After the finalization of the season in Sweden, Jake and I decided to take a much needed vacation. We had our sites set on 3 cities in particular. Copenhagen, (Denmark) Berlin, (Germany) and Amsterdam (Holland/Netherlands). These 3 because A.) both of us have never been to any of them, B.) They all have wonderfully interesting histories and C.) because we thought they would be cool places to visit. It was easy picking places to venture to since we could hop on a train and virtually go anywhere in a matter of a day. However, sitting on a train for 6 hours is not everyones paradise, but we managed with card games, reading, sleeping and maybe a beer or two. Plus we knew what laid ahead which in turn made our minds think about something way more exciting instead of the, "are we there yet" factor.
We began our trip in an unexpected yet beautiful place, Lidkoping, Sweden. Jake's family friends had just moved to Sweden due to their jobs and were stationed in Kalby near Lidkoping, a small town to the mid western coast of Sweden. We were picked up at a train station in Falkoping where they told us we were to drive to Lake Hornborga which is a resting/mating place for thousands of Cranes each year. While we were there, the count was 22,000 cranes. The way they kept track of all the birds was from counting them individually. Sounds simple but I wonder how simple it really is if they are constantly moving, flying in and flying out. Must be frustrating. When we arrived, you could hear the cranes before you saw them. We had to walk up to the top of a hill to see them and once we got to the top the site was overwhelming, the noise they made was awesome. There were birds flying over our heads and flying out constantly, one or two or more at a time. You almost didn't want to speak just to listen to them squawk to one another. We stood there for a while just staring out into the vastness that was the lake. I told Jake that I felt like we could be in Africa, minus how cold it was. Once we had seen enough, we moved on to the Läckö Castle in Lidkoping. The castle was once occupied shortly by King Gustav Vasa and was established in 1297. The location of the castle was beautiful but remote. It stood on the edge of a small hill that sloped down to the lake below. There was water all around it except for the entry way which was smart if the inhabitants wanted to fend off invaders. Unfortunately the castle was not open at the time, it was not the right season yet. We were a week early. However, we walked the outer limits of the castle anyway and I was able to snap a couple shots of the castle grounds and its surroundings. Jakes family friend, Sebastian, owned a nice Nikon camera as well and was able to take a couple shots of us. They turned out to be very nice pictures, I was quite impressed. That night we had dinner in town and then spent the night at their cute apartment in Kalby, a couple kilometers outside Lidkoping. There I learned how to play Mind Kraft and I could have sworn I saw a tear in Jakes eye because of how proud of me he was (wink). COPENHAGEN:
The next morning we left for Copenhagen, a 4 hour train ride via Falkoping. I could tell we were both very excited. We reached copenhagen around 3pm and went straight to the hotel to check in and get settled. The day was gloomy but the next day promised better weather. Therefore we made what we could with what was left of the day by walking around town and seeing some of the sites. Unfortunately we walked a little to much with out food in our bellies forcing us to find whatever cafe may have still been open for some dinner. We stumbled upon a great place that was across the street from a market where we picked up a snack of cheese, crackers, fruit and a six pack of Danish beer. By the time we got back to our place we were exhausted from walking all over. We settled into bed fairly early knowing we had a long day ahead of us.
The next day we decided to check out early but have the hotel watch our bags while we ventured out for a little more site seeing. We took some pictures at the Hans Christian Anderson statue (also on Amazing Race). Walked past Tivoli, the second oldest amusement park in the world. Took a look at the Denmark Resistance museum and also the National History museum as well for some really old decomposed bodies still in their burial caskets. From the resistance museum and our tour guide we learned that Denmark has the lowest percentage of Jews who were murdered or died at the camps, then any other country during the occupation of the German Nazi party, due to the actions of their government. Pretty incredible what a small country dared to stand up to. After hitting the museums we planned to take the "free" bikes for a spin. They are located all over the city and all you have to do is put 20 krona in the bike to unlock it and when you lock it back up again you get the money back. Or so we thought. I put the money in and when we got to our next destination and locked them back up, the 20 krona was gone, it had fallen out on our trip over! Jake and I decided to go look for it and retrace our path. Luckily it wasn't that far to walk but unfortunately we never found the 20 krona. However, we got lucky with the changing of the guards ceremony at the summer homes of the royal family. It was not as spectacular as the one in London but you could say it was a mini version. Our guide told us an interesting fact about the guards, who dress in blue uniforms with high bushy top hats. He said that if you get to close to them (one meter to be exact), they are allowed to yell at you to back off. The same goes for if you stand next to them or if you decided to take a picture in one of their resting posts. They are allowed to yell, nicely push you away, run at you yelling, or even throw you to the ground. Jake and I made it a point to stand as far away as we could as to not provoke them.
Our train time to Berlin was quickly approaching so we needed to get our stuff from the hotel and head to Copenhagen central station for one last visit from a volleyball friend who was playing in Copenhagen, Erin. Jake and I found a small open faced sandwich shop (famous in Denmark) for our feast on the train later. we met up with Erin for a short catch up session and coffee, then we headed to our train for the journey to Berlin, Germany.
BERLIN:
The next morning we headed back to Pariser Platz for the free tour of the city. Our guide was English and very animated, probably one of the best guides we had on the entire trip and with tons of information. We proceeded to see the Pariser Platz, The Brandenburg Gate, The Reichstag, The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, The Site of Hitler’s Former Bunker, Luftwaffe HQ, The 17. June Memorial, The Berlin Wall, The Former SS Headquarters, Checkpoint Charlie, The 1920s Cabaret Mile, Gendarmenmarkt, Bebelplatz, The Old Royal Boulevard, Neue Wache, The TV Tower and Museum Island. The most moving site on the tour was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Our guide asked us to take about 5 to 10 minutes to walk around it ourselves to feel how the memorial makes us feel and then come out for a discussion on the other side. It was extraordinary and uncomfortable walking through the memorial. High cement blocks towered above our heads in the thick of it and the ground was uneven, sloping and wavering every so often. If you look at the memorial from the street it looks to be all one level but when you walk down into it there is so much more then you think. We saw some of the wall and the famous, Check Point Charlie. He ended the tour with the fall of the wall story (which I never really knew of). I will attach the video below. After the tour Jake and I went to the east side of Berlin to take a look at a long stretch of wall that still stood. On each concrete slab, art replaced the ugliness of the east side of the wall. It was beautiful and strong, a picture in my mind that I will never let go of. Back at the hotel we gathered our stuff and rushed to the train station and headed to our next and final destination, Amsterdam. AMSTERDAM:
We arrived late that night at central station. Luckily our hotel was right next store so it was a short walk to our bed. Walking out of the train station I looked up and realized it resembled the ride at Disneyland, "Its a small world". I am not a 100 percent sure if Walt Disney took his idea from that station but it definitely looks oddly familiar. The next morning we headed to the National Monument located at the center of the city, were the free tour from Sandemans started. Our guide this time around was a beach guy, straight from the heart land! He was a man in his 50s hailing from Palace Verdes, CA. Couldn't believe it. He had a very lax feel about him and was very smart. He took us around to the Old Church, The Red Light District, the Jewish Quarter, Royal Palace, the Jordaan District, the Anne Frank House, the Dutch East India Company, the Begijnhof Convent, Masterpieces of Dutch Art and the Widest Bridge and Narrowest House in Amsterdam. The most interesting to me was actually hearing about the Red light District and how prostitution was a profession in Amsterdam. Later that night we planned to take the Red Light District tour which was just as amusing as it was informational, with a guide (hailing from Australia with a goofy walk) as hilarious as he could be about the history of the famous area. You would think the Red Light area would be seedy with trash everywhere, you would be surprised to see, thats not the case. People are walking around at all hours of the day and the place is fairly clean. That night we found a place that served traditional Dutch meals. We ate saur kraut, mashed potatoes and sausage with brown sauce.
The next morning we planned to take a trip to Keukenhof, a garden for certain types of bulbs such as Tulips, Narcissus, Hyacinths and much more, that bloom only 2 months out of the year. We just happened to be there at the right time (and Jake just happened to notice a flyer for it, go Jake!). The garden was immense and there were millions of flowers everywhere. The most popular one in the garden was the tulip in every color and combination you could think of. Beautiful colors reached out in every direction and we couldn't get enough of the scents the flowers gave off, breathing in as much as we could constantly. I dont think I stopped taking pictures on that trip and neither did Jake. Sometimes I would look over and catch him bent over taking a close up shot of a red tulip. We were reluctant to leave but once back in the center of Amsterdam we made our way over to the house of Anne Frank. There was a really long line but it went by quickly. It was only 9 Euros for a ticket as well. Viewing the house and the original writings of her journal and other writings she did took us about 45 to 50 minutes. The house was quiet and held no furniture but was set up the way it would have been if the black out curtains had been drawn. I felt very odd going through her house, I wondered what she would think of all of us in there looking at her old room or reading her stories. It was interesting to watch the interviews of her friends and father. At the end of her fathers interview he says that "as parents, we really never know our children." I believe that can be very true in some instances, definitely. The remainder of the trip we spent walking the canals and wandering into souvenier shops. The next morning we made our way to the Amsterdam international airport for our flight to Copenhagen. Once we got to Copenhagen airport, we had a 4 hour wait until our train back to Orebro for the night.
Overall, our trip was filled with many sites and adventures that won't be forgotten. If anyone is going to Europe soon, I would highly recommend the Sandemans tours. They are extremely informational and the people who run them are energetic and never monotoned. Its a new and cost effective way to see/learn about a city your visiting. I was sad to be at the end of our trip but luckily we had a breakfast date with some of the girls from my team and a half day in Stockholm to look forward to before heading back to USA. Hopefully Jake and I will have another opportunity to see some more of Europe after next season, until then we will enjoy our time in California and be gearing up for whats to come.
NOTE: My blog page is having some difficulties so my pictures look weird when I upload them. Hopefully I will figure it out soon. Hope you enjoy the writing for the time being. Thanks!
