Best of Amsterdam [25/06 - 28/06 and 03/07]

25th June (Friday)

Amsterdam is a 6.5 hour ride from Berlin. We will be staying at Shelter Jordan for the next 3 nights which cost 17 Euros a night. After checking in, we are off exploring Amsterdam. The city of Amsterdam is also notable for its many canals and bridges; comparable with Venice.



We visited Anne Frank's House and walked around the city's famous Red Light district. The district is quite a vibrant place (and it is not sleezy as compared to Singapore's one). Many chinese shops are also located in this area.



We visited the Cannabis College. In there they gave a history and the benefits of taking marijuana. It is also known as Pot where visitors can take them in Coffeeshops.



There are several public toilets. One of which is below.



Amsterdam is a cycling city and there are bicycles everywhere. There is something unique about these bicycles. There are no breaks.



We had dinner at a chinese restaurant named Nam Kee. Thereafter we caught a soccer match and walked back to hostel after that.

26th June (Saturday)

The objectives for the day is to visit the windmills. We went to the Tourist Information Centre at the station to inquire on windmills. They recommended us to take a train to the outskirt which is a 15mins ride away. We had our lunch there and proceeded on to the windmill area. This is a place of farms and nature.



Here is a wind mill. We visited one of the windmill and found it is actually a light industry. It uses wind energy to power machinery within it.



Thereafter we visited some of the homes.



There is a cheese maker in the area.



Here we are holding on to three large cheese. They are really heavy.



A shop famous for clogs. He demonstrated to us how clogs are being produced the traditional way.



Our group photo.



We got back and had dinner at Nam Kee again. The highlight for tonight is to catch a Euro match between Netherlands and Sweden. We visited one of the pubs at Rembrandt Platz. Netherlands won by penalty over Sweden by 6-5 and the city erupted with celebrations.





27th June (Sunday)
This morning I walked with Joshua along Lumbaansgrachf to Museum Plein. The Vincent Van Gogh museum is there. I decided to check out one of the diamond factory along the way.



In there, I learnt about polishing of diamonds, the crown jewels and sceptre, as well as the world's smallest diamond.



I proceeded on to the Amsterdam historical museum. Amsterdam is actually built in a peat area. Trade played a focal role and the Dutch was a naval power in the past. Took a 1 hour break by listening to the afternoon band.

Thereafter I rendezvous with Joshua and rented a bicycle from Mike Bike which cost 5Euros. Let's cycle around city the Amsterdam way.



We cycled to Vandel Park and noticed a uniquely shaped building by the docks.



Here is skinny bridge. This is actually the residential area.



We got back to the Red Light District for dinner and decided to catch Casa Rossa Sex show which is 1 hour long. It cost 25Euros per person. A large Contiki tour group also went to catch the show.



3rd July (Saturday)

During the one day flight transit in Amsterdam, I stayed at this Ibis hotel. It is provided free of charge.



Here is how the rooms look like. We were given buffet dinner and lunch and it was just fabulous.



In the morning, I took 10.20am bus to airport. It was followed by another bus ride to Amsterdam Central, arriving at 11am.



I have the opportunity to visit a few sights which I missed out the last time. First of which is the flower market.




Today is the last day I am in Europe. So here is a photo of me after 5 months here.



I also visited the Bible Museum which mentioned about the Old Testament, and the variations of the bible across the different Abrahamic religions.



The temple of David.



I proceeded to walk along Herrengauze in search for the 15 bridges. There is this one spot where we can see 15 bridges all at the same time. Thereafter I took the bus back to the hotel and is ready to proceed on with my journey to Singapore.

Best of Berlin [22/06 - 25/06]

22nd June (Tuesday)

We arrived at Berlin train station at 2.10pm. At the station, we bought the Welcome Card which cost 21 Euros. From there, our accommodation at Sunflower Hostel is a one stop ride by S-bahn. After check-in and depositing our luggage at the counter, we are off to Checkpoint Charlie via U-bahn.

Checkpoint Charlie is actually a museum and is very extensive and has lots of information on the wall the separates Germany. It explains on how it was started after World War II. It also mentioned about the founder of the museum and on the attempts by people in crossing the wall. We watched a 2-hour movie on how a family attempted to cross Germany by hot air balloon.



After the museum, we walked to the Topography of Terror exhibition, to Potsdamer Platz for dinner and to Brandeburg Gate. Here we took a group photo.



It is coming close to evening, we visited the Reichstag building to have a view of the city.



We walked past the Berlin library and took the S-bahn back to our hostel.



23rd June (Wednesday)

The first destination for the morning is to take a stroll along East Side Gallery.



We walked to Alexandra Platz where a TV tower is located.



Just next to it is Museum Island where most of Berlin's major museums are located.



The most famous of which is the Pergamon Museum. Entrance to it is 6 Euros. Here is the Pergamon Altar.



The famous Babylon Gate of Ishtar. It is amazing how they moved the entire gate here. The question is why they move it here.



We proceeded for lunch at the Humboldt University which is just a short distance walk away.



From there we took bus 100 to the Berlin Zoologischer Garten railway station. It is shopping time. The Museum Philmonie and the Kaiser Wilhem Memorial Church were also visited.



The church is quite an iconic building as it was partially destroyed during the WWII bombing of Berlin and has remained that way ever since. A newer church was constructed opposite which has quite a modern design to it.



Germany will be having a match tonight for the Euro 2004. To catch the match action, we will be visiting the Sony Centre.



Unfortunately there are no commentaries and sounds from the match. But the crowd is equally enthusiastic. The final result is Germany 1 - 2 Czech.




24th June (Thursday)

The 3rd day is an individual exploration. I will be visiting Potsdam which is about an hour ride out of Berlin. Below is the Nikolaikirche and Fortunaportal just after the train station.



There is a beautiful market surrounding the Sanssouci Palace.



Here is Schloss Sansouci, the main sight of Potsdam.



The weather is pleasant and is perfect for a walk around the Sanssouci Palace park.



I got back to Berlin and visited the Technimuseum. Learnt about communications and the textile industries



Berlin has a long shopping street which is along Unten den Linden. While there, I went to Berlin History Museum. Watched a 25min video and learnt about Federick the Great and Prussia. I read about standing tickets being sold each day for the Berlin Philharmonic. There is already a queue when I arrived. Met a Taiwanese traveller named Zhang Ren. The standing tickets cost 10 Euros. Though these are standing tickets, we managed to find seats to sit.

Best of Prague [20/06 - 22/06]

20th June (Sunday)

Our overnight train from Krakow arrived in Prague at 7am in the morning. We took a metro from the train station to Hostel Klub Habitat. We will be staying 2 nights in Prague. After putting our luggage, we took a stroll to Charles Bridge. The Czech Republic just had a Euro match the night before, thus most of the city are still sleeping. We walked up to Prague castle.



The main building in the castle area is St Vitus cathedral. It is a truly beautiful place, if not for the hordes of tourist in the area.



We climb up St Vitus cathedral which offers us a bird's eye view of the city.




We also visited the Prague castle history museum. In there we learnt about saints, christianity and how Prague is a cultural and educational centre of Bohemia.

We walked back down across Charles bridge and did a bit of shopping. There are lots of tourist souvenir shops and Prague hot dogs can be found pretty much everywhere.



For dinner, we just look for a place to settle down so we can also catch the Euro match between Portugal and Spain.

21st June (Monday)

We had a light breakfast before taking a train to the outskirts of Prague. There is this interesting church called the Kunta Hora. It is actually a church with its interiors entirely decorated with skulls.



A cross made of bones.



The altar.



The church is located in a lovely quiet town. After having lunch there, we went back to the train station. We were just loitering around the metro when a group of officers just came up to us and ask us for our tickets. As we do not have tickets with us, we were fined on the spot. 400 Prague dollars, which is around S$50.

Thereafter we went to the museum of communism.