Well, here I am. I finally have enough time on free internet to bring things up to date...
I've made two stops so far and both have been quite eye opening and thrilling in so many different ways.
First was Amsterdam. I made it without any difficulty, but once I stepped out of Centraal Station, it was obvious I was in Europe. One thing that was of great comfort to me was that every resident I encountered spoke perfect English.
In all honesty, Amsterdam was not, upon my immediate impression, what I had imagined it to be. I guess it cannot be fair of me to judge such a celebrated city so quickly. When I first began following the directions to my hostel it took me immediately through the Red Light District. Thank Heavens it was only 11 a.m. I guess it was such a shock to my modest sense of values I was quickly turned off. It didn't help matters much either when I lost myself in the confusing streets crossing the canals. I made it safely however, and after setting my things down, set out to discover Amsterdam.
I was pleased to see that my hostel was, as advertised, right in front of one of the city's oldest canals. So I spent a great deal of time wandering the beautiful old canal streets and orienting myself to my surroundings. I then found my waz to the Dutch Historichmuseum, and learned a great deal about the founding of Amsterdam, how it came to become a canal city, look at a splendid array of preserved artefacts and learn about their glorious golden age of trade and travel.
I finished the day sitting alongside a canal with a cappucino enjoying the atmosphere and observing the people and way of life. In this more quiet laid back part of Amsterdam I cam to understand more about Amsterdam and appreciate it for the culture's unique sense of beauty. They cherish their time with friends and family, and will take a hour from a busy scedule to peacefully sit down with a friend over a cup of coffee. I noticed a young family just sitting on their front step of their canal house, watching the world go by and chatting away, food sitting right next to them, still hot in the frying pan.
I also was struck by the beauty of the church bells in Amsterdam. Not just regular chimes of monotone ding-dong back and forth but in rang in different pitches and harmonized parts to a musical piece or song. It was quite unlike any church bells I've heard before. The beauty of those sounds always seemed to stop me in my frenyied travel pace and draw me in to a sense of peace and prayer.
The most wonderful thing I did in Amsterdam was take the Canal Bus, a canal boat that works like the common tourist hop-on hop-off busses. I rode the canal boat to a few destinations but I most enjoyed just riding the whole route and even over again, and just sat there, taking it all in as we drove by. Of the many other things I saw were the Anne Frankhuis (not all that I thought it would be, and a bit dissapointing) and the Rijksmuseum, a lovely museum filled with mostly art from Holland's Golden Age. I found it to be a very enjoyable and worthwhile display, but I have always loved the personality and simplicity in much of Dutch 18th century Art, especially that of Johannes Vermeer.
So that is most of Amsterdam, and to finish up destination number 2 before it gets too late for me...
After today I find Berlin absolutely enjoyable. I also did not expect too much as I was aware from my history studies and the travel books that much of Berlin is modern due to the aftermath of destruction from WWII and the Communist Regime. Berlin has so much more to offer though, I would have to greatly credit my new admiration to the company that put on the New Berlin tours. It was a free 3 hour long tour, that was worth every moment. Through this I not only gained my bearings walking around Berlin, but learned from my guide, the significance culturally and historically of the major locations we saw, which was alot! It would be too much to reiterate it all but I gained a great deal from this experience. One, the information I heard on this tour tied all my scattered knowledge of German History together and helped me to comprehend and interpret the significance of such events in not only Germany's national history but its effect in World history as well. Another, the tour and information was presented in such a fascinating, passionate and entertaining way, it really seemed to make the history come alive! Finally, much of my negative opinions on the modern architecture was thrown aside as I learned that many of these were constructed by the communist dictatorship in East Berlin and was their attempt at creating a national monument, or to learn the symbolism and thinking behind a buildings architecture. Having these things explained to me really cleared up any doubts I had.
I unfortunately though, did not expect much and only scheduled enought for one full day's tourism. After the tour, I vistied the National German History Museum, and saw all the other major sites... I have no regrets for not seeing enough this time, however, and I look forward to that other time in the unseen future when I may return again to see Berlin again in a new light.
It's off to Prague tomorrow morning! Until then.... Cheers!