Europe 2013

Day 1 –

We arrived early in the morning in Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, and met up with the Shinde couple, whom we hadn’t seen in 8 months. As soon as we boarded the train from the airport to hotel, Jeswin realized he had left his tripod in the plane. Luckily he got it and met us up at a nearby tapas restaurant by the Renaissance hotel, where we were staying. There we had Spanish and Irish coffee – Spanish won! I’m still questioning how a coffee with Bailey’s is considered Spanish but whatever. Our hotel was centrally located so we decided to go for a walk to the various squares all over town. On the way to the "dam" square (yes, that’s what it is called there), we had a delicious peach creamy cake. We strolled through the Magna Plaza, Palacie, etc. which was just buzzing with tourists, pigeons, entertainers, and bicyclists. Beware of the bicyclists – they’re everywhere! We didn’t have any plans for the day til Jains’ arrival, so we decided to go on a hunt for the flower market, since Amsterdam is known for its tulips. We found locals on the way who pointed us in different directions. Why is it that in most places in the world the locals don’t know where things are in their own city? Oy. Since flower market search was turning out to be a fail, we made some other pit stops on the way – walking through the canal laden streets and ending up at Cafe Smokey. I don’t know why I decided to wear boots with heels so with my feet hurting, we decided to kill time looking for a shoe store. The plus side was that the stores kept us dry while it was raining cats and dogs outside. All that rain made us all feel like having a doner and a cappuccino. I love how cappuccinos everywhere around town come with a biscuit! We then grabbed the Jains and headed out to Bulldog, and back to Cafe Smokey. From there, we ended up at Red Light District which I have to admit is not as crazy as it has been rumored. There are cameras on the streets and it’s basically a window shopping for horny men – although there were not as many windows to shop. We then called it a night with New York Pizza and Nano having a good time all by herself. Inside joke.

Day 2 –
The day began with breakfast at the nearby tapas place with a cappuccino that woke me up with a smile on my face. We then walked on over to Anne Frank house but the line was so long that we decided to visit Rijksmuseum (Rembrandt’s Night Watch is here). On the way there, we spotted Vondelpark (great place to jog) and Leidensplein (a square) lined with fun places to shop. We ended up buying the museumkaart ($50 card) which is good year-round for most museums including Anne Frank’s. The line was just as long as Anne Frank’s but we made it in, and even spotted some Van Gogh work. By the time we were done, we were famished and ate at Pancake Corner where the food was just blah and water was not served til upon request. My Dutch steak was so dry that I probably needed a hammer and chisel – thank God for the side order of delicious lamb cutlet.

We then headed over to Van Gogh museum passing by the I Amsterdam sign where we took ridiculous amount of pictures like typical camera crazy tourists. At the Van Gogh museum, all we really wanted to see was "starry night" which turns out was temporarily sent to NY museum. We decided to skip out on House of Bols bar and headed straight to Myrabella to have a Sambuca shot with Nano’s friend, Indira. From there we headed to Getto where we finally got some absinthe, ordered crappy Chinese food to-go from a nearby restaurant, dessert, etc. to have one "what bi*ching" fun fest at the hotel. Fun night.

Day 3

The day started again with breakfast at Tapas Lamour and standing in line once more for Anne Frank House. This time we went through with the wait of 1.5 hours and since there were 6 of us, we could take turns standing in line while others roamed around. Parul and I took advantage of having a cappuccino at Woerck (nearby restaurant).

Anne Frank House was definitely worth the visit. This is where she and her family went into hiding. It took me back several years – specifically 1997 when I first read about this little girl. No camera is allowed in the house and they’ve diligently preserved original parts of her diaries. The rooms were filled with videos, memorabilia and small replicas of how the rooms actually looked at the time. It was an emotional and somber walk through the house. Once we got out, we were all in Good Samaritan mood that we decided to give away our museumkaarts to some random tourists on the street.

We were hungry once again and decided on Mexican food near Dam Square. We should’ve known better than to pick Mexican in Europe. The fajitas were nothing to write home about, and we should just be thankful that we got any chips at all.

From there we hurried to the hotel and took a taxi to the airport where we ordered some not so fresh strawberry margarita.

We got on the flight to Prague only to be diverted to Dresden, Germany due to weather. We had to then grab a bus to Prague where getting on the bus was a hurdle. I’ll spare you the details, but the only way I could get on that bus was to be someone else – specifically, Parul Shinde.

We got a place by the old town square which was eerily quiet at night – although it was around 3 am when we arrived. Don’t try to wear cute shoes here: cobble stones are a beast.

Day 4

We started the day off with a brisk walk through old town square and then onto Charles Bridge. This was by far one of my favorite strolls in all the trips taken. I fell in love with Prague – the buzz of vendors selling all kinds of knick-knacks, the performers, the view of the city, the baroque style statues towering over us. Love! We stopped over at a place called Kampekart where we ended up having Galliano hot shot and Czech Sauvignon Blanc with a great backdrop view of the Charles Bridge. We then visited Our Lady Church to see the famous statue of Infant Jesus. The church itself is not that prominent but I’ve heard of this statue since I was a little girl, that I couldn’t leave the city without seeing it. We then had trdelnik (sort of like beignets) on the way to the Prague Castle. The museum portion of the castle was not at all interesting to me but perhaps for European History buffs, this is heaven. We then strolled around the gothic St. Vitus Cathedral. It had a very La Sagrada Familia look to it (a cathedral in Barcelona).

Beware of the steps – they’re everywhere!!! All that climbing got us thinking that we needed a quick picker upper, so we stopped at Cafe bar where the girls had Bailey’s Coffee and the boys had Budweiser Light. Just the break we needed to soak in the city. Then we spotted a fine dining restaurant where all of a sudden we got hungry again. I have to say I was quite surprised by the Czech food here. We enjoyed trout, pike perch, roasted duck bohemian style, pork schnitzel, etc. The house red wine was eh – mediocre. We then headed back down, where on the way we saw this really old medieval tavern. It was only fair that we stopped and bought a drink here too since you know, it had been 5 minutes too long since we’ve had something. None of the girls had more than a sip of that drink though – it was called "mead" and tasted like Pepto Bismol.

After this stop, our next distraction was Thai Foot massage for 20 euros. That seemed reasonable. After the 45 minutes relaxing session, we headed back into town via Charles Bridge. It was starting to get dark and there were so many pub crawlers out n about that it seemed like a whole new city from the night before (when we came in at 3 am). The Shindes wanted to buy some crystal so we found this fancy schmancy Bohemian crystal store.

After freshening up, it was time for us to join the pub crawlers. We ended up at this smoky pub in a basement where we were probably the only ones not high (I think it was called White Tail Pub). We then hopped on over to Coyote Bar where bartenders entertained us with a fire show and amazing strawberry caipirinhas! It was then time for us to dance the night away at a local club with 5 levels – our favorite being the Icebar.

Day 5

Our first stop was the Starbucks downstairs where we had yummy chocolate muffin and Czech sandwich. After that, it was back to climbing cobble stone steps to see the inside of St. Vitus Cathedral. We were able to use the same ticket from the museum from the day before – so don’t throw your tickets away when you go! The panoramic view of the city from the Cathedral was breathtaking. I think we spent a good hour here and headed to have Bailey’s coffee at the nearby cafe bar to kill time, as Parul was on an important phone call. We then made a quick stop to look at more Bohemian glass and buy paintings, and then became so famished. We had the best meal up to date at Modry Zub Thai Restaurant – pad thai there came in a different color that I’m used to but it was good. All that food intake got us to be responsible to buy train tickets to Vienna for the next day. We headed back to the square – hoping to get up on top of the clock tower but it was already closed – they close at 9:30 PM. It was a long day so we decided to freshen up and then head back again to the local Belgian Chocolate Store next to the chocolate museum and the Old Town Restaurant at Old Town Square, where all the wines were horrible! The rest of the group decided to call it a night, while I decided to accompany Jeswin to get the famous Charles Bridge shot and also, KFC as a light snack. It’s odd how you have to pay for condiments including ketchup here.

Day 6

We hopped on a train to Vienna and got off at Meidling. Just fyi- It is best to reserve seats if you’re planning to take a train. We then jumped onto the subway (or metro as they call it) to head to Arcotel where we were staying. By the way, I realized at these metro stations why they have a payment system at the bathrooms because otherwise, the bathroom smells like urine.

After freshening up at the hotel, we headed to one of Nano and Avi’s favorite eat outs on trips – McDs. Their chili beef was ok but hey, they also served cappuccino, tiramisu and some alcohol based dessert which were yummazing. They also had free water – which is kind of a big deal. We then took a train to Schrobhan Palace which looks more like a business building but when I picture Austria, this is what I have always imagined – the garden in front of the Palace. Side story: my aunt had sent a picture to me about 20 years ago that she took in front of this garden and hence the reason I have this mental image of Austria. After our slow stroll through the Palace, we capped the night with a lavish dinner at Indien Village where we had the best food of the trip – spicy Indian food topped off with Mango Vodka. Yay.

Day 7

The day started off with breakfast – a cappuccino and Ek India sandwich which was just cheese filled bread. We then made our way for our boat cruise but turned out there was no boat on that cold and windy day. So we had to change plans and look for a heuriger instead. We took a subway and then a tram to Grizing where we had a proper cappuccino at Pucco’s. Here, we asked about Vienna’s famous heurigers but locals don’t seem to really know much about these things. We decided to make our own little detours to find the heuriger and ended up at a cafe with a drunk owner. This place had an amazing view of Vienna and semi-good local red and white wines. We headed back down to Helstadt where we ended up getting a good doner and falafel from a truck; a bird flew by and pooped on Nano! So of course that meant we had to go take a lotto since bird pooping on your head is considered good luck. After our brief little funny moment, we took a tram to Nuysseldorf where finally found a proper heuriger with salty weiner schnitzel (looks like chicken fried steak) and wine! We then walked up to the vineyard upon the hill where I had my own funny moment – I stepped in disgusting mud pile. That capped our night. We ended up back at hotel, played some cards, ordered pizza and passed out. No Stephensdom visit to get the city view of Vienna :( My only consolation was it is very similar to St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague (which had been checked off the list) where you get the magnificent city view.

Day 8
Ram and Avi got a 9 passenger van for our drive to Salzburg. Avi was the driver and Ram was the killi (which in my language means the guy who gives the direction but in Ram’s case – side seat sleeper). Our plan was to take the Danube Cruise to get a relaxing feel of the Austrian countryside but getting to the boat was like an amazing race at Cozumel (which the group had done before and won by the way). The cruise was awesome – had a great waiter named Thomas who patiently took care of us rowdy bunch, cashed out 4 bottles of wine with an amazing Austrian red, broke a wine glass which Nano blames on the Austrian wind, and checked off the list, boat as the last mode of transportation to cover on this trip. We then took a taxi back to Melk and stopped at Weryweg to admire the beautiful scenery and have an "ok" cappuccino. Our next stop was Bad Ischl with again more beautiful country side scenery even though the weather was dreary. We wanted to tour a salt mine around this place but it was closed so we decided on the next best thing – eating! At Maik’s Heyfsehutte, we had some Austrian spicy sausage which was not all that spicy, and burgers which we had the cook spice up. Then it was a long drive up the hill which included amazing snow top mountains, crazy fog and 9 euro toll, but we finally reached our hotel!

Day 9

Our day started with first dropping our rental car at Hertz. We then walked on over to Mirabelplatz where one of the Sound of Music scenes took place, and rode in a funicular up to Fortress Festungskonzert to get a mountain top view of Salzburg. We had a brief tour here and ended up at a gift shop that sold lots of amber. We walked past the historical areas of Salzburg including a 14th century bar house where Mozart’s sister used to live. There was good beer there but the cuvee was horrible! Outside area was strewn with people selling all kinds of things including a burger place visited by the likes of Jack Nicholson, Warren Buffet, Clint Eastwood, etc. The burger was friggin good! We topped it off with an apple strudel pretzel for dessert and big good bye to our Dhinka Chikka friends, since they all were on an earlier flight. Jeswin and I then checked into another hotel close by (Hotel Turnerwelts- very small hotel just to store our bags) and bought bus tickets (bus # 4) to Mirabelplatz. We took the electrically functioning buses from one of the stations (they’re called H and are right on time!). We then walked across the bridge to the other side of Mirabelplatz and had mediocre lamb curry and creamy chicken tikka at Hana’s Razoi Indian Restaurant. The waiter was very interesting – his nickname was Mr. Hangover since his daily routine is to start off with a glass of whiskey. We then headed to Cafe Mozart for a cappuccino and strolled to the Nonberg Convent (from Sound of Music) through Mozart Square. I loved the square which was arrayed with musical performers and several expensive touristy shops. Coming from Houston, it was strange to see most of the other places like the pharmacies (apotheks) and grocery stores closing so early in the evening. We tried to find a pastry place to top off the evening but since it was raining mildly and we weren’t succeeding, we returned to Cafe Mozart for a cappuccino and a Mozart Torte. We quickly strolled through the Mirabel gardens (also part of Sound of Music) and headed back to hotel for a one-hour nap.

Day 10

Home bound! A taxi picked us up at 3 am on the dot and we arrived at the airport in less than 10 minutes. We were the only ones there so we passed time browsing the internet with the free Wii-fi and checking in with reality.

Things learned on this trip: Most places require you to pay for WC (restroom) and also for condiments. In Austria, you always get water with your cappuccino, and "Danke" is a cool Austrian word which means "thank you". Ease of transportation cannot be beat, especially in Vienna. Prague was hands down our favorite place out of the 4.