Adventure Travel in Europe

Watching the World Cup…in Europe

June 29, 2010 By Danny

No matter how exciting March Madness and the NFL playoffs might be, they simply do not compare to the pandemonium that is the World Cup. The only thing that comes close, for us as Americans, would be the summer Olympics when we all check the paper each morning to review the updated medal count. Even still though, the Olympics are diffuse with more sports than anyone can name, different a different sports hero to match each person’s taste. The World Cup is nationalism at an entirely new level.

As we traveled through Germany during the start of the World Cup we watched as all of the people we met prepared and posted their brackets, naturally all showing Germany going all the way. It was the first time, many told us, that they felt they could cheer for Germany and show their national pride….the first time they were allowed to put it on display and be excited together.

When Germany trounced Australia in their first game the honking horns could be heard miles away.

As we’ve continued traveling, the Cup has been in our faces 100%. Walking into Prague’s central square for the first time we could see the Aussie fans holding on for just one win while the rest of the crowd was clearly pulling for Ghana. The next night we didn’t even need to be able to see the enormous screen to know when Brazil scored each of its 3 goals against the Ivory Coast.

When the US lost its fateful match to that same Ghana team, people in Budapest stopped us on the street when they heard our accents to commiserate with us. One British man was getting ready to watch his big game against Germany. His wife was German. One of them was watching in Buda, and the other watching in Pest, they were not watching together. (Yes, Budapest is actually divided in half!) We caught the score as we walked past a giant screen at the entrance to a shopping center, we were going to buy groceries.

We don’t have very many ‘rally round the flag’ events in the US. We are so big and so diverse, we handle most of the competition within our borders. Think of the last time your team (if you come from Florida and have the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Marlins, this is an easy task) was in the race to win and you joked with that guy at work who roots for the Yankees because he doesn’t know any better. A third co-worker was a Boston fan anyway and a fourth didn’t care. Now put all of those people for the same team, with everyone else you know, watching all the games together, in public places with beers in hand. Rooting and cheering and hooting and hollering. Add a few vuvuzela’s and that is World Cup.

Foodie Friday: Beer

June 25, 2010 By Danny

Yes, that’s right. This week we dedicate our food post to what Benjamin Franklin called: “Proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!”

Franklin himself spent two months in Germany, and although his love of beer is legendary, I’m curious what kind of beer he actually had on his trip to the country. I say that because everywhere we go, each of the 16 states, (Länder in German) each city, each town, and seemingly each house, has its own kind of beer. In some places it is a re-bottling of a familiar taste under a new label and in others the choice of beer is as important as the language you speak.

We started our time in Berlin drinking Berliner amongst other things. Generally a pilsner like beer but not from the Czech region by that very name…it gets a pass in my book on enjoyment factor….especially given that as we drank them at room temperature no one (including your two favorite bloggers) realized that they hadn’t been refrigerated.

Next up, in Cologne, the kingdom of Kölsch we learned that the local brew—Kölsch—is not only the local brew but also the name of the original dialect of German spoken in the region…making it the only language in the world that you can both speak….and drink! Any beer not produced within Cologne city limits cannot, by definition, be considered Kölsch. On that note of classification, all you porter fans should know that if a beer has sugar…it’s not a beer… 🙁

Munich would be the place to put our beer drinking skills to the test. After being in town only a few hours we found ourselves seated inside the infamous Hofbrau Haus with one of our hiking mates from Mt. Kilimanjaro. She and I each had a liter of the local Augustiner while Jill went for a smaller and more refined hefeweizen, later deciding to go for a second half liter in order to catch up. She somehow combined the German word for one (Ein) with the Spanish word for more (mas) but quickly learnt that ‘masse’ in German is the word for ‘liter’ instead of ‘more’….needless to say she needed a little bit of support to finish her ein masse (one liter) which was not hard to come-by.

The beer doesn’t end with Germany though, in fact it merely just continues everywhere we go. In Prague, passing through the town of Plzen we caught a quick glimpse of the Pilsner Urquell brewery on our way to Prauge. We later learnt that Pilzner Urquell literally means “original source of pilsner“ in German…not even Czech.

The most important brewery in the Czech Republic—to an American—is not its biggest exporter; in fact this brewery is able to export to a mere handful of countries. This is because the of a pioneering American by the name of Adolphus Busch, who visited the city of Budweis in the Kingdom of Bohemia, in 1876 and came home and set to work using the name and the style of beer in his home country. Budweiser is known to all of us in the States but tasting the true namesake was a special treat. The best part was the style in which it was served to us; a light pilsner styled beer mixed (as if they’d stirred a black & tan) with a darker lager. In Czech this is known as a ‘rezane’ and by all accounts was absolutely fantastic…certainly having nothing to do with the word Budweiser on the glass….

Castles, but where are the knights?

June 22, 2010 By Jillian

From modern Berlin we headed out to the rest of Germany to visit friends, castles and medieval fortresses. Perhaps there were pretzels (called brezels here), beer and chocolate as well.

First stop on our magical castle tour was the region of Westphalia. Home to Roman ruins, Medieval ruins and chocolate, Cologne was a fabulous place to start heading back to the future. Although our first stop in Cologne should have been the chocolate factory, we went first to the Cologne Cathedral to check the cultural and architectural box off the itinerary for the day. After a long walk through old Cologne, including a Roman excavation site in the middle of the city, we made our way to the Lindt chocolate museum and factory. Yum. Just for the record Danny attempted to eat his 5 euro entrance fee in free samples, as you can imagine he succeeded without a problem!

We arrived at Schlossburg castle, a medieval complex situated in the hills overlooking the Wupper River. With it’s dungeon still in tact (complete with some plastic skeletons!) and lots of armor, helmets and swords, the only thing missing from completing the perfect medieval castle look were a few knights. None were to be found, but we did find some criminals, who of course had to be locked up.

Schlossburg castle has been renovated and repaired, but many in the surrounding countryside haven’t been as lucky. The view over the Rhine at Schloss Drachenfels outside of Bonn, was spectacular. A long, steep uphill hike to the top, we couldn’t believe how dense the forests were despite being so close to a major city. From the hilltop and castle remains you can see the cathedral in Cologne nearly 30 kilometer’s away. Hiking through the woods back to the car, we seemed to be deep in an enchanted wood, that was until we saw the beer garden.

Perhaps the most famous castle in all of Germany is Neuschwanstein outside of Munich. Doesn’t sound familiar? You may know it better as Sleeping Beauty’s castle in Disney Land. (Danny’s Note: Not to be confused with Cinderella of Disney World fame.) Yes, that’s right, the King of Bavaria copied Walt Disney, or maybe it was the other way around. I wish I could continue the fairy tale and tell you how beautiful the castle was from the outside, how its an ancient site on a hill top, but only the hill top part would be true. Yes, the castle is beautiful, but it was raining the day we went and alas there were no Disney-worthy views to be had. And unfortunately for all you medieval history buffs, the castle was actually built in the late 19th Century by King Ludwig II, who by all accounts was rather eccentric. Upset that the medieval ages were over and he didn’t have the absolute power his forefathers had, King Ludwig II built himself a palace that can only be called…errr rather kitsch? The over the top Romanesque style reminds you of every fairy tale castle you’ve ever seen in a movie and while indeed it is beautiful, it was never really used as a castle nor is it old. Frankly its no different than if I had decided to build a castle in my hometown. Hmmmm… now there’s an option. The inside is beautifully decorated though, and the tour guides are rather dry, but amusing (imagine a hunchback named lurch from Transylvania and you’ll get the picture) which makes the castle interior tour well worth it.

Foodie Friday: Currywurst

June 18, 2010 By Jillian

German cuisine isn’t exactly associated with curry, but apparently it should be. Currywurst is a national dish throughout German, found at nearly every greasy spoon and street cart. A sausage, usually with fries, covered in curry sauce (actually ketchup and curry powder), currywurst has somewhat of a cult following….there ‘s even a movie and a song. First served in Berlin after World War II, currywurst has taken on such a status that grocery stores actually sell ready-made currywurst. There’s even a currywurst museum (no we did not go!).

Opting for a less academic approach to food, we decided a taste test would be sufficient for “research” purposes. Naturally we found a greasy spoon near the train station (always the best fast food on the go!) where we were greeted by a rather plump, jolly man behind the counter.

Although German sausage is famous, it was the sauce that really made currywurst special. I would never have thought to add curry powder to ketchup, but I will admit it wasn’t bad. I wouldn’t drink a bottle of it, but poured over sausage, it actually tasted pretty good. But whatever you do…don’t forget the heaping pile of french fries!

Berlin: Something’s different here.

June 17, 2010 By Jillian

We landed in Berlin bleary eyed after getting up at 2 o’clock in the morning for our flight. (Danny never went to sleep) and immediately something was different. No less than 10 minutes after getting off the plane, we stood in line to buy train tickets, customs and immigration completed, luggage in hand. Right on schedule the train appeared, opened it’s doors and we were whisked away to the center of Berlin. It worked like clockwork. “German efficiency, welcome to Europe,” I thought.

There’s a lot to see and do in Berlin, but first on our list was actually the Egyptian museum. Crazy, I know, considering it has been two weeks since we stood in the Egypt Museum in Cairo. Of course we wanted to see Nefertiti’s head after reading the rather belligerent request for it to be returned on a billboard in the museum in Cairo. For the record, her head was very nice, but not nearly as incredible as we had hoped. In the Sudan we slept under the stars next to the pyramids of Meroe, almost all of which have been destroyed by an Itialian fortune hunter in the 19th Century. Taking the gold jewelry and treasure back to Europe, we assumed while at the pyramids that it had been sold and lost to history. You can imagine my surprise and frankly excitement when I stumbled upon her treasures in this museum. Like a kid in a candy shop I examined every piece with such excitement that I think I scared the guy next to me.

Honestly we spent most our time in Berlin at the museums, given that there are more than 70 of them and both of us are history buffs isn’t too hard to understand. We saw Checkpoint Charlie, remaining sections of the Berlin Wall, road our bikes around the Bradenburg Gate, the German History museum, the site where the Nazi’s famously burned books, and spent nearly three hours exploring the Isalmic Art museum in the Pergamon. By the time we left we were museum-ed out.

Besides the more traditional museums, we also spent a lot of time at museums and sites dedicated to World War II. As Americans it was interesting to see the scholarship and academic work on World War II from a German perspective.

Having hosted, traveled and met several German’s along the way, we were not surprised at the frank and sometimes painful displays related to World War II and the Holocaust. We found the Topography of Terror Museum, on the site of the old SS headquarters in Berlin to be particularly interesting for the displays told a complete history of the SS’s actions during the era with facts and images that we had never seen. We appreciated that the Jewish Museum didn’t focus only on the Holocaust when telling the story of Jew’s in Germany, instead providing a chronological history since the medieval period. We ended our visit to Berlin at the Holocaust memorial located symbolically near the Bradenburg Gate.

Somewhere in there we had time to grab a pretzel, a few beers and cycle all over Berlin. In fact the couchsurfers we stayed with kept us out late each night, not that we’re complaining, beer tasting in the park, barbecuing with friends, playing cards and having some rather deep political conversations. We thought Europe would be a relaxing break for us, but if Berlin is any indication we’re going to be exhausted by the time we leave this continent.

Watching the World Cup…in Europe

Foodie Friday: Beer

Castles, but where are the knights?

Foodie Friday: Currywurst

Berlin: Something’s different here.

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