from the Nazis was deeply moving. Other than the removal of the furniture by the Nazis, the hidden rooms are still exactly as they were when occupied by the Frank family. In those surroundings I tried to imagine myself in the same circumstance, as surely everyone who visits does, and found myself wondering how long I could stand it. The fear must have been overwhelming, and the confinement stifling. The exhibit also continues the story of the Franks from the time they were captured through the discovery and publication of Anne's diary.

From our quiet little hotel near the Leidseplein we walked to a delicious rijstafel meal at a nearby Indonesian restaurant. This was a splendid little colonial era holdover; we had asked for "local" cuisine recommendations at our hotel, and been told that Indonesian was the best food in Amsterdam. After dinner we walked downtown for a look at Amsterdam's notorious Red Light District. The district comprises rows of houses on both sides of a canal, and is indeed lit up in red. We watched as groups of men goaded each other into approaching the "ladies," who were displaying their charms in the doorways and windows of their individual flats. Most of them looked quite bored. We quickly grew bored as well and made our way back to the hotel, passing one of Amsterdam's many "coffee shops" along the way. This one had several large cannabis plants on display in its front window, just in case we hadn't remembered that in Amsterdam, "coffee shop" is synonymous with "marijuana bar." In any case, while we were in Amsterdam, where marijuana use is not legal but is also not prosecuted, we didn't see much in the way of overindulgence. Then again, maybe that's because we were in bed before things really got going.

The next morning, we toured the Heineken brewery, which was also not far from our hotel. The tour is very inexpensive, only two Guilders (about US $1), so it fills up quickly. The Heineken building was built in 1867 and served as a brewery for 120 years, but it is no longer a working brewery. The fermentation tanks have been turned into walk-through multimedia presentation chambers with displays, videos, lights and all the bells and whistles. There was an interesting contrast between this tour and the Pilsner Urquell tour we'd taken previously. Here, the emphasis was not solely on the brewing process but on marketing, packaging and distribution as well. (Is the difference attributable to East vs. West, or Quality vs. Quantity? Hmmm.) The conclusion of the tour took us to a bar inside the building where we were welcome to taste the product. In fact, we were welcome to taste as much of the product as we wanted in half an hour.
Slightly tipsy, we wandered off to the Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands' main historical and art museum. The historical part of the museum displayed a multitude of ship models and artifacts from the East India Company, as well as exhibits on the settling and cultural development of the Netherlands. The art gallery's most famous piece is Rembrandt's Nightwatch, but many other Dutch artists are also represented. The museum tied together the history and the art in such a way as to give a unique perspective and a better overall presentation than could be found at an exclusively art or history museum.

Amsterdam actually has more canals than Venice, so we decided to explore them from a glass-topped cruiser. The canals of Amsterdam are laid out concentrically, unlike the canals of Venice, but it remains a subject for debate which city's waterways are the more confusing. In Venice, the canals wander haphazardly about the city and each is unique; in Amsterdam, the straight, tree-lined canals all look exactly alike from the water level, so one must know the city very well to navigate.

Our last stop in Amsterdam was (I'm almost embarrassed to say) the Sexmuseum Venustempel. In the interests of keeping the internet a family-friendly place, I won't describe what was inside the museum. Use your imagination, but whatever you thought of, there's something more extreme inside. After a quick bite to eat we took our leave of Amsterdam and boarded our overnight train to Berlin.

Antwerp, Belgium

From Paris, we stopped in Brussels only long enough to change trains and come to Antwerp. We were here on the recommendation of the Geisens' neighbor in Gaeta, who had related stories to us about Antwerp's pub culture. That was all the convincing we beer aficionados needed.

Antwerp is, naturally, a city on a much smaller scale than Paris, and therefore much more relaxing. The city is more friendly, but not without a snag here or there; we were quite surprised to be told that ATMs in Belgium are few and far between, so our normal method of obtaining the local currency would not work here. Fortunately, we had on hand a few US $100.00 bills (universally accepted currency) for just such an eventuality and there was an exchange window at the train station. This was certainly not what we expected in the home of the world's first stock market!

After a short walk from the station toward the water to our hotel, we ventured out into the Ould Stadt (Old City) of Antwerp. There's a massive cathedral, although only half as massive as it was once intended to be (more on that later) amidst a maze of winding streets and alleyways. There weren't too many people out for the evening, either Belgians or tourists, which may have been attributable to a dioxin scare (Belgian livestock were given tainted food). We bypassed the issue with a sumptuous mussel dinner, followed by an evening spent tasting various Trappist ales at a nearby and very friendly pub.

Our next day began at the Rockoxhuis, a museum which was once the home of Mr. Rockox, a former mayor of Antwerp and a friend of Antwerp's most famous son, Peter Paul Rubens. This small house contained a number of paintings and furnishings from that era. We then returned to the cathedral, the Onze Lieve Vrouwekathedraal, where we caught a guided tour in English that was very informative about the art and architecture of the cathedral. The highlights of the tour were two Rubens triptychs, The Raising of the Cross and The Descent from the Cross. The guide gave us a very informative lecture on the significance of the paintings in both the religious and artistic worlds. We also learned that the cathedral's façade is asymmetrical for a reason; at one point the whole thing was meant to be doubled, with a mirror image cathedral constructed right next to the current one. Alas, the funds set aside for this project were instead used to rebuild the church after a fire.

We couldn't leave Belgium without sampling some waffles, so our last stop in town was a sidewalk café serving a delicious whipped cream and chocolate creation that may, in fact, have actually had a waffle (or two!) hidden within it. If lunch was was to be chocolate and whipped cream, what should dessert be? Beer, of course! After lingering over a couple of local brews, we hit a small snag; while the café had a MasterCard/Visa sign posted, their machine was not actually working, and we had not enough Belgian currency to pay for our meal. The café's owner also turned out to be the only man in Antwerp who didn't speak English. Eventually we arrived at a solution involving a US twenty dollar bill, and we were able to take our leave of Antwerp, and Belgium, and get on our way to Amsterdam.

Paris, France, part 2

My mother and sister were taking their own trip around Europe, and all four of us arrived in Paris on my mother's birthday, so naturally, we had to meet for dinner. Fortunately, things had changed somewhat since our last visit to Paris; the Metro strike was now over, although the museum strike was still in effect. It was now much easier to get around, but there was still a severe limitation on what we could expect to see.


The four of us had a pleasant dinner at a restaurant near their rented apartment, which they invited us to share that night. Even without enough beds, it must have been comfortable as we were able to sleep in before venturing out for breakfast from a local crêpe stand. Resolute in our desire to not take Paris lying down, we ventured out for a walk to see the sights, even if the strike meant they could only be seen from the outside. We set off along the Champs-Elysées in a light intermittent rain, window shopping our way to the Hôtel des Invalides. Surprise of surprises, it was open for business! It took us a while of course to figure that out, but once we did, we toured the war museum's collection of artifacts depicting French military history, including, of all things, Napoleon's horse and dog (stuffed, of course). The last stop at the Hôtel des Invalides is Napoleon's tomb, a really massive marble sarcophagus at the center of a gallery honoring French military leaders.


Another surprise awaited us at the Champ de Mars: the Eiffel Tower was also open! (So now you're thinking, "Just what kind of a strike is this, anyway?" as we were. It seems that the strikers realized that there would be rioting among the tourists if everything was shut down, so they took it upon themselves to open certain attractions on certain days in an unpredictable and unannounced schedule. We just happened to get lucky.) Due to the strike, there was no line to get in, either, so we were quickly whisked up to the top observation level. Rain came and went, but after the heaviest downpour it subsided, leaving us with a spectacularly clear view.

Our next activity was a Bateaux-Mouche (marque deposée) tour on the river for another perspective on the city's monuments. Unfortunately, soon after we boarded, the dark clouds rolled in and the rain came down again, forcing us to the lower deck for cover. However, a short while later we were rewarded with a brilliant rainbow arcing over the Seine as we passed by decorated buildings and bridges.

On the day of our departure from Paris, we discovered that we couldn't make reservations on any train earlier that the 14:55 to Brussels, so that's what we took. We stored our bags at the station and set off to see our last Parisian sight, Sacre-Coeur. We toured the church and took in the panoramic view of Paris from the steps before returning to the station, retrieving our bags, and setting off for Belgium.