Ahoy, Matey! A Boat Trip to Satorini’s Active Volcano

Saturday was our FAVORITE day on the island!  We ended the previous night in Oia and were starting our morning back there, bright and early. The night before, we arranged a trip with a local travel agency.  The plan was to first get on a boat from the port at Oia and sail our way to the volcanic caldera. So, we hopped on a local shuttle with several other couples and made our way down to the port. After dropping us off, the shuttle bus was supposed to return to Oia in order to pick up the remaining passengers.

Port in Oia from above--blocked by the cliffs

Made it!

Here comes our boat!

Ahh! Crystal clear water

Within 10 minutes of boarding, we pulled away from the port.  Umm, and about that other busload of paid customers?? Well, turns out that after he dropped us off, the shuttle bus driver conveniently “forgot” about the rest of the patrons back in the village.  We watched him prop up his feet and smoke countless cigarettes.  Maybe, we thought, the next passengers get on a different boat?  Nope!  After getting 100 yards or so off shore, the shuttle bus came screaming down the road to the port, beeping its horn incessantly.  Apparently we had forgotten some people….duh!  We giggled as we returned to port to pick up the stranded customers.  Oh, Greece.

Pulling away from Port

Looking up at Oia

The water was a little choppy!

Fira from the boat

Nice Striations of Color

Approaching the volcano. Check out that volcanic rock!

Pulling into Port

After we pulled into port, we met with our tour guide, Mama Zoey.  Mama Zoey had lived on the island of Santorini all of her life and had been to the top of the volcano over 3,000 times!  No wonder she left us in the dust as she climbed!

Our group

This rock formation, as well as the island of Santorini, are what remains after a catastrophic volcanic eruption during the Minoan Times, long, long ago in 17 Century BC.  The islands themselves formed almost a complete circle, but after the powerful (7 magnitude) explosion, many of the islands have been completely underwater.  The legend of Atlantis actually dates back to this massive eruption, which is still one of the highest recorded ratings of any volcanic eruption. The colors of the beaches (red, white, and black) depend on which geologic layer was revealed after the top of the volcano literally blew off.  The volcano itself is still considered active with the last eruption having occurred in the 1950’s.

And so, with Mama Zoey providing all of the necessary information, we continued our way up to the top of the volcano. At one point she told us that we would be at the top in “4 Greek minutes.”  We learned enough from the bus schedule to know that 4 minutes could essentially mean either:

 1. We’re already on the top! 

2.  We’ve still got 15 minutes to go.  🙂

Volcanic Rock

Russ's need for photography landed us at the back of the group 🙂

Volcanic Crater

Fira

Near the top

Russ on the volcano

Boats!

Beautiful panoramic views

from the volcano

At the top of the volcano we stopped to learn more about the history of the island, and Mama Zoey dug a hole and let us feel the sulfur-y steam that escaped.  No, there was not any lava.  But the panoramic view of the surrounding islands was beautiful! We spent 20 minutes simply enjoying our surroundings.  Afterwards, we made our way cautiously down and back to the boat.  Some of the women on the tour chose to wear sandals or cute shoes….to hike. up. a .VOLCANO.  I had no sympathy for them when they slid their way down the mountain with dusty feet.  Mean? maybe.  But, seriously people.

After we arrived back at the boat, we headed to our second destination–the lava-heated mineral baths.  The boat stopped about 100 meters away from an area where the water turned considerably browner.  I had every intention of getting off of the boat and swimming in the mineral water–until Mama Zoey explained to us that it’s possible we’ll come back dirty and it’s most probable we’ll smell like sulfur for the rest of the day.  As one fellow traveler said to me, “THAT wasn’t in the brochure.”  It certainly wasn’t, but it was hot, and we had just climbed a mountain, and besides, who wants to miss an opportunity to jump off of a boat in the middle of the Aegean??  Not me.  I decided to swim…in an area away from the stinky water.

Others swim towards the mineral baths

I kept myself in the "unstinky" water

The spec on the right is me, making my way towards the church

ahhh

So incredibly refreshing!! After we successfully loaded all of the swimmers back into the boat (trust me, it wasn’t that easy), we headed to our final destination, the island of Therasia, for lunch.  Therasia has a population of about 300 people, mostly fisherman.  There’s a school, but they don’t really have enough kids for it. 😉

Gyros for lunch and a great view

The Port

The several hundred stairs lead up to the actual town

Friend!

some of the other "restaurants" at the port

Fun day!

Beautiful!

When we got back to Oia, we took the bus to our hotel, where we spent some time swimming and relaxing.  I’m pretty sure we went back into Fira that night for dinner, but we actually have *gasp* no pictures!  It was nice for Russ to walk around and enjoy the environment without worrying about pictures.  I can assure you, though, the sunset was amazing. 🙂

Day 3–Swimming in the Aegean

For day 3 in Santorini we had two main items on our agenda–half a day at the beach, the rest of the day in Oia to await the sunset.  Sunsets in Oia are largely purported to be the most beautiful in all of the world.  We were already thinking it would be difficult to top what we saw from Fira!

There are many beaches on the island of Santorini, some more desirable than others, and some that are even impossible to reach.  And they come in various colors–red, white, and black!  The red beach is accessible by foot after a slightly treacherous trail; the white beach is only accessible by boat (and then un-read tourists realize they have to wade their way towards shore in waist-high water); the black beaches are the most easy to access and probably the most popular because of it.

We headed to Kamari beach.  I wanted to head to a black beach for aesthetics, so we were deciding between the famed beaches of Perissa or Kamari.  Unbeknownst to me, Russ had an ulterior motive.  He knew which beach provided the best, up-close-and-personal view of planes coming in to land at the Santorini airport.  And so, to Kamari we went!

Kamari Beach

the beach

We set up shop under one of the cute little umbrellas with beach chairs (3€/person for the whole day).  It was quite nice to lounge on the beach chairs as the sand is less like sand and more like rocks.  Shoes or sandals necessary.

Lauren at Kamari Beach

Incoming! Good view from underneath our umbrella

The sheer “coolness” of being at Kamari beach did not really hit me til we got in the water.  Umm, hello, we’re swimming in the Aegean Sea!  I’m pretty sure that was my exact statement!  It was so different than swimming on the east or west coast of the US.  After wading out to our thighs in the rocky water, it got deep FAST!  And of course the scenery is just ridiculous. I wish I could give you a picture from the water. 🙂

These people already can't touch

Rows of umbrellas on Kamari Beach

After a morning/early afternoon at the beach, we headed to Oia to check out the town and stay around for the famed sunset.  We wanted to get there early because we heard about the swarms of people who make their way to Oia around 6 o’clock.  We’d also seen the hoards of people piled onto the buses, barely standing room only.  Plus, we figured that there’d be enough to do there.

We were kind of wrong.  Don’t misunderstand me, Oia is a beautiful place.  It has a definite charm to it and is a lot more “village-like” than the city of Fira.  We were definitely intrigued and wowed by the architecture and  the view.  We enjoyed walking around through the narrow-alleys and panting our way up stone step after stone step.  But it was HOT.  and WHITE.  and REFLECTIVE. The stores and restaurants were definitely limited compared to Fira, but we found enough places to stop and have a cool drink when necessary.

Oia

streets of Oia

Blue-dome church again

Russ in Oia

We stopped here for a drink...not too shabby!

hanging off of a cliff

I can't help myself. I find friends everywhere.

and these guys love me!

but these guys are jealous. dogs and cats everywhere!!

church in Oia

lovely

People starting to assemble on the old castle for sunset viewing

The real “village” atmosphere smacked us in the face when we decided we should probably get some money out of an ATM.  We remembered seeing one by the bus station, so we walked back down the hill to procure some funds.  Unfortunately, the ATM had run out of money (it’s Friday).  It wouldn’t be refilled until Monday.  Totally fine, except there literally is not another ATM in Oia.  The next closest one–Fira.  🙂

Beauty.

After our second drink stop, we started to get into position for sunset viewing.  Seriously, an almost-deserted town can certainly manifest a lot of bodies all at once!  It’s best to secure a spot early on!

We've got a good hour to go.

but the crowds are building

sunset in Oia

Crepe in Greece? Why not.

a glimpse of the donkeys that carry people up from the port

getting closer

 

The end.  🙂  Another beautiful and exhausting day completed.  Day 4, coming up, was absolutely our best of the trip, so be sure to check back soon!

 

Santorini Day 2

Relaxation started to set in on our second day.  I want you to know that it takes A LOT for me not to plan what we are going to do on a vacation.  Typically, I spend a lot of time researching, buying tickets, making reservations, and learning the ins-and-outs of our environment.  For Santorini,  Russ and I both agreed to play it by ear and explore our surroundings at a leisurely pace.  So we slept in a little on Thursday and ordered our breakfast.  Breakfast at Meli Meli is served on your patio so you can enjoy the beautiful weather and view.

Breakfast time

Our Patio

We had briefly read about a hike from the city of Fira to the city of Oia and totally wanted to experience hiking up the mountains from one side of the island to the other.  It sounded like an amazing experience, standing on top of the volcanic-rock mountains and staring out into the vast surrounding ocean.  We took the bus to Fira to start our journey and from there, headed uphill.

Climbing toward Imerovigli and Oia

Walking up the hill towards Imerovigli and Oia

From whence we came...looking back towards Fira

Russ looks cool, but it was HOT!

We walked, and walked, and walked.  We were supposed to come to certain checkpoints that pointed our way to Oia.  The first was a church that was painted white, had bells, and was topped with a blue dome.  Newsflash: all the churches in Santorini look the same.

Could this be it?

We made our way to Imerovigli, the next village up on the hill and wandered around for a long time searching for our next checkpoint.  Ok, we were lost.  And hot.  We could see Oia from our vantage point, and it looked really far away.  We had already been walking for 2 hrs, and the original hike we referenced suggested the total hike time as 1-2 hrs.  Clearly, we did something wrong.

Never fear, though.  Without having our whole trip planned out, we could change our course and feel okay about it.  We decided to scrap the hike (since we never found the real trail) and find a nice shady spot for lunch.  And we did.  There is nothing like a nice, fresh plate of Tzatziki to cool you down!  We enjoyed fruit smoothies, grilled veggies, and tzatziki before heading back to our hotel to take an afternoon dip!

Yes, please!

The view from our hotel

In the evening we headed to Fira again for dinner.  We had seen (through the bus window) this great little restaurant we were longing to try.  It was off the main strip, away from all the tourist traps, and was surrounded by trees and plants.  We decided we were drawn to it because it was similar to a German biergarten! 🙂

The Pelican Restaurant

Russ enjoyed sampling the Greek beer, and for me, the wine was just fine

Yum.

After a delicious and relaxing dinner (with free Santorini dessert wine–so sweet it was almost syrupy!), we headed back into town to see our second sunset.

If you could only see the amount of flashes going off!

lovely.

sunset in Fira

amazing

sunset end

Tomorrow—the beach! 🙂

It’s all Greek to me!

When we originally started planning our last big shebang in Europe, we debated over going back to Italy or taking a trip to London.  We were fairly certain, however, that we’d take a trip to London at another point in our lives, and we knew that we’d definitely be heading back to Italy.  We needed something completely different.  Enter Greece and the island of Santorini.

Islands in the Aegean--this one's not Santorini

We took a direct flight from Nuremberg to the island, arrived at a small airport that literally only receives about 6 incoming flights a day, and hopped into a transport van.  Our driver flew around the curves of the island on the 1 1/2 car width roads, constantly beeping his horn, dodging donkeys and 4-wheelers.  We were slightly alarmed when he dropped off one of the other couples with us in the van.  He called out their hotel, “Tennis Club.”  We looked around.  Dust, brush, and a very, very old tennis court.  As we drove away, we watched the couple stand in the middle of the road, uncertain of their surroundings, and positively confused as to where they were supposed to go.  Luckily for us, when we pulled up to our hotel, I recognized it right away.

Hotel Meli Meli

Meli Meli from the back

We breathed a sigh of relief to have arrived safely and were promptly greeted by the hotel manager who showed us around and got us settled.  We spent an hour or so resting and enjoying the view into the sea.   Looking out from our hotel was amazing; only 1/3 of your field of vision was taken up by the ground and buildings.  The remaining 2/3 were filled with bright blues, either of the ocean or the sky.

The view from our terrace

Looking out from the hotel

Most visitors on the island end up renting some type of vehicle in which to get around.  Popular choices are smart cars, 4-wheelers, and scooters.  However, we knew that there was a bus stop 200 meters from our hotel.  Why rent a vehicle when the buses are that close?  We found out why.  On Santorini, the buses could be anywhere from 10 minutes early to 20 minutes late.  They only stop to pick you up when you wave to them (we found this out the hard way), and they only let you off at your stop if you tell them about it when you get on (we also found this out the hard way).  It really left us saying, “This is Greek to me!” We eventually got the hang of the system, though I think Russ always felt a little unsure. 🙂

Anyway, Santorini is one of the largest of the Cyclades islands in the Aegean sea. It is shaped like a moon with an island in the middle, the remainder of the volcanic caldera.  In the past, all of this was just one island, but after a particularly gruesome volcanic explosion, Santorini as it is today is what remains.

On the island there are really 3 main villages where tourists typically spend their time (excluding the beaches, for now): Fira, Oia, and Imerovigli.  Fira, the capital of the island, is on the western side of the island and where we headed our first night (after we figured out how to get on the bus).  Fira is the center of life on the island with shops, banks, restaurants, and an amazing view. Notable, of course, is the architecture of Santorini.  Beautiful white building hang on the sides of cliffs and blue domed churches peer out amongst them.

Church in Fira

Restaurants on the cliffs of Fira, looking out towards the caldera

Houses and hotels of Fira

After climbing higher up

view from Fira

Our view from our dinner spot

Of course one of the most popular past times on the island is watching the sunset.  I’m pretty sure we did this almost every night we were on the island; we changed vantage points, but the show was always the same.  And it was always amazing.  It’s times like these when we felt really fortunate to have been given a year abroad, when we realized that we probably never would have been able to do or see what we have been lucky enough to experience.  Watching sunsets in Greece? Not an every day event.

sunset falls

sunset in Fira

sunset from Fira

sunset over the caldera

beautiful

We spent 5 wonderful days on Santorini.  Stay tuned for the rest of our adventures and for more of Russ’s beautiful photographs!

Water Tricks and Zoology

I’m warning you now.  If you don’t feel like looking at a bunch of animal pictures, you can opt out of this post.  But the zoo at the Hellbrunn Palace was so totally worth it, not just because of the animals, but because of its proximity to the Alps and the fact that it’s actually built into the side of a mountain.  Before we spent our afternoon and early evening animal-viewing, we spent some time at the Palace itself where we were introduced to the Prince archbishop’s trickery and deception–water-style.

The Palace itself is named for the clear spring that feeds the palace and surrounding fountains.  Rumor has it that on warm summer days, the prince-archbishop would gather his friends in the gardens, lure them toward his various fountains and grottos, and soak them thoroughly.

Hellbrunn Palace

The start of the fountain grounds

We don’t have very many pictures of the gardens.  As soon as Russ found out that random guests would at times receive a very soggy welcome, his camera went into hiding.  Regardless, it was fun watching all the kids and “brave Americans” on the tour get targeted by our tour guide and squeal with laughter when water undoubtedly shot from some unidentifiable area.

One great area was the bishop’s table, a stone table set up in the garden where the head of the house often dined with his guests.  At some point during their visit, water would shoot out from the middle of the table and from the back of the guests’ chairs, soaking everyone, except for the dry princebishop, of course.

Hellbrunn Trick Table-picture borrowed from http://www.kaprunerhof.at/hellbrunn-palace-salzburg

At other times we were led into grottos or told to stand on staggered steps to view a puppet show propelled by water.  It’s an uneasy feeling, knowing that there will be water coming from somewhere but not knowing where or when it could get you.  In some cases, the water shot out from behind you, from the floor, or from the sides of the walls.  No one was safe. It was fun!  Russ and I almost made it through the entire display.  Right at the end, however, I got sprayed right in the thigh.  It was after one of those relief-filled moments when I thought I was in the clear.  Then….wet.  It felt like one of those slow-motion sequences in movies when someone gets shot.  Almost made it!

Russ's camera makes a reappearance...far away from the trick fountains

After enjoying the tour, we headed over the Salzburg Zoo, a quick 5 minute walk from the Hellbrunn Palace.  First of all, let me just say that I love zoos.  No one has to convince me to go to one, but the incentive to visit becomes even higher when the zoo is surrounded by scenery like this:

View from Salzburg Zoo

Love the parrots in the foreground of the mountains

Beauty

We had a fantastic time walking around and enjoying both the scenery and the animals.  I’ll share some of our favorites below. By the way, the safety fences and guard rails at the zoo are definitely a bit more lax than US standards!

Brown Bear

 

House mouse and House Rat exhibit

There's very little perspective for how small this guy actually is, but think "ping-pong ball"

 

"Do you understand 'wolf-speak'?" We liked this one because it clearly identifies our shy pups

Flip up the poster and read about what the position of the animal means:

"I don't have anything to say," submission, anxiety. And beside that, "I want to play!"

I can't get over it.

Don't pet the monkeys!

This little dude was sitting right over us as we went through the monkey house

Nice view, monkey.

Big Kitty

Lynx

Giant cat with giant bone...glad there's a fence

Red Panda...Russ's Favorite

We had a really fantastic visit to Salzburg and feel really lucky that we made it there before our travels end.  By the way, as of today, I only have one month left to live European-style.  A sense of bittersweetness is starting to invade all of our travels.  For now, though, we’ll enjoy every second we have left…especially our upcoming travels to the Greek island of Santorini!

Salzburg

 

 

The moon rises over Salzburg

 

To check out all of Russ’s photos from our Salzburg weekend: http://rlabarca.smugmug.com/Travel/Salzburg-June-2011

 

And a final note: If any of you painters out there (ahem, Aunt Maryanne) feel compelled to paint any of these beautiful images that we’re showing you, we won’t claim copyright. 🙂

 

The Hills are Alive in Salzburg

 

This past holiday weekend (Whit Monday), we headed to the famous hills of Salzburg for a long weekend.  Yes, we did sit down and watch The Sound of Music before embarking on our journey.  2 hrs in, Russ was begging for mercy.  It did help him, however, understand what all those other crazy American tourists were talking about. 🙂  Needless to say, we did not take the Sound of Music Tour that ushers you to well-known destinations from the movie…between what I can imagine is loud, joyous, (and thoroughly American) sing-a-longs of “Do-Re-Mi,” “My Favorite Things,” and “16 Going on 17.”

On Saturday it rained.  And rained.  And rained.  We hadn’t arrived til later in the afternoon (around 4), so we figured we’d walk around for the evening, maybe hit up a Mozart museum, have some dinner, and call it a night.  When we arrived at the first Mozart museum, The Mozart Family Residence, it was closing in an hour.  Not enough time.  That’s when we really looked at our list of activities–EVERYTHING closed at 5:30.  We hustled to the lesser-reputed Mozart Museum, the Birth-house, and found that the hour we had left was plenty of time to work our way through the exhibits there.

Mozart's Geburtshaus

Afterwards we toured the cathedral, the Salzburger Dom. The dome itself was replaced in 1959, years after a WWII bomb had dropped right through.  The church itself is massive and quite beautiful, though seemingly plain from the outside.  Inside, there are stucco and paintings everywhere, and the organs are massive.  Mozart himself played in this cathedral for a few years.

Salzburger Dom

Another view of the cathedral--obviously taken the next day

After seeing the cathedral, we sought out some dinner and a café for some coffee and a piece of cake.  The town seemed throughout closed.  When we finally found a café and happily got out of the rain, the proprietor told us that they were closing in 15 minutes!  It was 7:00 PM.  Eventually we did find a great cup of coffee and a slice of Sachertorte, after which we decided to call it a night and hope for better skies tomorrow.

 

AND THEY WERE!

The Austrian flag

Amazingly, with a little more sunshine and slightly drier pavement, Salzburg came alive.  Restaurants set up their outdoor seating and while all shops weren’t open (it was Sunday), it was obvious that Salzburg is actually a living, breathing town.  We headed to the historic old town and hit up some of the sights we missed on Saturday.

Streets of Salzburg

McDonald's Salzburg-style

Mozart's Residence

We went back to Mozart’s Residence and toured through there with an audio guide.  It was interesting, but there’s something about audio guides that Russ and I really dislike.  Is it the fact that anyone could have had this up to his/her ear before me?  No, pretty sure it’s how whenever someone uses an audio guide, they immediately can’t seem to watch where they’re going.  😉

Next,we headed toward Mirabell Palace to check out the gardens and get some of the fresh mountain air.

Mirabell Gardens

 

Mirabell Gardens

The Gardens with a view of the Palace

SOM trivia question 1: Name the scene where the Pegasus statue was featured.

Cool View up to the Fortress--Our Next Destination

After enjoying the flowers in the gardens, we wanted to take advantage of the clear skies and get to the highest vantage point in case the sunshine was only temporary.  The Fortress, seated 400 ft. above the river, watches over the town of Salzburg.  It’s always done a pretty good job, too; it prevented anyone from attacking the town for about a thousand years.

At the top there are several museums and some spectacular views of the city below.

Approaching the Fortress

Salzburg and the River Salzach

Good View of the Dom

From the Fortress Tower

"Oh, Mother. I just couldn't help myself. The gates were open and the hills were beckoning and everything was so green and fresh, and the Untersberg kept leading me higher and higher, as if it wanted me to go right through the clouds with it."

Gorgeous

Looking toward the rest of the fortress

More of the Fortress

Russ in Salzburg

 

When we weren’t taking the views, we spent the rest of our time at the top of Salzburg going through several of the museums; we started with the Fortress museum, where we got access to the top of the towers, and then headed to the creepiest museum of all.  The Marionettes. Russ took no pictures of the Marionette exhibits, I suppose for fear that they’d come alive at night?

I tried my hand at the art

 

Creepy.

Instead of taking the funicular down the hill, we decided to walk and get some more great views of the town.

Funicular

Heading down the mountain

Approaching the Dome

Our dining spot from Saturday night--and Russ's favorite beer. Don't tell Germany!

Aaaand we made it!

I exaggerate.  It really wasn’t a very long walk.  However, we were feeling pretty grateful when the people climbing up the hill were passing up, sweating and panting.  Our all-inclusive Salzburg card turned out to be quite the bargain. 🙂

There’s more to Salzburg and more to our Sunday, but I’m saving it for another post.  Next time look forward to Hellbrunn Castle and Prince-Archbishop Sittikus’s famous trick fountains. Oh, and a really really cool trip to the Salzburg Zoo. 🙂

 

 

What do you associate with Amsterdam??

My absolute favorite quote to sum up our time in Amsterdam was said by someone who didn’t even accompany us.

“French fries, Heineken, red lights, pancakes and “coffee shops” … And that’s all in one photo!”               (Thanks, Uncle D. ;))

Amsterdam City Street

Amsterdam usually holds some pretty strong associations for people.  In other words, its reputation proceeds it.  It’s the combination of all the aforementioned items along with the history and architecture that makes Amsterdam such a thoroughly awesome place to visit.

Luckily we could share this experience with brother, Nate,  and sister-in-law, Hayley, as a stop on their European vacation.  In the midst of their city-hopping (literally–from Madrid, to Paris, to Rome, to Venice, to Barcelona…)…they ended up in Heidenheim.  We spent a couple nice days relaxing, took a bike ride through the German countryside (with a stop at a Biergarten, natürlich), explored the castle, and ate some delicious meals at the local favorite biergarten.

Nate and Hayley in Heidenheim

On the 3rd day of their visit, we hopped a plane to the capital of The Netherlands for a nice 3-day holiday weekend.  One of the most interesting things about Amsterdam are all the canals running through the city.  Nicknamed, “the Venice of the North,” the city of Amsterdam originally built the canals in the 1600’s, it seems, as a means of handling a high level of immigration into the city and thus aiding residential development; the canals also provided a small means of defense.

Amsterdam Canal

Residential Buildings built alongside the Canal

Bustling Amsterdam

Nowadays because of a housing shortage (and because people are crazy??), there are a lot of houses…on the water.  Houseboats line many of the canals.  It was quite interesting to see the elaborate get-ups of some houses and the decrepit status of others.  Lots of people spent time sunning on their boats or, in the evening, sitting on their “decks,” watching over the canals, and sipping a drink of their choice.

Houseboats

Houseboat on the right

The first thing we did when we arrived in Amsterdam was head to the Anne Frank House.  Unfortunately no pictures were permitted, so there are none to document the museum.  Going through the house, though, was quite an experience.  Anne Frank’s Diary is a memoir that I think almost everyone has read in school or otherwise.  It’s also a story that people don’t tend to forget given that the truth of what was happening to Jewish people was told through the eyes of a young girl who should have been running outside, playing, and growing up instead of silently huddled in hiding to escape persecution.  The story resonates, but the sad truth of it all really comes to light when touring the house.  Actually seeing where there were 8 people in hiding, tip-toeing, restricting water usage, blocking out the windows and living without light; viewing the steep staircase where several workers risked their lives and the lives of their families to bring the Frank family food and supplies; walking underneath the bookcase that doubled as a door to the Frank hideout; it all seems even more despairing when seeing it in person.  Eventually the Frank’s were betrayed and were sent to various internment camps.  Otto Frank, Anne’s father, was the only survivor.  The Anne Frank House is not a happy place; it seems to exist outside the realm of all the other frivolities available in Amsterdam.  But it is incredibly important to take time and remember.

On to a lighter note….BEER.

Heineken everywhere!

Heineken!  Everywhere!  Heineken actually has a museum in Amsterdam that isn’t even called a museum; it’s an “experience.”  So, we took the bait and headed toward the Heineken Experience.

Nate and Hayley--Heineken Experience

The “Experience” included a tour of the history of Heineken, a look at the brewing methods, a taste of barley and water (without the hops), a 4-D ride where you yourself get “brewed” into beer, a tasting of the finished stuff, and 2 free beers.

Copper Kettles

Hayley cooks the barley

Looks....delicious?

Oh! And there were Heineken horses. This one's "Gerard"

Nate and Russ wait for the 4-D Ride

Let's be real, I didn't drink that. I hate beer.

See that Pepsi in the background? Yep, that's mine.

Unfortunately for Heineken and their “experience,” sacrilegious discussion was held at the table while drinking Heineken beer.  It kind of went like this,

“You know what?  I hate Heineken.”

“Yeah, it’s really not good at all.”

I think that is probably not what Heineken is trying to accomplish when offering up the “experience.” 😉

Ok, so what you’ve all been waiting for…the Red Light District. Yes, Amsterdam is just as advertised. Lots of “coffee shops,” lots of debauchery, lots of prostitutes.  We spent some daylight and some night hours touring the Red Light District.  (Ok, perhaps gawking is a more appropriate word?).  The street is, as advertised, lined with red lights and windows of scantily-clad women trying to get your attention.  Awkwardness ensues when they rap on the glass to get your attention.  Well, unless you’re looking for that kind of thing.  Plenty people were.  When they found what they were looking for, a curtain was pulled closed.  There are no pictures of the actual windows; the working women do not appreciate that.  But there were plenty of lurkers hanging around, plenty of smoke pouring out of surrounding cafés, and plenty of awkward eye contact.  ::look away::

Entering the Red Light District

Red Light

Red Light by Daylight

Russ finds it amusing to steathily capture a man in negotiations

We had a fantastic time in Amsterdam with Nate and Hayley!  I’ll share some more of my favorite pictures from our weekend below.  The rest you can check out on Russ’s photo website, as always.

In front of the Museum Quarter

Train Station

Superb 3-course dinner spot

Typical Pic

Tulip Markets

Venice of the North

along one the canals

Nate and Hayley--Sunset in Amsterdam

Lauren and Russ--sunset in Amsterdam

Goodnight, Amsterdam

 

To see more pictures of our trip to Amsterdam, please visit:

http://rlabarca.smugmug.com/Travel/Amsterdam-June-2011/17384360_NWJv6z#1321487253_ww9QHPx

 

Visiting Nürnberg!

This past weekend we embarked upon a trip to Nürnberg (English spelling: Nuremberg).  Nürnberg is only about 1 1/2 hrs. drive north of us, so it was perfect for a Saturday outing.  I also must mention that it was hot!  Friday through Sunday we had sun in southern Germany; it felt amazing, like summer should!  Needless to say, we’re back to rain today. 😛

In Nürnberg there is a lot to see.  It’s an interesting city because while most of it was destroyed by bombing during WWII and rebuilt to be modern, there are still parts that are of the medieval times.  One of the main places Lauren wanted to check out was the “Handwerkerhof.”  The Handwerkerhof is a preserved section of the city that has specialized crafts and hand-created arts such as hand-carved pewter, toys, glass blown objects, etc.  The best part is that it has maintained its old charm.

The entrance to the Handwerkerhof

In the Handwerkerhof

Handwerkerhof

A Serious Tourist Trap--but neat, nonetheless

From the Handwerkerhof (we escaped without purchasing anything!), we headed to the other sites of the city.  Nürnberg has many, many elaborate churches.  Most of the churches suffered significant damage during WWII and have been rebuilt according to their original styles (Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque…please don’t ask me which is which).  Some of the original churches were converted to Protestantism during the Reformation.

Lorezkirche--Gothic style, built in the late 13th Century

Lorenzkirche--restored after WWII

Frauenkirche--this church was actually built in the 14th Century to replace a synagogue that had been intentionally torn down

Sebalduskirche--Romanesque combined with Gothic style. This church contains the bones of the patron saint, St. Sebald, who died in Nuremberg before 1070.We really got a kick out of all the fountains in Nürnberg. Not only where there a lot, but they were elaborate and some of them were downright weird! One fountain depicted many different characters. As we got closer, we realized how strange the characters were...Lauren enjoyed this fat lady gorging herself on cake

Around the other side were skeletons strangling each other...

Overall, very strange and ornate

The next fountain we saw was the famous Schöner Brunner (literally, Beautiful Fountain).  The fountain is shaped like a Gothic church spire and has 40 sculptured figures that reflect the view of the Holy Roman Empire–philosophy and the 7 liberal arts; the 4 Evangelists and four Church Fathers; the seven electors and Nine Worthies; and Moses and the 7 prophets.  Within the wrought iron lies a fabled brass ring.  This brass ring is supposed to bring luck to any who touch it.  Unfortunately there were so many tours and tourists around that neither of of us got our hands on it.  It’s okay; we’ve been pretty lucky lately, anyway.

The Beautiful FountainA Close Up of the Beautiful Fountain

After walking around for a few hours, we were hungry!  It was time for us to indulge in some of the famous Nürnberger specialties.  Well, it’s no surprise that another city special involves Bratwurst.  The Nürnberger, however, is so specific to Nürnberg that if other places serve it, they have to change the name.  Really, though, it’s pretty simple and quite delicious.  So for two Euros each, we got these:

The Nürnberger--3 small sausages in a roll

We also picked up some fresh Lebkuchen from a stand at the outdoor market.  Lebkuchen is a delicious gingerbread cake that Nürnberg is also famous for and is especially popular throughout their Christmas markets.  We brought that home to enjoy.

The last sites of the day were also neat.  We visited the beautiful castle and enjoyed the view down over the city…

Castle Nuremberg

Inside the Castle Grounds

Royalty in the Castle?

Castle Tunnel

We saw the Executioner’s House.  Because this job was necessary but thought of to be evil, the Executioner lived in a house over the river where he was generally isolated from society.  We really wanted to go down in the dungeons and cellars of Nürnberg, but you can only have admittance with a guided tour–unfortunately all the tours are in German, and we’re just not that good yet. 🙂

The Executioner's House

Executioner's House

We finished our day with dinner at the LiteraturHaus Cafe.  Nürnberg is really a beautiful city, and we can’t wait to go back to the Christmas Markets!

Russ in Nürnberg

Russ and Lauren at Castle Nürnberg

More pictures:

http://rlabarca.smugmug.com/Travel/Nürnberg-21-Aug-2010/

Volkswagen Automobil Forum Berlin

As Lauren alluded in the Berlin post, one of the sites we thoroughly enjoyed (and this is true because there was art that Lauren liked beyond just the cars!) was the Volkswagen Group Automobil Forum.  

A brief education: the VW Gruppe consists of many divisions, including other companies which VW has purchased throughout the years: Seat (Spanish), Skoda (Czech), Bentley (British), Bugatti (French); there is also a truck division, and others.  Of course Porsche, Audi, and Lamborghini are closely related, but this Forum covered just cars directly under the VW umbrella. 

Seat Ibiza Cupra

Bugatti Veyron - 1,001 HP, $1.7M, formerly world's fastest production car (now held by the SS version)

The showroom was on the main floor.  Downstairs, there were a variety of science/art exhibits. 

Nemo Observatorium: calm and safe inside the eye of the storm.

Absolut Quartet: the computer creates a musical piece based on a few notes of user input.

Tool's Life: the objects' shadows spring to life when touched.

I couldn’t leave without trying out the seat on the new Golf R (the newest version of my car).  Superb inside; doubtful they will sell it in the US (because of price, exclusivity, and changes to meet US DOT regulations.  Also why I probably won’t be bringing one back with me next year :-)). 

Amazing seat and steering wheel, seriously.

Russ und der Golf VI R. Möchten.

Not quite as extravagant as the BMW Welt, but definitely a fun stop – and I’m very glad to have sat in the rare Golf R! 

Of course there are many more pictures to be found (of the cars and the art exhibits) here: 

Berlin Automobil Forum pictures

Berlin!

While Mom and Dad were here, we decided that we wanted to take a long weekend and go on a trip.  Mom and Dad started their trip in Switzerland, were headed to Austria, Switzerland, and a little bit of Italy after they were leaving us, so we decided to head to Berlin, Deutschland’s capital.

Russ took Friday off, so we began our long drive around 9:30 in the morning.  All in all, the drive to Berlin takes about 6 hours, not counting bathroom and eating breaks.  We did pretty well, only stopping twice.  Because we didn’t want to spend a whole lot of time at the rest areas, we ended up eating something very familiar.  McDonald’s!  Ich leibe es.  (I’m loving it). 

When we arrived in Berlin it was dreary and rainy.  Poor Russ pretty much drove the whole way through downpours and steady rain.  We rested for a little bit and then decided to head out to have a look around and to find something to eat for dinner. 

Eventually we wound up eating outside despite the rain, under a canopy of umbrellas at the restaurant “Deutsche Kuchen.”  Will saw a sign for all German cuisine and he ordered, “Let’s go!”  Our waiter was very funny.  “Well, well, American life in Berlin.”  The menu was even a little advanced for Russ and Lauren.  While we could pick out a few things, we decided we’d better ask for an English menu so that we didn’t end up ordering something with eyeballs.  When Lauren asked, “Haben Sie eine Speisekarte auf Englisch?,” our waiter raised his eyebrows and replied, “Naturlisch” and went off to find us some more readable menus.  Funnily, he left Lauren with a German menu and conversed with her in that manner during the dinner.  The Deutsche Kuchen was where we tried some of our very German cuisine that was mentioned in the previous post–Sauerbraten, sauerkraut with boiled potatoes, cooked red cabbage, weinerschnitzel, etc.  Oh!  And of course some good beer for the gentlemen.  We ordered Dad a Hefeweisen (wheat beer), but when Russ requested a Dunkel (very, very dark beer) the waiter asked again to make sure that’s what he wanted.  He didn’t want to surprise the American with anything more than he could handle!!

Deutsche Kuchen--It was rainy, but warm enough to sit outside under a canopy!

 

Russ and Lauren at Deutsche Kuchen in Berlin

 After dinner we wandered around a little bit more and then decided to retire for the evening. 

Russ and Lauren have become very thrifty in their adventures.  Instead of paying the exorbitant price for hotel breakfasts, they bring apples and grab a pastry at a local bakery for breakfast.  Lauren found her favorite Shokocrossoiants in Berlin.  (Yum, chocolate for breakfast!) For anyone who knows how Pam and Will travel, it will not shock you that they wouldn’t pay for the expensive breakfast either.  However, in true Pam and Will-style, they found a grocery store in which they purchased all their breakfast goodies the night before.  It was almost serendipitous for two tramps like them–the grocery store was directly beside our hotel!

The first place we headed was toward the Brandenburg Gate.  Lauren booked a “Hop On-Hop Off” tour to take everyone around the city.  It’s a great tour system because the guide gave information in English and German to people on the bus (double-decker/open-air on top!).  When they pulled over at various spots, we were free to get off and explore with the knowledge that in 15 minutes, another Hop On-Hop Off would be in that very spot.  Busses ran like that until 5 PM. 

Hop On-Hop Off Bus

The Brandenburg Gate

 

Pam at the Brandenburg Gate

The tour was really nice.  We had plenty of room up on top of the bus, and we could see everything beautifully. 

The Reichstag--German Government Building

 

The German "White House"

We hadn’t been riding for too long when Mom and Dad decided that they wanted to get off.  We didn’t think this would be a problem because the last time the bus stopped, it was on a 15 minute break.  However, this time, about 2 minutes after Pam and Will departed, our bus pulled away.  The looks on our faces must have been priceless–jaws dropped, fingers pointing.  I believe Russ was probably the only one thinking, “I knew that would happen.”

Pam with painted pieces of the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall--Painted

Old Wall Left Standing

Entering the Old American Sector of the City--Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie--Russ and I got a real kick out of these "actors"

Holocaust Memorial

Inside the Holocaust Memorial--a very disorienting, claustrophobic feeling

Back at the Reichstag

Happy Travelers

Pretzel Snack on the Lawn of the Reichstag

At the conclusion of our tour we split up for a little bit.  Russ and Lauren walked around, had currywurst for lunch by the Brandenburg Gate, and ended up at the Volkswagen Display Room.  I know that all the LaBarcas are shocked by this. hehe.  I will not report on that here, however.  Russ will give a full blog later.

We all met back at the hotel later because we had a very special evening planned.  We had tickets to attend a Baroque concert and dinner at the Charlottenburg Palace.  Russ did a wonderful job of figuring out the public transportation to get us there, and we walked into a beautiful evening.

Charlottenburg Palace

Pam and Lauren at The Charlottenburg Palace

 

 

 

The OrangerieThe dinner and concert were to be held at The Orangerie (literally, an orange garden) of the castle. At the outside of the entrance we were met by the official summoner of the king. He was dressed in Baroque-style garb, powdered wig and all. Somehow, both photographers neglected to take pictures of the ensemble in their dress! Upon entering, we walked into the hall with rooms on both sides of us. To the right was the beautiful area in which the music would be played. The Orangerie Hall