Dusseldorf to Berlin (via Kiruna, Sweden)

So we're down in Berlin now, with a stable wi-fi connection (first time in a week or so). We hung around in Dusseldorf for a few days, checking out their great CBD and eating more waffles and sausages. I recommend checking out the pictures of the CBD on Facebook - they recruited an architect to just do a bunch of buildings down there, and they're definitely not the normal type of designs you see in offices.

After Dusseldorf we headed east to Dortmund, which was pretty much dedicated to Dortmund Zoo for us. It's a great zoo, focusing on South American animals and with a fair few hot-houses and great environments for them. They had orangutans, capybaras, giant (and not giant) anteaters, an otter house, nutrias, armadillos, flamingos, a goat petting zoo, and of course SLOTHS. That was pretty much the entire reason I dragged us to Dortmund, and I was not disappointed. They were eating as we got there, and afterwards they worked off the calories clambering around the branches above our heads. One was young and sprightly, and friendly enough that he happily lent down to touch hands and cameras that were near him. Thus I came to shake hands with a sloth and can now die happily. We also had our first bad hostel experience in Dortmund, with three assholes deciding to come in drunk in the morning - the first at 5am who just threw his mattress from the top bunk to the floor and literally fell onto it, shoes and all, and the other two at 6am who just whispered loudly with bathroom lights on. Had to happen some time.

In Dortmund we booked our tickets to and from Kiruna, which was quite the hassle. The first lady declared we couldn't get tickets to Kiruna at all, then bothered to check the system and ask for help from a colleague, and what do you know! We got tickets to Kiruna via Copenhagen and Stockholm. Unfortunately we got into Copenhagen at 10.14pm and left for Stockholm at 6.12am, and with only a day or so's notice had no chance in hell of finding a place to stay for those hours. On the same day, our ATM cards suddenly stopped working altogether, and everywhere in Copenhagen declared they needed PIN for credit cards, not signatures (which neither of us knew ... awesome). That fixed itself at 1am, so we charged into the McDonalds in the station and camped out there for the next five hours watching the drunk Danish. Turns out Danish really like to drink. The rest of our trip was much less eventful, and we had some nice Swedish guys for company on the trip from Stockholm, who explained that the Danish really like drinking in large quantities.

When we got to Kiruna - snow EVERYWHERE. Seriously, one the way up there were the pretty snow-topped pines and all that - Kiruna was just sheer snow and ice with sticks of trees. It's above the Arctic Circle and the highest city in Sweden, and pretty much lives around 0 degrees. During the day with the sun the ice and snow gradually melt a bit, and then overnight it just freezes back up again to make horribly slippery ice. Due to this there is gravel spread over all the streets and sidewalks so people can walk without needing ice spikes. Even so, it can get a bit hairy, especially for Australians who aren't used to walking on ice!

We had intended to walk out of town to see the Northern Lights, but by about 12.30am sunlight was still lingering around, and it was about -5 outside, so we scrapped that plan and just slept.=, catching up on a few bad nights sleep. We headed off the next day after doing more laundry (it rules our life) and headed back down, this time ending up in Berlin. The trains were easier this time, though the train from Kiruna decided that running late was a great idea, making us almost miss our change-over to Copenhagen. Heads would have rolled. But this time we had two nights in sleeper trains, which we've adjusted to quite easily, and got to Berlin at 4am yesterday.

That day was pretty much spent sitting in the hostel feeling horrible due to lack of sleep and showers. Once we could check in to the hostel we cleaned up, settled in, and slept for about twelve hours without bothering about that silly dinner stuff. Then today, actual sight-seeing! We wandered into central Berlin and saw some Wall memorials, plus the Brandenburg Gate and lots of lovely miscellaneous buildings. Then it decided to start pissing down rain (accompanied by thunder) and we called off the tourist stuff early and came back to the hostel with some donuts.

So now, we sit here drinking and generally relaxing. We've got another two nights here, then off to Prague! Until next time.

Maastricht to Dusseldorf

So we spent a week or so in the Netherlands, and today entered Germany, Land of Beer. We've only been here a few hours and already Tom had a schnitzel and pint, and I had a big ol' sausage.

Maastricht was extraordinarily pretty, and also extraordinarily stocked with waffles and icecream. It has not been a healthy holiday. We wandered around the old town square and took in all the nice things, then headed off the next day. Seriously though: best gelato ever. I would go back just for that gelato. And waffles with chocolate inside. INSIDE.

Next stop was Amsterdam for a few days. We made it to our hotel in one piece and settled in, and I noted there seemed to be a party or something going on outside. Then at 1.30am, a loud boom, and a van is aflame. We checked it out later, it's well and truly fucked - photo on Facebook of the interior, as one of the windows was smashed in to light the fire. We found out later talking to a barkeep that that suburb, Osdorp, is well known for crime, and various international bombings are often traced there. Fun! But we never had any issues ourselves, at least.

The next day we wandered into Amsterdam Central, and got a good feel for the place. It's definitely a city of contradictions in the centre - that's the oldest part of the city, and most of the buildings are old, quaint, askew, and quite pretty. But they're all covered up with tacky signs and advertisements for sex shops, weed, souvenirs, etc. It's not a bad thing necessarily, and I really enjoyed it, but it's certainly strange. We had a wander around the red light district, though it wasn't fully fired up by that point. There's a certain point I was fascinated by, near the Oude Kerk (Old Church, basically). It's the oldest church in Amsterdam, and ringed by red light hookers out on display. A very weird contrast, but very suited to the city.

The next day we went on a walking tour, which proved to be a fantastic idea. The tour guide (another Australian) took us through a bunch of spots we never would have found ourselves, got us some cheese, and generally taught us a bunch about the city, including why all the buildings look like they're slowly falling over. We ended up not going to any museums beyond the Sex Museum, and spent some of the evening wandering around the red light district to see it properly at night. Despite some recommendations we decided to skip the sex show experience, as to be honest it sounded uninteresting and ethically questionable. Definitely an enjoyable city though!

We headed down to Eindhoven over the Easter weekend, which was definitely a very different city for Europe. It's been destroyed and burned down various times over the centuries, and thus has almost no historical buildings. It's a very contemporary city, with a big focus on modern design and industrial production. As an example, it's city symbol is a smiling light bulb, as it was home to Philips for decades. Despite this, it's also got some beautiful canals and gardens, which we happily wandered around for a few hours. One of the things we've noticed about Europe - everyone has dogs! I suppose a lot less people have apartments, more townhouse/terrace style places, which means a yard to have a dog in.

Today we departed Eindhoven for Dusseldorf, heading back through Amsterdam (though we found out that wasn't entirely necessary ... stupid train sites not being in English) and arrived in Dusseldorf, whereupon it slowly worked up to rain. We still ventured into the city centre to have lunch and see the Old Town, which has over 260 bars and such places in one square kilometre. It really is just a mass of places to drink!

After we're done here it's on to Dortmund for me to see sloths in the zoo (SQUEEEEE) and then up to Sweden for the Northern Lights!

Belgium and Luxembourg

We've officially worn ourselves out in Luxembourg today. For such a small town, we still managed to get a bit lost and wander a lot!

We arrived in Brussels on Monday and got our first experience in a country where English wasn't the main language (shock, horror!). Most people have understood or spoken it just fine, but the writing has been difficult - at train stations, menus, exhibits, that kind of stuff. But we're managing just fine, and French is pretty easy to decipher with some attention to detail.

Our first impression of Brussels wasn't very good ... they have public urinals set up around the train station and thus the entire place just stank of piss. We managed to get pretty lost until we got internet access, then figured out how to get to our hotel - which turned out to be an epic quest that took us some time. The place was cheap and comfortable, but MY GOD was it out of the way!! Brussels turned out to be about 75% unimpressive and 25% gorgeous. The Great Place in the city centre has grand old buildings that take your breath away, and we found a few other nice spots as well. The rest looked shabby, smelled bad and wasn't very appealing.

We tripped up to Bruge after that, and that was quite a change! The hotel was pretty much next to the train station, and central Bruge was across the road from that. Every part of Bruge just oozes old-time charm, from the frequent horses and carts to the lack of advertising to the cobblestone streets. It's all lovely, and we could have spent days just wandering around and soaking in how nice it all was. Lots of churches, museums, and just generally charming places to see. Also so, so much chocolate and waffles ... pretty sure Belgium has made us a lot heavier than we were coming in! We also met a random Australian who is studying in Rotterdam, Rae, who gave us a few tips on things to see and not to see, which was great! Had a good chat over a complimentary beer from the only Bruge brewery left. They run very educational and fun tours through the actual operational brewery! Tom went up the bell tower (alone - 366 stairs, I opted for a pot of tea in a nearby cafe instead) and we generally agreed it's 'like a fookin' fairytale'.

After our two nights in Bruge we headed down to Luxembourg, though not without mishaps. The existence of a station in Brussels called "Brussel-Luxembourg" (WHY, WHY) caused a problem with us getting on the wrong train and me realising it half an hour later. Unfortunately to people who don't speak English as a first language, asking if 'this train goes to Luxembourg' can be misinterpreted in Brussels. But eventually we made it down, and wow - such a different impression from Brussels! Everything looked pristine but classic, just like a historic city with the money to stay contemporary would. The city is on a bed of sandstone, and it's had some brilliant effects - the river through the city has carved a huge gorge in it, so there's a drastic cliff between the High Town and Low Town, as they call it. It's quite amazing to see! Also a lot of the buildings are made from sandstone, and kept very clean, so everything looked very bright and happy throughout the entire town. It's a wealthy country, and it really shows in the people and buildings (and menu prices).

Tomorrow we're off to Maastricht in the Netherlands, so another new country for us! The Eurail passes have been very useful and worry-free so far, and we've mostly been able to figure out the various public transport systems without a worry. And without the car, it's much cheaper!

Anyway, to sleep - until next time! Photos being posted on Facebook now.