My first thought when I got to Prague: Pivo. BEER. It is the beer drinking capital of the world.
I was so excited for my first meal and my first (legal) beer. Pivo, prosim is my favorite Czech phrase. It was all delicious. And the beer was a lot better than Coors Light :)
That night we explored Old Town and saw the sights. St. Charles Bridge, and the astronomical clock, I got my first taste of Prague. The next afternoon we headed to the bus stop to catch our bus to Nuremberg, Germany. I even picked up a beer for the bus, a Kozel. On the bus I was still enjoying the culture shock and taking in every minute.
Rudi's mother, Edith, picked us up at the bus station in Nuremburg and we were on our way to Buttenheim. The Bavarian country side was beautiful as were the small little Bavarian towns we passed. They looked exactly as I thought they would.
We spent the next few days in Bavaria, going to Biergarten's and experiencing Germany. Kellerbier was my favorite, and it was simply "cellar beer". I had "schaefurla" which is pork shoulder I later learned, with sauerkraut and dumplings. I also had my first schnitzel:) We stayed in Buttenheim and visited Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Dinkelsbühl, and Bamburg, which was my favorite. They we're all right out of fairytale.
One of the outdoor beer gardens in Bavaria.
Figuring out where to begin with the shauferla.
Bier, bitte. The only phrases I've picked up involve ordering beer and cheers-ing.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber from the top of the town hall.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
Bamburg, one of my favrorite towns.
A german "snowball".
Schnitzel!Our last destination before returning to Prague was Berlin. We hopped on our bus (a 7 hour ride) but we were there before we knew it. The city was beautiful and cool and edgy. Everything was covered in grafitti but in a artsy way. We made our way to our flat and grabbed some Italian food for dinner. I quickly learned that Berlin is not a place to eat German food.
The next morning we visited the Holocaust museum, and went on a free walking tour of the city. I learned so much about the city on the tour. Seeing the Holocaust Memorial, the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin wall, and even the spot where Hitler commited suicide, which is now a parking lot, was really cool.
After the first tour, Thea and I stopped at a döner kebab stand for lunch, which are on every corner in Berlin, and went on an "alternative tour", which was my favorite part of Berlin. Berlin is not only known for its history, but its also known to be one of the coolest cities in Europe. From the street art to the three day raves, we got to wander around some of the edgiest and artsiest neighborhoods in the city. The club scene is unreal, Berliner's are original hipsters. I felt like I was walking through my Tumblr dashboard.
In Berlin, we ate great food (Currywurstis a must), drank great beer, saw some of history's greatest sights. Berlin is one of the the coolest cities I've eber seen and a great place for foodies :) It was a great weekend in Germany.
I guess pasta goes with beer in Germany.
A coffee shop we ran into in Berlin! It was just around the corner from our flat.
One of the remaining sections of the Berlin wall.
Street art in Berlin.
One of the coolest areas in Berlin. There were coffee shops, bars, and clubs in the little area.
The East Side Gallery. A section of the wall was painted by street artists.
A huge painting done by a very popular street artists. The same artist had painted one of the most famous pieces of street art in Europe but recently covered the building with black paint out of anger that the building would be repurposed as luxury apartments. This is the gentrification process that we learned about on our tour and that neighboorhoods in Berlin are constantly experiencing.
Berlin does burgers and beer very well.
NEXT STOP: Tallinn, Estonia
