berlin

Ok, so I didn't get around to updating this as often as I thought. Too much else to do I suppose!

Berlin really surprised me, there's a lot more going on there than I expected. Loads of museums, cool bars, funky shops. Well done Berlin!

Anyway, here's some stuff we saw there. They're in chronological order, so probably don't flow as well as they could, but that's how we do things here.

The German flag flying outside the Reichstag


Scary looking dude near the Siegessäule


The Siegessäule itself.


Loads of buildings and monuments have bullet and shrapnel holes in them from the war.


View from the Siegessäule looking towards Brandenbuger Tor


A Soviet War Memorial in Tiergarten


The Brandenburger Tor was commissioned as a sign of peace. Looks pretty damn imposing if you ask me!


Stormtrooper. There's really not much else to say about this guy.


This is a few pics of the "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe".
I guess they didn't feel the need to sugar coat the name at all. Apart from the bus loads of school kids running through the place, it's pretty overwhelming.







A chunk of the Berlin wall in Potsdamer Platz


“Mother with Dead Son”. A memorial to the victims of war and tyranny


Berliner Dom in the evening.


You can tell you're in Paris when you can see the Eiffel Tower. This tells you you're in Berlin


A random head shot from the Bode museum. He's a saint or something.


This was a ball carved inside a ball, inside a ball etc etc


Another from the Bode Museum. It's the locking mechanism inside a chest. Very cool.


Yeah, Zeus. As in father of Apollo, god of Mount Olympus, don't fuck with me or I'll shove a lightning bolt up your ass, Zeus! *


Detail of a prayer niche from the Maidân Mosque (in the Pergamon Museum)


A bust of Nefertiti from 1300 or so BC. This was supposedly found in the artist's workshop, but an art historian has recently claimed it's a copy dating from 1912.
Whatever, it's still older than me.


The Berlin ball (Fernsehturm) looking from the Marx-Engel Forum


Marx, Engel, Parker


Part of the old Berlin Wall running through the Invalidenfriedhof cemetery. Some of the headstones were moved so the border guards had a clear line of sight.


And that's Berlin. Will hopefully have a few minutes one evening to get some Paris photos up, but it's looking more likely that they'll have to wait till we get home.


*Die Hard reference

prague

I really didn't know what to expect in Prague. Was it going to be a run down, grey city? Was our apartment going to have no hot water and an armed guard on the door?
Turns out I was pretty wrong.

Prague is the sixth most visited city in Europe, so really has it's shit together. We had a massive apartment, a new gas kitchen and wifi.

Again, I was going to do a proper write up, but really can't be bothered. We just finished a day wandering through Berlin and after a few pints in town and a bottle of wine at home I don't have a lot of words left in me.

Prague Museum looking down Wesceslas Square


The Municipal Building


Detail of the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square


Church of Our Lady Before Týn


View from the Old Town Hall


It rained for a few hours, so we had to find shelter :)


Rear view of St Vitus Cathedral, Prague Castle


Check out the look on this Prague Castle Guard's face. One hard dude!


Deb and I looking over the castle wall


Detail of a sarcophagus in St Vitus Cathedral


Bibles in St Vitus


This is the crazy retro panelling that's in loads of the tube stations


Part of the 80,000 names that are written on the walls of Pinkas Synagogue. This was actually really moving as it gives the holocaust some scale.


And some pics from the Old Jewish Cemetery

vienna

So we said goodbye to London and flew to Vienna.
After getting the apartment sorted out and buying a few groceries, we had a wander into town.

I'll pad this out later, so here are some pics in the meantime.

St Stephen's Cathedral (or Stephensdom).


A carriage waiting for customers at Stephensplatz (outside the cathedral)


Dinner at Kix Bar


Space Invaders


Griffin outside Parliament


Statues on the Parliament roof


Women on a fountain outside Parliament... they are so gonna do it!


Kunsthistoriches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts) and Deb


Mozart Monument in Burgaarten


After a full day on our feet, Deb earned an icecream (which people in Vienna seem to eat for breakfast lunch and dinner)


This guy is a stud. No wonder this is Austria's drink!


Schönbrunn


Gloriette (Commemorating the 1775 victory over the Prussians at Kolin)


Not sure what this means, but it sounds great!


The big wheel is Riesenrad at the Prater fun fair


View from Riesenrad


The "Original" Sacher Torte. It wasn't bad as far as cake goes, but they're really milking the name.


Inside the State Opera House


Intermission. Time to squeeze in a bit of champagne.


And so we say farewell to Vienna. Land of ice cream, "melange" and wurst stands.


Next update: PRAHA

london

So, it was pretty weird being back in London again after 5 years away. It seems cleaner for a start. I guess that's the Olympic machine getting underway. Hopefully they can keep the momentum going after the games are over, because the place looks great!
There's a new shopping centre that was a mound of dirt when we lived in Shepherd's Bush. We popped in on Wednesday morning to fill in time before checking into the hotel.


The NZ war memorial in Hyde Park corner was completed a few years ago. It's actually pretty cool and not your usual granite slabs.



We never made it to the changing of the guard while we lived over here. By chance, we arrived at Buckingham Palace just as the crowds were gathering. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stand around for half an hour, but saw dudes marching up the Mall as we walked down it.


After catching up with one of Deb's workmates for lunch, we wandered back down to St Pauls. The whole time we were in London, the weather was fantastic, so pretty much every photo we took had blue sky as the backdrop.


It was nice to go back, and great to see that the city is still developing. The buses are more frequent, the oyster card works well and there is very little graffiti or rubbish around the place.



We couldn't find wifi around anywhere, so I'm writing this on the University of Vienna campus. Neat! The only problem is that it's 2.20pm, we haven't had lunch yet and we've been drinking beers so we can sit at the tables. Probably time to pay up and find a loo :)

Next update: WIEN

the best way to start a holiday