Madrid

Sarah and I arrived a little late in Madrid – our AirEuropa flight did about four circles of the city before we were cleared for landing. Needless to say, after eight train / bus connections in Amsterdam to get to and from Keukenkof (and back to the airport) and a delayed flight, we were both ready to crash when we got to our hotel. Sarah occasionally mentions that we’re on our honeymoon when booking hotels (mostly for the purpose of making sure we get a room with a double bed, rather than a room with two twins) and the Hotel Claridge definitely took this to heart – we were upgraded to one of their two suites! We sprawled out in the spacious room and got to sleep early so we’d be fresh for the rest of our time in Madrid.

Given that Madrid is a little more spread out than some of the other cities we’ve been to recently, we decided to book two days on a hop on / hop off bus to get around the city’s main attractions. Before setting out for the day, though, we took advantage of the “spacious” gym in the hotel. “Spacious” is a bit of an understatement…this is the biggest and nicest gym we’ve seen so far on our trip! We got a great workout in, then headed to grab coffees and “hop on” the first bus.

Some views from the bus. Here’s the beautiful Plaza de Cibeles.

A courtyard off of Calle Mayor, one of the city’s most historic streets.

In a change from the usual Spanish architecture, we passed this building with cubist figures on the top.

After riding around the city for an hour or so, we got off near a restaurant Sarah had scouted out for lunch, Casa9. We are still adjusting to the Spanish eating schedule because we were expecting to be on the later end of the lunch crowd by arriving at 2pm…but we were the first lunch diners to arrive! (The place was packed by the time we left at 3:30pm, though.) The food was excellent – every day a new three course menu is prepared – and we left feeling a bit lethargic. Good thing we can just sit on the bus for the next hour to see the remainder of the city!

We rode to the Botanical Gardens and got out to walk around there for a bit. The Gardens, and nearby Retiro Park, are beautiful and not overly crowded. We had fantastic weather this afternoon so we took advantage and strolled through the greenery for a couple hours.

One of the many pathways through the Gardens.

Like Central Park, the Gardens are lined by buildings on all sides – a reminder that we’re still in downtown Madrid.

A statue of King Charles (a.k.a. Carlos) III, who created the Gardens here in 1774.

Pretty scenic views this afternoon.

Monument to General Arsenio Martínez-Campos in the Retiro Park.

The Park is so big that we were by ourselves in many of its more remote corners.

Looking into the Park at the Monument to Alfonso XII.

Though we were both enjoying the walk around the Park, Sarah’s not-so-well-broken-in sandals began to give her some serious blisters. So we headed out in search of some other footwear in the Salamanca district we passed on the bus earlier today.

The Alcalá Gate. We walked past it on our way to some of the shops.

Unfortunately we didn’t find any new sandals for Sarah. So instead we decided to find a place for dinner and perch there for a few hours. In need of some place to sit quickly, we popped into Triana for a drink. Little did we know that with each drink order you receive a tapa as well! So we let Sarah’s feet rest, sipped a drink and munched on croquettes.

The real tapas highlight was at La Catapa for dinner. The joint was jumpin’ with locals enjoying tapas on a Friday night so we had to wait a few minutes to find a place to stand at the bar. We stood out as Americans (since every other person there was a local) but that actually worked in our favor – the chef came out and explained the entire menu in very good English! We placed an order for a handful of small plates and were extremely happy for his delicious recommendations. Full of tapas, we headed home to get some rest after a long (but very fun) first day.

We had a very leisurely start to the day on Saturday – we slept in pretty late, then had another long workout at the gym. By the time we were ready to leave our hotel, it was already time for lunch (and by that I mean, it was already 2pm). Sarah found a place nearby, Rincon de Fogg, which we both thought would have more of a brunch-type offering. Turned out that restaurant is better known for burgers…fine with me!

After lunch we hopped on the bus again to explore the second route around the city. This route was reviewed as the “less popular” route and after taking both we definitely agree. I think the main purpose of this route is to get people up to the stadium where Real Madrid plays – not that many other interesting sights to see on the bus. We did get a good view of the Christopher Columbus monument, though.

The Christopher Columbus monument.

It was really hot on Saturday so by the time the bus had completed its route, we were both ready to cool off in the shade and re-hydrate. We grabbed some waters and sat down at The Cask to cool off. Next we headed to Grand Via for Sarah to continue her hunt for sandals. I hung in there for a couple stores, then decided an outdoor bar with free WiFi was a better place to pass the time!

Grand Via, one of the main shopping areas in Madrid.

Once Sarah was done shopping – though still no sandals! – we walked over to the Royal Palace of Madrid and the Almudena Cathedral. We’d passed these sights on the bus yesterday but wanted a closer look.

Some of the beautiful buildings nearby the Palace.

The Plaza de Oriente, just across from the Palace.

The Royal Palace of Madrid.

The Almudena Cathedral, next to the Palace. We saw a few couple taking wedding photos out front…but we don’t think any of them actually got married in there.

Our last stop of the day, timed to coincide with sunset, was the Temple of Debod, an Egyptian temple reconstructed here (the temple was donated to Spain in the 1960s). Sarah read that this was an excellent place to watch the sunset and her travel research proved spot-on again. Not the sunset view I was expecting in Madrid, but spectacular nonetheless.

Sarah’s favorite building in Madrid (we walked past it on our way to the Temple of Debod).

Dusk at the Temple of Debod.

As the sun set behind the trees, the temple became illuminated by lights in the ground. Easy to see why many flock here to see the sunset!

Most of the locals who came to the Temple of Debod to watch the sunset brought light tapas with them to snack on. We probably should’ve done the same (the sun didn’t set until 9:30pm!) but we hadn’t thought that far ahead. So as soon as we’d snapped some pictures we headed to two tapas places to eat. Entrevinos was our first stop, then we went to Origen. Entrevinos was very tasty, but more expensive than many of the other places we’d been; Origen had a more modern spin on traditional Tapas and we loved the unique dishes there (especially the caramelized tomato!).

Meat spread at Entrevinos – it tasted as good as it looked.

Tomorrow we are flying to San Sebastian for three days in what many describe as a “magical” town. Our good friend Jigar is meeting us at the airport to join our travels for the next week – so we have even more reason to be excited for this next stop!

Amsterdam

Having only a hazy memory of the whirlwind weekend I spent in Amsterdam while abroad ten years ago, I was excited to return with Alex.

We got to our hotel by 8am and were once again thankful to be allowed an extremely early check-in. Reviews of Amstel Corner had mentioned the steep stairs - typical of many older Amsterdam homes - and they weren't exaggerating! In addition to the incline and narrow steps, the walls were freshly painted so we really had to focus to avoid falling and / or ruining our clothes!

After resting for a bit we set off to grab some coffee and wander the streets and canals. Admittedly I had forgotten just how beautiful the city is and Alex and I enjoyed slowly strolling about and taking it all in.

Pretty much the view down every street!

It is tulip season in Holland!

We stopped for lunch at the crowded Omelegg and immediately realized why the place is so popular - they make delicious, huge omelettes with just about any ingredient you desire. Not standard Dutch food but something we hadn't had in long time!

We went to check out the floating flower market but were a little disappointed - in addition to being overrun with other tourists, the stalls sold mostly tulip bulbs and other tchotchkes, not fresh flowers. Oh well!

One of our favorite "houseboats" - these things definitely cannot fit under the low canal bridges with masts like that!

But these smaller ferryboats cruised around just fine.

Not sure whether we saw more boats or bicycles!

We were feeling pretty tired from our 3:30am wake up so we went back to our hotel for a nap before dinner. After a little rest, we walked to a cute outdoor bar filled with locals, many of whom were drinking our favorite US beers! Alex ordered a Brooklyn Lager and I had an Anchor Steam - great reminders of home after a month of pilsners. For dinner we walked down the block to Oresti's and enjoyed a casual meal of Greek small-plates before heading back to crash at our hotel.

Tuesday morning we grabbed coffees and enjoyed yet another beautiful stroll around the city. Given the looming clouds, I made a mental note to stop back into a few shops if the weather turned nasty later on. We had an amazing lunch at Broodje Bert – highly recommended for delicious sandwiches – before we indeed needed to dodge the pouring rain at a nearby café. We then tried to visit the Anne Frank House but weren’t really up for a two hour wait in the rain. Since I had visited during my previous trip and Alex and I agreed we have both had a lot of recent exposure to the Holocaust, we decided to skip it this time around. Instead we headed back to our hotel to catch up on trip planning and wait out the weather. We headed to dinner at The Pantry and snagged the last available table, which was outside! Even though my feet were a little cold, I was glad we decided to stay as our traditional Dutch meal (heavy on the meats and carbs) was incredible.

I started Wednesday by dropping off our – long overdue – laundry and went for a run. Unfortunately, by the time I returned it had started raining again so we took our time getting ready for the day. After a quick lunch we returned to check out some of the shops I had seen earlier but again were caught in the rain. We grabbed a drink nearby and waited until the rain passed to head to the Van Gogh Museum.

After a few hours exploring the museum, which is definitely one of our favorites, we filled up on wine, meats and cheese at Van Hoeck and called it an early night.

The traditional types of meats in Amsterdam were often served raw and uncured, which was a very different take than the Italian and Spanish-style meat plates we are used to. Also, we had no idea Dutch cheese was such a thing, but there were shops selling massive cheese wheels everywhere.

Today we woke up early and picked up coffees and sandwiches to go before heading to Keukenkof Gardens to explore Holland’s famous tulip fields. While the “fields” themselves weren’t much to see – at least those open to the public – the park itself is gorgeous and well worth the three modes of public transportation required to get there!

What a beautiful place to stroll around.

Rows and rows of colorful tulips.

Despite the crowds and sometimes maddening hoards of tourists, we still managed to steal some quiet moments due to the massive size of the park!

We may not have found the endless fields of colorful tulips, but the gardens were still incredible.

So pretty.

Even though the tulip fields were largely depleted (it's the end of the season), the views were still pretty great.

Hard to believe this scene only lasts for two months out of the entire year.

I'm so glad we dealt with the hassle of getting to Keukenhof - it was definitely worth the trouble. We are heading to Madrid tonight and excited to spend the next two weeks in Spain. Ole!

Top Takeaways (Twenty Two) - Central & Eastern Europe

Alex and I spent the last two and a half weeks exploring Central and Eastern Europe. The weather was a bit colder than we've been used to, but the cities we saw were amazing. Here are our top takeaways.

Sunrise in Budapest.

1. The Holocaust, World War II and post-war Communism have really impacted these countries in a meaningful way. From the killing of innocent civilians to economic hardship, we definitely felt the lingering effects as we explored. We made a point to see many of the museums / monuments dedicated to these horrible times in our history along our trip and they left a lasting impression on us.

2. That said, we found it a bit jarring that in each place we went there seemed to be a competition of sorts about who was worse off during and after the war. Obviously each country wants to tell its story, and there were absolutely atrocities that occurred in each place we went, but we would've preferred to hear the history without the "Oh, you think Poland had it bad, let me tell you about Hungary!" attitude - it felt like some tour guides were unintentionally minimalizing the experience in other countries to highlight their own.

3. On a lighter note...wine is really cheap and the "house" varieties are quite good! Most people probably think more of beer in this area - which is definitely popular - but we continued to find that the local wines were great (and about $2 per glass!).

4. Meals are hearty and perfect for cold, dreary days - comfort food perfected! We loved the meat and carb-heavy dishes after a long day of walking around outside. And it went well with the cooler weather we had in each city!

5. Architecture is stunning and charming - the castles are straight out of Disney movies and fairy tales. Even walking down a quiet street we were in love with the old buildings (Mama Foster would be proud!).

6. While not as obvious as in India, there are definitely people aiming to take advantage of tourists. Taxis were our biggest problem but after our first unfortunate incident we were always on the lookout.

7. Waking up early for the sunrise has many benefits - not only did we get to enjoy beautiful scenery, but virtually no other tourists were in sight. We were then able to walk through the most touristy locations alone - very different than during the day!

8. All the cities we visited were very pedestrian friendly. Not only were the urban areas condensed enough that walking around wasn't a problem, but we found that motorists almost ALWAYS stopped to let pedestrians cross at crosswalks. A similar courtesy would not be extended in New York City!

9. Train travel in Europe puts everywhere else (except Japan) to shame. Our trains were very clean, ran on time and had top-notch amenities. Our sleeper car from Prague to Krakow seemed like the Four Seasons compared to our overnight trains in Thailand and Vietnam (though that's not really a fair comparison...).

10. English is everywhere. We thought that when we got to Europe we'd have to fend for ourselves with the local language more often, but so far everyone we've encountered has spoken at least some English. Makes it incredibly easy to get by!

Peak: Budapest. A completely unexpected gem and our favorite city in Central / Eastern Europe. HIGHLY recommend to anyone looking to take a trip to Europe!

Pit: Cab scams - be prepared for a hassle in each of these cities (though to a much greater degree in Budapest and Prague).

Next Stop: Amsterdam

Berlin

Sarah and I arrived in Berlin around mid-day on Thursday. After taking a cab to our hotel, the first order of business was a late lunch at Muse. We'd read that there are a lot of Brooklyn-type hipsters in Berlin and, based on the scene we found at this restaurant, we understand why the city has the reputation! The food was great and we had a good time lingering for an hour or so...even if we were the least cool people in there.

Once we were done with lunch, we set out to explore the neighborhood a bit. However, almost as soon as we left it began to rain. When the drizzle turned into a downpour, we ducked into Weinberg to try a glass of local wine and wait it out. Fortunately there was a break in the rain shortly thereafter so we hightailed it back to our hotel.

The weather was pretty strange - only a few minutes before Sarah snapped this picture it was pouring. Guess the clouds rolled out quickly.

As swiftly as the rain had cleared, however, the weather again turned nasty. Since we had three more full days to explore Berlin we decided to rest and take it easy, keeping our fingers crossed for better weather over the weekend. After a quick dinner in the hotel we called it a night early and planned out the remainder of our time here.

Our hopes for better weather were fulfilled on Friday morning. We woke up to mostly sunny skies so we bought a bus ticket and headed into the center of town. Our first stop (unintentionally) was Berlin's Holocaust Memorial, also known as the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The monument is a series of uneven slabs of varying heights...meant to represent the disorder caused by the Holocaust. It was an interesting monument, but both of us were a little horrified by the giggling tweens taking selfies at what is supposed to be a somber reminder of a horrible part of Germany's history.

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

The view from "inside" the monument. The slabs are of varying heights so towards the middle it feels more like you're walking down a hallway than through an open plaza.

Our next stop (and intended first stop) was Brandenburg Gate, arguably Berlin's most recognizable tourist attraction. Because Friday was May Day in Germany (most businesses were closed) there was an outdoor festival set up nearby with lots of food and drink stands. So I'm sure it was even more crowded than normal!

Brandenburg Gate.

There was a pavilion set up for tourists to take photos of the gate. It took us about 10 minutes of waiting to get up to the top, but it was worth it to get this picture.

At this point we were ready for lunch. Given the May Day celebrations, though, finding a place that was open proved to be a bit of a challenge. We eventually stumbled upon Dada Falafel and helped ourselves to big portions of, what else, falafel. From here, our next stop was the Reichstag - about a 20 minute walk from lunch.

On the way to the Reichstag - here's the view from behind.

The Reichstag.

One more from up close.

We knew that we had to register to get inside the Reichstag. After all, it is the actively used parliamentary building for Germany. We didn't realize how long the line would take to actually register though. We waited for almost two hours but finally were able to slot ourselves in for Saturday. It was a bit of a waste of time to wait in line for so long - you can reserve a time online, but only at a minimum of five days in advance - but we both wanted to make sure we saw it. We'll be back for sunset tomorrow!

From here we walked south to see Potsdamer Platz, the Topography of Terror and Checkpoint Charlie. The Topography of Terror was very informative and pretty easy to navigate quickly - the outdoor timeline presented the rise of Hitler and the Nazis in a concise (and chronological) format. On the other hand, Checkpoint Charlie was a little disappointing. Not much to see nowadays...and the primary attraction was a photo op with actors dressed as US Soldiers. We passed. There was an interesting (and we assume somewhat scandalous) banner nearby condemning Putin's annexation of Crimea though.

Haven't seen anything like this before...

As the sun started to get lower in the sky, the temperature cooled down a lot so we decided to grab at seat at Solar and take in the views of the city. Once we got hungry, we took a taxi to Pasternak, a Russian restaurant close to our hotel. As we expected, the food was very filling - lots of meat and potatoes! - but it was the perfect end to our day.

Sunset views at Solar.

Our first stop on Saturday was the Berlin Cathedral, en route to the Winterfeldtplatz Market. This market is set up a couple days each week and offers produce, baked goods and local foods prepared fresh. So we decided that would be a great way to snack on a bunch of different foods for lunch. We weren't disappointed! We shared a giant sausage with mustard, currywurst, Russian dumplings, Turkish meatballs and cherry strudel. Good thing the portions were small!

The Berlin Cathedral.

Sarah's favorite building in Berlin - we passed this on our way to the market, sandwiched in between two much bigger, and much uglier, condo buildings.

After feasting at the market and wandering around the shops for an hour or so, we walked north to see more of Tiergarten Park and the Berlin Victory Column. The park is beautiful and the victory column is pretty impressive - definitely worth a visit.

Some locals enjoying the spring weather in the park.

Berlin's Victory Column.

For what will probably be our last World War II / Holocaust related activity of the trip, we tried to find Sarah's grandmother's house that she abandoned as a child to escape the Nazis. Unfortunately, it no longer exists - some large, boxy condos were built there sometime in the 80s (we think). Too bad we weren't able to see Hannah's old house...

We strolled around the city lazily for the next couple hours, killing time until our appointment in the Reichstag. Even though we were both a little bored in the afternoon, the decision to book a time later in the day turned out to be a good one though - we had excellent views of the city just as the sun was beginning to set.

The dome of the Reichstag.

The path to the top of the dome is a circular ramp that provides 360 views of Berlin. Not a bad view as we listened to the history of the building on our audio guides.

One more from the top of the dome.

The afternoon light reflecting off the center of the dome was really cool.

After our (completely free!) tour concluded, we took a taxi to dinner at Umami, an Asian place not too far from our hotel. The food didn't take long to prepare - but we had to send it back because there were peanuts in half the dishes (even though I specifically requested no nuts, obviously). Once the food did come it was delicious...worth the extra wait time for the kitchen to remake it.

The focus of our day today was to see the East Side Gallery, a collection of murals painted on the Berlin Wall after the end of the Cold War. After a long brunch at Betty'n Caty Café we hopped on a tram over to the gallery. The art ranged from serious to funny to bizarre, but all was related to freedom and the end of the war. It's more than a kilometer long so we took our time strolling by the artwork, snapping some pictures of our favorites.

That's about all we have to report from Berlin. We were both feeling tired so all we spent the rest of the day relaxing. Tomorrow we fly very early to Amsterdam and have four days to explore the city and its canals!

Auschwitz

Today was one of the most difficult experiences I've had throughout our journey. While Alex and I both agreed we were mentally prepared for Auschwitz, armed with prior knowledge of the horrors that occurred during the Holocaust, walking through the site of so many atrocities was all at once powerful, eye-opening, devastating and ghastly.

"Work makes you free."

We visited both Auschwitz I and nearby Auschwitz II-Birkenau and I am finding it very challenging to describe what we saw. How can you properly ascribe meaning to a room full of thousands of shoes stolen from people before they entered the gas chambers? Or the way it felt to walk around the ruins of human ovens and crematoriums that soldiers tried unsuccessfully to destroy before the war ended? I'm not sure I can really convey all of these feelings properly, but there were a few photos and quotations that stuck out meaningfully to both of us.

Looking down the double, electrified fences.

"Forever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity" (Holocaust memorial). 

Nazi railways dropped off prisoners directly at the camps.

Often hundreds of passengers would be crammed into these cars, nestled on top of one other for days (sometimes weeks) without access to food or toilets; many died before arriving at the camps.

The shooting wall, now a memorial to victims. “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness” (Elie Wiesel).

Throughout the day there were a few thoughts that kept playing on a loop in my head.

First: How? How did this happen? There really just isn't a way to comprehend the unimaginable acts perpetuated by the Nazis. I was moved by the following quote captured within the museum "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" (George Santayana) but saddened to put those words into the broader context of the world today. Genocide is not just a horror of the past and humans remain capable of great tragedy.

Second: I am lucky. My great-grandparents were murdered here in 1943 and were it not for their careful planning, my grandmother would not have been sent to England, then later Cincinnati, where she met my grandfather and had my dad. As I mourned for their loss I tried to remain grateful for their sacrifice.

Last: Never Forget. We must remember what happened here and what we as humans are truly capable of. Over 11 million people were exterminated during the Holocaust and each of us must honor their memory but making sure we never repeat such heinous acts against one another.

"Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart" (Anne Frank).