Backpacking adventures Days 1-5

Well first with regard to many of your thoughts of disbelief, yes I am actually backpacking for two weeks across Europe, taking trains or walking everywhere,and staying in hostels.

Day 1-2 Amsterdam

We left London bright and early at around 6am to get to the train station for the ferry to Amsterdam. If you are at all unfamiliar, from London there is about a 45 minute train ride to the port where the ferry docks. The boats are so nice! They are basically the equivalent to a small cruise ship in the US. We all took spots in the dining area with tables for the 7 hour ride to Holland. It was a nice time for me to get a great chunk of my paper done. (Yes I am still working on it but I do have 11.5 pages done) I also fell asleep for a few hours on my backpack, which has been such a fantastic pillow. I am already relishing the thought of having to giving it back to Alex when I get back to London. I may beg him to let me keep it haha. Once we arrived in Holland it took two trains for us to get into the city. It was quite a trek that added another 2 hours to get into the heart of Amsterdam. Once we arrived we went to our hostel, checked in, then ventured around the city. One thing that everyone recommends are the sex shows, and I can tell you that i did not enjoy it. It was very creepy, but other than that we had a wonderful breakfast overlooking one of the canals and also I went on an adventure to see the Anne Frank House. It had a 2 hour wait, but it was definitely worth it for me, especially with the amount that I have read about her and the Holocaust. It was a very moving museum and the annex was just as I had pictured it.

Day 3-4 Berlin

We arrived in Berlin by train around 4pm and headed to our hostel and it was so much nicer than the one in Amsterdam thank goodness. I befriended an Australian man in the hostel with Dan who definitely thought we were lame because we couldn't stay out as long as him. Overall, Berlin was not my favorite city. I don't care if I ever go back to be honest. We do a tour in many of the cities called Free Europe and that was interesting to see the Holocaust memorial, the Berlin Wall,the Brandenburg gate, and the area where Hitler's bunker used to be, but overall the city itself does not have much to offer. The history of course is interesting, but being so recently developed it just doesn't have that European beauty. Plus, it is very spread out with terrible public transportation systems. One cool area we found was actually near our hostel and great cafes and bars. On our last night we had a lovely dinner at a little sidewalk cafe where we sat outside and just enjoyed. It was the highlight of Berlin in terms of outings and neat neighborhoods. The actual highlight for me was the bratwurst and pretzel we had for lunch before our walking tour. They were fantastic!!!

Day 5 Prague

Today we arrived in Prague around 4pm which came after a bit of delay because of train cancellations. We hoped to take an 8:30am train today, but it was canceled. Lucky for us we arrived at 7am for the train and then did not get on a train until 10:30. Lucky for me I just laid down on my beloved bag on the platform and slept. On the train it was so crowded, which was completely unexpected. I was lucky to get a seat for the first 2 hours, but many people reserve seats and I lost mine to someone who had reserved it. Lucky me... I then got to sit on the floor in the aisle for the next 3 hours. The only highlight is that I got through a large amount of Lord Mandelson's memoirs. Once we arrived in Prague, we came to our hostel, also where I am currently writing from and it is fantastic. It is so nice, brand new, and resembles a very nice hotel. I love the Mosaic House. We then showered and went to dinner at a great restaurant called U Ceskych Panu (The Czech Lords Restaurant) for a traditional Czech dinner. It was awesome! Then Cait and I wandered around the city a bit, got lost, and attempted to ask for directions. Neither of us know a word of Czech which made it interesting, but it was light out and early so eventually we got home and met some cool California kids and hung out around the hostel which was fun. Tomorrow we are getting up early for breakfast then to the Free Europe tour for Prague. I cannot wait to see the city's sites!!