Well I arrived safely
into Paris. I managed to catch up with Alex and Nicole the same day in Paris
and we went out for dinner with Tim (Alex’s friend). It was really nice to see
some familiar faces again. The next day on my birthday we hit the town visiting
all the big spots including the Eifel Tower, Arc Triomphe and Notre Dame Church.
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| The iconic Eifel tower |
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| In front of the Eiffel towel on the double decker city bus tours |
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| Nicole and Alex right under neath the Eiffel tower just before we went to the top |
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| Alex and I at the top of the Eiffel tower on my birthday |
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| Alex and Nicole outside Notre Dame Cathedral |
We also went to the
Louvre and saw a few famous pieces including the Mona Lisa. It was great to have
Nicole with me so I knew what I was looking at!! It was the AFL grand final the
next day so we headed to the local Aussie bar at 6am to watch the Hawks go down
in a close one.
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| The Louvre by night |
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| Mona Lisa in the background past the layers of tourists trying to grab a glimpse |
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Nicole in front of The Wedding at Cana painting, which is opposite the Mona Lisa.
It was one of my favourite paintings in the Louvre |
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| The AFL Grandfinal at Cafe Oz in Paris |
We decided to head out
of Paris for a few days to get away from the hustle and bustle. We headed to
Tours, which was a two-hour train ride out of Paris. The area is well known for
its castles, which the kings and queens of France used over the centuries.
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| Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau with it's foundations in the water |
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| Chateau de Villandry, which has some impressive gardens |
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| The pond at the back of Chateau de Villandry |
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| We went out for dinner in Tours' town square, which was quite lively with local students singing and drinking |
After our two day adventure to Tours it was back to Paris and time to head to Munich for Oktoberfest. I caught the overnight train to Munich while Alex and Nicole came the next day. Alex's friend Sophie met us in Munich and once we were all together first stop was to get dressed in the right attire. Alex found a nice little store off a side street, which had a very helpful local who chose all our clothes for us.
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| Alex and I with our German fitter. |
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| The Gang (Me, Nicole, Alex and Sophie) ready to hit the tents. |
The Oktoberfest tents are just like we imagined. Huge tents with thousands of people in each seeing and swaying to live german bands in the centre of the tents. When I arrived on the overnight train I walked through the Oktoberfest grounds while it was quiet. When I was there at 8:30am there were already people lining up at the beer hall tents.
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| The lines begin early at Oktoberfest |
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| Alex and I looking the part |
The tents were a fusion of all different nationalities. There were a lot of Aussies, Italians and of course Germans throughout the beer tents. The waiters carried about 4 steins in each hand weighing upwards of 10kg. Someone told me that the waiters prior to Oktoberfest hit the gym to get their arms nice and strong. We went through an aussie company called the fanatics who organised all sorts of group sporting and cultural events around the world. We were there during mid-week when there were only a few hundred fanatics but they said that on the weekend they were expecting 1200 people. It's been amazing how many Australians I have met on the trip so it wasn't surprising to hear 1200 would descend on Munich on any given weekend.
The waiters with their 1L steins heading out to the tables. A lot of them had whistles in there mouths so they could clear a path through the rowdy crowd.
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| Alex and I with some of the locals from Braveria |
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| Alex in the Lowenbrau beer tent |
After three nights in Oktoberfest it was time to get out and let our bodies recover a little. Sophie had to go back to work in London and Nicole was back to Melbourne for the next school term. We said our goodbyes and then Alex and I were off to Berlin to learn more about the history of the 20th century.
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| The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin |
We were in Berlin for 3 nights and we have discovered the best step to exploring any new city is to go on a 'free' walking tour around the city. In every city i've been to in Europe there has been a free walking tour. They are a tip based tour so if you like the tour you give them some money and if you don't you aren't obliged to give anything. This system however creates good guides who work to entertain and teach you about the cities and all have deserved a good tip.
The guide in Berlin told us about the Brandenburg gates and explained the chariot on top was taken by Napoleon in 1806 after he triumphed over Prussia (now Germany). He took the chariot back to Paris as a war trophy. In 1814 when Prussia attacked and occupied Paris the Prussians took back the chariot and put it back in its rightful spot a top of the Brandenburg gates. The square in front of the chariot was renamed Paris as the driver of the chariot was Victoria (goddess of victory). So the chariot became known as a symbol of the victory over paris. The guide joked that the germans did have a sense of humour after all considering prior to Napoleon taking the chariot the chariot driver was the goddess of peace. The Prussians changed the driver to remind the world they were victorious (albeit for while) over France and Paris.
The guide also took us to see the Jewish Memorial for WWII; what remains of the Berlin Wall and Check-point Charlie. Mum said she went through checkpoint Charlie in 1967 when there was strict control over the wall and who passed through it. Very different time to what Alex and I saw of it in 2012.
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| The Jewish Memorial for WWII |
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| One of only three sections of the Berlin wall remaining. |
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| Alex and I at check-point Charlie |
It was great to visit Berlin as I studied the reunification of East and West Germany while I was at school. After a few days though of exploring it was time to get back on the trains and head for Prague. Prague is a beautiful town and they call it Little Paris of the east. They believed that it was so like a miniature Paris that they built there own Eiffel tower (Petrin Lookout tower) in 1891 only two years after the Eiffel tower (erected in 1889) was built for the world fair. The Petrin Lookout tower is the same height above the city as the Eiffel tower however it is only 63.5m as it was built on a large hill over looking the city.
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| Taking a photo from the base of Petrin Lookout tower |
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| The view from the tower overlooking Prague Castle (left), Vltave River and the famous Charles' bridge (right) |
Alex and I visited the main sites in Prague looking at the #1 tourist trap in Europe, The Prague Astronomical clock voted the worst tourist let down in all of europe according to Lonely Planet. I was reasonably satisfied with the clock considering it was made in 1410.
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| Prague Astronomical Clock |
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| The old town square in Prague with a street performer making big bubbles for tips |
After visiting the old town square we headed over to the Prague castle, which still operates as Parliament for Czechoslovakia. We walked through a number of the rooms and read that Hitler came here during his reign.
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| Alex with Charles' bridge and Prague Castle in the background |
