On the 25th April, we dragged our suitcases to Gare du Nord train station in Paris, and spent eight hours travelling through the French and Belgian countryside. We arrived in Amsterdam some time in the afternoon and decided to go for a walk around the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseums. Apparently Amsterdam has more canals than Venice.
Our walk led us to a park paved with fuchsia-coloured trees, and canals in front of pubs and cafes that were lined with tulips like this one. We stopped at a cafe and had possibly the best cheesecake Ive ever had in my life, and then later had a nice stew at a pub. Completely bloody freezing, but Amsterdam still became one of my favourite cities.
The next day a few of us decided to try to find the Anne Frank Museum, so we set off on the trams and wandered around, before finally finding it. Unfortunately, the line snaked all the way around the corner of the building, and we had a cruise ship to check in at, so that's another thing I shall have to go back and see another time.
A glorious Amsterdam sunset, taken before we set off to the Red Light District to see what the fuss was all about. The whole place smells like weed, obviously, and its lit with red and purple lights. They have different sections depending on the kind of prostie you want - female, transgender, transgender with stubble. One member of our group had a hard time distinguishing between the guys dressed up as girls and the actual girls, despite the stubble. Our last night in Amsterdam ended with a brownie and a long walk back to the cruise ship, before we set sail for Cologne, Germany.
It rained in Cologne, but I was so excited to finally be in Germany that I really didn't care much. I loved every second of it despite the miserable weather, including the Dom, the typical German architcture, and the statues in the centre of town of a woman with elves, who once did all the work for the townspeople. The woman set a trap to catch the eleves at it, was caught in the act, and the elves subsequently refused to do any more work for the towns people, who have had to do it on their own ever since.
After Cologne, we cruised along the Rhine to Koblenz, where we drove to the Marksburg Castle, which you can see on the hill above. It remains the only undestroyed castle in Germany, complete with it's own church, torture room, and tiny little beds.
Rudesheim, famous for its coffees with Asbach, was next on the list, followed by Mainz, where Josef Gutenbug, the inventor of the printing press, was from. After that, we sailed to Wertheim, a lovely little town with a long history of glass-blowing. You can see the town centre below. As you walk into the centre, you see a building covered in butterflies, eyes, Jewish Stars of David, and musical notes, which makes up a memorial to a Jewish family who was killed in the war. According to our tour guide, the mayor had most of the Jewish people leave the town just prior to the war, and most of them immigrated to America and took on the town's name as their last name. Unfortunately, the ones who stayed were killed.
From Wertheim, we cruised further along the Rhine to Wurzburg, where we toured the Residenz Palace. The palace itself is incredible - the staircase leading up to the first floor has a stunning ceiling, which depicted the four continents known at the time: Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. The palace also has beautiful gardens, and a mirror room that reminded me of Princess Mombi's palace in Return to Oz. We then drove along the Romantic Road to Rothenburg, which you can see in the photo below.
Rothernburg is famous for its Christmas Museum, which was pretty insane with the fairylights and the fake snow. Pretty, but kind of over the top. It also retains the old town wall around the perimetre of the old town, which is interesting.
The following day we journeyed to Nuremburg, where we toured the Colosseum, a building inspired by the Roman original and used by Hitler to give speeches and hold rallies in world war 2, as well as a medieval castle. The photo below is the view from the Medieval castle. Nuremburg is also famous for its gingerbread, which doesn't actually have any ginger in it. Still pretty yum though.
Lastly, we visited Regensburg and Passau. The former has a bridge that was apparently the inspiration for the Charles Bridge in Prague, while the latter has a Baroque cathedral, which was a welcome change from all the gothic churches we visited. It also apparently contains the largest pipe organ in Europe, which we sat and listened to for what felt like three hours. I felt like I was in a Tim Burton movie.
Lastly, we visited Regensburg and Passau. The former has a bridge that was apparently the inspiration for the Charles Bridge in Prague, while the latter has a Baroque cathedral, which was a welcome change from all the gothic churches we visited. It also apparently contains the largest pipe organ in Europe, which we sat and listened to for what felt like three hours. I felt like I was in a Tim Burton movie.
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